er men of learning are often mentioned. Analogies
have also been traced between the architecture of Pagan and southern
India.[135] It will be seen that such communication by sea may have
brought not only Hinayanist Buddhism but also Mahayanist and Tantric
Buddhism as well as Brahmanism from Bengal and Orissa, so that it is
not surprising if all these influences can be detected in the ancient
buildings and sculptures of the country.[136] Still the most important
evidence as to the character of early Burmese Buddhism is Hinayanist
and furnished by inscriptions on thin golden plates and tiles, found
near the ancient site of Prome and deciphered by Finot.[137] They
consist of Hinayanist religious formulae: the language is Pali: the
alphabet is of a south Indian type and is said to resemble closely
that used in the inscriptions of the Kadamba dynasty which ruled in
Kanara from the third to the sixth century. It is to the latter
part of this period that the inscriptions are to be attributed. They
show that a form of the Hinayana, comparable, so far as the brief
documents permit us to judge, with the church of Ceylon, was then
known in lower Burma and was probably the state church. The character
of the writing, taken together with the knowledge of southern India
shown by the Talaing chronicles and the opinion of the Dipavamsa that
Burma was a Buddhist country, is good evidence that lower Burma had
accepted Hinayanism before the sixth century and had intercourse with
southern India. More than that it would perhaps be rash to say.

The Burmese tradition that Buddhaghosa was a native of Thaton and
returned thither from Ceylon merits more attention than it has
received. It can be easily explained away as patriotic fancy. On the
other hand, if Buddhaghosa's object was to invigorate Hinayanism in
India, the result of his really stupendous labours was singularly
small, for in India his name is connected with no religious movement.
But if we suppose that he went to Ceylon by way of the holy places in
Magadha and returned from the Coromandel Coast to Burma where
Hinayanism afterwards nourished, we have at least a coherent
narrative.[138]

It is noticeable that Taranatha states[139] that in the Koki
countries, among which he expressly mentions Pukham (Pagan) and
Hamsavati (Pegu), Hinayanism was preached from the days of Asoka
onwards, but that the Mahayana was not known until the pupils of
Vasubandhu introduced it.

The presence of