in Antiquity, a kind of magicians or philosophers, who have been confounded by some with the Brahmins. They proceeded from Ariana, a province of Persia, and the neighbouring countries, spread themselves in India, and taught new doctrines.

The Brahmins, before their arrival, it is said, were in the highest period of their glory the only oracles of India; and their principal residence was on the banks of the Ganges and in the adjacent mountains, whilst the Samaneans were settled towards the Indus. Others say that the Brahmins acquired all their knowledge from the Samaneans, before whose arrival it would be difficult to prove that the Brahmins were the religious teachers of the Indians. The most celebrated and ancient of the Samanean doctors was Boutta, or Buddha, who was born 683 years before Christ. His scholars paid him divine honours; and his doctrine, which consisted chiefly in the transmigration of souls, and in the worship of cows, was adopted not only in India, but also in Japan, China, Siam, and Tartary. It was propagated, according to M. de Sainte Croix, in Thibet, in the eighth century, and succeeded there the ancient religion of Zamolxis. The Samaneans, or Buddhists, were entirely destroyed in India by the Brahmins; but several of their books were preserv-