Patna, Gayaq, Mongir, and Bhagalpur Santal Parganas ...

PATNA, GAYAQ,

MONGIR, AND BHAGALPUR

SANTAL PARGANAS MANBHUM,SINGHBHUM, AND BIRBHUM

1872-73 .

B Y J . D . BEG L A R ,

A QS IS T A N T , A RCI IEO L O G [CA L S U R V F Y .

UN DER T HE S U-PERIN TEN DEN CE O F

M A JO R - GEN ER A L A . CU N N IN G H AM ,

D I R ECT O R -G ENER A L , A ncmnorloexc‘u, suavny or men .

What is aimed at is an accurate descr ipt ion , illustrated byplane, measuremen ts, drawmgs or pllotogl aph s, mid

bycop i es of mscn ptlon s, of such remams as most deserve noti ce, Wi th the h lstoryof them so far as i t maybe trace

able, an d a recor d of the trad ition s that are p reserved r egal d ln g them — Lonn CA N N I N G

What the lear n ed world demand of as m I ndla is to be qmte cer tmn of our data, to place themonumen talreqord before them ex actly as i t now O X IBtS , and to mterpret lt fanthfully

'

and lnterally — J A M 3 5' P R IN S EP .

B engal A n atw S omefy'

s Jour nal, 1838, p 227

CA L CU T T A

O FFICE O F T HE S U PER '

I NTEN DEN T 01» G OVER N M EN T P R IN TIN G

1.

52.

TOUR OF 1872-73 IN THEBENGAL PROVINCES.

Patna, or Pataliputm2. T ilfira, or T ilfidaka

3. Bari har H ills4. Dharfiwat

5. Knuw é-Dol

6. Bardbar Caves7 . Jam8. M i lapur , N adera .

9. Gow ror

10. B athén i Hill11. Islampn r12. L 111:

13. O ld lines of Road

14. L ist of old Places15. Kispé16. B aréwén g and Koneh17 . Pali18. U t1a1n

19. S ihar i and Deokut

20. Gunar iyé

21. U mgé. an d Deo

22. Bishan pur G henjan23. P61 Bigha24. M atka H ill, Ch1101 &c125. H asanpur Kako26. N er and Bela.27 . 111165.

28. Buddhé G ayé

29. Esht or30. Seonagar, Ongar i, Dapthu31. B illdr

32. S011

83. Pawépur i

34. Chan dimun

35. Shapur-atma

36. B amgéon37 . S ilao

38. Ban gaon39. Rfijgir , or Réjagr iha40. M okémé.

41. Mér i

42. B éwan G angé.

43. H asré.

44. Bishanpur T an dwé45. S itémarhi Cave46. B érat

47 . G hosrawé, T itrdwé

48. Parvati49. Aphsand

50. Satgfion and Ekts'

zré

61. Rob

Shekh[1111-6

CO N T EN T S .

PAGE P AG E

S ikandré and P reméyéLakhi SaréiB algudar

JaynagarKongarh

IndéppeN aulakhégarhKherhi

BhagalpurJethn r

M nndér HillB aidyanfith

Shadipur , Seur iLébhpur. Jamt

’

m KandiN agor

Mangalpur, and

.

B himg11 rhB arfikar

Kalyaneswar il’éud té

Katr tisChechgaongarhB ilonjéTugr iB hétbinor

A lwélé, and Dfir ikéParaBandé.T elknppi

PachetKheléi ChandiChoraPur alya

BalrdmpurB urfimDulmi

IchégarhSuffir anDeoli

SuisséDalmi and BarhaB azérG nndwé

Pékbi rréDhédki Tan r

TuisfiméBudhhpur

O bstadEkteswarS ondtnpnn

B ahulfmiClnhinpur

B islmnpur

H ugli

L IST O F PLA TES .

1. Map of Magsaha.

ll. Kol Valleyand M andar Hill.I II . Ruin s of Dulmi.

IV. O ld Fort near Janu'i i an d I ndappe.

V . Buddha Gaye. Ston e an d S itamarli i Cave.

V I . Plans of Temples.

V I I . Plan s of Temples.

V II I . Tr ibeni, Plan and Section .

IX. Plan of Baidyan i th Temple.

X. Pillars of B aidyan fith Temple.X I. Pillars at Pachet, R aghogarh, and Pali .XI I. Pillars at Para, Kauwa-Dol, Kon ch, and H usra.

XII I . Pillars at G arhwfi. and Bali-ampur .

X IV. Basement M ouldings, B arfikar and Pandra.

XV . D itto Katras, Ekteswar, and Pakbin 'a.

XVI . Section s of Temples, Katras, Chechgaon , and M audm'

.

XVI I . Cross Section of Temple at Dulmi .XVII I . Mouldings of Temples at Barfikar and Bahuldru.

XIX . Section of Temple at B urfim.

XX. Basemen t M ouldings, Jaunpur and G arhwd.

XXI . Section and M ouldings of Temple at Bur fim.

XXII. M ap to illustrate Vols. VII and VI II,A rchaeological Repor ts.

P REFA CE.

MR . BEG LA R began the tour described in the presen t

volume at Patna on the G an ges, where he was led to

examin e the question of the ancient course of the Son river.

Thi s question he has discussed at con siderable len gth, an d

w ith much acuten ess . I have myself lately gon e over all

the coun try to the south of Patna, when I made a searchin g

en quir y in to the subj ect, an d the result of my in vestigation

most amply confirms all that Mr . Beglar has advan ced . He

has clearly establi shed the fact that a large river bed is

traceable from Tararh (near Daudn agar) on the Son , m’

d

R ampur -chai an d Kyal to S iddhr ampur an d Sonbhadr on

the Pun pun river. N OW there can be n o doubt that S iddh

rampur is the same plac e as Siddhasrampur , which was

certainly on the Son an d the n ame of S on bhadr speaks

for itself, as S onabhadm is on e of the w ell-kn own n ames of

the river at the presen t day. The low er cour se of the

presen t Pfinpfin river was therefore the an cien t cour se of

the Son , the jun ction taking plac e at Sonbhadr . The

Murhar river then j oined the Son 4 miles to the west of

Jahanabad. Both san d an d boulder ston es w ere foun d at

N ima, on the presen t course of the Murhar, when diggin g

for the foun dation s of a bridge betw een Ban kipur an d Jaban

abad .I made numerous diggin gs still further to the east,

an d at Pakaoli, Pathariya Jh il, an d Kasba Patna, all to the

south of the presen t city, I found coarse red san d an d boul

der ston es . Similar san d is also said to be foun d at'Chilbil,

VI PR EFA CE

4mi les to the south of Phulwari , an d n ear Maholi on thelower course of the Pun pun . Puttin g all these facts to

gether, it w ould appear that the Son must formerly have

flowed from a poin t close to Daudn agar to S iddhrampur , an d

then ce to Sonbhadr on the Pun pun , from whi ch it followed

the presen t course of the Pun pun an d Murhar rivers to

Chilbil, south of Phulwari , where it turn ed fir st to the east

as far as Pan ch-Pahari , an d then to the south-east, finally

join in g the G an ges at Fatuha. The lon g tract of low groun d

in thi s di rection is n oti ced by Buchanan . It is almost

destitute of trees, an d the in un dation waters of the Son ,Pun pun , an d Murhar still fin d their way down this old bed

to the G an ges. This is the old chan n el to whi ch Buchanan

gives the n ame of M ar -son , the dead or deserted Son .

”

The cour ses of the G anges an d Son w ould thus have been

n early ' parallel for man y miles, an d in this narrow tract,lyin g betw een the two rivers, was situated the famous city

of Pataliputra or Palibothra, the capital of the G an getic

Provin ces . The site was exactly similar to that of Hamir

pur in the lon g narrow strip of lan d between the Jumn aan d B etwa rivers .

Conn ected w ith P alibothra Mr. Beglar has broached

a theory that the Eran noboas of the G reeks was n ot iden ti

cal wi th the Son , because both Plin y an d Ar rien men tionthe Son an d Eran n oboas as di stin ct rivers [p. B ut

the very same objection holds good as to the Gan dak bein g

the other lar ge river, as Plin y men tion s the Con dochatesas w ell as the Eran n oboas . There is an other fatal objection to the iden tification of the Gan dak with the B ran n o

boas, as the G cmqlalc is a female river, while the H immyabd’ka

(or Eran n aboas) is a male river like the Sona, whose wooin gof the N arbada river is a well-kn own legen d. I may add

that, accordin g to Patan jali , the city of Pataliputra was

actually situated on the Son (A nn G angam P oigfalipu

tr am) and as Mr. Beglar himself has shown in the previous

PREFA CE . vii

discussion that the old course of the Son flowed past the

southern side of the city, then the Son, on which Patali

putra stood, must be the same river as the Eran n oboas, on

which Pali bothra stood .

To the south of Patna Mr. Beglar visited T elddlm or

T eldm , a place whi ch Mr . Broadley has described, an d which

I have identified with the T i -lo-tse-lcia of Hwen Thsan g.

Mr. Fergusson has objected to thi s iden tifi cation that I

persist in callin g the mon astery T i ladalca, though

M . Julien calls it T i lacalqya.

ale It is true that M . Julien

so n ames it in two places (I, 139, an d II, 439) but in a third

place (I, 211) he calls it T i lafalm, and in his in dex, at the

end of volume III, he gives both readin gs, T i - Zo-tse- lcia or

T i ladlzalca, an d T i -lo-ski - Icia or T i - la-ca-lcia . B ut wi th re

gard to this latter readin g he adds : mais peut-etre que

dan s ce mot, ou chi (9a) a le meme groupe phon etique

que tee (dh al, it faut recon naitre la transcription fautive

de T i ladhaka . Here it w ill be seen that M . Juli en

himself gives the preference to the readin g of T i ladalca

which I have adopted, an d as the Chin ese syllable tee is the

usual represen tative of the San skr it cerebral d or t (just aswe sayn ashion for n ation) , I thought it very probable that it

was the same place as the T i llcir a of our maps . The proper

n ame of this place is T elcidka, the T i llam of Mr . Broadley.

Here Mr. Beglar foun d the short in scription which

Mr. Broadley describes as illegible, but in which he read thew ord Samvat . The in scription is on the architrave of the

en tran ce to an old Masj i d which is bui lt of Hin du materials .

It open s w ith the w ords Sm} T elciqlhaloa ; an d there is no

trace whatever of the w ord Samvat . Durin g the past cold

season I paid a vi sit to T elddha where I obtain ed a small

Buddhist figure, with an in scription roun d the head openin g

w ith the w ordsT elddkakya cd

’

staeyam.

With these two an cien t eviden ces of the old n ame of

T eld'

dkalca, and with the modern spellin g of the n ame as

4“ Royal Asiatic Society’s Journal N . S . VL—fmz.

viii PREFA CE .

Telddka, I believe that my identification of it w ith Hwen

T hsang’s monastery of T i ladhaka is n ow placed beyon d all

doubt .

I n his account of R aj gir M r . Beglar has broached a

theory regardin g the Sattapann i cave, whi ch, in my opin i on ,

is qui te un tenable . I believe that the on ly cave in these

hills which has any claim to be iden tified with the famous

Sattapan i cave is the artificial cave now called S on -bkdn ddr .

This is the only one that has been regularly cut an d formed

with chi sel, like those at Barabar . It bears also on the

outside a row of socket holes, for the en ds of the wooden

beams of an outer apartmen t, which agrees with the descr iption of the hall prepared by A jatasatru for the reception of

the 500monks who formed the fir st Buddhist Syn od. Lastly,thi s cave is situated in the south face of the B aibhar moun

tain , exactly as described in the Pali an n als of Burma.

A . CU N N IN GH AM .

N O T E.

S IN CE the report was wr itten , an d while it was in the press,

I have, in compan y w ith G en eral Cunningham, again visited

some portion s of M agadha ; an d although this is n ot the place

to give an accoun t of the places seen, an d the results obtained

from excavation s, a few n otes on di sputed poin ts w ill n ot be

out of place .

In page 27 I have spoken of B h ika Pahari as a rocky

hill, an d have considered it iden tical w ith Panj Pahari : in

both these statements I am in correct . Panj Pahari turns outon excavation to con sist of brick, an d brick alone ; it appears

from the stratification disclosed in the excavation s that the

moun d had lon g ago been dug in to for bricks, the en tire ones

bein g carried off while the broken ones an d the rubbish

w ere thrown up on the sides, an d mark the occurrence by

the distin ctly-slopin g lines of the layers of rubbish w ith

the w ell-defin ed accumulation s of the larger pieces of brick

bats at the low er en d of the slope, where in the actual

course of excavation s they would naturally roll dow n an d accu

mulete ; the remain s, besides, offr agmen ts of walls imbedded

in the mass of rubbish poin t to the same conclusion . Pan j

Pahari was therefore clearly a brick structure of some kin d .

G en eral Cunn in gham proposes to iden tify it wi th the hi ll

of U pagupta, an d I fully con cur in his iden tification . B ut

I will leave h im to marshal h is argumen ts in support of the

position himself. B h ika Pahari I n ow learn , to my surprise,to be on e of the wards w ithin the modern city of Patna, sothat it is clear my in forman t , in calli n g the great moun d

B hika Pahari, had misled me . B hika Pahari is itself a high

spot, but has n ot been examin ed .

I n developmen t an d con tinuation of my view s regardin g

X N OTE .

the old cour se of the Son , I may men tion that the peculiar

coarse yellow san d an d the roun ded Son pebbles w ere dugup at various an d numerous spots thi s season by G en eral

Cun ni n gham, shewin g that the river on ce flow ed about half a

mile south of Pan j Pahari, an d ran parallel or n early so to

the G an ges, fallin g in to it at Fatuha. I have, in the body of

the report, in dicated the course of the Son by the modern

villages of Daudnagar and Tararh (about 60miles above its

present jun ction w ith the Gan ges) , past the villages of R am

pur -Chai, Kyal, Kojhasa, Chan dhos-buzurg, Bihta, into the

Mur har, an d then cm Mohiuddin pur Khera an d Fatehpur

Kalan in to the G an ges at Fatuha ; an d in addition to my

argumen ts in the body of the report, I can n ow add that, close

to Mohiuddin pur Khera, there is an exten sive jhil or lake,eviden tly the remain s of the old bed, an d that excavations

at Sonmayi, a vi llage 3 miles south-east of Mohiuddin pur

Khera, and 15miles south of the great jhil, yield coarse yellow

sand an d pebbles precisely resembling what are w ell kn own

as the S on san d an d pebbles .

Sonmayi is at presen t an in sign ifican t village, an d en joys

n o advan tages of position— geographical, commercial or poli

tical— to render it of any importan ce but that it was once an

important place is evidenced by the an cien t remain s in it.

The principal of these is a moun d about 20 feet hi gh an d

150 feet lon g by 100 feet w ide at the base. Thi s moun d is

eviden tly the ruin of some large an d importan t temple ; it isstrewn wi th brickbats, an d n ear it is a pillar of greyish

white ston e, 9 feet high an d 20 in ches square . The capitalan d base are plain an d 18 inches high each . The cen tralportion is ornamen ted wi th a flow ered ban d of sculpture

about its cen tre, an d by four boldly sculptured female fi gur es

roun d the shaft . There w ere formerly, an old man says,three other pillars like this on e, on the moun d, about 15 feet

apart, of which about 18 in ches w ere visible above the top

of the moun d when he was a boy ; their position s, as indi cated

N OTE . x i

by him, form the three corn ers of a square of 15 feet side,so that I have no doubt they, with the existin g fourth on e,

formed the pillars of the Maha-man dapa of a Temple .

If we suppose the Son to have flowed as in dicated by

me, the road from R ajgir to Patna would cross it at Sonmayi ,so that we have an intelligible reason for its an cien t import

an ce . O n the n orth bank would have stood Mohiuddin pur

Khera, a place even n ow of importan ce, an d whose an cien t

importan ce an d presen t decay is attested by its very name,Mohiuddin pur Khera, Khera

” meanin g old ruin .

B ut although it is perfectly clear that this was the

course of the Son at a certain period as stated in the body of

the report, the excavation s of G eneral Cunn in gham shew

that at one time the Son , or a part of it, flowed close to the

south of Pan j Pahari an d Patna, past Manpur Bairia an d

M ahaoli . G en eral Cunn in gham has also poin ted out to me

a statement of Patan jali, that P ataliputra was situated on

the Son [A n a S on am P ataliputr‘

am] , whi ch proves that in hi stime it certainly flow ed down this chann el. This is an

importan t link in the'

chain . I have shewn , I believe

con clusively, that the Son flowed down the course I have

in di cated in the body of the report at the time when the

R amayanawas wr itten ; that it con tinued in this cour se at the

period of Buddha’s death ; an d that, at the peri od of the

composition of the M udra R akhshasa, it had begun flowin gdown its presen t bed. It n ow appears that at some inter

mediat e an d so far un determin ed period it began flow in g

down a chan n el which has n ot left man y traces, but whi ch

I take to have been the chan n el foun d by Captain Maxw ell

from Saidabad past N an hatpur , Bikram, an d Phulwari ,and on eastwar ds past M anpur B air ia an d M akaoli . That

it di d n ot long con tin ue in thi s course is attested n ot only

by the absen ce of jh ils alon g thi s lin e, but by the far more

emphatic absen ce of a sin gle importan t place of an tiquity,an d the absen ce of all remain s of an tiqui ty, alon g it . N o

x ii N OTE .

great river like the Son can flow lon g dow n any chan n el

w ithout unavoidably causin g the establishmen t of places of

importance along its banks .

B ut the Chinese records furn ish, most unexpectedly, evi

dence bearin g on the change in the course of the Son

(see Journal A siatic Society, London , 1836, for July an d

A ugust ; also Journal A siatic Society, Ben gal, Vol. VI)A t the close of the year s Kan Yuen (about A . D . 750) the bank

of the r iver H olung gave way an d disappeared.

The Holun g G en eral Cunningham justly con siders as

the G anges .

A t first sight the statemen t seems to have n o bearin g on

the subject un der discussion , n or did I thi n k of it as having

any bearing on the subject till G eneral Cun nin gham poin tedit out to me . It is clear that the mere falling-in of the banks

of a river, large or small, is a thin g of such a common occur

rence, an d so li ttle import, that it could n ot, by any stretch

of the imagination , be considered as of sufficient importance to

be n oted down in an epitome of In dian Hi story, wr itten by a

nation that was so far an d had so little to do with it as

China, an d accordingly the passage long puzzled me by itsapparen t want of purpose . B ut if we remember that the

capital of In dia stood on the bank s of the river, an d that

part of this capital did at some tim e assuredly fall into the

river, the apparen t mystery is instan tly cleared up, an d I

thin k there can remain n o reason able doubt that the solu

tion ofi ered, via , that it refers to the destruction of the city

of Pataliputra by the fallin g-in of the ban ks of the G anges

is the correct and only reasonable on e that can be suggested .

B ut river banks are n ot in the habit of fallin g- in an d

disappearin g wholesale without adequate cause the shift

in g of the embouchures of the great Son or the G an dak w ould

be the on ly causes physically competen t to produce the

catastrophe .

But the embouchure of the G an dak has certainly n ot

N OTE. xiii

appreciably shi fted from Buddha’s time to the present day,

as Vaisali still stan ds on the banks as it did then, only 20

miles above the jun ction ; therefore, the only possible cause

must have been the shiftin g of the embouchure of the Son

suddenly from Fatuha to Maner. I have alr eady shewn in

the body of the report what changes such an event w ould

produce in the course of the G an ges .

It is therefore clear that the chan ge did take place very

shortly before A . D . 750, an d I feel gratified that my in

feren ce regardin g the date of the chan ge, based upon other

an d in depen den t groun ds, is thus un expectedly con firmed.

I must n ot, how ever, omi t to n ote that the statement of

Patan jali that Patna was situated on the Son , coupled w ith

the statemen ts of the G reeks that it was at the confluence of

the G anges an d the Erran oboas, and the actual fact that it is,an d always was, on the Gan ges, seems to settle the question

as to the iden tity of the Son an d the Er ran oboas.

I have also vi sited R aj gir again , an d this time with the

aid of Hw en T hsangFa Hian says, En terin g the valley and skir tin g the

moun tain s alon g their south-eastern slope for a di stan ce of

15 li , we arrive at the hill called G ridharakon ta,”— an d he

then goes on to describe the cave in whi ch Buddha used tosit in profoun d meditation , an d also An an da’s cave. In the

body of my report I have iden tified these with the Son Bhandar

an d the broken cave close to it, N os. 3 an d 41, page 90, text .NOW, how ever, with the aid of Hwen Thsang

’s writin gs, of

whi ch I could n ot then avail myself (the books bein g out ofprin t an d n ot obtain able), but extracts from which have n ow

been kin dly supplied me by G en eral Cunnin gham, I fin d that

those iden tification s are n ot tenable. Followin g FaHian an d

enterin g the valley, one has to skirt the south-eastern foot

of a ran ge of hills ; but as the ran ges which boun d the old

city run n orth-cast an d south -w est, it is clear that on e may

skirt the south-eastern foot of the n orthern ran ge, the on ly

x iv N OTE .

ran ge of which the south-easter n slopes are within the city,in two ways, — fir st, by going south-west and skirtin g the

foot of the portion of the ran ge to the w est of the n orthern

en tran ce ; secon d, by goin g n orth-east and skirtin g the toe of

the ran ge to the east of the en tran ce. I followed the first

route, an d n aturally enough identified the Son Bhan dar an d

the broken cave w ith Buddha’s medi tation cave and Anan da’s

cave : but the extracts from Hw en T hsan g shew that I ought

to have follow ed the secon d route ; this I have n ow don e, an d

am compelled to con sider my previous iden tification s of

these two caves in correct.

My argumen ts against G eneral Cunn in gham’s iden tifica

tion of the Son Bhan dar w ith the S attapanni cave rest on

various groun ds, n ot the least importan t of whi ch ar e those

very iden tification s whi ch I n ow not on ly aban don but con

sider as hopelessly w rong . So lon g as my iden tification s

of these two caves with Buddha’s meditation cave and A nan

da’s cave remain ed un challen ged,my argumen ts again st G en e

ral Cun n in gham’s identifi cation of the Son Bhan dar cave

were absolutely unassailable, for by n o possibili ty could

Buddha’s meditation cave be iden tifi ed w ith the Sattapann i

cave . But the momen t those iden tifi cations are aban don ed

as un ten able, my arguments are at on ce brought down fromthe unassailable in to an assailable position , an d I must leave itto my readers to judge whether the residuum ofmy argumen ts

again st G en eral Cunn in gham’s iden tification Of the Son

Bhan dar cavew ith the Sattapann i cave carry con viction or n ot.

G en eral Cunn in gham an d I separated before en terin gR ajgir , he goin g n orthwards toward s Silao an d Bihar ; butbefore separatin g he gave me the extracts from Hwen Thsangbearin g on the question , an d explain ed to me hi s ideas as to

the position s of the various remain s there n oticed n ear

Buddha’s meditation cave. H ow can I adequately shew my

w orthin ess of n oble confiden ce thus placed in an adversary

but by unhesitatin gly ackn ow ledgin g my error ?

N OTE. X V

The plate""will shew the position s of some of the various

Objects discovered .

G oin g eastward from the N ekpai embankmen t along the

toe of the slope Of the R atn agiri, I soon came upon an em

ban kmen t R . R . which run s across the valley in a south

easterly direction on the right han d, while on the left it

runs up alon g the slope of the hills in a n orth-easterly

direction . The left-han d portion Of the embankmen t does

not go quite across the valley ; it goes on to within a short

distance of the eastern Ban gan ga rivulet, and stops abruptly ;Opposite to it, how ever, on the slopes of the southern range

of hills are lin es of walls, shewin g that, even if the wall

n ever did actually run right across the valley, it was at least

in ten ded to do so .

The left-han d portion goes up alon g the side of the hill

n early parallel to its toe an d crest, crossin g, close to the

an gle of jun ction w ith its south-eastern bran ch, a small drywater-course which descen ds from the Ratnagiri ; some re

main s of walls and platform appear to have on ce existed on

the right or w est edge Of this water-cour se above the crossin g

Of the ramp R . R ., but I cann ot saywhat they represen t .

Con tinuin g alon g the ramp I came at a short di stan ce on

a small heap of ruins on the right-han d side of the ramp at

its edge, an d on the very edge of a tolerably levelled spot on

the slope of the hill the ruin s are Of brick, and I could trace

strai ght walls in the ruin ; this is eviden tly Mr. B roadley’s

small stupa in the very cen tre of the staircase, about 8

feet squar e the remain s may be the remain s of a small

stupa, an d it is eviden t that Mr. Broadley saw more of it

than I did, as he avow s havin g removed numerous figures

from n ear it to Bihar, an d possibly dug a little in to this

moun d also in search of figures . I accordin gly con sider that

the 8 feet square plin th is the square basemen t Of a still

m ai ler stupa : con tinuin g to ascen d, the ramp after some

Plato XXII .

x vi N OTE .

distan ce turn s due n orth, an d skir ts the edge of a deep gorge

betw een the D eva G hat an d Sailagir i hills. Close to the ben d

is a large platform of brick remain s, eviden tly the place of

Mr. B roadley’s secon d stupa, an d a large quan tity of

images, pillars, &c . I could see n othi n g to shew that a

stupa ever existed here, but, perhaps,Mr. Broadley dug it up,an d it has disappeared accordin gly the ramp goes on n orth

wards a short way further on an d then all traces of it cease,

I could not trace it further.

Crossin g now the gorge an d goin g n orth-east, I foun d acave n ear the toe of a hi gh mass of naked rocks which rise

up on the main spur from Sailagiri hill.

The cave is a natural cavern of an irregular shape 12 feet

lon g by 10 feet wide ; it has two en tran ces, on e facing south

w est, the other n orth-west it is situated li terally in the

n orthern shade of the mass of naked rocks just mentioned,whi ch form a peak subordinate to the great peak of Sailagiri ; 20 feet from the n orth-west en tran ce of the cave is alarge rock 30 feet square an d 5 feet thick.

Fifty feet from this cave, to its south-east, an d un der or

wi thin the mass Of rocks whi ch rise up in a peak, is an other

cave, also ir regular in shape .

Both these caves w ere once orn amen ted with a br ick or

plaster lini n g, or rather, I should say, the irregularities ap

pear to have been somewhat reduced by built brick-work an dston e-w ork . Within the first cave are several sculptur es- on e,

a lon gish ston e, an d apparently a fragmen t of a pedestal of

a statue, is ornamen ted below bya lin e of 41-petalled lotuses,

an d over it by a lin e of sculpture represen tin g an elephan t

stan din g facin g a Dharmma Chakra. O n the Opposite side

sits a human figur e, follow ed by a figure like a lion ; thi s againfollowed by a female, a man w ith a stick (9) an d, lastly, ahorse an d rider. There are, besides this sculpture, two others,one represen tin g Buddha seated w ith atten dan ts on the sides

in a fin e-grain ed purple sandston e on the pedestal w ere

https://www.forgottenbooks.com/join

x viii N O TE.

stood several brick buildin gs, amon g whi ch stood a small tope

of nearly 8 feet diameter crow nin g the highest spot . I found

enough of regularly cut an d w edge-shaped bricks to deter

mine the size w ith tolerable accuracy the tops was adorned

w ith mouldin gs, as I foun d several curved w edge- shaped

bricks w ith their outer edge out into simple mouldings, both

straight-lin ed an d curved . I could n ot fin d a sin gle en tire

brick to measure but whatever the lengths may have been,

the breadth was weto 11 inches, an d the thickness varied

from 2} to 3% inches .

One curious brick that I found deserves mention ; its un der

side was hollow ed into a gentle cup- shaped cavity, while the

top side had a square socket hole cut into it, 2 in ches square,immediately over the low er cup- shaped hollow .

Descen din g the ridge on the side opposite to the cave,13. e. , on the east side, to the natural terrace on whi ch the

caves before mentioned are, —are the ruins of some sort of

building of brick . Proceeding n ow in a northerly dir ection

along the foot of the rocky crags ; at a short distan ce, on a

tolerably level rocky terrace above the low er terrace, are

some remains of brick structures, among wh ich I foun d

cur ved bricks similar to those on the high peak n oticed, an d

from these I ascertained that the diameter of the tope which

must have stood here, an d to which n o doubt they belon ged,was also about 8 feet .

These two small topes are accordin gly situated to the

right an d left of a low pass in the craggy ridge through

which people coming up the hillside direct must pass to get

to the caves which are situated on the other side of the ridge .This craggy ridge, which crops up alon g the centre of a

spur from the great peak Sailagir i, runs n orth-east an d south

w est ; it culmi n ates in to a distin ct high peak at its extreme

south-w est end, on whi ch, as noticed, on e of the topes stood,

an d at the foot of w hi ch is what I call Buddha’s medi tation cave ; about 100 feet off is a low er crag, close to

N OTE. x ix

whi ch on a natural terrace is the other tope n oticed before .

Betw een these two emin en ces is the pass which connects

the somewhat level surface of the spur itself on the opposite

sides of the craggy ridge ; the cave which I consider

Buddha’s meditation cave is accordin gly situated in the

northern shade of this craggy ridge .

From Hw en Th san g’s detailed accoun t it does n ot appear

to me that the slopin g ramp or w all R .R . was meant as a

road to these caves,— as n ot only did I fail to trace it up

to the caves, but it does not appear to go anywhere at all ;it stops precisely where the w est side Of the water-cour se,along whose edge it runs for the last 300 feet of its length,becomes steep an d precipitous ; it appears to me accordingly

to be a line of defence, especially when I remember that

w alls in its prolongation exist to thi s day on the slopes an d

ridges Of the southern range of hi lls beyond the Banganga

valley .

The natural ascent to the caves w ould be from somepoin t near Q at the south-east foot of the slope of the main

spur . Although I could see no sign s of a made road, thi s

circum stance ought n ot to have much w eight against the

supposition , w hen w e remember that portion s of massive

w alls, several times larger an d stronger than this road could

ever have been, have effectually di sappeared in places in the

outer lin e of fortification s Of this very city of G ir ivraja ;an d after all, the great road, so much spoken of by the

en thusiastic pilgrim, was in all human probabili ty only a

track-marked out on either side by lines of boulders .

A ssumin g, how ever, that the road di d ascend up from

n ear Q, it w ould necessarily go through the pass, just be

fore reachin g which w ould be the two small stupas to the

right an d left as described by Hw en T hsan g.

Havin g visited the caves, the pilgrim appears to have

gone up towards the peak ; in doing so he w ould necessarily

come upon the various other objec ts which he has described.

XX N OTE

Close to the two caves already n oticed arefive others, allat

the foot of the craggy ridge already men tion ed. Of these,

on e cer tamly en shrin ed a statue, as at the en d of it, in its backwall, exists the remain s O f a small brick-built ni che which

had once certai n ly been ornamen ted w ith sculpture an d

scroll-w ork in plaster, an d from the remain s that exi st Iconclude it had a poin ted or circular top, built, how ever, of

overlappin g bricks ; w ithin this cave appears to have stood

a very small stupa also, as I picked up two curved w edge

shap ed bricks w ithin the cave .

A lon g the fron t of all these caves, and immediately alon g

the edge of the water-course which run s alon g the n orth-w est

toe Of the spur, is built a lon g an d massive revetmen t, an dthe space in fron t of the caves an d betw een the revetment

an d the foot of the craggy ridge appears to have been tosome extent artificially levelled .

G oing on still further are numerous other caves, of no

con sequen ce, an d con tain ing nothin g . N ear these is a lon g

ledge of rock which I take to be the lon g ston e mention ed by

Hw en T h san g over which Buddha used to walk . Close to,

an d almost in thevery bed of, the torrent is a huge flattish

r ock in a slopin g position, which I take to be the rock on

which he dried hi s clothes .

I looked in the bed of the torren t for the brick w ell men

tion ed by Hw en Thsang, but did n ot fin d any. I found, how :

ever, a Spot where the waters rushin g down a miniature fallhave worn away the rock below in to a deep roun d cistern .

N ear the n orth-east end of the craggy outcrop an d

betw een it an d the torren t is a small squarish mound of bri ck

Beyon d the n orth east en d of the craggy outcrop, on the

top of the spur, and at the foot of the steep ascen t of the mainpeak of Sailagiri, is a flat space which eviden tly once wasthe site of some buildin g of ston e ; there lay lots of conven ien t-sized broken rubble, but no bricks .

N OTE.

The main peak of -S ailagir i is crowned by a heap of

bricks, but I could see n othing to shew that a tope stood

here ; the portion n ow ex isting is an Oblong runnin g east

an d w est, 20 feet long an d 15 w ide ; the length could have

been at some period greater, even up to 30 feet , but thew idth could never have been an in ch more than the 15 feet

it is n ow . To have made it w ider w ould have n ecessitated the

buildin g up of gigantic revetments from an immense di stan ce

below , on the side of the hill, whi ch here is so steep that no

foundation for a revetment could have been got w ithout

goin g some 30 or 40 feet dow n where the steepness begin s

to moderate ; that such an imm ense wall could have dis

appeared leavin g n ot a trace is highly improbable .

If the buildin g of which the ruin s exi st on the peak

w ere a Vihar or temple, it must have faced east ; the bricks

are 11 x 15 x 2% inches . I found n ot a sin gle cut stone n or

a sin gle curved or w edge- shaped brick, an d of moulded an d

cut bricks I foun d a very few , an d all Of the same pattern .

Betw een thi s peak an d thenex t peak to its w est is a low

pass defen ded by a wall ; the wall extends just so far on

either si de as is necessary for defensive pui poses, an d is n ot,

as Mr . B roadlev supposes, part of the terrace which “n ow

becomes more broken , but its traces are vi sible up to the


2 R EPOR T or A TOUR

city in course of con struction ,through which he passes, an d

the ferry where he crosses, obtain the names O f the G otamo

gate an d G otamo ferry.

The B armese accoun t, as given by Bishop B igan det, isslightly difier en t (B igan det

’s Life of G an dama, page

Phra summoned again A n anda to his presen ce, an d directed him

to tell the R ahan s to be ready for a voyage, as he desired to go to the

v illage of Patali . When he ar rived at that place, the people prepared

for h im the dzeat’or hall w h ich had been erected by the order of

A dzatathat . I t is in the following year that the same king built the

ci ty of Patalibot, er Pataliputra, on that same spot. In an ticipation

of that even t, Buddha foretold that the village would become a gr eat

ci ty, which w ould obtain a renown ed celebrity among all other cities .

T h ither coun tless merchan ts would resort from all par ts of Dzampoo

dipa. A t the same time, he predicted the great calamities that w ould

befall it. I n tern al discords, fire, an d inundation of the Ganges w ould

gr adually work out its total destruction .

”

T he date of the buildin g of Pataliputra as thus givenin the B armese version is the year of Buddha’s death .

A jatasatru is there stated to have ascen ded the throne in the37th year of Buddha’s public ministration, or eight years before h is n imzain , thus corresponding with Turn our

’s accoun t

in the M ahawan so (page xlvii ) . The era, how ever, used inthe B armese version is called the Eetzan a era ; thi s era isthere stated to have been established by Eetzan a (A n jan a) ,King of D ewaha. A s Buddha was born in the 68th year ofthis era, it is clear that this era was established 67 yearsbefore his birth ; it began on a Sunday, the 1st of the waxin gmoon of the month of Tajoo.

The Eetzan a (A njana) era was done away w ith by Ki n gA jatasatru in its 148th year, an d a n ew era datin g from the

m'

r van of B uddha established . In the thi rd year of this eraVaisali was conquered by A jatasatru.

A jatasatru is stated to have reign ed 35 years, an d diedin the year 25 of the religious era ; but this statemen t mustbe a mistake, for as he ascended the thron e in the 37th yearof Buddha’s min istry, 73. e., eight years before hi s death, an ddied in the 25th year from Buddha’s n ir vdn , he could n othave reigned over 32 years, and this corresponds with thenumber of years assign ed to his reign from Ceylon ese records

,

m’

de Turn our , page xlvii .

A jatasatru was succeeded by four other kin gs of hi s rac e,when the people of Pataliputra are stated to have revoltedan d set up Susinago as kin g in the year 63 of Buddha.

I N T HE BEN G A L PR OVI N CES , 3

This king removed the capital from R ajagriha to Vaisali(B igan det, page

T hat monarch , n ot unmindful of his mother’s or igin , re-established

the city of Wetli ali, and fix ed in it the royal residen ce.

”

H is successor Kalasoka is said to have removed thecapital to P ataliputra.

From Turn our , page xxix, it appears that for some timeat leas t, if not the entire Of Kalasoka

’s reign, the capital con

tinued to be Vaisali . Be thi s as i t may, it is certain thatthe ni ne N andas reigned in Pataliputra, an d that it continuedto be the capital of M agadh a for a lon g but hi therto undetermin ed period .

In Barmah it appears that two differen t eras exi sted besides the religious era datin g from Buddha’s n ir van a . Onelasted years, the last year of that era being equivalentto A . D . 1156 ; the other con sisted of tw o eras succeedin g an d,as it w e1e, replacing each other. The latter of the tw o isstill in use. It began , accordin g to Bishop B igan det, in 639A . D . ; previous to it , an other era had lasted 562 years, butas two years of these two eras overlap, that era may becon sidered to have virtually lasted only 560 yea1 s, makin g itbegin in A . D . 79, an d corresponding to the Indian Saka era.

Thi s,era was establi shed in the religious year 625, or,

deducting the two overlappin g years, in the reli gious year623, w hi ch therefore must correspond w ith A . D . 79 .

Hen ce year 1 A . D ." 545tb year of the religious era, an d

year 1 B . C .: 544th of the reli gious era. Consequen tly the

n irvana of Buddha took place by this calculation in

B . C . 544.

Comparin g the Ceylon an d the B armese versions, an d

ad opting as correct the Ceylon version of A jatasatru havin greign ed 32 yea1s, in stead of the palpably erroneous number35

0

of the B armese accoun t, we fin d that as A jatasati uascended the throne i n the 37th year of Buddha

’sm ini st1y,z. e.

ie ght years before hi s n i rvan, an d consequently i n the year140 of the Eetzan a (A n jana) era, an d he died i n the yeai25 of the religious era, it i s cleai that the total number ofyears of his reign can be 32, on ly on the supposition thatthe 148th year of the A n jana (Eetzan a) era correspon ds tothe year 1 of the religious era, i . e., that there was n o yeai 0O f the reli gious era.

Bishop B igan det has B . C . 543 as the year of Buddha.

’s

n i i van a, but as thei c was n o year 0 A . D , I do n ot see

4 REPOR T or A TOUR

how the year 1 of the religious era, the year of the nirvan aitself, can correspond to anybut B . C . 544.

G eneral Cun ningham places the nir vana of Buddha in477 B . C. ; Turn our adepts 543. It w ere much to bedesired that so M por tan t a date be submitted to the mostrigid scrutiny, an d the causes of the discrepancies, if possible, ascertained, or at least indicated, before its fin al adoption . Further elucidation of this poin t has sin ce appearedin Volume III of G eneral Cunn in gham

’s reports .The classical accounts of P ataliputr a are very meagre .

Strabo, on the authority of Erastosthen es (Volume III, Falcon er

’s an d Hamilton’s Translation s, page states its dis

tance from the mouths of the G an ges at stadia, an d

that the river flow s past P aliboth ra, a very large city(page Further on (page Strabo, describing Pataliputra (it is supposed on the authority of M egasthen es) , statesthat it is situated at the confluence of the G anges an d

another river ; that it is in length 80 stadia, an d in breadth 15 .

It is in the shape of a parallelogram surrounded bya w oodenwall pierced w ith openings through which arrow s may bedischarged. In front is a ditch whi ch serves the purpose ofdefence an d of a sew er for the city .

From Pliny it appears that P aliboth ra was situated 425R oman miles below the jun ction of the G anges

,an d the

Jamn a .

Pataliputra was situated on the right bank of the G anges,an d at the confluence of a large river w ith it . This riverwas named Er ran oboas accordin g to Ar r ian (who had hisintelligence from M egasthen es

’ Journal) , an d w as of thethird degree of magni tude amon g

,Indian rivers, an d in ferior

to n one but the G an ges an d the In dus” (R en n el’s Memo

ran dum,

From all these accounts an d the close resemblance of

name, it is clear that Palibothra an d Pataliputra are identical,an d -indeed at present there is no question about it . B ut it

is by no means quite so clear that theEr r an oboas, the H ir anyanaka, an d the S on are identical ; on the con trary, if thecity Of P aliboth ra stood at the confluence of the G angesan d the Er ran oboas, an d if its site n ow be correctly r epresented by Patna, then it w ould appear that the S on an d

the Er r an oboas are distin ct rivers .Both Pliny an d A r rian mention the Son an d the Erra

n aboas as distinct rivers, an d this objection to their identityis so strong that it has been n oticed by Professor Wilson

1N T HE BEN G A L P R O V I N eEs, 5

(wide hi s Hindu Theatre, Volume II, preface to the MudraR akshasa ; also in T ur n our

’s M ahawan so, preface, appendi x ) .

The position of Patn a as being on, or at least very near,the site of Pataliputra is too w ell established to be shakenby this , an d again st this position the Objection is invalid .

B ut as in the vicin ity of Patna several rivers join an d di d

join the G a n ges, the argument main tain s its full forceagainst the identifi cation of the Erran oboas w ith the S on ;had there been but on e river join i n g the G anges, it w ouldbe clear that the tw o w ere both names of the same river ;as it is, no less than four tributaries join an d did join theG an ges not far from Patna, any one of whi ch, except theSarayu, w ould fulfil the condi tion of havin g its confl uencenear Patna, but one on ly of whi ch at thi s moment rigidlyfulfils the condi tion of havin g its confluence w ith the G an ges,not near, but at Patn a, an d thi s is the G andak .

hI r . R aven shaw (Journal, A siatic Society, volume X IV ,

page 137) has attempted to prove by very plausible argumentsthat the Son an d Erran oboas are identical, an d thefacts on

whi ch he bases his inferen ces are perfectly correct . A w ide,li ght sandy expan se, n ow un der cultivation, may be tracedfr om a poin t near Saidabad viaBikram to N aubatpur, butfrom this place the traces on to Phulwari are n ot those of a

great river li ke the Son, as M r . R aven shaw supposes, but ofa small stream ; an d so far from Bankipur havin g once beenthe bed of the mighty Son, thr ee miles in w idth , there is themost in dubitable evidence of its never havin g w ithin hi storicaltim es been the bed O f any river even of ordin ary magn i t ude .

A short tim e ago, on the occasion of a w ell bein g dug in theBan kipur Jail, stiff clay an d kankar w ere foun d down to adepth of 44 feet from the presen t surface . A second w ell,sunk at a village named Sipara on the Patn a branch road,about on e an d a half miles south of Bank ipur, an d whi ch on

referen ce to the map will be foun d to be almost in the middleof the so- called bed of the Son ,

had to be abandon ed, as

water had n ot been reached at a depth of about 35 feet .The site of Bankipur itself is indeed on e of the highest

poin ts in the di strict, and this may be most easily verifiedby Observi n g the heights of the railway embankments fromPatna to the present Son Bridge so isDinapur ; and thi s mayin deed have been in ferred from the very circum stance of

these sites havin g been chosen for the British civil an d

mili tary stations in the district . N ot merely, how ever, are

these two points high, but the whole country betw een, an d


also for most part of the distan ce betw een Patn a an d Banki

pur , is remarkably high, as proved by the railway embankments

, an d not a single bridge of large size occur s in theentire distance betw een Dinapur an d Patna.

A nother very stron g proof is, that the outfall of theEastern Son Can al, n ow in course of excavation , passesbetw een Bankipur an d Dinapur . A s thi s can al is meant forpurposes of irrigation , it necessarily goes alon g the highestgroun d, thus clearly demonstratin g that no large river likethe Son could w ithin historical times have flow ed betw eenPatna an d Din apur .

The facts on which Mr . R aven shaw’s theory have been

built are very slen der ; on e of h is bases is R en n ell’s statemen t

thatthe an cien t bed of the S on is yet traceable on the south of Patn a, and

seems to have led in to the G anges n ear Fatuha.

Thi s statemen t of R enn ell’s is perfectly correct, but

Fatuha is nearly 15 mi les from Bankipur low er down theG an ges, an d the O ld bed Of the S on which R ennell alludes tois evidently the Punpun river, 7 miles south of Bankipur.Mr. R aven shaw further states that Lieuten an t Maxwell O ftheA rtillerywas successful in clearly tracing the old bed from a poin t on the Son

near S aidabad (about 18 miles above M an er , the presen t jun ction of the

S on and the G anges) via'

B ikram,N aubatpur , Phulwar i, an d M ithapur

to Bankipur , where it appears to have join ed the G anges about 200yardswest from the G olah .

”

The G olah referred to is on e of the hi ghest spots in Bankipur , an d an examin ation of the stratification of the riverban ks, whi ch here fr equen tly stand in high cliffs, show sclearly that n o large river j oin ed the G an ges near thi s point .

The eviden ce of the w ell in the Bankipur Jail show s that itcould not have been at that spot, so that if ever the S on j oin edthe G an ges at Bankipur, it must have don e so between theG olah an d the Jail. It is needless to add that the mi ghty Soncould never have been con fin ed betw een these limits

,espe

ciallyat its delta.

Havin g thus disposed of Mr. R aven shaw’s iden tification,hitherto gen erally accepted to

"

such an exten t that evenG en eral Cun n in gham considers the Son to represen t theG reek Erran oboas, it w ill n ot be un i n teresting if I makesome suggestion s as to the old course of the Son ,

so far asI can from my ow n personal observation s, as sisted by in formation an d opinion s derived from other professional en gin eers .

i N THE BEN G A L PR OVIN CES , 1872-73 7

To show that my Opini on is fairly entitled to some con sideration, I may men tion that for a year an d half I was

employed as an en gineer in the Patna, G aya, an d Bihar distr icts, an d consequently have had opportun ities of makingmyself acquain ted wi th the en gin eerin g features of thec ountry . A ccordi n g to my observation s then made

, an dinformation from competent authority, I consider that at someremote period the S on flow ed in a south-east course from thepresent village of T ararh n ear Daudn agar, passin g close to thevi llages of R ampur-Chai an d Kayal, an d n ot far fr om thegreat plai n (Taur ) of D eokun d or D eokur h , as it is indiscriminately pron oun ced by the people . T ar cir k or T ar ci r ah

in Hin dustani mean s the high bank of a river, an d the nameclearly refers to the village

'

havin g on ce been on the highbanks of a river . Immediately close to Taré’trh an d betw eenit an d Daudn agar, recen t excavations an d w orks for the SonCanal have proved the country to have been once the bed ofa great river ; extens ive pieces of water still exist

,both at

Chai an d at Kayal, the remain s probably of the old S on . A t

D eokun d an annual fair or mela is held . From Kayal Iconsider it probable that the Son con tinued in a north- eastdirection , enterin g the bed of the present Punpun at thevillage of Son -B hadr .

Son-B hadr is a great place of pilgrimage, an d althoughthe village of Son-B hadr is n ot n ow a place of pilgrimage,I have ascertain ed by long an d patient enqui ry fr om variouspeople that Son -B hadr is the n ame given to the for d or

fer ry wher e p i lgr ims to G ag/a (from the w est) have to cr oss

the S on the n ame is now applied to a part of the Son n ear thepresen t G rand Trun k R oad, where pilgrims halt to bathe,an d make offerin gs to the p itr is, an d thi s offerin g here iscons idered the first or in itiatory step to the fulfilmen t of thepilgrimage to G aya. The present Son -B hadr is n ot enteredin the best map extan t, as it is n ot n ow a mouzah but merelya gkdt but the Son-B hadr village alluded to above is anactual village situated on the banks of the Pun pun .

" I cannot give the etymology of the name w ith certainty, but Ithink it not improbable that it is derived from the w ords S anaan d B hadr a , mean in g the

“auspicious Son a.

”S an a means

“ red,to become red,

”an d the name mayoriginally have been

I con clude, therefor e, that the Vllld gt‘ owes i ts n ame to havin g Sprun g up at the

site of the O ld crossing of the S on , an d has naturally I t' lzl l llod l i \ n ame even though the

place i s no longc i‘ the crossing used . T he moder n crossing In n ing come i n to use 811100 the

ex isten ce of the v illage on its banks, the V i llage naturally i etmm i ts old name. an d themoss

ing alone is called Son -Bhadr .


applied to the Son from the circumstan ce that at some partsof its course the waters of the Son appear to be tin ged red .

Thi s is the popular belief at thi s day, an d the correctness ofthi s belief has been vouched for by n ative pilgrim travellers,an d has been doubtless handed down by tradition from theearliest tim es, for we have in the R amayan a (G r ifiith

’

Tran slation Vol. IV, Book IV, Canto X L , page

A nd S ona’e waters sw ift and stron

'

g,With ruddybillows foam along.

”

Sin ce writing this, I have had an opportun ity of testin g thecorrectn ess of the n ative tradi tion . The Son rises in thehi ghlands of Amarkan tak, an d flow s through a coun trypossessin g a reddish gravelly soil. I n the floods the rivern ecessarily brin gs down large volum es of the red dust an d

san d, whi ch it deposits in the deeper pools . I n the cold seas onthi s deposit, seen thr ough the clear waters, gives a distin cttin ge of r ed to the water— see my report for 1873-74.

From S on -B hadr , the Son in olden times appears to haveflowed in what is n ow the bed of the Pun pun as far as Sigori ,a small vi llage close to the Punpun n ear Chandhos Buzurg,where an annual fair is held an d offerin gs to the p i tr is madeby numerous pilgrims as at Son -B hadr and G aya. From hereit, or at least a bran ch, appears to have taken a course dueeast, crossin g over from the bed of the presen t Pun pun riverto the bed of the presen t Mur har river. The coun try at an dfor several miles about this plac e, an d betw een these tworivers, show s the unmistakeable traces of havin g once beenthe bed of a mighty river, much mightier than the Pun punfrom here it flowed in the bed of the presen t Murhar rivertill it finally join ed the G anges at Fatuha.

I n parts of the bed of the Murhar river, and on its bank sfor some di stan ce in lan d, are foun d roun ded pebbles

,pre.

cisely similar to the w ell-kn own pebbles of the Son .So

close is the resemblan ce, that it has struck every on e whohas given any thought to it . N ative tradi tion

, un able toac count for the appearan ce of these remarkable pebbles. in theMurhar, has placed faith in a silly story, which relates thaton a certain occasion , when the marriage procession of a

ban iya was passin g, there w ere man y guests an d much pomp,

and food con sistin g of un baked dough ready rolled in toballs an d flattish cakes was abun dan tly provided for theguests, to be baked and distributed at their halting plac e ,A fakir w en t up and begged as alms a share of it ; i n reply


10 R EPOR T OF A TOUR

T his fer tile spot whereon we stand,Was on ce the high

-scaled Vasa’s land.

Behold as round we tur n our eyes,

Five loftymoun tain peaks ar ise.

”(G r iff. R fim., I, p.

Clearly show in g that from the ban ks of the Son where theyrested, the R ajgir mountain s w ere visible . From no partof the banks of the present cour se of the Son are the R ajgirhills visible ; n either are they visible from Patn a ; but fromthe poin t where I have indicated the Son to have entered thebed of the presen t Murhar river, the moun tains of R ajgirar e visible an d con tinue Visible for a good distance downcertainly down to w here the Murhar crosses the Patnabranch road .

(G riff. R am ., Vol. I, page I n the morn in gR amaasks

H ere fair an d deep the S ona flows,A nd many an isle its bosom show s .

What way, 0 sain t, w ill lead us o’er

,

A n d land us on the further shore?”

To which Viswamitra replies,T he way I choose,I s that which pious hermits use.

A n d crossing the Son, they reach the banks of the Gan gesthat eveni ng, show ing clearly that the road from V iswa

mitra’s hermitage to Vaisali crossed the S on . N ext daycrossin g the G anges, they go to Vaisali .The poin t where R ama crossed the G anges to go to

Vaisali an d on to M ith ila is w ell kn own tradition ally it is atthe junction of the G anges an d the G an dak, an d is known asR ambhadr ; an d as the old high road from Vaisali southwardscrossed the G anges here, as proved by Buddhist wri tings (seesup r a on the foundation of Patn a) , the tradition which associates Rambhadr w ith R ama’s j ourn ey is coun tenanced.

R amatherefore crossed the G anges at Patn a. A glan ce atthe map w ill show that if the S on flow ed then in thecourse it follow s n ow , Rama could n ot only not have seen

the R dj gir hi llsfr om i ts banks, but could have got to Patna(then n ot in existen ce) w ithout crossing the Son ,

for, as he

w ith Viswam itra journeyed n or thwar ds to Vaisali , they musthave started from a poin t south or nearly south of Patna,an d con sequently on the eastern banks of the Son , an d theirroute to Vaisali w ould n ot have crossed the Son at all ; an deven if we adopt Mr . R aven shaw ’

s lin e of the old Son , Rama

I N THE BEN G A L PR OV I N CES , 187:2- 73 11

n ot only w ould have got to Patna w ithout crossing the Son,

but could n ot have seen the R ajgir hills from any point oni ts banks. The course suggested by me, how ever, fulfils allthe con ditions .It may n ot be ami ss to note that the marches of R ama

on this occas ion, as detailed in the R amayana, ar e such as

could easily have been accompli shed . The di stance fromA yodhya. to the jun ction of the Sarayu an d the G an ges is170 miles taken in a straight lin e ; but there are strongreason s for supposin g that, in ancient times , the Sarayu join edthe G an ges hi gher up, whi ch w ould reduce the di stance .How ever thatmay be, 170miles in two days is n o impossibleor improbable feat, if w e suppose , as suppose we must, thatthe kin g’s son did n ot wa lk on foot the whole of the way,but rode . Then ce to V iswami tra’s hermitage is only a day’sjour ney, for though it took R ama two days to do it, mostpart of on e day was consumed in fighting wi th Tadaka, an d

they reached the place on the second day in time for V iswami tra to begin the ini tiatory rites that

‘

very day. (G riff . R am . ,

V ol. I, pageB eg in , 0 best of sain ts, we pray.

I n itiatory r ites to-day.

T hen thus addressed the holyman ,

T he veryglor ious sage began

T he high prelim in ary r ite.

”

O n the return journ ey, how ever, R ama an d V iswamitra

w ere accompan ied by several of V iswami tra’s pupils an d holy

old an chorites— men who from age or w eakn ess could not besupposed to sustain much fatigue . We fin d n ow that on thethird day after startin g from the hermi tage, R ama travelledonly 26 miles or so, via , from the G an ges crossing , to Vaisali ,two w ell-kn own an d fixed points ; thi s is perfectly n atural.A ssumin g n ow that R ama travelled at thi s rate the two previon s days also, an d w orking backwards, w e shall obtain forhi s haltin g place, on the first day, the very poin t on the bank sof the old Son when ce the R ajgir hills fir st become visible,as I have poin ted out before an d for the site of V iswa

mitra’s hermi tage, some poin t 25 miles or 30 miles at most,south, or near ly south, from the first day’s haltin g poin t onthe suggested banks of the old course of the Son . This di stance w ill brin g us alm ost exactly to D eokun d or Deokar, aplace where, as noticed above, an annual fair or mela isheld , an d which is held in great veneration .

The n ame of V iswamitra’s hermi tage I fin d to have

12 R EPOR T O F A TOUR

been S iddha'

sr amw, which G riffith has tran slated in his

R amayan a as the perfect hermitage .” It is remarkablethat close to D eokun d, on the banks of the Punpun river, is avillage n amed S iddhrampur . So stron g a similarity ofn ames, combin ed w ith such close iden tity in position ,

justifies the in feren ce that this is the position of V iswamitra

’s

hermitage . A t all events, the place is clearly somewherebetween it an d D eokun d, where the mela is held .

R evertin g n ow to the journ ey of R amafrom A yodhya tothe confluen ce of the Sarayu an d the G an ges, w e fin d that,assumin g it to have had its junction in those days where ithas n ow , Ramatravelled about 75 miles daily ; but, as statedbefore, this distan ce must be dimin i shed if, as is probable, thejun ction was hi gher up . The di stance fromV iswamitra’s hermitage at S iddhrampur to the G anges is actually about 70miles, of which only a small portion was travelled on the firstday, when Tadaka was killed in the great forest. It is remarkable that just about 50 miles from D eokun d an d 20

from the G an ges, n ear Bihia station , an exten sive forest stillexists, which may accordingly, w ith great plausibility, beiden tified With the Tadakaforest .The on ly link wanting to complete the chain of eviden ce

regardin g the iden tifications proposed, is the wan t of allmen tion of the crossing of the Son before reachin g V iswamitra’s hermitage . This may be merely due to there bein gn othin g remarkable about it w orth noting or n eedi n g mention .

Let us see n ow what light the Mahabharata throw s on theO ld course of the Son (Sabha Parva, chap . 20, ver. 24et seq.)

T hey, Kr ishn a, A rjuna an d B hima Sen a, departing from Kurndeca

an d passing through Kuruj angala, ar r ived at the beautifulP admasar ovara

(or lotus lake) ; then passin g beyon d (or surmoun ting) Kalakuta, and

gradually crossing the everflow ing G andaki, Carkaravar tta (stony bedded), and a moun tain tor ren t, pr oceeded . Crossing thepleasing S arayu,and seeing the whole of the eastern Koealadesa, theymarched throughM ith ila and M alla and crossed the Cbarman vati r iver then crossing theG anges and the S on a, these three brave men of unwear ied courage,clothed in cloth of the Kusa g rass, turn ing eastwards, arr ived at theboundary of the M agadha kingdom .

The above extract first states that the Pan dava brothersw ith Krishna crossed the G andak an d the Carkaravarttaan d a moun tain stream . The next passage states in greaterdetail what they did. Crossin g the Sarayu,

they saw EasternKoeala, then they saw M ithila an d Malla. N O doubt this is

IN T HE BEN G A L PR OV I N CES , 1872- 73 13

a very roun dabout w ay of going from Indraprastha toR ajagriha, but w e must n ot lose sight Of the object w ithw hich they w ent ; this w as n o less than the death of the

great R aja Jarasan dha, an d it is only reasonable that,instead of going madly to certain destruction, as they w ouldhad they gone direct an d unsupported, they should first visitthe neighbourin g princes of East K ogala an d M ith ila in orderto obtain their assistance an d support . Hence there is notonly nothin g improbable in their going c id East Kogala an d

M ithila to R ajagriha, but it was the com'

se indicated bysound policy .

So far w e have traced their course to M ithila ; next wefin d them going from M ith ila to R ajagriha ; in doin g so, w esee they cross the G anges an d the Sona. To un derstand theirroute, let us turn to Hw en T hsan g

’s route long years after

wards . He w ent from Vaisali near the G andak to M ith ila,then to Lalita Patan, an d returned by the sam e route toVaisali in order to go to Patna an d R ajagriha. Hw enT h san g

’s route leads clearly to the inference that the usual

road from M ithila to R ajagriha w ent r id Vaisali an d Patna ;thi s is rather a detour, but roads then w ere neither numerous nor w ell, if at all, looked after. The Pandavas, then, ingoin g from M ithila to R ajagriha, evidently follow ed thesame route, doubtless for simi lar reasons . Therefore theycrossed the G anges at Patna, which w e certainly know was

a w ell-kn own crossing as early as the time of R ama, an d

contin ued so to the time of Buddha, w hen the city was n otin existen ce, an d down to the present day.

Havin g crossed the G anges at Patna, they are represen ted as crossing the Son to go to R ajagr iha ; this clearly show sthat the Son then flow ed betw een Patna an d R ajagriha,that is, in the course I have indi cated before .The mention here of the Charman vati , usually identified

wi th the Chambal, is very puzzling . It certainly cannotmean the Chambal ; an d I can only suppose the nam e to have

got in either by mistake, or as bein g the name of some on eof the small streams n ear M ith ila . The absence of all qualifying epithet for it, as in the case of the G andaki an d theSaray u, tends to favour the last supposition .

While, how ever, I suggest w hat appears to me to havebeen the course of the Son at the time when the R amayanaan d Mahabharata were wr itten, I must not omit to mentionthat the shi fting of the S on w estwards is n ot what w ouldhave been expected con sidering the gen eral lie or declivitv

14. R EPOR T OF A TOUR

of the coun try . This declivity appears to be i n a n orth-eastdirection , for the area extends in len gth from Patna toL akhiserai, an d in breadth about 30 miles south of an d

parallel to the G anges . Withi n thi s limi t the various rivers,but most especially those in the vicini ty of Bihar, have for a

lon g time past shown a decided ten dency to w ork eastwards,so much so, that artificial cuts, inten ded for irrigation , takenfrom the right or east bank of the various rivers, have inalmost all cases enlarged beyon d con trol, absorbin g theentire discharge dur ing the rain s, allow in g but a small portion of the flood discharge to pass down the n atural old

beds . The result of this state of things has in several instancesproved doubly disastrous : lst, by depriving the tracts alon gthe w est banks of the n atural water-courses of their fairsupply of water ; an d, 2n d ly, sen ding an excessive volumedown the artificial irrigation chan nels, to the destruction of

the crops on their bank s an d of the banks themselves, thusentailin g perman en t loss of valuable land . When employedas an en gineer in the district, I devoted much atten tion tothe remedyin g of these evils, but I was too soon removed,an d my schemes, approved of then , have n ot sin ce receivedattention .

In depen dent of this ten dency of the rivers to work eastwards, the diurnal rotation of the earth must tend to throwthe water of all rivers flow ing from the equator towards thepoles of the earth against the right or east banks, an d

although the amount of the force thus brought to bear again stthe right bank s is very min ute, it is constantly at w ork . I nobedi en ce to both these ten dencies, so far from expectin g theSon to have w orked w estwards, we should expect it to w orkeastwards ; but so many differen t circumstances ar e capableof producin g an opposite result, that it n eed excite n ow onderto fin d the Son w orkin g w estwards, an d I have no doubt thatif sufficient time an d attention could be bestow ed on thesubject, the cause w hi ch in the particular instance of theSon did produce the results as they ex i st could be defin itelyascertain ed .

I must also n otice a remarkable fact observed by G en eral Cun ni ngham an d communicated to me

,that the surface

of the country in man y parts of the district of A rrah is frequen tly composed of sand of the Son an d n ot of the G an ges,tendin g thus to show that at on e time the Son had flow edw est of its presen t course . Too little, how ever, of facts, as

regards the determination of this poin t, has hitherto been

I N T H E BEN G A L PR OVI N CES , 1872-73. 15

obse1ved to war ran t an y Opin i ons bein g defin i tely formed onthe subject . I merely notice it as a remarkable fact, whichmay at a futur e period prove valuable . In connection wi ththis poin t, I n otice, as suggested by G en eral Cunn in gham,

that the name of the river whi ch n ow flow s imm ediatelyw est of A rrah is Ba ;nas the Sanscrit P arn aca an d Parnavaha could very w ell have been con verted by the G reeks toErranoboas .

I notice also, as suggested by G eneral Cun n in gham,the

close connection between the n am e of the river an d of

B anasur , who figures so lai gely in the legends of A rrah ,

which G en eral Co

un n in gham has lately proved by mgeni ousan d convin cin g arguments to be the famous Eka Chakraof the Mahabhar ata, an d the Al ow of Buddh ist wr itin gs .The n ame Erran oboas , how ever, as appli ed to the river w hoseconfluen ce w ith the G anges was at Pataliputr a, could n ot

have been appli ed to any except the G andak, as will beshown fur ther on .

That a great volume of the waters of Son on ce flow eddown the B anas appears from the Mahabharata (Sabha Parva,chap . 9) describin g the assembly of Varun a. There w e fin d,among the r ivers mentioned, the “ M ahan ada Sona,

”an d

the Mahanadi Parnaga . The dr ain age basin of the Ban asbein g too small, even by any possibility, to procu1 e for theriver drain in g it alone the title of Mahanadi” or greatriver, it is clear that it must have dei ived the great volum eof water whi ch, flowin g down it, could alone have procur edfor it the title of great, from the Sona, w hi ch to this day com

mun i cates w ith it . A great par t of the Son then must, atthe tim e of the Mahabharata, have flow ed down the presen tBanas river, though the Son no longer sends any greatvolume of water down it .

It has been shown that at on e period the Son flow ed eastof its presen t cour se down the bed of the Pun pun river,j oin in g the Gan ges at Fatuha. It has fur ther been shownthat this was its cour se when the R amayana was wr itten .

It n ow remain s to trace the chan ges in its course at otherdifferen t tim es .

I n the Buddhi st w ritin gs it is stated that the vessel w ithwhi ch the reli cs of Buddha w ere measured out, after h iscremation , wwas retai n ed by the Bra hman , w ho erected a

stupa over it on the ban ks of a river. T he Bra hman i s in

the B armese accoun t n amed Dan n a, but from other sourcesit appears that the vessel used in the division of the relics


was a D ron a measure, an d this is doubtless the correct versionof the legend . Be this as it may, a snip er was erected overit by a private individual, an d that individual a Brahman .

What the Drona measure was exactly, it is n ow di ffi cult toascertain, but that it certainly was a very small measure canbe seen at once from the Mahabharata (A di Parva, 11thsection ,

entitled Chaitraratha, 2n d chapter, ath couplet) , inwhich the birth of Drona, the son of B haradwaja, is detailed.

Decency compels me n ot to insert the passage .

I pause a moment to remark that from this account itappears clear that certainly at this period no great ill-feelin gappears to have existed between Brahmans an d Buddhists ;a great deal has been said regarding the ill-feeling betw eenthem ; an d Brahmans are said to have burned the templesan d hunted the Buddhist priests w ith malignant hatred,an d the discovery of charred remains in the course of excavations at Sarnath has w ithout due consideration been takenas evidence that the w ork of destruction w as perpetrated byBrahman s . B ut I desire to point out that the very fact ofvictuals, ready-dressed, an d un eaten, found in the sarnathruins, is the strongest proof that the attack on the monaster ies was most sudden, an d I subm it that an attac k of sucha sudden nature could n ot have been planned by the Brahmans of the place . Buddhist monasteries are w ell know nto contain usually several hundreds of monks, and such a

monastery as that at sarnath was least likely to have thefew est number of occupants . To attack an d burn it succesfully w ould need a large force w ell armed, an d it w ould beno easy task for a mob, suddenly roused as in populartumults, to attack an d sack the great monastery We musttherefore look to other agents for the destruction of thosemonasteries . Those agents are not difficult to ascertain .

I quote Elliott’s India, Vol. II, page 113 describin g theexploits of A hmad Nialtigin , G en eral of Masaud ; the authorof the Tar ikha Subuktigin says

H e crossed the r ive1 G auges and wen t dow n the left bank un ex

pectedly he a11ived atb

a. citywh ich i s called Ba11a1as,a11d w hich

belonged to the te1r itory of G ang . N ever had a M uhammadan a1my1eached th is place. T he city was two pa1asa11gs squai e, and con tain ed

plen ty of water . The army could on ly remain f1orn mow ing to middav p1aye1 , because of the pe1il. T he ma1kets of the di apei s, pe1fume1san d jewellei s w e1e plundei ed, but it was impossible to do mo1e. T he

people of the a1my became 1ich, fo1 they all ca11ied off gold, silve1, per

fumes and jewels,and got back in safety.

”



brick, about 35 or 410 feet in diameter, an d a maximumheight of about 20feet above the country . It is built entirelyOf large bricks set in mud the bricks measure 12 in ches bymore than 14 in ches, are all set in fin e mud cement, an d are

all horizontal. In the centre, at the top of the mound, asquare socket-hole appears to have existed, one side of whichan d part of a second still exist entire . It was about 18inches square . Close to thi s mound, an d almost touchingit, are several others, oblong an d roun d, but smaller ; theseare also all of brick, but the bricks are not set in solid evenlayers, as in the prin cipal mound ; they are ir regular, an dthe mounds appear to be merely the ruins of structures,temples probably .

The main moun d is clearly a stupa, as eviden ced n ot onlyby the even hor izon tal lager s of br ie/cs solidly comp osing i t,but, as if to obviate all chan ce of mi scon ception, part of thesocket-hole i tself, where no doubt the tee, or umbrella,was set up, sti ll ex ists . From the size of the bricks

, an d stillfur ther from the proportion of height of the stupa to its diameter, accordin g to the law discovered by G eneral Cunn ingham , there can be no doubt that it is one of the earli est yetdi scovered . That the low height as compared wi th the base isnot due to the destruction of the upper courses

, is proved bythe hole at the summit still existing . I accordingly identifyth is stupa w ith that erected over the vessel w ith w hichBuddha’s relics w ere measured .

The name of the village is B hagwan gan j, an d rememberin g that the stupa w as built by a Brahman, this name is veryappropriate,— that is, the name is as old as the stupa. Thisstupa accordingly w ould date to the 6th cen tury before Christ .Let us n ow see how the position thus assigned to the

Dron a stupa w ill agree w ith Hwen Th sang’s subsequent

route to Vaisali . He w ent in a n orth-east direction , 23 or

25 miles from the stupa, to Vaisali (Cunn ingham, G eog .

A n c . Ind ., p . an d he cr ossed the G anges on the r oad .

G eneral Cunningham suggests that the G anges is a mistakefor the G andak, but in goin g from the asylum as just iden tified byme to Vaisali , he must have crossed the G an ges ; thedir ection, too, is correct enough, but the distance is 25 milesto the G anges, an d n ot to Vaisali , an d another 25 milesto Vaisali . I consider, therefore, that the di stance given byH wen T hsan g refers to the di stan ce from the asylum s tiipa

to the G anges, which having been cr ossed, he proceeded toV aisali (an other 25 miles) .

I N T HE BEN GA L PR OVI N CES , 1372-73.19

Since the fo1egoin g w as w ritten, G en e1a1Cunningham hassen t me a li tei al 1en de1in g of the passage Of Hw en T h san gin question . H is w 01ds a1e, on pa1ting from this kingdomhe crossed the G anges to the north -east, made f1om 140to 150Ii

, an d arrived at the kingdom of Vaisali .” Clearly the 140

or 150 ll refers to the distance of Vaisali from the G anges ;an d so the accordance w ith my view s is pei fect .

N ot far f1om the stupa flow s the Punpun 1 ive1 . Alongits bank s, at about miles f1om B hagwan gan j, n ea1 a smallvillage , me the remains of a stone an d b1 ick temple about40 feet square : only a par t of the basement of the temple,marked by a line of moulded stones, exi sts the stone isgran ite roughly dressed into a plain moulding .

A mi le or mi le an d a half fur ther north along the Pun

pun is a large mound about 415 feet square an d 25 feet high .

Thi s w as once a temple . The bricks in all these are Of largesize, an d the cement used mud ; but in the last, along w iththe large bricks, small ones also are n ow found, an d remain sof lim e an d mortar the positions of the smaller bricks, however, are such as clearly to show that they did not enter in tothe construction of the original temple . A few mi sshapenstones an d fragments n ow occupy the summ it of the mound,an d are devoutly w orshipped by hbation s of mi lk an d offerin gs by the Muhamm adans of the adjacent village Bihta.

(Thi s is n ot the Bihta on the East Indian R ailw ay whichG eneral C imn ingham commi ssioned me to examine, as statedin h is R eport, Vol. III, but quite another village about 25miles south of it .)Tradition ascribes these moun ds an d others too numerous

to detail (all, how ever, close about this spot) to a M uham

madan saint named Makhdum S fth ; an d , absur d as it mayappear, the mounds at Bihta an d B hagwan gan j are bothsaid to be hi s tombs or dargahs, while all the other moundsar e his asthan s .

I should have excavated the mound at B hagwangan j butfor the cir cum stance that the people w ould n ot hear O f th emound of the dargah of their sain t bein g dug into, an d

although I noticed an d pointed out holes in the sides of themain mound where bricks had been dug an d carried away,it did n ot in anywaymake the people mo1e favou1able to mydesign s, an d I was forced to be content w ith noticing theex ter io1 so far as I could, an d the portions of in ter iO 1Pdi sclosed by the holes ah eadydug ln the sides .

N othin g could be more complete and convin cin g than the


eviden ce thus furnished by the exi stence of thi s stfipa, ofthe course of the Son , at the time it was built . A lthough theBuddhist accoun ts do n ot name the river on whose bank sthe stupa was built, there can be no doubt it w as a largeriver to deserve mention at all. The Punpun is a small r 1verwhich di scharges a small sluggish stream at all season s exceptthe rains, w hen it is sw elled to a great size by rain an d bythe spill-w aters of the Son (which breaking through theembanked road n ow runn ing along its eastern bank s, an dpouring through the openings left in it, sends part of its sp1llw aters dow n its O ld bed to this day) , an d w ould hardly havedeserved mention at all in the meagre account (if a baremention can be so called) which the Buddhi st w ritin gsfurni sh of the stupa over the measuring vessel.

It appears then that from un known antiqui ty down tothe period of Buddha’s nirvana, the Son flowed in the chan n elI have indicated, j oining the G an ges at Fatuha.

M t us n ow attempt to trace its subsequent chan ges .In A . D . 630 to 640, when Hw en Th san g visited Indi a, he

w en t to the stupa built over the measuring vessel, whi ch wason the banks of a river . A s he does not mention havin gcrossed a river, it appears n ot unreasonable to in fer that nolarge river intervened betw een A rrah an d the stupa . A gainstthis supposition, how ever, is the circumstance that he does notmention crossing any large rivers, except the L ilajan , on

h is way from Patna to G aya, so that his silen ce leaves thepoint undecided.

The next men tion of the Son is in the Mudra R akh shasa,Wilson’s Hindu Theatre, where the son an d successor of

the King of the Mountains, leading an army again st Pataliputra, says

Then let us march, our mighty elephan tsS hall drink the S on

’s dark waves, an d echo back

T he roar ing of its water s spread through the grovesT hat shade its border ing fields inten ser gloomA nd faster than the un dermin ing torren tH url its high banks in to the boiling stream.

T hen rolling on wards like a lin e of cloudsT hat girts in r ain an d thunder Vindhya

’s peaks

En viron w ith por ten tious storm the cityA nd lay its proud walls level with the ground.

From this passage it is clear that the Son then flow edto the w est of Patn a, an d had to be crossed before an invad

I N T HE BEN G A L PR OV I N CES , 1872-73 . 21

in g army from the west or n orth-w est could attack Patn a.

B ut beyond this Obvious inference there is another veryimportan t one . The passage describes the S on as a roarin gtorrent confined by high banks, which it was undermin ing bythe fi erce rapidity of its cur rent— a description which is quiteat variance w ith the character of the Son at the presentday. N ow , the S on in the cold season, the field season inInd1a is a very peaceful broad stream, as difl eren t from theroarin g torren t as it is possible to be an d even in the rains,except in rare floods an d at particular parts, it is a mightystream, but not a roaring an d boiling torrent . The descr iption of the Son refers to the month of October or N ovember ;for MalayaK etu, the young Mountain King, is represented asgiving vent to his hopes an d j oyful feelings at the apparentquarrel betw een Chandragupta, the K ing of Patna, an d

Chan akya, hi s mini ster . Thi s quarrel took place on the dayO f full moon of autumn , on which for some festival the cityhad to be decorated . ( Vide Wilson

’s Hin du Theatre, II,

B elow is G anga by the autumn led

Fondly impatien t to her ocean lord .

A n d again

What,ho"Warders of the S usanya palace, pr epare the apar t

men ts for the reception of H is M ajesty,who is coming h ither to V iew

from the lofty tur rets, the city decorated as suits the festival of the

autumnal/”

all moon .

”

The only great festival held on a full moon in autumn isin the full moon of Kartik , which falls in October or

N ovember, an d at this tim e n either the Son n or other Indianrivers are in hi gh flood .

The description, therefore, M plies that at that time theSon was n ot flowing tran qui l in a w ide sandy bed, but in a

narrow channel w ith hi gh banks— circumstances which, takenin con n ection w ith the fact of the S on having had a differentcourse before, clearly indicate the channel spoken of havin gon ly recently become the bed of the Son .

It might be argued that as the Mudra R akshasa describes events happen ing in the reign of Chan dragupta, thechan ge in the course of the Son must have taken placeshortly before, an d con sequently that Hwen Thsan g musthave foun d the Son runn in g in its present channel. T o thisthe an sw er is very simple . The leadin g incidents on w hichthe play has been based w ere han ded down by tradition , or,

22 REPOR T O F A TOUR

perhaps, in the form of a brief summary ; while the detailshave all been added by the author of the play, who, as Professor Wilson conjectures, lived about the time of the M u

hammadan in vasion s . N aturally, in composing the details,the author would be guided by the exi stin g featur es of thecountry w henever they entered into the plot ; precisely as,

in ascribing fabulous antiquity to various person ages, theHindus have yet recorded their birth, or some great actionof their s, as having taken place under certain conjunctionsan d positions of the heavenly bodies which could not havetaken place at the time indicated, but which doubtless tookplace at the time the book describin g the even t was composed . Thi s furnishes a means of arriving at a rough approximation of the dates of various compositions, an d it hasere n ow been largely made use of by many writers thoughnot always used w ith the necessary caution , the methodis un ex ceptionable . In the present instance, had any hintbeen conveyed in the play , or elsewhere, that it w as an adaptation of a w ritten record in exi stence before, I should havehad to examine carefully whether such pre- exi sting accountwas or was n ot likely to describe transactions in such detailas to fi x the position of the R iver S on ; but as there isn o such hint or mention, an d the plot of the play bears onthe face O f it marks of having been a production of theauthor’s imaginative or inventive pow ers, such examination,as I have above indicated, becomes needless an d indeed impossible . Professor Wilson, on the plot of this play

,page

127, Volum e II, says although there is occasionally somewant of probability in their execution, clearly show ing thatin his Opinion the details of the play have been produced bythe author’s ingenuity an d imaginative pow ers .It is then clear that the change in the course of the Son

took place shortly before or at the period of the greatMuhammadan invasions, when the author of the MudraR akhshasa flourished .

Af ter thi s the men tion s of the Son are frequent, an d w ith

it is often mentioned Man er, a small town at its junctionw ith the G anges . Maner appears to have been foun ded bythe Muhammadans, an d was the capital of a pargan ahn amed Maner Sheikh Y ahya (Elli ot

’s India, pageH is name is clearly Muhammadan , which induces me to suppose that the pargan ah comprised w aste or n ew ly formedlands, which had n o name before, n ot having been in existence . I suppose the circumstances to have been these :

I N T HE BEN G A L 11 11011

111

013 . 1s72

lVli en the Son flow ed down its 01111 l1a1111el joining the G an gesat Fatuha, the Ga nges 1an close past a

passage in the. Mahabharata, 111he1c the sojom n of the Panda

vas in Ekachak111, n ow A 11ah , is detailed, the G ang se is im

plied to ha1 e been n ot fa1 of. “ h en , 11011 1 1 e the S on

began flow ing down its n ew channel, the n atiual 1esult of

the n ew fo1ce brought to bear on the w ater s of the G angesat the junction w ould be to push the G an ges over to the11O 1th , thus gi aduallv p1oduci ng a huge t ract of new lytormed land at the jun ction of the rivers . That the 001m t1yn ow betw een the G anges an d A r rah was once the bed of theG anges is sufficiently w ell established by the n atm e of its

Contemporan eously w ith this pushin g northw ards Of theG an ges at A rrah by the force of the Son there new ly broughtto bear on it, the w ithdraw al of the force from the G angesat Fatuha w ould produce a reaction tendin g to send the

G anges southwa1ds at that point , for the balance of fu1ceswhich maintain ed th e G anges in its O i igin al course beingdesti oyed bv the m thd1a11 111 of the S O H

O

CIU 1€11i (pushingn orthw ards) , the sum of the other forces, combmed 11 1th the

r eflected for ce of the S on cur r en t fr om the north 01° Oppo

site bank of the G anges facin g D in ap1u1

, w ould cause theG anges to w ork southw ards . That the G anges has w orkeda great space southw ards all the w ay from Patna to Bakhtya1

1

p1u°

,i . e. , on both sides of Fatuha as a central point . w ill be

apparen t fr om a glance at the map of the corm try thegreatest deflection bein g, as might be expected, just OppositeFatuha . I have n ot enough of facts to support my theoryto the extent that w ould render it in vincible to attacks , butthe fac ts detailed ex ist beyond all question ; an d the theoryI have propounded Offers the simplest an d most rationalsolution an d explanation of the phenomena, at the sametime fixin g the limit of time at which the process of chan gecommenced .

S O far then as can n ow be as11

e1t:1in ed , it appea1s thatthrough some 1u1known cause the S on abandoned i t s O 1 igi

n al bed an d took its presen t cour se some little time beforethe M uhamm adan conquest . an d that contemporaneouslywi th thi s chan ge a large tr a ct of new ly formed land w as

thr ow n up betw een Ar rah an d the G anges , while 011 the otherhan d a large portion of the south banks Of the G anges fromPatna to Fatuha w as cut aw ay by the G anges .

A ccordin gly , as Pataliputra occupied the south banks Of

24 REPOR T OF A TOUR

the G an ges before the chan ge of the course of the Son , all

or alm ost all traces of the an cien t city must lon g sin ce havebeen swept away by the G anges .

I n stron g but in direct corroboration of my supposition ,

that Pataliputra had been cut away by the G anges, even soearly as Bakhtiar Khilji

’s invasions of Ben gal, I need only

point to the entire silence of the Muhammadan historian sregarding it an d its immense fort, public buildings, &c .

Bakhti ar Khilj i could n ot possibly have left the great fortof Pataliputra in his rear while advancing on Bihar, an d hecertainly did not besiege or take it . What then had becomeof it ? N o mention occurs of any fort, great or small, at ornear Patna till Shir Shah’s period, when he is recorded tohave erected the fort of Patna at a small village of thatn ame ; an d this detailed account (noticed below ) does n oteven allude to a fort or the ruins of on e as existing at thevillage of Patna .

The portions of the O ld city likely to have escaped w ouldhave been the southern outskirts . Modern Patna con se

quently does n ot stand on the site of old Pataliputra, butvery close to it, the old city having occupied what is n ow

the bed of the G anges, an d perhaps part of the great islan dbetween Patna an d Haj ipur on the opposite side of the river .I shall subsequently ex amine an d detail the traces of the

ancient Pataliputra that still exist, but before doin g so I prooecd to show that byEr ran oboas the G reeks mean t the G andak .

First as to the w ord itself . Er ran oboas has hitherto beencon sidered to represent the Sanskrit H iranyavaha or Hiran

yabaha, w hi le the G andak has been supposed to have beenrendered in G reek into Con dochates.

That H ir anyabaha was a name of the Son depen ds solelyon the authority of Amara Kosha, as far as I am aw are, an dG eneral Cun n in gham derives the name from the broad yellowsands, and imagines some con nection betw een the names H iranyabaha, S an a, or golden, an d the broad yellow san ds but Ihave already shown that the name Son a refers to the red colourof the waters of the Son , an d has n othing to do w ith gold,whereas H iranyabaha clearly mean s gold-bearin g . The twon ames consequen tly have nothing in common, nordo I remember ever hearing of the Son as in any way conn ected w ithgold but the G andak river, in Sanskrit the great G andaki,appears con nected in some wayw ith gold,— see Beal

’s Catena ofBuddh ist Scr., page 137, where the G an dak is called the golden


26 REP O R T or A TOUR

of several distinct rivers w ithout any attempt at arran gement of any kind .

If then my inference be correct, the name H iranyavahaan d its G reek rendering Er ran oboas belong to the G andakCon dochates w ould be the name of the Chhota G andak river.The physical characteristic of size of the great G andak

agrees w ith the G reek accounts, which make it the third riverin India, inferior only to the Indus and the G anges . T he

G andak is indeed a great river, an d, unlike its southern rival,it is n ot a river that shrivels up in the hot w eather. The Sonin the dry months is a very small river, or rather dischargesa small volume of water, an d on ly becomes mi ghty for a shorttim e annually ; it is n ot navigable, except in floods ; in short, itsessential characteristics are those of a mountain tor rent, an das such it cannot bear any sort of comparison w ith theperennially great rivers, the G anges an d the Indus ; but theG andak, independent of its draining a larger basin than theS on , is fed by the eternal snow s of the Himalayas, an d

never even in the dr iest months dw indles down to in sign ifi

cance . It is always navigable in the driest seasons as far

up as Baggah, or almost to the foot of the Siwalik hills

(see R en n ell’s memorandum an d map of inland navigation) ,

an d may justly bear comparison w ith the G anges an d theIndusIt thus appears that physically the Son cannot be held to

represent the G reek Erran oboas, an d whatever w eight mayattach to my arguments regarding the right of the greatG andak to the name H iranyavaha, the physical inability of the

Son can in no w aybe bettered by a decision for or against it ;so that the Son must be abandoned, whatever other river maybe adopted instead, an d there is n o other river that can fulfil therequirements but the G andak . T o sum up, then, I infer thatthe Sona of the G reeks is the modern S on ; that the Condochates of the G reeks is the modern Chhota G an dak or G an daki,j oinin g the G anges a little above Haj ipur ; an d that theEr ran oboas is the H iranyavaha or the great G an daki river,the modern G andak .

Hitherto all proofs of the identification of Pataliputraw ith Patna have been based on historical groun ds . N othing,how ever, in or about Patna has been discovered which couldw ith certainty be pointed out as a relic of Pataliputra . Thislast link in the chain of eviden ce I have been enabled tosupply .

In on e of his letters, G eneral Cun n in gham in forms me that

I N T HE BEN G A L r novmcns , my” , 27

according to H 11 en T hsan g there existed in his time a. rocky11111 to the south-w est of the palace . H is w ords are

T o the south -west of the old palace there 1s a small rocky h i ll, W lth

many dozen s of caves , w h ich w as made for A soka by the demons forthe use of U pagupta an d other arhats .

”

To the south-w est of the presen t city of Patna, an d abouton e kos from th e Patna bazar, an d the same distance southeast. fr om Bankipur, there is a small rocky hill, at the baseof w hi ch is a small hamlet ; the rocky smn mi t of the hi ll,how ever, is un inhabited ; it is n ow known as B hikaPahari .

In M uhann n adan history a Panj Pahari is mentioned asstandin g just outside of the fortifi cations of Patna, from thet0p of w hich A kbar inspected the fort durin g the w ar w ithDaud Khan (Stewar t

’

s Bengal, page l bbl . The fort referredto there is theMuhammadan-bui lt fort . as w ill be show n further on , but the Panj Pahari appears to me to mean n o

other than the very hill which I have heard named BhikiPahari . The name Panj Pahari is n o doubt conn ected w iththe five stupas which Hw en T hsan g relates w ere to the southw est of the hill ; they must have been at its very foot .The name of the h ill B h ika Pahari, meani ng the hill of

the Bhikhus (or mendicant mon ksl, is so clear a record of itsan cient purpose, that fur ther comment is needless ; it is 11n

question ably the hill referred to by the pilgr im .

Hw en T h san g says f1u'ther to the south -east of the citvw as A soka

'

s Kukkutaramamonastery wi th a stupa.

”

To the south - east of Patna there is yet a small brie-kmoun d ; its name has escaped me, but it is clear ly the ruin s of

A soka'

s Kukkutarama mon aster y, an d w ould probably bew orth excavatin g .

In support. however. of my assertion. that ancient Pataliputra is n ow under the w aters of the G an ges, I mentionthat , after a very careful an d minute ex amin ation of modernPatna, I failed to discover a single relic . or an y traces of

the great edifices, tow ers , &c . , in it . I t is hardly possible thatall traces of the gran deur of the city should have so com

pletely disappeared , if the city stood wher e modern Patnan ow stan ds ; but if the G anges has s11

‘

allmved it . the completedisappearance is accounted for .

G reek wr iters mention that the walls of Palibothra w ereof w ood . It most probably was so then . but the clear evidence of Fa Hian an d of the Mudr a R akshasa show s thatP ataliputra w as n ot a w ooden city in their time .

The vast quan tities of stone w hich must have been em


ployed in the con struction of the palaces an d other edificescould n ot disappear so entirelyas to leave no trace ; for evenif used up in modern buildings, w e should see more stone inthe buildin gs than can n ow be seen ; a few w recks, how ever,exist in the shape of detached blocks , used as sills or

steps ; two very fin e moulded cornice stones of beautifullysmooth

,polished black basalt, exactly similar to the stone

used in the pillars near Lakhisarai (to be described furtherare built into a couple of mean- lookin g houses in the

narrow'

lane leading to the holy temple of Patain Devi ;a few fragments also lie at the door of Patain Devi

’s temple,n ow quite w orn an d mutilated ; but on the river face, nearthe north-east end of Patna, are num erous boulders of ston elying scattered on the banks, an d built into the river revetments

,show ing that on this side, probably, was the old city,

w ith its stone edifices : besides these, no other traces of old

Pataliputra exist in modern Patna .

T he modern city of Patna dates only to the time of Shi rShah . I quote from Elli ot’s History of India, Volume IV,

page 477S hir S hah O 11 h is return from B engal (in 9418 A . H . : A . D .)

came to Patn a, then a small tow n, depen den t on B ihar , w h ich was the

seat of the local G over nmen t . H e was stan ding on the bank of the

G an ges when , after much solid reflection an d sage determ in ation , he said

to those w ho were stan din g by : I f a fort w ere built in this place the

w aters of the G anges could n ever flow far from it,and Patn a w ould be

come on e of the great town s of this coun try ; because this place is

situated to the west on the banks of the G anges wh ich flows from the

n or th . T he st rength of the stream is b roken, and it can n ot advan ce

tow ards the n or th .

’H e therefore ordered skilful carpen te1s an d br ick

layers to make out immediately an estimate for buildi ng a for t w here he

then stood. T hese ex per ien ced w orkmen submitted an estimate offive lacs,w hich on the spur of the momen t was made over to trustworthy persons.

The for t was completed an d w as con sidered to be ex ceedingly strong .

B ihar from that time w as deser ted and fell to ruin, wh ile Patn a became

one of the largest cities of the provin ce.

Popular tradition con firms this accoun t, an d att he presen tday a maspd in Patna of plain massive con struction is poin tedout as the mas jid built by Shir Shah ; it has an inscription .

The name of Shir Shah is said to be w ritten in the interiorat the neck of the great central dome . There is certainly anin scription there, but so concealed w ith repeated coat s ofwhitewash as to be hardly legible from the style of the buildin g I am of opini on that the masjid does date to Shir Shah .

In plan , this masj id is a square of 63 feet in tern ally,wi thin which is a secon d square marked by pillars w ith a

I N T HE BEN G A L PR OV I N CES , 1872-73. 29

clear width in tern ally of 27 feet 2 inches . This centralhall iscovered by a semicircular dome on a low neck, surmountedexternally by a small top -knot, like the K ila K ona Masj id inDelhi Purana Kila. The dome is supported underneath byarches , w hich mark out the central hall. The pillars ar e 3feet 8 inches square there ar e four on each side, so that the hallhas 12 arched open in gs springing from the 12 pillars ; thecorner pillars are in no way larger or stronger than the intermediate ones the dome rests on arched pendentives .The galleries on the four sides of this hall are roofed by

vaulted arches resting on arches . A t the four corners,how

ever, the vaults are replaced by four small domes, similar tothe large central dome, an d similarly surmounted bysmall topkn ots the principal mehrab is in the centre of the w est wallof the w est gallery . Two other mehr abs, how ever, occupythe w est- end walls of the two north an d south galleries . Theprin cipal entrance to the masj id is under a great archway,an d through a smaller archway ; all the entrance archways areequal, but the central on e has a projecting great arch for itsfacade . The smaller archways , both of the principal entrancesan d of the mehrabs, are fretted, but the great arch is quiteplain , an d so ar e the side arches the top of the central pro

jectin g portion of the front wall, which is pierced by the greatarch, is curved . The four faces of the masj id are preciselysimilar to each other externally an d internally, w ith thisexception, that in the w est face there are n o entrances, butmerely false arches panelled into the facade .

T he exterior is ornamented by several small niches . Thegen eral appearance of the masj id is plain, an d its style isn ot such as to make it imposing, despite its excessive plainn ess . The masj id is built entirely of brick faced w ith plaster

, an d devoutly whitew ashed every year . I have thusdescribed it in detail, as it is tradi tionally an d probably actually the oldest masj id in Patna.

Besides this masj id there are two others O f in terest, ofwhich the on e at Chamni G hat is remarkably fin e. Itcon sists of five openings (of which the central on e is slightlylarger than the side ones) , giving entrance into a long halldivided O ff in to five compartmen ts by great archways acrossfrom wall to wall resting on square projectin g pilasters . Thecen tral entran ce is relieved by a bold proj ection pierced by alarge archway, an d this proj ecting portion of the front w allis a little higher than the rest of the facade ; it is not curvedon the top as in Shir Shah’s masjid, but is perfectly straight


an d ornamented w ith battlements . Over the other entrancesare also battlements an d slight projections to give themvalue . The corners are ornamented by octagonal tow ers .The roof consists of on e large central dome w ith tw o

smaller domes on each side , the domes are all fiattish , w ithout bulge, an d are crown ed by small foliated caps an d giltspires w ith numerous gilt discs an d balls alternatin g, as is theusual custom at the present day. The facade has n ot muchplay of light an d shade, bein g, w ith the exception noted atthe centre entrance

, almost a dead fiat, hardly relieved at thefour side entrances ; but this wan t of real beauty is in somemeasure made up for bya profuse use of glazed coloured tiles

“

along the entire front over the archways, the walls belowbeing perfectly plain . This great band of coloured tilesalon g the top represents leaves, flow ers, scroll-w ork, &c ., in a

free style . The tow ers also at the corners are simi larlyornamented by glazed tiles all the wayup from the level ofthe glazed tiled band Of the masj id face . It is possible thatat the tow ers, if not elsewhere, glazed colour ed tile ornamentation extended down to the floor level, but having got broken,has been repaired or rather replaced by plain plaster .

The tow ers are term inated by small bulbous domes, alsocovered w ith coloured glazed tiles . The back of the masj idexternally is quite plain .

Internally a broad band of glazed coloured tiles run

along the w alls all round, passing over the m eh 1abs Thisband contains a long inscription 1un n ing right through fromend to end, but it i s much in jui ed . I was not permi tted to

go in or copy or read them . Besides this band of glazed tilesthe meh rabs are also ornamented w ith glazed tiles, an d thecentral on e is a remarkably fin e piece of glazed coloured tilew ork, though unfortunately n ow much injur ed . A t thespringin g of the southernmost entrance arch, on the jamb an

inscription in glazed tile-w ork reads

0 c al l j gj

mj’

gJ; di ll M i : “ I

A -3A}\ SLC 0

This inscription apparently, if complete, w ould have givenus the name of the builder an d the date ; at present it breaksofi just as it proceeds to speak of the building .

The pen dentives on which the domes rest ar e corbelledan d plastei ed as in the Khir ki Masjid of Delhi, but are notquite plain .

In fron t of the masj id is a w ide pavement, runnin g theen tire length of the masjid . It 1s of brick, but divided into

IN THE BEN G A L P ROV I N CES , 1st: 31

compar tmen ts, an d bordered by lon g large blocks of grey,

coar .se chiselled granite . The blocks of ston e are secm'

ed, or

rather w ere on ce secured, to each other by iron cramps .e masj id i s entir ely Of b1ick . It occup ies the centre of

the w est en d of a large court 1 ai d 11hich once had long an dmagn ificen t ranges of cloisters on the other three sides , an d theremain der of the 11est side n ot taken up by the masj id proper.This great court yard had tw o gates to the east an d south .

The cloisters have long ago di sappeared, all except afrag men t at the n orth east

b

corner, fi om which it appearsthat the last corn er tow ers w ere s11rmo1mted by flattish

roun d domes ; the cloi sters, how ever, appear to have hadpyramidal roofs, an d thr ee such n ow exi st touchin g the lasttow er in the existin g fragment of the n orth-east corn er.The cloisters w er e all probably more than on e storey in

height .The two gatew ays w ere very high an d orn amen ted w ith

glazed tiles. Their roofs w ere s1n‘mo1mted by several small

flattish domes, somewhat in the style of the Delhi JamaiMasj i d of Shah Jeban T he gates w ere flanked by littlesquare pa1 ilion s w ith pyr amidal roofs covered w ith glazedcoloured tiles . The n orth face of the quach an gle n ow

con sists of small pavili ons w ith pyr amidal roofs on projecting tow ers con nected by low railin gs of stone . Whethercloisters on ce existed on this side is uncertain ; I rather thi nkthey did, but havin g become m in ed have been replaced bythe presen t ar ran gei nen t of open pavilions conn ected bylowrailin Thi s side of the quadrangle overhangs the river,which w ashes the base of the great massive revetmen tswhich rise sheer out of it .

The revetments are. very stron g an d massive, an d rise toa great height, as the site on w hi ch the masjid is built iscomparatively very high . These revetmen ts mm on , w ithvarious but imimportan t in terruptions. a lon g distance, rightaway to the great 1evetmen ts an d tow ers of the c itadel orIl ila at the en d of the city, the ruins of which still frownover the river below in shattered majes ty . This citadel or

kiln is n ow the highest spot w ithin modern Patna. an d is a

con fused mass of rui ned houses an d brickbat heaps. presentin g an aspect of desolation which, far from being relieved,is on ly aggravated by the existi ng houses yet inhabited, but.mostly in a ruin ous condition . N O frien dly vegetation hi desthe naked rawn ess O f the ruins the1e.

The masj id described abO 1 e is 1 er 1'

picttu'

esque (not11 i th


standi ng the flatn ess of its facade) from its position on theedge of the river at such a height as to be a comman dingobject . The glar e O f its glazed tiles has been softeneddown by the hands of time an d w eather, an d presents n oharsh contrasts an d gaudy colours to Offend the eye ; the whiteclean interior seen through the archways con trasts in a

pleasing wayw ith the dark time- soiled exterior .The revetmen ts whi ch confine the river are built of

brick an d rubble- stone very solidly, an d sloping up in theusual way ; they are further stren gthen ed w ith varioustow ers, break-waters, an d counterforts the foot of therevetment is protected by loose large rubble- stone pitchedin . It is in this part of Patna alone that stone, rubble an d

dressed, are to be met w ith in anyquantity, an d this, as beforenoticed, tends to show that the old capital of M agadha w ithits numerous stone tow ers an d buildings existed on thi sside, the stone used in the river revetments being the lastremnants of the old city w hich the river h ad n ot swallow edup when modern Patna was founded by Shir Shah .

N ear Khwaja Kalan’s G hat, amasjid, dargah, an d gateway

of some in terest exist in a semi -ruin ous condition . Theydate from A ur an gzebe

’s reign, an d the tomb is said to be

that of Dhum Shah , a local saint of limited fame . It is inform a square w ith four pillars on each face supportin g theroof, which , how ever, n o longer exists entire . The corner supports ar e groups of four pillars each, of the late Mughal style .Vertically over the pillars rise arched ribs of sandstone

cut to shape ; over these w ere laid transversely slabs ofstone, close fitting, in tw o layers

,forming the roof, the

arran gement being precisely simi lar to the way in which thehull of a boat is built, — namely, planks resting again st ribsformed to shape . Stone

.

lattices once closed the openingsbetw een the pillars, but they have disappeared . On thesouth a doorway once exi sted . The pillars are surmountedby double bracket capitals, an d are supported on trun catedpyramidal bases the pillars are octagonal an d of sandstone,as also the rest Of the buildin g ; the whole was crown ed on ceby a bold projectin g cave .

The gateway leading to the ghat is of brick, faced w ithstone in the late Mughal style .

The masjid is a plain building w ell covered w ith whi tewash I t is bui lt of brick an d stone. The plainness of thefacade is broken by n iches, an d the fron t arches are ornamen ted . Four towers stan d at the four corn ers . The roof is of


34: R EPOR T or A TOUR

They were named

(1) H azm t P ir M answ Wald A lldk, after whom theMohalla M an surganj is n amed .

(2) H azm t P ir M aruf Walt A lldh, after whom theMohallaM aruganj is n amed.

(3) H azm t P M; M ehdi Walt A llah, after Whom theMohalla M ekdiganj is n amed .

H azm t P M Jafi’

er Wali A lldh, from whom Jaj'

er

gamj Mohalla derives its name .The Muhammadan n ame of Patn a is A zimabad, from

Prin ce A zim, son of A kbar (so run s the tradition) , who on

the con quest of Patna was sent by the kin g at the requestof the four saints . He built several masj ids in it, an d

bestow ed on it the name of A zimabad .

From Patna it w ill be conven ient to follow the footsteps of Hwen T hsan g, the Chinese traveller .

T ILADA KA .

From Patna the Chi nese pilgrim travelled south-w est tothe village of T iladaka. The distances given in the lifean d in the travels of Hw en T hsan g di ffer con siderably ; theformer making it 7 yoj cms, the latter 100 li . The actualdistan ce to T i lldm , how ever, is 25 miles from the south-eastend of modern Patna, an d 28 miles from what I w ouldconsider the south- east en d of Pataliputra, an d it lies duesouth in stead of south-w est of Patn a. From Hw en Thsan g

’s

itineraries, therefore, it is clear that T illara can lay n o claimto being the modern representative of T iladaka, but in thisinstance there is proof of the most conclusive nature thatT illara is T iladaka. A n inscription cut on the jamb of thedoorway to the present Sangin Masj id at T illara di stin ctlymention s the n ame T eladaka. O n submittin g the in scriptionto G eneral Cunn ingham, he at once read the n ame as Teladaka, an d communicated the important di scovery to me .T illara had been previously identified w ith T iladaka byG enera l Cun nin gham, G eog . A n c . In dia, page 4155 ; seealso J . A . S . for 1872, page 250 ci seq .

The identification of T eladaka is thus established beyon ddispute . T he modern T illara, how ever, is a small straggling village situated betw een two bran ches of the P halguriver, the Sona an d tho Katar . The principal objects ofin terest here ar e the San gin Masj id , the dargah of SyadY usuf, and a high mound near the northw est en d of the

1;

I N THE BEN G A L PR ov1N eEs, 137;

village . T he masj 1d is a plain hall w ith flat slabbed roofsupported byHindu pillar . The pillars are of many kin ds,an d set up w ithout the slightest regard to symm etry or

beauty . Most of them are of a coarse0

kin d of gi ani te, but afew are of sandstone . The hall is quite open in front

,no

arched or f10n t w all appears to have evei existed . It. in short,resembles the masjids built of Hin du materials at Mahoba.

In front of the masj id i s a com t yard paved 11 i th Hi n dupillars, ar ehitra s,ve an d other Hindu remain s , presentin g anappear a nce of sueli utter disregard to regulai ity or arrangem ent of an y kind as is um‘ivalled in the history even

t )

of

Muhamm adan vandalism .

The side w alls Of the masj id are prolonged to enclose thi scourt - yard, an d a small narrow entrance in the east face of thi swall leads through a small chamber to a still narrow er an dsmaller entrance which gives access to the court-yard an dmasjid . The entrances ar e so small, especially the iimer on e,

that on e has almost to creep in on all-fours .Close to an d outside the masj id is the dargah , remark

able only for its gen eral ugliness . A n in scribed stone is inthis dargah .

A t the north-w est end of the village are a few Hin dutemples ; on e contains a fin e image of an eighteen-armedfemale in black basalt . Close to these is an old ruined bricktomb . a square surmoun ted by a dome ; it is very picturesque .

Close to these is a great m01md nearly feet high, andanother longish on e 30 or 35 feet high ; the hi gh one isclearly the ruins of a temple, as I traced a portion of thetraight w alls of the temple , both are crown ed by M uham

madan tombs . The path leading fr om the Sangin Masj id tothe Hin du shr in es passes over undulatin g ground ; the 1m dalat ion s ar e n ot n atur al, but ar e the remain s of buildin gs ; theseun dulations cover a space of n ear lv half a mile in len gth byabout 500feet in w idth .

There can be n o doubt that T illara was at on e time agreat place , an d excavation s carried on h ere w ould, I doubtn ot, yield rich results, judging fr om such remain s as can n ow

be seen above groun d . See also J . t . S . for I S TL , paperhv Mr. Broadley .

BA R ABA R .

From Teladaka Hw en T hsan g proceeded in the directionof h is p1e1 1ou

s hearin g 90 Ii (15 miles ) to a lofty moun tain ,from the summit of 11 l11cl1 Buddha had con template d th 1


kin gdom of M agadha. This moun tain G eneral Cunn ingham,

applyin g h is proposed correction s, seeks in the range whichruns from G aya to G irak . But in thi s part of the pilgrim’sroute I think n o correction is needed . A dopting h is bearingan d distan ce, the spot falls in the group of isolated hills n ow

kn own as the Barabar hills . I n this group the h ighestpeak is named Mur ali by G en eral Cunnin gham (R eport onBarabar) . O n thi s peak, how ever, no remains whateverexist, but close to it on the next highest p eak overlookingthe valley, where the rock-cut caves exist, are the remainsof a very old temple . This bi ll or peak, whi ch G eneral Cunn in gham in hi s map (P l. XVIII, Vol. I, page 440) namesBarabar, was n amed to me Surajank ; on its summit is a

temple extensively repair ed, but of whi ch a large portion ofthe original basement remains entire . Judging from thebold simple style of moulding, this temple must be veryan cient .The temple n ow contains B rahmani cal deities, an d is

frequen ted by Hi ndu pilgrims . Close to it was an other, ofwhi ch only traces of the foundations exist . This was alsoBrahmani cal, judgin g fr om a lingam an d fragmen ts of statueson the site ; an d it does not appear to me that these templesw ere origin ally Buddhi st, as they do not face the east , an dbecause there is in the existing temple a lingam which I wasin formed by my Hin du servan t (I was not allow ed to enter)to have been deeply embedded, an d apparently in its origin alposition (it is kn own as S iddheswara) . B ut whether theyw ere originally Buddhist or n ot, Buddhist temples must at

on e time have existed in the Vicin ity, for Buddhist statuesare to be foun d within the precin cts of the temple th ey aren ow w orshipped as Brahman ical deities .It is clear, however, that from a remote period Brahman i

cal temples exi sted here, as attested by the large life- sizedstatue of a four-armed Devi, w ith an inscription in w hat maybe G upta characters . This statue cann ot be Buddhist, as itsvahan is a lion on a pedestal, an d the fi gures on its two sidesare G anesa an d Siva, the latter w ith a serpent roun d then eck . One right han d of the female is empty an d markedw ith a chakra on the palm ; the other holds a rosary an d a

small Saivic emblem, 73. e., a lingam in argha. The two lefthands hold, the on e a lily or lotus un opened

,the other an

object which maybe mean t for a bell or a skull.In addltion to this record of the antiquity of the temple,

an in scription (in the Vapiya caves) of the 6th or 7th cen tury

I N THE BEN G A L Pnovm cns, 37

records the existen ce, then, of the lingam n ow en shr in ed inthis temple, an d n amed S iddheswara.

”

The most an cien t available records then as to the purposeof the temples here

,show that they w ere Brahmanical ; it

appears, therefore, that as no other remain s of temples ex ist,the Buddhists at some subsequent period appropriated thetemples an d w ere again dispossessed .

Dow n below on the slope of the hill n ear the road leadin g up to it are remain s of several statues, both detached an dsculptur ed on the rock, some Hi ndu, some Buddhi st ; theBrahman i cal on es, how ever, predominate .Several natural caverns exist n ot w orth detailed men

tion . I explored a few , but foun d nothi n g ; they are n ow theresiden ces of j ogi s .

A sHw en Th san g, how ever, does n ot describe anyBuddhistin stitution s on the hill he visited, the absence of ancien t an d

Buddhist remains in no way disproves the identification proposed .

B ut the subsequen t route of Hw en Th san g so stron glysupports the identifi cation of thi s bill w ith the hill ofBuddha,that even if Hw en Thsan g had described Buddhi st templesas existin g in his time on the hill when ce Buddha contemplated the kin gdom of M agadha, their absen ce n ow w ouldn ot in validate the proposed identification .

DH A R AWA T .

Follow in g him from this bi ll, it is foun d that he w ent 30lz

'

n orth-w est to the G unamati monastery, which was situated on the slope of a hill in a pass .

A doptin g his bearin g an d di stance, we get to the villageof D harawat . The road from the Barabar hill skirts theeastern foot of the Barabar hill, an d going roun d the spurs ofMurali hill stretches n orthwards, dividin g in to two branches ;the eastern on e goes to the village of D harawat w itha detour , the w estern on e goes direct over a pass in theD harawat hills, an d a bran ch from this again goes over a passover R atani hi ll. A t thi s pass in the R atan i hi ll, an d on

either side of it exten din g w estwards more than half a mile,an d eastwards a short way, are ruin s of brick structur es .These ruin s con sist of moun ds an d brick terraces, profuselyscattered all alon g the slope an d toe of the hill . A t the west

Cunn ingham,mde A rchaeol. R epor ts, plate XV I II .

38 R EP O R T or A TOUR

end, at about on e-third of the height of the hill, there is

a great mass of ruin ed masonry . Here the excavations of thevillagers for bricks have disclosed several statues ; the smallerones have gon e to adorn the modern shrines in the village,but a colossal figure of Padma-Pani, w ith the Buddhist creedengraved round the head in Kutila characters, has been leftin situ,

being probably too heavy to move . The figure isvery w ell executed in black basaltic stone an d finely smoothed . A small Buddha is represen ted seated in Padma-Pani’shair. Thi s statue appears to be in si tu, as remains of a

straight wall behin d an d touching its back can yet be traced .

I con clude, therefore, that this mound an d terrace wi th itsflight of brick-paved approach was a temple . A t the footof the hill is a larger mound, where also images, large an dsmall, have been discovered. A colossal figure, mutilated,lies neglected here .

A few feet ofi are other terraces an d moun ds, from whichsmall statues have been exhumed . They w ere also smalltemples or chapels, judging from the square cells whi ch havebeen disclosed in the foundations .Further on are other terraces an d moun ds, all of bricks of

large size, an d each gr oup w ith a separate approach or pavedway leading up to it, w ith terraces at intervals . Thequantity of bricks dug out an d yet untouched is incredible ;a large quantity has been broken up into road metal, eitherto metal the Patna branch road which passes a few miles off,or to use as [chow for terrace roofs .To the east of this great collection of ruins the groun d at

the foot of the hill appears to have been used as a burialground ; excavations at this end have di sclosed numeroushuman skulls an d bones, mostly broken, or so decayed as to

crumble under pressure betw een the fingers, but many yethard, though devoid of all smell or soluble organic matter .

N ear the pass, how ever, the terraces an d moun ds, whichat other parts go up on ly to on e- third of the height of hill, arefound up to two-thirds of its height . N o excavation s havebeen made here, but from the results at the w est en d I am

sanguine this part w ould yi eld results equally rich .

A t the foot of the hill runs a small stream which on cewas span n ed bya small bridge, the foun dation s of which stillexist entire, show ing that the road over the pass, n ow seldomused, was once a much-frequen ted route .

A few feet from the foot of the hi lls stretches a fine

rectangular piece of water kn own as the Chan dokhar T al.

111 r ue BEN G AL r aovmcns, new -73 .39

T he str eam just men tioned feeds thi s tank, an d the surpluswater passes out at the, south-w est corner . T he tank isbounded on all sides byhigh earthen embankments . On thew estern embankment is a Muhammadan brick dargah, an d

n ear it a brick mound like a tope .T o the east of the tank is a lar ge piece of high ground,

an d behind it a smaller tank ; the high ground is r oughlyrectangular, an d is know n as the kot,

”or fortress . N ear it

ar e several large mounds containing bricks, fragments of

stones, an d pottery . A 11 annual fair is held on this spot .The pottery is clearly due to this, but the fragments of bricksan d pieces of squared ston e an d statues which sometimesoccrn

'

, are an cien t . A small stone, much resembling a satipillar, n ow stands near the south-east end of the high groun dwhere the fair is held, an d is pelted w ith ston es by thevillage boys an d passers -by.

The ancient name of the village is traditionally stated tohave been D harmmap ur a . The legend of its foundation is.

that. on a c ertain occasion B aja Chandra Sen came on a

hunting excursion to this place, whi ch w as th en a smallvillage w ith a good deal of jungal round about . \Vhile here,he had occas ion to go out to the field w ith a [am of water,but as he set the Zola down a thirsty cow came an d drankup the w ater . The R aja seein g thi s, reflected on the greathardship men an d an imals must be sufferin g for wan t of

w ater here, as there were no tanks then , an d only a sin glew ell ; he ac cordingly ordered hi s ministers to dig a tank as

large as the groun d his horse when let loose w ould circleround . The mini sters, apprehen sive of the horse making a

lon ger circuit than con veni ent, selected th e north-east cornerof the tank (where n ow a small di lapidated brick templestands) as the starting poin t for the horse, turn ing hi s headsouthwards, so that. the hills on the south w ould be thelimi t of the size of the tank in that direction . The horse,w hen let loose, w en t n ear the hi ll, up to the n ala. which

,

i ssuin g from it, feeds the tank, kept alon g the nala. somedistan ce, then tm'

n ed n orth an d roun d to where it startedfrom . The ground thus marked was formed into the Chandokar T al ; n rn n erous costly buildi n gs were soon constructed

,

an d D /mr awaf become a. great. place.

G en eral Cun n ingham has described Dharawat. but it isstrange that while describin g it, the close coincidencebetween the remains here an d Hw en T h san g

’s accoun t of the

G un amati monasterv did n ot str ike h im .

40 R EPOR T O F A’ TOUR

KA UWA -DOL .

F rom the Gunamati mon astery Hw en Th san g wen t southw est 20 lz

’

to the Silabhadra monastery, which was situatedon an isolated hill . Followin g the pilgrim’s bearin g an ddi stan ce, we get to the vi cin ity of the isolated K am a-dol

hill. A t the foot of thi s hill, or rather a little way up a

low spur at its south-east foot, are the remain s of a large tem

ple of ston e w ith tall plain gran ite pillars . This temple musthave been very large an d complete, as there are traces ofan ar ddlm man dapa, a man dapa, a make» man dap a, an

an tardla, and the san ctum . The few pillars of the templestill stan din g form a lon g colonnade leading to the sanctum,

the back an d portions of side walls of which still exi st in a

ruin ous con dition . The cell is occupied by a colossal statueof Buddha seated on a pedestal ; on either side are two smallerstatues on smaller pedestals ; the pedestal of on e bears theusual Buddhist creed in Kutila characters .The walls of this temple w ereappar en tlyof brick. The

floor of the san ctum appears to have been low er than thatof the man dapa, &c . The large statue has been described byG en eral Cunn in gham (R eport I, page 41) he also describesthe various rock sculptures .The Spot where this temple stood is tolerably level, an d

could w ell have con tain ed other structures besides the temple .N ative tradition calls this colossal statue of Buddha an

A sur, an d con siders it to be on e of the petrifi ed sen tries ofB anasur . Won derful in deed are the stories curren t ofB an ésur ; his gigan tic size, the exten t of his domin ion s, an dhi s pow er . The whole of the an cien t ruin s foun d here, inthe Barabar hills, at Dharawat, at Kispa, at N er , an d in deedall roun d for miles, are ascribed to him . A curse of some kin dhas con verted hi s soldiers

‘

in to ston e, but he is n ot dead ;when the course of the cur se has been run , he an d hi s peoplew ill be restored to life . I could n ot ascertain when or why orby whom the curse was pron oun ced the people have only avague idea that a curse does han g over h im .

From the S ilabhadramon astery, which I iden tify with theKauwa-dol temple, Hwen Thsang w en t 410 or 50 hi southwest to G aya. The actual distan ce of the n orth end of G ayafrom here is 12 miles ; the bearin g is about south-west . Theonly difficulty is the men tion of h is crossing the Nairan janariver, which, goin g from Kauwa-dol to G aya, he w ouldn ot have to cross A s, however, the old road to G aya run s


REPOR T or A TOUR

he retired in disgust to thi s cave . Here he an d his w ifelived in great di stress for a lon g time, till at last, throughpress of hunger an d the constant en treaty of h is wi fe, hedetermined to visit h is O ld frien d in the hope of gettin ghelp from him in some way. T O O proud, how ever, to goempty-handed to hi s friend, who had been h is inferior at

school, yet havin g nothin g to carry as a presen t, he took somegram, an d tying it in a corner of the rag which served himfor a dhoti , he w en t to the door Of Siva

’s palace the guardsrefused h im adm ittance, an d to h is statement that Siva w as

h is friend, he only received taunting replies alludi ng to hi snaked condition, for in tyin g the gram to his dkoti , so muchof the rag had been taken up that en ough was n ot left tocover him decently . Siva, how ever, heard the n oise, an d, comin g out, was deli ghted to see his O ld friend, led him up, an d

gave h im a seat of honour, while he himself, w ith Parvati,sat down close to him an d began talkin g . The poor R ishiproduced h is gram as a present for hi s friend, an d Siva tookup an d ate a handful, an d took up a second han dful an d ate

that also ; while in the act of taking a third handful,Parvati restrained h im , saying, A re you going to give him all

three of the T r ilokas P” The poor but proud R ishi , after a

short stay, took leave an d departed, greatly dej ected an d angry,for he had been too proud to ask Siva for a favour , an d Sivahad n ot conferred any on h im un asked, though he saw his

evident di stress, but on the contrary had eaten up h is gram,

whi ch w as all he had . Full Of grief he return ed towardshis cell, when to his astoni shment he saw a magnificen tplace on the spot w ith many servants, who laid hold of him

an d carried h im in , saying the mistress of the house hadcalled h im . From the court-yard he saw a beautiful ladycovered w ith jew els beckon ing to him to come up ; herepli ed that he w as a poor man who had don e n o harm an d

did n ot know the lady, an d begged to be allow ed to go . Thenthe lady at the w in dow repeated a slolca to the effect that asw ealth had so changed her that her husban d could n ot recogn ise her, she wan ted not the w ealth but preferred her poverty .

Sudama then recognised h is’w ife, an d they lived happytogether, an d grateful to Siva for hi s gifts .This is the popular version as related on the spot . There

is a lon g legen d of Sudama in Hindu mythology, an d also OfLomas R ishi ; also a Buddhist legend of a Lomas Kasyapa inSpen ce Hardy

’s Manual, but they do n ot appear to have any

conn exion w ith these caves .

rN T nE BEN G A L r rroe ercs , i sm 43

T he N agarjun i cave is traditionally ascribed to llagar

'

j ima,

the famous Buddhist teacher . Hither to no confirmation of

this tradition has been found, but I fin d from Sagas of thefar East a collection of Mongolian an d Kalmak traditionsthat . among them, tradition ascribed to N agarjun a a residen ce in M agadha in thi s cave. I quote the part (page 2)

I n the kingdom of \lagadha there on ce lived se1 en brothers who were

magician s. A t a distance of a mile from their abode lived tw o brothers,son s of a Khan T he magician s at on ce

recogn ised that it was a magic horse, and they ss aid among themselves,

If our ar t rs to become thus common and everybody can produce a

magic horse, n o on e w ill come to our market for wonders w e had best

buy the horse up and destr o1 it A ccordingly they p i rd the h igh pr ice

required, an d took possession of the horse IVhen

the Khan’s son , 11ho 11 as tran sformed in to the hor se, had lear n t what w as

the in ten tion of the magician s, Ire said, \Vould that any sort of livin gbeing would appear in to w hich I might tran sfer myself.

’

H ardly had he formed the w ish , when a li ttle fish w as seen sw im

min g dow n the st ream, in to w hich the Khan tran sfer red h imself. T he

seven magic ian s knew what had occur red,and immediately tran sformed

themselves in to seven larger fish and pursued it . \Vhen they w ere veryclose to the little fish w ith their gullets w ide open , the Khan said,Would that any sort of living being w ould appear ra te which I might

tran sform myself. Immediately a dove was seen flying in the heaven s,an d the Khan t ran sferred himself in to the dove. T he seven mag ician s

seeing w hat w as don e, t ra n sformed themselves in to seven hawks . pursuingthe dove over h ill an d dale. O n ce aga in they were n ear over taking h im,

w hen the dove took refuge in the land ot'

B ede. S outhw ard in Bede w as

a shin in g moun tain an d a cave w ithin it called the G iver of B est . H ither

the dove took refuge. even in the verv bosom of the great master and

teacher , N figarjuna.

”

The cave of N agarjun a is here called the G iver of B est .

M t 1i s see how far this name agrees w ith the act ual name ofthe cave n ow known as the cave of N r

‘

rgar'

jun a.

This cave, in its in scription, is named G op i -ka-kab/ m. Thew ord G 0pa mean s preserver, protector ; G op i-ka-kublra can

therefore mean the Cave of the preserver,” or the Cave

of rest .”

I accordin gly con sider that the Mon gol legend doesreally 1efer to this ca1 e , an d as both in thei r traditions an din Indian traditions the cave is stated to have been the residence of \ agarjun a, I think it extremely probable that hereally did reside here some time . IVe know from othersources that \ agar iun a came to M agadha to study . TVhat

more probable than that either di n ing or after h is studentship he resided some time ln this cave .

44, REPOR T OF A TOUR

JAR U .

The river N airan jan a divides into two branches a littlew ay above the N agarjun a hills . O n e branch passes closeto the hills to its east, the other runs further eastwards, an d

again divides into two, of which the western bran ch runs ashort way an d is lost, an d the eastern branch runs pastIslampur . Of these three bran ches of the N airan jan , thew esternmost on e is the main river ; the others are dry, exceptin the rains . Immediately at the angle of the fi rst fork arethe ruins of a masjid . This masj id is built of brick an d

mortar ston e is also used, but the stone is eviden tly takenfrom some Hin du structure . It was once a fin e masjid ; itstan ds at one end of a court-yard which was once surroundedby cloisters, the cells havin g each a small domed roof. Themasj id itself is roofed by numerous small domes . Vaultsexist underneath . The entrance to the court-yard is thr ougha small chamber w ith n arrow doorways . It is remarkablethat old masjids in thi s di strict , of which the court-yards an douter en tran ces still exi st, have all small narrow entrances,extremely un like the superb entran ces to the masjids inDelhi an d Jaun pur . The masjid here is ascribed, but onlyon tradition, to Shir Shah

’s time, an d the style of the buildi ngbears out this tradition, an d tends rather to ascribe to it ahi gher antiquity . I am myself in clin ed to adopt the tradition al account of its age, for though the small domes point toa period an terior to Shir Shah, the fin e lime en amelli n g usedan d still to be found in small patches in dicates a later period .

Colour an d in scriptions w ere liberally used, but the in scr iption s are all too far broken to be in telligible, an d most of

the colour ed w ork has peeled away . It is deserted n ow , but

is still visited on particular festivals .Close to an d behind the masjid is the village of Jam ,

an d behind the village is a chain of rugged hills, at the footof which are occasionally to be seen dressed ston e an d otherremn ants of old Hindu w ork . On the summit of the hi ghest peak, which is crown ed by a picturesque clump of trees

(the rest of the hill bein g quite bare) , is a large lingam,

kn own as H ar ihar t h M ahddeoor. The story goes thatpilgrims, who on their journ ey to it do n ot speak at all,can encircle the lin gam completely w ith their arms an d

han ds . The place is visited by numerous pilgrims, an d I haven o doubt it was at on e time a n otable place of Hin du worship .

1N T nE BEN G A L -1

A few miles south of the fork, on the east side of theN airan jan or Phalo 11 river, stands a group of bare rockyhills crow ned by the dar ga h of a Muhammadan sain t ; it isotherw ise devoid of interest .

MIR A’

PU R KADER A .

A bout 7 miles due east of the fort of the P halgu at

Jaru, at a village Called M ir-apru

' Kadera. are the ruin s ofHin du temples converted or rather used up in to masjids .The chief obj ect of interest there is an old dargah . abouthalf a mile east of the village . The dargah is ascribed toSyad A hmad Shah, locall1 a very famous sain t . In the dar ~

gah rs a tree to w hich females for miles rormd come to tie(‘ IH HG S w ith the obje

c t of obtain in g childr en . The olu'

lla

consists of a small pi ece of the dress of the w earer w hichnurst be torn an d tied to on e of the branches of the tree ;the w oman tyin g the Ciri llo must visit the spot quite alonean d at n ight . The practice is eon n n on all over the Patn aan d G aya di stricts. an d so n rmrer ous are the holy spots w hich,w h en visited at n ight alone by females to tie chillers , are

considered efficacious in procurin g children, that on e can

hardly tr 11 el 15 miles in auv direction wi thout comin g on

on e of them . Built in to the darg0 . ,1h among other H rn du

materials, is a fin e sculpt ured gargoyle ser1i n g as a drainoutlet .

A t the back of the village itself is a stone colonnade, theremain s of a masj id consisting of thr ee row s of pillar s, six ineach row , thus givi n g five Openings. The pillars are plain ; thebuilding is n ow open on all sides. but ther e is no doubt of

the existence once of the usual back w all w ith the mehrab ,

makin g i t a Muhammadan masj id . The roof con sists of

stone slabs over which is laid a lave1 of bricks T he material of the pillars an d slabs i s gram te : the bricks are of largesize O 1 er lon g The buildin g stands on a mound, thelength being nor th an d south : at

mthe south end a sculptured

gargoy le representin g a hooded snake for n rin g a can opv

over a lumran figure show s that the original buildin g w h ose

materials w ere used to con struct the masj id w as Buddhist .The floor of the buildin g 1s n ow out of repai1 .

G OWR O R .

A borrt 12 miles east by a little n orth from Kadera an d

half a mile off the road to Bihar is the village of G ow ror ; it

46 REPOR T or A TOUR

con tain s the ruins of a very lofty mud fort . The fort is saidto have been built by M ir Mustafa, Lord of T elada. N o dateis assigned either to the fort or to M ir Mustafa, but thepeoplehave a vague idea of hi s havin g been on e of Shir Shah’sn obles . This M ir Mustafamust have been a man of somenote, as a ghat an d ferry of the city of Patna are namedafter him ; an d on this ground, as the fort of Patna was

built in Shir Shah’s time, it is not improbable that M irMustafawas on e of his n obles . I n the village are a num

ber of fragments of Brahmani cal statues ; on e of Durga slayin g the M ahesasur on a pedestal is sculptured a seatedBuddha. There are besides other Buddhist fragments showing that it was on ce a place of n ote, both w ith Buddhi sts an dBrahman s .

B A TH A N I HIL L.

A short way south of G ow ror is Bathan or B athani h ill an dvillage . The b ill is a small con ical on e an d quite isolated it is

about 5 or 6 mi les to the w est of the entrance of the valleyof old R ajagr iha. Buddhist legends say that Buddha, travelling from K apila to R aj gir before attain in g the Buddhahood,entered R ajgir by the east gate, an d, having collected alms ,w ent to the B an thaw a hill to eat the food he had collected .

The hill is named Pan dhawa (Spen ce Hardy, p . 163) in theCeylon records, an d B an thaw a in the Siamese records (A labaster, p . both names bearin g a close resemblance tothe n ame Bathan of the solitary hill n oticed . But againstthis iden tification is the distinct statemen t made in both theBurmese an d Siamese versions, that Buddha left the city of

R aj gir by the same gate he had entered, viz , the east gate

(Spence Hardy does not say anything regardin g the gateby which he left the city) . If, as stated, Buddha left thecity by the east gate, whi ch could only have been the on e

leading through the lon g ravin e to the Panchana river, n earG idha Dwara, Bathan could hardly have been the hi ll hew ent to to eat his meal, as it w ould have been a di stance notof 6 but of over 18miles by that circuitous route . I con ten tmyself by simply n otin g the close similarity of n ame an d

the obj ections to its identification w ith B athawa hi ll.There is men tion in the Mahabharata, ch . 20, ver . 30, of

a hill n amed G orath . Bhima, A rjun a, an d Krishn a, whengoing to G ir ivraja to slay Jarasan dha, came, as before noticed ,via

”

Vaisali, an d, crossing the G anges an d the Son , arrived inthe kingdom of M agadha ; then ascen din g the G oratha hill,

I N T HE BEN G A L PR OV I N CES , 47

they saw the beautiful capital of the M agadha kin gdom . Then ames G oratha

”an d Bathan” are both connected w ith

cattle , an d as there is n o hill n ear enough to R ajgir besidesthe Bathan hill, the inference is obvious that the hill namedG oratha in the Mahabharata is the same as the presentB athan i hill. I accordingly con sider that the ancient nameof the hill was G oratha, meaning cattle-car . Bathan”

in Hin di means a cattle-pen, a place where cattle are kept .

ISLAMPU R .

A bout 10mi les to n orth an d a little east of Nadera isIslampur . Here are several remains, but the better preservedsculptures w ere all removed to Bihar, an d only some largesquared ston es an d fragments n ow remain ; part is used up inmodern buildin gs an d huts, an d also in some modernHin dutemples, of which there are several in various stages of

neglect . The remains of this place had been n oticed byDoctor Buchanan Hamilton ; but the place is n o longerrich in ancien t r emain s.

als

A few miles south-w est of Islampur is a small villagenamed L dt, from a huge monolithic pillar n ow lying therehalf buried . Thi s had been n oticed by Dr . Buchan an, buthe does n ot give any tradition al account of it . The traditions of the place assert that it was being floated down tosome place, when by some accident it w as stranded here ;an d all subsequent attempts to float it down have provedabortive. A ccounts difi er as to where it was bein g carried,an d tradi tion is totally silent as to where it came fr om ;

some say it was bein g carried to T elada, others say Hilsa,an d some even say it was being carried to Bihar by theSubah . Wherever it may have been going, it is certain thatit came from the south, an d is n ot a remnan t of the ancientgran deur of either the village of Lat, or of Islampur . Possibly it is part of the pillar at B akror , of whi ch another partis n ow in G aya set up as a central mark in the cityflr Itmaypossibly be even the R aj gir pillar which on ce stood nearthe tope (long sin ce excavated) , but of which hitherto n o

traces have been discovered thi s, however, is very un likely .

(See J . A . S . for 1872, paper by Mr . Broadley .)

M ar tin’s East. India.

S ee J . A . S . for 1872. paper byM r . B roadley.

f A rchaeological S arw-

y of India, Vol. I, p.


OLD LINES OF R OAD .

The old road from G aya run s alon g the east ban k of

the N airan jan a river from G aya n orthwards, passin g closeto Islampur an d T elada, through Hilsa. From T elada, how

ever, a road must once have gon e direct to Patna, as Hw en

Thsan g travelled by it from Patna. Of thi s road, how ever,at present few traces exi st ; an d it certainly is n ot now a

great or even a much-frequen ted road, but it is still used bynumerous pilgrims . From G aya to T elada, how ever, the oldroad is still not only extensively used, but is the best naturalroad that could have been laid out between the two places .The present great road from G aya to Bankipur n ecessa

rily follow s a different line ; the shifting of the head-quarters of the district from Patna to Ban kipur made it a

n ecessity to select a n ew line ; but w ith Patna for thecapital, the old great road, though n ot very pleasant for theportion betw een Patna an d T elada, was no w orse than anyother that could have been chosen, While beyon d T elada,follow ing closely as it does the high banks of the N airan jan aor P halgu river, is the lin e marked out by N ature herself.The branch from T elada, whi ch w ent past Hilsa (w rittenMilse Buzurg in the Indian A tlas sheet) , is n ow the mainroute for travellers from Fatuha, an d is also naturally a goodfair-w eather road. It is difii cult to determi n e whether thecities of Fatuha an d Hilsa w ere the cause of the exi stence ofthis road, or whether the road being in existence caused therise of Fatuha an d Hilsa. I am in clin ed rather to think thatthe natural diffi culties of the road di rect from Patn a toT elada, w hich in ancien t times w ould have had to cross theS on , which then flow ed betw een the two places, caused theexistence, for commercial purposes, of the comparativelyeasy road from T elada to Fatuha, just below the embouchur eof the ancient Son . This road, therefore, apparen tly ow es itsexistence to a physical necessity, an d it accordingly appearsmore reasonable to attribute the rise of Hilsa an d Fatuha,or at least of Hilsa, to the road . Hilsa is situated just atthe poin t where the road from T elada to the junction of

the old Son an d G anges crosses the main arm of the N airanjana river, an d thus necessarily became a place of someimportance, as testified by its traditions and the an cien tremains existin g there .

The importance of tracin g the old great lines of roadsmay be illustrated in this district . A dmittin g the great



old dargah, which may safely be taken as a sign that someHindu or Buddhi st structure existed here ready made toallow of being converted in to a dargah . Of the other twoplaces I have no accoun t .It thus appears that, given a series of impor tant poin ts,

w e can w ith tolerable accuracy fi x upon the sites of othersecondary points, provided w e take into consideration thephysical features of the intervening coun try .

This process is applicable, I believe, on a very extendedscale . S o far I have taken only a part of M agadha as an

illustration ; let the process n ow be extended, an d let us takeTam luk, the an cien t T amralipti , in to consideration .

R oads w ould naturally lead up from Tamluk to Patna, toM on gir , an d

‘ elsewhere .

There w ould be a choice of several routes to Patna ; themost di rect route w ould be through Bishanpur, B ahulara,S on atapan , Ekteswar (where the D ar ikeswar river w ould becrossed) , O hatn a, R ag hunathpur, T elkuppi , Jharia,

R ajauli ,an d R ajgir . It w ould cross the Salay river near or at G hatal,t he D ar ikeswar betw een B ahulara an d Ekteswar , the D amuda

at T elkuppi , the Barakar close to P algun jo, the range of billsnear R ajauli , an d pass into R ajgir by the great south gatean d out by the north on to Patn a. Thi s road w ould be a greatthoroughfare, an d we see that, at every great obstacle, largecities sprang up, as attested by the remains about G hatal,about Bishanpur, at T elkuppi , about Palgan j, an d nearR ajauli . There are, besides these, ruins at O hatn a an d at

Jharia. Of these, Chatnais the point when ce a road, yet inexistence an d use, branched ofi , goin g close past Pachaetthrough Pandra, Kharakdiha, betw een the rivers Sakri an d

Khuri (Where there are ancient remains still on the Sakrinear M ahawar hill) , thr ough N owada to R ajgir . Jhariaappears to have been the capital of the coun try w hichanciently was called Jharkhan d .

A fter crossing the D ar ikeswar , a bran ch probably startedfrom near Ekteswar to M on gir , passin g close to R anigan j ,crossing the A jay at or n ear Bhimgarh, where remainsyet exist on both banks of the r iver , then through or

close past N agore, Where exists a place of pilgrimage know n

as B akeswar , close past B haskinath , Mandar hill, Kherhi ,to M on gir .

Of the places mention ed, all except Ran iganj con tainancient remains .

A n other great road would go to Ben ares ; this road would

1111 T HE BEN G A L PR OV I N CES , 1872-73, 51

n aturally go past Pakbir raan d B uddhpur , thr ough or closepast Barabhum, through or close to Dulmi (whi ch I shallsubsequently show to be Hwen T h san g

’s Ki ran a Suvarn a) ,

there crossing the Suvarn a R iksha, close past R anchi , Palamow , across the Son to Benar es . There ar e remain s aboutP alamow an d R anchi (see n otices in Journal, A siati c Society) ,an d there are extensive remains at P akbirraan d B uddhpur .

Their occm'

ren ce is w ell explained by the cir cumstance thatthe cross road connectin g the two great roads from Tumluk toPatna an d to Benar es started from Palgun j, going throughKatras, Chechgaon garh , Para, an d Chorra, an d strikin g thegreat Benares road at P akbir raan d B uddhpur . Katrasonce a place of importan ce an d succeeded Jharia as thecapital of Jharkhan d Chechgaon garh is at the crossin g of

the D amuda ; Para is at the in tersection of thi s cross roadw ith the road betw een Dulmi an d Jharia Chorra aloneenjoys no particular advantage of location, but nevertheles spossesses ancient remain s, an d is therefore an anomaly .

Thus we may trace the great old roads, an d by their aid

fi x upon the sites or lin es which on ex ami nation w ould belikely to yield any return . I t appears to me quite a mi staketo imagin e that districts like Manbhum, Palamow , theS ii n tal Parganas , Jhfirkh an d, & c . , could ever have been exten sively cultivated an d peopled densely like the plain s ofM agadha or the valleys of the Jamn a an d the G anges ; theoccurrence of ruin s among the w ilds of Chutia N agpur canon ly be due to cities having fr om some generally in telli giblen atural cause sprun g up at poin ts along a great road ; an d byn o means to the whole district, or even a considerable portionof the di strict, havin g been in a flour ishin g condition, dens elypeopled an d hi ghly cultivated . The con trast betw een theprofusion of remains scattered broadcast in the fertile an dkn own densely-peopled plain s of M aga dh a an d the isolatedremains in the w ilder districts is too great to be explain edaway by any amoun t of imagin ary dilapidations an d destruction from any causes in deed, so far as destruct-ion goes,built remain s, in the civili sed tracts, ar e generally in a far

more advan ced stage of decay (even when they have n ot

absolutely disappear ed as structures, leavin g only the materials as Witn esses) than those in the Wilder places .

L is t of old p laces— The follow in g is a li st of places

known to possess an cien t remain s , or otherw ise of ar chaeolo

gical in teres t, in the districts of G aya an d Patna. For facili ty

of referen ce I divide them in to groups .

REPOR T O F A TOUR

1,— A long the right bank of the presen t S on

M aner— N ear the jun ction of the S on an d the G anges— see an te.

a dnagn r— Possesses a M uhammadan tomb of no in terest or great

an tiquity.

O n tire P unpun .

B ihta,D eoriya,B haO ‘Wfing

-anj

S O D -t adr,see an te.

Deokun d,S idhrfimpur,

B etween tfie R iver s P unpun

M ar /Ear .

Dhéw é

O n tfie M arker .

B ishenpur G hen jan .

Péi Bigha.

M atka H ill.Chillor .

Sherghati .

B etween Me R iver M n r/iar andmain brunell of tbe L ilaj an .

H asanpur kako.

Dharawat (see an te) .N er M ushakrat .Kauwa-dol H ill (see an te) .B arabar H ills (see ante) .B ela.

O n tilemain brand: of tbe I/ilaj an .

H ilsa.

Telada (see ante) .T he N agarjun i H ills (see an te) .Jfiru (see an te) .T he H ariharnath H ill (see ante) .G aya.

Ram G aya.

Buddha G aya.

O n ott er Manc/lee of M e Lilaj an .

Sheonogar .

I slampur (see an te) .Dapthu.

L at (see an te) .

B etween Me R iver L ilaj an and the

Panclzana.

S hahpur A tma.

B aragaon .

Jagadispur .

Jafara.

S ilao.

N adera (see an te) .G ow ror (see an te) .

Rajgir .

Jethian .

Kurkihfir .

Punawa.

B ishanpur Tan dwa.

S itamarhi .

To the east of Me P ancfiana.

G hosrawan .

Titarawan .

Par vati .A fsand.

R oh .

S atgaon .

Ektarah .

S hekpura.

S ikan dra.

Premaya.

N aulakagarh.

On tile Kiyat R iver, and near it.

B alagudar .

R ajban a.

R aghogarh .

L akhisarai.Jayn agar .

B r in daban .

H asanpur .N ongarh .

Indpa, neafr Jamui.

I N r un BEN G A L P R O V I N L‘ES . i sm- 73. 53

Of these places, such as have ah'eady been n oticed have a

n ote see an te the others I n ow proceed to describe .

E apa is a large village about tw elve mi les to the w est ofthe Bare-bar hills, an d four mi les w est of the Murhar river.It stan ds on the banks of a deep narrow branch of the M ur

har , an d is n ow famed for possessin g a temple of TaraDevi ,to w hich people for miles roun d flock w ith sacrifi c ial hegoats . This temple, whi ch is at the west en d of the village, isa small rude brick building of m odern date, built on a hi ghstone platform, approached by ston e steps . N umerous cutstone blocks lie about an d there is n ot the least doubt thatthe platform n ow supporting the modern brick temple isthe bas emen t of an ancient lar ge temple .

Several li ngams are lyin g scattered outside, an d varioussculptures . O n e of these is of Vishnu Chaturbhuj anotheris a stone sculptured on four sides, an d therefore evidentlymeant to be a pin n acle to some structiu'

e ; besides a statueof Vishnu on G arud an d several fragments . O n the sidesof the en trance to the temple tw o statues of Hara-G aur i

ar e let in . The great ob ject of w orship in the temple is alife-size stan din g statue, clothed in a yellow sari , an d kn ownas Tara Devi . There are several smaller statues besidesthe prin cipal on e.

In the village ar e numerous fragmen ts. Bra hman ical as

w ell as Buddhi st,‘ most of them mutilated ; two of these

are life- size stan din g stat ues of Buddha, w ith the “ Ye

D karmma H efu creed over the halo roun d the head of one ofthem . Thi s statue is a really fin e on e in very fair preservat ion, of exception ally good execution , an d deservin g of preservation .

The general appeara nce of this statue so stron gly resembled in size an d shape that kn ow n as Tara Dev i in the

temple, that I was in duced to go back to the temple ; an d as

the min i sterin g Brahmans had loudly resented my attemptto go up even the steps of the platform to the temple , I sen t

up my Hin du servan t . He was allowed to go up an d enterthe temple . an d examin i n g accordin g to my direc tion s the

halo round the head, he found the usual Ye D 71n r nmm in scr iption (at least I guess it to have been the Buddhist c reedfrom hi s description— that it w as exactly like the otherin sc ription on the statue in the village) . Thus satisfied in h isow n mi nd that the statue w as n ot an ob ject of orthodoxw orship, he ven tiu'

ed to peep i n behin d the sari . an d dis

covered the statue to be a male an d n ot a female on e . The

54, REPOR T or A TOUR

min i stering Brahmans n ow became as abjectly submi ssiveas they had before been defiant, but I thought it unw ise totake advan tage of their oifer n ow to let me en ter the tem

ple, as I was quite sati sfied the statue was Buddhi st, an d

there was n othing of any in terest to in duce me to enterthen .

There are in the village several fragments of pillars an dcapitals, but most of the stones that could have been used uphave been appropriated by the villagers an d used either asdoor- steps or as foun dations to their huts . There ar e n ow fewremains, but these are en ough to show that the place wason e of importance. The character of the inscription , whichis Kutila, induces me, in conjunction w ith the superior styleof ar t in the sculpture, to ascribe the remain s to the en d ofthe 9th or early part of the l0th cen tury .

B amwang, or Jylepoor Barawan, as it is spelt in themap

(Indian A tlas) , is situated betw een Konch an d G oh , close tothe road from G aya to Daudnagar ; the place is noticed byBuchan an (Montgomery Martin’s compilation ) , but I foun dn o time to visit it .

Koneh is a large village about 18 miles from G aya on

the Daudnagar road ; there are numerous remains here, butthe principal on e is a temple of brick in good preservationat the north of the village . The temple as it stands consists solely of the sanctum , w ith its tow er roof it is a

square externally of about 28 feet each w ay, an d feetinternally . A lingam is the object of w orship inside, wh ichis partially filled in w ith earth an d rubbish . The bricksused in the temple are properly shaped, w ell-burnt bricks,the largest measur ing 11 x 55 x 2% inches, but there ar emanymeasuring only 9 x 4gx 2g inches, an d some 13 x 7% x 272inches . This variety in the sizes of the bricks used inducesme to suppose that the temple has undergone extensive re

pair since it w as first built, if indeed it be not only a r estora

tion of an ancient temple ; in the latter case, how ever, therestoration must have taken place so lon g ago that it isancient even as a restoration .

The sanctum is roofed intern ally by tunnel vaults, n ot semicircular, but of arcs meeting at the crown in a ridge ; thearch sheeting is entirely of brick cut to shape in the low estcourse of bricks ; in the arch sheetin g, at the sprin gin g, thebricks ar e placed, n ot as usual w ith their beds horizontal;but on their edges w ith the beds vertical ; over this row ofvertical bricks are 8 or 10 courses of bricks, w ith their beds

I N THE BEN G A L P R U V I N CES , 1872 - 73. 35

horizon tal, or rather w ith their beds slightly in clin ed to theh01izon

, as they should pr0perl3 be m a tr ue a1ch Beyondthi s the bricks are all on edge, i s1th their beds ve1tical ; th iscon sti uction , how ever faulty in an arch of small depthtr an sver sely, as in walls, is of great strength w hen bui lt ofbr icks cut to shape an d of great depth tr ansver sely. IVi th

stone, espec ially sedimentary stone which has w idely di fferen t stren gths along an d across the layers or plane of cleavage

,

a mode of construction whi ch b1 in gs the lin e of pressur es tobear n ot pei pen diculai ly, but alon

o

g the planes of cleavage,

it is un doubtedly fault3 ; but 111 b1ick which 1s homogeneous,

the con st1uction of an arch of b1icks edge to edge is positively an adva ntage, as the number of j oints of comp1essiblem01ta1 is lessened by the arran gement , the only drawback,latera l w eakness, does n ot come into calculation in lon gtun nel vaults, whi ch in this dir ecti on have more strength thanthey n eed.

A corni ce rims along thr ee sides of the in terior of the sanct um at the sprin gin g of the tunnel vaults, but there is n o

corn i ce in the back w all ; fiu‘ther . the side w alls of the

chamber we each a little over 8 feet thick, w hile the four thw all is 10 feet thick, an d th e back w all only fif feet thesecircumstances, combin ed w ith the fac t that bricks of threedifferent var ieties occur in the temple, show that the tun n elva ult is a subsequent addi tion ; for if w e, wi thout altering theexternal dimensions of the temple, make the thi ckness of thew alls all roun d 6} feet, by enlargin g the chamber inside

, w e

shall get a square chamber 15 feet squar e, placed centr icallyas i t ought to be .The absence of a corn i ce, too, on th e back wall in ternally ,

show s th at the origin al building w as n ot cut up in to twostoreys by th e interposition of the vaulted or an y roof . I t

is clear, therefore, that the temple, as origin ally built . con

sisted of a chamber 15 feet square, w ith w alls 61 feet thickall roun d ; subsequently the vault w as added by increasingin ternally th e thi ckness of the side w alls by 1

3 feet neal lyan d thi ckeni n g the fron t w all byadditions in te1n ally to 10feet

, thus leavin g a squar e chamber no lon ger 15 feet , butonly 111

1 feet square, an d eccen tr ically placed w ithin thestr ucture.

The walls of the temple i nternally ar e ornamented bvni ches, three on each side, dO llb ilt ss meant to hold lamps .The en tran ce is as usual represen ted by a great ren t or

open ing in the face of the tow er, consistin g of vertical sides.


span n ed by an arch of overlappin g bricks ; the necessities ofcon struction from the small size of bricks have caused thisarch to assume the form of a tall i sosceles trian gle w ith inden ted sides .This open ing or en tran ce is divided in to two por tion s by a

ston e let in right across a low er rectangular on e, an d an

upper rectan gle surmounted by the triangular openi ng ; thelow er rectangular entran ce giving admission in to the sanctum

,the upper Opening into the present, an d, as I have shown ,

subsequently-built upper chamber .It is an interesting question to determine when this divi

sion of the entrance into two was made . A t first sight itappears only natural to suppose it to date only to the periodwhen the vault w as added, but from ex amples elsewhere,where, in the absence of the upper chamber, the architraven evertheless exists, I am of opin ion that it was a feature inthe original temple ; constructively, too, a li ttle r eflec

tion w ill show that it was necessary, if the sanctum had theusual mandapa in front, an d the remains here show thatsom e sort of mandapa once exi sted in front of the sanctumof this temple .

The annexed diagram w ill help to illustrate what I say.

A DCB represents the front wall of the sanctum (thepa1ts shaded being m section) ,B DEFG H the mandapa in

f1on t, which must have beenroofed in ; constructively, ifthe block CD do n ot exist,the rain from the roof of

the mandapa w ill fi n d its

way straight into the sanctum,

but by having the block CDthe water is preven ted from

coming into the san ctum .

B ut it is not constructively alone that CD is needed ;aesthetically it is even a greater necessity . The votary enteringthe temple does n ot see the great rent above OD ,

nor can

he see it even when he is beyond the entrance of the man

dapa G H , by reason of the height of the roof DEF , whichefi ectually hides the rent above CD on the outside, so th athe is unaware of its existence, an d is naturally surprised atth e strong an d very effective light w hich this rent, of whi chhe i s not aware by reason of the interposed block CD, throw sdirect on the object of w orship at the fui ther en d of the



more than a mere acciden t of construction . Constructively,it was evidently impossible to form in brick the amalakawhich invariably surmoun ts temples of stone, itself againsurmoun ted by either urn s or taperin g discs en din g in a

spire. B ut whether the cylinder w ith a hemi spherical t0pbears a n ot merely acciden tal resemblance to a lin gam, or

whether it is inten ded to represen t a chaitya or stupa whi ch,origin ally hemispherical, became gradually elongated till itresembled n othing so much as a lin gam, is a poin t deservin gof in quiry. The temple of Konch appears to have beenBuddhist, if we assum e, as is sometimes don e byhi gh authority, that the Buddhists alone adopted the effective mode oflighting up the object of Worship in the manner explain edbefore, while the Brahman ists w ere rather disposed to hidetheir gods in the gloom of a dark san ctum ; but thi s is a

view n ot on ly not supported by any evidence, but is con tradicted by examples elsewhere ; in the brick temples of theCentral Provin ces, n otably in the example at Sirpur , whichproves that the Brahman ists as early as, perhaps, the 5th cen

tury, did n ot hi de their gods in the gloom of a dark san ctum,

but actually adopted precisely the same mode of lightin g theob j ect of w orship as is supposed to have been adopted by theBuddhi sts alone . This circumstan ce show s that on thisgr ound alone the temple at K on ch can n ot be con sideredBuddhi st, but there i s other evidence more conclusive as toits Brahmanical character . The spout for letting out waterused in libations by Brahman i sts, but n ot by Buddhi sts, stillexists buried under accumulation s of rubbish at the cen treof the n orth side of the temple, an d the sculptures lyingabout are all Brahman ical, so that I conclude that thetemple was origin ally a Brahman ical shrin e an d n ot a B ud

dhist on e ; the cylinder, therefore, w hich crow n ed it couldnot have been inten ded as the represen tation of a Buddhistchaitya.

But th is is n ot all. G eneral Cun n in gham ascribes thecon struction of the presen t Buddha Gaya temple to the lstcen tury after Christ . H is argumen ts ar e very in gen ious ,but by n o means con clusive an d especially so, as he givesn o argument to show that the temple was not built, as is

expressly stated in the Amara Deva” inscription ,by Amara

Deva, on e of the nin e gems in the Court of V ikramaditya, an d

General Cunningham has since in formed me that there is strong reason for considermg the Amara Deva in scr iption a forgery.

. IN THE BEN G A L r noe cns, 1862-73.59

therefore identical w ith Amara Sinha, who lived about or

after A . D . 500. (R eport, V ol. I, p .

The existen ce of the cylin dric pin n acle on the top ofthe temple may n ow be added as an other argument againstthe construction of the temple so early as the 1st centur yA . D . , if it be supposed to be a r epresen tatation of the B uddhist chaitya,

for the Buddhi st chaityas of the period w erefar from being the tall cylin der that is here represented ; if,how ever, the temple be ascribed to A . D . 500, there is n o di tficulty on this score .

B ut I am not disposed to attach much w eight to thisargum ent , as I do n ot cons ider it likely that it represents aBuddhist chaitya . The story of Hw en T h san g about thetemple having been built by a B raln n an by order of M a

hadeva tends to show that th e emblem is r eally a Saivie one .N othing is more natur al than that a Brahman buildin g atemple to Buddha, by order of Mahadeva, should place thesymbol of that deity as the crow n ing ornament of the

temple, an d the occurrence of the same fin ial in other an dindi sputably Brahman i cal S aivie temples tends to show thatit really is meant to represent the symbol of Mahadeva, an d

that its commence in the Buddhi st temple of Buddh a G a.

is n ot only not reason for supposing the temple at K onchto have been Buddhi st, but is, on the contrary, an evidence insupport of the tradi tion that the Buddh ist temple at G aya

(in which it occurs) was built bv a w orshipper of Brahmanical deities .In thi s view , therefore, I do n ot consider that the age of

the Buddha G aya temple can be even approximately in ferredfrom the existen ce of thi s pin nacle on its t0p ; that questionmust be decided on other groun ds ; an d although I havetaken the libert y of pointin g out the w eak poin t in G eneralCunningham’s argument, I am n ot disposed to di spute h isfin din g, as it does n ot appear to me that there is suffi cientevidence for or against, an d therefore I bow to h is superiorexperience an d authority .

B ut whether the 1st or the 6th cen tm'

y be finally fixedupon, when suffi cien t evidence is forthcoming, as the dateof the temple, it is clear from the existence of this pinnacle,an d quite in depen dent of the coincidence of the features ofthe exi stin g temple w ith Hw en T hsan g

’s description, that

thi s temple was built by a Brahman an d as there is recordof a Brahman having built the temple but on ce , w hetherit be in the l st or the 6th cen tiu‘

y A . D ., the opin ion of Mr .


Fergusson , that its external form belon gs to the l4thcentury, must, notw ithstandin g h is high authority, be nuhesitatingly set aside .

R everting n ow to the Konch temple, I have remarkedthat the statues lyin g about ar e all Brahman ical ; these,besides the lingam inside an d the statues of H aragauri ,which are n ot scarce, consist of the A shta Saktis, an d theDes avatars . Buddha avatar is represented by a standingfigure holding a staff diagonally across ; the Kalki avatar isrepresen ted by a man an d w oman beside a horse, the man

w ith h is arm round the w oman ; the fi sh incarnation is represented by a fish standing vertically on its tail the tortoiseincarnation bears a close resemblance to the Saivi c emblemof the argha an d lingam, w ith the sole addition of a coupleof human fi gures on the sides holding a strin g which isw ound round the lingam, w hich does duty for Mount Mandar.It is needless here to point more than cursorily to the unmistakable Phallic featur es of these two V aishn avic sculptures .The temple, I conclude from the lin gam inside

, apparen tlyundisturbed , an d from the other Saivic statues, to havebeen Saivie ; the ex istence of Vaishn avic statues is n o objection, as it is n ot uncommon to see temples where all threeBrahma, Vishnu, an d Siva— are sculptured, but of whom on e

alone is con sidered pre-eminent an d assigned the place ofhonour .

There lie outside several pillars of granite, of which four

are entire ones, five pilasters, an d some fragments ; besidesthese, the remains of eight pillars in the shape of eightcapitals ar e n ow ranged along the steps leading up to thetemple . The four pillars I take to represent the four centralpillars of the maha man dapa ; there must have been morethan five pilasters, but only five n ow exi st . The pillarsare of granite, very short an d massive

, an d evidently veryold .

ale They taper somewhat, being 1 foot 41 inches square atthe base an d 1 foot 2 inches at top ; the total height of theshaft, including the low est plain square portion, is 5 feet 6inches, so that they are little more than only 45 diameters inheight . They must have stood on bases, but none are n ow to beseen ; the capitals w ere plain an d massive

, w ith little dropsat the four corners ; the capitals w ere n ot cruciform,

thougha cruciform capital may have surmounted the square on e,

it S ee plate Xl l .

IN T HE BEN G A L PR OV IN CES , 1573-73 61

as is not un frequently the case : the pillars are ornamentedby a single lotus carved on each of the faces in the low estsquare portion of the pillar .

I can fin d no clue as to the precise date of the temple,but th e massiveness of the pillars show s that. it must havebeen built at a very ear ly period ; tradition, as noticed byCaptain K ittoe, assigns it to Bhair ab Indra, an d says it w as

dedicated to S i‘

i rya, but I could hear nothing of this at

K onch itself . The follow ing lin es are all I could get in thewav of tradi tion regarding Konch :

Kon ch basé sab soch m i té

D arj R aj pasend M ahamun gyan

B ed Puran an ki charcha

Tan hapunjat hai ad Bhawan i ,S zih

, S arai f, haraf cbhab j i wan par bin bakhan iJatenh i Taten h i T hun M athun ki jan hadetA bbay bar S ew simbh B hawasu

w hich, as far as I can make out, mean s0

Kon ch w as established, all troubles ceased, D urj R aj chose a w ise

B‘Iahémun i (as and discourse of V edas and Purduas spread . T here

is worshipped Bhawan i ; merchan t good men , evrlmen , all life ( heardof the fame ; on going (there) the gift of fearlessn ess an d vir ile strength

is bestowed byS iva an d B hawan i .”

B ut man y of the w ords are obsolete, an d people di sagreeas to their mean i n gs .

On the other side of the vi llage road, i . e. , to the south,is a mound, the ruin s of another temple ; the bricks ar e

bein g carted aw ay to T ikfu'i ; two pillars are lying on the site .

This temple, an d also the on e previ ouslv descr ibed, are as

ign ed to the K01 B ajas .A few miles east of Kon eb on the road to G aya is the

small ti llage of P ali . There are, to the east of the village,the remain s of two or three temples but all that n ow remain s

are the ruin s levelw ith the ground of a large S aivie temple, ofw hich a few pillars alone are standi ng . The pillar s ar e

plain tall shafts w ith corbelled cruciform capitals details aregiven in the plate .

The temple appears to have been a very large on e, con

sistin g of a san ctum. enshrin in g a large lingam, an an tar ala ,

a maha man dap a , an d probably also a mandap a an d portico .

The temple was built of bricks picked w ith stone . I t stood atthe n orth-w est corner of a tank . The lin gam measm'

es 5 feet7 in ches in circumference, and is 2 feet hi gh at the apex the

argha extends 1 foot 10 i nches bevon d it all roun d ; there is


on the mound a fourteen -armed statue in black basalt, and a

second similar one mutilated .

On the other side of the village are two statues of Devi

(Parvati) . There is also a mound said to have been oncelarger, an d the remains of a temple near the road, which wasdedicated to Mahadeva ; but a tree has completely envelopedthe argha an d lingam, an d has split the stone of the pedestal.There are a few other n on clescr ipt fragmen ts lying about

the existing remains, except the statues, are all modern .

U train is a small village near Path . To the w est of thevillage is a small mound w ith lingam, an d fragments of

statues scattered about there is also a fin e carved blackstone door- jamb .

A small moun d adjacent is known as Himmat Khan’sgarh . It is an inclosure on a mound of earth, an d containssix graves ; close to it is a small mound which contains bricksan d the remains of two graves . The great mound is 25 feetabove the levelqof the country, an d is doubtless the site of an old

temple ; it is 300 feet long an d 200 feet w ide . The entranceto the dargah, if dargah it be, is on the south the entrancehas tw o jambs an d an architrave of rough gran ite the low ersill is a rough pillar set flat .

To the east of the village, near a tope of trees, is a smallmound w ith numerous fragments among them are severalof G an ega, H aragaur i , N andi , &c . , all Saivie. In a room on

the mound, whose w alls have half tumbled down, an d w hichis l été feet square, is a great lingam 5 feet 9 inches in -circumferen ce 1 foot 10 inches high to the roun d part, an d

2 feet 3 inches high to the apex the argha extends 1 foot9 inches all round beyond the lin gam .

The room was once roofed by a vault, as fragmen ts of itexist on the groun d to this day the bricks used measure 11inches x 8 inches, an d 9 inches x 6 inches .The remains doubtless represen t a modern shr in e built

on the site of an older temple .S ikcimi is a smallvillage 8 miles to the w est ofKon ch ; here

is a comparatively modern temple an d some fragments . Ihave n ot visited the place, but I believe Mr. Peppe tookphotographs of the remains here .

D eals/i t is a small village on the Dhawa, a small streamflow in g from the Murhar into the Punpun . I have heardthat it contains remain s of statues, &c ., but have not seenthe place myself.

The M dn dd hills are situated about 12 miles w est of

VI N T HE BEN G A L r aovrx cns . isr~

73 63I

Phahra, a large village on the M urhar, an d south of D eokut,near the Dhawariver ; the remains here con sistsimply of

statues, an d have been n oticed by Ki ttoe, J . A . S ., 1817,page 278. I did not see the place .

B lew -(flu?is a small village 2 mi les east of the Manda

hills . It is noticed by Ki ttoe in J . A . S . , 1847 , page 277 .

I did n ot see the place . There w ere, he says, several chaityasan d viharas here, an d here are also some springs of min eralw aters, to which n o doubt the place owes its ancient importan ce .

G mmr ia is situated 3 miles south-east of the M an dahills ; its ancient name Captain Ki ttoe di scovered to have beenS r i G un ehar ita, an d it w as the site of a large vihara an d

town ; here ar e also the remains of nmn erous lingam temples .(J . A . S . Bengal, 1847, page

T wyn. an d D eo are tw o in terestin g places on an d nearthe G ran d Trunk R oad from Sherghati to Benar es ; the

description of the remain s in these places is too long to beex tracted . (I refer to the origin al papers in J . A . S . , Benga l,1817, page 656 et seq. an d 1221 et seq . ) I must add thatsince Ki ttoe

'

s tim e severa l additions to the list of remain sin an d about D eo have been made by Mr . Peppe, w ho has,I believe, taken photographs of the more in teresting remain s .A t Chem) . eight miles north- east of U mga, ar e old templesto the east of the village, to the south of these, an d to the

east of a little hill, are mormds w ith statues ; 300 yar dsw est on another hill called Pachhar is a cave w ith a fi gureof Maya Devi inside ; the cave faces south . A mi le to thesouth is another cluster of hi lls w ithin the boundary of thevillage D eokili , where there are numerous small caves . I didn ot v isit an y of these places .

B ishanpur G henj an is a considerable vi llage about twomiles north-east of Kispa, on the M m-har here are severalmounds an d a few statues ; the place w as visited an d photogra phs taken by ) I r . Peppe . '

I\vo in scribed statues ex i st ;one of these in scriptions is merely the Buddhist creed Ye

D har nmm, & c . ; the other is a sin gle w ord in completebas r ammm . the last w ord in the Buddhi st creed .

P ui B iglm is a con siderable village on the Dardha riverclose to the point w here it separa tes from the Murhar , an dabove 2 miles to the south -east of B ishan pm

' G hen jan ; thereare several square gran i te pillars roughly dr essed . One w as

clearly a pilaster ; the temples they belon ged to must havebeen Saivie, as thev are all marked w ith a deeply cut trisul ;


they are n ow set upright in front of the village ; besidesthese there are some remain s Of statues .The place was vi sited by Mr. Peppe, who has, I believe,

taken photographs of what was interestin g here, but I sawn othing of any particular interest myself .

M dtlcd H ill, Chi ller , M ur har , an d Skergkciti , all con tainin terestin g remains, chiefly statues . They are n oticed byKittoe in J . A . S ., Bengal, 1847, p . 78 et seq. and p . 277et seq . I did n ot visit these places .

H asanp ur K cilco is a largish stragglin g village situatedn ear a large lake into which a branch of the Jamna empties ;the coun try about is flooded during the rains, an d in N ovember I had to wade through a long stretch of water to getto the place . The prin cipal remain s Of in terest here are adargah an d some statues .The dargah is an unpreten tious brick buildin g in a state

of decay, situated on a high rai sed moun d on the banks ofthe tan k or lake ; there is an outer court-yard Where numerous slabs of ston e, rough an d sculptured, lie about ; these areeviden tly taken from som e Hindu shrin es . The outer courtyard gives admission through a large gateway to a crookedpassage an d thence into an inner court-yard, when ce a thirddoorway gives en tran ce into the innermost court-yard infront of the dargah itself . Into this sacred court I was n otpermitted to enter . The second outer gateway is battlemen ted, an d has a lon g inscription in Persian or Ar abic infive compartments ; the inscription is cut in brick an d hassuffered greatly from the w eather. A t on e corn er of thein n er en closure to which this gate gives admission is a tow ersimilar to the tow ers in the Begampur masjid in Patna, an dI in fer the other corn ers, or at least one other correspon din gcorn er, had a corresponding tow er ; the en closure walls have,how ever, n otw ithstan ding ex tensive repairs, become greatlydilapidated . I n the in n er cour t-yard is an in scription on a

lon g trapezoidal piece of bluish-black stone ; the in scriptionis in four compartmen ts Of three lines each, an d on e lon g lin erun n in g the whole length ; the stone on which the in scriptionexi sts has spli t dow n the middle longitudin ally . When Isaw it, it was thickly covered w ith a most ten acious coat O fdir t con sistin g Of in durated layers Of milk

,ghee

,curds, an d

lamp-black, the offerings of pious pilgrims . I was allowedto clean it, but not w ithout sundry warn in s Of the risk Iran of in currin g the displeasure of the sainThe dargah con tains the tomb of a local sain t w ho, tradi



HILSA.

H i lsoi is a con siderable village on the banks Of theKathar, or prin cipal bran ch Of the Lilajan or Phalgu river.It is at the poin t where the old road from Gya to Fatuhaan d the roads from R ajgir to Patna cross the river, an d it

must naturally have early risen to importance . The prin cipalobject of in terest here is the masjid . This is avowedly builton the site of a Hindu temple, an d un der the great floorin g

slabs in the cen tr e of the cen tral arch is buried, so saystradi tion ,

the migh ty HilsaDeo, sealed down w ith the sacredseal of a local sain t . HilsaDeo was a pow erful magician ,

an d was overcome with difficulty . It is possible that theprincipal statue of the temple is buried here to be troddendaily under foot by the faithful, but of cour se it is qui teout of the question to try an d ascertain this by actualexcavation .

There are a few statues in vari ous parts of thec itv, but nothing else of any importan ce or in terest .

BU DDHA G A Y A .

G aya has alr eady been so carefully descr ibed by G en eralCun n ingham, an d by var ious other writers, that I n eedadd n othin g to the information alr eady gi ven by them . Inote

,how ever, the existen ce of rude ston e cir cles n ear the

foot of the P retsila hill ; these are tradi tion ally ascribedto Kols.

R am G aya an d Mora Pahar have been n oticed in

G en eral Cun n ingham’s reports, an d I n eed on ly refer to

them .

Buddha G aya has been dw elt upon at some len gth byG eneral Cun n in gham in h is reports, an d has also foun d men

tion in the wr itings Of num erous observers an d in ciden tally inthis report also, but it appears desirable to n otice variouspoin ts whi ch appear not to have been fully n oticed before .The vault over the san ctum of the great temple, so far

as can n ow be judged from the coatin g of plaster that coversit, but which, havin g fallen off in places, discloses the bricksin side, is composed en tirely of radiatin g bricks, set edge toedge, an d n ot bed to bed as usual in the presen t day. A ll thebricks appear cut to shape, an d there is n o appearan ce ofmortar havin g been used between the bricks ; the cemen tin gmaterial appears to be mud. I have alr eady poin ted out

that,un der the peculiar con dition of a tun n el vault in ca

I N THE BEN GA L P R OVIN OES , 1872-73. 67

pahle Of bein g subjected to a lateral strain , the mode ofusing bricks edge to edge is n ot only n ot weaker than theform of arch w e n ow use, but i s positively stronger, as givin gfew er j oints betw een the voussoir ;s an d where the cementing material is mud, whi ch does n ot set hard, but remain salwav s compressible, the advantage of havin g as few j ointsas possible of the compressible material betw een the voussoir s i s Obvious .In the sanctum thus covered by the vault, the pedestal

of the statue extends right acr oss, an d 1s even partially embedded ou both sides w ithin the walls . A par t from the veryun usual n ature of this arrangement, the fact O f the Singhasari bein g embedded at the ends in the side walls is a verystron g cir cum stance in favour of the supposition that thesan ctrun w as origin ally larger, w ithin whi ch the throne stood,detached at the ends from the walls .The all but un i versal custom in temple-buildin g ap

pears to have been to make the san ctum square an d to place itin the centre of the great tow er. There are in deed in stances,few an d far betw een, where thi s rule is departed from, n ot

ably in the very in terestin g instance Of the great temple atPathari in Central Indi a, an d also at G yaraspur but thesetemples ar e of stone . I n brick temples I have n ot comeupon a sin gle instan ce w here this rule has been depar tedfrom, w ith the sin gle exception of the temple at Konch an d

th ere the very excepti on has served most emphatically toconfi rm the rule . A s I have proved almost to demonstr ati onthat the appar en t an omaly is due to subsequen t alteration ,

let us n ow apply this law to the great Buddh a G aya temple .Here the sanctum is an Oblong 20 feet in len gth . By increasin g the wi dth on either side, the immediate couse

quen ce is that the side w alls, whi ch n ow are thi cker than the

back , become at on ce reduced in thi ckn ess, an d are madeequal to the back w all . Fm ther than this, the S in ghasann ow no lon ger run s an omalously right across the sanctum,

but occupies, as it should, a detached position abuttin gagainst the back wall . I t IS clear, therefore, that th e thi ckening of the side walls an d the con sequent n arrowin g of the sanctum is due to alterations an d addi ti on s carried out sin ce thebuildin g of the temple . Thi s i s the opin ion arrived at byGeneral Cun n in gham, although on e of his reason s for sothinkin g— via , that there is no recorded instance of the useof the true arch byHin dus at a very early period— is n o

lon ger tenable, as w ill be seen further on . The con clusion he


has arrived at, that the vault is a subsequen t addition , appears un assailable .

It n ow remain s to determin e the peri od of the addi tionof the vault. To do this satisfactorily, it is necessary I shouldrefer cur sorily to some of the law s which govern ed the construction of Hindu temples .

O n 8» p r iom’

grounds, we should n aturally suppose thatthe fir st datum in the con struction of a temple was the sizeof the san ctum .

The size of the san ctum here is, or rather was origin ally,a square of 20 feet 41 in ches (G eneral Cun n in gham

’s mea

suremen ts) from thi s, the entire temple has to be deducedaccordin g to fixed law s .

Follow ing a law which holds good in numerous templesw ithin very n arrow variations, the proportion of w idth of

sanctum to thickness of walls is very n early as 1 5 to 1

(the actual limits vary from 14 to We have thereforefor the thickness of the walls of the Buddh a G aya temple20’4 + 1 5, or 13 feet 41 in ches ; the actual thickness of the

back wall is 13 feet 5 inches at thi s day.

From this law , therefore, it is seen at once that the or i

gin al temple had walls 13 feet 6 in ches thick, an d thereforethe extra thi ckness of the side walls is due to subsequentaddition .

We have n ext to determin e the w idth of entrance an d

its height .The w idths of entran ces in various temples ar e much

more various than the thi ckness of walls . When referred tothe sanctum as a datum, they range from 20 to 29 . Takingthe average, 25 n early, we fin d that the w idth of openi n gought to be 8 feet 2 in ches . The actual Width of open ing is,how ever, on ly 6 feet 6 inches . We must, how ever, rememberthat the openin g is vaulted over like the sanctum, an d a

thickness of at least 10 in ches must have been cut off fromeither side by building up walls to carry the vault. A ddin gthen tw ice 10 inches or 1 feet 8 in ches to the presen t Widthof open in g between the jambs, we get 8 feet 2 inches as weshould .

The w idth bein g n ow foun d, the height has to be deduced .

There are two classes of temples— on e con sistin g simplyof a cell, the other of a cell w ith other chambers in front.The Buddha G aya temple clearly belonged to the latter class,an d therefore the open in g in the fron t wall of the san ctum

I N T HE BEN G A L PR OVI N CES , 1872-73, 69

was cut up into two division s— one forming the doorwayproper, the other what maybe called the illumi nating w in

dow . Temples in brick of this class are very rare . Theessential requi sites to be sought for in temples, w ith whichto compare this an d deduce the law applicable to it, ar e

that it should possess a tall triangular overlapping openin gdivided into two parts, viz, the entrance an d the w indow .

I can call to mi nd but three temples of this class which aren ow available for comparison— the temple at Sirpur in theCentral Provinces, the temple at K onch, an d the temple atKatras . In all these, the proportion of height of rectangularpar t of the openin g is 3% times the w idth . U sing, then, thisproportion, we get for the height of the rectangular opening28 feet 7 inches . For the triangular portion there are num erous examples ; an d from these it appears that the heightof the triangular portion was 13

3, times the span , or just half

the height of the rectangular portion . The total height,then, of the Open ing amounts to 3% 137, or 5% times thew idth hence the total height of the Openi ng in the greattempleunderexamin ation ought bythis ruleto benearly413feet .My approximate measurements agree in making the

height to be n ot very different . I took it at 45 feet .It may n ot be here out of place to glance at the difficul

ties in the wayof accurate measurements . The law s deducedfrom examples an d applied to this temple here show that thesean cient structures w ere all constructed on defini te principles,an d in accordan ce w ith defini te law s . S O far the number of

law s an d proportion s di scovered bear avery small proportion tothe

'f

w hole of the great code of law s of an cien t Indian art, an d itw ould be very desirable to obtain more of them but the discovery of the law s depen ds en tirely on detailed an d accuratemeasurements of a great n umber of buildings, an d these mea

suremen ts n ecessarily deman d tim e . It is quite w rong, I venture to con ceive, to lay down at this stage of our know ledge ofIn dian art what are the measur ements that can an d what thosethat can n ot be neglected ; for the very fact of bein g able todraw such a li ne presupposes a know ledge which we do n ot

yet possess of the law s govern in g the disposition of parts . Toren der my mean ing clearer, I n eed merely allude to the law sthat I have in a previ ous paper shown as govern ing thestructures at the Kutab in Delhi . Few , I venture to consider,w ould have imagined that the accur ate measurements of thefew orn amen tal ban ds, n ot of the great Minar, but of a

dilapidated gateway, would have led to the discovery of


the law that govern s the Whole ; yet so it is, for the measuremen ts of the Min ar w ould have failed

'

sign ally to giveany clue to the law , for the simple reason that the law whichgoverns it is a compli cated law , derived from an d basedupon the apparen tly triflin g distan ces of a few lines (n otvery promin ent or remarkable ones) that adorn the ruin edan d to all appearan ce un important gateway . It was solelybecause I thought I could trace a defin ite in terdepen dencebetween the various lines on the gateway that I proceededto measure min utely other apparen tly unimportant details,an d fin ding the law hold throughout, I then alon e venturedto take in hand measurements of the distan ces of the ornamental bands of the great Minar, an d to apply to them theproportion already di scovered, but for some time in vain,ow in g to the complicated nature of the law that there holdssway. Thus, then, it is impossible at startin g to poin t toanyparticular series of measuremen ts as useless ; but if thisbe so, all possible measur ements have to be made w ith rigidaccuracy, an d thi s is a work of time. Letus take the BuddhaG aya temple . In the fir st in stan ce, I have to reach the place ;then extensive scaffolding has to be put up, an d it is onlyafter this that the series of measurements can begin at all .

I n eed, therefore, materials an d w orkmen ; for these, in a

place where I go for a few days, an d n ecessarily possess noacquain tance w ith the men or resour ces obtainable, I haveto payfor heavily either in time or in money, or in both .

It is therefore impossible that half a province can be ex

plored in a single season bya sin gle in dividual with the carean d mi nuteness necessary to obtain materials for deducin gthe principles that govern the structures visited .

B ut although the structures visited can not be measuredw ith the accuracy an d minuten ess n ecessary, it becomespossible to judge, even in a rapid tour, which are the buildin gs most likely to yield results of value to detailed measur emen ts ; an d these alon e n eed at a subsequen t period to bere-visited, measured in detail, an d carefully exami n ed. Therapid an d exten sive tour accordin gly becomes, as it w ere, aprelimin ary survey, but I w ish it to be distin ctly un derstoodthat, if results of solid value are to be obtained, thi s prelimin ary survey must be follow ed up by a detailed examin ation of particular portion s of the coun try an d of particularstructures .It must, accordin gly, be eviden t that a critical essay on

Indian art, or even on a particular temple, cannot n ow be

1 .x T HE BEN GA L P novt x cns. 71

w ritten . A few , a very few , law s alon e have as yet beendetermin ed, an d even those have not yet been subjected to

the crucial test of bein g used to pred ict results, w hi ch alonew ould entitle them to complete con fiden ce . I shall thereforen ot attempt to discuss the architectiu'

e except incidentally,but w ill conten t myself w ith describin g what I have seen .

A discussion of the ar chi tectur e must be postponed to a

futtue period.

R evertin g n ow to the Budd ha G aya temple, I haveproved by the substantial agreement of certain main feattu'

es,

w ith those deduced from theory, the correc tn ess of G eneralCun n in gham’s in ference, that the temple, as w e n ow see it, is

substantially not different fr om the origin al temple, whetherw e assume it to have been built in Viki-amadi tya

’s epoch,

or in the l st centur y after Christ ; an d that the opini on of

Mr. Fergusson , notw ithstan din g the w eight of his name inall questions as to style of ar chitecture, is really erroneous,w hen he ascribes the extern al form to the 11th cen t tu'

y,

for if ther e is one thin g un touched in the temple by laterrepai rer s, it is the broad featur es of the external form, all

chan ges havin g been more in ternal than ex tern al. It n ow

remain s to determin e the epochs of the various changes .

Irr om the in terestin g story men tion ed by Hw en T hsan g,in conn ection wi th Kin g Sasan gka

’s attempted destruction or

r emoval of the statue of Buddha (Ar ch . R ep , I II , p . it

is clear that the min i ster did n ot remove the statue, butmerely built up a w all to screen it in fr ont. Let us n ow

trace the consequen ces of doin g so, rememberin g that anyevi den t depar ture fr om the easily rec ogn ised features oftemple ar chitectur e w ould have been certain ly detected, an dw ould have brought destruction on that min ister.By bui lding up the wall hi din g Buddha’s statue, he re

duced the squar e san ctum to an oblon g . Such an easily

percepti ble depar ture fr om accepted prac tice could n ot passmuster ; he w ould th er efore be compelled to form it in to a.

square by cuttin g off portion s fr om the sides also . The wallsw hi ch car ry the in n er vault are made just thick en ough todo this, an d no mor e, an d this is the on ly reason I can see

which can be aw ign ed for makin g the walls, carryin g thevault, of the thickn es s they actually ar e. Thi s don e, the sanctum becomes at on ce agam a square, an d as a crucial proofthat the chan ge whi ch has been imagin ed w as ac tuallymade at this time, is the cir cumstance that the linga m n ow

in the temple, an d which doubtless is the one set up by the


orders of Kin g Sasangka, occupies the exact cen tre, as it shoulddo

, of the r educed squar e. The square thus formed did n ot,

it is true, occupy the cen tre of the tow er, but this was acir cumstan ce that could only have been

’

perceived by makingcareful measurements, an d not bein g Obvious, was n ot likelyto attrac t n otice or suspicion .

B ut to the chamber so reduced the broad original eutran ce w as obviously in appropriate ; it had to be reducedalso, an d it has accordingly been reduced in n early thesame proportionate extent ; so that at first sight there shouldbe nothing to excite suspicion an d con sequent minuteen quiry .

B ut the tall openin g thus reduced in w idth w ould w eara very suspicious look ; accordingly, w e fin d the openingbroken up into compartments, an d thus lessen ing the apparent height .Intern ally, how ever, the n ow narrow ed chamber w ould

have been quite out of keeping w ith the great height towhich the apex of the pyramidal roof rose intern ally, an d a

lining of the requisite thickness could n ot, for obvious reason s,be applied to the interior of the pyramidal roof ; hen ce theexpedient of the vault, whi ch effectually cut ofi the sus

picious tallness of the roof in ternally .

Here then we have all the conditions added that weren ecessary to carry out the min i ster’s in ten tion of deceivin gh is king ; an d I conclude, therefore, that the additions enumer ated w ere made by the minister of Sasan gka about A . D .

600.

N o other supposition that occurs to me can adequatelyexplain the r eason of these chan ges ; they clearly do notadd either to the stren gth or to the gran deur of the temple .I have abstained from assign in g the origin al building of

the temple to anyage, for reason s already given ; but I donot hesitate to ascribe th e vaulting, &c . , to the period of Kin gSasdngka, about A . D . 600. This assignmen t will fall inw ith either of the possible dates of the bui lding of thetemple, via , the first century A . D . as G en eral Cun n in ghamhas it, or A . D . 500 accordi ng to the Amara Devain scr iption . The occurrence of vaulted arches with radiatingvoussoirs is n o Objection, for, as w ill subsequen tly be seen ,the Indians knew the use of it long before this period .

R egardin g the subsequent additions there is n o question,an d as G eneral Cun n in gham has already wr itten about them,

I refer to h is accoun t .



BAKR O R .

B akror is a place of some importan ce, at the fork or

jun ction of the L ilajan an d the Mohan a rivers, and n earlyopposite to Buddha G aya. The remains here are not numerous, an d ar e n oticed in G en eral Cunnin gham

’s reports .

SHEO N A GA R .

Sheon agar is a small village on the bran ch of the L ilajanwhi ch flow s past B iswak, an d about 6 miles below it . Theplace is said to possess ancien t remain s, an d from the circumstance O f its bein g si tuated at the point where, in all probabi

lity, the old road from R aj gir to Patna past Hilsa crossed thestream,

I thin k it likely to contain ancient remain s the placehas not, how ever, been visited byme n or by anyof the variousinvestigators of the antiquities of M agadha.

ON GA R I .

Ongari is a small village betw een Sheonagar an d B iswak .

The place contains some fragments of ancien t statues, &c .,

an d was reported to possess an in scribed slab also ; but ofthis last I could not ascertain the exact locality, if it existsat all. (See also J . A . S . for 1872, page

B APTH U .

Dapthu is a small village n ot far from Islampur, an d

con tains some ancient remains in the shape of ruin ed templesan d statues, &c . Photographs of the interesting remains herew ere, I believe, taken by Mr . Peppe, an d the place is n oticedin detail in Buchan an ’s work (Martin’s compilation ) , an d inMr . B roadley

’s papers in J . A . S . for 1872.

BIHAR .

Bihar is the chief city in the importan t sub -district of

Bihar, an d still retain s something of its ancien t importan ce .The remains here are n umerous, but the place has beendescribed an d the remains examin ed by so many zealousinquirers, that it is on ly necessary for me to supplemen t thein formation already available . The papers that may becon sulted regarding Bihar are to be foun d in various volumesof the Journ al, A siatic Society, the last an d most in terestin gbein g Mr. B roadley

’s paper in the volume for 1872 . G en eral

I N THE BEN G AL P novI N CEs, 1372- 73

Cunn ingham’s reports also furn ish a con den sed mass Ofacctu

'

a-te an d valuable information .

Am on g the var ious w riters on Bihar, it is remarkablethat n o one has noticed its ancient n ame of D an dp1u

°

.

Tr adi tion states that before the Muhammadan invasionBihar used to be called B iba

’zr s dzl or D an d Bih ar, an

obvious contraction of‘

Dan dpur Bihar . If n ow w e rememberthat Bihar is not a proper name, but mean s merely a

monastery, being only the corrupted form of Vihara, it

w ill be clear that the proper name of the town w as D an dpura,an d tradition has even preserved the memory of the or iginof thi s name, explaining it by assertin g that it w as calledD an dpm

' from the great collection of dandi s (religiousmen dican ts) w ho made this their head-quarters .It is therefore clear that previous to, an d at the tim e of,

the M uhanimadan invasion, Bihar w as really named D an dpiu'

,

an d being at the same time the seat of a w ell-knownmonastery, it naturally was kn own as Dan d Bihar ; an d tradition further states that w hen the Muhammadan s conqueredthe place, the G overnor caused by proclamation the name ofDan d Bihar to be changed in to Subah Bihar, the name cru'rentat thi s day .

I must n ow men tion that the an cient name of Silao wasVikramasila, an d I w ill subsequently show w hy .

These being premi sed, w e n ow turn to T aranath'

s Tibet,where we learn that the mon asteries of O lan tap ur a an d

V ikr amas ila were bur n ed down . The mention of these twoplaces together show s that the two w ere close to each other.

N ow ,I must allude to the in scription whi ch mentions

I'

dan dap ur a D esa ,showi n g that the name I

'

dan dap ur a or

O imzlap ur a or B an dp ur a w as not only the n ame of a city,but of a district . (R ep . , III,The place, therefore, whi ch imposed its name on a district

,

or r ice r er sd , must have been the chi ef city of that di strict .Further, w e kn ow that the place was n ear N alanda. (R eports,III,G eneral Cunn in gham has hazarded the con jectiu

'

e thatthe nam e U dan dapura may refer to Bishanpur Tandw a, but

Bishan pur Tan dw a n ever was a place of the importance thusimpli ed, an d G en era l Ctmn in gham was evidently imawar e of

the tradi tion which makes the an cien t name of BiharDan dpur Bihar .

From the w hole of the above but on e con clusion can bedraw n , that Bihar was ancien tly named Fdandapm

'

a .


G en eral Cunn in gham also suggests that the an cient nameof Bihar may have been Yasocarmmapw a . The follow in glegend mayhelp to throw some light on this question .

The K alm‘

r caste is divided in to various clans, of whi ch theR amciml is the ackn ow ledged head . The name R amani is saidto have been derived from B amanpura, a place near R ajgir,where the chief of the Kahars used to reside before the castebecame spli t up into clans . It happened that at a certaintime very long ago the then chief of the Kabars married twow ives, but the two w omen w ere constantly quarrelling an d

gave their husband no peace, so the man removed one of themto Jaspur , an d her descendants are know n to this day as

Jaswo’ir Kabars .What connects Jaspur wi th Bihar is the circumstance

that the Kabars about Bihar are mostly Jaswdr K ahdr s, whi le

those about G ir iyak are R ama/ms .

So that it is not improbable that Bihar, or some placenot far from it, was named Jaspur, whi ch is only the spokenform of Y asovarmmapura .

I conclude my notice of Bihar w ith a legen d whichaccounts for the toleration whi ch Hin dus are said to haveen j oyed in Bihar af ter the Muhammadan conquest .When the Muhammadans took Bihar they destroyed all

Hindu shrines, an d for a long time Hi ndus w ere out allow edto go into the city (fort P) . A t last, after many years, a j oginamed Mani R am contrived to get in an d establi sh himself,an d when the Muhammadan s heard Of it, they at once proceeded to turn him out but he was a great magican , an d

they could not prevail against him , an d allow ed him toremain . Thi s man naturally used to blow the sankh, as iscustomary w ith H indus in performing their religious ceremonies . One day the sound happened to reach the ears ofA ulia Makhdum S ah , who lived on the hill, an d be havingascertained the particulars regarding the j ogi an d the vainattempt to turn him out, determin ed to destroy hi s caste byartifice . He accordingly prepared tasty di shes of cookedbeef an d sent them w ith a polite message to the jogi . Onthe arrival of the presents an d the polite message, the j ogidesired the di shes to be at once carried back

,sayin g, In in

tention I than kq yaccept the p ir’s present

, an d sen d theseback n ow in return .

” These dishes on bein g brought backun open ed to the pir w ere foun d to con tain , not beef, but sw eetmeats . The pir n ow felt much respect for the jogi , an d

proceeded to visit him in person , seated on a tiger. When



wron gly placed to the w est Of the road from G ir iyak toBihar ; it is just to the east of the road.

CH A N D IM A U .

Chan dimcm is a small village on the west bank of thePan chan a river, an d about 2 miles n orth-west Of G ir iyak ;there are some few remain s here. (See B roadley

’s paper,

J . A . S . , forG ir iyak has been n oticed by numerous writers an d by

G eneral Cun n in gham in his report, to whi ch I refer. Thecon troversy between Mr . Broadley an d G en eral Cun n in ghamregardi n g the moun tain vi sited by Fa-hian ultimately resolvesitself in to the question , Is or is not Fa-hian ’s S iao-kou-shysham the same as Hwen T hsan g

’s I n dr a-S i lo»moun tain Fa

hian’s accoun t of the legen d attached to hi s rock is n ot on ly

substantially the same as Hw en Th san g’s, but the exi stence

of a cell facin g the south is distin ctly recorded by Fa-hianin hi s moun tain . N ow , although he places this cell on thetop of the hill, I think there can not be a doubt that thecave referred to is the G iddha-dwdr cave whi ch faces south,an d is at the top, n ot of the mountai n , but of the pass, betw een the two ran ges of hills whi ch con verge an d meet at

G ir iyak .

In addi tion to the G iddhadwd’r cave, there is a cave

n ear the foot of the hill on the n orth side ; it is a naturalcavern of n o in terest, but is said by the people to communicate with the G iddhadwdr cave ; it is n amed the Shekbircave. Close to it is a great boulder w orshipped by the Musabar s of the n eighbour hood as H athiya D eo.

SH APU R -A TMA .

Shahpur-A tma is a small village on a bran ch of thePewar it is said to con tain some remain s .

BA R A GA ON .

Baragaon , Jagdispur , an d Jafara are thr ee small villagesn ear each other. Jagdi spur is remarkable chi efly for a largestatue of Buddha, whi ch stan ds on a moun d n ear it, an d isw orshipped as AmbikaDevi, although it must be eviden t tothe most obtuse that the statue is n ot that of a female . Thisstatue is said to be the iden tical one worshipped by R ukmin i .

I N THE BEN GA L PR OV IN CEs, 1872-73. 79

The follow in g verses are said to have been sun g by herParbhuji kahan n a parbhuté kari

Jaguakpur me jag T haneoS ta. jhunkhut khar iG aye pina ke R aghunath T urcoS aka] se j ay kar i

Parbhuj l,”8m.

B ipimban‘mar ich mareo

B al se chhal kari

Jal madh se G aj R aj kareoN ar G otam Tari

Parbhuji, $9, 850.

S isiskal sispal aen

S odh ke sab ghar i

Suslik pati li khat R ukminB ikr ke kér dhar i

Parbhu, &c .

Parbhu bilamb kanhé ki jeParbhu aiye ai ghar i

A bki ber i két mer i

Japo n arki hari

P arbhu,”&c .

G arad char ke G opala {sen

G arud punjat n ar iA bki ber i kat mer i

Japo n arki kari

Par bhu,”&c .

Fr om thi s it is seen that the ancient n ame of Jagdi spur issupposed to have been Jagn akpur .

Barag aon is said to have been an ciently called Kun dilpur .

These supposition s, as G eneral Cunn ingham has observed, are

all based on the error of con foun din g V idarbha w ith Biharin stead of Berar .

N ear the n orth en d of the n orth moun d at Baragaon is a

headless statue, the head of whi ch is said to be lyin g atJafara. There is a curious legen d regardin g it which I giveThere was on ce a man n amed Seodhar , w ho, for reasons

which had best remain tmtold here, w as con denmed byParvati to lose all desir e . He had been married in infancy

,

before Parvati cursed him , an d in due course, when h is w ife,Chan dain , became of age, the ceremon y of ga

-zmci

, whichcon sists in brin gin g the bride from the father

’s to thehusban d’s house, w as performed, an d S eodhar brought h iswi fe home ; but as all desir e was destroyed in Seodhar , h isw ife soon found her position very un comfortable, an d sheformed an attachmen t w ith on e of her villagers, n amed Lori,


an d eloped w ith h im . S eodhar pursued an d overtook them,

but h is wife refused to return, telling h im , w ith unmeasuredcon tempt, that as he had neglected her when she lived w ithh im , it was n ow too late to run after her. B ut Seodhar

w ould n ot listen ; he an d Lori fought, an d he was overpow ered, an d Lori an d Chan dain then w ent leisurely on .

O n the road near Baragaon, where the headless statue n owlies, they met the chief of the juwar is or gamblers, namedM ahapatia, a D osad by caste from Juafar . Lori wan ted toplay a game w ith h im , an d the two sat down an d played tillLori lost everythin g he had, includin g Chandam . M ahapatia

n ow got up to seize her, but she said, I have in deed beenstaked an d lost, but the jew els on my person w ere not staked,so play one game more w ith the j ew els for a stake . Thegambler sat down to play, an d Chan dain w ent behin d her loverLori, an d stood facing the gambler, apparently watching thegame . She pretended to be so absorbed in the game, that, asit w ere unconsciously, she gathered up her petticoat in to herhand, exposing her person . The gambler overcome by herbeauty an d by lust, could n ot take h is eyes off her, an d hebegan losing, till Lori had n ot only won back all he had lost

,

but also all that the gambler had, who at last ceased playin g.

N ow Chan dain cam e forward an d told Lori What she had done,an d how theman had greedily looked on her . Kill this in famous man , that he may not boast of having seen me exposed,

”

she said . Lori was a very pow erful man ; his sw ord w eighedtwo maunds, an d was named B ij a

’idhar . With on e stroke of

it he sent the gambler’s head flying to Juafar , whi le hi s bodyfell where he was seated, an d both have since turned to stone .

Lori was the son of a G wala named B udhkithai ; he had beenmarried to a girl in the village A gori, n ow R ajauli, on theroad from Hazaribagh to Bihar, but h is w ife Satman ain was

not of age, an d the gamut had not yet been performed .

She had a sister named Lurki . Lori had a brother,Semru,

who, being an orphan, had been brought up by Lori’s father

as a son . He li ved near A gori, at a village which, from thecircumstance of h is having been brought up as an adoptedson, palak,

”w as n amed Pali ; the place is said to be a few

mi les north of R ajauli . “1"

Lori an d Chan dain n ow went on to Hardui, a place said to

be two days’march (mc nei ls) from M ongir on the north . Herethey fought w ith and defeated the R aja an d con quered thecountry . The expelled R aja sued for aid at the Court of theR aja of Kalin ga, an d succeeded w ith h is aid in capturin g



two women wen t as agreed, an d Lurki then recogn ised L ori,and the mystery was cleared up, to the happin ess of all

con cern ed . But Lori had to undergo a severe lecture for hisun n atural behaviour in neglecting his youn g wife so lon g,an d livin g in happin ess w ith a mistress . Matters, how ever,were so arran ged as n ot to deprive Lori of h is mistress .

O n the other han d, the n ephew , n ot havin g anykn owledgeof these tran saction s, an d fin ding Lurki an d Satman ain bothabsen t fr om home, attacked Lori furiously ; the fight ragedfor a lon g time, Lori was overpow ered, an d was on the poin tof losing h is life, when Lurki an d Satman ain rushed in tothe fight an d explain ed matters ; thereupon there w ere greatrejoicings, an d they all settled down comfortably .

Lori ruled hi s subjects w ith justice, an d was such an

earn est en courager of agriculture, that in a short time heturn ed the wilds about R ajauli to a highly cultivated coun try,where, so completely was the land brought un der cultivation ,

that even in sects found n o secure restin g place ; so the wholebody of birds, beasts, an d insects w ent up an d complain edto In dra, who, takin g counsel w ith Durga, saw that Loriruled his coun try w ith such justice, an d was so blameless inhis private life, that he was beyon d the power of harm, an d

could n ot be touched, unless he committed some crime. Toen tice h im in to crime, Durga assumed the form of hismi stress, an d w en t to h im w ith hi s food, which was theusual custom of Chan dam. Lori , ign orant of the trap laidfor h im , an d inflamed by the beauty of his supposed mi stress,who on thi s day seemed to him more beautiful than she hadever been , n eglected hi s food an d amorously sought to embracehis beautiful Chan dain . Hardly had he touched her

, whenDurga, kn ow in g that h is invuln erabili ty was lost, admin i stereda slap , whi ch twi sted his face completely roun d, an d disappeared . Overcome with gr ief an d shame, Lori determin ed togo and di e at Kasi, but h is relatives loved him too w ell tolose him , an d they all w en t to Kasi, where they n ow all sleepthe sleep of magic at the M anikarn ika G hat, havin g beenturn ed in to ston e .The legen d is very in teresting, as it gives us an in sight

in to the customs which prevailed in ancien t times, an d wesee that there has been but little change to this day. N ow , as

before, we see the great importance attached to scrupulousobservan ce of a morbid delicacy in the con duct of femalescoupled w ith a shameless indecency the exposure of herperson by Chan dain is n ot con sidered a very hein ous offen ce

I N THE BEN G A L PR OVI N CES , 1872-73. 83

against propriety, but the idea of the man livi n g to trumpeti t forth to the w orld is insupportable . A n d, again, the dwellin g together of the w ife an d the mistress under the same roofis n ot considered an impropriety, while for the w oman tostride over a man’s d izotzi is considered very indelicate, if n ot

actually a crime. In conn exion wi th thi s idea, I may alludeto a custom prevalent in N orthern India, for the husband,w hen goin g aw ay from hi s home for a long time, to leave histrousers wi th hi s w ife, in order that w hen desirous of havingchildren, she may, by putting them on, obtain her w ishes .I may also allude to the legen d, to be given further on , wherethe smellin g of a saint’s la-ngoti was found efficacious inobtain in g a child . I may fiu

'ther allude to the custom of

tying clu'

llas w ith a like in tent at various holy spots . Theidea that underli es those customs is evident, an d need n ot beput in plain w ords ; but the imm easur able di stance betw eenmodern Western ideas of propriety an d Indian ideas, evenof the present day, is evident : th e on e tries to provideagain st the awaken in g of even a passing impure thought byan unguarded w ord or gesture, the other n ot only does n otattempt to preserve pur ity of thought , but does n ot evenguard sufficiently again st pur i tv of conduct . In short, thec ir cumstances alluded to bear out the conclusion on e w ouldnaturally dr aw from Hindu sculptures, that female moralitv

durin g the Hindu period w as of a very low standard .

It is interestin g to note also that gamblin g as a p rofess ion is not a modern institution ; the village Juafar is said

to have been so named from havin g been the head- quartersof professional gamblers .

S I IA O .

S flcio is a large village about 3 miles from Baragaon .

It is at the present day noted for a kind of native sw eetmeat,an d for its parched rice, an d from person al kn owledge I canbear out in regard to these items the fame it enjoys . I t is,

how ever, n ot devoid of objects of in terest, as there ar e two

tombs an d a masj id w ith numerous in scription s in Pers ianan d A r abic characters . The masj id is of the ordin ary kin d,w ithout cloisters attached ; it is built of stone and mortar ,an d the floor in front. is paved w ith stone. T he whole of thestone was derived from Hin du built

'

gs. T he pavement i sindeed on e mass of imbedded pillars , an d proves that thebuildings des troyed to fm'

n ish the profusi on of materials


must have been numerous an d exten sive . Most of these,h ow ever, are plain , and there are very few sculptured ston esto be seen in Silao .

Tradition ascribes the building of the masj id to a veryearly period, makin g it con temporary with the masjid an ddargah at Bihar. There is a silly legend related of a herdsman havin g on ce, to avoid the destruction of his calves bydi sease, vow ed to make an offering of the en tire milk of h isflock to the local sain t . This was don e in the same wayas

the offerin g of the rice an d milk to Buddha at BuddhaG aya, by feedin g a certain number of cow s on the milk ofthe whole, an d on their produce feeding a few er number, tillat last only one cow was fed on the concen trated essenceof the milk of all the cow s, an d of her mi lk Icln'r was dulycooked ; but the poor Muhammadan saint did not get off as

satisfactorily as Buddha, for the herdsman having in h is

hurry begun recitin g the n ecessary prayers while the khz’rwas still boilin g hot, the un fortun ate sain t foun d himselfsorely puni shed, for the boiling compost at once miraculously tran sferred itself to the mouth of the sain t, I haven o doubt to his great aston ishmen t .The foun dation of Silao is ascribed to V ikramaditya even

by the Muhammadan s of the place (two of these volunteeredto be my guides to the maspd an d tombs) , an d the excellence of the sweets an d of the parch ed ri ce is as cribed toconsummate halwais settled here by him, whose descen dan tsn ow carry on the trade . I was in clined at first to look uponthe tradition as absurd, but G eneral Cunn ingham

’s surmisecommun icated to me, while at Simla, that Silao mi ght befound to be a contraction of V ikramasila, recurred to mymemory, an d I at once perceived the sign ification of the tradition . This place then is the an cien t V ikramasila, an d peoplen aturally soon contrived a tradition to accoun t for the name.A t present, when the Vikrama

” portion of the n ame isforgotten , the tradition naturally appears quite un in telli

gible.

BA R A GA ON .

I cann ot take leave of Baragaon an d its vicini ty w ithoutalludin g to Mr. B roadley

’s excavation s at, an d his account of,

N alan da. While giving him credit for zeal an d exertion ,I

can not but feel that the excavation of this temple, whichG eneral Cun ningham assigns to the 1st centur y A . D . , was

not a work which M r . Broadley should have undertaken w ith



imbedded w ithin the w ell ring at some distan ce below the

mouth of the w ell ; on e is dated in Samvat 1007, the legibleportion givin g the n ame S ri RamaDharmi n ,

”whoprobably

dug the well. The rest is illegible, bein g too far w orn to giveeven two con secutive letters entire .Besides these in scriptions I w ish to in vite atten tion to

the lon g ramblin g in scription on the flat rock, over which thepresen t path from the n orth to the Bawan Gan gadefile passes .Kittoe con jectured, an d conjectured rightly, that the curiousmarks are letters . I am quite satisfied that it is a lon g inscription , w ritten in the curious shell characters whi ch havehi therto to a great extent defi ed the acuten ess of an tiquarians .

The inscription is n ot in good order, partly from thenature of the rock on which it is cut, but chi efly from hav

in g been to a great extent rubbed away ben eath the tread of

passen gers an d cattle for a thousan d years ; but en ough yetremain s perhaps to show what it was about, an d whether init

iloss we are not to deplore the loss of a valuable record.

T e curious characters have lon g attracted the atten tion of

the people of the place, who suppose them to be the marks ofthe han ds an d feet an d n ails of the combatan ts Bhimaand Jarasan dha. The place is known as R anbhum .

There is, however, another spot equally called R anbhfim ;

this is properly n ot R an bhum , but R angbhfim, bein g thespoken form of R an ga Bhumi,

” the coloured earth,” from

the deep red colour of the earth there foun d. Tradition ascribesthe colour to the blood of Jarasan dha, who was killed byBhim after havin g fought w ith h im at the R anbhum described before . This spot is situated on the western or mainbranch of the Saraswati at the poin t where it en ters thew estern ramparts of the inn er tow n .

My atten tion was especially directed by G en eral Cunn in gham to the exploration of the long defile whi ch stretchesaway betw een the B aibhar an d S on ar hills to the w est of theold city . I tried to carry out my ins truction s, an d twiceattempted to pen etrate the pathless jan gal which literallychokes up the valley, but on both occasion s without success,havin g in both cases returned after losin g my way an d wan

derin g about to n o pur pose in the jan gal. The importan ce ofa thorough exploration of the valley w ill be eviden t when itis remembered that Hw en T hsang describes the exi sten ce of agreat cave (natur al probably) at the foot of the n orthernmoun tain , an d of a tope near Jaktiban ,

close to a smallisolated hill. Hwen Thsan g

’s description is perfectly accurate ;

I N THE BEN G A L PR OV I N CES , 1s72-73. 87

for although I failed to penetrate the valley from below , Ic ould n evertheless look down in to it from the heigh ts of

B aibhzirgir i . The. two ranges of B aibhar an d Sona are thusseen to approach each other. but w ithout meeting . A t thepoint w here the di stance is least. is a high hill close to, butisolated fr om, the B aibhar range ; a short w ay to the southw est of it is a small detached hi ll close to S on agir i ; close tothi s I could see a. small tumulus having prec isely the

appearance of an O ld stupa. The position correspondsaccurately wi th Hw en Thsan g

’s description, an d I have n o

doubt in my ow n mind that it is the long an d vain ly -lookedfor stupa but all my attempts to get to it w ere vain, for on

descen ding the hill only a short way. the dense jangal hidesthe smaller hill an d the stfipa, an d from the valley throughthe pathless jangal I found it impracticable to get to it .

There is a. large cave, but quite inaccessible , on the sideof B aibhargir i, n ear the source of the northern tributaryw h ich j oin s the Sara-swati before it enters the inn er c ity.

The cave appears to be natural, but from its position itappears too far east to coi nc ide w ith Hw en T hsan g

’s A sur

’s

cave . A secon d small cave. an d equally in accessible . existsfur ther east, also on the southern slope of B aibhargir i .If, however. the n ecessary tim e could be spared to cut

down a portion of the jangal in the valley. I have n o hesitati on in saying that the stupa described by Hw en Thsan g couldbe got at . Of its exi stence I had ocular proof, an d I thin k itvery un likely that I could have mistaken a natur al moun dor hill for a stupa, the more so as I carefully looked at it

w ith a pow erful bin ocular.Beyond thi s, but quite in visible even from the top of

the B aibhar hi ll, are the hot sprin gs of T apoban a thin vapourover the spot where they exist. declare their position . I di dn ot see them . The outer wall of the great fort begin nin g atthe north entran ce an d going eastwards. ascen ds the Y ipula

giri to its summit , then descen ds down a spur in a southerndirection an d ascends R atnagir i . From the summit of thi s

bi ll tw o bran ches diverge on e descends southw ards.mergin gin to the N ekpai embankment across the eastern defile leadingto G ir iyak , an d emerging on the Opposite side it ascendsl'

dayagiri . T he other bran ch stretches away towards G ir iyak :an d tradition says it goes right up to, an d embraces w ithinits cir cuit , the G ir iyak hill . Whether it. stretched unbrokenright tln

'

ough or not. I have n ot been able to ascertain . but

certai n it is that a line of walls stretches w estw ards from


G ir iyak along the crest of the long ran ge of hills. O n thesummit of U dayagiri the wall on ascendin g also divides in totwo one descendin g w estwards to the Bawan Ganga defile,the other stretching away towards G ir iyak, an d said to exten d,or to have origin ally extended, un broken till it met thebran ch which, as already n oticed, run s in the same dir ectionfrom the summi t of R atn agiri . The two ranges of wallsthus exten ded alon g the converging crests of the two ran gesof hills whi ch en close on the north an d the south the easter nBawan G an ga defile the spot w here the walls cross thedefile to complete the circuit bein g just above the G idhadwar cave, w here N atur e has so disposed the spurs of thetwo ran ges that they meet, an d the stream rushes down thesteep barrier in cascades an d rapids to j oin the Pamchana.

A r t has taken advantage of the natural features to con structa dam or rather to carry the w all across here, formin g, as it

w ere, a dam . (Plates 411, 44, Vol. III, A rchaeological R eport .)The bran ch that descen ds the w estern spur of the

U dayagiri is taken up across the defile by a similar lin e O fwalls run nin g up the spur up the Son ar to its nearest peak ;here it divides in to two, on e runni n g down n orthwards, an dmergin g into the w est ramparts of the inn er city ; the otherstretchin g away towards Tapoban . I have been told by thepeople that it stretches

,

away right up to Tapoban , where itdescends the hill, but cann ot speak of it from personalobservation .

From the summit or peak stretch out three lon g armsthe on e west carries the main chain of bi lls onwards to thw est ; the south or south-eas t on e slopes down to the southgate or Bawan Gan gadefile ; the eastern on e, how ever, jutsout in to the in terior of the outer fort, an d divi des the southern portion of the space betw een it an d the inn er rampartsin to two portion s . The valley betw een thi s spur an d the

south-east on e is watered by a rivulet with broad san dy bed.

This rivulet, before its jun ction w ith the Bawan G an gastr eam,

receives a tributary from the n orth ; n ear the poin t where thetributary joins it, the two main spurs spoken of sen d out

min or spurs towards each other, an d the space between wason ce shut in by a massive wall, through which the river hasburst its way. Within thi s little trian gular space are the ruin sof two temples, on e of whi ch appears to have been Brahmani cal ; they are of brick. Besides these there are remainsof a third, larger than either of the others, but they do not

appear to be of any special in terest . O n e of the small on es



Before doing so, it is best to dispose O f those that I donot contest . N os . 1 an d 2 have n ot yet been foun d .

N o. 6 is the Pippal cave discovered by G eneral Cunn in gham during hi s last visit .

N O . 5 is the cave discovered by G en eral Cun ningham,

but strangely enough omitted from h is report . During myVi sit

,

to R ajgir the people told me that G eneral Cunn inghamhad seen it, an d from the original manuscript map of R aj girdrawn by himself from hi s ow n surveys, which he kindlypermitted me to use, an d of which I have at this momentbefore me a tracing executed by myself, I see the positionof the cave di stinctly marked as a cave, so that I feel that,although he has omitted to notice it, thi s discovery is h is byright . Thi s cave is situated on the slope of V ipula, an d is

indeed marked in plate 441, 3rd volume reports, w ith the letterM, which on reference to the explanatory column attached isseen to be D evadatta’s house, but there is no allusion to it inthe text . This cave is thus noticed by Fa-hian Leaving theO ld city an d going north- east 3 ti , w e arrived at the stone cellof D evadatta, fifty paces from which there is a great squareblack stone” . The cave is also noticed by Hw en T hsan g.

This cave, therefore, may be appropriately called D evadatta’s

cave .

It n ow remains for me to di scuss the iden tity of the threecaves, N os. 3, 4, an d 7 .

I must, however, show that our authorities prove theexistence of three distinct caves for this purpose I quote Fae

hianEn ter ing the valley and skir ting the moun tains along their scutt

easter n stope for a distan ce of fifteen it,we ar r ive at the hill called

G l idfim Kata. T h ree ti from the top is a ston e cavern facing the south .

B uddha used in th is place to sit in profoun d meditation (dhyan a) .

T immy paces to the n orth -w est is an other ston e cell,in w hich A n anda.

practised meditation (dhyan a) . The ball in which B uddha deliveredthe law has been overturn ed and destroyed the foundation s of the br ickwalls ex ist however .

R etur n ing towards the n ew city after passing through the oldtown ,

an d going more than 300 paces to the north , on the west side of theroad we ar r ive at the Kalanda Ven ouvan a V ihara (the chapel in the

bamboo garden of Kalanda) . T his chapel still ex ists, and a congregation of pr iests sw eep and water it . Two or three ti to the n orth of the

chapel is the S hi-mo-she-na (S amasana) , w hich sign ifies the field of

tombs for laying the dead .

S kirting the souther n h illand proceeding westward 300paces, thereis a ston e cell called the P ippal cave, where B uddha was accustomed to

sit in deep meditation (dhyana) after his midday meal. Going still in a

IN T H E BEN GA L PR OV I N CES , 1872-73 91

westerly direction , j ive or sir ti, there is a ston e cave situated in thewort/ter n Made of the moun tain and called c/zeti . T his is the place where500 B ali nts assembled after the n irvan of Buddha. to ar range the collection of sacred books .

L eav i ng the old c ity and going n orth -east three 12, w e ar r ive at thestone cell of Devadatta.

”

The italics are all mine .F rom the first quotation we learn of tw o caves close

together, in the south-eastern slope of the B ai bhar mountain,on e of which , that in whi ch Buddha used to sit in profoundmeditation , faced the south .

From the nex t quotation w e learn of the existence of tw o

other caves in th e B aibhar hi ll also, one of whi ch is theP ippal

’s cave, an d the other the S attapan n i cave ; this last

situated to the w est of the former an d in the northern shadeof the mountain .

From quotation 3 w e lear n of a cave in V ipulagir i .Of these five distinct caves. tw o have been iden tified,— tlre

Pippala an d D evadatta'

s caves .There still remain thr ee to search for an d identify .

We have, how ever, on ly tw o hitherto described caves todi spose of ; these are situated close together, an d on e of themfaces the south (I quote G eneral Crm n in gham

’s own w ords ) ,

in front of w hich the rock has been cut aw ay to form a

level terrace 90 feet in length by upwards of 30 in breadth .

Tw o caves have been excavated out of the solid rock behind ;that to the w est n ow called the Son Bhandar or treasury of

gold, bein g 3A feet long by 17 feet broad ; an d that to theeast perhaps somewhat less in length , but of the same

breadth . (Ar ch . B ep.,Vol. I . pp . 24:

R eferrin g to plate $1, V ol. III, w e see at once thatenterin g the valley an d skir tin g the moun tain s along theirsouth-eastern slope for a di stan ce of H

, w e arrive at

these two caves ; further. the caves face near ly south . Is itpossible to resist the convi ction that these tw o caves are the

two caves referred to by Fa-hian in the fi r st quotationB ut neither of these tw o is the S attapann i cave ; of

these on e is Buddhas cave, the other is A nanda’s cave ao

cord in g to Fa-hian .

G eneral Cunn in gham alludes to the socket-holes in frontof what I may n ew venture to say he erroneously calls theS attapan n i cave . as in some way confirming h is identificationbut Far - hian distin ctly tells us that “

the hall where Buddhadelivered the law ”

w as over turned an d destroyed in h is time ;


w e thus have clear proof that Buddha’s cave was adorn ed

w ith a hall in fron t, so that the cir cumstan ce of the socketholes does n ot aifect the question in anyway.

G eneral Cunn in gham also in geni ously tries to make outthat, because the ran ge of the B aibhar run s n orth-east an dsouth-w est, an d the cave is situated n ear the n orthern en d,that it may therefore be con sidered as bein g in the nor thernshade. I disallow his position entirely the cave is in deed inthe northern en d of the mountain , but in stead of bein g in then orthern shade, it is precisely in the opposite predi cament,bein g in the southern glare of the hill, an d the sun fromsun rise to about 2 P . M . blazes furiously in to the cave .

Havin g n ow disposed of the two caves in han d, thereremain s to find out the true S attapann i cave .

Followin g Fa-hian’s direction, w e come from the plainbetw een O ld an d n ew R ajagriha to the B aibhar hill . We don ot enter the valley of old R ajagriha at all ; 300 paces w estfrom the extreme east toe of the B aibhar hill is the Pippalcave . I

'

appeal to Plate 41, Vol. III, R eports, to show that thePippal cave is n ot w ithi n the valley ; it is on the ridge whi chforms the boun dary of the valley . N ow , as this r idge runsn ot west or n orth-w est, but south-west, it is clear that goin gdue west from the Pippal cave we can n ot possibly en ter thevalley, but travel alon g the n orthern toe an d in the nor ther nshade of the B aibhar hill . G oin g 5 or 6 hi or about a milew est from here, in the n orthern shade of the hill is thefamed Sattapann i cave. I travelled asFa-hian directs . I w en teven 2 mi les, but w ithout seein g any cave that could haveserved the purposes of the syn od. I turn ed back hopeless,when straight in fron t of me on the side of the bi ll wasthe cave sought for " I had pas sed it unn oticed . It is sosituated that, goin g from east to w est, it is n ot seen , but is

seen distin ctly comin g from w est to east ; it is situated ratherless than a mile from the Pippal cave, an d to west of it ; adiagram will illustrate how it escapes n otice in goin g fromeast to west.

The above is a rough plan O f the cave . A B is a steepscarped face of the rock

,exten din g a lon g way. D . C . is also



wor thy of the members of the assembly that was to meet w ithin its

precin cts . T he groun d was at fir st en circled w ith a fen ce. A fin e j i igfitof steps made w ith the utmost care led from the bottom of the hill to the

spot where was built the magn ificen t hall.rI‘he seat of the presiden t

w as placed opposite in the n or thern par t . I n the cen tre, but facing the

cast,a seat resembling a pulpit was raised upon it was laid a beautiful fan

made of ivory.

”

(5) Page 356

O n the 5th of the wax mg moon of Wakhaong, the 499 ven erable

member s att ired w ith their cloak and car rying the mendican t’s pot assemé

bled in the hall at the en tran ce of theWebhara cave.

”

The w ords O f Hw en T hsan g are (I quote in secon d han dfrom J . A . S ., 1872, p . 242, the original not being w ithin myreach)

(6) Au N ord d un e M on tague S itue au midi au M elieu d’une

vaste bois de bambous il ya un e grande M aison en pier re.

”

The question to be discussed is a complex on e : first, w ehave to ascertain the name of the cave w here the assemblywas held ; an d secondly to fi x its position .

The Ceylonese records, quotation s 1, 2, an d 3, clearly givethe n ame as S attapan n i or correctly as Saptaparn n a cave .

Mr . A labaster, in the eighth note at page 167 of the Siameselife of Buddha, calls it the Sattapann i cave, but I am unawareOf the source of h is information .

B ut if we turn to the B armese version , we fin d from 5

that the cave is named the Webhara cave an d from Fa-hianWe fin d it to be named Cheti .

B ut this is not all. The Ceylonese record describes theseats of the R ahans as being placed facing the south, an d thatof the president Opposite it is clear, therefore, that the R ahansw ere seated at the north end or side facing south, while thepresident

’s chair was at the south end or side facin g north.

The B armeseversion, how ever, says exactly the reverse . They,how ever, agree in making the preaching pulpit face east .R eferring then the description to thi s common point, an d

remembering that the B armese version distinctly states thatthe cave was O n the southern slope O f the hill, we fin d thataccording to this version the president was to the left an d thecongregation to the right O f the pulpit ; but thi s B armese

version exactly in verts the arran gement as given in the Ceylonrecords . The arran gement, according to the Ceylon records,referred also to the pulpit, show s the presiden t

’s chair O n theright and the con gregation on the left O f the pulpit .

I N T HE BEN G A L PR OV I N CES , a re 95

It is n ow clear that the B armese version is incorrect ,for

the seat of the presiden t could not have been placed in thein terior position to the left of the pulpit . I accordingly con

sider that by some stran ge mistake the B armese ver sion hasjust inverted the position of the president an d of the congregg ation , an d as a necessary consequence the distinct statementthat the cave w as on tli c southern s10pe of hill should becorre cted an d made to state that it was on the northern slopeof the moun tain .

Making this correction, the B armese version tallies inevery particular w ith the accounts fr om the Ceylon records,an d w ith the statement of tw o in dependent vi sitors of the cave,Hwen T hsan g an d Fa-hian .

In sayin g that after the proposed correction the B armese

record agrees w ith Fa-hian an d Hw en T h san g’

s statements, Iconsider that the expression, in th e northern shade,

”n eces

sar ily places the cave on the northern slope of the hill . Ihave alr eady combated General Cun n ingham’s in gen iousattempt to make out thi s expression as meanin g that the cavefaced the south.

The substantial agreement of all the accounts regardin gthe cave where the syn od w as held being thus obtained, it iseasy to consider that the names Sattapann i, Cheti , an dWebhara

are all names of the same cave .

The name Webhar a 1s clearly derived from thehill B aibhar ,so is Cheti fr om Chhata. the name of the highest peak in theB aibhar 1 11nge , the thir d name. Sattapan ni , is derived, Thun oursavs in hi s in dex, from the S attapan n i plant . In accepti ng hider ivation, w e necessarily assume that there w as some legendor titradition or cir cumstance conn ec t ing the cave w ith theplant . The assumption though per fectly possible is pur elygr atuitous, an d if w e can fin d any derivation for the namew hich does n ot involve a gratui tous assumption, i t is evidentlyentitled to more consideration .

Saptapar n n a means seven-leaved, an d in deed the plantS aptapar n n a is so named from its leaf a cave that was dividedin to seven sapta by any means w ould not in aptlv be calledthe S aptapar n n a cave.

T h e cave I n ow propose as the Saptaparn n a cave fulfilsthis con dit ion . I t is a large n atiu'

al cavern whi ch has beenuntouched by ar t, an d portion s of it have fallen in an d over .The cavern is divided by n at m'

al septa of rock in to compartmen ts, six of whi ch I cormted , an d there was space betw eenthe last on e I coun ted an d the vertical face of the ledge


above it for a seven th compartment, but the jan gal was tooden se to allow .me to penetrate to it an d establish its existenceby actual sight . A t the time I explored R ajgir I was n ot awareof the important con nection between the name Sattapan n i an dseven compartments,— in fact, I had n ot attempted to tracethe meaning of the n ame, but as soon as I mentioned the discovery to a friend of mine, a Sanskrit scholar, an d said thatI regarded it as the Sattapan n i cave, he at once told methat the very fact of the seven compartments gave the cavea right to the name Saptaparn n a, which he said was doubtless the original of the Pali Sattapan n i . Subsequently, whenat the close of the fi eld season I could procure the necessarybooks bearing on the subj ect, I found the surmise of myfriend verified, as Spence Hardy an d the sacred an d hi storicalbooks distinctly give its name as Sapta Paruna.

It is n ow a matter of regret to me that, although quitesatisfi ed in my own mind of the exi sten ce of a seven th com

partmen t, I did not actually wait at R ajgir till men could besent up first to clear a path for themselves (I ascended aloneat the sacrifice ofmy thick w oollen clothes) , an d then to clearout the cave .

The cave may n ow be described in detail the sketchshow s its general plan . A series of chambers separated byn atural walls of rock runn ing east an d west ; I counted sixchambers, an d there was room betw een the south wall of thelast chamber an d the steep side of the hill for a seven th . T he

accompanying is a section through the hillside just in frontof the cave looking east the various chambers ar e neitherregularly shaped nor equal in size, they are in fact natural

fi ssures in the rock . Some arevery narrow ; on e especially isonly 41 feet w ide, others are 6, 8,an d 10 feet w ide ; they are notof equal lengths, but they all

n arrow towards the in terior,till at some distance, whichranges from 6 to 12 feet invarious chambers, they becomemere clefts the larger chambers aremore square or roundshaped at the in n er en d thefloors of the caves are n ot alsoall at the same level, an d thesmaller on es are very un even .



There are traces of two paths from the bottom of the hillconvergin g to the platform , both paved or rather steppedwith brick . I examin ed both the one which is shorter an dsteeper appears to have been far narrow er than the other,but the fragments of bricks lie thicker in it than in thelonger an d broader on e ; this is strange . The whole of the toeof the hill here is covered w ith brickbats an d rolled brick

gravel, n ot thickly but sparsely ; it is no doubt possible thatmanyfragments have got buried beneath the soil .

Let us n ow compare the cave an d its adjun cts describedabove wi th existin g accoun ts of the Saptaparnn a cave .

Fir st, as to position . It corresponds with the position as

signed to it minutely by both Fa-hian an d Hw en Thsang , an d

generally w ith other accoun ts, except the B armese on e, wi thwhich also it agrees after making the correction suggestedbefore .Its features sufficien tly explain the reason of the name

Saptaparn n a as sign ed to it .

It was approached bya flight of steps, an d is situated onthe side of the hill high enough to make the fli ght of stepsa n ecessity .

A great n atural boulder is placed, n ot in deed in the exactmiddle of the fiattish space in front of the cave, but n earlyso, an d this boulder may reasonably be identified w ith thepreachi ng pulpit facing east described in the accoun ts .The length of the platform bein g east an d w est, the

hearers had naturally to sit facin g north an d south .

The president’s thron e to face north w ould have had to beerected against the vert ical rock bounding the ledge on theside of the hill, an d the con gregation w ould sit on the outerside, facing the blank rock in fron t an d the president

’sthrone ; further, the president would be to the right an d thecongregation to the left of the preachin g pulpit .There is ample space for the 500 R abats, an d the allow

ance for each need not be cut down to 7 square feet, leavin g

n ot a bit of clear space betw een the presiden t’s throne an d thecon gregation ; on the contrary, a clear lane could be leftstraight in front of the pulpit separatin g the presiden t’sthrone from the R abats’seats .The position of the cave On the n orthern side of the hill

an d outside the city is a more likely one (in depen dently ofall accoun ts w e have) , from its seclusion ,

for the purposes ofa solemn religious assembly, than any possible position thatcould have been selected on the south face, and within the

I N T HE BEN GA L PR O VI N CEs, 1872-73. 99

di stan ce of 1 mile from the Pippal cave, as the whole of thissouth face of the hill was w ithin the limits of the old city .

The B armese account impli es that the cave selected wasin the bamboo forest ; Hwen T hsang

’s accoun t does the same.

The cave I have suggested is in the bamboo forest, but no

cave in an y part of the south fac e of the hill could be con

sidered as bein g wi thin the Venouvana or bamboo forest .I here close the discussion .

There are n umerous small n atural caves on the norths10pe of B aibhargiri . I examin ed twowhich, from their regularity, appear ed at a di stan ce to have been improved by art ,but. I found them natural caves w ith n othin g of in terestabout them .

I should n ot pass R aj gir w ithout some notice of whatMr. Broadley calls the older type” of Buddhi st temple .

Comparing hi s ow n ac coun ts of it, pages 222 an d J . A . S .

for 1872, wi th h is own plan of it, nothin g can be clearer thanthat this older type of Buddhi st temple is a clumsymodern restoration of an an cient temple . N o sane archi tector w orkman , I venture to as sert, w ould go an d chisel smoothfour sides of a pillar three of whi ch w ere to be embedded” inbrick-w ork ; for, apart from the waste of labour, the smoothin g of imbedded faces is the very reverse of what should bedone to secur e the adheren ce of the pilasters to the brickw ork . Further commen t is needless .Leavin g Rajgir by the road whi ch, ski rtin g the n orthern

slope of the ran ge of hills, goes to G ir iyak , there is seen on

the right, betw een the road an d the foot of the hills, a largelake or marsh . The road in fact run s on the crest of the embankmen t of thi s sheet of water, an d its artifi cial origin is

abun dan tly attested by the numerous lar ge stones w ith whi chit is lin ed, an d of which it is bui lt ; this long embankment isn amed the A sraenban dh or Asur enban dh , an d although thepurpose of the embankment is obviously to obtain a store ofwater for ir rigation, traditi on con n ec ts it w ith a cur iouslegen d which I relate .When Jarasan dha was kin g, he bui lt the tow er on the

G ir iyak hill as his bythak here he w ould sit an d lave h is feetin the waters of the Panchana below . Close to his bythakwas B hag avan

’s garden , which in a year of un usual dr ough t

w as n early destroyed . B hagavan accordin gly, after fruitlessefforts to keep it flour ishin g, caused it to be proclaimed that.he w ould grant his daughter and half his R aj to him who

should succeed in savi n g his garden from the effec ts of the


drought by waterin g it plen tifully durin g a sin gle n ight withG anges water.The chi ef of the Kabars, Chan drawat, at on ce came for

ward an d un dertook the task first he built the great embankment to brin g the waters Of the Bawan G angarivulet to thefoot of the hill below the garden , an d then began liftin g itup to successive stages by means of the common nativeckomr (sw ing basket) an d ropes . It is necessary here to re

mark that the Bawan G angais considered to be a part of theG anges an d to equal in holiness the united sanctity of Gan gesw aters from the Bawan Tirthas, or fifty-two places O f pilgrimage (the belief is based oh a legend which I w ill n arratebelow ) . The Kahar s who w ere to labour at the w ork w ereprovided w ith cakes of bread an d balls of rice wi th these forsustenance the sturdy Kabars (still the hardiest an d stur diesttribe in M agadha) laboured all ni ght an d succeeded in waterin g the garden but when B hagavan saw their success ,unw illin g to ally h is daughter w ith a Kahar, he looked aboutfor means to cheat the Kahar chief of his fairly earn ed reward.

N ow the Pipar came forward an d Ofl ered h is services toB hagavan , proposin g to assum e the form of a cock an d crow ,

while B hagavan was to ur ge the Kabars to hasten the operation s, as the garden was n ot yet sufficiently watered.

This ruse succeeded completely ,The Kabars, hearin g the

cock crow simultan eously w ith B hagavan’s urgin g them

to hasten , con cluded that all w as lost, as the garden had n ot

been , they thought, suffi cien tly watered before th e crowin g ofthe cook, the signal for morni n g, so, afraid of their livesfor their presumption in ven turin g to seek B hagavan

’s

daughter as the bride of their chief, they all fled an d layexhausted on the banks of the G an ges at Mokama, wherethe railway station n ow is .

When day fairly broke, B hagavan ordered the Kabars tobe brought that he might give them their wages ; for thoughhe said they had been unsuccessful in w in n ing his daughteran d half h is R aj, they had n evertheless laboured hard an dw ere deserving of some consideration , but n ot a Kahar wasto be foun d. A t last n ew s reached the Kabars at Mokama,an d a few came up to receive their wages . B hagavan gaveeach man 3% seers O f an aj (food-grain) , an d ever sin ce thatperiod 3% seers of anaj has been the legitimate wages for a

day’s w ork to Kahar s . To this day the Kabars can legallyclaim, an d as a matter of fact actually receive, the value Of3% seers of food-grain in curren t coin as a day

’s wages . Sub



water at a well to give h im water to drin k ; the girl contemptuously refused . N ext came a wi fe, an d she very gladlygave him water to drin k ; so the man cursed the place, sayin gB eti m n r , B almsohagin ,

”e., (may the) daughters (of the

village) be husbandless an d the daughters-ih -law fortun ate ;hence people do not marry the daughters Of the village, an d

if they do,they are sur e to die soon ; an d when anyone does

ven ture to take on e of the daughters Of the village, it isdon e without music or procession s of any kin d, but in a

thi evi sh sort of way. The village girls are so an xious to gethusban ds, that it is said they run away w ith any on e who,by ven turin g to play on any musical in strumen t in thevillage, show s that he is ign oran t of the tradi tional cursethat han gs over the place.

BAWA N GAN GA .

The following is the legend of the Bawan GangarivuletThere was a Dosed livin g in R aj gir w hose daughter used

to take the household pigs out in the field to feed. It hep-j,pened that as she was so engaged on the day Of the fullmoon of a certain great festival, she saw a Brahman walkin gon very rapidly. O n question in g him , he repli ed hewas goin g to bathe in the G anges on the full moon . The girlrepli ed, Y ou can’t possibly reach the Gan ges in time ; but ifyou beli eve me an d your min d be full of faith, thi s is the ex actmomen t of the full moon an d here is a pool (in whi ch herpigs w ere wallowin g) dip in to it an d you w ill reali se the fullfruits of bathing in the G an ges at thi s auspicious moment .The Brahman did as desired, an d when he was in the pool shesaid, Now is the exact momen t ; dive in an d see What youget .” The Brahman di d as desired, an d found the bottom fullO f valuable gems, O f which he clutched a han dful an d came up.

Dive again ,

” said the gir l. He dived again , an d foun d onlymud at the bottom. Y ou see,

” said the gi rl, that I toldyouonly the truth, when I said you w ill be too late if you go tothe G an ges, for at the moment of your first divin g the moonwas at its exact full an dyou got your rewa The Brahmanwas astoni shed, an d, seein g her as lovely as she was wise, proposed marriage . She referred him to her father, who refused,saying he could not presume to ally hi s daughter of low casteto a high caste B raM an . The Brahman thereupon threaten edto kill himself, an d the Dosad, fearful of in cur rin g theof B rahmahatya, con sen ted after con sultin g hi s fr ien ds ; themarriage was duly solemn ised, an d the girl then taught her

i x T H E BEN G A L P R O V I N OEs ,1372-73 103

husban d to ask no dow ry of her father except a particularcow , a particular pig, an d a particular parr ot . The Dosed , on

biddin g hi s daughter good bye an d G od speed w hen theyw er e depar tin g,

O

desired hi s son-in law to ask for any gift hechose . The Brahman refused, but being pressed, he boun d theD osad by a promise to grant his request . an d then asked forthe g, the cow an d the par rot, as he had been taught . TheB oszgd was taken aback, but , bormd byhi s promise, 11as obligedto give them up. With these the bridegroom an d his brided eparted . The parrot was an ex traordin arv one, as he w ould godaily to Indra’s coru't an d brin g the new s of what took placethere to h is mistress ; the pig w as the leader of all the pigsin the coun try ; an d the cow was no other than the famousSur abhi . One day the parrot told hi s mi str ess that Indra

had given orders that, durin g the approachin g rain y season, itshould rain now here m the di strict except on the ster ile hillsan d ston y valleys of R aj

aa ir . The gir l hearing this, imme

diately called her pig an d dir ec ted hin i to dig up the w holeof the ston y valleys an d hill slopes of B zi jgir ; the pig, w iththe ai d of hi s subj ect pigs, did as desired . She then directedher husban d to go an d scatt er paddy in all these dug-up

places, explain in g the obj ect to her husband . He did as

desir ed. When it rai n ed, the paddy seed sprouted an d thewhole of stony R aj gir w as full of paddy, while outside n ot ablad e of paddy was to be foun d, ow in g to w ant of ra in . Itbeing reported to Indra that wi thin B ajgir enough paddyhad been grown to stave off famine, he ordered an army of

mice an d r a ts to be sent to destroy the crops but the girlin formed O f this order by her parrot, got her husband to

procur e an army O f cats as guard ; when it was reported toIn dra that this plan of destroyin g the crop had failed , hedi rected that when cut, ea ch load Of the paddy sheavesshould produce only 1} seer of clean paddy ; the girl informed by her par rot O f thi s order, directed her husban d tomake bun dles of only tw o stalks of paddy each tied en d to en d ;the order of In dra havin g already gon e forth an d thereforeir revocable, each bundle consistin g of two stalks Of paddy

produced 1 ' seers of paddy In dra informed of this an d

seein g himself outw itted, ordered a fin-ion s storm to blow an d

scatter all the paddy which had been thr eshed out ready forstorin g ; the girl in formed of this, an d awar e that n o w a ttlean d daub w ould resist the storm, should she for safetybuild such to store her paddy in . dir ected her husban d to digthe deep moat n ow seen in li fin roun d the wall n ear the


foot of the hills ; when the storm came, it n aturally blew all

the paddy dow n the slopes in to these tren ches, where theylay snug un til the storm had blown over, an d thus wasthe coun try saved from famine thr ough the talen ts of thi sgirl, in memory of whom, the pool where her pigs used towallow in the southern defile at the south gate of the hillgirt city, was n amed Bawan G an ga.

Jethian, Kurkihar an d Punawa have been n oticed byG eneral Cunn in gham in h is reports, by Captain Kittoe an d

by Mr. Broadley . A s I can add n othin g to their information ,

I refer to their writings .

HA SB A .

A bout a mile to the south- east of Pun awa ar e two smallisolated ranges of low hills close to each other ; the valleyor pass betw een them is kn own as the K0] , an d the place itselfis known as Hasra. It appears that there was once a villagen amed Hasra here, though none n ow exists. The en tir e spacebetw een these hi lls is thi ckly studded w ith remain s .The two ranges are each on ly about mile long. The

southern range is hi gher an d less bare than the northern , an d

the valley betw een the toes of the ranges varies from 200 feetto 400feet w ide at the w idest . The hi ghest part of the valleyis at the east end ; here the hills approach closest, being only200 feet apart, an d across this gap are bui lt two lin es of mas

sive w alls of dry stone . There appear to be some sprin gs in thevicinity . N ear the walls are collected a number of fragmentsconsistin g of chaityas an d remnan ts of Buddhi st figures . A tthe eastern foot of the southern ran ge is a ston e 2% feethi gh an d 1 foot square, w ith a Buddha rudely carved in a

n i che on one side ; thi s ston e is n ow worshi pped, an d is coveredw ith vermilion . Within the valley an d to the west of thelin es of walls are numerous mounds ; on e is 300 feet to thew est of t he walls . On some ston es in the V icin i ty are cut

5 36X

mason s’marks of these‘

shapes. 300 feetfurther back are n um erous moun ds F I

J K appear to have been temples, as the square, or at leastrectilinear forms of the structures which once existed, areyet traceable . O n K is a moulding an d the pedestal of a

statue inscribed wi th the Buddhist formula Ye D harmma .

”

The moun d F is the largest L is a small moun d . G H are

other moun ds . O n G is a large mutilated figure of Buddha.

O n the spur of the hi ll adjacen t there appears to have been

See plate.


106 faEr oar or A TOUR

The great statue of Buddha stood on a pedestal, whi ch isnow placed n ear it, the statue itself bein g set on the groun d ;the pedestal is in scribed in Kutila characters with the usualBuddhi st formula.

A small in scribed female figure of Akshobhya is amon gthe collection ; the inscription is mutilated ; the terminal letters are perfectly distin ct.The chaityas represented in these sculptures are in height

twi ce the w idth of base, exclusive of the umbrella on top,whi ch con sists of seven dimin i shin g di scs, measurin g in the .

aggregate height on e diameter of the base of the chaitya, thetotal height to the top of the umbrella bein g thr ee dM eter s.

There are num erous other statues, man y Buddhist, buta few also Brahman ical. Of these last, the prin cipal on e is a

fragmen t of G anega, but greatly inferior to the Buddhi stsculptures in execution an d design .

To the south-east of an d just outside the village is a highr ocky emin ence whi ch must once have been crown ed by buildin gs, as the remain s of floors an d foundation s yet exist ; theyw ere built of brick, as shown by the ex istin g remain s an d bythe num erous brickbats strewn about tradition says it was agarh built by a R ajput R aja named Sobh N ath, after whomthe emin en ce is named Sobhnath ia.

R egarding the ruin s at H asra in the K01valley, traditiongi ves n o in formation beyond thi s, that the ruin s there are theremain s of the palace an d garh of the same R aja who builtthe temples of Punawa ; his name is variously given as

T iloknath and as B anauti R aja.

SITAMA R H I .

A bout 12miles east from Punaw a an damileand ahalf southof the road from G aya to N owada is a cur ious isolated boulderstan din g by itself know n as Sitamarhi . Thi s boulder has beenhollow ed to form a chamber 15 feet 9 inches lon g by 11 feet 3inches w ide, the doorway bein g 2 feet 1 in ch w ide at bottoman d 1 foot 11 in ches w ide at top, w ith a height of 41 feet 41in ches. The roof of the chamber consists of a semi -elli pse w ithits major axi s vertical an d the minor axis at the level of thefloor ; the semi qmajor axi s is 6 feet 7 inches, bein g the heightof the roof at the apex above the floor ; details . are given inthe plate accompanyi n g . T he interior is highly polished, and isfully equal in thi s respect to the fin est of the polished cavesin the Barabar an d N agarjum

'

hills the interior, however, nowis of a dir ty colour from the effects of smoke ; portions of the

I N THE BEN G A L Paovrx cns, 107

fiat wall at the fur ther en d opposite th e doorway appeareither to have escaped polish, or what is more likely, to havelost the polish by peelin g off of the ston e . I have. describedthe roof as semi-elliptical, but more correctly it is formed of

two cru'ves meetin g each other at so great an an gle as to leaven o sharp lin e of jun ction . There is at presen t in side the cavea mi serable statue, through whi ch a couple of sleek an d

in solent Brahman s obtain their livelihood . The boulder isn ear a small man go tope an d far from anyvillage. Traditionmakes it the residen ce of Sita dur in g her exile ; it was herethat her son Lava was born , an d Kuga manufactured by th esage Valmiki ; the sculpture in side represen tin g what Istron gly suspect to be Buddha with two atten dan ts on twosides, as in the much larger an d fin e sculpture at Ki spa,

whi ch is said to represent Sita an d her two . sons , althoughthe statue is n ot female ; a second piece of sculptur e is sai dto be Lachman ; there is besides a Devi on a lion, Parvatin o doubt ; an d a lon g wavy mark on the wall is confi dentlyasserted to represen t Han uman

’s tail.

It w as in the w ide high taur n ear thi s boulder thatLava. an d Kuca are sai d to have fought wi th R ama’s armyled by hi s n ephew .

A bout on e mile to the east of thi s curious boulder is agroup of bare, rocky an d picturesque hills . O n on e of thesen ear R asulpura is a tomb, said to be of a local saint, SheikhMuhammad ; the buildin g is a plain square-domed strueture of un plastered brick ; the buildin g dates to a very ear lyperiod if w e judge from the style of the dome, which isw ithout a n eck and is surmoun ted by a very small top kn ot ;the bui ldin g stan ds w ithin w hat on ce was a coru

't-yar d wi thtow ers at the corn ers . Facin g the east en trance of thedargah is a lin gam doin g duty as a lamp post . The toundations of the buildin g are of rubble, the bricks used are ofvarious sizes ; there is n o doubt it occupies the site of someolder Hindu shrin e.

A bout 500 feet n orth of th is is another similar butsmaller hill w ith ruin s of tombs . A bout feet to northeast is an other similar hill crown ed w ith the ruin s of a

BA R A '

I‘.

Barat is a largish vi llage on the n orth of, an d close to, theroad ; thi s place is said to have been the residen ce of theSain t Valnriki when Sita was sen t in to exile. A t h is orders

108 REPORT OF A TOU R

V iswakarman con structed the rock cave n oticed above forSita’s residence. A t presen t the only object of n otice here isan old mud fort standin g on a high mound ; the fort is saidto have been the garh of Dur in arayan Chaudhari H ar takyaBrahman ; it is 300 feet lon g by 250 feet wide, rectangular ;its in terior is about 20 feet above the level of the fields adjacent ; above this the earthen parapets tower another 20 feetor so ; the parapets are built en tirely of mud, precisely likethe mud walls of the large huts of the present day; but thesewalls appear to haVe been baked or in some w ay submi tted.superficially to the action of fir e after being built ; the fortis a plain Oblong w ith a round tow er at each corn er .

G H O SR AWA N AN D T ITR AWA N .

G hosrawan and T itrawan possess numerous remain s,but they have been so fully n oticed by G eneral Cun nin gham,

Captain Kittoe an d Mr. Broadley, that I n eed on ly refer totheir w ritings.

PARVA TI .

Parvati , or rather more correctly Daryapur Parvati, contains numerous ancient remains, mostly on an d about theParvati Hill or G arh Paravat as it is also called . G en eralCunn in gham has suggested that this may be the site ofHw en-T hsan g

’s P arvata, or pigeon monastery, an d if coin ci

dence O f name, an d the occurrence of un doubted Buddhistremains, can compensate for its wan t of coin ciden ce in position with recorded bearings an d di stances, it is certain ly en titled to be considered as the site of the ancien t pigeon monastery

The hill rises with a very steep slope, almost vertical onthe w est, where the river Sakr i during floods washes itsbase. O n the south-east it sends out a lon g gentle spur withplen ty of level groun d on it . O n the top of the hi ll is asmall space of tolerably even groun d. The easiest ascen t isup the long spur . O n this, at various spots of level groun d,ar e the ruins, or rather traces, of ancient buildin gs ; theseappear to have been built, n ot of ston e alon e, as fragmen tsof bricks are scattered profusely all over the place. There arealtogether 13moun ds of a large size, an d 5 or 6 of a smallersize ; of these, that on the n orthernmost peak is the ruinof a t0pe 15 or 18 feet in diameter ; it had been dug in tobefore, an d the poor laborer that dug into it was rewardedby fin ding some coral beads an d a few coin s ; the man had



structures about the foot of the hill ; any that ex isted on

the w est, north-w est an d south-w est sides must have longago been washed away by the river Sakr i, w hich beganflow ing down thi s, its presen t, bed n ot very lon g ago, itsorigin al cour se havin g been far to the w est about 3 miles O ff;the O ld bed is still di stinctly traceable all the way to its pointof separation ; the chan nel whi ch is n ow the bed of the riverwas a small irrigation chan n el, but, as I have before remarked,the uni versal tendency O f r ivers here and hereabouts is torun east O f their present beds . Already a great portion ofthe waters of the Sakri goes down an irrigation channel;which was taken from its east bank about 6 miles aboveWahar i , near R oh , east of N owadah , an d but for the circumstance that constan t efi orts are made to keep the flow w ithinbounds, this chann el w ould before n ow have become themain river ; as it is, it has become 100 feet wide, whi le itoriginally was barely8.

A bout two miles due n orth of Parvati , the Sakri, incutting away its

“ banks, is said to have laid open a deposit ofcoins ; these are Said to have been in an earthen pot, an d

w ere of gold some boys, playin g about, foun d the pot, an d

each ran with a handful to h is parents, who, Of course, lostn o time in securing the prize ; but so ignoran t w ere they,that they imagined the coins to have b een of brass, an d soldthem as such ; the place was probably the site of an old

mon astery or stupa ; it has n ow been entirely cut away bythe river, but the high banks there show that the site wasa small eminen ce.

One of the statues at the foot of the hill has the usualBuddhi st formula, Ye D ita/mama, &c ., in scribed on it in

Kutila characters ; the statues are all of black basalt .Besides these Buddhi st ruins, t here is a small M uham

madan dargah . T radition says that an old Hindu fakir wason ce livin g here, when a corpse came floating down theSakri , an d the fakir dreamt that the corpse told him itsn ame was Chan Haji , an d that it wanted a decen t burial ina grave to be dug on a spot n ear the south- east en d of thehill , whi ch he described, an d as a reward, he promi sed theR aj (sovereignty) of the di strict to the fakir . The faki r didas directed, and became king afterwards . The dargah thatn ow stands was the On e built by him . It is n o way interesting, except for some Hi ndu ston es used in it . ChanHaj i is a saint Of w ide celebrity in Ben gal ; he is knownun iversally as Chan Saudagar, and man y are the spots wh ere

I N T H E BEN G A L PR OVIN CES , 1872-73. 111

this ben evolent saint is sai d to have kept silver an d goldvessels, &c ., for the use of travellers . A traveller on ar r ivin gat on e of these for tunate spots, whi ch was generally eithera w ell or the banks of a tank, had on ly to make known h is

wan ts, when Chan Saudagar’s vessels of gold an d silver would

float up an d allow themselves to be used by the traveller,w ho had, how ever, scrupulously to retur n th em w hen donew ith ; but men are covetous, an d at each of the placeswhere I have heard the legend, some unlucky man was too

w eak to resist the temptation of appropriatin g them, an d

since then the nriracle has ceased .

The legen d of Kunwar B ijaya Mall is so in timately conn ected wi th thi s plac e, that it w ill be in teresting to give abrief sketch of the story ; i t is generally sun g, an d is a

un iversal favorite .

Kunwar B ijaya Mall used to live in Jlrun jhun w a’

. G arh ;he came here to be married to Bawan Subah’s daughter ; hw as accompan ied by hi s father an d hi s elder brothers, hehim self being then a child . Bawan Subah tr eacherously seizedhis father an d brothers an d put them into prison . Kun warB ijaya Mall

’s horse, how ever, fled w ith his rider an d carriedhim safe back to Jhun j lrun w a G arb . Here he grew up in

ignorance of the fate of his father an d br other s, and therebein g n o male relatives O f the boy to avenge hi s w rongs ortake hi s part , his female relatives, of whom hi s sister-in -law

w as chi ef, kept him in ignorance of the fate of hi s fatheran d brothers lest he should rashly venture to fight an d losehis life . This sister-in -law , named Sonmat Ban i , took greatcare of him ,

had him taught all arts , an d intended, when heshould grow up, to live wi th him as h is w ife . When B ijayaMall grew up, he w an ted bow s an d ar r ow s an d the gili an ddan da

c

to play w ith . Soumat Bani gave him the ordinaryw ooden ones, but he broke them, an d w anted stron ger on es,till fin ally he got manufac tur ed for hi s special use an ir ondan da of 84 maunds w eight an d an iron gili of 80maun ds .

Kun w ar B ijaya Mall took them an d w ent to play w ith hi scompan i on s, but they refused, sayin g they could n ot use h isdan da, so it w as agreed that each w as to use his own dandaan d gili . IT hen Kun war B ijaya Mall

’s turn came, he hit hi siron

tD

gili so forcibly that it flew to Garb Paravat, an dsmashed m a part of Bawan Subah’s palace . H is compan ion ssearched for the gili for seven days, but n ot fin din g it, theycame disgusted to Kunwar B ijaya Mall an d asked him w hy,when he was so str on g, he di d not go and releas e hi s father


an d brothers from con fin ement. Hear ing thi s hew en t to hi ssister- in -law an d demanded to be told the circumstan ces oftheir confin emen t ; she lon g tried to evade, but findin g h impersist, she went an d adorned herself superbly an d radiant w ithgems an d beauty an d came out ; he asked her why she hadadorn ed herself, she said Y our brother an d father w entw est to fight, an d I expect them back to-night he w ouldn ot believe but drew h is sword, threaten ing to kill her ; thenshe told him the whole truth . The groom of the horseJingua Khaw as was called an d confirmed her story, an d

B ijaya Mall ordered the horse an d arms to be brought, an dprepared to go . Soumat R ani begged him

,to eat before

going ; he sat down an d finished h is supper ; then she beseechcd him to lie down an d rest a while ; he did so an d fellasleep ; she then w ent an d laid herself beside h im ; on wakin gan d seeing her he said I consider you as my mother ; don

’tbe un easy, I w ill go an d rescue your husband an d my fatherin four days she then left him an d he w ent to G arhParavat .

A t that time a covered passage led from the palac e ofBawan Subah to the tank at Af san d. Kunwar B ijaya Mall,

on arrivin g, alighted n ear that tank ; a female servant ofBawan Subah’s daughter soon arr ived at the tank to carrywater, an d seeing him there, asked h im who he was, an dhow he dared to walk about near that tank ; this led to hotw ords between them, an d the young man , having very n u

gallantly seized the damsel an d torn her clothes, she beat a

has ty retreat, an d w ent an d inf ormed her mi stress R an i T ilko ;meanwhile R ani T ilko, the w ife of Kunwar B ijaya Mall, had

seen the youn g man from the roof of her house, an d had takena fancy to him, an d when the maid complained of his con

duct, she pacified her an d desired her n ot to let herfather hear of it she then went w ith her companion s, all

dressed exactly like her, to the tank on pretence of bathin g,but really to see the audacious young man . On reaching theplace she saw the young man still there, an d w ent up tohim to ask him hi s name, an d when ce he came . O n hearin gh is name she immediately covered her face, as she saw shehad met her husban d, an d on bein g asked in her turn who

she was, her reply show ed Kun war B ijaya Mall that he hadmet h is w ife. There was then a very tender scen e betweenthem, she beseechin g him to take her an d fly, an d he refusingto run away with her like a thief, but expressin g h is determin ation to win her with hi s sword. T ilko R an i return ed



Parvati retain ed some importan ce even so late as A kbar.There is men tion of Dar iyapur

éK in Stewart’s Bengal, page 155,where it is described as situated 50miles from Patna, whichis very near the actual distan ce m

'

oZ Bihar . Sin ce then theplace has lost its importance, an d is n ow only a secon d-ratevillage .

There is another legend whi ch makes Parvati a place ofimportance in the age of the P an dus . A ccording to it, whenthe sacr ifi cial horse w as let loose, R aja Sankhadhwaj of thisplace seized the horse an d prepared to fight . Before j oiningbattle, how ever, he performed a jug. The R aja’s Gurudemanded that orders be given for every on e to be ready an d

present at a given spot bya certain hour . The R aja’s son Suratt aj was new ly married, an d h is bride happened to arrivethat very day, an d at her entreaty Sur at t aj delayed a

short time . The Brahman demanded the pun i shm ent of theyoung man , an d accordingly he w as thr own into a caldr onof boiling oil, but he came out unhur t . The G uru suspectedthe oil was n ot hot enough, so be heated it w ell, an d totry the heat threw in a piece of the husk of a cocoanut ;the violence of the heat caused the husk to be thrown upagainst the G uru’s face, blinding his right eye an d burni ngaway the right half of h is face . The R aja’s son, it wasfound, had escaped because he had prayed to Mahadeo an d

ha

l

e

l1held a tulsi leaf in h is mouth when jumpin g in to the

ca ron "

A F SA N D .

A fsand is a very small village 3 miles to the southby a little east of Parvati here are several ancien t remain s,the principal of which is a high con ical moun d, the ruinapparently of a temple ; there are also several statues, butmostly Brahmani cal, among them a large varaha, the fin estin Bengal I have yet seen, an d a few , a very few ,

Buddhi ststatues . There was once an important in scription here whi chwas removed by Captain K ittoe, an d which he sen t back tobe replaced here, or rather to be let into a pillar or pedestalhere, but it n ow exists no lon ger. I have been able to traceit to the Magistrate’s kachari at Nawada ; beyon d thi s thereis n o clue ; the loss of this inscription is much to be regretted,as it was an importan t one

, an d was not so clearly copiedan d read to render its loss n ow of n o con sequen ce ; this

3“ Parvati is known as Dar iyapur Parvati .

I N T HE BEN G A L PR OV I N CES , 1372-73. 115

should be a w arn ing to offi cer s to be careful rn removin gin scripti on s an d statues, &c . That Captai n Ki ttoe gave order sfor its being sent back to Afsan d, there can be

0

no doubt ,but he did not take suffi cient car e to see hi s orders obeyed,an d thi s is only too common a fault, —so comm on as to bealmost a national fault . I refer to Captain Ki ttoe

’s originalpaper in the A siatic Society’s Journal for an account of theremain s at Af san d, to whi ch I can add li ttle .

SA TG A ON

Satgaon is a small village near the Sakri , south of theKauwa

o

Kal Hi lls ; the place enjoys some local reputation,an d i s sai d to possess some old temples . I di d n ot see theplace .

EKTAR A .

Ektara i s a small place of pilgrimage situated 111 the w ildR ajauli Hills at the soru ce of the D han arjeh river whichflow s past R ajauli ; her e 1s a very pictru esque waterfall an d

a small rock cell ; not far from here I see“ rock temples

marked in the In dian A tlas sheet, but mv enquiri es for themw ere vai n .

R UI J AU L I

The w ild hills of R ajauli are in their way deservin g ofmention ; the seven R ishis ar e said to have lived on them ,

an d particular peaks are named after on e or other of thesai n ts of these the most in terestin g is Sin ga r Peak, so namedfrom S ringi R ishi ; there is a rough stone platform on thetop w ith some shapeless boulders as obj ects of w orshi p ; a

fair is held an nually at the foot, an d devotees toil rrp thesteep ascent to the top to pay their devotions .

A fair is held ann ually also at Ektara, at the M ahabar

bi ll n ear Satgaon .

R O H .

R ob is a largish village, w hich has an old moun d ; here areseveral statues, an d the moun d contains old bricks ; close toit is an old w ell, in to whi ch an in scribed slab formd here issai d to have been thr own . When I heard this, I tried to getthe w ell examined by di ver s , but there was then too muchwater in it, an d it could not be don e . If an in scription isreally at the bottom, it is quite safe there , and can be laidhold of at any time .


SHEKPU R A .

Shekpur a has few ancien t remains, besides an old tank an da dargah on its bank . The dargah avow edly stands on the siteof an O ld temple to Kali , an d the tank is still known as KaliM atokhar

’s Tal. The dargah contains the tomb of a sain t,

of whom the follow in g legend is relatedA t M atokhar lived a Muhammadan A ulia, named Mato

khar Khan ; he foun ded the place, an d hence its name . Somesay it was founded by the uncle of Kunwar B ijaya Mall on

the mother’s side. Be this at itmay, M atokar Khan had a son .

N ear the dargah was a garden, which was kept in order by a

pretty young media , who used daily to present the saint agarland of flowers . One day she w ent into the house when itwas quite empty, an d seeing a little rag hangin g, from whi chissued a delicious perfume, she took it an d smelt it . Shortlyafterwards, the pretty malin was in an interesting condi tion,an d the saint’s suspicion fell on the son, whom he ordered tobe flayed alive . The son , hearing the order, desired that n oviolence should be used, as he w ould give over his own skin an d

accordingly he soon w ent w ith h is skin in hi s hands to hisfather ; the father was aston i shed, an explanation follow ed,an d it was finally found that so great was the young man’ssanctity an d pow er, that the in teresting state of the prettymarlin w as due entirely to her havin g in ignoran ce touchedan d smelt an unmentionable garment of the youn g man whichhe had on e day left

“

in the room where the malin used to bringher flow ers 1 Of course, after this, the young man

’s famespread far an d w ide an d eclipsed h is father’s, an d holy menfrom distant countries came to see h im .

SIKA N DR A .

Sikan dra is a place of much importance, about 241 miles

south of Shekpura ; it is said to possess a dargah, but I haven ot seen the place .

P REM A Y A .

P remaya is a place noticed byBuchanan it is said to befive kos north of Shekpura, an d must be near the O ld courseof the G anges . I am sorry I was un able to visit this place .

LA KHISA R A I, R AGHOG A RH A N D B A L G U DA R .

The group of villages, R ajjhan a, R aghogarh, Lakhisarai,Jaynagar , B irdaban , Hasanpur, an d N on garh , have already



her husban d, the commission of a crime by him was at on ceshewn by the lotus refusing any lon ger to support his w ife .

A n an nual fair is held here at the Dasahra festival.For further particulars, I refer to G eneral Cun ningham

’sR eport, Vol. III .

Two n ew in scriptions (short lines) from the pedestals ofstatues w ere foun d— one on a G an eca at Lakhisarai, the otheron the fin e female statue of Parvati at R ajjhana.

N O N G A R H .

The complete exploration of the t0pe at N on garh was eutrusted to me by G eneral Cunn in gham, an d the result isdetailed below .

Continuin g the shaft sunk by G eneral Cunningham downwards, I foun d the even horizontal layers of bricks to extendto a depth of 8 feet below the floor of the low er chamber laidOpen by G eneral Cun n in gham ; below thi s the bricks lay indi storted positions, an d the irregularity continued right down .

A t a depth of 19 feet below the level of G eneral Cun n in gham’s lower chamber, I foun d an even floor of bricks laid flatin two layers over each other, covered w ith a thick coat ofsoorky an d lim e-plaster ; over thi s was a thin, fin e layer oflim e-plaster : thi s floor was clearly the floor of the san ctumof a small temple . A t a distance of thr ee feet from thecen tre of the shaft, whi ch itself was down the centre of thet0pe, was found a line of wall runn ing east an d w est, orrather east by a little n orth ; this was apparen tly the backwall of a room . Opposite to this, on the other side of theshaft, lay the fragments of an arch of bricks, built edge toedge, as alr eady described in the Buddha G aya temple . Thisarch appears to have been rather a sort of vaulted roof,sprin ging from a poin t on e foot in advance of the lin e ofwalls ; this space of on e foot appears to have been gain ed bycorbelling out from the w all, as I foun d a brick w ith a

bevelled edge at a depth O f 141 feet below the floor O f G en eralCun n ingham’s chamber, or five feet above the floor of thetemple below , so that the vault spran g probably from a heightof five feet above the floor of the temple .

T he en trance to the temple appears to have been on then orth, or rather slightly to the east of n orth . It was impossible to determin e correctly the dimen sion s of the sanctum from the limited size Of the shaft dug, but it appearedto me that it could not have been more than seven or

eight feet square ; it had a vaulted roof meetin g in a ridge

IN T HE BEN G A L PR OV IN CES , 1872-73. 119

as at Buddha G aya, sprin ging at a height of five feetabove the floor of the sanctum . The half span of the vaultappears to have been on e foot, or at least 9 inches, less on

each side than the half w idth of the sanctum, so that thevault could not have been of a larger span than perhaps 6%feet . What came over thi s I had no means of ascertaini n gw ith certainty ; but, judging from the irregular, loose, an d

confused position of the bricks above, it appears to me that itwas surmounted by the usual hollow tow er roof.The bricks in the low er or confused portion w ere 14

inches long by us inches w ide, an d 3 in ches thick, whilethe bricks in the even layers above, down to a depth of 8

feet below G eneral Cun n ingham’s lower chamber, or 11 feet

above the floor of the temple below , w ere 12 inches long by9 inches w ide, an d 2% inches thick .

It appear s, therefore, that there on ce existed here a smalltemple facin g north ; that in course of time thi s temple fellto ruin an d became a low mound above 12 or 18 feet hi gh ;an d that, subsequently, on thi s mound a stupa was built ; thisstupa w as opened by G eneral Crm n in gham .

There is nothin g to shew the age of the stupa beyon dthe small model stupa foun d by G eneral Cunn in gham in thereli c chamber. Judgin g from thi s, it is not probable that thestupa is so O ld as the fir st century before or after Christ but

the exi stence of the mutilated red- stone statue, w ith its inscribed characters, shew s that th ere w as some sort of religiousbuildin g here as early as the begin n ing Of the Christian era.

A s it is clear that the stupa w as built on the ruins ofthe temple below , an d as the stupa is clearly n ot of theperiod about the beginn in g of the Christian era, the templeon whose ruin s it stands must be considered of the same ageas the ins cribed red- stone statue, via , of the fir st century beforeor after Chr ist .Thi s is a most importan t position . I am satisfied in my

own min d of the correctn ess of thi s conclusion, but I w ish itto un dergo rigid scrutin y, as on it depen ds very importan tdeduction s .Havin g n o doubt myself that the temple was certainly as

old as the statue which, accordin g to G eneral Cunningham,

dates to the fir st cen tury before or after Chr ist, it follow s

(1) That the true arch was kn own an d used in India at

that time .

(2) That although the prin ciple of the true arch was

kn own , it was, so far as we as yet. positively kn ow , built

120“

R EPOR T O F A TOUR

in variably of bricks edge to edge, an d n ot face to face as ourmodern arches .

(3) That the use of mortar, lime an d soorkeywas kn own .

(4) That fin e lime-plastering was kn own an d used at

that early period.

From the mutilated statue it appears to me idle to speculate as to the deity to whom the temple was dedicated,whetherBuddhist or Brahman ical ; the probabilities are in favor of itsbein g Buddhi st .

I N DA P PE.

The exploration of the O ld for t of I ndappe, pron oun cedI n dpa by the people, was also entrusted to me. Owin g toactive opposition from the R aja’s people, I was un able todo more than complete a sur vey of the locality, an d theresult maybe seen in the plate , but I can confiden tly saythat a careful an d thorough examin ation of the moun ds, an despecially of the great t0pe here, w ill prove a great acquisitionto our presen t meagre knowledge of ancient In dian structures.The tope, judgin g from its dimensions, 125 feet rn diameterat base by 35 feet in height, must be very O ld ; for, althoughthe base n ow is n ecessarily broader from the accumulation ofdebris than it was, yet, on examin ing the dimen sion s of themoun d at a height of 20 feet above the groun d, we find it tohave been 65 feet in diameter at that height . When I examined the tope, it was almost entire, as the low est portion ofthe socket hole for the umbrella existed then ; so that thet0pe which I foun d 35 feet high could n ot have been muchhigher at any time 38 feet, perhaps, is as much as it evercould have been w ithout the umbrella. A ssumin g this to havebeen its height (an d for the purpose of ascertain in g its formin view of its age i t is safer to err on the side of excess ofheight, an d con sequently lateness of age) , we find that at adepth of 18 feet from the crown it had a diameter of 65 feet.From these data, an d rememberin g that the roun d portion oftopes was usually a hemi sphere, w e fin d the radius of thehemisphere to have been about 37 feet, so that this t0pe wasprobably a plain hemi sphere on a very low platform, and

therefore must have been built at a very early period .

N A U LAKH A GA R H .

A few miles south of I n dappe is an old fort, kn own as

N aulakhagarh , so n amed, it is said, b ecause in its con struc

tion 9 lacs of each sort of current coin from the rupee downto cowries was used . This, of course, is an idle tale. The



assume that the cave as we see it n ow is as Buddha used it,then w e must be prepared to grant an indefini te exten sionof time to the introduction of the ar t of stone-cuttin g inIndia ; for as exi sting records do n otmake anymention of thecave having been especially prepared for Buddha, the chiselcut cave must have been in existence before, an d must havebeen simply appropriated byBuddha, so that it mayhave beencut in the time Of the fir st of the 241 Buddhas, for all that wecan prove to the contrary. B ut, independently of thi s consideration, if the cave existed ready cut in Buddha’s time, itmust have had an owner, an d could n ot have been goin g abegging for the first beggar that chose to squat in it . If ithad an own er, Buddha could n ot have taken possession of itw ithout the owner givi ng it to him ; an d as w e have detailedrecords of various gifts, even trifling ones, that Buddhareceived, w e should expect to fin d a record of the gift of thiscave . N o such record has yet been found, an d so far then we

are justifi ed in con sidering, n ot that Buddha appropriated a

ready-cut cave, but that the cave which he appropriated wasa natural cavern whi ch n o on e cared to own .

So far I have kept quite clear of the argument derivablefrom my proposed identification of the Sattapan n i cave w ithits aid the argument is even more strongly in my favor . TheSattapan n i is the one cave which of all others w ould have beenartificially smoothed if the art of stone-cuttin g w ere kn ownin Buddha’s period, but we fin d n o trace O f stone-cuttin gin or about it it is highly improbable that the less important cave should have been cut an d smoothed, while the on ein whi ch the synod was held w as left in its natur al ugliness .That the ar t of ston e- cutting was known in A soka’s time

I have no desir e to di spute but it does n ot n ecessarily follow ,

because we see the art carried to great perfection then, thattherefore the In dians must have been practisin g it for a lon gtime . There are twomodes bywhi ch they may have attain edto the high state of improvement (1) bya slow an d gra

dual process O f improvement, (2) by learn ing the art fromartists of another n ation , who had already attain ed excellencein it (by whatever mean s does n ot n ow con cern us) . If theylearn t it by the first mode, we should expect to see theremain s of a period when the art was in its rude in fancy,an d w e should expect that the en ergy wh ich brought the art

so high w ould advance it further . I need not add that wehave n ot a sin gle authen tic example of In dian ston e- cuttin g

I N T HE BEN G A L P R O V I N OEs, 1872-73 123

in its earli er stages of progress, n or have w e anymaterialimprovement ln the ar t over what it w as in A soka’s period .

B ut if they learnt it f1om artists of another nation, w e shouldexpec t n o remain s shew ing the ruder stages of developmentof the ar t ; w e should, on the contrary , expect the suddenappearan ce of the ar t in a highly advanced state ; an d w e

should further expect that a people w ho had been unable orunw illin g to use its energies in discovering the ar t themselves,should, even when it was commun icated to them from out

side, remain stationary or retrogra de . The history of In diansculptu re is one Of retrogression n ot a single step forward havethe Indian s made sin ce A soka’s time, but backwards theyhave been only too readi ly moved .

It is my convi ction a. conviction I have been forced toregretfully— that the Indians kn ew nothin g of stone-cuttin gor ston e sculpture till the G reeks 1mder A lexander, or perhapsDar ius, in vaded India, an d communi cated the ar t to itspeople . In support of this, I point to the vast di fference inthe ar t of sculptur e betw een the remains found in an d nearthe Pun jab , where G reek influence was strongly felt

, an d

those of the same age found further east ; m ore than thi s ,there is positively an appearance of a. graduated deterioration , proportioned in some measure to the distance of the

locali ty from G reek influen ce ; an d fin ally , as G reek pow eran d influence declin ed, a correspondin g declin e afl ected the

ar t of Indian sculpture.

’E

Before passing on to other places, it may be interestingto give w hat appears to me to have been th e ancient names ofthe r a n ges of hills at the extremity of which the ruin s justn oticed are sit uated, an d of the rivers issuin g from it ; the

hi lls are n ow kn own locally as the Kaw a K01 hills .

HILLS A N D R IVER S .

If w e consult the Bhagavata. Padma an d M arkan deya

Puranas, we fin d amon g the morm tain s on e range called theKonwa or Kolahala (Vish . P ur . ,

Vol. II , p . 111, N otes.

F itzEdw . Hall’s edition ) , an d there is every probability that

the Kawa Kol hills are mean t . I have , how ever, oth er eviden ce of the probability of mv iden tifi cation, w hich is to be

S in ce the above was w r itten , the di scover ies at B harhut prove that the earliest

temples or buildi n g s (as there sculptured) w ere wooden ; at lea t the st1 le and con structi ve features are purely wooden .


foun d in the M ahabharat A di Parvan , Chap . 63, V .V . 29-38,w hi ch I translate :

Bye and bye to the possessor of boun dless power an d en ergy, V asu

(R aja of Chedi) , were bor n five son s. T he paramoun t sovereign Vasu

an oin ted them sovereign s of var ious kingdoms T he n ameof on e of RajaV asu

’s son s was V r ihaw 'dratha this hero was famous in M agadha ; the

n ame of an other was P ratyagraha ; an other son’s n ame was Kasasva , many

used to call h im M an ivahan a another son’s n ame was M avella an d an other

O f the K ing’s son

’s n ame w as Yadu ; he was n ever defeated (in battle) ,

O h Rajal these fivewere the son s of theR ajarshiVasu of abundan t en ergy,and from each of these five son s of Vasu a separate lon g-abiding rulingrace has been produced .

T he high - souled RajaV asu, when dwelling in air in the Indra

bestowed crystal M in dra, used to be served by all the G an dharvas and

A psaras, an d from his thus living up above, he became kn own by a cor

r esponding n ame. N ear h is city

b

was a r iver n amed S aktimati ; the livin gmoun tain Kolahala, moved by desire, ar rested her cour se. V asu lear n ingof the robbery, kicked themoun tain , an d through the passage Open ed byh is kick, the grateful r iver , render ed pr egnan t by in tercour sewith the

moun tain ,issued and addressed the King . The R ajar shi V asu appoin ted

Vasuprada, son of the r iver , his victorious San apati, and married the

daughter”G ir ika

, &c ., &c ., &c .

This valuable passage establishes (l st) that the Kolahala

range of mountains was n ot far from the puri of the R aja, an d

(2n d) that the Saktimati river passes through a gap in therange . A s a matter of fact, the Sakri river does pass througha rather large gap in the range of which the portion to theeast of the river is still called the Kawa Kol mountain s, an d

these bi lls ar e n ot far from G ir ivraja or R ajgir ; it thereforeappears probable that the river known n ow as the Sakri isthe Saktimati, an d the Kolahala or Konwa ran ge is the KawaKol range .

B ut we kn ow from n umerous instan ces that a river tookits name from the moun tain when ce it issued, as for instance,M ekhalan an din i , a name of the N armmada, from the Mekhala hills ; an d M ain akaprabha for the Son from theM ain aka mountain ; an d the G anges is w ell known as thedaughter of Himalaya ; an d as the Pauran ic lists mention a

range of hills as the Saktimat ran ge, there seems li ttle doubtthat it is the name of that range which gives rise to the Saktimati river .

A s a matter of fact, the Saktimati, or Sakri, river risesin the range to the south of the Kawa Kol range, an d passesthrough , or at least hugs, the foot of the KawaKol ran ge forseveral leagues before emergin g in to the plain s ; hen ce the



of being cher ished like heaven , very beautiful the land possessed of

fer tility, possessed of various gems of value— the land of that coun tryis full of w ealth therefore go an d live there the people of thi s coun tryare pious, always happy an d learn ed,

" to say n othing of other occasion s

n o on e here, even in jest, utters a falsehood ; the son s do n ot separate

from the father s, an d always remain devoted in obedien ce to their reli

gion s preceptors. In th is coun try n o cultivator subjects ox en to carryingloads or dragging the plough, or gives them anykin d of pain .

”

There is, how ever, on e theory which recon ciles the apparen tlyconflicting conclusions arrived at by G en eral Cunn ingham an dmyself regarding the Chedi coun try . The M ahabharat

distin ctly states (aide sup r a) that each of the five sons of Vasu,

R ajaof Chedi , became the founder of a distin ct dynasty ofkings ; it is evident that Vasu could n ot have given to hi ssons kingdoms w hich he himself did n ot possess . One ofthem w e fin d to have been V r ihadratha, Jarasan dha

’s father,

King of M agadha so that it is perfectly certain that M agadha

formed a part of the Chedi R aj of Vasu R aja. Inscription sfrom T ewar shew that T ewar (ancient Tripura) was in theO hedi R aj hence We have the Chedi R aj extendin g fromM agadha in the east to at least Jabalpur in the w est ; thenorthern lim its must have been the G anges, for we knowthat to the north of the G anges w ere the dominions of R ajasnot of Vasu’s lineage . We kn ow further that at Manikpur,w hich must have been somewhere near the present R atanpur,reigned kings n ot of Vasu

’s lineage, nor in Odra, A n ga,

Kali nga hence the southern limits appear to have been thepresent southern limi ts of the Chutia N agpur commi ssionership an d the southern limits of R iwa. We have accordinglythe large tract of country, in cludin g the present di strictsof Patna, G aya, the Chutia N agpur commissionership, R iwa,Jabalpur , an d possibly A ra an d Mirzapur , as comprisin g thekingdom of Vasu R aja, which after h im became divided in tofive separate kin gdoms, of which M agadha was certainlyon e, an d O hedi Proper w ith capital at Tripur a, or T ewar ,an other .This bein g admi tted as hi ghly probable, if not rigidly

accurate, it is n o lon ger difficult to suppose that the capitalof Vasu R aja on the Saktimati (modern Sakri river) , onthe break-up of the old king’s kin gdom,

became desertedor comparatively neglected, each of h is sons naturallyselecting a city more centrally placed in h is own territory ;an d hence there is really n o di screpancy or con tradi ction in

Contrast this w ith the notorious saying regarding the people of B undelkband.

tN T H E BEN G A L r n ovrx cus, 1372-73. 127

supposin g the an cient capital ofVasu R ajato have been at orn ear Dumduma, an d the capital of Chedi Proper (one divisiononly of Vasu s empire) to have been at Tr ipur a or T ewar . Ihave n ot the time n ow to wade through the M ahabharat forpositive eviden ce on this point but I trust that thi s statementof the question w ill in duce others, who may be in a positionto con tradict my view s . to bring forward their eviden ce, andthus throw li ght on this knotty poin t . I shall, w ithoutregret, aban don my theory in favor of a. better supported on e.

"

That the empire of Vasu R ajadid in clude M agadha is

placed beyon d doubt by the passage w hich relates the birthsof Matsya Rajaan d Satyavati . The passage is too broadlyobscene for reproduc tion ; but from it, it is evi den t that aJanma river flow ed between the forest where Vasu Rajaw en t hun tin g an d the city w here hi s w ife G ir ika lived. Evensupposin g that his w ife di d not live in the city or vi llagen ow kn own (an d as I con jectru

'

e n amed after her) as G ir iyak,

yet the Y amtma river could n ot obviouslyhave been the w ellkn own river whi ch flow s past Mathura w e must look foran other Jamna south of the G anges an d below A llahabad, an dthe only river w hich answ ers our requirements is the smallstream kn own as Jamna, w h ich flow s from the Barabar hi llsan d crosses the presen t Patna-G aya road about 8miles south ofJahanabad . The passage referred to is in continuation of thepassage fr om the A diparvan already quoted, an d the capitalof the R aja an d the forest w here he w ent to hun tmust havebeen w ithin a reason able distance of each other, on oppositesides of the river, say a three or form days’joru

'

n ey.

O n the east side of the Kiyul river, about 6mi les east bya little n orth from Kon garh, is a place of pilgrimage an d somesprin gs ; they are situa am ong the w ild S inghol hills. Theplaces of in terest here are a small temple at the base of thehillw hich run s east an d w est . a waterfall an d a spri ng . and to w estof temple a kun d. A fair is held annually on the S ivaratr i

festival in Falgun an d in Kartik people carry their chi ldr enthere to shave off the hair . The kun ds an d the templesituated in a plain . Tradition says that her e was the residen ceof R ishyasr inga, who was enticed away from his retreat bythe gay w omen sen t there by the King of Champa for thepurpose. The story is to be formd in the R amayana, G riff ,

"S ince this w as wr itten I have found that the Sak r i r iver flowed down the.bed

of the present h hur r r iver . and con sequen tly that. Rajagr iha was on the r iver Sak r i.I now hold therefore that Rajan was the capi tal of Vasu and was situated on the Sakt i

mati—see repel ts for lb : 4-1 b .


pp.

‘5l -59, vol. I . A little rivulet, which is n ow almost dry, is

‘

said to have been the channel up which the raft w ith themaidens wasfloated tonear the hermit’s residence it is believedby the people that pilgrims who go to the shrine there w ithfi rm faith are n otmolested en r oute by w ild beasts, While othersare. To w est of the temple, which is Saivie, is the site of theT apasya of D astratha (P) , an d the remains of a natural cave ;to the east of the temple is a sculptured slab, evidently a satipillar . The sculpture is in three compartments the first represents a lingam, showin g the religion of theman the second hastwo elephants— he was, therefore, probably a great man who

rode an elephant in the fight the last compartment shew sthr ee w omen, being probably the number of h iswives whow ereburnt with him .

There are three in scribed statues or fragments near”

the

temple, on e known asHara G auri , one of a four-armed female,an d on e a fragmen t ; all three inscription s contain merely theBuddhist creed Ye D harmma, &c ., in Kutila characters ; theyevidently date to the later days of Buddhism, judging fromthe characters .

KHER H I .

The bill at Kherh i , 10 miles south -w est of Bhagalpur ,contain s numerous remain s these are to be found both on thehill an d in the village below in the latter, all that n ow re

mains are brickbats an d low mounds . I saw three Of these, butfound nothing of interest ; perhaps excavation w ill yield interesting remains . N umerous low mounds also occur at the footof the hill, along the northern foot of which an

'

old road appears once to have existed ; there are also numerous lowmounds further w est ; over most of these the plough has beendriven for a long time, an d their artifi cial character is in ferredsolely from the numerous fragments of brick which have been ,

an d still ar e, constan tly being turned up by the plough .

The principal existin g object of interest is,how ever, the

fort on the hill. This is an irregular enclosur e, of rough largeblocks of stone laid on each other wi thout cement, occupyingthe whole of the tolerably level top of the eastmost hill,which, though only on e of a long series of bills, is quite isolated, being connected w ith the w estern ran ge by a low pass .The hill is saddle-backed, the highest portion oein g an elevatedpiece of table-land at the extreme west en d thi s portion was

formed in to a citadel open in g in to the fort by one gate an d

steps, an d having a smallpostern Open in g outwards, but with



JETH U R .

O n the w est ban k of the Chandan river, the an cientChampavati , an d about 20miles south of Bhagalpur, is a hillw ith a small temple here was found a sin gle line of in scr iption on What was called the Charana of N arayana, datedSamvat 1053 . The place, therefore, must have been of someimportance as early as the ten th century of our era the placean d hill are n amed Jethur .

MA N DAR .

The famous hill of Mandar stands about 1% miles off thepresen t road from Bhagalpur to Seur i , near the vi llageof O ureya the antiquities here have been noticed byseveral w riters, the last of whom is Babu R ashvihar i Bose,whose paper is to be foun d in the first volume, In dianAn tiquary .

A t the foot of the hi ll on the south side, near the southeast end, is a tank named the Papah aran i , which, as its nameimplies, pur ifies from sin . This tank is used to thr ow in thedead, an d for this purpose corpses are brought from severalmiles distan ce all round. The bodies before being thrown inare supposed to have been burn t, but this operation is onlyn omin allyperformed in many cases, an d

'

I saw num erous entire bodies, whi ch could have been but sli ghtly scorchedby fir e, lying an d floating on the tank waters .This tan k once had temples on its banks ; there lie nu

merous moulded or cut-bricks an d ston e, an d several statues,or rather fragments , on its eastern banks ; among these is amutilated figure of G arud, which was once surmounted byVishnu, but whi ch is n ow broken off, leaving the legs acrossG arud

’s neck alone visible . A t the north- east corner of the

tan k are the ruins of a small temple, which appears to havebeen Saivie, judging from a fragment of N andi . Judging fromthe style of sculpture, an d from the shallown ess of the mouldin gs of the temple shewn by the loose carved ston es, Ishould ascribe it to a post-Muhammadan period .

On the n orth ban ks of the tank the rock shelves downto the water it is covered wi th fragments of ston es— cut,rough, an d sculptured ; the carvings are more elaborate an d

carved stones are more numerous the ruins are of more thanOn e temple ; one large temple certainly occupied a w ide, flatspace on the spur, but there must have been others an d

I N T HE BEN G A L P R O VI N O ES , i sm- 73 . 131

smaller on es in the vicini ty. The temples w ere Saivie, judgi n g from a fragment of N andi ; the temple, or at least theprincipal on e, was of the style of the brick temples of M anbhmn

, to be described fur ther on, an d appear certainly Olderthan the Muhamm adan conquest ; the temple w as evidentlyrichly sculptru

'

ed, I foun d a corner stone carved into statueson two faces, each bein g a female in the usual attitude ; thehair of each is represented as tied in to a knot on the left sideof her head .

Besides thi s old temple, there stood more recent templesalso, about the middle of the north bank , an d on the rockyspur ; these appear to have been of the style of the Barakartemples, but w ith far shallower lines an d of coar ser execution .

These temples I ascribe to a post-Muhammadan period, an d ,

for reasons to be detailed subsequently, to the time of A kbaran d his general M an Sin gh . These temples w ere also Saiv ie,an d several coarsely executed lin gams lie to attest theirpurpose .

A t the n orth-w est corn er are the ruin s of a temple whi chappears to have been simi lar to that on the north- east corn er .There ar e some ruin s on the w est banks also, an d these

appear to be the remain s of a sin gle small group of temples .

These temples appear fr om their carvings to belong to anolder period than those described on the north-east an d northw est corners an d in the mi ddle of the north ban k , an d tobelong to the same age as the sin gle large temple whi ch stoodon the n orth bank as n oticed above .

T o the north-east of this tank is another, n ow dry on its

w est banks stood an old temple w it-h numerous statues, an dornamented w ith deep mouldings .

A t the eastern foot of the hill is a tank, on the southernban ks of which stan ds a large ir regular stone structure w ithnumerous rooms enclosed w ithin a coru

'tyard . The pillars employed are plain , but w ith elegant octagonal shafts they areused to support the verandahs in fron t . The stones employedin buildin g this structu re are of various sizes an d variousworM an ship, an d are set in mortar ; they w ere clearly obtained from older structur es . There are several small w in dow ssecured by stone lattices of plain an d heavy patterns , whi chlet in just light en ough in to the obscure interior chambers toren der darkn ess visible .

”T he en closure wall is in keepin g

w ith the building in side . having, how ever, in addition to ston esof various sizes an d qualities, bricks also . The structur e belongs to the S rawaks or Jains, and one of the rooms con tain s

132 REPOR T or A TOUR.

a charan, or sacred foot-prin t, sculptured in stone an d set upon a platform .

The on ly other remain s near the east foot of the hill are

a number of n ondescript tomb s, or rather chhatris, built of

brick an d stone some of these are in scribed, an d from themw e learn that they date to on ly the seven teen th cen turyone gives the name of a petty local R aja, an d is dated Sake1621 .

The eastern face of the hi ll is peculiarly impressive inappearance ; it rises sheer up, a mass of smooth stone w ithouta sin gle blade of grass all the wayup in the central portionthe form in outline is a graceful curve somewhat resemblin ga parabola w ith its vertex upwards . When wi thin about 30feet of the ground, vegetation begin s to shew itself, an d

thence the s10pe is a gentle one in the reverse direction till itmeets the plain the outline, therefore, of the entire hill hereis a curve of a double fiex ure, an d is sin gularly beautiful.The ascent to the hill is up a series of rude steps out

alon g a spur on its south face. There is another minor seriesof steps also on the south face cut on another spur, the as

cen t up which ismuch steeper, an d it appears that, eventually,the attempt to carry the steps all the wayup by thi s routewasabandon ed .

Follow ing, however, the principal ascen t, which is cut ona spur , that starting from the main hill on its west sidecurves round to the south, an d ascen din g up the slipperysteps a short way, on e comes upon a large rock- sculptureto the right . The sculpture represents a ten -armed, threeheaded figure (male or female it is impossible to tell fr omits rudeness) cut on a large boulder lyin g on the hillside ;the right hand holds a sword, a gada, a vajra, a spear an d an

hour- glass-shaped article. The left holds a chain , a shi eld, a.spear, a chakra an d a bow : the fi gure which has only twolegs is represented trampling on a squat prostrate fi gure w ithlarge ears an d large earrings in them ; he has a short swordin h is right hand, an d over hi s head appears a can opy asof the spreadin g branches of a tree similar to the can opiesof tree bran ches sometimes seen in sculptures of Buddhaan d of MayaDevi . The ten -armed figure w ears crown s ; ithas lon g ears but small earrin gs ; it has an klets on the feetan d bracelets on the arms, an d also wears the sacrificialthread.

I have been thus particular in describin g this rudesculpture, which, as a work of ar t, is of n o value on accoun t


184, R EPOR T or A TOUR

n ate one, leadin g to one of the min or peaks to the west of,an d con siderably low er than, the main peak ; on thi s last aretwo temples, on e large an d on e small.There is n ecessarily inclosed betw een these two bran ches

of the ridge an d the main ran ge of hi lls , which at its easternend culminates in the Mandar peak, a hollow basin which hasn o outlet, but it is remarkable that though it has no outlet,there is no water in it .

A short way up is an other large inscription to right ofan d touching the steps ; it is in late G upta characters, butvery roughly out, so much so that is was found impracticableto take impressions ; but two eye-copies w ere made by me byhand under varying aspects of light . N ear it, a li ttle wayhigher, is a female figur e sculptur ed on the rock . A short wayfurther, the ridge again divides in to two, which in close a

deep, narrow basin contain ing dir ty water ; the basin has stepson its south banks, whi ch is raised artificially, an d helps tokeep in a large volume of water an d at a higher level thanthe unaided height of the ridge alone would . O n the sidesthe rock shelves down to the bottom, whi ch is con siderablybelow the crests of the in closin g ridges . The embankmentappears to have been built, or perhaps only repaired, withstones from the ruins of temples that once stood here ; thetemples had mouldings not very bold, but quite deep enoughto make them rank among the temples whi ch w ere builtbefore the Muhammadan con quest .It appears to me that there stood four temples on the

w estern ridge of this basin, on e by itself, an d thr ee in a

gr oup ; these last appear to have been at the south-westcorner of the present embanked basin ; the solitary on e was

on the same side, but higher up. In style the temples appearto have been like the Manbhum ones .The tw o ridges inclosin g the basin meet higher up.

B etw een their point of meetin g an d the n orth edge of thebasin, is a tolerably level piece of ground, on whi ch standthe huts of some jogis ; this piece of groun d is naturallyinclosed on three sides by the ridges . To the w est the ridgeslopes gently down to it, but on the n orth an d east there isan abrupt descen t . On the n orth side is a cave, partlyn atural an d partly artificial. I was n ot permitted toapproach it, but it is said to en shrine a statue Of. N arasingha ; on the east (i . e.) on the w est face of the rockywall which boun ds this low bit of level groun d on the east,is cut a gigan tic human head ; the sculpture is eviden tly

I N T H E BEN G AL PR OV I N CES , 1372-73 135

unfin ished, as the rock below the head 1s cut in to prepara torysteps f01 completing the sculpture ; the extent of theseprepai at01y steps being just such as w ould suffice to take ina figiu

'e correspondin g in size to the gigantic head already

out ; even this head is n ot fini shed ; it is only i oughly cut,an d the lin es an d angles have not yet been romi ded

O

off ; thehead is n ow known as Madhu, an d is said to represent thedemon whose death at Vishnu

’s hands obtain ed for him his

title of M adhusudan a.

Close to this sculpt ure is a cleft high up in the face ofthe rock an d approached by a ladder ; this cleft communicates w ith a small basin to be described further on , an d

contain s water ; it is approached by a w ooden ladder, upwhich even my Hin du servan t w as not permi tted to ascend ;this is the famous A kas G anga, an d is perhaps the holiestspot i n the whole hill. I t is said that the volum e of w aterin this cleft nevei enlal ges or dimini shes , but thi s must beuntrue, as I could see traces on the rocky face below thecleft, w hich proved that the water overflow ed at times, an d itis evidently con nected wi th the external basin to be presentlyn oticed .

Close to the holy A kas G anga is sculptured on the rock a

representation of the Vaman avatar of Vishnu.

Of the two ridges w hich in close the basin , the w esternon e has alr eady been noticed as havi n g had fo1u‘ temples,three near the south-w est end of the basin the eastern ridgealso had temples, the largest being at the north- east end .

Beyond thi s poin t, this eastern ridge again divides in to tw o,of whi ch the w est face of the w est, or the left on e, has alreadybeen noticed as containin g the cleft of the A kas G anga an d

the great face of Madhu ; the two ridges necessarily in closea small basin ; this basin is triangular, on e of whose anglesis in the dir ection of the cleft kn own as A kas G anga ; thewater in the basin is remarkably transpar ent, an d on e can

see that at the bottom of the basin , but espec ially at the

c orn er on the w est , lie cut ston es that once belonged to tem

ples . S O far as I could judge, the level of the water of theA kas G an ga an d of the basin is the same ; an d I have nodoubt that

o

the tw o commun ie1te by a hole at the an gle,which ,

whether accidentally or design edly, is en cmn bered

w ith cut ston e from ruin ed templesThe ascen t is along the right , or easte1n on e of the tw o

r idges just n oticed . O n it, close to this place . are the ruin s ofa small temple occupyin g the n or th east en d of the depres


sion, in which is the basin that communicates w ith the A liasG anga. A short wayhigher up, the ridge again divides in totwo, inclosin g a longish depression, across which tw o out

stone w alls were built, dividin g an d forming it in to tanksthe walls or emban kmen ts are n ow in ruin s an d the tanksdry

O n the spur overlookin g the low er tan k was a smalltemple of coarsely cutston e . Stone from it an d from elsewhere has subsequen tly been used to build a moder n shrin eoverlooking the upper tank (also dry now ) it is a small,square, flat-roofed house of n o in terest ; it is dedi cated to

Siva, an d a lingam stands in the sanctum .

The ascent is up the western or left-han d ridge of thetwo which inclose the depression just noticed it goes upn orthwards, an d at the first secon dary peak, to

.

the w est of

the great main on e, it meets the other spur, whi ch was

n oticed before as having, cut across it, a shallow double lin eto mark an in ten ded lin e of walls an d a gateway ; from thispeak the ascent goes eastwards up the slope of the greatmain peak .

The hi ghest peak is crow n ed by a Jain or Sarawaki

temple w ith a bulbous conical dome built of older materials .To the w est Of this an d immediately under its walls, at thesummi t of the hill, is a deep chasm or hollow . I did notattempt to descend an d ascertain its depth it is overgrownw ith jangal which rendered a descent un safe . The Jaintemple stands to the east of an d immediately on the brinkof this chasm . O n the rock is cut a figur e of the Varabain carn ation , from whi ch it appears probable that origin allya Brahman i cal temple stood on this spot .Close to thi s Jain temple, which is of no interest, stands

another small pyramidal-roofed temple an d some otherbuildin gs, n one of any interest .I have omitted to notice a sin gle lin e of in scription in

characters of, perhaps, the l st century of our era, which iscut on the rock on the ascen t .Thi s. closes my accoun t Of Mandar Hill . For a sketch of

the peaks an d lines of prin cipal ridges, I refer to the plateit is merely a sketch . I could not spare the time n ecessaryto make a survey of the hi ll an d of its Ofi shoots . The hillis n ot encir cled by a spiral mark of any kin d ; there is a

little bit of a slanting lin e towards the base, an d a littletowards the summ it, formed by the jagged end of a brokenshell or outer layer of rocks, an d imagin ation probably con



attaches to them as the objects of reveren ce to thousan dsof pilgrims .The obj ects of reverence here may be divided in to three

groups :

(1) The group O f temples in Bai jnath .

(2) at H arlajhur i .

(3) The caves, &c . , at T apoban .

The remains at Baijnath consist Of several detachedtemples in various parts of the city, an d of the great groupof temples w ithin an enclosure near the east end of the

cityThe former con sist gen erally Of sin gle cells of various,

but none O f ancient, periods ; they are Of various styles an d.built of a variety of materials, among whi ch the materials of

former temples make a promin ent figure . There is nothingof in terest in or about them, an d they may be dismi ssedwithout further notice .

Th ere is, how ever, on e object that must be excepted : thi sis a great gateway consisting of two pillars spanned by anarchi trave this is clearly the remains of some great ancienttemple, which has entir ely di sappeared, leaving its outer gatew ay alone standing . I infer it to have been an outer gatewayfrom its resemblance in all essentials to the great outergateway O f the temple at Pathari in Central India ; like it,it stands entirely isolated, an d although the pillars ar e plainrectangular ones, an d have n ot the elaborate sculpture an d

the graceful statues that adorn the example at Pathari , thereis nevertheless about it an air O f impressiveness that takes itout of the comm on place . I could not obtain access to it,but was obliged to content myself w ith a distant view ; it is

situated in a small raised spot entirely surrounded by privatehuts ; at present it is known as the hin dola, or sw in g, an d

at a certain festival the statue of Krishna is brought an dmade to sw ing-beneath it .

The great group of temples is enclosed w ithin a pavedcourtyard by hi gh walls . There are four entrances to it theprin cipal one is to the w est, an d a simi lar on e is on the north .

Of the two minor ones , one is on the.

north an d one on theeast . Within the en closure, which is an irregular quadrilateral,is a fin e octagonal wall. The number an d disposition of thevarious temples may be seen from the plate .

From a study of the plan s of the temples (aide plate) itwi ll be eviden t that Of all the temples that n ow exist, thereis n ot a single on e which can be considered as O ld, or if O ld,

I N T H E BEN G A L P ROV I N CES , 1872-73. 139

in its original condition . The irregular grouping of the pillarsthat support the man dapas, an d the clumsy way in whi chthe man dapas are joined on to the sanctums, are proofs thatthese are subsequent additions ; the sanctums may be ancient(I was not allow ed to go in ) , but if so, the tow er roofs thatsurmount them appear to have been added on afterw ards .The fin est of all the temples is the unfin i shed temple D ;this from the plan is seen to be a sin gle cell , once sur roundedon all sides, n ow on three sides on ly, by pillars, whichsupported the roof of a verandah all round . From an examination of the pillars, how ever, it is clear that they formed nopart of the original design, as they di ffer among each otherin form, in size, in execution, an d in posi tion w ith referenceto the central bui lding, the pillars bein g not at a uni formbut at varying di stances from the walls on the various sidesthese pillars further shew that the enclosure wall is a lateraddition even than themselves, as on e of the pillars is imbedded in the eastern enclosure wall.

Divested of its pillars, this temple is seen to be a sin glecell, surmounted by a tow er roof it is ornam ented externally by plain raised bands of mouldings ; these are neitherelegant nor bold, an d are situated so high up, leaving such a

height Of bare blankness below , as to look quite out of

place . Below ,the corn ers are indented an d sculptured into

plain rectilin ear mouldin gs by way O f ornament ; thi s process has the effect of makin g the corners look particularlyw eak, an d, but for the verandah which n ow acts a friendlypart, by breaking up the height, an d shutting O ff as it w erethe main tow er from the basement portion , the error of theproceedin g w ould become painfully evident .

A general idea of this temple may be obtained fromthe photograph . The tow er does not dimini sh w ith a gracefulcurve, but l pes upwards from above a certain poin t inalmost a straight lin e . The kn ee or poin t of intersection ofthe vertical low er portion an d the inclined upper tow erportion is so little roun ded as to be painfully prom inen t , an dpromin en t too in such a way, as to shew that the architectsreally did n ot kn ow how to deal w ith it ; they had n ot thecourage to leave the line sharp, an d bring it out by a boldmouldin g, an d they had n ot the taste to roun d it

gracefully .

The form appears to be a compromise betw een theMuhammadan dome of the early type, i .e. , w ithout a bulge, an dthe Hin du spire ; if a semicircle be described on the top of

REPORT O F A TOUR

the vertical portion of the tow er, an d if on the semicircleso described a trian gle, whose base is less in w idth than thediameter of the semicircle, be slipped till the lower ex trem i-fties of its sides rest on the curve of the semi circle, we shall geta form that n early approaches that of these towers .Judging, therefore, fr om the form O f the tow ers, they

can n ot be ascribed to a period anterior to the Muhammadanconquest, an d this inference of their late age is confirmedby the painful want of relief an d variety both in plan an d

in elevation . The in sipid flatness of design of these temples,whether w e regard the plan or the profile, is indeed their mostessen tial characteristic, an d this wan t of relief is a stron gargument again st any great antiquity being ascribed tothem . For these reasons, combined w ith the evident want ofproportion an d beauty, I ascribe the first erection of thesetemples to the earli er periods O f the Muhammadan conuest .qB ut as intolerance was a characteristic of the early M u~

hammadan con querors, an d as w e have no record of anyevent which could ren der it probable that Hindu templeshad been built at any time after the Muhammadan conquestan d before the reign O f A kbar, an d as, lastly, w e have dis-vtin ct record of a Hindu G eneral, M an Singh, exercising supreme authority in these parts during A kbar ’s reign, I con~

sider it most probable that to M an Sin gh’s period thesetemples ow e their construction .

The in ference thus arrived at becomes a certain ty whenwe examine the inscriptions ; there are altogether thi rteen of

these, distributed as follow s1. Inscription on the outer entran ce to the great temple

S ; it consists of thirteen long lin es, an d two small on esw ritten sideways ; it is in Bengali, an d is divided in to slokas ;it records the erection, or rather I consider the repair, of a

temple by on e S ri Bydyanatha M ahamyama. Thi s n ame andalso the name of one R aghun atha recurs in the las t lin e.

2. Inscription from the inn er entran ce or the real entran ce O f the, original temple, divested of its veran dah andvestibule, which are evident after-addi tion s ; this con sists offive lin es in modern Nagari ; it men tion s the name of someking wi th the title Of N r ipati . R aghunatha

’s n ame also

occur s in the last line.3 . One from outside of the great temple ; this is in seven

lin es, an d is in Ben gali ; it records the name'

of some local R ajain the secon d lin e .



What thi s establishment was named it is, perhaps, impossible n ow to determin e w ith certain ty ; but if I maybe permi tted to speculate, I should think it to have been the siteof the famous U ttan iya monastery of Win jjha. Win jjhais the Pali equivalen t of Vindhya ; the passages in Tur

n our referring to it are— p. 115 the monarch departin gout of h is capital an d precedin g the river procession w ith h isarmy through the w ilderness of Win jjha, reached Tamalitta

on the 7th day,”

an d in p . 171 From various foreigncoun tries many priests repaired hither”

There U ttaro attended accompanied by sixty thousand priestsfrom the U ttan iya temple in the w ildern ess of Win jjha.

”

It is evident that the w ildern ess of Win jjha lay on theroute from Pataliputra to Tamluk . I have in dicated someof the routes from Tamluk to vari ous places . The prin cipalroute w ould, it appears to me, have to pass through, or closeto, modern B ankurah from here there was a choice of sever al routes . Clearly the route to Bhagalpur w ould bran ch O ff

northwards from there, passin g through S eur i, under Mandar,close past B haskinath ; it is remarkable that an O ld trackyet exists from B haskinath to Deoghar Byjnath , whence itgoes on skirting the eastern spurs of the R awalkol range,past Afsan d, Parvati , Bihar to Patna. I should considerthat this was the route taken by the king when he passedthrough the w ilderness of Win jjha, for it appears to me prettycertain that the w ilderness of Win jjha can only refer tothe w ild country n ow known in part as the Santal Parganas .If this be admi tted, we have but one place in theWin jjha

forests where Buddhi st temples existed, as testifi ed byexi stingBuddhist relics, an d this place is Deoghar Baijnath .

It is remarkable that close to the city of Deoghar an d

still closer to the temples is a small village named U tmur ia ;this maybe a corruption of the original Of the Pali U ttama.

I put forward this suggestion merely in the absence Of anymore positive it is possible that an examination of the 3-lineinscri ption from the Buddhist statue noticed before maythrow n ew light on the subj ect .I have described but on e of the temples in the en closure,

as that is the best of the group, an d may be regarded as thetype of the others it is needless to describe each of the uninteresting edifices in detail. I shall now give the legen dsan d stories conn ected w ith the place .The great temple is the chief of the group, an d enshrin es

a lin gam ; this is said to have a small depression at its

IN THE BEN G A L PROV IN CES , 1872-73. 113

summit, an d I am as sured by Hindus that the cavity feelssoft to the touch . Tradi tion says that it is the mark of

H avan a’s thumb, when in h is rage he pressed down the lin

gam , intending to send it to Patti la ; the legend w ill be givenpresen tly . Facin g it is the temple of Parvati . A t certaintimes the two spires are connected together by a thin, longcotton sheet

, an d this is done to shew that Siva an d Parvatiare enjoyin g each other’s society . Comm ent on the gross indeli cacy of the idea is needless .The legend about the lin gam is as follow sR avan a used daily to go to U ttara Khanda to w orship

Siva. One dayhe w ent there, an d in the exuberance of physicalstrength he shook the mountain, di sturbin g Parvati . Havin gdone this, he w ent tOw ards Siva

’s abode to w orship ; when heapproached, N andi forbad hi s advan ce, as Sivaan d Parvatiw ere asleep together . H avan a, however, was not to be deni ed ;he told N an di that he bein g in the place Of a son to Siva, therew as no harm in his going in at any time . Saying this an d

pitchin g aw ay N an di to a di stance, he entered . Siva w as

much pleased at h is cour age an d fi rm faith, an d desired himto ask a gift . H avan a sai d, It is a long di stance for me tocome daily from Lanka to w orshi p you here ; be pleased togo to Lan ka an d abide there .

” Siva. consented on the condition that Havan a w as to carry him all the w ay, wi thoutfor a momen t setting h im down . R avana gladly tookup the lin gam, an d proceeded ; when he arrived at Lajhur ivillage, near the place w here the temples stand (the vil

lage is n ow know n as H arlajhur i) , he felt it necessaryto go to the fields ; he could n ot carry the lin gam w ithh im an d pollute it, an d he was cogitatin g w hat to do . I n

thi s emergency Vishnu, who saw that if Havan a succeededin carrying Sivato his kin gdom he w ould become in vin cible,assum ed the gui se O f a poor Brahman, an d bein g accosted byH avan a an d requested to hold the lin gam for a few min utes,w hile he w ent a short way, the pretended Brahman agreed.

H avan a n ow made over the lin gam to the Brahman an d w entaside . IVh ile R avan a w as engaged, the Brahman qui etlywalked away w ith the li ngam, arrivin g fin ally at the spotwhere the great temple stands ; here he set the lin gamdow n an d van i shed . Havan a on returning at the expirationof the whole day (for Varuna had entered into him an d

occupied him all that time in lettin g out the sea of watersw ithin him) foun d the Brahman gone . A fter some searchhe foun d the lin gam, but on attempting to lift it up,

144. REPOR T O F A TOUR

S ivaremin ded h im of the agreement between them and

refused to stir . Havan a en raged, pressed the lingam down,saying, Since you w ont go to Lanka, go to Patala in stead .

”

Thi s is the mark whi ch exists on the summit of the lin gamto thi s day. Finding at last threats an d en treaties vain ,

R avana set about to worship the lin gam in its n ew location,an d brought water from the adjacen t tank, which he hadcon structed and filled w ith water from the Patalapur i

G anga for libations ; but Mahadeo refused to receive thatwater, as it had been contaminated by R avana

’s urin e, whenVaruna, having entered into h im , had issued out as a sea

of waters . R avana then dug a well to obtain water forlibations, an d to this day water from the tank just outsideof the sacred enclosure is n ot used for libations . To con soleR avana, how ever, for hi s trouble in di gging the tank, Sivaordained that all his votaries must bathe in the tan k beforeapproaching h im . A t presen t thousan ds of pilgrims of

both sexes are con tin ually bathin g in that tank, a con stan tstream of bathers always goin g to or from the tan k to thetemple ; the scene is gay— I can n ot say much for its decen cy, n or for the wholesomeness of the water, whi ch is athick li qui d more resembling pea-soup than water.The lingam thus established became known as Mahadeo

R avan eswara. I n course of time the site of the lin gam was

overgrown w ith jangal, an d no one but a poor gwala knewof its exi stence . This man , Baiju by n ame, used to dwellin the vicini ty, living on roots an d fruit ; he was orderedby Mahadeo in a vision to w orship him ; the poor man ac

cordin gly used to bring B el leaves for the w orship daily,but having n o vessel to brin g water, used to bring waterfor the libation s in his mouth . Thi s strange libation, how ever,did n ot please Siva, who, after much patient en duran ce,complain ed to Havana of the gwala

’s treatmen t . R avana

came, washed the lingam w ith water from Haridwar, an dordained that thenceforth n on e but G an ges water fromthe T r ithas of Haridwar, G angotri an d D asasumedh (A jodhya) was to be poured on the lin gam, and to ensure itsbein g don e, he brought the waters fr om the Pan cha T r ithas,the five holy trithas on the G anges, via , Haridwar, G angotri , Dasasumedh , Prayag, Kasi , T rivini (here are six

n amed however) and put it in to the well he had dug.

Subsequen tly Rama, pursuin g R avana, passed that wayan d worshipped the lingam .



SHADIPU R , R AMG A ON , A N D SEH R I .

R eturn ing to the road Bhagalpur to Seur i ; near the crossin g of the M oa river, are some temples in the villagesShadipur an d R amgaon they do n ot appear to be of anyin terest . Scuri itself contains numerous O ld tanks wi th enormouslyhigh embankments besides “these I could see nothin g of in terest to the archaeologist in the place, or n ear it .

LABH PU R .

A few mi les to the n orth-east of the R ailway Stationof Mallarpur is a small village n amed Labhpur , or Phullara.

O ld temples are said to exist here, an d it is said to have beenthe ancien t seat of the Malla R ajas, after whom the districtsMallarpur an d the various parganas kn own as the M alleswar

parganas are n amed . I did n ot visit the places .

JAMU A KA N DI .

Jamua Kandi also is said to have an cient remain s these,however, are said to be chi efly Muhammadan . I did n ot

see the place .

N A G OR .

To the west of Scuri is the great fort, if fort it can becalled, of N agor . The whole pargana is enclosed by a low

earthen rampart overgrown w ith dense scrub an d bambu jangal ; the ramparts, have a shallow di tch in fr on t, about 20feet w ide n ow in places, but which once must have beenboth w ider an d deeper . The line of ramparts is very ir regularboth in plan an d in profile . A s a general rule, however, theheight is about 15 feet above the ditch

, an d the w idth at

base about 80 ; the top has been naturally roun ded by thew eather .The space w ithin the inclosure comprises the en tire par

gana of Haripur ; it is a low , unhealthy, fiat piece of land,resembling more some parts of Lower Ben gal than the adjacen t districts ; there is a tir tha here near the village OfTantipara known as the Tirtha of B akeswar . The objects ofin terest ar e a number of temples grouped n ear a number ofdir ty tanks . There is but on e large temple

, an d this is ofthe style of the Baijnath ones ; it had a lin e of inscriptionover the doorway in modern characters, but the characters

I N T HE BEN GA L PR OV I N CES , 1872- 73. M 7

are now too w orn to be at all legible . Close to the temple isa pakka kun d, ablution in whi ch cleanses from sin . How everthis may be, I am quite certai n that ablution in it must beparticularly disagreeable, the stench its w aters exhale bein gstrongly perceptible 50 yards off, an d in color an d consistence it more resembles the contents of sew ers than anyothersemi -fluid substance I can think of. Pi lgrim s after bathin gin the larger tank s, which themselves are not particularlysw eet, are, as a fin al measure, to bathe in this there are hotsprings in the kund, an d the water is warm there are also coldsprin gs in the kund close to the hot, whi ch is seen bubblinup ; the hot springs are sulphurous, an d give off freely sul

phur etted hydrogen .

The other temples are all very small an d very numerous ;thev are avow edly modern .

Outside, to the left of the long lin e of temples whichlin e the road, leadin g straight to the prin cipal shr in e, arenumerous hot sprin gs ; the w aters have a sulphurous smell,an d evidently contain sulphur etted hydrogen ; they enj oysome reputation in curin g diseases, an d I have no doubt theydeserve it ; they all empty in to a small rivulet, which runspast them, an d di scharges itself in a small stream about200 yards from the group of temples .The temples are built of a var ietv of mater ials, brick

an d stone, both cut an d rough ; the cut stone is roughlydressed, n ot smoothed ; there are trac es of an old brick in closur e about the prin cipal temple, w hich is situated on a hi ghmound .

There are numerous fragments of statues of n o specialin terest . Lin gams in n umerable are to be seen at every step .

The long lane or road leadin g from the tank to the templeis lin ed by semi -nude j ogis, an d the tank s are crowded bypilgrims, male an d female, in gay dresses , busy w ashin g awayold sin s an d clearin g the w ay for fresh ones . The morali ty,both of jogis an d of pilgrims here, is n ot of a very stricttype ; this is, indeed, the chr on ic state of thin gs at most othertir aths that I have seen, but here there is less of evenoutw ard appearan ces preserved than elsew here generally .

The place is fabled to have been the residence of BakraMuni , an d the lingam in the prin cipal temple having beenestabli shed by him, is known as B akesw ar .

I obtain ed a li st of tirthas here, whi ch I append it is of

in terest, as giving the names of numerous w ell~ kn own as

w ell as of some obscure tir thas .


When Parvati in her an ger destroyed herself at Daksha’ssacrifice and flun g her members abroad, they fell at variousplaces, each of whi ch has become a tirtha in con sequen ce ;there are 48 of these I was told

H ingulaz— the occiput .

Sarkarafi the eye (n etra)Sugan dhya

— the n ose .Kashmir— the thr oat.Jwalamukhi— the tongue.

Janukur— the sthul .

”

M anasarovar— the right han d.

B ahula the left han d.

Chattagrama (Chittagon g)— the

Kan daki— the back of the n eck.

V rindavana— the hair.Jayan ta— the left thi gh .

P rayaga— the fin gers .

M ithila— the left shoulder.Kan chipur

— the bon es .R atn avali— the right shoulder.Kan gaon — the back .

G odavari— the cheek .

Kir it Kon a.

S ri Saila hill— the neck.

P rabhasa- the lips.Chan drabhaga

— the can in e tooth .

P an chasagar— the in cisors .

Kalamadh ava— the right waist .N armmada— the left waist.S ri Parvat, n ear the Karatoya river, received

Kurukhetra.

Benares— the earrin gs.M anikarnika (in Ben ares) —the breast(brooch) .Baijnath— the heart.N epala (Pasupatin atha) —the palate.Tripura— the right hKhirgaon

— the left breast .Bhairava HillJagannath— the navel.M ayapura.



B himeswar , an d is en shrined in a small modern temple . A llthe temples in Pan chpan deswar are modern, an d built of

brick an d ston e, w ithout anyregularity . Older temples on ceexisted here, but of these, except the materials, there are

n ow no traces . Judging from these, I con clude they w eresmall, plain shrin es, somewhat of the style of the Bai jnathtemples, an d of n o great antiquity .

A short distan ce south of the river A jaya, an d to theeast of the road, is a large tank near a village, with theremain s of a Muh ammadan dargah an d of a Hin du templeclose to it : they are n ot very old, but are probably as old as

the ruins at Pan chpan deswar .

BA R AKA R .

Barakar, which is the terminus of theEast In dian R ailw ay,Barakar Branch, an d is situated on the G rand T run k R oad,contains several very interesting ancient remain s, in excellen tpreservation . There are four temples, whose tow ers at least arein entire preservation ; besides some ruins . There are twotemples together at the eastern end of the group , an d on e

ruin ed temple not far off . Some few feet off ar e two othertemples .T emples N os. 1 an d 2 are precisely like each other . A s

they stand at present, they con sist of a simple cell each, sur

m ounted by a tow er roof, but there are traces of a mandapain fron t, of which all, but the foundation s, have disappeared .

So far as can n ow be ascertained, the temple consi sted of a

c ell, w ith its doorway an antarala, formed in the thi ckn ess ofthe back walls of the mahaman dapa ; a mahaman dapa,about 13% feet square (see plate) . That there w ere chambersin fron t of the mahaman dapa I can n ot doubt, but n o tracesn ow exist of any.

O n e of the temples is inscribed . The record is en graved onthe right jamb of the en tran ce or doorway of the sanctum . Itis in two distinct pieces— one of 11; lines, the other of 21 lin es,both in a variety of the Ben gali character . From the style ofthe characters, the temples do n ot appear to date to beyon dthe Muhammadan con quest, or , at the ~utmost, to justbefore. The inscriptions are not dated . One of them men

tions the erection of the temple by on e H arishchan dra (R ajaP)for h is beloved but who H ar ishchan dra was, or when hebui lt the temples, is n ot mention ed . The temples are particular ly in terestin g, as being the fin est existing examples oftheir type .

i s T HE BEN G A L PR OV IN CES , 151

The temples face east . In the cell of the inscribed on e isa G an eca on a pedestal, in front of which is an oblong argha,

w ith 3 lingam holes out into it . It appears to me that onlyon e of the holes was originally cut ; the others w ere subse

quently added— why, I can not imagine . I in fer thi s from the

rudeness of execution of the other holes ; tw o nandis an d

several Vaishn an’

c sculptur es lie outside . A peculiarity of

these temples, —an d n ot of these alone, but of the entir e seriesof temples of thi s type to be fomi d in Manbhum,

— is th e

sunk position of the floor of the sanctum .

I am inclin ed to ascribe these temples to a period posteriorto the Muhammadan conquest of N orthern India, fr om the

cir cumstance that a temple of thi s type, existing at T elcupi,to be n ot-iced further on , has had the corners Of its mahamandapa cut off (to enable a circular roof to be put on ) , inthe same w ayas the corners of I ltitmish

’s tomb at Delhi ;

but it is to be observed that thi s mode of con struction,although it, undoubtedly, occurs in a post-Muhammadanbuilding in Delhi , is to be regarded as essentiallyHindu, especiallyas w e meet no instances of it after th e time, when, as isw ell kn own ,

Hin du masons w ere employed of necessity inthe construction of Muhammadan structures ; so that , although I am on this ground in clin ed to attribute thesetemples to a post-Muhammadan period in the absence ofother data,

I am bv n o mean s satisfied that in doin g so, Iam right .The sanctum is roofed by overlapping ston es, chamfered

at the edges, till the open ing is small enough to be slabbedover ; but , although the inn er roof of the san ctum is thusa pyrami dal one, there is space between it an d the outertow er roof for a small chamber . I could see no chamberfrom the outside, an d clambering up to ascertain it , w as n ot

practicable but, judgin g from oth er examples, it is very n ulikely that the entire in terveni n g space is solidly filled in .

The basement mouldin gs of these temples ar e n ot

elegan t , though th ey are deeply cut . an d rise to a greatheight . Thi s is due to the circumstance that they do n otsplay outw ar ds , an d thus add to the breadth an d solidityof thetemple . Con structively, these temples , foun ded on solid rock,n eed no splay outw ards of the foundations, but . art ist ically,the very profusion of deep -cut lin es, richly sculptured . w hichdo n ot apparently increase the stab ility of the temple, isun sati sfac tory . In this respect the simple mouldi n gs of the

temple at Katras, similarlv founded on rock, w ill contrast


favorably w ith these, as also those Of N O . 5 temple here an d

even N O . 4 has very perceptible advan tages over N os. 1 an d2 see plates .It is n eedless to domore than allude to the richly in den t

ed tow ers . A s examples O f tow ers richly, yet simply, ornamen ted, they invite especial attention an d study . It is n ot,how ever, possible to give a critical accoun t of them tillaccurate dr awings to scale can be made a w ork which, as Ihave before Observed, must be undertaken at some futuretime, not n ow , when exten sive rapid tours are un dertaken an d

ac compli shed .

Close to an d south of these temples stands a raisedmound— the ruins Of a temple . This temple con tain ednumerous statues of the avatars of Vi shnu, several of whichstill exi st in a w eather-beaten an d broken state. The templemust have been large, an d the statues appear to have beenranged along the walls of the mahaman dapa, doin g dutyas pilasters an d, perhaps, as pillars, precisely in the style ofthe temples in the eastern portion of the Central Provin ces,whi ch I have since seen . The age of this temple is diffi cult toascertain . Judging from the ruins of what its style must havebeen, an d comparing it with the temples in the Central P rovinces, to which type it clearly belongs, this temple should beplaced at a very early period, perhaps the sixth or seven thcen tury of our era ; but as it is found in compan y w ith othertemples which, apparently, are of a later date, I do n ot seehow any great antiqui ty can be assigned to it . There is buton e solution, —to ascribe all the Barakar temples to a dateprior (but n ot by much) to the Muhammadan con quest .Temple N o . 4 stan ds by itself. It, like N os. 1 an d 2, con

sists at presen t Of a sin gle cell, but, unlike them, it does n otappear to have ever had a mahaman dapa in fron t, as themouldings are carried roun d to the very entran ce of the sanctum . U n like them, too, it does not face east, but duewest. I n

other particulars it appears to be much like them . The floor ofits cell is considerably lower than the sillof the en tran ce, bein g3 feet 7 inches below the levelof the en tran ce sill. Like them,

too, it has a pyramidal roof in side, w ith no chambers visibleabove, an d the tow er an d the ornamen tation of the towerare similar also . The mouldings of the basemen t are, however, different, both in being un adorn ed w ith sculpture, an d inbeing higher an d bolder, an d altogether more pleasin g. A

portion of the lower part of the temple is n ow buried un dergroun d .


154, REPOR T or A TOUR

This temple cann ot be classed wi th the others . I n designan d in execution it is essen tially differen t, though the samein material ; and if style alone be taken as a criterion ofage, it should be much older than them . B ut style is sucha vague expression, that it is a vicious system, which presumes from a con sideration of that w hich itself is undefin edto deduce the age of anystructure . Few , if any, of those whouse the expression have any clear idea of its meaning.

I certain ly have very vague n otions about it an d I do n ot

beli eve it has yet been laid down what, an d why, particularfeatures, or what, an d why, particular details of featur es,Whether of plan, of material, of color, of orn amen tation, ofprofile, or of con struction ,

— should be, an d what should n ot

be, con sidered as enterin g into, an d helping to make up,the

shadowy thin g kn own (or rather, I should say, not know n )as style . Before w e can make use of style as a test ofage, we have, first, to define it an d secon dly, to show thatstyle is justly a criterion of age, an d of age alone, — n ot ratherof locality, or of a combin ation of age an d locality . I havein several in stan ces been gui lty of attemptin g to judgefrom style ; but it has always been done w ith hesitation ,

an d more because I felt myself somehow bound to give anOpini on, —guess it should rather be called, - which will be ofuse, even if it only succeeds in invitin g controversy, an d thushelpin g to throw light from other quarters on the subject .

O n e in terestin g feature in these temples must n ot bepassed over un n oticed. The temples are surmoun ted by ur ns ,an d n ot by cylinders, or spires, or con es . The temple N O . 5

had, indeed, once an iron trisul surmounting it, but it appeared to me to have been put in afterwards .There ar e n o legends in con nection w ith these temples .

KA LY ANESWA R I , O R DEV I STH A N .

S ix or seven miles n orth of Barakar, near the rightban ks of the Barakar river, are some temples at a plac ekn ow n as D evisthan . A ll these appear to me of recen t dateperhaps built of Older materials . They are interestin g, asshow in g that, even at a very late period, the hori zon tal archwas used by Hindus, as may be seen from the en trance archway O f the en closure, which is evidently built of the relicsof some older structur e, of which n ow n o trac es remain .

Two Of the temples here ar e in scribed . The in scription sare in bad order, from havin g been cut on a soft ston e.

I N T HE BEN GA L PR OV I N CES , 1872-73 .

They are in Ben gali char ac ters, an d are cut in relief— an

almost certain sign of their recent age. One of them mentionsa R aja’s name an d Kaly 1n akot ; as the temples are knownas the sthan a of Deyi Kalyaneswar i, it appea1s that fo1me1IVa small fort, named Kalyan akot (kotmeanin g citadel) , existedhere . The statue of the Devi h e1self in the prin cipal temple,

—a large, plain, massive, pyramidal roofed, dark temple,w ith balustrade-shaped pillars in front, — is inscribed . Thein scription is in Bengali . It reads S r i S r i Kalyan eswar i

charana parayan S r ijukta Deva N atha Deva Sarmma.

”

Tradition says that a R ohni Deoghar Brahman once saw a

j ew elled arm rise out of th e w aters in the nala. adjacent ; hew en t an d informed R aja Kalaya Sinha of Kasipur, Pachet,w ho cam e himself to see, an d saw the prodigy . A t n ight thegoddes s herself appeared to him in a dream, an d pointin g toan irregular stone, somewhat like a rude argha, said, Thi s ismy mur tti, w orship it. the Raja accordingly caused thetemple to be erected, an d the stone havi n g been duly ins cribed,w as in stalled in the temple. A s the R ajas of Pachet di d n ot

reside at Kasipur till comparatively ver v recent times, thetemples can n ot be old .

PAN DR A .

A bout 9 miles w est of Barakar, an d 1 1 to the north Of theG ran d T r1u1k R oad, is the large an d impo1tan t vi llage of

Pandi a, the residen ce of the Chi ef (now a female) of the distr ict ; here al e seve1al temples, all i n a g1oup, on a hi gh 1evettedmound enclosed by a low wall the prin cipal temple is clearlya modern restora tion of an Older temple, but there are othersmall single-cell temples, which have n ot un dergone muchalteration, though all have received attention an d are keptin repair by the Rani ; the place was evi dently on e of importance in an cien t times, an d the great terr a ce on which thetemples are built, an d the position s of the tw o exi stin g smallertemples, show that. here stood a lar ge temple, surroun ded bymin or ones ; the temples are. in terestin g for the curi ousmouldin g (see plate) , an d the en closure w all appears tobe, inparts , of its original form. I t is sai d that , while repairs w erebein g executed, an inscription was found, an d was in serted bythe mason in to some part of the temple, but where n o on e

kn ew an d as the temples are w ell covered w ith whitewashan d plaster, an d I was n ot permi tted to go in , I failed todi scover it . The temples ar e ascribed to the Pan dus, fromw hom, also, the place Pandra is said to derive its nam e . I


n eed hardly add that this is quite a myth ; the temples don ot appear older than the mediaeval Brahman ical period.

It is said that about half a mile O lf, in diggin g n eara tank , O ld steps leadin g down to it were foun d, as also a

subterranean passage . I accept these statemen ts as correct,an d as in dicatin g the former importan ce of this place .

KATRAS .

Katras is an importan t village, about 6 mi les south of thepolice outpost betw een G obin dpur an d Topchan chi ; theremust on ce have been numerous temples here, but the mate ;rials have been used up in buildin g n ew ones to the n orthof the village is a small temple, perhaps partly old, but

stan ding on a terrace,whi ch has evi dently been restored. A s the

basement mouldi ng of this terrace are curious, I have in serted it (m

'

de plates) close to it, on a small moun d, are theruin s of an O ld temple ; here lies an O ld sculptured doorwayan d several fragments in the vicini ty are several low moun ds,w ith fragments Of statues an d cut ston e lying about .To the east of, an d separated from, the village by a small

rivulet stands a half-ruin ed old temple kn own as the Dewal ;this temple is especially interesting, as showin g the con struction of temples of thi s classfi sin gle

- cell on es— an d for thesimmicity of its mouldin gs the temple is remarkably plain ;it has in front the tall trian gular openi n g, formed of overlappin g stones, an d divided in to two portion s by a broad slablet in across ; at presen t I see no remain s of anyman dapa infron t, but the existence of the dividing slab show s that itexi sted at on e time, as otherw ise the slab dividing the Openin g in to an en tran ce proper an d an illuminatin g win dowbecomes mean in gless .The temple is filled up in side to some depth with rubbish ;

on excavation, I came upon an argha eccen trically placed ;judgin g from this that it was a later addition, I con tinuedthe excavation, an d came upon an argha cen trically placedan dmsi tu the temple was, therefore, Saivie ; the exteri orof the temple is also buried un der about thr ee feet of rubbish,an d this may accoun t for my n ot seein g any traces of thefoun dation s of a mandapa in fron t .

Close to the temple is a tan k, n ow n early dry, kn own as

the G hat Ban dhaTal it was eviden tly attached to the templeits n ame is said to have been derived fr om the existen ceO f a ston e ghat, which was on ce foun d upon diggin g, but



mouldin gs Of the basemen t ; they are fin e, an d boldly cut ;opposite to thi s temple, on the right bank of the river an dto the south-east an d east of it, are other temples , whi chmust have been profusely ornamented ; some of the fragments of ston es of the basemen t mouldin gs resemble thebasement mouldin gs of the superb temple at U dipur in

Central India in profusion an d delicacy Of sculpture ; theforms of the mouldin gs, also, w ere apparently very beautifulsome of the curves appear to have been parabolic or ellipticn ot circular ; a remarkably fin e on e reduced from a facsimileimpression is shown in plate .The temples w ere certain ly adorned internally w ith

pilasters, sculptured as in the examples of Central India ; an dfrom the mutilated remains of an elephant statue lyin gamon g the ruin s, I infer that, like the superb temples ofKhajuraha, these temples were also adorned w ith elephantstatues projecting from corners an d salien t points of thetow er there are also several fragments sculptured w ith thehorseshoe pattern , as in the main body of the tow ers of themain temples at Khajuraha of pillars not on e exists . Suchconveni ent articles cannot be expected

“to be left lying aboutw hen close to them stands a large flouri shin g vi llage (on estands w ithin two miles of the ruins on the n orth side of theriver, an d has several pakka houses in it, an d on e on the sameside of the river twomiles OE, also w ith pakka houses in it)but of statues a few mutilated ones still exi st one is aneight-armed fem

'

ale slayin g the buffalo-demon ; another is alingam an d its argha ; a third, curiously enough, is the architrave of a doorway, w ith a seated figur e, like Buddha, w ith ahalo sculptured roun d h is head ; this last is evidently Buddhi st,an d bein g on the architrave, proves the existen ce of a Buddhi st temple, side by side w ith Brahman i cal Saivie temples .The largest temple of the group here was clearly a Saivic

temple the lin gam an d argha are still in situ the argha iscut on a square large ston e, ornamen ted w ith mouldin gs on itsvertical faces this temple faced east, as the spout of theargha, which is usually on the right han d side, poin tsn orth ; to the w est of the great temple, about 100 feet OE,

are the ruins of a small temple, w ith the mutilated figure ofa large nandi , an d of others to the north an d south of the largetemple, as w ell as to the n orth-east an d n orth-west, an d tothe east Of these all appear to have been small on es, an dprobably subordin ate to the great central Saivic one ; thereought properly to have been temples to the south-east and

I N THE BEN GA L P R O VI N CEs, 1872- 73. 159

south-w est also, but I n oticed n o ruin s in those par ts possiblythey have been quite removed .

The temple to the north appears to have been lar gerthan the others among its ruin s is a slab ,

the spandrel apparently of a false arch representin g a horse or a don keysaddled thi s is probably meant to represent theKalkiavatarthe exi stence of an arched spandrel does not bring down theage Of the temple to post-Muhammadan times, as the

temples at Khajuraha an d at Pathari an d elsew here havefalse arch-ribs to give apparent support to the centre Of thegreat entrance architrave . The mouldin gs of this templew ere particularly O ld, judgin g from the fragments for thereis li terally in the whole place n ot on e sin gle stone left standin g on another in silu, an d most of the squared blocks havegot carried OElong ago.

A bout 200 feet east of the great temple ar e the ruin s ofthe secon d largest temple in the place . A ll the temples hereappear to have been profusely ornamented w ith sculptur e,an d the number of amalakas an d half -am alakas lyin g about,w ith their variety Of sizes, shew s that each tow er rose upmaj estically out of a cluster of attached flat tow ers, as at

Kh ajuraha an d elsewhere the large temple had also mahaman dapas an d an tar alas an d porticos in short, w ere completetemples, as at Khajuraha. There w ere altogether 16 mounds,large an d small, all w ithin a space of about quarter of a milewide by half-mile in length .

T o the east an d w est Of the great collection of temples,an d half a mile OE on either side, on the banks of the river,are other moun ds O f ruin s Of temples ; fur ther east, are somefew more ; fur ther w est, immediately on the edge of the river,a long lin e of bare rocks juts out ; on these ar e sculpturednumerous arghas, lin gams, an d figi u

'

es . The river eddies havecut the rocks here into cur ious holes .

N ear to, an d east of, the lar gest temple on the vertical faceof a ledge of rock on the w est ban k of the li ttle rivulet thatmurm iu'

s down , are cut two lin es of in scription, medi teval n a

gir i ; in the fir st lin e men tion is made of Chi chi taga ra, whi ch Itake to be the origin al O fmodern Chechgaon garh ,or Chi chin ga,an d in the second lin e is mention of S rayaki R achhaban sidra,shew in g clearly that there w ere Jain or S rawaki templeshere the car ved ar chi trave represen t-in g seated a figur e w iththe halo is therefore probably a relic of the Jain temple .

On th e flat rock alon e are cut numerous arghas, lin gams,charanas, an d figures, male, female, &c .

, all rather rudelv .


Tradi tion ascribes the temples here, an d in deed in thevi cini ty gen erally, to on e Maheswar R aja. This R aja is saidto have been of the same caste as the G hatwals Of this dayof Katras .

BILON JA .

B ilon ja is a small, but importan t an d risin g, village, abouttwomi les south Of the ruin s Of Chechgaongarh ; here are twomodern temples, not yet fin ished, an d several O ld statuesamon g these, on e is a naked Jain statue, on e is of a two-armedfemale, some others are of n o interest . These statues are sai dto have been obtain ed partly from the ruin s of Chechgaon garh ,an d partly from the ruin s Of a large temple on ce existin g to theeast of, an d just outside, the village of B ilon ja. This temple issaid to have been very large an d complete, an d to have beenkn own as the N avaR atna, from havin g nin e pin n acles . O ut ofits ruins themodern temples areavow edly built ; of it no tracebut a low moun d n ow remains . Close to it is an other largemoun d, about 400feet lon g by 100feet w ide ; it is kn own as thegarh or fort ; below it, an d to the north of it, is a large tank .

I n the village are some plain pillars of the form of thoseat Hasra, near Bishan pur Tandwa, or KawaD O I.The temples now bein g built are to Durga an d to Damo

dara. Durga is worshipped by the people here for the sakeof gettin g children , an d D amodara (a form of Vishnu) toobtain mokhsha. A s the people of these parts are mostly ofthe Kol and san tal families, it appears that the mean in gn ow attached to Damodara by the Brahman s, via , a form ofVishnu,

is not the origin al mean in g un der which D amodarawas worshipped ; I rather consider that it was the river itselfthat was w orshipped, for it is w ell kn own that the san talsdo n ot consider the spirits of their an cestors as at rest tilltheir bones have been thrown into the great river . The wordmokksha, too, appears a relic Of Buddhist or Jaina doctrin es .Half a mile n orth-east of B ilon ja is a tank, w ith some

statues on its banks ; the plac e is kn own asKalyani than therear e n umerous cut ston es an d statues of G an eca an d of theeight-armed Devi slayin g the buEalo, which are w orshipped.

There evidently on ce stood on the banks Of this tank on e ortwo Saivie temples .

TU G R I .

O n e mile n orth-east of B ilon ja, in the Tugri village, are

numerous cut ston es, used as foun dation s Of huts, several O f

them sculptured .



pillars which supported the roof of the mahaman dapa wereplain octagon al, somewhat like the octagonal pillars at

Baijnath .

Half a mile to the east of Chan dr a is a square pillar ,carved at the end in to the fore par t O f an elephant, an d

having a lingam car ved on on e side ; the latter, eviden tly afterits original purpose had been forgotten, an d it had become

a pillar it is set up apparently as a boun darymark it is

interesting, as it is clearly a stone from the basemen t of arichly sculptured temple, where it was inserted in a horizon tal position, w ith the end projecting out of the face of thebuilding an d cut into the shape of the forepart of an ele

phant, as in the examples at Khajuraha ; the temple, therefore,to which it belonged must have had at least a row of

boldly projecting elephants’heads as on e of the ornamentallines of the basement . I could, how ever, n either see nor hearof any temple in the vicin ity from which the ston e couldhave been brought .

A t the fir st village beyon d Chan dan Kyari is a statueof on e of the Jain her iarch s in black basalt he is r epre

sented seated cross-legged in the usual fashibn , an d on his

pedestal is the bull symbol. It is on the banks of a large,n ow dry, tan k, near the O ld road from M idn apur to Benares,w hi ch passes through Chas an d Para.

PARA .

Close to Para, about half mi le to the w est O f the presen tvillage, in a fi eld, is a small in scribed statue of a female on a

lion ; she is six -armed, of whi ch four are n ow mi ssing ; on twosides of the lion are two pigs, an d over them two elephan tson each side, on e lar ge an d on e small the inscription reads,S r i Venabasin i S r i Char i t &c . the in

scription is in bad order it evi dently records the n ame of thedonor, a private individual apparently, an d a w orshi pper ofthe charana (sacred feet) of the goddess the fish emblemoccupies the cen tre of the canopy over the head of the

statue I in fer it, therefore, to be Vaishn avic ; she is dressed ina short boddice an d the sari , wi th the loose end gathered upan d left hanging in folds in front

, like the dhotis of thebetter class of people in Ben gal at this day.

Paracon tains several temples, most of whi ch are comparativelyrecen t ; the on e at the extreme w est end is a curiousand n ot in elegan t buildin g ; it is clearly post-Muhammadan ,

I N THE BEN G AL PR OV I N CES , 1372-73. 163

but n ot Of recen t date the roofs are all O f overlappin g courses,although the arches supportin g them ar e true arches.There are also some brick temples, of probably the same age,in the village ; these, but especially the R adharaman temple,are profusely orn amented w ith moulded an d cut brick ; themin ute tracery, executed in such a soft material as brick,exposed to the w eather, is in w on derful preservation , an d

show s how much can be don e in this material at li ttle cost ;photographs Of both temples have been taken , and are w orthstudying.

The most an cien t an d in terestin g objects here are, how

ever, tw o temples, to the east of, an d just outside, the village ;on e is of brick, the other O f a soft kin d of ston e both are

much w eather-beaten an d partially broken , but such portion sas still exist are in terestin g .

The ston e temple was once a large an d complete templetraces of the foun dati ons of the mahaman dapa can still beseen, but on ly the tow er portion con tainin g the san ctum is

standin g n ow ; thi s portion was once profusely ornamentedw i th mouldin gs an d sculpture, but the w eather has w ornaway the ston e (a very soft sandstone) so much, that thecorrect outlin e of the mouldin gs can now here be made out .

A curious peculiarity of the mouldin gs of the temple, an din deed of temples of thi s par t of Ben gal in general, is, thatat in tervals the mouldin gs are in terrupted by thin Spacesleft projectin g, showin g that the mouldin gs w ere out afterthe temples w ere completely built up plain , gen erally ; thesepta in ter ruptin g the lin e of mouldin gs are solid, but inthis temple the mouldin gs w ere so bold, that they havefound it possible to perforate the septa at the back, an d thuscarry through the mouldin gs . This sketch show s the appearance of one where the cross shadin g represen ts the mouldin gs in section ; the sin gle shading represen ts the septum in

elevation , an d the blank B the portion hollow edthrough . The faces A of the septa, whi ch arew ide, were profusely and deli cately sculpturedin to chaityas , statues, procession s, battle scenes,&c . at presen t only a few half-w orn on es ex istto show what they w ere originally .

It w ill be seen from the photograph thatthe upper portion of the tow er Of thi s temple

is built differen tly to the low er, both in mater ial an d exe

cution ,bein g of coarse ston e (grani te probably) plain cut it

w ill also be seen that the fron t or en tran ce is quite plam ;

164: R EPOR T or A TOUR

these are clearly due to subsequen t repair ; in the fron tportion , n ot on ly does the plain portion n ot fit the orn amen tal part behin d, but there is used , besides ston es of various kin ds, brick also, to fill in Odd spaces ; the ston e, how ever,is set dry w ithout any mortar, an d thi s leads me to assignto the repair some an tiqui ty ; certain ly the repair was n ot

executed w ithin the memory of anylivin gman , n or does tradition say anythin g about it . I con clude, therefore, as therepair is evidently post-Muhammadan, though of an earlyperiod, that it was executed during the time that M anSingh, as A kbar

’s G en eral, exercised supreme authority in

these parts .The temple en shrin es a statue of fin e black ston e ; it is

of Lakshmi , an d is two-armed ; two elephan ts are sculpturedas holding garlands over her head ; she has lost her nose, butis otherw ise in excellent preservation , an d rivals the fin esculptures of Lakhisarai an d its n eighbourhood ; there isa silly legend to accoun t for the loss of the n ose, which appearsto me to have really been lost through strokes of M uhammadan ‘

axes or sabres before the Hin du G en eral M an Sin ghw as sent as Chief in these parts .A coat Of plaster on ce covered the temple ; an d as the plaster

could not have been put on when the temple was in goodcondition, from the circumstance that in some portion swhere the plaster still exi sts the stone undern eath is n evertheless w eather-w orn , I in fer that it was put on when the

repairs w ere executed, so as to give a un iform look to theO ld an d n ew portions ; it has, how ever, lon g ago disappeared,being n ow foun d only in sheltered corn ers .The low er port ion of the temple is n ow buried to a

depth of probably 3 feet un dergroun d.

A n in scription was said to have ex isted in the temple,but had dropped out long ago, an d remain ed un cared fora lon g tim e ; it is, how ever, n ot to be seen n ow , an d n o on e

kn ow s an ythin g about it .

Close to it stan ds the brick temple ; this temple is alsoO ld, perhaps older than the ston e on e ; the bricks usedmeasure more than 17 in ches long by over 11 inches inw idth, an d are all set in mud ; they appear fairly w ellburn t, an d w ell shaped, an d the weather has acted less onthem than on the apparently harder ston e Of the adjacenttemple ; the temple n ow stands apparently on a highplin th, but thi s plin th or basemen t is a later addi tion ,

mademost probably to secure the temple from tumblin g down ,



sculpture in the brick face itself ; the plaster, therefore, isa later addition , and I w ould attribute it to the same periodas the repairs of the stone temple, i .e., to the time of M anSin gh, A kbar

’s G en eral.

The forms of the tow ers, both of this an d of theadjacen t stone on e, are very graceful ; the upper portion ofthe tow er of thi s on e is broken, an d it appears likely tobe soon destroyed through the grow th of trees, which are

allow ed to take root an d flourish without hin dran ce.Close to, an d to the south-w est of, thi s temple is a large

moun d, on which, an d about whi ch, lie several taperin gplain pillars thi s mound was clearly on ce the site of a largetemple, larger than the exi stin g ones. A t the east en d ofthe mound still stan d two pilasters, w ith plain square mouldings ; they measure 28 in ches in w idth by 16 in ches in thickn ess . Tradition says they are the side supports on whi ch thetrun nions of a dhen ki used to w ork, the said dken lci havin gbeen set up by an evil R ankin i , w ho was fon d of humanflesh , which she used to pound in thi s dhanki an d on e of thelon g ston e pillars, lyin g at the foot of the moun d, is poin tedout as the dhen ki beam ; it is said that, by agreemen t w iththe R aja, she was allow ed on e human victim daily . O n e daya poor cowherd, on returning w ith h is cow s to his master’shouse, saw his master an d mistress crying bitterly ; an d as

cer tain in g on in quiry the cause to be that one of them was

to be made over to the ogress, he volunteered to go in stead,stipulatin g on ly that he should be immediately furn i shedwith some gram made of iron an d some ordinary gramarmed w ith these, the man an d hi s two dogs w en t to thetemple an d waited presently in came the R ankin i , an d was

about to seize him, when he said beforeyou eatme, orI eat you, let us make a trial of strength here is a han dfulof gram for you, and here is one for me, whichever of us

two fin ishes eatin g the gram first, shall also eat the other.”

The R ankini agreed, but vainly tried to masticate the irongram she had received, while the cowherd soon got thr oughhi s share, an d made as if he w ould begin on her n extterr ified, the R ankini rent the temple an d ran out, pursuedby the cowherd an d h is two dogs the R ankini fled to Dhalbhum, where, seein g a washerman washin g at the river, shebegged him to hide her, promisin g h im the R aj as recompen se ;the man hid her un der his pat (the piece of wood theybeat the cloth on ) , an d the cowherd, after a fruitless search,was return in gw ith his two dogs , w hen ,. in pas sin g through the

I N T HE BEN G A L PR OV I N CES , M HZ 167

Baghal forest, near the village of B aghalya, he an d his dogsw ere turned in to stone, an d exi st to this day 1 In proof of thetruth of thi s legend, they poin t to the R ajas Of D halbhum ,

who are said to be dhobis by caste, an d w ho are notorious forhaving practised human sacrifi ces, till very recent times, inhonor, it is said, of thi s very R ankin i , w ho became their tutelary deity an d the prin cipal Object of w orship in the coun tryher temple is said (an d the site is poin ted out at Sarangarh,near Am bikan ag ar) to have ex isted till w ithin the last fewyears, an d to have been regularly supplied w ith humanvi ctims till it was destroyed by the British authorities .The petrified cowherd is nothi n g more or less than a Sati

pillar, standing byitself, in the B aghalyaforest (scrub jangal) ,n ear the B aghalyavillage ; it is clear that the name of thevillage an d of the jangal has suggested the identification ofthe Sati pillar (the real purpose of which was forgotten)wi th the petrifi ed cowherd ; the dogs are said also to bether e, but one of them is certainly a lion from some temple,an d the other is perhaps an other from the same , or some othertemple : the Sati pillar is n ow w orshi pped, if plenteous libations of mi lk an d gbi be any criterion of w orship . TheB aghalya village is a couple or 3 miles off the road, betw eenKotraan d Jhapra.

Para is tradition ally said to have been the seat Of theR ajas , an d is said to have possessed 52 tank s on e vers ion says in Parathere are 6 coris of pokhar s an d 9 coris

(scores) Of garhwas (small ponds) there are numeroustank s an d hollow s to thi s day, an d the temples noticed abovestand close to a large on e, and n ot far from several but

they ar e mostly either dry, or becomin g rapidly choked up.

The temple of R adharaman in the village noticed before,is said to have been built by on e Purshottam Das fr omBin draban hi s tomb (chhatri rather) faces the temple theobject of w orship is a black t wo-armed male statue, 3 feethi gh . The foun der havin g enshrin ed the statue, an d provi dedfor its main tenan ce, w i shed to return to hi s country, an d toldthe statue so, but it replied Sin ce you have brought meaway, thi s is your native coun try ; n ow therefore remainhere ” The mahant pleaded that he had no son s, and could

get n on e unless he return ed home, to perform h is fun eralobsequi es, but the statue at once offered to do it himself ;hence of all Offerings to the statue the first share is set asideas an offerin g to the deceased mahan t . Pur shottam 13513 is

said to have built the temple durin g the vicerovaltv of M an


S in gh , who is said to have built the curious ston e templen oticed at the west en d of the village ; to him I have alsoattributed the repairs of the two great temples of brick an d

stone, an d on the whole, it appears that the later flourishingdays of Para w ere dur ing or about the period be exercisedsway as A kbar

’s G en eral in these parts .

A bout 8 miles north by a li ttle east of Para, n ear thelarge village Of Chailyama, is the village Of Ban da; here is astone temple in the mi ddle of some low jan gal ; in plan, itresembles the temples of Barakar, an d, like them, it con sistsof a sin gle cell ; like them, too, it on ce had amandapa, in fron tof whi ch the fragments, mi sarranged in to a long pillared hall,still exist, but it differs from them in man y particulars thefr ont Of the temple has thr ee tiers of Open in gs, fir st an d low estthe entrance of the sanctum, leadin g as usual in to a squarechamber, roofed over w ith a flat roof over thi s, a smalleropen ing leading into a small chamber, whose floor forms theroof of the sanctum ; thi s openi ng is fur ther surmoun ted byanother Openin g, whi ch again leads in to an other chamber,whose floor forms the roof of the next low er on e.

A s the chambers an d their several floors an d roofs aren ot later additions, but form essential, an d indeed con structively essen tial, portions of the original design, the several Openings above the doorway Of the sanctum cannot be, an d nevercouldhavebeen, inten ded as illum in ating w indow s ; this temple,an d temples of thi s class, differ, therefore, in a vitalpoin t fromthe M agadha type of temples, an d are not amenable to the law sthat govern them in the matter of the open ings . Thi s maybe

perceived at a glance from the photograph, where the threeopen in gs are in proportions widely different to the three Openings of the Buddha Gayatemple . Indeed, the Buddha Gayatemple has three Open in gs, on ly because later repairs an dalterers foun d it expedi en t to cutupthe twotallupperOpenings,which properly should not be divided in to two portion s, as Ihave shown before . What law , however, govern s the size an ddi sposition of the Openin gs in thi s class Of temples, I am unableto state ; examples of temples w ith three tiers of openin gs areextremely rare, and from on e or two examples a law can notsafely be deduced.

The walls of temples O f thi s type bein g very thin , as

may be seen from plan s, an d more impressively from the

photograph of a half broken temple at T elkupi, an d the

tow ers, h avin g these thin walls as sides, being very hi gh,it became a con structive n ecessity to tie the walls together



perhaps, the fin est an d largest number of temples w ithin a

small spac e that is to be foun d in the Chutia N agpur Circlein Bengal. They are in thr ee groups, the largest being to thenorth by a little east of the village an d on the brink Of theriver a second group close to the village an d somewhat to itsw est, an d a third group w ithin the south-east end of thevillage . I begin w ith the fir st group .

N O . 1, or the most northerly temple, consists of a singlecell ; it faces the south there is no emblem or figure over theentrance doorway the Object Of w orship inside is a lingam .

The floor of the cell is about two feet below the sill of the eutrance, which is itself two feet below the present ground-level.The material is cut ston e w orkmanship plain, but good nomortar has been used in bedding the stones, which are carefully set dry there is not much ornamentation, such as thereis consisting of plain lines an d mouldings the upper portionof the temple is nearly entire .

No . 2 faces east. Lakshmi is sculptured over the en trance,w ith two elephants pouring water over her head . The floorw ithin the cell is buried beneath accumulations of earth andsand, which rise tow ithin six inches of the sill of the en trancethis itself is on e an d half feet below the present groun d-levelthe Object of w orship in side is a lingam ; the upper portionOf the temple is broken in material an d execution it re

sembles N O . 1 .

N O . 3, sim ilar to N O . 2, but bur ied deeper under rubbish,the sill of the entran ce being buried four feet below accumulated rubbish the floor is buried deep

,nearly six feet in

earth an d rubbish object of worship in side a lingam ; it facesw est the top is gone.No. 4 faces east a lotus is sculptur ed over the en trance

the Object of worship inside is a four-armed statue of Vishnu,

in good preservation, w ith the shell, discus, &c . The temple ismuch ruined in material, execution, an d other particulars itresembles the others .

N O . 5 faces east, an d is behind N O . 4 G an ega overdoorway resembles the others in details the top of thetemple has disappeared .

N O . 6 is a large temple, facing w est it consists at presentof a sanctum, an an tarala in the thickn ess of the front wall ofthe sanctum an d the back wall of the mahaman dapa, a

mahaman dapa, an ardhaman dapa, an d a portico . The sanctum with its tower roof is en tir e, but the in ner roof of thesan ctum, bein g the floor of the upper chamber, is broken ; the

I N T HE BEN G A L l’R O Vl N CES ,1373- 73. 171

chamber above the sanctum has n o open ing, an d therefore is,an d alw ays was, inaccessible ; the roof proper of the san e.

tum (n ow broken) w as formed of overlapping stones theoriginal architrave over the entran ce no longer exi sts

,

having been replaced at some period by a plain on e ; thi s,too, failed, an d others w ere successively put in , till, at

thi s mom ent, there ar e four door frames, on e wi thin another,thus reduc ing the origin al w idth an d height of the eu

trance considerably ; the jambs which were afterw ards putin are n ot all entir e pillars, but are made up of miscellaneous fr agments, put together so as to make up the requir edheight .The mahaman dapawas roofed also by overlapping cour ses

of stones the square corners w ere gradually roun ded off bysuccessive small portions, till it formed an octagon, over whi chthe circular roof p1‘oper rested ; the roof has long ago tumbledin , but the corners are yet in tact, an d the con structiveexpedient used may be seen in the photograph ; the cir cularroof was fur ther supported, as is don e in several in stan ceselsew here, by four pillars, placed as a square in the centre Ofthe mahaman dapa ; these pillars are qui te plain the materialan d execution Of the portion extern al to the sanctum an d

antar ala differ from those of the sanctum, being of plain,indeed coarsely-dressed, gran ite , w hile the sanctum is of finelycut an d smoothed sandstone ; the line O f junction, too, of themaham an dapa an d of the sanctum is quite distin ct, provingclearly that the mahaman dapa is a subsequent addi tion, theoriginal temple hayi ng consisted of the sanctum an d its

attached vesti bule alone which ,far from havin g the mani fest

ly unfin i shed appearan ce O f the facades Of the Barakartemples, has, in depen dently Of the subsequently addedmahaman dapa, a fin i shed facade, the portion over theentrance bein g provided w ith regular freize, an d cornice, an d

mouldin gs an d sculptur e, all w hi ch w ould n ecessarily behi dden by the roof an d ar chitraves of the later addedmahaman dapa.

Externally, the tow er is adorn ed wi th sculpture an d mouldin gs, carefully an d fin ely cut in the ston e itself . A t. somesubsequen t period the tow er appears to have received extern ally a coat of plaster, in wh ich was sculptured devi ces, orn aments , an d figur es differen t to that in the ston e below ,

provin g clearly that the origin al stone tow er was not coveredwi th plaster w h en fir st built . Over this coat of plaster was

put on , at a still later period, a secon d coat , and on this w as

172 R EPORT O F A TOUR

sculptured figures, ornamen ts, an d devices difl'

er in g fromeither Of the previ ous ones . The orn amen tation executed inthe plaster coat resembles that used in the plaster coating

put on the brick temple at Para, an d therefore presumably ofthe same age, that is, of the time Of M an Sin gh, to whom,

therefore, I ascribe the extensive repairs an d alterations exe douted in this temple, an d in others of thi s group .

N O . 7, a small temple, single cell, faces north ; over theen tran ce G an eca ; the object O f w orship in side is a two-armedstatue, holding a lotus in each hand, bein g the usual form of

statues Of A ditya, or the Sun : he has a high head -dr ess, boun dbya fillet, flying horizontally outwards at the sides four subordinate figures on each side, an d two flying figures at thetw o upper corners, complete the sculptur e . The temple, inmaterial an d execution , resembles N O . 1 .

N o. 8 is a large temple, facin g east : this, like the others,on ce consisted of the cell alon e, but has had a large an d verymassively built an d heavily roofed mahaman dapa added onafterwards, the jun ction being quite distinct . In style, also,the tow er an d themahaman dapa differ,the tow er being plainly,but tastefully, ornamented w ith sculpture an d mouldings, theother being quite plain ; the figure of G an eca is sculpturedover the entrances both of the original sanctum an d of the

later mandapa the temple therefore was, an d has always been,S aivie.

The cell has an inn er low roof, as usual, O f Overlappingstones the mahaman dapa has a roof Of overlappin g stonesalso the Obj ect of worship in the cell is a lin gam.

Themahaman dapa appears somewhat too large for thesanctum behind, an d the apparent inequality is increased bythe massive heavy style O f the former contrastin g w iththe li ghter tow er behind altogether, the composition has n ot

been so happily design ed as it mi ght have been , though it is

probably better than the combination noticed in temple N O . 6,

the disproportion there being greater .A w all of plain rough cut grani te run s from the back

of the temple N O . 6 to the facade of N o. 8, an d is con tinuedbeyon d the facade on the other side ; this wall is piercedw ith a small true, arched Openin g the wall at the Open in g israised higher than elsewher e, an d the projecting hi gh piece iscur ved on top, as is often don e in buildi ngs in Lower Bengal.The occur r ence of the true arch proves the wall to be a postMuhammadan addition ; an d as it resembles in details of material an d execution the mahamandapa of the temple, I r egard



N O . 13 resembles N os . 11 an d 12 ; has G an eca over thedoorw ay, w hich faces w est .

This is the last temple, still in tolerable order . Besidesthese

, which may fairly be considered as stan ding, there ar e

numerous ones, more or less ruined, some being brokendown to the level of the roof of the sanctum, others stillmore

, w hile of many a confused heap of out stone is all thatremains . There w ere

‘

st ill others w hose only remain s are a

number of lingams, arghes , an d cut stone in the bed of theriver . One temple disappeared into the river in the intervalbetw een my first an d my presen t visit to the place

— a periodof little over five years only .

It appears that the banks of the river extended up to,an d beyond

, a long line of rocks that n ow jut out in thebed of the river parallel to the line Of bank, an d a hundredyards Off . The builders that chose the site of the templeappear evidently to have done their best in selecting whatappeared a safe spot on the river ban ks , as the line of rocksmust then have formed an indestructible n atural revetmentof the river face, but th ey did n ot reckon on the river cut

tin g its way behind the in vincible revetment, an d rush ingthrough their temples ; they erred in not ascertaining, w ithall possible care, the highest flood-level of the river— an errorbut too common among the engineers even at this day. Inordi nary years, the flood seldom reaches the top of the highbanks, an d inquiry, un less very carefully made, w ould fail toshow that in certain years the flood rushes w ith mad fur y,four feet deep , through the very court-yards , an d into thecells of the temples on the hi ghest spots, while the templeslow er dow n are buried the whole depth Of the en trancedoorways .Temple N O . 10 is traditionally said to have been thus

buried in sand almost up to the eaves Of the tow er roof, an dthe heaps n ow lyin g outside are pointed out as the identicalsand dug out of the man dapa, the cell, an d the courtyard ofthe temple . I made enquiries regarding the flood-level, butfoun d only on e man in the vi llage that w as of sufficient age

when it occurred, to remember it, an d w illing to inform me .I have h eard engineers make disparaging commen ts on whatthey consider the excessive waterway given to the bridgeover the Barakar, a tributary of the D amuda, but let themenqui re Of O ld people regardin g the flood of that year on

which the calculation s of the waterway of the bridge are

based, an d they w ill find that the bridge is none too large .

I N THE BEN G A L PR OV I N CES , 1872- 73 175

If the modern pushing batch of young engineers , who haveduly served through their ar ticles,

”w ere as particular in

ascertaini ng the highest known floods of the rivers they presume to br idge, as the O ld fogies that designed the B ai ‘akarbridge, w e should hear of few er bridges w ashed aw ay everyyear . Throughout the length an d breadth of Chutia N agpuran d Bihar (the Bihar old district) I have fr om personal en

quiry . ascertained that that year (I forget the vear n ow ) onrecords of the flood of which the Barakar bridge w aterwayw as calculated w as a year of such a. terrific flood, that evenpeople w ho remember it w ill n ot, when desir ed to poin t outthe highest flood - level, point to the flood mark of that year,but to the nex t highest . L et them, however, be asked pointblank about the flood of that year, an d the inqui rer w ill thensee that hi s in formant did n ot poin t out the highest knownflood-level, from an impression that it w as such a very rareoccurrence as to be very 1mlikely to happen aga in but w hathas happened once may happen again, at how ever long an

in terval, an d for w orks in tended to be permanent should, ifpossible, be provi ded again st .Besides the temples, there ar e numerousmi ni ature temples,

— thin gs that, if Buddhi st, w ould be called votive stupas or

votive chaityas, but bein g Brahmani cal, must, I suppose, becalled votive sivalas some are mini ature single-cell temples

(solid of course) , others are pillars, most probably sati monumen ts , an d sculptured on on e face w ith the lingam an d

argha. or other devices . N on e are in scribed .

One half-ruin ed temple now stan ds on the very brin k of

the perpendicular wall of clay, whi ch here forms the riverbank, an d must tumble in next rain s . I n mylast vi sit I sawsome w ells exposed by the river cuttin g away the earth on

on e face of it ; these w ells w ere built of brick set w ithoutcement ; at intervals bands of bricks set on edge formed thew ell rin g, instead of bein g set on their beds as usual ; in thesebands the bricks w ere set w ith n arrow in tervals betw eenthem

, an d n ot touchin g at their inn er edges . I was inclin edto think that they w ere the foundations of temples, but am

n ow of opini on they w ere w ells, the rin gs of bricks on

edge,set w ith narrow sli ts betw een them, bein g obviously

mean t to allow of a free percolation of water in to the w ell ;an d although 710 10, w ells in the posit-ions I saw would besuperfluous, or rather absurd, they w ere perhaps n ot quiteun necessary when the river ra n a hun dred yards fiu'ther

O ff, an d was difficult of approach bv reason of the rocks,


which rose from the bed and formed a revetmen t n ot easilydescen ded .

Of the other groups of temples, the temple n earest to thegroup described is almost en tire an d in excellen t order ; thetop O f the tower is crowned as usual by the amalaka, overwhi ch rises an urn - shaped ston e fin ial, as in the temples atBarakar ; this temple is deserted . Lakshmi , with elephantspourin g water over her, is sculptured over the entran ce, an d

in the interior is a fin ely executed statue .

T O the right an d about feet south is an other temple,also w ith Lakshmi over the entrance ; a four-armed statue ofVishnu is enshrined in the san ctum .

A bout a quarter mile east of thi s, another temple, also

single- cell, faces n orth, an d has sculptured over the entrancea figur e seated, w ith an elephant raising hi s trunk over thefigure

’s head ; it is diffi cult to tell whether the figure is male

or female ; it holds a lotus in one hand the statue in side is ofVishnu, four -armed, in the N arasinha in carnation .

There is, besides these, a broken temple of Vishnu Chaturbhuj . This temple is valuable, from havin g lost its front,while the other parts are to a great extent almost un injured,an d therefore capable of illustratin g effectually the con structive features of this class of temples . See photograph .

T wo temples an d several statues stand in the east end ofthe village, not w orth detailed description .

Besides these, there are, further south, several detachedtemples ; on e of Vishnu or Siva, an d close to it a temple toBuddha, wi th the ruins of a large mon astery, in the shapeOf a large brick mound, close to it thi s is, I beli eve, the onlyBuddhist temple in the place ; it may, how ever, be Jain, forthe sculpture over the entran ce, the only clue n ow vi sible as

to its purpose, is too small an d too weather-beaten to showdistin ctly whether it is, or is n ot, Jain .

N ear these, but standin g by itself, on an d near a somewhat large mound, is a temple that appears to have been on celarger ; the entrance of the temple is profusely ornamentedw ith minute sculptur e ; there are four lines of figures on eachside ; the first row or lin e consists of the in carn ation s ofVishnu, the next O f bearded sages , the third of Obscen e figures,most probably scenes from Krishn a’s life ; the last row is of

fancy animals ; the temple was clearly Vaishn avic,an d Krishnais sculptured over the entran ce ; he is represented seated ona thron e or seat, on e leg restin g on the groun d , the othertucked up an d doubled in fron t, as in sittin g cross-legged.



banks of the Damuda river. The gir l may, ormayn ot, aftei‘a

wards marry the man she consorts w ith here, but the man isn ot by anymean s boun d to ask her inis said to have arisen in this way.

O n a certain occasion dur in g the annual mela, a youn ggirl permitted the improper atten tion s of a youn g man , an d

soon afterwards foun d herself in an in terestin g con dition ;vainly she en treated the youn g man to marry her, an d hi deher shame ; he w ould not, an d her paren ts came to fin d it out,an d killed her (some sayshe was n ot killed) . F rom that day,girls w ere allow ed to do what they liked dur in g the fair atT elkupi , an d that which was or iginally only a permi ssivecustom, has n ow petrified into a compulsory observance lThe aboriginal races of Indi a are gen erally, I believe, ad

mitted as Turanian , an d there is good reason to believe thatthe Turan ian races formed the substratum Of the populationOf Babylon : the Sfin tals Of India, an d the low er classes ofthe people of Babylon w ould, therefore, be bran ches of the

same race, an d the prevalence amon g the former, even at

this day, O f a custom, however modified, whi ch w e kn owprevailed in Babylon , maybe more than an acciden tal coinciden ce : the speculation is, however, too wide for me toven ture on .

PA CHET.

A bout 10miles to the south-w est of Barakar stan ds thehigh solitary hill O f Pachet ; at its south-eastern foot is thefort of Pachet, on ce the residen ce of the R ajas of Pachet,n ow deserted an d in di srepair the n ame of thi s fort is said tobe a contraction O f Pan chakot, an d the explanation of then ame n ow given is, that the R ajas Of Pachet reign ed over fiveR ajas, but the w ord clearly means five forts, an d I con sider then ame to have referen ce rather to the number O f walls thatdefen d the citadel kot .” There are four sets of walls, eachw ithi n the other, surroun din g the kot on the w est, south, andeast, the n orth bein g defended by the hill itself, at the toe ofthempe Of w hich the citadel stands ; but, beyon d the last lin eof the walls of the fort, tradition says, ran an other lin e Of walls,an d the position s ascribed to the parts of thi s wall show thatthe so- called outermost rampart was n othi n g else than then atural ridge-lin es of the un dulatin g coun try roun d thefort ; taking thi s outer n atural li n e of ramparts-“ if rampartsthey can be called, -we have the five sets of walls n ecessaryto explain the name.

I N THE BEN GA L PROVIN OES , 1872-73. 179

The four sets of ar tificially built walls of the fort are allofearth, an d are each defen ded by deep an d w ide moats, n owfilled up in man y places ; the moats w ere so conn ected w iththe stream s descen din g the sides of the hill, as to keep themalways wet, an d to this day they always contain some water ;in most places the walls, or earthen ramparts, w er e also in

geniously led so as to form con tinuations of n atural spur s O fthe hill itself, thus secur in g the maximum of defens ive pow erwi th the min imum of labor in throwin g them up. In thewalls were numerous gates, n ow mostly gon e, an d represen ted by mere gaps in the walls ; four gateways, however, of cutston e, in var ious stages of decay, still ex ist, an d haven ames they are n amed Ankh Duar, Bazar Mahal Duar, or

D esban dh Duar, Khor ibar i Duar , an d Duar Ban dh ; the lastis in the best state of preservation ; all Of them w ere builtin much the sam e style, via ,

the usual Muhammadan stylean d w ith true arches, though overlapping arches w ere alsoused : some of these gateways served the double purpose of

gateways proper an d open in gs for w ater, an d the Duar Ban dhstill serves the purpose of allowin g water to be taken infrom the moat outside, when necessary for irrigatin g thefi elds w ithin the fort is very large, the outermost rampar tshaving a. total len gth O f more than fivemiles, whi le the tr aditional outermost defen ces, via , the ridge lin es round thefort, in close a space of about 12 square miles, exclusive of

the hi ll itself.There are several brick remains w ithin the fort, gen erally

inaccessible, either fr om bein g sur roun ded by w ater or byden sejan gal they are evident] post-Muhammadan , an d of n o

spec ial in terest. M oulde an d cut brick an d terra cottasculptur ed tiles have been used in almost every on e of them,

w hich are all of the Low er Ben gal type of architecture, r iwi th curved in stead of str aight top lines ; the cur ved toplines appear to me more elegan t than the straight ones, an d

are eviden tly Copied from the curved ridge an d eave lin es Ofthatched huts. I n the U pper P r ovin ces, wh ere the rain fall isscan ty compar ed to Low er B en gal, curved ridge an d eaves arenot so n eces as in L ow er Bengal ; here the rainfall is soheavy that, ess an extraordinary thickn ess of thatch is puton , water in variably leaks thr ough, especially alon g the corn erbeam s of a chauchala (four-thatched) . It must be clear thatw hen an oblon g or a square room is covered by four thatchesmeetin g either in a ridge or in a poin t, an d the thatc hes

(chals) have all the same in clinati on . the slope of the roof


at the lin es of jun ction of the four thatches is much gen tlerthan elsewhere, an d, as a consequen ce, leaks ar e more fr equent at these than elsewhere ; to give to these lin es the same,or n early the same, in clination as the other port ions of theroof, the corn ers have to be low ered ; hence the curved outlin e O f the ridge an d cave lines .

U pon the side Of the hill, an d overlookin g the fortbelow , are a number of temples ; they are all massively bui lt,an d the occur ren ce of the true dome an d the true arch inthem stamps them as of the post-Muhammadan period ; thegreat dome of the mahaman dapa of the large temple is ofan

'

early date, as it is w ithout bulge, an d is crowned, n ot by afoliated cap, but by a small top knot ; I ascri be it, therefore, tothe period of M an Singh the temple is known as R aghunath

’s

mandir , havin g been bui lt by a R ajaof that n ame ; an annualfair , lasting on e day, is held here .The gates of the fort had in scribed slabs let in , which

w ould have fixed the date of their erection an d the name Of theR ajathat reign ed then they are much injured, but enoughremain s to fi x the date of two of the gates,— the Duar Bandhan d the Khor ibar i gate ; each slab consists of 6 lines of Bengalicharacters, an d they appear to be duplicates of each other ;there is mention Of a S r i Vira Hami ra, who, we know fr omother sources, reign ed over a large tract of coun try, exten din gin the south-w est as far as Chatnan ear Ban kura the date iseither Samvat 1657 or 1659, the fi gure in the uni ts placebeing alone doubtful through w ear, whi ch w ould bring it toabout 1600 A . D . , when we know M an Singh, A kbar

’s G en

eral, was Viceroy of Ben gal. The fort havin g thus beenproved to date on ly to M an Sin gh, the temples, both on thehill an d at the foot, cann ot date earlier, an d that on the hillcann ot, from its style, be of later date .

The legendary accounts O f the origin an d establi shmen tof Pac het may be thus related .

A not Lal, R ajaOf Kasipur, was going, with hi s wife, on apilgr image to Jagan n ath ,when the R ani gave birth to a childin A r una Vana (the presen t Pachet) . The R aja an d R ani ,unw illing to delay on account Of the child, determin ed toabandon it, thin ki ng that they could easily get other children ,

while the fruits of the pilgrimage could n ot be so easily got,so they proceeded on to Thakurdwara the fabulous cow ,

KapilaG ai,whoused to live in A runban ,seein g the child aban

doued, took upon herself to feed it w ith her milk, an d thusthe child lived on an d grew up, and remain ed in the jan gal.



of Jhaldia itself kn ow n othin g about the w on derful petri fiedcow , which the people in the vi cin ity of Pachet in si st exi ststhere .

KHELA I CHA N D I .

S ix miles south of Pachet is a group of bare, rockyhills kn own as the Khelai Chan di hills ; a fair is held hereannually on the full moon of the mon th of Faush, an d

many people collect there ; the object of w orship there isa local goddess n amed Khelai Chan di Devi, who is supposedto live on the hills, but to be in visible ; she is said tobe eightarmed ; at midnight she descends the hill, goes to the sacredtan k, washes herself, an d return s ; hen ce n othin g impure isthrow n in to it, n or do the people presume to bathe in it themselves vow s aremade,an d the suppliant vow s to digupwith hishands (w ithout anytools) a certain quan tity of earth from the

bed of the tank an d carry it up beyon d the tan k embankmenton his head, in case his (or her) wi sh is fulfilled ; an d on theméla day thousands may be seen wi th tiny baskets scrapin gup mud from the bed of the tank an d carryin g it up theembankments ; a small temple (modern) stan ds at the footof the hill near the tank ; it enshrin es a whi te ston e sculpture w ith hands folded in the attitude of prayer ; two lion sare sculptured on the pedestal ; there is n o in scription ; thetemple faces the hill ; thi s statue is worshipped in place ofthe invisible goddess Khelai Chan di .

CHHOR B A’.

A bout four miles before reachin g Puraiya, on the road fromBarakar, is the large vi llage of O hhorra; here are some ruin sof old temples two temples, partially ruin ed, still exist, an d theston es of numerous others ar e to be seen used up in the hutsof the village ; some of the temples w ere Jain or Buddhi st,as numerous votive chaityas w ith mutilated figur es, either ofBuddha or of on e of the Jain hi erarchs, lie in the village, butthe greater number w ere, judging from the remain s ofsculpture lyin g about, Brahman ical, an d prin cipally Vaishn av w.

PU R A LY A .

In Puralya, the head-quarters of the district-of Manbhum ,

ar e some old remains about half amile to the east of the city,on a hi gh open plateau, ar e the remn an ts of two temples : one

of these must have been large, and the other close to it was

I N THE BEN G A L r aovmcns, 1872-73. 183

small ; a fragment Of the amalaka that crow n ed the largertemple li es on the site ; it had a diameter of 7 feet ; very fewsquared stones n ow remain, the greater portion havingn aturally been removed to be used up in the n ow risin g city .

BAL AR AMPU R .

Four mi les to the south- east Of Puralya is the village of

B alarampur ; here is a temple Of the Baijnath type, an d

evi den tly n ot very old, but built of the materials of

an Older temple, as may be seen by examin in g it carefully,when sculptur ed ston e w ill be seen used along w ith plainsquared ones in the basemen t of the temple ; the Oldertemple, judgin g from some very plain mouldin gs in the stonen ow built in to the more recent one, appears to have beenvery plain , an d of no great siz e ; the presen t temple is builtof cut stone an d of bricks , the latter of a variety of sizes,an d set in mortar composed of earth an d lime, n ot surkhian d lime ; the w hole w as origin ally plastered, but is n ow

bare the cell had aman dapa in fr ont, now no longer existingthe thr ee faces Of the temple that have no Openin gs in them ar e

adorned with sculptures Of min iature temples, of the tall,straight-lin ed, un gain ly Baijnath pattern ; the roofs Of thec ell an d of the attached antarala ar e formed Of overlappin gc ourses O f bricks , in successively dimi n ishin g squares ; theopenin gs w ere all spann ed by true arches, built p ar tly Ofbricks rubbed to a w edge form, but n ot sufficiently so to formtrue voissoir s ; on e of these w edges has by mi stake beeninserted in an arch upside down ; hidden away behin d the

entran ce, an d let in to the inn er w all O f the sanctum, is the

archi trave of the original temple, but w ithout any emblemsculptured on it to show to w hom it w as dedicated ; themahaman dapa, judgin g fr om still existin g corn ers, was

domed over, the dome restin g on corbelled pendentives ;the mouldin gs used appear to have been tame an d flat, an d

the carvin gs, w hi ch still ex ist, are all shallow ; the spire also,

though like the Baijnath ones in outline, is quite plain , its

surfac e n ot bein g broken up by orn amental bands ; thepillars, or rather the pilasters, still standing on the sides Ofthe en tran ce in to the san ctum, are so remarkable for theirelegan t massiven ess, that I have, notw ithstanding theirrecent age, given a draw in g of one. The temple, jud g ing fromthe variety in the sizes of bricks used, dates probablv toafter M an Sin gh

’s period .


B U R A’M .

Twelve miles w est by a little n orth from Puralya, on theright bank Of the Kasai or Kansai river, is the small villagean d the ruin s of Buram . The ruin s ar e on a kn oll at theedge of the river ; approachin g them after crossin g the riverfrom the north, the fi rst ruin is a low moun d ; on thi s lies aroun d- ended flat slab wi th (fi 25 in scribed ; the charactersmay belong to the n in th or ten th cen tury ; the moun d isevidently the site of a temple of brick,faced w ith stone ; therear e a few other low small moun ds of no special in terest.

Of the remain s that still stand more or less dilapidated,the fir st, beginnin g fr om the south end, is a large fiat-toppedtemple of brick ; it faces east, an d stan ds on a mound 11

or 12 feet high, which evidently formed the basemen t on

w h ich the temple stood ; the bricks are 18"

x 12”

x 251 in chesan d 9 x 12

”

x 2 51 inches, set close w ithout mortar, butw ith mud cemen t ; a section an d other measuremen ts, &c .,

are given in plate .The orn amen tation , extern ally, consists Of tiers an d row s

of n i ches cut on the face an d sides an d back walls of the tow er.A s at Buddha Gaya, there is n ot, an d does n ot appear to havebeen , any plaster coatin g to the temple, as the bricks ar e all

carefully cut an d smoothed the temple fac es east the entranceis of the usual pattern, a rectangle, surmounted by a talltrian gular openin g of overlappin g courses Of bricks thetemple consists, an d appears to have always con sisted, of nomore than a single cell, 11 feet 8 in ches square ; there iscon sequen tly no division Of the entrance openin g in to a

door proper an d an illumin ating w in dow ; the fi gure within isa four-armed female seated on a lion, whi ch, therefore, I assumeto represent Parvati .

N ear thi s temple lie the ruin s of a stone temple ; thi s w asbui lt of ston e cut carefully an d set wi thout mortar throughout ; the ston e used was a fin e close-grain ed san dston e ; themouldin gs are plain , but not hold .

Close to it is the top lin tel of an entran ce, w ith a groovein its un der-fac e, extendi ng almost the whole len gth of

the ston e the entran ce to which it belonged must havebeen 3 feet 3 in ches wide ; there is space for a figure of theObject of worship in the centre Of the architrave, but thefigure, if any existed, has lon g ago been rubbed away underthe treatmen t of laborers sharpen in g their field implemen ts ;



To the east of the secon d brick temple is a figure ofParvati, four -armed, w ith a small figure of Ganega to itsr ight, an d a female fi gur e to its left ; it is half-buried ;in execution an d style it resembles the sculptur es at Dulmi ,an d I therefore ascribe it to the same age ; it formed theobject of worship in a small temple, whi ch faced n orth, an d of

which the low moun d in which the statue, if buried, is all thatn ow remain s .

T o the east Of thi s are the ruin s of a small brick temple,which faced n orth (the other brick temples face east) thereis in the ruin s an d still in si tua life- size sculpture O f the eight.armed Durgaslayin g the M aheshasur ; thi s is the fin est pieceof sculpture in the place, an d fully equals in every respectthe simi lar sculpture at Dulmi , an d is a close approach to thesculptur es at Lakhisarai ; it is in excellen t preservation ; its ageI consider to be the same as Of the Dulmi sculptures ; it isin better preservation than the sister sculpture at Dulmi .

A few other moun ds of no special in terest exi st ; the lastbrick temple to the n orth-w est of all others resembles them

,

but is plainer ; it was plastered, an d the ornamentation on theplaster is profuse an d elaborate ; the plaster, however, is clearlyan after-addition ; the temple was Saivie, as eviden ced by a

li n gam an d argha in the san ctum .

A few other moun ds of no special in terest exist .A remarkable circumstan ce here is, that all the temples

wi thout exception , the Object of which can now be asoertain ed, appear to have been Saivie ; there is n o Vaishn avicor other sculpture at all in the w hole place ; there must, therefore, have been alarge an d rich, an d probably in tolerant, Saivieestabli shmen t here.Four miles south-east Of this lace, and some di stan ce from

the Kasai river, is the village of n saKaran di , said to possessruin s of temples ; I heard Of them lon g after I h ad left then eighbourhood .

DU LMI.

Twen ty-fivemiles w est of BaraBazar (whi ch itself is 25miles south-east of Puralya) on the banks of the Suban r ikhariver (the Suvarn ar ikhsha) , is the small Village Of Dulmi ,marked in the lithographed map of 8 miles to the in ch as thesite of some ruin s ; the village is kn own as Dyapar Dulmi,an d contain s numerous remain s . A plan of the place, w iththe sites of most O f the ruin s, accompani es, but there are

others to the n orth and n orth-east Of the village.

IN THE BEN GA L PR OVI N CES , 1872-73. 187

The ruin s consist, w ith on e sin gle exception of low brickan d ston e moun ds, the on ly stan din g structure bein g a smalltemple O f brick on a small isolated hill south of the villagean d close to the river banks ; it is built of brick set in mud,smoothed an d ornamented w ith plain lin es of mouldin gs, thebricks for the purpose bein g cut to shape ; the roof is a

semi cir cular arch internally, of bricks, cut to shape an d setedge to edge ; the bricks are 14

"

x the entrance is of theusual pattern of bricks in overlappin g courses ; the templeappears to have been Saivie, but there w ere probably othertemples on the hill ; on e of the fragmen ts of sculpturerepresen ts a female seated on a peacock .

A bout mile to north by a little east are the walls of a

small fort or citadel ; a portion of it has been carried awayby the river ; the walls w er e of brick, an d w ere probablystren gthened w ith earth behin d ; the plac e w as a simpleen closur e of no strength .

Of the numerous moun ds there is n ot much to say someare Of stone, others of brick, an d are clearly the ruin s Oftemples of the respective materials ; the sculptures showthat there w ere Vai shn avic , Saivie, an d Buddhi st or Jain temples ; the last w ere all exclusively at the extreme north endof what w as probably the O ld city, extendin g a di stance of3 miles alon g the river ban ks ; theHindu ones w ere in groups ;some groups bein g exclusively Saivie, others as exclusivelyVaishn avic . O n e statue alone of A di tya, on the banks of asmall tank, where lie also some fr agmen ts of G an eca, &c . ,

is in scribed, in characters of probably the tenth century ;judgin g fr om the sculpture, the temples w ould date toabout that period, but it appears that the place con tinuedlon g in a flourishing condition , for, though some of the

sculptur e an d ornamentation are very good, others are

markedly in ferior ; there is nothing of any special n otein the sculpture, but it is almost certain , from the greatsuperiority of the Buddhist or Jain sculpture , that thatw as the religion whi ch w as in the ascen dan t first, havin gbeen succeeded by Hin duism . Some of the sculpture isclearly Jain , an d it is n ot impossible, but on the con traryprobable, that the others regardin g whi ch there can be anydoubt are also Jain ; there must accordin gly have been a

large Jain establi shmen t here in the n in th an d tent-h cen turies, succeeded, say, about the eleven th cen tury, by Hindui sm .

The largest tan k in the place in kn own as the Chhata.P okhar, an d is so named from a chhata or chhatri in the


tank. This chh atri is built of stone, in what was on ceperhaps the middle of the tan k ; the superstructure con sistsof a couple Of stout pillars, supporti n g a roun d slab, ornamen ted in the usual way, an d surmoun ted by smaller on esin the usual way. This chhatri is tradi tion ally said to bethe spot where Vikramaditya used to per form puja beforegoing to bathe . He used, it is said, to rub O il on h is bodyat T elkupi , an d perform h is puja here ; the mani festlyabsur d story is firmly believed by the people.The stone used for the sculpture is the soft, dark-colored

slate, masses of which crop up in picturesque con fusionin the bed of the river . The stone is easily water an d w eatherw orn, an d the sculptu re has suffered greatly in consequence.A more active agent of destruction is the trade of the place,w hich consists chiefly of cutston e cups, plates, &c . , cut out ofthe blocks lyin g among the ruins the stone-cutters select suchpieces as w ill give them the least trouble to cut into shape,w ithout any scruple as to whether the piece be a sculptureor not ; to thi s I ascribe the total di sappearan ce of all in scr iptions, in scribed slabs answ ering capitally for large plates .There ar e ruins south of the hi ll on w hi ch the temple still

exi sting stands, an d they extend to a distance of n early onemile south, so that a length Of four miles must, in all probability, be taken as the length of the city, w hich, how ever,w as not wide ; the extreme wi dth could n ot have been morethan half a mile, as I have seen no ruins further than half am ile from the river banks .There are numerous kistvaens in the village ; these are

the graves of the B humiyas ; they are formed mostly of largeslabs of rough stone, set on four rude pieces of stone set upright in the ground . Some , of the slabs forming the roofare very large, nearly 15 feet square, an d have most probably been used more than once ; the bodies are n ot buried,but burn ed, an d the ashes an d bones put into an earthen (orother) vessel, bur ied, an d a slab set up as a roof over the spot ;some may even be called family vaults , as the ashes Of morethan one man are buried in them ; the custom is in forceamong the B humiyas, or aborigines ; special spots in particular villages are set apart for thi s sole purpose ; they aren ot to be foun d in every village, but in most villages ofportan ce.

I O H AG A R H .

A bout ten miles w est by a little south Of Dulmi is thelarge village O f I chagarh or Patkum ; there ar e ruins of one


190 REPORT OF A TOUR

the an telope is Sculptured, thus clearly in dicatin g theparticularJain hierarch the figure represen ts ; over the trefoil orn amentround the head are cut on each side two row s of threenaked fi gures each .

Five hundred feet oif aretwo tanks, touchin g each other,kn own as the Jera-Pokhar ; on the ban ks lies a mutilatedhas-relief represen ting a man on an elephant, possibly meantfor Indra on Ai ravata ; n ear it lies some stones an d the

amalaka of a temple, show ing that the fi gure on ce belon ged toa temple on the spot . Thi s figure appears to poin t to theexistence of Brahman i cal temples also in the place . I n thebed of the small tank to the south of the village lies the sidepart of a doorway adorned w ith plain lin es .Some other temples appear to have existed close to

the Jain temple, noticed above ; these w ere probably Un der alarge bar tree close to the karan tree ; non descript fragmen tsare collected at its roots an d daubed w ith vermili on .

T O south-east of thi s village at A tma are said to betwo pieces of sculpture, on e of a li on .

The village an d the neighbourhood gen erally are said tohave been covered w ith jan gal till lately.

SU ISSA.

A mi le an d a half n orth-w est of this, an d about three fromSapharan , is the large village of Suissa. Here, un der a bar orbat tree, are collected num erous statues, foun d, it is said,in the jan gal when the place was cleared, but chi efly in a

spot 100 yards O ff, which is, an d must long have been , a

bur ialplace of the Bhumi j or aborigines ; this cemetery isfull of tombs, consistin g of rude slabs of stone raised from1 to 4: feet above the ground on four rude, lon gish blocks ofstone, which serve for pillars ; people say that when diggin gfor fresh tombs they Often cOme upon the slabs of old tombsn ow bur ied ; an d from the profuslon of tombs ln all stagesof freshness an d decay there can be no doubt it has lon gbeen a chosen cemetery for the aborigin es, the Bhumi j orB humyas .

The sculptures collected under the tree are Jain an d Brahaman ical ; the prin cipal are kn own by the names below .

Mon sa, a naked Jam figure w ith the sn ake symbol.Siva, a n aked Jain figure with the bull symbol.Siva, a votive chaitya wi th four naked figur es on the foursides, eviden tly Jain .

IN THE BEN GA L P R OV I N OEs, 1872-73. 191

Sankhachakra, a figure of Vishnu Chaturbhuj .Parvati , a female seated on a lion .

B esides these, there ar e two small Jain figures naked— a

female un der a tree whi ch I take to represent MayaDeviunder the sal tree ; an other female under a tree, w ith fiveBuddhist or Jain figures seated round her head on branchesof the tree ; on each side are four row s of two each of

elephant an d horse-faced men . Bunches of flow ers an d frui than g round the head of the female figur e.There are a few others of n o n ote some li ngams also

form part of the collection .

The I n d parab is celebrated here also .

I n his geography, G eneral Cunnin gham, followin g thebearin gs an d di stances of Hw en-T hsan g, places h is K iranaSufalan a near BaraBazar . A s there ar e n ot man y ruin s there,while here the remain s are numerous, an d as the name sapharan is apparently the origin al of Sufalana, I think that Hw enT hsan g

’s Kirana Sufalan a may w ith much probabili ty be

iden tifi ed w ith the Sapharan near this place ; there is notfar off a sub -division of Chutia N agpur called Karanpur, theR ajas of whi ch place are said traditionally to have once ruledover the greater part of the coun try, includin g Dalm i .A dmi ttin g the probable correctness of thi s tradi tion ,

theChin ese Kir ana Sufalan a w ould be Karna sapharan a : sapharan a means destroyer of curses . In the absence, then, ofother data, I propose to iden tify thi s place w ith the capitalof Cagan gka R aja.

B A LMI .

Opposite Sui ssa, on the other side of the river, is Dulmior B almi , said to possess a few fragmen ts of sculpturean d further w est, on the Kanchi river, close to Son ahatu,the villages of Jamdi Burbadi , an d Badla are also kn ow nas con taini n g ancient remains . R uins are also said to exi stat an d n ear the foot of Chan chalu hill .

BA RA BA Z AR .

Bara Bazar or Barabhum is said to possess on e smallold temple . I con j ecture the n ame to be a con traction forVarahabhume, but I have n othin g to Offer for or again stmy con j ectur e, beyon d the eviden t similarity of sound .

S ix mi les south-east of this place is the small village ofBangurda, said to con tain an cien t remain s .


G ON DWA .

Sixteen miles south by a little w est from BaraBazar, onthe road leading from it to Chaibasa, near the villages of G ondaan d close to the Demna N ala, are several rock inscriptions inlarge characters the rock is kn own as B ijak Pahar ; the inscr iption s are cut on a rock at the foot of a hill to the eastof the road . There are n o remains of any sort about theplace . The inscription s are four in number, two in thecurious shell characters, an d two in a transition form ofU riya ; these last, know ing that R aja Mukun da Deva ofOrissa at on e time held Hugli, must be ascribed to sometime near h is reign ; tradition ascribes the in scriptions to aBanjara, an d it is so far correct that the long in scription in

the tran sition characters reads L akshmana prathama B an

jara this, therefore, is a most curious record, show ing thatfor a long time previous to Mukund Deb

’s reign n o trafficwas carried on , at least through this pass ; but we cann otallow that this L akshman a Banjara was absolutely the firstof hi s tribe who ever used this pass ; for the records in theshell characters are undoubtedly Older, an d must have beenwritten at a period long prior to Mukund Deb’s reign ,

when the pass was used. The secon d record in the transition characters is worn an d of no interest apparen tly,being a fragment . Of the two inscriptions in shell cha

racters I can make n othi n g ; they are injured to a greatexten t ; whatever Of them can n ow be made out I give

here on e is n £25313 63the other is"bfiggi qqI w ould ascribe these records to the reign of Sasan gka, whenwe kn ow the country to have been in a highly flourishingstate ; the form of the characters is certainly as old as thesixth century of our era.

If, then, these records belong to the cen tury when Qacan gka reigned, an d the later on es to Mukund Deb , w e havea period of about 500 years (ascribing Cagangka to theseventh century, an d Mukund Deva to the sixteen th, an dallow ing even so much as four cen turies after Cagan gka as

a period Of comparative quiet, if not of actual prosperity) , during which traffic through Singbhum appears tohave ceased . We kn ow , from the r emains of T elkupi an delsewhere in Man bhum, that the coun try was flouri shing at

least in the ten th cen tury, an d perhaps even in the eleven th



fron t, an d must, ther efore, have been of a larger size than anythat are n ow stan ding ther e .

A large brick temple, the only on e n ow s tan din g, of

brick faces east, an d has its doorway of the usual Overlappin g type, an d w ithout the stone sill cutting up its heightin to a doorway proper an d an illuminatin g w in dow ; the

temple, extern ally an d in tern allv , is remarkably plain , the onlyornamen tal proj ection s, &c . ,

being at the corn ers ; the bricksare all set in mud ; the interior was once plastered, but it isn ow bare ; probably the exterior was also plastered there is n ointerior roof to the cell, the pyramidalhollow of the tow er bein gopen to the san ctum there is n o object of w orship in side.To the n orth of this stands a lin e of four stone temples,

three still standin g, on e broken these are of the usualsingle cell-pattern, an d the doorway is n ot cut up in to twoportion s ; these then, as w ell as the brick on e just n oticed,w ere single-cell temples, but at some subsequen t periodman dapas w ere added to them ; they have, how ever, all gotbroken, leaving the facades of the temples complete, so thatn ot only is it evident that they w ere simply added on afterwards, but it is further evident that they w ere n ot evenbonded into the walls of the origin al temples ; the jun ctions,where anyexist, are quite plain ; all these temples face n orth .

N orth of thi s is an other, but irregular, lin e of temples,five in number ; of these, two are of ston e an d three of brick,the latter all ruin ed ; of the ston e on es, on e is stan din g.

N orth of this is an other line of four temples, three ofstone an d on e of brick, all in ruin s .

Due east of the br ick temple, which has been n oticed asstill standing, are two mounds, evi den tly the remain s of twoother brick temples. To the south of this lin e of templesis another lin e of three ston e temples, all in ruin s .The ornamentation of the ston e temples is confin ed to

plain mouldin gs in the low er part ; the facade is quiteplain , but en tire, show in g that they w ere originally intendedfor sin gle-cell temples wi thout man dapas in front. A photograph, showin g the facade, has been taken ; it is probable thetemples all stood on a large ston e-paved platform, as on ex ca

vatin g near the foot of on e I came upon a ston e pavemen t ;the whole group occupies the surface of a piece of risin ggroun d 300 to 350 feet square .There are some tanks close to the temples ; on e, a large

one, had ston e ghats an d revetmen ts on ce, n ow in ruin s ; thereare in the vicin ity some few moun ds Of n o special in terest .

IN THE BEN G A L PR OVI N CES , 1872-73 195

The material of all the stone temples noticed is a moderately fin e san dstone, carefully cut an d set w ithout cement.the w orkman ship is plain, but good ; the pillars , that w ereafterw ards added to support the roofs of the mahaman dapa,ar e plain, w ith square ends an d octagonal shafts .

On a low hill or rise named Lathon don gr i (dongri mean ssmall hill) betw een Pakbir ra an d B aramasm, near Kharkiagarh , is a place known as Khalbir

’s sthan a ; here are

numerous votive chaityas an d round an d oblon g cut - stoneblocks the place is clearly a cemetery of the B humiyas, butw hy they should have fixed upon a rocky eminence for a siteI do n ot understand ; n or am I certain whether the votivechaityas an d cut stone lyin g there, an d markin g the sites oftombs, w ere brought fr om a di stance, or w ere foun d on thespot ; in the latter case, a large temple must have stood on

the eminence, of w hich, how ever, no traces but these scattered stones remain . The supposition that the stones w erebrought from the ruin s of temples in some other spot is,how ever, not very probable, as f rom the kn own penchant of

H in du archi tects, an d of architects in general, for emin encesas sites for their structures, it is ex tremely probable theemin ence here w as once crown ed by a temple . The hill isdensely covered with scrub, an d ruins of a temple or templemay exist, unkn own to those w ho acted as my guides .Tradition calls the votive chai tyas, which in form are

con oidal frusta, an d resemble the native dhole or drum s ,petrified dhols, an d relates that, on a certain occasion , music ian s an d their instruments, while celebratin g a w eddin g,w ere con verted in to stone what has become of the musiciansno on e pretends to be able to say.

Half a mile to the east are the ruins of two temples in the5311 jan gal ; on e was Saivi e from the lin gam in 3501. Most ofthe ston e has, how ever, been carried off elsewhere, an d on lya few remain ; the mouldin gs, judgin g from the fragmentsthat remain , appear to have been somewhat shallow .

DH A’DKI TA NE.

N ot far from this, at Dhadki Tan r , n ear Tulsi G aryaan dA san ban i , was a large temple, in an enclosur e 120 feet square ;the temple faced east, an d had a mal1ama11dapa, an d the otherchambers usual in complete temples the mahaman dapa had

wi n dow s in the projecting en ds of the transept, as in thetemples at Khajuraha an d elsewhere, but, un like them, the


w indow s were n ot open but closed w ith plain stone lattices .The ornamentation extern ally consists entirely of plain , shallow recessed lin es of mouldings, sparin gly used ; the templehad other subordin ate temples roun d it, two to the n orth, twoto the south, one in front, an d probably there were two at

the back, making seven small temples subordinate to theprincipal on e in the middle . From the shallown ess of themouldi n gs and the gen eral appearan ce, especially of the subordin ate temples an d of their remain s, I ascribe these temples tothe period of M an Sin gh ; an d in this opini on I am confirmedby n oticing that some of the materials once clearly belongedto an other temple, an d bein g supplemen ted to the n ecessaryextent with fresh materials, have been used in the presen ton e ; the difi eren ce between the older an d the more recen tmaterial is quite plain, the latter bein g much more roughlycut . Odd fragmen ts of mouldin gs ar e also seen in placeswhere they have no busin ess, c learly showin g that thetemple is bui lt of materials from an older temple ; thearchitrave of the outermost en tran ce lies on the groun d,an d has a lotus sculptured on its surface ; the carvin g an dscroll w ork O f the doorway are all very shallow .

TU I sAM A.

A t T uisama, n ot far Ofl , is a small temple, which, judgin gfrom the architrave lyi n g on the groun d, was Saivie, G an ecabeing sculptured on it . There are carved an d moulded stonesalso lyin g about, but as the temple n ow partially standin gis quite plain, I can only suppose the carved stone to havebelonged to an Older temple, n ow no longer existin g ; thefragments of mouldin g are bold, an d there are also fragmentsof attached corn er amalakas lyin g about, whi ch show thatonce a richly-orn amented temple stood here ; the templeresembles the small ones at Telkupi .There are traces in the vicin ity of two temples, on e large

an d Saivie, an d on e small, an d the ornamen ted ston es n oticedabove probably belon ged to it .

Quarter of a mile to the north-west of thi s an d of thevillage is a large temple, w ith mahaman dapa an d the usualcomplement of chambers complete ; the mouldin gs an d ornamen tation are both shallow an d few ; the temple is n ow a

mass of ruin ; near it are numerous votive chaityas, whi chleads me to infer that the temple was either Jain orBuddhist .



belon gin g to the temples, there are numerous other slabssculptured on one face standin g an d lyin g about ; my guidesaid they w ere tombston es, whereat the min isterin g Brahman s of the temple became very indign an t ; but there canbe n o doubt, n otw ithstanding the head priest’s anger, thatthe ston es referred to are sati pillars n on e are in scribed, butall are more or less sculptured ; the general subjects appearto be a man draw ing a bow ,

sometimes on horseback, butoftener on foot, show ing that the husbands Of those in whosememories these pillars stand w ere w arriors slain in battle ;most of them have an imals also sculptured in the topmostcompartment .The lingam in the temple is known as B uddheswar ; the

people of the place consider it so holy an d so w ell known , as

to compare it w ith the G adadhar of G aya. G adadhar th eysay at Gayaan d B uddheswar at Budhhpur are both equallyholy an d equally w ell kn own .

The material of the temples is a tolerably good san dston e, cut to shape an d set plain w ithout any cement .

I n the village there are a few sati pillars ; two of themw ere in scribed, but the w eather has not left the wr itin g legi

x x v (”M T ble, an d what the w eather spared of on e

fl g y V W appears to have been destroyed purposely

in“ ?by the chisel. I give the in scription in themargin on the second on e, the on ly word

Q I ta6

21 legible is Y uva-raja, in the secon d, which is

a]Q'

o 0 also the last lin e ; the first lin e is illegible .There can be no doubt that Pa-kbir raor Pon chaw as once

a place of great importance . The temples at Pakbirraappearto have been all Buddhist an d Jain, but there is a fair sprin kling of Brahman ical ones in the vi cinity . Judgin g from thesculpture, the older temples cannot probably date earlier thanthe twelfth or the thirteenth cen tury, an d may be somewhatlater ; while the more recent on es conn ot go beyon d theperiod of A kbar

’s G en eral, M an Sin gh .

CH ATN A.

A bout fourteen miles from Ban kura on the old G randTrunk R oad through Hazaribagh to Shaharghati at the villageof Chatnaare some ruin s ; the prin cipal con sists of sometemples an d ruins w ithin a brick en closure ; the en closurean d the brick temples that existed havin g lon g becomem er e moun ds, while the laterite temples still stan d ; the

I N T HE BEN GA L PR OV I N CES , 1872-73 199

bricks used are mostly inscribed, an d the inscription givesa name which I read as Konaha U tara R aja, while the panditsread it as Hamir a U tara Raja; the date at the end is thesame in all, r ia ,

Sake 1176 there ar e four difleren t varietiesof the in sci iption s, two engi aved an d tw o i n reli ef ; the bricksw ere cleai lyr stamped w hile still soft an d then burnt . Traditionidentifies Chatna w ith Vasuli O i Vahuli N ao'

ara A t D ak

sha’s sac i ifice it is said one of the limbs of Parvati fell here,

w hi ch thence derived its name of Y asuli N agara or Bahulya

N agara, a name mentioned in the O ld Ben gali poet ChandiDas . I ts present n ame Chatnais derived from a grove of

Chatim or Chatn i trees, w hich existed here . The R ajasof the coun tr y w ere origin ally Brahman s

, an d lived at

B ahulyaN agara. O n e of them would n ot w orship Parvatiun der her form of Vasuli Devi , an d her favor beingw ithdr aw n from him , he w as killed by the Samon tas

(Saon ts P) San tals, who reigned a long time ; at last the peoplerose up an d killed all the Saon ts they could ; on e man onlyescaped byhidin g in the house of a low -caste potter (Kumhar)for thi s reason to thi s day the Saon ts w ill eat an d dr ink wi ththe Kumhar s. T o thi s man Y asuli Devi appeared in a dr eam

,

an d encouraged him to try his fortun e, assur in g him of

success ; theman was filled wi th profound respect for her, an dhavin g undergone various fasts, & c . , he gathered together11 other Saon ts an d kept w an derin g in the jan gals on e dayw hen very hun gry they met a w oman w ith a basket of kendus on her head ; she pityi n g their condition gave themon e a piece fr om her basket ; they asked for more, an d shegave, but on e of them impatien tly sn atched aw ay on e fromher ; how ever, the 12 S aon ts w ere refreshed, an d the w omanwas hi ghly pleased ; callin g them she sai d G O in to the jan galan d tak e 12 kend or kendu saplin gs, an d go an d fight for yourR aj Vasuli Devi an d I will restore your Raj . They accordin gly sallied out, killed the Raja, an d obtain ed possession of

the kin gdom again ; these tw elve ruled j oin tly the man w ho

had snatched the ken d fruit died fir st, the remain in g elevenruled by tur n s till, fin din g it too troublesome, they agreed to

give the sole pow er to one of their n iun ber ; the descendantsof these men are the presen t Saman ta Rajas, w ho call themselves Chhatris .

The temple is asmibed to H am ii a I’

tma Raja, an d thelegend about i t is that asuli Devi on e n ight appeai ed i n a

dr eam to the Raja, an d said Behold cei tain cai tmen an d

mahajan s are passin g through your ter r itorv an d are at thi s


momen t un der a particular tree ; they have w ith them a ston ein whi ch I have taken up my abode ; take it an d set it upto be w orshipped, for I am pleased w ith you, an d w ill re

main w ith you.

” The Rajaaccordingly sent men an d stoppedthe mahajan s an d cartmen , an d seized the ston e in paymen tof groun d-ren t for the groun d they had occupied during thenight ; he then set it up in the temple which w e n ow see .The temples of laterite are n ot w orth special n otice, there

bein g n othing remarkable about them .

EKTESWA R .

Two miles south-east of Bankura, on the left ban k of theD ar ikesw ara river, is the small village an d temple of Ektesw ar ; the temple is remarkable in its w ay the mouldin gs of

the basement are the boldest an d finest of any I have seen ,

though qui te plain ; the temple was built of later ite, buthas had sandstone an d brick addi tion s made to it sin ce ; thereare traces of three difl eren t restoration s or repairs executedto this temple the fir st w as a restoration of the upper portion ,

which had apparently fallen down . In the restoration , theoutlin e of the tow er an d gen eral appearance of the templebefore its dilapidation appears to have been entir ely ignored,an d a n ew design adopted . A fter this, repairs on a small scalew ere carried out, of which traces are to be seen in variouspatchy portions of brick an d mortar lastly, a series of brickarches w ere added in fr ont O f the temple . The object ofw orship inside is a lingam, which is said to have thrust itselfup through the ground . Several pieces of sculptur e, bothbroken an d sound, an d almost all Brahmani cal, lie in groupson platforms outside, n on e of any special in terest an d n onein scribed .

S O N ATA PA N .

Two miles n orth-east of Ekteswar is the village of Sonata

pan ; it is situated at the poin t where the Dar ikeswara riversplits into two, to join again lower down . Of the two channels,the one to the left is the main on e n ow , but, I think , the otheron e was the prin cipal on e before ; the sandy bed markin g itsformer extent show s that it was larger than the left chann el.N ear the jun ction or fork of the two chann els is a tall bricktemple, solidly built of bricks measuring 12 x 81

2

3

; thir tythree courses of bricks with the in terposed mud cemen t makeup 7 feet of height . The temple is remarkably solid, the



RA B U LAR A.

The finest brick temple in the district, an d the fin estthough n ot the largest brick temple that I have seen in

Bengal, is the on e at B ahulara, on the right bank of theD ar ikeswara river, 12 miles from Bankura; the temple is ofbrick, plastered the ornamentation is carefully cut in thebrick, an d the plaster made to correspond to it . There are,how ever, ornaments on the plaster alone, but n one inconsistent w ith the brick ornamentation below . I conclude,therefore, that the plaster formed a part of the original design ;the mouldings of the basement are to a great extent gone, butfrom fragments here an d there that exist, a close approx imation can be made to what it was ; some portions are, however, not recoverable ; the drawin gs or photographs give then ecessary details .The present entrance is not the original O ld on e, but is a

modern accretion, behind which the real old doorway, w ithits tall, triangular opening of overlappin g courses, is hidden .

This O ld opening is still to be seen internally ; it consists ofa rectangular opening, 411 courses of bricks in height, Overwhich rise the triangular portion in a series of corbels, each 5courses in depth ; the w idth of the Openi ng is 4 feet 10inches ;there is no dividin g sill, an d from the facade of the templeit is evident that the cell, w ith its attached portico in thethickness of the wall itself, stood alone w ithout any adjunctsin front ; there are, however, the remains of a mahaman dapa,w hi ch was added on in recent tim es, but it is w idely difleren tin construction an d in material to the O ld temple, an d is probably n ot so old as the British rule in India.

The object of w orship inside is named S iddheswara,being a large lin gam, apparently in si tu. I conclude, therefore, that the temple was orgin ally Saivie. Besides the lingamthere are inside a n aked Jain standing figure, a ten-armedfemale, an d a G an eca ; the Jain fi gur e is clear proof of theexi stence of the Jain religion in these parts in old times,though I cann ot poin t to the precise temple or spot whichwas devoted to this sect .

‘The temple had subordinate temples disposed roun d it inthe usual man ner ; there w ere seven round the th ree sides andfour corners, an d one in front, the last being most probably atemple to N andi , the Vahana of Siva the whole group wasinc losed w ithin a square brick inclosure ; subordinate templesan d walls are equally in ruin s n ow ,

forming isolated an d long

I N THE BEN G A L P R OV I N OES , 1872-73. 203

moun ds respectively . There is at D harapat a small temple,modern, or at least O f recent times, but interesting from i ts

dated inscription .

ale

CH H IN PU R .

A t Chh inpur is a solitary laterite temple, but of noan cient date .

BISHA N PU R .

Bishanpur is famed as an O ld place, an d certain ly contains very many temples an d other old remain s, but theirage is n ot such as to merit detailed notice of them . They ar ealmost. all built in the Low er Bengal style, w ith curved rooflines, an d the ornamentation consists generally of sculpturedor moulded tile-w ork . Som e of these are very fin e, an d

stan d out the w eather very w ell they consist chiefly of

scenes from the lives of R ama or the Pan dus, but principallyof K rishna, to whom, or to whose mistress, most of thetemples are dedicated the sculptur e, asmaybe readily guessed,is n ot very chaste . The few photographs w ill convey a

clearer idea of these temples than descriptions . There is alsoa large old fort, dating evidently to post-Muhammadantimes, as evi denced by the remain s of gatew ays w hich ar e of

the Muhamm adan type ; in short, the place is f ullof remainsof a certain age, n ot going beyond them iddle of the sixteenthcen tur y Sake ; they are of interest chiefly for their in scr iptions, w hich I n ow proceed to n otice briefly.

1. The oldest dated temple in B ishan pm' is kn ow n as the

M allesw ar temple, flee temple of Bishan pur, w hi ch has longbeen regarded as the oldest in B ishan pm , an d as datin g backto near the begin ning of the Malla era, chi efly on thestrength of the inscription of which B ishan piu

' en joys itsfame as a very an cient city the in scription is dated clearlyin Sake 928, but this is a mistake, the w ord Sake havin gthrough some oversight been put in stead of M allabda, an d

the proof of it is to be seen in the next few lines, where thetemple is stated to have been built byVira Sin ha in the

year Vasu Kara Hara. M alla S ake, i .e. , the year 928 of the,Malla era. The error is so palpable, that I n eed n ot sayauv

T he in scr iption consists of five long lines and three compar tmen ts of two lin es

each in Bengali characters . It is n ot in good order , but the date can be clear ly made

out as 1626 Sake the 2 being, however , somewhat doubtful, it may possibly be 1616

Sake, but can be n othing else.


thin g fur ther ; the date correspon ds to Sake 1540, there bein ga diiferen ce O f 612 years between the two eras .

2. The next Oldest dated temple is that known as BurhaR adha Syam

’s, which, according to the inscription, was built

by R aja Vira H ambira in the year Malla Sake 949, in thereign or kingdom of R ajaVira Sinha ; there is also men tionof R ajaR aghun atha Sinha. The date, 949 M allabda, is seenfrom other in scriptions dated both in the Malla an d in theSake eras to correspond to Sake 1561, there bein g a differen ceof 612 years betw een the two eras .

3 . The next temple, known as Kista R aya’s Jor Ban gla,is dated in Malla Sake 960 or 961, the un it figure being somewhat doubtful ; the date is also given at length in the Sakeera. The R ajas mentioned are S r i Vira H ambira N aresu an d

S r i R aghun atha Sinha ; the date in Sake era corresponds to1572 or 1573 .

4. The next in poin t of antiquity is the temple kn ownas Kala Chan d

’s the inscription mentions S ri Vira

H ambira N aresha Sun urda Dana N ripa S r i R aghunatha

Sinha it is dated in Malla Sake 962, correspon ding to 1574Sake .

5 . The n ext in age’

is a nameless temple dated in 964

Malla era ; it men tions M alladhipa S r i R aghunatha an d N r ipa

S r i Vira Sinha ; the date corresponds to Sake 1576.

6. The next is the temple known as Murali M ohan’s ; it

is stated in the inscription to have been built by the w ife of

Vira Sinha, the mother of Durjana Sinha, in the year 971M allabda ; the date is also given at length as Shas ti S aptaS eban dhi of Malla Sake, which , from other inscriptions whichare dated both in the Malla an d in the Sake eras, is seen tocorrespond to Sake 1583 .

7 . Contemporaneous w ith this is a n ameless temple, theins cription of which mentions the names of R -aghunatha,M alinatha, an d R ajaVira S inha ; it is dated the same as thelast one, via , M allabda 971, or Sake 1583.

8. A dilapidated, nameless temple comes next in order ; itis dated in 979 M allabda, an d the date is w ritten at length as

N ara Shaila A nka Malla Sake the date corresponds to Sake1591 . It was built by a Brahman , Sita R ama Sarmman a, inthe reign Of Vira. Sinha.

9 . The next in age as kn ow n isMadan aM ohan’s temple,

bui lt by S r i M asvajarn a B humipati in the year 1000 ofM allabda Kala, the son of B adha Vr 1ja R ajan an da (son of

king) the date corresponds to Sake 1612 .


206 R EPOR T or A TOUR.

Amon g the remain s at Bishanpur I must not omit ton otice the very curious pyramidal structure° kn own as theR as Man cha a photograph of it has been taken .

HU GLI .

The remain s at Hugli , Hindu an d Muhammadan , havebeen n oticed by various w riters, but I especially refer toMessrs . B lochman n an d Money’s papers in the Journalof the A siatic Society . I n eed only add to Mr. Mon ey’spaper that the temple from the ruin s of whi ch the dargahhas been bui lt must have been of the style of the beautifulan d profusely sculptured temples at Jan jgir , whi ch are ornamen ted in tern ally throughout w ith scen es from the R amayana an d others . The descriptive labels Which still exist inthe dargah, as n oticed by him , could have been en graved onlybecause the scen es w ere actually sculptured on the walls an dn eeded the labels to be readily understood — See my reportfor season 1873-745.

I visited Jonpur , but as I have n othin g to add to theexcellent accoun ts already extant about it, it is n eedless forme to sayanything. Measurements, &c ., w ere made, an d themore in terestin g of such as have not already been publi shedwill be foun d in the plates . I especially recommen d to attention the un r ivalled profile of the grand corn er tow ers at theback corn ers of the Jamai Mayd . It is stran ge the greatHistorian of A rchi tecture does n ot notice them at all for

massive, yet elegan t, simmic ity an d boldn ess they have n ori vals in anybuildi n g I have yet seen .

I examin ed also several temples n ear Mirzapur ; amon gthem, the famous on e of Vin dhyavasin i Devi at Bin dhachal.The buildin g as it stan ds is modern , but built of old materials ;the pillars are qui te plain , an d the buildin g altogether of n o

I am told the figur e inside is in scribed, but I wasnaturally not allow ed to exami n e it. There is, however,n othi n g of special in terest about the temple. The legen d aboutit is to be foun d in the N ative M ahatmyas an d also in theM ahabharat, an d do n ot n eed reproduction here. Traditionsays the head of Vin dhya lyi n g prostrate in w orship of thegoddess is n ear Bin dhachal, while hi s feet are at Chunar andRajmahal, respectively . A difi eren t version of the story,which places on e foot at Gaya, is given in the Journal, A siaticSociety, A ccoun t of a tour from M ir zapur to N agpur.”

The name Vindhya has at various tim es an d by various

I N THE BEN GA L r novrn cns, 1872-73 207

old writers been ascribed to the various ranges from Amarkantak to the G anges,— see notes, Wilson

’s Vishn u Pur ana(edi tion FitzEdward Hall) but the fact of the temple of

Vin dhyavasin i bein g at the foot of the n orthernmost rangeseems clearly to establi sh that the name properly applies tothe northernmost of the ranges runn in g from R ajmahal inthe east to Kath iawad on the west .I also examin ed the temples at Maran ear B airatgan j on

the strength of information from a pilgrim but though Iheard of none of interest, nor saw any at the place, I believecareful search w ould reveal the existence of some old temples .The temples at B ijayapur are of no in terest .I also visited Ch itrkot , but the N orth-“ Testern Provin ces

G azetteer, Vol. I, edited byMr . A tkin son, gives full information of the temples there an d as they are neither old n or

of any in terest, I refrain from needlessly lengthen in g myreport . The G azetteer omits to n ote the tiraths of Hanu

man an d Lachhman, & c ., the fir st bein g on ahi gh hill thr eemiles south-east from Chi trkot .

J . D . B .


210

Characters of Inscr iption s, Kutila, 38, 40.

54, 128.

Char acter s of I nscr iption s, M iscellan eous,

36, 129, 141. 145, 194.

Charmanvati or Chambal, 12, 13.

Chatna, 50, 182, 200.

Ch echgaongarh , 51, 158, 160, 161, 162.

Chedi, 124, 125, 126, 127, 128.

Chhatr is, 132, 189.

Chhinpur , 204.

Chhor ra, 51, 184.

Ch illas, 45, 83.

Ch illor , 64.

Ch itrkot, 208.

Chutia N agpur , 127, 171, 176.

Cir cles of S tone, 66, 190.

Color , 44, 86.

Condochates, 24, 26.

Confluen ces of r ivers, |4, 6, 7, 9, 10,20 23, 26. N otes, 6, 7 .

Cor n i ce, 55.

Costume, 163.

Courtyards, 31, 44, 64, 138, 154.

Crossin gs of r iver s. S ee Ferr ies.

Cur ved lines of roofs, 174, 181, 205.

Customs, 179.

D amuda r iver, 50. 51, 158, 161, 171, 176,178, 179 .

Depth 11 , 75.

D argahs, 19, 32, 33, 34, 35, 39. 441, 45.

64, 65, 84, 108, 111, 116, 130, 150.

Daudnagar, 7 . 9, 54. N ote, 4.

Dan na or D ron a,15, 16, 17 .

D eo, 63.

D eokhut, 62.

Deokund, 7 , 11, 12.

D eoli, 191.

Devadatta’s cave, 90, 91.

Dewaha, 2.

D ewaltand, 190.

D hadki tan r .

Dhalbhum, 168.

Dharawat or Dharmmapura, 38, 39, 40, 49.

D inapur , 5, 6, 23.

Domes, 29, 30, 35, 44, 107, 140, 181.

D ulmi, 50, 51, 178, 179, 187, 188, 190.

Dumduma,126, 127, 128.

Dumra, 158.

Eaves, 32.

Ekachakra, 15, 23.

Ektar a, 115.

Ekteswar, 50, 201, 202.

En tr ances of temples and buildings, 29, 30,32, 34, 35, 44, 55, 64, 68, 73, 85, 107, 118,138, 139, 157, 165

,166. 169, 170,

171, 172, 173, 174, 177, 178,202, 204.

I N D EX .

Eras, 2, 3.

Er ranoboas, 4, 6, 15, 24, 26. N ote, 7.

Fairs. S ee M elas.

Fatehpur Kalan , 49. N ote, 4.

Fatuha, 6, 8, 9, 15, 20, 23, 48, 49, 66, 102.

N otes, 4, 7 .

Fer r ies and Fords, 2, 7, 10, 11, 12, 18, 46,49, 50, 51. N ote, 5.

Fin ials. S ee Pi nn acles.

Floods. See I nundation s.

Forest, 12.

Forts, 4, 24, 26, 27, 28, 31, 33, 39, 44, 46,88 89 107, 108, 120, 121, 129, 146

,149,

150 155, 161, 180, 188, 205.

Ichagarh , 190.

I ndpa or In dpai Garb, 120, 121.

I ndraprastha, 13.

i n scr ibed statues, 36, 38, 40, 53, 63, 74, 106,111, 118, 120, 128, 140, 141, 163.

G ambling, 80, 83.

G andak or G an daki, the large r iver,

12,

18, 24. N ote, 6.

small r iver, 25, 26.

G an ges r iver, 2, 4, 5, 6,

14, 16, 18, 19, 20, 2 1, 23, 24, 26, 27, 28,

125, 126, N otes,4,6, 7

G ates an d gateways of for ts an d c i ties, 2,

205 . N ote, 7 .

48, 49,

61, 107,G hatal, 50.

G hosrawan , 49, 108.

G ir iyak, 36, 49, 76, 77,127, 128.

G ir ivraja. S ee R ajgir .G ow ror , 45.

G reek i nfluen ce on I ndian A rt, 123.

Gun amati,38, 39, 40.

Gunariya, 63.

H alls-pillar ed, 65, 170.

H ar lajhul i, 138, 143.

H asan pn r , 49, 117 .

H asanpur kako, 64.

H asra, 104, 107, 161.

H ilsa,47, 48, 49. N ote 16.

H iranyavaha, 24, 25, 26.

H iranyavati, 25, 26.

Holang. N ote, 6.

H ot springs, 88, 147.H ugli, 193, 207 .

I N DEX .

I n scr iptions, 28. 30, 34. 35, 36, 37 . 38, 10.

44, 59. 63, 61, 73 . 71 .

115 . 116, 113,129, 130, 133 , 133 , 136, 110, 115. 146,147 . 151, 155 . 156, 158. 160, 163, 164,182, 185 , 186. 193, 200. 204, 205, 206,

I nun dations or floods, 2 . 8. 9. 14. 20. 21. 25,176.

I r r igation , 14

I slampur, 44, 47 , 48. 49 .

Jafii ra, 79. 80, 88.

Jugdispn r , 79.

Jaw di, 193 .

Jamna R andi, 146.

Jarasan clha, 13, 46, 86. 100. 126.

Jam ,44. 49.

Jashpur or Yasovar r nmapn ra, 76.

s ungar . 117 .

Jethn r , 130.

Jhaldia,183.

Jharia, 50, 51, 157, 158.

Jharkhan d, 50.

Jhinjn i pnhari, 157

Kako, 64.K alakuta

,12 .

K alasoka, 3 .

K nlinga, 81, 127 .

K nlyan eswar i or D cvisthan , 155, 174.

K str ss, 51, 69, 152, 156, 157 , 158.

Kanwn dol, 40, 41.

Kanwa kol h ills, 121, 124. 125. 142.

K syal, 7 . N ote, 4.

Kharakdi ha, 50.

K helaichandi h ills, 183, 184.

Kher h i, 50, 128, 130.

Khur i r iver , 50.

K irana Sufalana, 193.

R isps , 40. 53, 63.

Kocsla, 12. 13 .

Kols, 66, 81, 161. 194.

Konch , 49, 54, 58, 59, 61, 69 1166.

L abhpur or Phullara,146.

L akh i sara i. 14, 117 , 118, 187 .

L olita pawn,13.

L at, 47 .

L attices, 32, 132, 197. 199.

L ighting of Temples, 56, 57 . 58.

L ilajan . 20.

L ime plaster , 4 4. 58, 66, 109, 120, 165, 166,

173, 186. 187 . 188, 208, 204. N ote, 10.

L ist of places possessing old remain s, 51,

L ist of places of pilgrimage, 148, 149

ha

Ongar i.O tan tapnr n, 76.

211

M agadha, 1, 3, 12, 36, 43, 46, 47 . 50, 51, 74

85, 121. 1241, 127 , 128, 158. N ote 3 .

M ahaoli. N ote, 5 .

M akhdumsah, 19.

M alla, 12

R ajas. 146, 205.

EN,203, 206.

M anda 11111 63.

M andar hill 50, 130, 137 .

M an er , 6, N ote, 7 .

M an pur B au‘m. N ote, 5.

M ara,208.

M ar i, 10

"

M asaud,16.

M asaur i Buzurg, 9.

M asnds, 28, 29, 34, 35, 44, 66, 84. 130

M atka h ill,64.

M ed itation caveof Buddha 90, 91, 92 N otes .

8, 11.

M elas or Fairs, 7, 8, 11, 12. 39, 116, 113.

157. 16" 179, 181, 183, 190, 192

M irapur N aderu, 45 , 49.

M i r M ustat'

a,46.

M ithapur , 6.

M ithila. 9 , 10,12

,13.

M oat,33, 146, 147

M oh iuddinpur kheru, 49. N ote, 4. 5 .

M on aster ies,Buddhist, 16, 37, 39, 40. 63 . 4 )

178. N ote, 15 .

M okameh,101, 102.

M ongi r , 9. 48 ,49 . 50.

M or a pahur , 66.

M ouldings , 28, 57. 131, 132, 133, 134.

15” 153,154, 156, 157 . 158, 159, 16

164,17 1, 173, 184. 188, 196, 199, 202 .

M ounds, 17 . 18, 19, 33, 35, 39.61

.

6" 63 64, 65 . 80. 105, 109, 116, 120, 128.

15 ’ 160. 161, 162, 167 , 175 , 185,187

,188. 189, 196, 197, 198, 200,

N ow , 4

M urlmi r iver, 8, 10, 6° 64.

N ad i i a, 17 .

N agarJun i cave, 43.

hills, 44, 49 , 107

N ag or , 50, 146.

N uluudn , 1, 49, 76, 79, 80, 84, 85.

N and ls. 3 .

N aubatpur , 5, 6. N ote, 5.

N sulakhagn rh, 121.

N er . 40, 65 .

N iches, 29 32, 55, 174. N ote, 14.

N ir van era, 3, 4.

N ongurh, 48, 49, 117, 118, 128.

212

Pacbaet, 50, 155, 180, 182, 188.

P aibigha, 63.

P akbir ra, 50, 51, 195, 196, 198.

Palaman , 51.

P alganj, 50, 51Pali, 49, 61.

Pan chana r iver, 49.Pan dra

, 50, 156.

Panellin gs, 29.

Panj Pahar i, 27. N ote,3, 4, 5.

Par a, 51, 163, 168, 169, 173.

P arn avaha, 15.

Parvati h ill, 49, 109, 110, 111, 112, 114,142 .

P atanjali. N ote, 5, 7 .

Patn a or Pataliputra or Pushpnpura, 1, 2, 3,4,5, 6, 7, 9. 10, 11, 13, 14, 15, 20, 21,

23,26, 27, 28, 29, 33, 34, 41, 48,

49, 50, 64, 66, 127, 142. N ote, 5, 6, 7 .

Fatili, 1, 2.

P awapur i, 77.

Pen den hives, 29, 30, 151, 172.

Per secution , 16.

Phulwar i, 5, 6. N ote, 5.

Pilaster s, 29, 60, 64, 152, 167, 185.Pilgr images, places of, 7, 8, 36, 44, 50, 53,77, 128, 138, 144, 145, 146, 147, 148, 149,191, 208, 209.

Pillars, 28, 29, 32, 35, 40, 45, 47, 54, 60, 61,64, 65, 84, 85, 117, 121, 131, 138, 139,152, 155, 161, 167, 170, 171, 172, 177,187, 189, 196, 208. N ote

, 4.

Pillar s, Sati, 39, 128, 163, 168, 170, 177.199,

200.

Pinn acles or fin ials, 58, 59, 155, 161, 162,177, 181, 199.

Por ticos,61, 204.

P remaya, 117 .

Punpun r iver , 6, 7, 8, 9, 11, 15, 19, 20, 62.Puraliya, 184, 185, 188.

R aghunathpur, 50.

Railings, 31.

R ajagr iha or Rajgir , 1, 3, 9, 10, 11, 13, 46,47, 48, 49, 50, 66, 85, 89, 90, 100, 102,125. N otes, 5, 13.

R ajauli, 50, 81, 115, 116.

B aijhana, 49, 117, 118.

R ama, 9, 10, l l, 12, 13.R ambhadr, 10.

R amgaon , 146.

R amgaya, 66.

Rampur ch il i, 7. N ote, 4.

R an chi, 51.

R an iganj, 50, 149.R emains, ancient, of br ick, 17, 18, 19, 37, 38,54

,89, 107, 129, 178, 181, 195.

R emainsof br ick an d stone, 18, 19,80, 81, 82,39. 40, 44, 45, 53, 61, 65, 105, 130, 131,132, 147, 185, 195.

IN DEX .

Sacrifices, human , 168.

S aidabad, 5, 6. N ote, 5.S ain ts, Local Muhammadan, 32, 34, 45, 65,84, 108, 116.

Sak r i r iver or Suktimati, 49, 109, 110, 124.Sarangarh, 168.

Sar ayu, 5, 9, 11, 12, 13.

Sar nath, 16.

Sasangka, 71, 72, 73, 193, 194.Satgaon , 115.

Sattapan ni cave, 90, 91, 92, 93, 94, 95, 96,98, 121, 122. b ote, 8.

Sculpture, Brahman ical, 19, 85,86, 46, 53, 54,62, 65, 106, 115, l17, 128, 130, 131, 132,183, 134, 135, 136, 145, 147, 148, 151,152, 153, 157, 162, 164, 168, 171, 172,178, 174, 175, 177, 184, 186, 187, 188,189, 191. 192, 204.

S culpture, br ick, 57, 59, 130, 164, 165, 166,181, 186, 208, 204. N ote, 12.

R emains of stone, 28, 44, 54, 131, 133, 134,135, 136, 159, 160, 162, 175, 177.

Remains, Brahman ical, 35, 36, 37, 41, 44,

46 53, 58, 59, 60, 61, 62, 63, 64, 65, 89,115 , 130, 131, 133, 134, 135, 186, 137 , 138,139, 141, 143, 145, 146, 147, 148, 150, 151,152, 153, 154, 155, 156, 157, 158,161, 162, 168, 175, 184, 186, 191, 197, 198,199, 200.

R emains, Buddh ist, 17, 18, 27, 86, 37, 38,39

,40, 41, 45, 46, 53, 58, 59, 63, 65, 105,

109, 110, 114, 120, 142, 159, 178, 184,200. N ote, 9, 10.

R emains, Jain , 78, 132, 136, 187, 160, 161,163, 178, 184. 191, 195, 200.

R emain s, M uhammadan , 19, 28, 29, 30, 81,32, 33, 34, 35, 39, 44, 45.

R emain s, uncer tain , 19, 27, 35, 47, 63, 74,75, 89, 115, 129, 161, 163, 177, 191, 198.

N ote, 4.

R evetments, 31, 32, 156, 175, 196. N ote,9, 13, 15.

R ishikulya or Kiyn i r iver, 125, 126.

R ivers,old courses of, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10,

14, 15, 17, 20, 21, 22, 23, 125. N ote, 4, 5.R oads, old lin es of, 10, 12, 13, 40.47, 48, 49,66, 74, 142, 163, 178, 200. N otes, 5, 13.

R 011, 110, 116.

R oofs, domed, 29, 30, 44, 186, 181.

flat, plain , 35, 45, 65, 170.

low, pyramidal, plain, 31, 136, 155,174, 7

tall, pyramidal, plain , 139, 140, 175.185.

overlapping cour ses, 57, 151, 152,164, 172, 174, 175, 185, 202.

tower, 55, 57, 139, 151, 152, 162,

164, 165, 166, 167, 170, 172, 17174, 186, 188, 191, 195, 199, 202.

vaulted, 32, 33, 54, 55, 57.73, 118.


1ILL k l l1 I I 'a h ;

I TA N T A P U R A

apb ed at th e Surveyor G en eml'e O ffi ce,Calcu tta February 1878.


P

H A T A

V I L L A G E

J D . B eglar , del

L rthograpped at th e Surveyor G en eral 5 O fi ce, Calcutta , February 1878


PLATE V

J D , Beglar . del.

L i thograph ed at th e Surveyor G eneral a omce, Calcutta. February 197



PLATE IX .

9 100 11 12 13 14 ] 5 16 17 18

R EF ER EN C ES .

A T emple of Syam Kar ttlk‘

M T emple of S ure) N ar ayan

Sar asw ati .

N l llcan th M ah adey H an uman an d Kuver a

Lakshm i N ar ayan Kal B halron

F T emple of A n n apur n a Dew B r ahma an d G an esa

(S lva) B ardn atb M ahadeva Ravan esw ar a

H T h e Eb og M an dl r (Rum )

I A Samadh P latform U Bell presen ted by Raja of N epal

J T emple of A n an d B h aq n

Ram Lakshman WWWW I n closure Wall

X X X X are the En tr an ces .

L r th ogr aph ed at th e 8m veyor O euex al'

s O fli oe, Calcutta February 1879


P I L L A R S PLATE X I .

N EA R

L A K H I S A R A I

P A L I

P A CH ET E

Sh ae N0

J D , Beglar , del

Li th ograph ed at th e Surveyor G en eral a omce, Calcutta, February 1878


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BRICK PILLA R

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L rtbograph ed at th e Surveyor G en ena o ffi ce, Calcutta. February 1878.



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CRO S S

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J D,

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a ogmph ed at th e Surveyor G en eral I O th ee, L alcut ta. Feb ru auy 1879



Patna, Gayaq, Mongir, and Bhagalpur Santal Parganas ...

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