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claims of both Greece and India in this respect, when he remarks:—
"The cradle of Arabic literature is not Damascus but Bagdad, the protection necessary for its growth being afforded by the Caliphs of the house of Abbas.
"The foundation of Arabic literature was laid between 750-850 A.D. The development of a large literature with numerous ramifications carried out with foreign materials, as in Rome the origines of the national literature mostly point to Greek sources. Greece, Persia and India were taxed to help the sterility of the Arab mind."
We cannot conclude this chapter better than sum up its substance in the words of Prof. Sachau:—
"What India has contributed reached Bagdad by two different roads. Part has come directly in translations from the Sanskrit, part has travelled through Eran, having originally been translated from Sanskrit (Pālî? Prâkrit?) into Persian, and farther from Persian into Arabic. In this way, e.g. the fables of Kālīla and Dimna have been communicated to the Arabs, and a book on medicine, probably the famous Charaka cf. "Fihrist," p. 303.
