1. The list begins, like the Sanskrit tradition, with the first
generation; three interregnums presuppose four periods.
2. The whole fourfold divided chronology is _one_: three sections of
_historical recollections_ lie before the Kali age. Lassen is therefore
wrong in saying that Megasthenes began with the Tretâ age. The progress of
the gradual extension of the kingdom is organic.
3. The foundation of the whole tradition of the four periods of time are
the _genealogical registers of the old royal families_, which must if
possible be _localized_; of course with special reference to Magadha,
which however begins late. As in Egypt, every branch tried somewhere to
find its place; we must therefore throw away or mark all names not
supported by the legend (that is, the Vedic traditions). The contemporary
dynasties must be separated from those that follow each other.
4. Each period was divided from the preceding by an _historical_ fact,—a
dissolution followed by a subjugation or a popular government. The first
is divided from the second by Herakles—K_r_ish_n_a. The third from the
second by Râma, the extirpator of the heroes and royal races (great rising
of the people). The fourth from the third by purely historical
revolutions, caused or fostered by the Assyrian invasion.