මහාවංශය (Great Chronicle of Ceylon)

of Asoka’s reign there appears to be an error in the Ceylonese tradition which puts the conversion of Ceylon as far on as the eighteenth year. On the other hand Asoka, in the opinion of SMITH, would, if he had really handed over his son Mahinda and his daughter Saṃghamittā to the Church, and had brought about the conversion of the king of Ceylon, certainly not have neglected to bring it into notice. The name "Saṃghamittā" is, he thinks, from its very meaning, suspicious.

I discuss the arguments in the reverse order. The name Saṃghamittā is of course that which she herself assumed on entering the Order. That, beside this name, under which she became a renowned saint of the Buddhist Church, the lay-name fell into complete oblivion can certainly not cause any surprise.

That Asoka makes no mention of Mahinda and Saṃghamittā in his Edicts is an argumentum e silentio argument from silence. That there is any cogency in such an argument V. A. SMITH will surely not maintain. It is indeed very difficult to say in what connexion the king would be obliged to speak of the matter. It can be perhaps expected chiefly in the so-called Minor Rock-Edict I, the Edict of Rūpnāth, Sahasrām and Brahmagiri. But here the reason would again disappear if with FLEET 1 we date this edict in the year 256 A.D. In this case, the sending of Mahinda would be about twenty years earlier than the edict, and would belong to past times.

I certainly do not wish to decide here for or against FLEET’s theory. But it is clear that we are standing on too uncertain ground to allow ourselves to proceed without hesitation from an argumentum e silentio.

Now, finally, what as to the mention of Missions to Ceylon in the Asoka Inscriptions earlier than the thirteenth year of the king’s reign?

I may observe that, at the outset, it is not absolutely certain whether by the Tambapaṇṇi of the Inscriptions Ceylon is really meant. Possibly the name may designate the

1 ‘The Conversion of Asoka,’ J.R.A.S. 1908, p. 486 foll. ; ‘The Last Edict of Asoka,’ ib., p. 811 foll. ; ‘The Last Words of Asoka,’ ib., 1910, p. 1301 foll.