Vikram and the Vampire | Page 6

and
recited almost textually by the wandering tale-tellers, bards, and
rhapsodists of Persia and Central Asia.
The great kshatriya,(soldier) king Vikramaditya,[FN#9] or Vikramarka,
meaning the "Sun of Heroism," plays in India the part of King Arthur,
and of Harun al-Rashid further West. He is a semi-historical personage.
The son of Gandharba-Sena the donkey and the daughter of the King of
Dhara, he was promised by his father the strength of a thousand male
elephants. When his sire died, his grandfather, the deity Indra, resolved
that the babe should not be born, upon which his mother stabbed
herself. But the tragic event duly happening during the ninth month,
Vikram came into the world by himself, and was carried to Indra, who
pitied and adopted him, and gave him a good education.
The circumstances of his accession to the throne, as will presently
appear, are differently told. Once, however, made King of Malaya, the
modern Malwa, a province of Western Upper India, he so distinguished
himself that the Hindu fabulists, with their usual brave kind of speaking,
have made him "bring the whole earth under the shadow of one
umbrella,"
The last ruler of the race of Mayura, which reigned 318 years, was
Raja-pal. He reigned 25 years, but giving himself up to effeminacy, his
country was invaded by Shakaditya, a king from the highlands of
Kumaon. Vikramaditya, in the fourteenth year of his reign, pretended to

espouse the cause of Raja-pal, attacked and destroyed Shakaditya, and
ascended the throne of Delhi. His capital was Avanti, or Ujjayani, the
modern Ujjain. It was 13 kos (26 miles) long by 18 miles wide, an area
of 468 square miles, but a trifle in Indian History. He obtained the title
of Shakari, "foe of the Shakas," the Sacae or Scythians, by his victories
over that redoubtable race. In the Kali Yug, or Iron Age, he stands
highest amongst the Hindu kings as the patron of learning. Nine
persons under his patronage, popularly known as the "Nine Gems of
Science," hold in India the honourable position of the Seven Wise Men
of Greece.
These learned persons wrote works in the eighteen original dialects
from which, say the Hindus, all the languages of the earth have been
derived.[FN#10] Dhanwantari enlightened the world upon the subjects
of medicine and of incantations. Kshapanaka treated the primary
elements. Amara-Singha compiled a Sanskrit dictionary and a
philosophical treatise. Shankubetalabhatta composed comments, and
Ghatakarpara a poetical work of no great merit. The books of Mihira
are not mentioned. Varaha produced two works on astrology and one
on arithmetic. And Bararuchi introduced certain improvements in
grammar, commented upon the incantations, and wrote a poem in
praise of King Madhava.
But the most celebrated of all the patronized ones was Kalidasa. His
two dramas, Sakuntala,[FN#11] and Vikram and Urvasi,[FN#12] have
descended to our day; besides which he produced a poem on the
seasons, a work on astronomy, a poetical history of the gods, and many
other books.[FN#13]
Vikramaditya established the Sambat era, dating from A.C. 56. After a
long, happy, and glorious reign, he lost his life in a war with
Shalivahana, King of Pratisthana. That monarch also left behind him an
era called the " Shaka," beginning with A.D. 78. It is employed, even
now, by the Hindus in recording their births, marriages, and similar
occasions.
King Vikramaditya was succeeded by his infant son Vikrama-Sena, and
father and son reigned over a period of 93 years. At last the latter was
supplanted by a devotee named Samudra-pala, who entered into his
body by miraculous means. The usurper reigned 24 years and 2 months,
and the throne of Delhi continued in the hands of his sixteen successors,

who reigned 641 years and 3 months. Vikrama-pala,, the last, was slain
in battle by Tilaka-chandra, King of Vaharannah[FN#14].
It is not pretended that the words of these Hindu tales are preserved to
the letter. The question about the metamorphosis of cats into tigers, for
instance, proceeded from a Gem of Learning in a university much
nearer home than Gaur. Similarly the learned and still living Mgr.
Gaume (Traite du Saint-Esprit, p.. 81) joins Camerarius in the belief
that serpents bite women rather than men. And he quotes (p.. 192)
Cornelius a Lapide, who informs us that the leopard is the produce of a
lioness with a hyena or a bard..
The merit of the old stories lies in their suggestiveness and in their
general applicability. I have ventured to remedy the conciseness of their
language, and to clothe the skeleton with flesh and blood.
To My Uncle, ROBERT BAGSHAW, OF DOVERCOURT, These
Tales, That Will Remind Him Of A Land Which He Knows So Well,
Are Affectionately Inscribed.
VIKRAM AND THE VAMPIRE.
INTRODUCTION
The sage Bhavabhuti -- Eastern teller of these tales -- after making his
initiatory