taught the Nilatantra (a mystical religious doctrine known to the Indians) in Egypt, the river Nile probably deriving its name from him. It is also stated that "in the reign of Vishva-mitra, a certain king named Manu-vina, being excommunicated by Brahmans, emigrated with all his companions, passing through Arya (Iran or Persia), Baria (Arabia), and Misra (Egypt)." According to the Mahabharata, the four sons of Yayati, who were cursed by their father, migrated to the West, and became ancestors of some of the Mlechha tribes, and the name "Misra" (mixed) probably owes its origin to this circumstance. Sir William Jones, in the Reports of the Royal Asiatic Society, is led to believe that Egypt must have been in remote ages colonised by the Indian Aryans ; and writers like Major Wilford consider the "Mishra-sthan" of the Purans to be no other than "Misra," the ancient name of Egypt. There is, on the other hand, no record of the Egyptians having ever migrated into India. Such circumstantial evidence has led some European writers — Louis Jacolliot among others— to affirm that if Egypt gave civilisation to Greece and the latter bequeathed it to Rome, Egypt herself received her laws, arts, and sciences from India.
