Note 171 — Chapter IV

That the adherents of Bhudha have spread themselves in the east, north, and north-west from China, cannot be denied; but the periods assigned for the diffusion of the Bhudhist system are very different. According to Kæmpfer, in his History of Japan, the Japanese reckoned the year 1690 of the Christian æra to be the year 2234 after the Sonkarad, or death of Sammona-Khutama, who is called also Prah, and Budha; so that the first year must have corresponded with the year 544 before the birth of Christ. This æra of the Bhudhists seems, therefore, to fall about the time of Cyrus king of Persia, whereas the introduction of the Bhudhist system into the north was 600 years later. F.