Note 40 — A

3. Another account represents them to be the descendants of the Abars, one of the Scythian tribes who in the second or first century before Christ entered India from the north-west, or, and this is perhaps more probable, they are regarded as an old Indian or half-Indian race who were driven south before the Scythian invasion. That they were very early settlers in these Provinces and the neighbourhood is certain. The Nepâl legend40 states that the Kirâtas obtained possession of the valley after expelling the Ahîrs. In the Hindu drama of the Toy-Cart,41 the successful usurper who overthrows Pâlaka, King of Ujjain, is Aryaka, of the cowherd caste; and similarly in the Buddhist chronicles Chandragupta is described as a cowherd of princely race. In Oudh they appear to have been early, probably aboriginal, inhabitants before the Râjput invasion. They are also said to be closely connected with the Bhars, and they attend at great numbers on the occasion of a fair at Dalmau in the Râê Bareli district held in honor of the Bhar hero Dal, who has been, in connection with that tribe shown to be mythical.42 General Cunningham43 assumes from the reference to them in Manu that they must certainly have been in India before the time of Alexander, and that as they are very numerous in the eastern districts of Mirzapur, Benares, and Shâhâbâd, they cannot possibly, like the Jâts and Gûjars, be identified with the Indo-Scythians, whose dominions did not extend beyond the Upper Ganges. It is merely a conjecture of Mr. Nesfield that the Kor or Kur sub-caste is derived from the Kols of the Vindhyan plateau.44