TAKSHAK, according to Tod, are the Turshka race, one of the most extensive and earliest of the races of Higher Asia. They were Seythians ; and from the time of the great war of the Mahabharat a, when we find them already in the north-west, they extended their conquest in India ; and as they had a serpent for their national emblem, they were known as the Takshak or Serpent race. Their chief invasion of India, under their leader Seliesnag, occurred about 600 B. C. They extended their conquests to the Magadha empire of Behar, the throne of which was held by the Nag or Serpent dynasty for ten generations, and a branch of thdm, the Nagbansi chieftains of Ramgarh, Sirguja, have (Tr. R. A. Soc. ii. p. 563) the lunettes of their serpent ancestor engraved on their signets in proof of their lineage, while the capital and district of Nagpur are called after their name. The Vayu and Matsya Purana books call the Sehesnaga, Kshatra-Ban dhee, which may designate,says Wilson (Vishnu Pur. p. 467), an inferior order of the Kshatriya. The great invasion above mentioned was, according to Colonel Tod's supposition, nearly contemporancous with the appearance of the 23d Buddha, Parisnath, whose symbol is that of the race he accompanied, a.nd hence he is called Sails Phun, the -thousand - hooded.' It is supposed that the Brahmans made converts of some power ful branches of these new sectaries, and that it is to them the term A,gnicula (fire race) is applied, as signifying their spiritual regeneration by the element of fire. If so, the Takshak must be the progenitors of the most distinguished tribes of Rajputs, yet no vestiges are now to be found of the original name Tak, or Takshak, though it is re corded amongst the thirty-six royal races. Elphin
stone opposes the doctrine of a Scythian admix ture with the Rajput,s, but there is much in Indian history which could not well be explained without the admission of an incorporation of some northern family ; and even he is disposed to—concede the point with regard to the Jat. Takshak is still one of the Grama Devata or village gods of the Bhagulpur district. 'It was a conveAed Tak Rajput who established the independent dynasty of Gujerat. One Takshak race entered Hindustan, led by Sehesnag,from Sehesnag-desa, who ascended the Pandu throne. The dynasty lasted HO years, and terminated with Bykyart. Another Takshak dynasty of ten princes commenced with Chandra gupta Alauri, but lasted only about 137 years. Chandragupta, the supposed opponent of Alex ander, was a Mairri, and in the sacred genealogies is declared of the race of Takshak. The ancient inscriptions of the Pramara, of which the 3Itturi is a principal branch, declare it of the race of Tusta and Takshak, as does that now given from the seat of their power, Chitore. The term Nag, Tak, or Takshak are regarded by Colonel Tod as synonymous. Sehesnag-desa he considers to be synonymous with the abode of the ancient Scythic Tachari of Strabo, the Tak-i-uk of the Chinese, the Tajak of the present (lay of Turkestan.— Elphiustene's India ; Tod, Rajasthan, i. p. 35 ; Jo. As. S. vi. p. G77.