TOURS IN GORAKHPUR, SARAN, AND GHAZ1PUK

IN

1877-78-79 and go..

A, C. L. CARLLEYLE,

FIRST ASSISTANT, ARCHAEOLOGICAL SURVEY.

VOLUME XXII.

’‘What is aimed at is an accurate description, illustrated by plans, measurements, drawings or photographs,
and by copies of inscriptions, of such remains as most deserve notice, with the h^gtory of them so far as it may be
traceable, and a record of the traditions that are preserved regarding them.”—L ord Canning.

“‘What the learned world demand of us in India is to be quite certain of our data, to place the monumental
record before them exactly as it now exists, and to interpret it faithfully and literally.”— James Prinsep.

CALCUTTA:

PRINTED EY THE SUPERINTENDENT OF GOVERNMENT PRINTING, INDIA.

1885.

PREFACE.

I N this volume Mr. Carlleyle has followed up his discovery of
the site of Kapilavastu, the birth-place of Buddha, by the
identification of several other important sites in the early his¬
tory of Buddhism. Amongst these is RAmnagar, the site of
the famous Stupa of Rdmagrdma, from which the N 4 gas are
said to have filched the tooth of Buddha, that is now believed
to be preserved in Ceylon. Other identifications, which
appear to me to be certain, are the following:—

i. The “ Anoma River,” over which Prince SAkya Sinha
leaped his horse Chandaka, with the Kddawd Nala,
or “ Leaped River.”

2. The three StCipas of “ Chandaka’s Return,” the “ Cut
Hair,” and the “ Changed Garments,” with three
mounds in the neighbourhood of the river.

3. The “ City of the Moriyas” with the ruins of “ Rdj-
dh&ni,” an old site in the midst of the jungle to the
south of Gorakhpur.

4. Discovery of the colossal statue of Buddha after the
Nirv&na, at Kasia (the ancient Kusinagara), with an
inscription on its pedestal of the Gupta period.
This statue must therefore be the identical one that
was seen by the Chinese pilgrim in January, A.D.
637, when he visited the scene of Buddha’s death.
The statue was found in an oblong chamber, which
had originally been covered with bricks placed edge
to edge after the old fashion of the Hindu arch.
The Gupta characters of the inscription show that
this style of arch was in use as early as the 4th or
5th century A.D.

5. Discovery of another inscribed pillar of Asoka at R4m-
purwa in the Tarai, at the foot of the Nepal hills, 32
miles to the north of Betiya. The inscription is

»UWS i'ny

• /iv "

PREFACE.

letter for letter, the same as that on the two pillars
near Betiya. It is now lying prostrate with part of
the inscription under water. In its fall the capital
was broken, and only the lower part of the bell was
found attached to the shaft. This portion had been
preserved by a massive copper bolt, by which the
capital was attached to the shaft. The bolt is of
cast copper, 24-} inches in length, 13J inches in cir¬
cumference in the middle, and iof inches at each
end. There are several marks chiselled and dotted
on each flat end of the bolt.

The fact that this bolt is of copper seems to me to point
out very clearly that the Hindus had already discovered the
destructive property of iron when used as a fastening for
stones. I have long held the opinion that the Hindus knew
and practised the art of stone-cutting at least two centuries
before the time of Asoka. Indeed the very name of Taxila,
or Takshasila-Nagara, the “city of cut-stone” buildings,
proves that the art was known and used before the time of
Alexander.

At present we know of no Indian inscriptions earlier
than the reign of Asoka; but I find it absolutely impossible
to believe that the beautifully finished letters of Asoka’s pillar
inscriptions could have leaped ready-formed, like Minerva,
from the head of any person. They must have been preceded
by a ruder alphabet, which has been lost owing to the almost
universal use of wood in early times. The wooden palaces
and wooden walls of Palibothra have perished long ago ; but
I do not despair of our finding hereafter some little coin that
may be of an earlier date. In fact I already possess several
coins of an earlier date than those of the Sungas, with the
name of Gupta on them, preceded either by Chandra or
Bhadra, the first letter alone being indistinct.

Mr. Carlleyle’s remarks about the Asylum and Drona
Stupas seem to me to merit careful consideration, and I pro¬
pose to examine the question of their sites over again before
I leave India.

A. CUNNINGHAM, Major-General .,
Director-General, Archaeological Survey.

CONTENTS.

General Summary of Explorations in 1876-77 and 1877-78.

No.

x« Ramagr&ma
2 Matieya ,

3. Anonia .

4< Three St&pas . . ♦

5. City of the Moriyas .

6 . Rficlrapur

7. The Bar Tree Forests and

Mithabel

8. Bhopa ....

9. Kusinagara

io f Pawa ....

11. Laoriya Naonadgarh

REPORT FOR i877-78.

12. Mounds near Laoriya

13. Mounds near Harhi .

14. Janki Kot, or Janki Garh .

15. New Edict Pillar of Asoka .

REPORT FOR 1878-79.

16. Concluding notice of the

Gorakhpur District . 57

17. Dighwa Dubaoli, Saran Dis¬

trict .... 72

*8. Cheran, S&ran District „ 73

No.

19. Na-lo-yeti, or Nar&yana—
(Narainpur) .

PAOE

75

20, The Asylum StCipa, conver¬
sion of man-eating Demons

76

21. The Drona Stftpa, or Kum-
bhan Sfftpa

77

22. The Dharmaranya
Dhamaoli) at Baliya

(and

81

23. Other ancient sites ori
Ganges between B
and Ghazipur

1 the
aliya

86

24. Capital of the Kingdom of
“ Chen-chu,” or " Lord
of Battles ” .

88

REPORT FOR 1879-80,

25. Ghazipur .

94

26. Old sites to the west of
Ghazipur

95

27. Masaon Dih, Joharganj, and
Krelulendrapura

95

28. Chandraoti, or Chandravati

104

29. Chiraya-Kot

105

30. G&rha-ka-Kot .

*

105

31. Khaira Dih

.

106

32. Bairaht, or Vairahta ,

.

107

33. Hingtar, or Hengutar,
Dhanapur . ' .

and

117

PAGE

2

2

3

5

7

9

*3

15

16

29

35

35

47

49

51

PLATES.

Pages of

-—*- text in

which
referred to,

I.-—Map of Baliya, Saran and North-Western Bihar . Passim,

II.—Ramagrama ......... i

III. —Kusinagara Stfipa and Monastery.16

IV. — Do. Inscriptions . . ..... ib.

V. —Pawa (Chetiya and Fazilnagar 'Stfipa) . . . . 2 g

VI. —Asoka Pillar—map showing site of Rampurwa . . , 51

VII.— Do. lying in excavation ..... ib .

VIII,—-D harm aranya and Baliya (map) ..... 81

IX.—Masaon-dih (Krelulendra) map . . . . . 95

X. — Do. map ........ ib

XI.—Garha-ka-kot, map ........ 105

XII.—Khaira-dih, old fort. 106

XIII. —Bairant, map * . , . . . , . igj

XIV. —Map of Baliya and Ghazipur to Benares . . . . 94

ARCHEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF INDIA.

A General Summary of the Archceological explorations made

during the years 1876-yy and 187J-J8, by A, C. CARL-
LEYLE, Assistant , Archceological Survey of India.

FTER completing my identifications, surveys, and inves-

^ tigations concerning the various sites of historical or
traditional interest, in the neighbourhood of, or in any way
connected with, Kapilavastu (which had already previously been
identified by me with “ Bhuila”), I next proceeded thence, in an
east and south-easterly direction, to follow up the further
route pursued by the Chinese traveller Huen Thsang, who,
after he had terminated his visit to Kapilavastu and its
sacred neighbourhood, next proceeded in a south-easterly
direction to pay his adorations at the various spots where
Buddha had passed or rested, on the way, after he had left
his native place in order to enter upon the life of an ascetic
or at places where there were shrines containing relics of
Buddha.

The places or localities which had to be discovered or
identified on this route were —

I.—R&magr&ma, where one of the eight original portions
of the actual relics of Buddha was enshrined in a
stftpa.

.2.—Maneya, an ancient city, situated in a district called
Anu-vaineya (or V&n&ya), which (as I shall show)
means along the V&na River. It was near this
place that Buddha leaped across the Anoma River.

3.—The Anoma River, which Buddha leaped his horse
across.

VOL. XXII. B

2

REPORT OF TOURS IN GORAKHPUR,

4 . —The three stftpas of Chandaka’s Return, of the Cut-

Hair, and of the Changed Garments, which were situ¬
ated some short distance beyond, or on the left or
east bank of, the Anoma River.

5. —The city of the Moriyas, in the Nyagrodha forest,

where the charcoal ashes of Buddha’s funeral pyre
were enshrined in a stfipa.

6-—A large city, visited by Huen Thsang, where a hospi¬
table Brahman lived who was devoted to Buddhism.

I have now the satisfaction to state that I believe that I
was completely successful, even beyond my own expecta¬
tions, in discovering and identifying correctly all the sites
which I have just enumerated above, namely, as follows =—

/. Rdmagrdma I identified, positively and with abso¬
lute certainty, with a place situated on an ancient mound of
ruins called RAmpur, or Rfimpur Deoriya, which lies near
the west bank of a large lake called the Marawa T 41 , which
is really simply a widened-out portion of an ancient river bed.
R&mpur is a large village, which is situated on a broad
mound composed of ancient ruins. Close to the north-east
side of the village there is a ruined stftpa, which is still up¬
wards of 20 feet in perpendicular height. And close to
the north-east side of the stfipa there is the bed of an an¬
cient tank. There is also another old tank a short distance
to the west of the stfipa. Rampur is situated exactly 26
miles (in a straight line) to the south-east half east-south-
east from Bhuila, which has been identified with Kapilavastu
(and in long. 82° 59', 'lat. 26° 44!'), which agrees as nearly
as possible with the distance and position assigned to
Rimagr 4 ma by Huen Thsang (as estimated at 28 miles).

2. Maneya I identified with a very large and extensive
mound of ancient ruins, at which there is now a modern tem¬
ple called Tameswar N 4 th, by which name the whole place
has come to be best known in the present day. But I found
out, by persevering enquiries, that the ancient name of the
place had been Mandynagar, or Maniyang, or Maneyba,
or Maneywa. This place is situated between the Katnaya.
River and the KfidawA Nadi, or Nala, about 9 miles (in

MiNisr^

PLATE I,

VQS*. XXII.

Scale 1 Inch = 7 Miles,

riBiiian €

•Di^Viwa milj

Sax*an3Ih

ToihU.v' 1

3 pariva

Satjora^'

WAjN

■fcJKaraii

Kudari^a

Ml utnpur
1'Khar anti

Barkhora-*

/ftaRaiapati

.Basnaola

i.Ha^ganpur

ciidaha

JPirAoia
lari hpTpurj

Lvrzapiir

nnao

pharmpm-Q

tfcBlwmsdih

|N o;vra<tn

iwar

CtU TH

icirun

Narampur

ainva.

r l) h a rnikrxi ijsk

a rain p ur o .^V

HaM-h

AMR

ofwar SaictKhi

BHOJFURi

A. C. Carlleyle, dd.

Uttotftraphed at tba Parv«y of India Offic*#. Calcutta, Fabriiax? 1W«.

SARAN, AND GHAZIPUR.

a straight line) east-south-east from Rlmpur (RAmagr.4-
ma); but. the travelling distance by road is about 11 miles,
while from Bhuila, the site of Kapilavasth, the distance is
about 37 miles. But as the Kftdaw& Nadi, which means
the leaped river, and which I have identified with the
Anoma, runs about a. mile beyond and to the north-east
of Tameswar, or the ruins of Maneya, the total distance
from Kapilavastu, south-eastwards, to the Anoma River,
would thus be about 38 miles, which agrees as nearly as
possible with the estimate of about 42, or say 40 miles,
derived from the Indian Buddhist Scriptures, which, it
must be remembered, was, after all, the travelling distance,
in ancient times, by a round-about route, at a time when
there were no roads, but a mere track, winding about through
forests and marshes (some of which latter impediments still
remain in part even to the present day). And I may men¬
tion that, although I myself travelled from Bhuila, the site
of Kapilavastu vid Rltmpur (R&rnagr&ma) to the Kudawi
Nadi, beyond the ruins at Tameswar (Maneya), by the
shortest or most direct route that I possibly could, yet I
found the travelling distance to be about 40 miles!

The main mass of the ruins at Tameswar (or Maneya)
consists of an elevated flat-topped ridge or plateau, about a
mile in length from north to south, and which is entirely
composed of brick ruins. The breadth of this mass of ruins
from east to west is irregular, it being in some places broad
and in other places narrow. It is covered with a dense grove
of trees. In the northern end of this mass of ruins there is
a great sagar, or very large tank, full of deep water.

At the north-western corner of the s4gar there is a
ruined cone-shaped brick stdpa, which is fully 30 feet in
height. There are also many other detached ruins scattered
here and there, round about. About a mile to the north
there is a village called Mehniya.

,?■ The Anoma River .—As another proof of the cor¬
rectness of my identification of the ruins at Tameswar with
Maneya, and of the KtidawS. Nadi (or leaped river) with
the Anoma River (which Buddha leaped across), and of

' TAINISr/fj,

the locality, or tract of country, lying along the course of
the K\idaw& Nadi, with the ancient district of Anuvarneya
(or, as I take it to be, Anu-v&n&ya), I have now to point
out that what is called the Kftdawa Nadi or Nala is in
reality simply the southern continuation of the old bed
of the B&n Ganga or B&n. River, or Budha B&n, which
comes down from the north, from Ban-ki-chawar, about
4 miles to the north-east of B&npur Thana, and then runs
in a south-south-easterly direction, to the Budha B&n bridge
and chauki, on the high road which runs between Basti
and Maghar and Gorakhpur. A short distance to the
north of the road, near two villages called Enielpur and
Sisswa, the B&n River sends off a branch towards the
south-east, which afterwards crosses the road near a village
called Jurwa, and from thence it runs southwards to
Tameswar (or Maneya), where it assumes the name of
the Kudawi Nadi or Nala. Now, B&n is simply the ver¬
nacular form of the Sa krit V 4 n 4 ; and, therefore, the
original name of the riv must have been V&n 4 . Con¬
sequently, a district situateu long the banks of the V&na
River would be called Anu-v&n&ya, which would mean along
the V&na, and which must, therefore, evidently be the
original and correct Sanskrit form of the Anu-vaineya of the
Tibetan Buddhist Chronicles.

Now, I suspect that the name of the Anomd River con¬
tains the same base Anu, and that it should really be written
Anurn&, and that, therefore, it is a corruption of the Sanskrit
Anum&n, which is the nominative case of the adjective
Anumat, which would mean that of which the position or
course is in accordance to or with something else, that
is, parallel to, or having the same direction, or following a
course parallel to, that of something else. Consequently,
as applied to a river, Anum& (or Anumati) would mean the
parallel river, or a river whose course ran parallel to the
course of some other river near to it. Now, this is actually
the very case with the B&n or V&na River, and its southern
continuation, the Kudaw& Nadi, for the Ban or V&na River,
and its southern continuation, the Kftdawcl, both run almost

SARAN, AND GHAZIPUR.

exactly parallel to the Katn 4 ya River, which runs close to
the west of them, at a distance of only from i-| mile
to 3 miles! (The general course of the two rivers being
parallel, and any local deviations being simply owing to short
local windings.) The courses of these rivets, again, are also
for the most part nearly parallel to that of the Ami River,
which runs about 8 miles further to the east, so that the
country there is as it were divided into long, narrow, parallel
strips of land, which lie between and along parallel rivers !

But the name Anuma might also mean along the boundary,
meaning that the Anum& River ran along the boundary of
the district of Anu-v 4 n£ya, for in this sense anu-m& would
literally mean along the measure, or measuring along, that
is, along the measured limits, or along the boundary of
dimensions, or that which formed or marked a boundary, by
lying along it, or, as one might express it in modern Hindu¬
stani, Bardbar lambdi men sdthi sdth, muw&fik, mdpke hadd
ke kin dre par .

We may thus understand how the Vina alias Kidawi
River was anu-rni to the district of Anu-vinaya !

4 * The three stilpas of Chandaka's Return, of the Cut
Hair, and of the Changed Garments, which were situated
beyond or to the east of the Anumd River .—I have identified
the site of these stupas with a place which is generally
known by the natne of Mahi-thin Dih, and which is situated
about 4 miles to the north-east from Tameswar, or Maneyi,
—about a mile to the north of ,a village called Lachmi-
pur, and about aj miles to the west-south-west-half-west
from Maghar. Mahi-thin is, however, really only one of
three points or portions of an extensive ruined site, w T hich
is situated near the eastern bank of a lake called the Sir-
sara T 41 , close to the north-east of which latter there is
also a village called Sirsarao. The village of Sirsarao is
situated on a mound of ruins ; and at the distance of
about 400 feet to the east of the village there are the remains
of a st&pa, which is now stripped of its bricks, and there
is a lingam on the top of it. I believe this to be the
remains of the stiipa of the Cut-Hair (where Buddha cut

off his hair, on entering upon the life of an ascetic) ; and I
believe that the name Sir-sarA is a compound derived from
sir, the head, and sdra ) performed, or accomplished, which
might refer to the rite of shaving the head on taking the
vows of a devotee or ascetic. About 300 feet to the north¬
east of the Sirsarii stftpa there is a massive somewhat
circular solid mound of bricks, about 50 feet in diameter,
or about. 160 feet in circumference, but which is now only
about 5 or 6 feet in height. I believe this latter mound
to be the remains of the great stupa of Asoka, the sloupa
de retour where Buddha parted with his servant Chandaka
and his horse. About 370 feet to the north of the last-
named ruin there is a large round-topped mound 1 ' of brick
ruins, which is called MahA-tlictn (or Mah&sthAna), and
there is a village bearing the same name, situated a short dis¬
tance to the east side of this mound. I believe this Mah&-
th&n mound to be the remains of the stupa of the Changed
Garments, where Buddha put off his royal garments, and
exchanged them for those of a hunter, supposed to be Brahma.
Lastly, about 700 feet to the south-east from the last-named
site, there is an old village called Paithana. This name Pai-
thAna might be derived either from pd 1 foot, and thdn ) or sthdn )
place (perhaps referring to Buddha's feet),—or from the Hindi
Paith-dnd) meaning an entering in, that is, an entrance way.
The whole of the extensive opeh space lying between the parti¬
cular mounds of ruins which I have noted above is covered
with fragments of brick and pottery; and altogether, taking
the whole extent of elevated ground which is covered with
fragments of brick, &c., it betokens a very extensive ruined
site, which probably comprises the ruins of an assemblage of
various and numerous religious establishments,

* This mound is somewhat circular in its horizontal outline ; but it has a very
gradual and gentle slope on all sides. (Like this—

SARAN, AND GHAZIPUR.

"Now, I have previously shown that the actual travelling
distance of the mined site at Tameswar (which has been
identified with Maneya) from Bhuila or Kapilavastu is about
40 miles; and therefore, as the ruins at Sirsara and Maha-
th 4 n lie 3 miles beyond and to the north-east of Tameswar, the
total distance will be 43 miles, which agrees with the distance
given in the Lalita-Vist&ra, which is 6 yoyanas, or 42 miles. •

Finally, I may also here mention, in conclusion to the
above, that I ascertained that there are still some Jambu
trees near the banks of the Sirsar& T&l. (The existence of
Jambu trees in this locality having been noticed by the Chi¬
nese pilgrims.)

5. The City of the Moriyas in the Nyagrodha forest ; and
the slUpa containing the charcoal ashes of Buddha's f uneral
pyre.—I have identified the city of the Moriyas with a very
extensive series of ruins called R4j-dh4ni, or llpdhaoliya,
which is situated on the Gorra River, in the Gorakhpur dis¬
trict, at the distance of about 30 miles, in a direct line, south¬
east from the Maha-th&n Dih, or the Three Sttipas, and
about 14 miles to the south-south-east-half-south from
Gorakhpur. Here there are the extensive remains of a very
large ancient city, which appears to have extended from the
Rapti River, eastwards, to the Pharen River; or for a distance
of fully 4 miles from west to east, with a varying breadth of
about a mile from north to south. The ruins commence near
Dih Ghat, on the eastern bank of the Rapti River, a series
of detached mounds of brick ruins extending thence to the
Gorra River. Next, on the eastern bank of the Gorra River
there is a very large mound of ruins, called Updhaoliya
Dih, which is about a mile in length, from north to south, by
about 1,500 to 1,600 feet in breadth, from west to east. On
the western part of the Dih there is a. conical ruined brick
stflpa, which is still nearly 30 feet in perpendicular height.
This I believe to be the remains of the famous stupa in which
the charcoal ashes of Buddha’s funeral pyre were enshrined.
Again, at the south-eastern corner of the Dih there is another
ruined stiip& which may be about 15 or 16 feet in height
Next, at the distance of about three-quarters of a mile to the

REPORT OF TOURS IN GORAKHPUR,

north-east of Upclhaoliya Dih there is the village of R&j-
dh&ni, which is situated on part of a wide flattish mound of
ruins, the rest of which is covered with jangai. Lastly, about
i J- mile to the north-east of R&jdh&ni, there is an ancient
square brick fort, or at least a square brick enclosure,
called S£hankot, which is situated in the midst of a dense
forest of bar, s&l, jamun, and other trees, and at the distance
of about half a mile from the banks of the Pharen River.

This square brick enclosure, which may be called the
R&jdh&ni S&hankat, measured about 1,900 feet in length, from
west to east, by about 1,300 feet in breadth, from north to
south. But traces of brick-ruins, or at least broken bricks in
the ground, already commence in the jangai, half-way between
the village of R&jdh&ni and the ancient fort of Sahankot.

Now, I have already stated that the whole of the ruined
sites which I have described seriatim above are evidently
all, together, the temains of one great ancient city. I have
also stated that the whole of these ruins, taken together, are
generally known by the name of R&jdh&ni; and that 1 found
the remains of sttipas there, including one in particular
which I have identified with the famous stupa which contained
the charcoal ashes of Buddha’s funeral pyfe. Now, the
name R&jdh&ni means the capital city, or metropolis, and
therefore 1 feel certain that this is the actual site of the
capital city of the Moriyas in the Nyagrodha forest 1 And
here also one still finds the remains of an ancient forest,
which now extends from the village of Rajdh^ni to the
Pharen River, but which a few years ago (before an Indigo-
factory had been established at Updhaoliya) actqally extended
over Updhaoliya Dih itself ; and here also one finds numerous
ancient Bar trees, and several places in the same locality
which have derived their names from the Bar tree, such as
Barhei, Barehi, and Barhaira. And Bar and Nyagrodha are
simply two different names for the same tree, or rather,
Nyagrodha is simply one of the Sanskrit names of the Bar tree.

Lastly, with regard to the distance and position of the
place. The Chinese traveller Huen Thsang makes the
distance from the Anoma River to the city of the Moriyas
to be 180 to 190 li, or from 30 to 32 miles. Now

SARAN, AND GHAZIPUR.

T have already stated that the ruins really commence near,
Dih Ghat, on the east bank of the Rapti River.. The
distance from, the KudawA Nadi (which I have identified
with the Anoma), near Tameswar, to the ruins near Dih
Ghcit, is exactly 30 miles ; while the distance from my
proposed site of the three stupAs at MahAthAn is about
29 miles. But it must be remembered that these are the
direct distances, in a straight line, as measured on the map ;
while the travelling distance is considerably over 30 miles,
which exactly agrees with Huen Thsang* s estimate.

6 . Rudrapur % —From RAjdhAni I proceeded straight
southwards to Rudrapur. I have identified either Rudra¬
pur, or else some ruins situated at Baraon and Satnogar,
about 6 miles to the south of it, with the large town
where a hospitable Brahman lived, who was devoted to Bud¬
dhism, and which was visited by Huen Thsang on his way
from Kusinagara to BanAras. Huen Thsang places this
town at the distance of 200 li, or 33 miles, to the
south-west from Kusinagara. Kusinagara/it is well known,
has been identified with the ruins near Kasia or Kasya,
35 miles to the east of Gorakhpur. Now the distance
from Kasya to Rudrapur is 28 miles, in a straight line,
in a south-west direction, which is 5 miles less than the
travelling distance given by Huen Thsang; while again the
distance from Kasya to the great ruined fort, called SAhan-
kot or NAth-nagar, which is about a mile to the north
of Rudrapur, is only 27 miles.* There are, however, some
ancient ruins of considerable extent about 6J miles to
miles to the south of Rudrapur, at two places called Baraon
and Samogar. Now the distance from Kasya to Baraon, in
a direct line, is about 32 miles, in a direction south-west-half-
south-south-west ; but the ruins of Kusinagara are situated at
the distance of about a mile to the south-west of Kasya,
which reduces the distance to about 3 r miles ; and therefore
the ruins at Baraon and Samogar agree better with the dis¬
tance and position of the city mentioned by Huen Thsang;
as the travelling distance, by road, from the ruins near Kasya

# But from the ruins near Kasya to the ruins near Rudrapur is only 26 miles.

misfo

.REPORT OF TOURS IN GORAKHPUR,

to Baraon, could not be less than 33 miles, by the shortest
route. Moreover, Baraon and Samogar lie upon a direct line
drawn from Kasya to BanAras. For if we take a good distinct
map of that part of the North-West Provinces of India, and
draw a straight line, with a ruler, from Kasya to BanAras, it
passes only 4 miles to the east of Rudrapur, close to the
west side of Baraon and right through Samogar, crossing the
Rapti River at the regular gh&t between Samogar and Bairiya
(the Byreeah of the maps). Whereas, on the other hand,
Khukundo and Kahaon, which General Cunningham proposed,
respectively, are 11 miles and 14 miles too far east, and totally
out of the way, of a straight line drawn from Kasya to BanAras !
Now the objections raised by General Cunningham against the
identification of the Rudrapur ruins, with the city of the
Brahman visited by Huen Thsang, were as follows : Firstly,
that Rudrapur is not on the direct line from Kasya to BanAras !
But I have already shown that Rudrapur lies only 4 miles to
the west of a direct line drawn from Kasya to BanAras, and
that the ruins near Baraon and Samogar lie directly on the line ;
whereas Khukundo and Kahaon lie respectively 11 miles and
14 miles too far to the east of the line. Secondly,* General
Cunningham says, that if Huen Ths&ng’s route had passed
through Rudrapur, it would have entailed the passage of two
rivers, namely, the Rapti as well as the GhAgra. But from
ray own personal observation I find that people, and especially
the natives of India, do constantly, and every day, cross any
two rivers, by the regular ferries, in order to save or escape a
round-about, out-of-the-way road, and a long journey. Now
it is quite possible, nay even probable, that Huen Thsang may
have wished expressly to go by way of the ancient city
situated at the Rudrapur SAhankot, for the very purpose of
visiting the rich influential and hospitable Brahman who was
zealously devoted to the Buddhist religion ! And if Huen
Thsang went purposely to the ancient city, which was situated
at the Rudrapur SAhankot, he would most certainly not go
out of his way, by the Mahili GhAt, on the GhAgra River, in
order to get to BanAras; but he would go by the usual and
common route by which pilgrims from the neighbourhood of

SARAN, AND GHAZlPUR.

t 1

Rudrapur travelled to Ban&ras j and that is, across the Rapti
River, as I have ascertained for a fact by enquiries on the
spot. ’ Now I made particular enquiries at Rudrapur as to the
oldest and most commonly used route or routes by which
people have travelled from Rudrapur to Banhras, both in
ancient and in modern times; and I find that people never
travelled from Rudrapur by way of the Mahili GhAt, on the
Gh&gra River, to Bandras, but that they always do travel,
and "have always in old times travelled, by way of the
Rapti River, that is, by way of two gh&ts on the Rapti
River, namely, the Aswandp&r GMt, on the Rapti, 7 miles
to the south-west from Rudrapur, and by the Samogar-Belud
Gh&t, 7 miles to the south from Rudrapur. And I have been
told by the people here that these two ghats on the Rapti
have always, from the most ancient times, been used by the
people of Rudrapur and the neighbourhood in travelling
to Ban&ras. Then, after having crossed the Rapti, they
cross the Ghagra even by the Barhal Ghat.

It may be as well now to give a short description of the
ruins at Rudrapur. The ruins are situated mostly to the
north, but also extend to the east and west of the town of
Rudrapur. The great fort called Sahankot, at Rudrapur,
must not be confounded with the other Sahankot, much
further north, at RAjdhani, which I have previously described.
The Rudrapur S&hankot is situated about three-quarters of
a mile to the north of the town of Rudrapur. This great
ancient fort is a quadrangle of which the sides are not equal.
According to my measurements, I found the northern side to
be 2,500 feet in length, the eastern side 2,300 feet, the
southern side 2,200 feet, and the western side 2,015 feet.
There is also a sort of outer and lower inclosure to the
south of the former, which measured 2,300 feet from north
to south, by 3,700 feet from east to west. This was
probably some outer Shahr Panhh. The ramparts of the
great fort are very high and broad, and varied in height to
from 15 to 25 feet ; and at some points, when mea-
, sured outside, perhaps even more. Outside the fort, and
near the eastern side of it, there is the temple of

REPORT OF TOURS IN GORAKHPUR,

♦

Dftdhn&th, which did not appear to me to be very old—
at least much more modern than the ruins which surround
it. The original temple of Dudhncith appears to have been a
plain square stone building, without any ornament, but the
lower part of which has been encased within a modern closed-
in brick verandah. The temple is surmounted by a broad
round-topped octagonal dome, which has a sort of small
cupola on the top of it. There is nothing inside the temple
except a small lingarn. The temple is surrounded by a walled-
in court. Along the sides of the inclosure there are some
three or four smaller modern shrines, which are surmounted
by tall pointed spires. There are several broken statues
of various divinities within the in closure ; but I could not
find one single Buddhist one, although I noticed one smallish
naked squatting Jain figure.

There is no pyramidal temple whatever at Rudrapur,
such as is said to have been described by Buchannan Hamilton*
I counted and visited about twenty-five detached or isolated
mounds of ruins, altogether, round about Rudrapur, but I
found nearly the whole of them to be the ruins of Brah-
manical lingam temples ; many of them with enormous
black stone 1 in gams still standing embedded in the tops of
them, while others had fallen down into excavations made by
the zamindars. Of the whole twenty-five detached mounds of
ruins, there are only four that have even the outward ap¬
pearance of stupa mounds ; but of these four, two are oblong
or oval shaped, and have huge Lingams embedded in their
tops, surrounded by traces of straight -walls of a former temple.
All the mounds which have been excavated, from time to
time, by the zamindars, for the sake of bricks or stone, have
invariably turned out to be lingam temples. There is, how¬
ever, a conical sttipa-shaped mound, at a village called Arnaoni,
about 2 miles to the north of Rudrapur. On the top of
this conical mound there is an enormous black stone lingam,
which is encircled by three great rings of stone, the uppermost
of which is an argha.

There is a large statue of Vishnu, about n feet nr
height, standing under a tree, to the east of Rudrapur.

• mtSTtty

SARAN, AND GHAZ1PUR.

„§L

The whole extent of all the ruins, taken together, may be
about 2 miles from north to south, by from i-|- to 2 miles
from east to west.

Rudrapur is situated on the Manjhne River.

Another fact which militates against the possibility of
Rudrapur being the city of the Moriyas in the Nyagrodha
forest, is that there is no forest at all at Rudrapur, nor any¬
where near the ruins. The nearest approach of the forest or
jangal is on the east side, where it commencesatthedistan.ee
of about 2 miles or . more from Rudrapur. But this forest
is not composed of Bar trees at all, but it is a mixed jangal
containing trees of all sorts. There is no forest on any other
side of Rudrapur. But at the distance of about 5 miles
to the north of Rudrapur, a great forest begins to commence,
which is entirely composed of Bar trees. This forest extends,
for about 3 miles northwards, to an old place called Mitha¬
bel ; but it extends much further north-westwards, in the
direction of Harpur, Dubaoli, Barhaira, Silhatha, and R&j-
dh&ni; and this must therefore be the Nyagrodha forest
mentioned by Huen Thsang. But as this Bar forest originally
extended to, and even beyond, RAjdhani and Updhaolia, and
even now really meets, or approaches within a very short
distance of, the R&jdhani forest, while its southernmost
border is fully 5 miles distant to the north of Rudrapur,
it is plain that R&jdhani has abetter claim to be considered
as situated in the Bar forest than Rudrapur, where the
cultivation of the fields belonging to a large still thriving
native town must always have kept the forest at a distance,

Mithabel may be said to be absolutely in the Bar forest.

7. The Bar Forest and Mithabel .—I have already previ¬
ously stated that my route from Gorakhpur to Rudrapur was
along the usual road, along the east bank of the Rapti River,
south-south-eastwards, to Barhei Dih-Gh&t and Updhaoliya;
and from thence on, again, south-south-eastwards to Rudrapur.
But on my return route from Rudrapur I pursued a totally
different route, straight northwards, through the great Bar
JForest, to Mithabel and ChaorATh&mt This route lay to the
east of the Pharend or Purcen River, and somew'hat near to,

14 REPORT OF TOURS IN GORAKHPUR,

and parallel to, the Manjhne River. By this means, having
already previously cut across the country from the Rapti at
Dih-Ghat north-eastwards, to the Pharind or Ptircen River, I
now cut the country through in an entirely new direction,
forming the third side of a triangle. I beg to refer to that
sheet of the Indian Atlas which embraces a map of the
Gorakhpur District. It will be seen that at the distance
of 4! miles to the north, or rather north-north-vvest-half
north from Rudrapur, there is a village which is marked in
the map as Khundowlee (properly Khandaoli). At one-
third of a, mile to the north of this village, the boundary
of the Pargana Salimpur Majhaoli terminates, and Par-
gana Plaveli commences. It is exactly at this boundary
that the great Bar Forest commences, at the distance of
about 5 miles to the north of Rudrapur. This Bar Forest
extends thence 3 miles northwards to Mithabel; but from
below Mithabel it extends westwards for about miles or 3
miles, by way of Harpur and Dubaoli, to within a distance
of about a mile from the junction of the Pharind and Gorra
Rivers, which is only il to the south-east of Upadhaoliya Dili;
so that the great Bar Forest actually approaches within 2J
miles of the ruins near Rkjdh&ni, which 1 have identified with
the city of the Moriyas in the Nyagrodha Forest. And. I have
already previously stated that Rajdhini itself is situated,
within the borders of another great forest, of mixed trees,
which originally united with the Bar Forest.

But if it be held that neither Rajdhkni nor Rudrapur
can be identified with the city of the Moriyas, because
neither of these places is situated actually in the midst of
the Bar Forest, then let us see if we can find any ancient
ruins buried in the midst of the great Bar Forest through
which 1 passed. I would beg to direct attention to the an¬
cient village of Mithabel, which is situated' on a mound of
ruins, 7^ or 8 miles to the north of Rudrapur, and 5 miles to
the south-east of Rajdh 4 ni, and on the northern edge of
the Bar Forest. This forest is wholly and entirely composed
of Bar trees only, which in Sanskrit are called Nyagrodha,
or Vata ; and this must therefore be the remains of the ancient

SARAN. AND GHAZIPUR.

*5

Nyagrodha Forest mentioned by Huen Thsang, and also in the
Tibetan Dulva, but which is erroneously called Pippalawano
in the Ceylonese chronicles. It is on the northern or north¬
eastern edge of this Bar Forest, as I have said, that the ancient
village of Mithabel is situated, on a mound of ruins. About
i mile to the south of Mithabel, and in the middle of the
Bar Forest, I found a small temple, of modern age, containing
ancient statues of N&rayan and Lakshmi,, which had evi¬
dently existed long before the present temple was built. Close
to the back or west side of the small temple, there is a biped
or double-topped mound of brick ruins, or, in other words, a
mound of brick ruins which terminates in. two high conical
points, which appear like the ruins of twin stupas. Again,
about a third or a quarter of a mile to the north of the last,
there are three or four more somewhat conical-shaped or
dome-shaped mounds of brick ruins, which may possibly be
the ruins of sthpas; and the ground all around is strewed
with small fragments of brick, for some distance. It is about
a quarter or a third of a mile to the north-east of the last-
named ruins that the village of Mithabel is situated, on a
broad mound of ruins, which is probably the site of an ancient
town* To the north side of Mithabel there is a large tank,
and a Shiw&la or a temple of Siva.

S. Bhopa .—Six miles to the north of Mithabel, I came to
the village of Chaora, where there is a Th&na, and past which
the high road from Gorakhpur to Deoriya runs. About half a
mile to the north-west of Chaora, and close to the north side
of the road, there is an old village called Bhopd. Imme¬
diately to the south of the road, exactly opposite to Bhop&,
and about half a mile to the west of Chaora, there are three
high conical mounds of brick, which are evidently the ruins of
stupas. Again, about half a mile to the south-west of the last-
named mounds, there is a considerably extensive mass of
ruins, including also some high conical mounds of brick, in a
grove of high trees and j'angal. Close to the southwards of
these ruins there is a village where a Sikh lives who possesses
a grant of land conferred upon him by Government, for some
act of gallantry. About 2 miles to the west-north-west

l6 REPORT OF TOURS IN GORAKHPUR,

from the last-named ruins, in the middle of a forest, and near
the left or eastern bank of the Pharend or Purcen River, there
is a smallish mound of ruins, on which there is a Th&n of
Devi, called Tarkulahi ki Devi ka Th&n, where a great fair,
or m6la, is held every year.

I have thus given a full and particular description of the
country and the forests between and along four different rivers,
the Rapti, the Gorra, the Pharend or Puroen, and the M&njhne.

g. Kusinagara. —After leaivng Chaora and Bhopa I
went straight to Gorakhpur, where I remained from June to
November. In the month of November I started for Kasya,
and pitched my camp near the black stone statue of Buddha
Bhikshu, among the ruins of Kusinagara.

As this is not the Report of any one season, but only a
part of a mere abbreviated summary of the operations carried
on by me during the course of two seasons, although I have
really very much to say about my discoveries at Kusinagara,
yet my notice of them must here necessarily be cut as short
as possible.

The black stone image of Buddha Bhikshu, near which
,1 encamped, has already been described in General Cunning¬
ham’s Archaeological Reports of the years 1861-62; but as
General Cunningham did not make any thorough excava¬
tions at Kusinagara, it will now be my business to give a
short account of what I myself did in that line there.

Close to the east side of the black statue, there was a low
round-topped mound of brick ruins. I immediately set about
excavating this mound, and discovered that it contained the
base of a small temple, about 23 feet square exteriorly, and
about 10 feet square at the floor, or 12 feet above, interiorly.
The doorway was on the east side ; and against the inside of
the western wall I found the brick pedestal on which the great
black statue had once stood. On excavating round about the
walls outside, I found a large black slab of stone with an in¬
scription, lying near the wall on the south side of the doorway.
This inscription was in the Kutila character, and probably
of about the eleventh century. It commenced with the
words “ Om namo Buddhdya namo Buddhdya Bhikshune’’

SARAN, AND GHAZIPUR.

*7

But I could not find any date, and many of the lines were
broken and imperfect; and the ends of most of the lines, and
the lower right hand corner of the inscription, were entirely
gone, owing to the shalingoff of the stone, which w r as a kind
of black slate.

After having completed this excavation as far as was
necessary, I proceeded to the great long mound of ruins
called the MAthA Kunwar kA kot. Here, towards the east¬
ern end of the mound, there was a high pointed pile of brick,
which was the remnant of the core of the dome of a great
stfipa ; and at the base of this pile, a portion of the circular
outline of the neck of the stCipa could be discerned. Close
to the west side of this great mass of ruin, there was a slight,
narrow depression; and again immediately to the west of
that, the mound rose again, presenting a flattish top with an
oblong outline. As it appeared to me likely to be the ruins
of an oblong-shaped building, and as I was actually in search
of the great Buddhist temple containing the famous colossal
statue of the NirvAna of Buddha, it struck me that I might
possibly have the good fortune here to hit upon some re¬
mains of the famous statue. I then ordered a shaft to be
sunk in the centre of this mouncl. After digging to the
depth of about io feet, 1 came upon what appeared to be
the upper part of the legs of a colossal recumbent statue of
stone, but which had apparently been repaired with plaster,
f then hurried on the excavations, until I had uncovered the
entire length of a colossal recumbent statue of Buddha, lying
in a chamber which was about 30 feet in length by nearly
12 feet in breadth. The statue was lying on a broken
SinghAsan. But J. found that the statue itself was very much
broken, and that many portions of it were wanting. The
upper part of the left leg, and both feet, and the left hand,
and a portion of the body about the waist, and a portion of
the head and face, were entirely gone • and a portion of the
left arm, which had been lost at some former period, had been
replaced by stucco,* or brick covered with a coating of strong

* I afterwards found all the portions of the left arm, except a piece of the
shoulder and the hand,

VOL, XXII. c

plaster. The right arm and hand were placed under the
head, and the figure was reclining on its right side, with the
face turned towards the west. The stone of which the
statue was formed was sandstone, of a mixed colour, mostly
dark red and clay colour. The total length of the statue
was about 20 feet, and the length of the SinghAsan
about 24 feet. The thickness of the walls of the temple was.
nearly 10 feet, and the dimensions of the temple exteriorly
were about 47 feet 6 inches by 32 feet. But there was, besides,
also an ante-chamber, or entrance chamber, to the west, which
was about 35 feet 6 inches in length by about 15 feet in breadth,
outside, with walls about 5 feet thick; the dimensions of
the interior being 26 feet by 10 feet 6 inches. I next
commenced to repair both the statue and the temple.
When about to commence the repairs of the statue, I dis¬
covered that some fragments of the statue had been built in
under it, into the SinghAsan. I then had the greater portion
of the statue lifted off from the SinghAsan, with great diffi¬
culty,'and commenced to dig down into the SinghAsan, for
the missing fragments of the statue. In this way I recovered
'a great many of the missing portions of the statue ; and I
found that many pieces were buried down under the SinghA¬
san. The fragments which I found ranged in size from
a few inches to several feet. I was thus enabled to res¬
tore most of the statue with its own fragments, but still
several portions were wanting. 1 had, however, found several
rough pieces of stone in the excavations which 1 made in
various parts of the great mound, and 1 fitted these into the
gaps in the statue; and when I fell short of stone, I restored
the remaining portions with a strong compound-like stucco,
composed of a cement formed of various ingredients, among
which was Portland cement, I having been so fortunate
as to obtain a little Portland cement through the kindness of
Mr. Peart, who was then District Engineer of Gorakhpur. I
also entirely repaired, restored, and beautified the SinghA¬
san. There were originally four truncated pillars of stone
(or stone posts), one at each corner of the SinghAsan, but o f
these, only two were found. The sides of the SinghAsan had

SARAN, AND GHAZIPUR. Iq

been formed of slabs of stone, but many of these were want¬
ing, and not more than just enough to complete one side
were found. Affixed to the western side of the Singh&san
I found three small sculptures, displaying three human
figures, each carved in a niche cut into a solid block of stone.
The left-hand figure was that of a woman with long hair, and
stooping or crouching forwards with her hands resting on the
ground. I he right-hand figure might be that of either a
male or a female; and was in a sitting position, with the
head resting on the right, hand, as if in sorrow. The central
figure was that of a man, sitting in a squatting position, with
his back turned towards the spectator, and his face hidden
from view and turned towards the great statue of the Nir¬
vana. On the lower part of the stone of this latter sculp¬
ture, I was so fortunate as to find an inscription, in two lines,
in characters of probably about the second century of the
Christian era. I read this inscription as follows :—•

/.—Deya dharmoyam Mahd Vihdre Swamino Haribalasya.

2. -Pratimdm c hey am ghatitddine Sanghd * Surena.

This I translate as follows:—

“The religious gift, to the Great VMr, of the Lord .Haribal.
The colossal statue (was presented) to the first united Assembly * by
Sura.”

By the above I understand that it was intended to say
that the stone with the small sculpture of the sitting figure
of a man was the pious gift to the Great Vih&r of a noble¬
man named Haribal, but that the colossal statue of the Nir¬
vana of Buddha had been presented to the first united
Assembly by Sura. Now, it is remarkable that a person
called Sura was the presenter of a lion-capital pillar to a
vih&r near the famous stupas of Bhilsa and Sanchi. At
least I gather this from the copy of an inscription which Gene¬
ral Cunningham was so kind as to send me, and which I read

as followsSundare Vihhre SwAmino Sura Siriha-baliputra
rupyA.

In this inscription some of the words are lost; but I con-

* Gha tit udine. Sangha ; to the united first Assembly

■ VOL. XXJI,

REPORT OF TOURS IN GORAKHPUR,

cei've it to mean 'that Sw&mi Sura presented a lion-whelp
sculpture to the Beautiful Vih&r.

After having completed the repairs and restoration of the
statue, I gave it a coating of paint, in order to preserve the
stone ; and I coloured the face, neck, hands, and feet, a yel¬
lowish flesh-colour, and I coloured the drapery white ; and
I also gave a black tint to the hair. Thus I really made the
statue as good and as perfect as ever it was,—-or perhaps
even better than ever it was. I may also further state that 1
myself worked at the restoration of the statue with my own
hands, like any common mason. At the same time that I
was repairing the statue, I also set about repairing the tem¬
ple. When the ruins of the temple were first excavated, the
ruined walls varied in height at various parts fiom 5 to 6 , 7 > 8 ,
and in one place nearly 10 feet, measured from outside; but
their height inside was much less. But the tops and a portion
of the outer sides of the walls being in a broken, shaky, and
bulged condition, many parts had to be taken down and re¬
built. I then next commenced to heighten the walls, and
I raised them all to the height of 12 feet. The walls had a slope
or batter; and the bricks outside, after every three courses,
were built in for about inch with what the native masons
call a khaskiL

The next thing was to roof in the temple. On clearing
out the inside of the temple, I discovered a few bricks, in
situ, of the remains of the spring of the arch of a vault.

The bricks were set on end ; and from the line of curve
which their sloping edges indicated, it was evident that the
arch of the vault had been a pointed one, meeting at. the
height of about 13 feet from the floor. I consequently deter¬
mined to build a pointed arched vault of 12 feet in height. At
one end of the building I also found a few bricks remaining
in situ of an arched window ; and there had evidently been
another window of the same kind at the other end. In the
doorway I also found a few bricks of the spring of an arch, in
situ standing on end. In the outer or front entrance chamber
there had also evidently been a small window at each end.
1 had thus a great vault and five arches to rebuild. Butin

SARAN, AND GHAZIPUR.

the inner doorway of the temple itself, I made an interesting
discovery. In two hollows, one on each side, at the lower part
of the doorway, 1 found the ancient cup-shaped iron pivot
hinges, of the former doors ; and with the hinges, I found some
fragments of black charred wood, which showed that the
doors had been destroyed by fire; and as numerous human
bones and various charred substances were found in the outer
chamber, as well as in both doorways, it was evident that
Buddhism had here been anihilated by fire and sword !

1 must now describe how I built the great vaulted roof
over the temple. It must be borne in mind that I had already
entirely repaired and restored the great statue, before I com¬
menced to build the roof; and therefore an arch or vault of
masonry had to be thrown over the temple, without in any
way injuring the precious statue below ! How this was to be
done was a puzzle to the native masons ; and one head
mason and his men actually ran away out of sheer fright at
the difficulty of the undertaking ! But I at once saw how it
was to be done; and 1 would have undertaken to build an
arched vault, over a shop full of glass and crockery, without
removing or injuring a single fragile article. It only required
a little gumption ! I had already built up the two end gable
walls, to their required curved shape and height, to serve as a
guide for the curve and height of the arch. I then next
covered the statue entirely with a large pall or cloth, and over
that with soft mats. Over all, I placed a cage formed of
mats and bamboos. Then along each side of the interior of
the long walls of the chamber, I built up two rough tempo¬
rary inner walls of brick and clay, 6 feet in height, and about
a foot in thickness. On these, from side to side, I placed a
close flooring of bamboos and mats, at the height of about a
foot above the highest projecting point of the statue and 6
feet, above the floor. I then placed a close series of strong
bamboo ribs on end, on the two rough temporary side wallsq
and made the top ends of the bamboos from each side meet
above, at nearly the height of the required arch, and bound
their points firmly together, and united them to a strong ridge
pole which 1 had placed on the tops of the two gable end

2

REPORT OF TOURS IN GORAKHPUR,

walls, so that it lay lengthwise, from end to end, along the
centre. I then covered this frame-work with a coating of
cow-dung, mixed with soft adhesive clay; and 1 thus foim'ed
a perfect curved mould for the pointed-arched vault. Then 1
set the masons to build the arch of the vault; and when the
arch was sufficiently far advanced, I clinched it with ancient
bricks of an enormous size, as keystones. When the vault was
completed, the next thing was to take out the frame-work of
bamboos, &c. ; and the removal of the whole mass of frame
work was effected, piece by piece, by passing the materials
out through the two arched windows which I had already
previously constructed in the two end walls. After the frame¬
work was removed, I next removed the bricks and clay of
the two temporary supporting side walls, the materials being
carried, bit by bit, out of the doorway. At length, when all
was clear, I uncovered the statue, and found that it was per¬
fectly intact. Not a single bit of anything had fallen on it,
and it had not received the slightest injury of any kind.

As I had found some round moulded bricks in the exca¬
vations, which had evidently formed parts of pinnacles, l
used them for the same purpose ; and I surmounted the roof

of the temple with a row of pinnacles. After this, 1 fixed a

strong iron barred swivel door, in the doorway of the temple;
■aliid j placed an iron railing round the statue j and I also

fixed iron bars in the windows.

I also roofed in the outer front anti-chamber, with a slop¬
ing roof of sil timber and tiles, and I put a wooden door in the
outer doorway of the front chamber.

In the preceding description of my operations, it will be
seen that 1 have stated that I completed the repairs and
restoration of the statue before I built the roof over the tem¬
ple ; or, in other words, 1 built the roof over the temple after
I had repaired and restored the statue.

Now it is possible that if this summary report of my opera¬
tions should happen ever to be read by any engineers, some
over-wise engineer may possibly exclaim, Well, 1 never
heard of such a thing ! What, first restore or reconstruct a
arand Statue, and afterwards build a roof of masonry over

SARAN, AND GHAZIPIJR.

2 3

it ? Why did not the fellow have the common sense first to
build the roof, and afterwards to repair the statue ? ” Well,
then, my answer to this would be an effectual one. Hooly
and fairly, man ! hooly and fairly ! Just wait a wee, and I’ll
tell you all about it. You see the building which I roofed in
was not a dwelling-house, either for you or for me ; but it was
simply a covering for the protection of a grand ancient statue,
of historical interest ; and therefore until there was a statue
to cover and- protect,— or rather until the statue was in such
a condition of perfectness as to make it worth while to protect
and cover over with a roof,— there was no use in roofing in the
old temple at all ! Now I have already previously stated that,
when I first found the statue, it was broken to pieces, and
numerous portions of it were lost and wanting. And therefore,
.when I first set to work to repair the statue, I was in great
doubt as to whether it would be possible to repair it at all ;
and at that time I had no hopes whatever of being able to
restore it to its pristine condition, seeing that the statue was
in a firightfully smashed-up condition, and numerous parts of
it were entirely wanting, and could not at first be found any¬
where, until I made an excavation underneath the pedastal
of the statue, after having had all that then remained of it
lifted off to one side. Consequently, until I had made quite
sure of being able to repair and restore the statue, I was
not going to be such a zany as to build a roof over nothing !
Now, the only way in which I could prove or ascertain whether
the statue could be restored or not, was by fitting and joining
together all the fragments of the statue which I could find ;
and after the statue was all joined and put together, it then of
course became' absolutely necessary to build a proper roof over
it, in order to preserve and protect it! Q. E. D.

But now, again, by those whose policy is retrenchment, it
may perhaps be asked —And did the Government pay for
all this restoration of a musty old Buddhist concern, merely
for the sake of a little archaeological recreation ? I answer,
No ! The Government funds which I had in hand did
NOT prove sufficient for the completion of the whole work of
restoration, in the manner in which I felt that it required to

24

REPORT OF TOURS IN GORAKHPUR,

be completed ; and so, when the Government funds in my
hands ran short, I did not like to ask for any more ; and I
myself supplied the deficiency (or rather the further funds
which I wanted) out of my own salary. On counting the
cost, afterwards, I found that in the course of about three
months, or from June to September, I had spent over R 1,200
out of my own salary, on the completion of the works at
the Matha Kunwar k& Kot. But in this sum must also be
included the cost of some extra excavations which 1 paid for
myself. I need hardly say that this expenditure brought me
into considerable pecuniary difficulty. Yet I felt that it was
necessary.

And finally to all I would say:—Let those who cavil
oome and see the completed work with their own eyes, and
then I shall be satisfied!

Besides the excavation and restoration of the temple and
statue of the Nirv&na, other still more extensive excavations
were carried on in various parts of the great mound of the
M&tM Kunwar k& kot. The greatest excavation of all was
made in clearing and laying bare to its foundations the great
stupa close to the back or east side of the temple. When
first I arrived at the MAth 4 Kunwar, the whole mound was
covered with a dense thorny jangal; and towards the east
end, a compact mass of debris of broken brick and earth rose
to the height of about 40 feet, above the plain. Nothing in
the shape of ruins was visible anywhere, except a high point¬
ed, rugged, perpendicular pile of brick, on the top of all
which I afterwards found was the remnant of a portion of
the central core of the former dome of a sttlpa. At the foot
of this pile, on the northern and southern sides, some slight
excavations had been made by some former civil officers,
which exposed, on two sides, a small portion of the circular
outline of the neck of the stupa. But everywhere else, a solid
mound of debris reached completely up to the foot of .the
ra gged pinnacle of brick on the top. The depth of the exca¬
vation which I made on the east side, in order to reach the
original foundations of the base, or lower plinth, of the stupa,
was about 30 feet, and reached to below the level of the

SARAN, AND GHAZIPUR.

25

fields. I found that what had remained of the sthpa, buried
below the upper ragged pinnacle of brick, was a circular
tower, now about 12, but originally about 14 feet in height,
and about 180 feet in circumference. I next found that this
circular tower stood upon a square plinth, the east side of
which measured about 85 feet in length; and the height of
this plinth, on the south side, was about 4 feet 2 inches. This
plinth stands upon another lower plinth, or basement, the east
side of which measured 92 feet in length, with a height of
about 4 feet 6 inches to 5 feet from the former level of the
ground, which is below the present level of the fields. This
gives a total height of about 21 feet, to what still remains of
the stupa, in a pretty perfect condition. (These are the
measurements of the height of the plinth on the southern
side; but on the northern side, I found the upper plinth to
be about 5 feet 6 inches in height, and the lower plinth
about 4 feet in height.) Above and on the top of this
height of about 21 feet, there was a sloping pile of ruins,
which might be from 8 to 12 feet in perpendicular height,
varying according to the point at which it was measured.
Above this, there rose a high, rugged, pointed, perpendicular
pile of brick, which was about 23 feet in height. This would
give a grand total of about 54 or 55 feet in height. General
Cunningham calculated the total height of the top of this
ruin, from the plain, to be about. 58 feet; but, as has been
seen, I could not make out more .than about 55 feet of height.

I had however to clear off, or diminish, some part of the
top of the upper pile of ruin, in order to lessen the top weight,
as it overhung, or leaned, slightly towards the temple, and I
was afraid of its falling on it.

The circular tower or neck of the stdpa stands at the dis-.
tance of only 13 feet to the east of the back wall of the
temple.

The plinth of the stftpa is carried on, westwards, to the
north and south of the temple; and the temple in reality
stands upon the same plinth as the circular tower of the
stupa. The original total length of the grand plinth, from
east to west, was.thus probably about 150 feet; the breadth

26 REPORT OF TOURS IN GORAKHPUR,

of the plinth, at its base, from north to south, being about
92 feet.

But the temple which I repaired was not the original
temple ; for the present temple was closely surrounded^ on
three sides, by the ruined remains of an ancient wall, which
extended to within 6 feet of the back of the present temple,
while it extended about 10 feet beyond the front of the pre¬
sent temple. The exterior outline of this low-ruined wall of
the ancient temple presented a series of horizontal step-like
ins and outs, the four corners being thus frittered off by a
series of angular recessions'. The dimensions of the ancient
temple would appear to have been about 85 feet from north to
south, by about 52 feet from east to west. There were
ancient steps running down from the west side of the base of
the ancient temple. These ancient steps were lower than,
and about 10 feet distant to, the west of the steps of the
present temple; and the ancient step probably originally
reached dowm to the same level as the base of the lower
plinth of the stftpa.

Close adjoining to the east side of the base of the lower
plinth of the stupa, I excavated a row of. small stupas, five in
number, and which were of various diameters, namely, 8 feet
4 inches, 7 feet 8 inches, 9 feet, 6 feet, and 3 feet To inches.
I also found another small stupa, 6 feet in diameter, and in a
very perfect condition, adjoining the south side of the base¬
ment of the great stupa. But in the course of my general
excavations, I found a numerous assemblage of small brick
stupas, scattered over the eastern half of the great mound.

At the north-east corner of the lower plinth or basement
of the great stupa, down at the very foundation of the build¬
ing, and at the lowest point or greatest depth reached in the
excavations, I found a red terra-cotta figure of Buddha,
standing with his right hand raised in the attitude of teaching.
The figure had lost the head ; but I afterwards found the head
among the earth a short distance off. When the head
was fixed on, I found that the whole height of the figure
was 2 feet 2 inches. In the excavation to the east of the
stupa 1 found a metal bell, with a portion of a thin iron rod

SARAN, AND GHAZIPUR.

attached to it ; and I also found a fragment of another bell,
and three more iron rods to which bells had been attached!
The inference which 1 drew from this was that a row of bells
had been attached to the rim of the stone umbrella which
surmounted the stupa, I also found, in the same place, a
four-armed figure of Ganesh, in dark greenish-blue stone,
which measured i foot 8 inches in height. I should also
mention that I found a small sitting figure of Maya Devi, in
dark greenish stone, embedded in the inside of the wall of
the front ante-chamber of the temple. I also found a broken
figure of Vishnu in the ruins of a building which I excavated
on the south side of the great mound. I had all these sculp¬
tures carefully fixed inside the temple.

But the most interesting of the small sculptures which
I found in the course of excavation, were two fragments of
the ornamental side stone, or encircling stone, or canopy, of
a small statue, which, from a portion of an inscription still
remaining on the back of one of the fragments/would appear
to have been a statue of Sariputra, who was one of the most
famous and respected of the disciples or followers of Buddha.
The fragment contained only the right half of the inscrip¬
tion, which I propose to read as follows :—

......(te) Sanyuvacha tesaifa cha yo mrocM..Sanggha SUri-

putrasya.

The two fragments of sculpture referred to above, evi¬
dently formed the top and a portion of the left side of the
ornamental encircling stone, or canopy, of a small statue.
The top piece displays a small sculpture of the Nirvana of
Buddha, 2\ inches in length. It shows Buddha lying on
his light side, on a couch, exactly as in the great statue
in the temple. On the other fragment, there were two sculp¬
tures ; one showing Buddha sitting cross-legged, and the
other, below it, showing Buddha, standing in the attitude
of teaching; but the upper sitting figure had been broken
oft at the waist. In the same excavation I also found a
small plate of copper, about 4-| inches in length, by about
an inch in width, with the Buddhist profession of belief in¬
scribed on it, in three lines, in characters of probably about

REPORT OF TOURS IN GORAKHPUR,

the fifth century of the Christian era. I read the inscrip¬
tion as follows:—

Ye dharmma hetu prabbavH hetu teshctiii I ath3.gat3.hya vadata
teshS.ncha yo niroclha evarii v&dt Mah3 Sramanah.

At the back of the temple I also found upwards of twenty
terra-cotta or burnt clay seals, with the Buddhist profession
of faith impressed upon them, in characters of a later period.
The largest of these seals had also three stfipas represented
on it, in bold relief.

I also made a partial excavation on the central highest
part of the mound, to the west of the temple; and I uncover¬
ed a portion of the walls of some chambers, which appeared
to have belonged to a monastery. And I also uncovered a
portion of a pavement, and a drain or water channel, running
through between the buildings.

I also discovered an ancient well, at the depth of about
10 or 12 feet below the surface of the mound, at the distance
of about 60 feet to the west of the temple. 1 cleared out
this well, and repaired it, and built up the sides of it to a
level with the top surface of the mound. This ancient well
was originally square below, terminating in a slightly circular
shape at the top. There is now good water in the well, and
people draw water from it.

According to Huen Thsang’s account, there was also a
lofty stone pillar standing near or close to either the temple,
or vihAra, or the great stupa, of the Nirvdna ; and on this
pillar there was an inscription which recounted the cir¬
cumstances of the Nirvana of Tath&gata (Buddha), But as
Huen Thsang says that —mats on n’y d pas ecrit le jour
ni le mots de cet evenement (but they have not written
there either the day or the month of this event), the
inscription could not have been of any historical value in set¬
tling the true date of the death of Buddha. I searched
everywhere for this pillar in the course of my excavations,
but I could not find any trace of it. But as my excavation
to the south side of the great stupa was somewhat less ex¬
tensive than on the other sides, it is just barely possible that
the pillar may still be lying buried under the earth and

SARAN, AND GHAZIPUR. 29

debris, at some short distance off to the south of the great
stApa; but in that case the pillar must have been situated
at a greater distance from the stftpa than would appear from
the description of Huen Thsang. For immediately after his
description of the stApa Huen Thsang says that —On d
eleve en face une colonne en pierre , &c. (They have
raised a pillar of stone in the face thereof,) It is difficult
to say what side Huen Thsang meant by the face; but
I can certify that no pillar could be found anywhere adjoining
the stApa,

jo, Pdwd .—After having completed my work at the MAthA
Kunwar or Kusinagara, the next object which I had in view
was to make investigations regarding the true site of an an¬
cient town called PAwA, at or near which Buddha is said to
have rested and drunk water and bathed, before proceeding
on to Kusinagara on his last journey, the course of which
was from VaisAli or Besarh to Kusinagara. At PAwA
there was a great stApa in which one of the original eight
portions of the relics of Buddha was enshrined. In the
Ceylonese Buddhist chronicles, PAwA is said to have been
situated at the distance of about 12 miles from Kusina¬
gara, in the direction of the Gandak River, that is some¬
where to the east of Kusinagara and on the old road or
track which people travelled between Vaisali and Kusina¬
gara.

Now, some years ago, General Cunningham proposed to
identify PAwA with the well-known large village of Padraona
or Paraona, which is situated at the distance of 12 miles
to the north-north-east-half-north from Kasya, or 13 miles
from the actual ruins of Kusinagara. But this 13 miles from
the actual ruins of Kusinagara is only the direct distance,
in a straight line as measured on the map ; while the actual
travelling distance, even with the improved roads of the pre¬
sent day, is 7 kos, or 14 miles. Now it will be generally
allowed that the travelling distance in ancient times could
not possibly have been less than the direct distance, in a
straight line, as measured on the map at the present time.
Consequently, if the travelling distance to PAwA in ancient

30

REPORT OF TOURS IN GORAKHPUR,

times was only 12 miles, when there were no proper roads,
but much jangal and water intervening, it is utterly impossi¬
ble that the direct distance, when measured in a straight
line on the map, could be 13 miles ! This is, however, only
one of the objections which I have to bring forward against
the possibility of Padraona being identified with Pawh.

The second and much stronger objection which I have to
make, is the position of Padraona as being far too far north and
totally out of the way of the route from Vaisali to Kusinagara.
The direction of the position of Vaisali, or Besarh, from
Kusinagara, or Kasya, is south-east ; and therefore if P 4 w&
was met with on the road in coming from Vaisali to Kusi¬
nagara, P<LwcL would probably be somewhere to the south-east
of Kusinagara, a probability which becomes still more evi¬
dent, nay even absolutely certain, from the fact that bo,th
Buddha himself, and afterwards also his chief disciple Ka-
syapa, passed through Pawa on their way from Magadha and
Vaisali to Kusinagara. It is evident, therefore, that we must
look somewhere to the south-east of Kusinagara for the posi¬
tion of P&w£.

Now if the travelling distance or distance by a winding
track, from P&wftto Kusinagara, in ancient times, was 12 miles,
it is probable that the actual direct distance, if measured in a
straight line, would be only about 10 miles; and I have
already shown that the direction from Kusinagara must have
been about south-east. In accordance with these deductions,
I find that, at the distance of about 10 miles to the south¬
east from the ruins of Kusinagara, there are the ruins of an
ancient city at a place called Chetiyaon (the Suthyaoon
of the maps), and that there is also the ruin of a large stupa
at a place called Fftjila or F&zilnagar, only half a mile to
the north-east of Chetiyaon, there being also the remains of
other extensive ruins near the stupa, which evidently origin¬
ally formed simply one portion of the same ancient city of
which Chetiyaon formed another portion, there being merely
a narrow belt of marshy land between the two ancient sites.
Close or about a quarter of a mile to the north-east of the
ruined stupa there is the bed of an ancient river, which is

SARAN, AND GHAZIPUR.

31'

now called the Sonua or Sunawa, or Sonarra Nadi; but
at some part of its course further south it would seem
to take the name of Kukti $ for at the distance of about
19 miles to the south of Chetiyaon, I find that there is a ghAt,
or ferry, called KtiM GhAti; and along the bank of the
same river, we also find such names as Karkulaha and
Khurhuria and Kuteya. Now according to the Ceylonese
and Burmese Buddhist chronicles, the river near PAwA, at
which Buddha stoped to bathe and drink, was called KukutthA
or KakukhA. But in these chronicles this river is said to
have flowed between PAwA and Kusinagara. Now about i|-
mile to the west of Chetiyaon, there is another ancient river
bed, which is called Anhea, but sometimes also Sonea or
Sonawa. The name of this river be^l called Anheya, or
Anhea, may be connected with the Hindi anhdnd, to bathe,
and anhdn bathing, which latter is synonymous with the
Sanskrit asndn, and therefore the Anhea or Anheya Nala may
be the very river at which Buddha bathed! About 2 miles
to the west of the Anhea Nala there is another river called
the GhAgi Nadi.

But all these three river beds,—the Sonawa or Sonarra,
the Anhea, and the GhAgi, are all simply branches of one
river which rises some distance to the north ; and therefore,
in order to trace their origin, we must begin from their source.
About 10 miles to the north-west of Padraona, and about
25 miles to the north-north-west of Chetiyaon, there is a
large village called Singh A, and about a mile to the west of
SinghA, there is a long lake, or jhil, of considerable size.
From this lake a stream takes its rise which is the common
source of the GhAgi, the Anhea, and the Sonarra or Sonawa
Rivers. This stream runs, to the east of the BAndi Nadi, and
to the west of the Jharehi River, that is, it runs south-
eastwards between the two. From the SinghA lake, this
stream or nala runs in a south-easterly direction, and passes
half way between Padraona and Ramkola. It then turns east-
south-eastwards, and passes close by the south-west corner
of the Padraona TahsildAri, or Chaoni, and about 1-} mile to
the south-west of the old village of Padraona; and it then

32 REPORT OF TOURS IN GORAKHPUR,

crosses the road which runs from Padraona to Kasya, at a
village called Balochaha. From this point, the nala or river-bed
runs in a south-south-easterly direction, for about 4 miles, until
it reaches a place called Gangarani, where it passes through
a small lake, which is turned into a tank, or kund. About
2 miles to the south of GangarAni, there is a place called
MaharAni; and here the river divides or splits off into two
branches,—one of which, which runs to the south-south¬
east, is called the Sonarra, or Sonawa Nadi—-and the other
branch, which runs to the south-south-west, is called the
GhAgi Nadi. The Sonarra, or eastern branch, runs even¬
tually past the great ruined stupa at Fajila, about J mile
to the east of it. The GhAgi, or western branch, runs
southwards from MaharAni, for about 4 miles, to a place
called Sftnadia, or Sunadya (misspelt Soondia in the
maps). At Sunadya, the GhAgi River again divides, or
splits off, into two more branches, of which the lesser branch,
which flows towards the south-south-east, is called the An¬
hea, and the other and greater branch, which flows at first
towards the south-west, and then turns southwards, still retains
the name of the GhAgi Nadi. The GhAgi River is after¬
wards joined by the BAndi Nala from the west, just before
it crosses the road which runs from Kasya to FAzilnagar.
But the Anhea, after a long winding detour, again rejoins
the GhAgi, at a point about 11 miles to the south from
Sunadya, and about 5 miles to the south of the road which
runs from Kasya to FAzilnagar. And at this same point,
exactly opposite to the rejunction of the Anhea and GhAgi
Rivers, the GhAgi is also here joined, on its west side, by
two other water-courses, namely, first, by an ancient river¬
bed, or nala, which comes down from the north, and which ,
comes out of the southern end of the RAmAbhAr Jhil, near
the ruins of Kusinagara; and secondly, by the Khanua
Nala, which comes in from the north-west, and which had
previously come down close past the west side of Anrudhwa.
Below', or to the south of, the triple junction, which is called
a triveni, the single united river appears to take the name
of the Khanua. At the distance of about 9 miles to the

SARAN, AND GHAZIPUR.

33

south-east of this point, the river is joined, on its east side, by
the Sonarra River, which, as I before stated, had passed
down to the east of the ruined stupa near Fazila or F&zil-
rlagar, and which, as we before saw, originally broke off from
the Gh&gi River, at Maharani, about 10 miles to the north
of Fazila and Chetiyaon. Below, or to the south of this last
junction, the united river appears to assume the name of the
Sonarra until it is joined, on the east side, about 10 miles
further to the south, by a small stream called the Raota
Nadi, after which the river appears to get the name of
Kuku, as at Kuku Gh&ti. And this last name (or some
similar name) it appears to retain, until it is joined, about 6
miles further south, by the Chota Gandak River, which comes
in from the west, at a point a little to the north-east of a place
called Bhatni.

Now I have shown that the Gh&gi River, with its afflu¬
ents, is the largest and most important river, to the west of
Chetiyaon, or between Kasya and Chetiyaon, and that the
Gh4gi is only the latest, the most westerly, and the most con¬
siderable, channel of an ancient river, the intermediate and
older channel of which is the Anhea Nadi, and the most
ancient and. most easterly channel of which is the Sonarra
or Sonawa Nadi. It is therefore worthwhile to enquire
what is the meaning of this name Gh&gi. From all the
enquiries that I have been able to make, it would appear
that Gh&gi Nadi would mean the fowl river! Gh&gas in
Hindi means a large fowl, or a cock of a large kind, and
Gh&ga and Gh&gi would appear to be sometimes used
to mean a cock and hen of the larger kind of gallinaceous
fowls. Now, Kukkuta, in Sanskrit, means a cock ; and
therefore Gbdgi Nadi and Kukkuta Nadi would be al¬
most synonymous names. And I have already stated that
in the Ceylonese Buddhist chronicles, the river which flowed
between P 4 w& and Kusinagara is called the Kukuttha
River. There is also another curious fact which is worth
noting, and that is, that close to the west bank of the
Ghagi River, a short distance to the north of the road,
and just where the B 4 ndi Nala joins the Gh&gi Nadi, there

VOL, XXII. D

34

REPORT OF TOURS IN GORAKHPUR,

is a village called Kukkur-pAti, near a small tributary
nala, which is called the KhauA or KahuA Nala. I
therefore believe that the Gh&gi Nadi is the same as the
KukkutthA River of the Ceylonese Buddhist chronicles.
But, at the same time, I also believe that the actual river at
which Buddha bathed, was the old bed of the GhAgi, which
is now called the Anhei, and I have already explained that
the name AnheA is most probably derived from the
Hindi ahdnd, to bathe ; and that anhdn (bathing) is the same
as the Sanskrit asndn.

I have already stated that the principal or most extensive
mound of ruins, which I have identified as part of the
ancient city of PAwA, is called Chetiyaon Dih, on which
there is also a village called Chetiyaon. Now I believe this
name Chetiyaon to be derived from the word Chaitya,
meaning a Buddhist temple ; and therefore Chetiyaon may be
a corruption of Chaitya-vana, meaning the Chaitya-grove.
And it is remarkable that Chetiyaon Dih is still covered with
a dense forest.

With regard to the name of PAwA I think it may be
‘derived from the Sanskrit pAwan, meaning purification,
and also holy, pure, sacred. Close to the west of Cheti¬
yaon, there is a village called Patkaoli, which might per¬
haps be connected with the name of PAwA. In the Tibetan
Buddhist chronicles, PAwA is called Dig-pachan. Now I
find that the Tibetan word pachan means town, or place, or
residence, or habitation • and I believe that the Tibetan word
dig means pure, holy, hallowed; and therefore the Tibetan
Dig-pachan might correspond to a Sanskrit PAwan-pur, or
PAwannagara, or Pawan-alaya,—literally place of purifica¬
tion.

I have not here given any particular description nor the
result of my survey of the ruins at Chetiyaon, or of the
ruined stupa near it, at Fajila, as I intend to reserve all
such particulars for my regular special Report. But the
site of ancient PAwa includes a large circle of mounds
and ruins, within a radius of 3 miles from Chetiyaon as a
centre.

SARAN, AND GHAZIPUR. 35

The whole of these ruined sites may be enumerated as
follows:—

1. The ruined stftpa, &c., at Fajila.

2. Chetiyaon Dih.

3. Asmanpur Dih, south.

4. Dhanaha, south-west.

5. Nandwa, west-south-west.

6. Patkaoli and Sareya, west.

7. Gangi Tikar, north.

8. Karmaini, north-east.

9. Jharmatiya, east-north-east.

10. Mound between Patharwa, Ahladpur and Sidhaoli,

east.

11. Mound at Mir Bih&r, east-south-east.

12. Banbera, south-east.

11. Laoriya Naonadgarh .—From Chetiyaon, in the
beginning of the month of December, I proceeded towards
the Gandak River, or Naraini, as it is more generally called ;
and I crossed the river at the Pipra Ghat, and then pro¬
ceeded thence northwards to Laoriya Naonadgarh.

36 REPORT OF TOURS IN GORAKHPUR,

REPORT OF OPERATIONS DURING THE SEASON OF

1877 - 78 .

12. Mounds near Lauriya .—General Cunningham had
already visited and made a survey of this place some years
before; and I merely went there, by his instructions, in order
to excavate some of the great mounds there, which he had
not excavated. Of these mounds I excavated three; but
as General Cunningham has already fully described these
mounds, as well as the whole place, and therefore it would
be totally superfluous for me to describe them again, I shall
consequently confine myself to my own personal operations,
observations, and discoveries.

The first of the great mounds at Laoriya which I com¬
menced to excavate, was one in the range which runs east
and west, and about 45 feet in height, which is marked
E in General Cunningham’s report. After having ascer¬
tained the exact centre of the mound, I commenced at the
top, exactly over the centre, intending to excavate downwards
and also outwards towards the west; and I also commenced
an excavation at the foot of the west side, in order to meet
the excavation from the top. I had not gone very far in my
excavation at the foot of the west side of the mound, until I
met with an ancient brick wall, which sloped very much
inwards, on its outer side, with a batter ; and at the foot of
the wall, at the depth of about 4 feet below the surface of
the sloping or rising ground, I came upon a narrow pavement
or terrace of brick, about 3 or 4 feet in breadth more
or less, at an average; and outside and below that, or beyond
it to the west, at the further depth of from i-| feet
to 2| feet, I came upon another pavement, the extent
of which I could not ascertain, but which appeared to
extend westwards, down under the level of the adjoining
field which was under cultivation. The upper narrow pave¬
ment, or terrace, was perhaps about even with, or a little
below, the lowest level of the surrounding fields ; but the lower

SARAN, AND GHA 7 .IPUR. 37

pavement lay considerably below the level of the fields,—
probably about 3 feet below the general level. The
sloping wall, which rose from the upper narrow pavement or
terrace, was about 5 feet in height at one part, and ap¬
parently about 5 feet in thickness at its base. But by
scraping into the sides of the mound at its foot, at various
points, I found that the remains of this wall varied in height,
being sometimes less and sometimes more than the height
I have given ; and in one place it was entirely gone,—espe¬
cially on the right or south side of my excavation,-—where
the villagers had taken away the bricks year after year. I
found that this wall had a curve horizontally, as well as a
slope or batter inwards ; and that it was evidently the remains
of a circular wall which had encircled the whole mound;
and from its sloping inwards with a batter, and varying in
height irregularly, just as more or less of its ruins remained,
it also became evident to me that it was simply the remnant
of an outer casing of brick masonry, which had originally
covered or encased the whole mound; and that therefore it
must originally have been a stfipa which was composed of
earth interiorly, and covered over with a brick casing ex¬
teriorly. And I may remark that I have found that this
must also have been the case with several other stfipas of the
most ancient kind, which I have come across in various
places. For no doubt the earliest stupas were simply earthen
barrows: the next, a little less ancient, earthen mounds,
encased with brick exteriorly : and the third, or still later
sort, solid mounds composed of brick entirely. As therefore
this particular mound at Laoriya was covered with fragments
of brick, on the sloping surface of its sides, from top to bottom,
it is evident that the scattered bricks on its surface were
simply all that remained of the debris of the upper part of
the outer brick casing, which had been gradually removed,
in the course of ages, by successive generations of the
inhabitants. But from the direction of the angle of the
slope of what still actually remained of the brick casing in
situ at the foot of the mound, it also became evident to me
that the original stftpa, when perfect with its outer brick

38 REPORT OF TOURS IN GORAKHPUR,

casing, must have been much higher than 45 feet ; and
I calculated that its original height could not have been less
than about 60 feet.

As the mounds in the principal range which runs from
north to south, two of which are the highest of all the
mounds at Laoriya, are entirely composed of earth, or clay
only without any vestige of brick whatever, it is clear (in
accordance with ray previous argument) that they must be
more ancient than, or prior in date to, the mounds in the
range which runs from east to west, all of which are more or
less covered with fragments of brick, which latter, as I have
previously explained, I believe to be the debris left from a
former outer casing of brick masonry.

But now I must return again to finish my account of the
excavation of the brick-covered mound marked E in General
Cunningham’s Report. As I have said, P excavated the
mound down from the centre of the top, as well as inwards
from the foot of its western side. The width of the cutting
of the excavation which I made was about 12 feet, ot a
little more than that in some places. When the excavation
ftom the top had met the excavation from the side, I then
carried the excavation, in the inner half of it only, to a con¬
siderable depth, and to below the level of the fields outside,
until I came to wet clay, and found that I was evidently
reaching water, after which I gave up excavating. Indeed,

I had already received a practical and significant warning
that it was not safe to prosecute the excavation any further ;
for one night when the workmen were of course, and happily,
absent, a great part of the northern side of the excavation
fell in, with a tremendous crash and rumble. I then was so
foolhardy as to have all the earth which had fallen in carried
out, and the place cleared for work again ; and I commenced
to continue the excavation again to a greater depth. But a
few days afterwards, when the workmen were fortunately at
their dinner, in a mango grove, at some distance from the
place, nearly the whole of the northern side of the excava¬
tion fell in, with a tremendous roar like thunder, and made
the ground around vibrate with the concussion. This settled

SARAN, AND GHAZIPUR. 39

the matter ! The Yakshas of the Chetiy&ni of the Vrijis
were evidently in league against me; and so I had perforce
to give the matter up.

The extent and danger of this excavation may be
realised when I state that, above the further inner end and
lowest part, of an inwardly descending excavation, affording
only a long narrow passage a little over 12 feet in width,
there rose a perpendicular wall of earth about 55 feet
in height, ready to fall upon the men at work below at a
moment’s notice, without any possibility of their having
either the time or the means of escaping.

ft may now naturally be asked—what I found, after all
this tremendous excavation? Did I find the gigantic bones
of a Vriji king, sepulted in an iron or leaden sarcophagus ?
or what? Alas! then, lam sorry to have to confess that
I found nothing, or next to nothing! Yet, not altogether
nothing, either ; as I at least found signs and traces sufficient
to lead me to the conclusion that this great mound was a
monument of human sepulture ; but that it was not the tomb
of any one individual in particular, but rather a pile gradually
accumulated layer by layer, and containing the scattered
ashes of many individuals, perhaps those of a whole family
or generation.

In the course of gradually excavating the mound down¬
wards from the top, I came at first upon a few masses or
accumulations of brick here and there. Below that, I came
to somewhat yellowish earth, or a mixture of sand and clay.
Below that, I came to earth or clay of a slightly different
colour, and harder and stiffer to dig; though the earth on the
north side of the cutting was from the first much more loose
and sandy, which was probably the cause of that side only
eventually falling in. Below the former, I came to earth
which contained here and there a few scattered fragments
of pottery. Below the last, I began rather more frequently
to meet with fragments of pottery, with occasionally also a
little ash (perhaps bone ash), and a few pieces of charcoal,
mixed with the earth. Below that, I met with somewhat
larger and thicker fragments of pottery, and also some decided

REPORT OF TOURS IN GORAKHPUR,

4 0

bone ash in small quantities, and a few fragments of bone,
though the last were very few and scattered. From this,
downwards, I continued to meet with much the same ; though,
strange to say, in one place I found some flakes of something
very like plaster! At length I came to stronger, or harder
and stiffer, layers of clay, of a darker colour, containing here
and there some loose ashy accumulations of a lighter or
greyish colour; and here also I found some veritable frag¬
ments of bone, grey ashes, some pieces of charcoal, and
fragments of thick coarse ancient pottery ; and also a very
few particles of iron totally dissolved with corrosion. But I
could not find any trace of either a grave, or a cist, or a
coffin ; nor of any one single, or special, entire sepulture;
nor anything like a human skeleton, either whole or in part.
In short, while it is very possible or even probable, that this
great mound may have been the receptacle of the scattered
ashes of many, it most certainly was not the tomb of any
one person ; and therefore the height of the mound was no
index whatever of the dignity of any one individual whose
ashes might be interred beneath it; but the height of this
mound, and of all such mounds, probably rather depended
upon, or resulted from, the number of the interments which
were made in it ! I might, indeed, have suspected that this
would turn out to be the case, from the experience which I
derived, or rather the results which I obtained, from opening
a comparatively small sepulchral mound, near Deosa, in
Rajputana, and which (as will be seen from my Report on
that place) contained the bone ashes and funeral urns of
numerous individuals in several separate and successive
deposits.

Now when the cutting of the excavation in the great Ifao-
riya mound had reached down to the depth of about 30
feetj—and afterwards, again when the cutting had reached a
depth of about 40 feet,—I went purposely to view and
examine, and scrutinise most narrowly, the fresh sections thus
exposed to view; and when I looked up at the lofty cliff-
like perpendicular wall of earth towering up before me, 1
could plainly discern that the earthy materials of which the

SARAN, AND GHAZIPUR. 41

mound was composed, were not homogeneous, but that the
mound was really composed of successive horizontal layers
of earth, one above the other, and varying or differing from
one another in their shades of colour. The lines of demar¬
cation, between the layers, thus caused by the difference in
the shades of colour of the various layers, were very distinct
when the cutting was fresh. But after the perpendicular
surface of the cutting had been for some time exposed to the
weather, and also to several heavy storms of wind and rain,
succeeded by scorching heat, the lines of demarcation
between the various superimposed layers of earth, of course,
naturally enough, became much less distinct, and even much
faded. But nevertheless there they were ! They still existed
in reality, and practically, in the body of the mound ; and
any new or fresh cutting would show them again, just as dis¬
tinct as before. These different and successive various-
coloured layers off earth varied in thickness from about a
foot to about feet, and in some cases 2 feet or more.

At first I was inclined to account for the formation of
these regular, wonderfully uniform, and perfectly horizontal
layers of earth, differing from one another in their shades of
colour,—and also in their quality and in their comparative
and varying solidity or looseness of substance,—by suppos¬
ing that each separate layer might have been composed of
a forced contribution of earth, obtained from the inhabitants
of some one particular district,—or, in other words, that the
several layers were composed, respectively, of contributions
of earth obtained from just so many several different dis¬
tricts,—at the command of some paramount monarch; and
that as the earth derived from one particular district, to
form one layer, would naturally differ, in colour and quality,
from the earth obtained from another and different district,
to form another layer, this would account for the fact of the
layers differing from one another, in their shades of colour
and in their degrees of quality or texture,—or, in short,
in the mineral and chemical substances of which the various
earths were composed. But these conditions would require
that the whole mound should have been constructed all at one

42 REPORT OF TOURS IN GORAKHPUR,

time, and under the directions of one single contemporary
rnasterhand. (And as it took me nearly four months to cut a
mere slice of earth, as it were, out of the side of a mound 45
feet in height, how long, may 1 ask, would it take to bring all
the earth there, and to construct the whole of such a mound ?)
While, on the contrary, as I have shown, two of these
mounds, on excavation, turned out not to be the tomb of any
one particular person at all; but they appeared rather each
to have been places of sepulture for many, or the common
receptacles for the ashes of numerous different individuals;
the various successive interments perhaps extending over a
long period, during which several generations may have
passed away !

Consequently, after inaturer consideration, I am now in¬
clined to think that the various layers of earth of which the
mound was composed, were obtained by scraping off the
alluvial surface soil, up the surrounding plain, at various
and comparatively distant periods of time. And as the plu¬
vial water channels, always changing their courses, would
in various successive years bring down with them various
•kinds of soil, in the formation of the alluvium which the plu¬
vial waters gradually spread over the low flat plain, then
each succeeding generation would find a different coloured
and different kind of surface soil laid down for them, where¬
with to add a new sepulchral layer of earth for the interment
of the ashes of their dead. But as one horizontal layer of
earth, of say about 2 feet in thickness, spread over such a
large surface as that contained within the horizontal circum¬
ference of the mound, at any rate up to half its height, would
contain a great number of interments of the mere ashes of
the dead, it would not be necessary to add another layer
until that layer had become as full of the ashes of the dead
as might be deemed proper. And thus one of these layers
of earth might contain the remains of more than one genera¬
tion, or perhaps those of several; the lowest layers, near
the base of a conical mound, of course having a larger area
than the upper ones, and would therefore contain a greater
quantity of remains ; while the upper layers having a less

SARAN, AND GMAZIPUR.

43

circumference, and being somewhat inconveniently situated
from the height to which people had to ascend to them
would have to be made thicker, in order to contain any great
number of remains, and in order to save the trouble of con¬
structing a new layer until after some years had elapsed.
And this superior thickness of the upper layers I actually
observed in the largest mound which I excavated !

Moreover, this gradual and intermittent surface scraping
theory of mine would also entirely do away with a great
apparent difficulty, which was pointed out by General Cun¬
ningham in his Keport, and which appears to have somewhat
staggered him, namely, the question as to where such an
immense quantity of earth as would be required to construct
even one of these huge mounds at Laoriya, all at once, could
possibly have been obtained from, as General Cunningham
could not find any great hollows in the ground near at hand
from which so much earth could have been excavated, with
the exception only of the beds of two pluvial water-courses
in the neighbourhood. But if we suppose that it was only
necessary, after various considerably long intervals of time,
to scrape off some of the yearly accumulating alluvial surface
soil of the plain, in order to form only one of the successive
layers of the mound, and that it would not be necessary to
collect any more earth to form another layer, for a long
period afterwards, or not until the layer already formed had
become entirely filled up with deposits of the ashes of the
dead of more than one generation, then the supposed diffi¬
culty vanishes entirely!

But as these mounds are all of a conical shape, and have
sloping sides which run up nearly to a point,—or generally,
at least, so far, at any rate, that only a flat top of a very small
diameter is left,—the uppermost area would at length be¬
come too small and circumscribed for purposes of interment;
the flat top would be left as it was; and then this mound
would be given up and forsaken; but in some cases, as
I have shown (but probably only if the community or tribe
could afford it), the mound would afterwards be built over
exteriorly with a casing of brick masonry. Then, after that.

nmsTff

REPORT OF TOURS IN GORAKHPUR

44

another earthen mound would be commenced, in the same gra¬
dual manner, beginning at first with a single layer of earth,
collected together in a circular form ; and probably this
would be done, by preference, either on a spot which was al¬
ready naturally somewhat elevated above the general level of
the plain, or else on apiece of artificially-made ground, which
had been raised and smoothly levelled, in the form of a wide
flat-topped terrace of earth, in order to serve as a good found¬
ation for a row of these sepulchral mounds. And of this
nature appear to be the long terrace-like elevated ridges of
ground on which the great mounds of Laoriya are situated.

The remarks which I have made above, relating to the
mode of the formation of the mound E which I first exca¬
vated, will equally apply, pari passu et passim, to all the
other great mounds at Laoriya,—specially to the largest of
these mounds, which are entirely composed of earth, in the
other range, which runs from north to south,—and in parti¬
cular to another mound, in the last-named range, about 25
feet in height, which I also excavated.

This second mound which I excavated is probably that
.which is marked G in General Cunningham’s Report, in the
middle line which runs from north to south. General Cun¬
ningham estimated the height of the mound marked G at
20 feet; but if this is really the mound which I excavated,
all I can say is that, by actual excavation, I found the real
perpendicular height of the mound at the centre to be about
25 feet from the level of the fields which lay to the east of
the mound. This mound was composed entirely of hard clay
of the usual colour,—that is not white clay, but clay of a
sort of yellowish-brown colour,—that is generally, on the
whole; for in this mound the lines of demarcation of the
successively superimposed horizontal layers of clay were very
sharply and distinctly defined, indeed ; and each layer dif¬
fered somewhat in colour from the others above and below
it. I excavated this mound from the centre of the top down¬
wards, and on the east side from the foot inwards, in the
same manner as the other ; and the further I went down, the
harder and more compact became the layers of clay, until

SARAN, AND GHAZIPUR. 45

at length they became so hard and compact and distinct in
their formation from those above and below them, that great
long pieces or flakes of each layer could be lifted off entire.
Each layer of this clay had evidently been regularly kneaded
and tamped, or beaten down, when in a wet state, until each
layer had become of a consistency almost as hard as layers
of some kind of clay-stone. On the upper surfaces of some of
these tough and compact layers of clay, and particularly on
the lowest layers, there were the marks or indentations of
human feet, which showed that the clay, when in a wet state,
had been firmly beaten down by the agency of human feet.

Scattered throughout various parts of the cutting which
1 made in this mound, but particularly in the lower part of the
excavation, and towards the centre, I found small quantities
of grey ashes, and a few fragments of bone, and bits of char¬
coal, and a very few bits of rude pottery. But 1 could not
find any grave nor any cist, nor any skeleton, nor any separate
distinct interment whatever.

At the inner end of the cutting which I made, where it
reached the centre of the mound, I made a further excavation
to the depth of about io feet below the level of the neigh¬
bouring fields, until I came to deep water, which reached to
the waists of the men who were digging. The total perpen¬
dicular height of th^P^art of the excavation which reached the
centre of the motnpfi was about 35 feet from top to bottom.

The third nppnd which I excavated was a small one,
beyond or to the west of the outer range, and considerably
to the west of the second mound which I excavated. This
small mound may have been about 10 feet in perpendicular
height above the level of the low ground to the west of it.
I excavated this mound in the same manner as the other, and
I carried the excavation down to a considerable depth below
the level of the neighbouring low ground, until I came to
water. The whole depth of this excavation, at the centre,
was nearly 20 feet. This mound was c omposed of thick
layers of earth and clay, impregnated with saline matter
which produced a white efflorescence of salt. I could not
find any remains at all, of any kind, in this mound.

46 REPORT OF TOURS IN GORAKHPUR, #

I also visited the great mound of Naonadgarh, and made
as searching an examination of it as possible. But when
I visited it, it was so densely covered with thick jangahespe¬
cially- on the top of it, that it was almost impossible to make
one’s way through it. A personal examination of this great
mound has filled me with grave doubts as to whether it ever
was a fort at all, as General Cunningham has supposed.
That is to say, the conclusion which I have come to is that
the original purpose of this great mound, when it was first
constructed, was not that of a fort, but rather that of a great
national monument, or something in the nature of Silbury
Hill in England, which is an artificial mound made by the
hands of men. The perpendicular height of the great Silbury
mound is 107 feet, and the diameter of the area on the top
of the mound is 120 feet, while the length of the slope, from
the edge of the top down to the foot, is 316 feet. The per¬
pendicular height of the mound called Naonadgarh is about
80 feet, and the area on the top of it is about 250 feet square.
The great mound of Alyattes, in Asia Minor, is still larger
than Silbury Hill. The great battle mound of Thermopyloe
, follows next in height and bulk after Silbury Hill.

It is true that the great mound called Naonadgarh is
covered with fragments of brick, and there are traces of the
foundations of at least one small brick building on the top of
it. But as several of the genuine and undoubted sepulchral
mounds at Laoriya are also covered with fragments of brick,
and some have even traces of brick walls, the mere presence
of brick alone does not make the Naonadgarh mound a fort.
What I hold is this, that the area on the top of the Naonad¬
garh mound is not sufficient for the purposes of a fortress.
The area would be too small to accommodate even a suffi¬
cient number of men to defend it; and it would be scarcely
sufficient to contain even a respectable sized palace, with all
its belongings.

As a matter of curiosity, I also made an excavation at the
base of the great edict pillar of Asoka, at Laoriya. I carried
the excavation down to the depth of a little over 10 feet, until
I came to a stone platform, or basement, on which the pillar

SARAN, AND GHAZIPUR.

47

stood; and I then found that I could insert the blade of a
knife between the lower butt end of the pillar and the stone
basement on which it rested. At the depth of about 2
feet below the surface of the ground, I found that there was
a narrow rounded edged projection of the stone, encircling
the pillar like a ring. This projection was about 2 inches in
thickness. A little further down, below the projection, there
was the figure of a peacock engraved in the stone; the figure
being about 4 inches in length. As the peacock was the
symbol of the Moriyas and Mayuriyas, I took the figure of a
peacock to be the stamp of Asoka Mauriya, who erected this
pillar.

Down to the circular projection, the pillar was smooth;
but below that, the stone became rough, showing the marks
of the chisel.

The stone basement or foundation on which the pillar
rested, I found to be a square platform, which extended out¬
wards to the distance of about 2 feet beyond the bottom of
the pillar, on four sides. Along the outer edges of this stone
platform, I found some long ancient pieces of S 41 timber
lying embedded close against the stone.

I filled in the excavation again, most carefully ; and placed
blocks of kankar and bricks at the bottom, and then threw
the earth in on the top of them, and I raised up a sloping
mound round the base of the pillar, and covered it with turf.

There had been a bamboo railing constructed round
about the pillar, by some former Collector of the District;
but as it had got into a somewhat dilapidated condition, and
was besides somewhat injured by the diggers, I had an en¬
tirely new and very strong and high fence or railing con¬
structed round the pillar, somewhat on the stockade prin¬
ciple.

1 j. Mounds near the Harhi or ffarhd Nadi and the
Maosohimdkhand Ndla, to the west of Laoriya Naonad-
garh. —At the distance of from 3^ to 6 miles to the west of
Laoriya Naonadgarh, and both along and between two old
river channels called the Harhi or Harhd Nadi and the
upper part of the Maosohimdkhand Ndla, I saw hundreds

48 REPORT OF TOURS IN GORAKHPUR, ,

of small grass-covered mounds, or tumuli, or more properly
barrows, varying from 2^ feet and 3 feet to 5, 6, 7, or
even 8 feet in perpendicular height. If I had had time to
examine the whole of these numerous and widely scattered
barrows, I might possibly have found some as high as 10 feet,
but they more commonly varied between 3 and 5 feet.
These barrows were mostly of a subconical shape, but some
few were shaped like a cup or a bowl turned upside down.
They were scattered here and there over the undulating grassy
plain, literally in scores, if not in hundreds, in the locality which
I have indicated, and, from all I could see, may probably
extend still further, over a considerable tract of country,
amounting to several miles.

As I have previously intimated, the majority of these
mounds are situated near or along the banks of an old river
bed, which divides into two branches to the west of Laoriya ;
the eastern or iarger branch being called the Harhi or HarhA
Nadi, and the western branch being called the Maosohi-
mAkhand Nala. Similarly the great barrows of Laoriya are
situated near the northern bank of the TurkAha NAla, and
. only about two-thirds of a mile to the south of another larger
water channel, the upper or northern portion of which appears
to be called either the Sikrahna or the Mas An Nadi. Now I
believe that there was a purpose in this, which bore reference
to the convenience of water being near at hand for the
ablutions connected with the cremation of corpses ; the crema¬
tion being therefore performed as near as convenient to the
banks of such water channels, and the ashes afterwards
deposited in the mounds close at hand. But if so, it may
be asked why the cremations and the raising of the sepulchral
mounds should not have been done on the banks of the great
Gandak or Naraini River, which flows at a moderate distance
to the west. But the banks of a large river like the Gandak
are liable to be cut away by its encroachments and the
frequent changing of its course during floods; while there
would not be the same danger or objection near the banks of
smaller and more sluggish water-courses, which would only be
thoroughly filled to any considerable extent during the rainy

SARAN, AND GHAZIPUR. 49

season, and yet retain some water (perhaps by the help of
dams) during the rest of the year.

But when I some time afterwards recrossed the Gandak
River westwards by the Manpur Gh&t, I was utterly astonished
to find on the plain to the west of the river, which was bare
of grass but sprinkled with stunted JMu trees, an immense
number of bare conical mounds of earth which had all been
constructed by a large kind of black ant! Shall we therefore,
on such grounds, be so bold as to attribute the other mounds
on the east side of the river to the labours of ants ? Surely
not! Yet the resemblance between the two is curious !

I have no doubt that thetumuli or barrows, both at and in
the neighbourhood of Laoriya Navandgarh, are, as General
Cunningham supposes, the Wajjian ChetiySni, or Chetiyas
of the Vrijis, referred to by Buddha in a conversation with
Ananda, which is quoted from Tumour at page 449 of
Cunningham’s Ancient Geography of India. Therein Buddha
is made to say that the Wajjians, or Vrijis, maintain
respect, reveience, and make offerings to these “ ChetiyAnis.”
General Cunningham further quotes from a Ceylonese
authority an explanation that these Chetiydni were Yakhat-
thdnAni, that is, Yaksha-sthdnas, or places where the Yakshas
were worshipped, who, as the attendants of Kuvera, the god
of riches, were the guardians of his treasures. The same
author further remarks that the chief residence of these
Yakshas was called Alakapura; and that somewhere in the
neighbourhood of the Gandak there was really a city
named Alakappo, inhabited by a people named Balaya,
or Buluka, who obtained a share of Buddha’s relics.*

Now about 5 miles to the west of Laoriya Navandgarh,
there is a place called Ldkher&j, near which there are some
traces of mounds of ruins. And about 5! miles to the north-
north-west half north from Laoriya there is another place also
called L&kher&j (near another place called Deorwa, where
there is a temple). Could either of these places possibly
have been the site of the ancient Alakappo ?

# See u Cunningham’s Ancient Geography of India,” page 450 .

vol. xxn. R

5 °

REPORT OF TOURS IN GORAKHPUR,

I also fancied that in the names of some places in the
neighbourhood, I had discovered some trace of that of the
Balayas or Bulukas. For instance, only about a mile to the
north of the westerly LAkherAj, there is a place called
Balahya (misprinted Bhutuheea for Buluheea, in the
maps) ; and about 4§ miles to the north of that there is
another place called Baluhi (spelt Buloohee in the maps).
There are also several other somewhat similar namesof places in
the neighbourhood, such as BaliyA, Baldiha, and Baluwa, &c. ;
and about x 5 miles to the east-north-east from Laoriya there
is a town called Balthar.

14. jfdnki Kot , or Janki Garh .—The name of this ancient
fort is misspelt Chankee in the maps, but its real name is
JAnki.

The JAnki Kot, or Garh, is an ancient, lofty, but artifici¬
ally elevated fort, situated about 11 miles as the crow
flies, to the north of Laoriya Naonadgarh, but of course in
travelling by the kachcha roads and paths the distance
becomes considerably greater, ft is situated near and to
the west of the ancient road leading to NipAl, from Laoriya
Naonadgarh, Betiya, Kesariya, and Besarh or Vaisali. One of
the many small rivers of the Tarai flows to the north and
east of the foot of the fort. I believe it to be called the
DftngAyi Nadi.

Further up the same river, and about 6 miles to the north¬
west from JAnki, there is a fort, or kot, near a village called
Chikni; but it did not seem to be very old.

The JAnki Fort is situated on elevated ground, and for
this reason 1 believe its summit to be altogether somewhat
higher than that of Navandgarh or Naonadgarh, or probably
about. 90 feet above the low plain surrounding the high
ground. The flat area on the top of Janki Garh is consider¬
ably greater than that on the top of Navandgarh ; and it has
the remains of some ancient buildings on the top of it; and
on the east side there are the remains of a sort of ruined
causeway, or steps, leading up to the top. There are also
ruined remains of fortification walls which once encircled the
top of the fort.

SARAN, AND GHAZIPUR. 5,

Measurements, as usual, were taken of this fort, but I
regret to say that owing to great sickness in my camp (every
one being ill with fever) the measurements were somehow
mislaid or lost, in the confusion of packing up my papers in
haste in order to leave that fever-stricken region.

The natives of that part of the country said that there
was a tradition to the effect that JAnki Garh was of the same
age as and founded by the same ancient people who raised
Navandgarh, who would therefore probably be either the
Vrijis or the Balayas or Bulukas, who may have been a tribe
of the Vriji nation. I myself am ready to believe that, as
far as the earthworks are concerned, they may both be the
work of the ancient Vrijis ; but I think that the buildings of
stone of which there are ruined remains on JAnki Garh may
more probably be attributable to a later age, perhaps consi¬
derably later.

75.. Discovery of a new Edict Pillar of As ok a, at Rdm -
-purwdparsd , in the Tarai, miles to the North of

Betiya. —This newly-discovered edict pillar of Asoka was
found buried in the ground in a slanting position, showing
only a portion of the capital above ground in the Tarai about
36 miles to the east of the upper part of the Gandak River.
The exact position of this pillar is longitude 84° 34' E.,
latitude 27 0 15' 45" N. ; 32! miles to the north of Betiya,’
2o| miles to the north-north-east-half-north from Laoriya
Naonadgarh, io£ miles to the north-north-east from JAnki
Garh, and only 4 miles to the south of the first range of
hills, which are called the Someshwar Range.

The manner in which I came to hear of it was that some
TM.rus, who happened to come down to Laoriya, told me that
in the locality which they frequented to the north in the
Tarai, there was a stone sticking in the ground which they
called Bhim’s LAt, and which they said resembled the
top or capital of the pillar at Laoriya ! I at once sus¬
pected that it might, probably be a portion of a pillar of the
same kind, and might possibly turn out to be an actual edict
pillar of Asoka, perhaps lying partially buried in the ground,
or in rubbish or debris of some kind.

K I

VOL. XXII.

REPORT OF TOURS IN GORAKHPUR,

5 2

Although I had heard that the locality was most un¬
healthy, and a most dangerous place for my native servants
to go to on account of its malarious climate and bad water,

I nevertheless immediately made arrangements for an explor¬
ation of the spot ; and there, sure enough, at the distance of
about 2,240 feet, or less than half a mile, to the west-north¬
west from a village called R 4 mpurw 4 and near the
eastern bank of a small river called the Hariora or Haribora
Nadi, the upper portion, to about 3 feet in length, of the
capital of a pillar, closely resembling that of the Laoriya
one, was found sticking out of the ground in a slanting
position, and pointing towards the north, as if the pillar
had fallen down in a slanting position towards the north, and
had become gradually earthed over with alluvium nearly
up to its top. It no doubt was originally surmounted with
the figure of a lion for a pinnacle, like the pillar at Laoriya;
but that was gone, and could not be found anywhere, and
only the bell-shaped capital remained above ground, and
even that showing only one side.

I immediately had an excavation made in the form of a
long trench running from north to south on each side of
the pillar. The excavation reached the depth of 8 feet
8 inches at the southern end of the trench, where we
came upon water, and the water percolated through the soil
into the trench so fast, that it was not possible to excavate
any deeper. I had however reached the lower part of the
pillar, having exposed about 40 feet of its length, measur¬
ing in a slanting direction from it's top down to that lowest
visible portion of the pillar which was embedded in the ground
at the bottom of the southern end of the trench, and sur¬
rounded by water. The circumference of the lowest part of
the pillar below the inscription measured about 11 feet,
while the circumference near the top was about 8 feet.
At a slanting distance upwards, from the lowest visible part
of the pillar, of about 11 to 12 feet, I found an inscrip¬
tion in two parts on opposite sides of the pillar. The larger
portion of the inscription measured about 4 feet 7 inches
in length along the pillar, and about 4 feet 6 inches

in a transverse direction round the pillar. My men took
impressions of the whole inscription, including both por¬
tions of it, while standing up to their waists in water.
On examining the impressions of the inscription which were
taken, I found that it was in the Lat character, and that it
was simply another version of the same edicts of Asoka which
are inscribed on the pillar of Laoriya Navandgarh. The
inscription on the R 4 mpurwA Pillar presents us with another
example of the use of the letter " L ” everywhere instead of
the letter “ R ” ; there not being a single “ R ” in the whole
inscription from beginning to end, as may be seen from its
commencement, which reads as “ Dev&nain-piye Piyadasi L&ja
hevam Aha.”

I think some means might be taken by Government for
the preservation of this pillar.

To the north, east, and west of the pillar, there are the
remains of some brick ruins buried in the ground, and some
very large ancient bricks were dug out of the soil.

At the distance of about 850 feet to the south of the
pillar, there are two mounds standing about 370 feet apart,
east and west, and there are broken bricks scattered over the
surface of the mounds. The easterly one of the two looked as
if it might be the remains of a stfiipa. About midway between
the two mounds there is the shattered stump of a stone pillar
of some kind standing erect in the ground. This shattered
stump is now only about 6 feet in height, but about 9J feet in
circumference at base.

The Th&rus of the neighbourhood tell a curious and
absurd story to account for the origin of these two mounds,
with the broken pillar standing between them. They say
that Bhima was carrying two loads of earth in a banghy, or in
two baskets, or tokris, suspended by ropes, called sikahar, to
a pole, called bangha, supported across his shoulder, and
that when he reached this spot, the pole broke, and the two
loads of earth consequently fell down on the ground on either
side, and thus formed the two mounds ; while the broken pole
stuck in the ground in the midst, and became petrified, and

54

REPORT OF TOURS IN GORAKHPUR,

thus formed the broken pillar which stands midway between
the two mounds !

After this work was over, all my servants became ill with
Tarai fever, as well as myself also (though in a lesser
degree ) ; and so I was obliged to recross the Gandak west¬
wards, and took up my quarters in a deserted house on the
banks of the “ Jarahi Nadi ” (the name of which literally
means the feverish or agueish river), near Parauna; and
there the whole of my people as well as myself got more and
more fever, and eventually two of my people died, and after¬
wards two more men whom I had employed died also ! This
was enough for a season, certainly !

Before entirely quitting my notice of this last discovered
edict pillar of Asoka, and finally concluding my present
report, I wish to say a few words concerning the fact that
four different pillars of Asoka are now known to be situated
along the line of the old north road which led from
Magadha to Nipal, or from the Ganges opposite PAtaliputra
or Patna, through BesArh or VaisAli, and Kesariya, in a
northern or rather north-north-westerly direction, keeping at
a moderate distance to the east of the Gandak, to the Tarai
and hills of NipAl.

The first of these pillars stands at Bakhra, a short dis¬
tance to the north of BesArh, the ancient. VaisAli. There
is no inscription of Asoka on this pillar, but there can be
no doubt that it was intended to be inscribed.

The second of these pillars is at Laoriya Ara-RAj, 20
miles to the north-west of Kesariya, and 19 miles to the south-
south-east from Betiya. This pillar bears a beautifully perfect
inscription, in two parts, of the edicts of Asoka.

The third pillar stands close to the north-east of the vil¬
lage of Laoriya-navandgarh or Naonadgarh, 15 miles to the
north-north-west of Betiya. This pillar bears a beautifully
perfect inscription, in two parts, of the edicts of Asoka.

The fourth pillar is the fallen and buried pillar discovered
by me close to R&mpurwA, or R 4 mpurwA-ParsA, 21J miles to
the north-north-east-half-north from the pillar at Laoryia
Naonadgarh, or 22$ miles from the village of that name, and

SARAN, AND GHAZIPUR.

55

only 4 miles to the south of the foot of the Sorneshwar Range
of hills. This pillar, as has been seen, also bears a very per¬
fect inscription of the edicts of Asoka.

Now it is evident that the inscriptions on these pillars
were intended to be read by passing travellers and pilgrims
proceeding along the old north road from the Ganges oppo¬
site P&taliputra. to Nip&l. I should therefore expect to find
either another pillar, or else a rock-cut inscription, still fur¬
ther north somewhere in the Nipal Tarai. The RAmpurwa
Pillar is situated exactly on the ancient north road leading
into Nip&l. From thence there are three passes leading
across the second range of hills, called the Sidra Range, into
Nip&l, namely, a western pass, a central one, and an eastern
one. The western pass is called the Churiya Gh&ti. The
central pass is the roughest and most difficult one; it is
called the Thori Gh&ti, and runs along the Khdi Nadi. The
eastern pass is called the Goramasaon or Goramasiwan
Gh&ti. I should expect to find another inscription of Asoka
somewhere in or just beyond one or other of these three
passes through the Sidra Hills in Nipal.

I have above described one of the lines followed by a series
of inscribed edict pillars of Asoka; and I have done so be¬
cause I believe the inscriptions of Asoka to have been pur¬
posely placed, at intervals, along certain different and diver¬
gent ancient travelled lines of road running through the
country, and to have commenced or started from the two
ends of a base line running east and west from P4taliputra
(or Patna) to Kosarnbi near Allahabad.

From the P&taliputra or eastern end, we have one line
running northwards, through Vaisali and the two Laoriyas, to
R 4 mpttrw 4 and the Nipal Hills. From the same starting point,
we have another line running southwards, through Sahasar&m
and Barabar, to R&mgarh in Sirguja; from whence two lines
diverge, the one leading south-south-eastwards to Dhauli and
Jaugada in Orissa, and the other leading southwestwards to
Deotek to the south-east of Nagpur, in the ancient kingdom
of Maha-Kosala.

From the Kosambi or western end of the base line, we

VIQNl *°

(<

REPORT OF TOURS IN GORAKHPUR,

have one line leading south-south-westwards, through Bhar-
hut to Rupnath ; and from thence turning westwards to San-
chi, and running thence through Malwa, till it terminates at
Girn&r, in Kathiawad, the ancient Saurashtra. From the
same starting point, a solitary line runs north-westwards to
BairAt in Alwar, the ancient Matsya. Again from the same
starting point another line runs north-north-westwards, through
Mirat to Kh&lsi, in the ancient kingdom of Srughna; and
from thence north-westwards to Sh&hb&z Garhi in British
Yhsufzai, to the north-east of Pesh 4 war, in the ancient king¬
dom of Udyrina.

The enormous extent of country over which these inscrip¬
tions of Asoka are thus found to be scattered is a proof of the
widely extended power and influence of that great Hindu mon¬
arch of India 1 Yet we cannot flatter ourselves that we have
found anything like all the inscriptions of Asoka which must
once have existed along each of these various divergent lines
which have been pointed out. For, between the various points
on those lines where inscriptions have been found, there is
many a long hiatus where none have as yet been found, and
no doubt many have been destroyed during the lapse of
ages!

I cannot sufficiently regret that severe sickness in my
camp should have compelled me to cut short this tour, as I
had intended to have continued my tour further eastwards,
and to have visited a number of other places and ancient sites.
But from among those places which it had been my intention
to visit, I may select the following for notice, for the inform¬
ation of others:—

1. Dewa Dih, 4! miles to the east-north-east from the

R&mpurw& Pillar.

2. Bui Kot, about 2 miles to the east-south-east from the

R 4 mpurwet Pillar.

3. Bodh Barwa, about 16 miles to the north-north-east

from Laoriya Naonadgarh.

4. A village called J&nki within the Nip&l boundary, 4-I

miles to the east of Bodh Barwa.

5. Tola Budh Katin, Budh Pokhra, within the Nip&l

SARAN, AND GHAZIPUR. 57

border respectively 2 miles and 4 miles to the east-
north-east from Balthar.

6. Uncha Dih, about 11 miles to the north-north-east-half¬

north from Sugaoli.

7. Another Uncha Dih, about 6 miles to the north-north-

east from Sugaoli.

8 . Harewa Barewa, mounds of ruins near village called

Nonaor, nearly 14 miles to the north-east from Moti-
hAri, and 7! to 8 miles to the south of Simraon.

9. Surajpur, 5^ miles to the south of Motih4ri.

10. Madhuban Bindr 4 ban, extensive mounds of ruins, about
10^ miles to the south-east-half-south from Motih4ri.
n; Uncha Dih, about 4 miles to the south-south-west
from Madhuban Bindraban.

12 . B 4 r 4 Shankar, about r7 miles to the east of Motih4ri.

58

REPORT OF TOURS IN GORAKHPUR,

REPORT OF OPERATIONS DURING THE SEASON OF

1.878-79.

16. Concluding notice of the Gorakhpur District.— my
previous report I mentioned that on account of the whole of
my camp being attacked with severe fever owing to the dele¬
terious climate of the Tarai region north-east of the Gandak,
I recrossed the Gandak westwards, and not being able to move
further, I took up my quarters in an empty house near a place
called ShAhpur, on the Jar&hi River, to the east, of Paraona,
where my men, and myself also, got more and more fever, until
some of them died.

I left that place as soon as I was sufficiently recovered to
move, about the end of November. I then revisited the
site of Kusinagara, near Kasya, and made some further ex¬
cavations there, on the M&tha Kuwar ka Kot. Numerous
very small ruined brick stftpas had been uncovered there
during my former excavations in the beginning of the previous
year ; and some of the most ruined of these very small struc¬
tures came in the way of the excavations which I now made,
and had to be removed. At the bottom of the centre of some
of these small stftpas, I found a few small sculptures, or frag¬
ments of sculpture, enshrined. One of these was a sitting
figure of Bhudha in dark bluish coloured stone, i foot 4 inches
in height ; and on the back of the stone there was an inscrip¬
tion in the old Kutila character, consisting of the usual Bud¬
dhist formula, “ Ye Dharmma hetu, ” 8cc.

I excavated and laid bare a further portion, on the south¬
west side, of the great basement or platform of masonry on
which both, the temple and the stftpa of the Nirvana stand.

I also made a deeper and more extensive excavation, to about
from 5 to 8 and 13 feet in depth, round the north-east corner
of the ruined basement of a great monastery on the MAtha
Kuwar ka Kot, situated about 136 feet to the north-west of
the temple of the NirvAna. An excavation of 13 feet in
depth at the north-east corner of this ruined monastery
showed that the wall had been built in exactly the same

SARAN, AND GHAZIPUR.

59

style as that of the temple of the Nirvana, namely, with
a batter, or slope inwards, caused by every third layer of
bricks or so, receding inwards about i|- inches, or what native
masons call a “ khaska.”

In my former report on the Gorakhpur district I omitted
to mention two inscriptions which I obtained. One of these
consisted of two inscribed copper plates constituting one
grant, found at “ GagahA, ” to the west side of the RApti
River, about 21 miles to the south of Gorakhpur, and which I
secured through the kindness of Mr. Lumsden, then Collector
of that district. It is a grant of RAjya Pala, son of
Govinda Chandra Rahtor, king of Kanaoj. The grant is dated
in Samvat. 1199, or A.D. 1142. In the inscription, RAjya
PAla is simply called MahArAja-putra, or son of the king,
so that he was not reigning. It is known that his father
Govinda Chandra was still reigning in A.D. 1162 ; and at
Jaonpur General Cunningham discovered an inscription of his
successor Vijaya Chundra dated in Samvat 1229 or A.D.
1172. If, therefore, RAjya PAla ever reigned at all, it must
have been at some time in the middle of the ten years w'hich
elapsed between A.D. 1 162 and 1172.

In the second line of the first, plate, I read the names of
Yaso-vigraha (the founder of the family), and Mahichan-
dra ( * * * * vAmna, nAmna Yaso-vigraha ityu-dAra.

Tatsuto ubhun-Mahichandra svandra vAmani bhanijam).
In the third line, I read the name of Sri Chundra-devon-
ripa. In the fourth line, I read the words Sri-mad
GAvipurAdhirAjyam. In the eighth line, I read the name
of RAjya Gajonarendra.

From near the middle of the tenth line, and thence on to
past the middle of the thirteenth line of the first plate, I read
as follows : — Sacha parama bhattaraka mahArAjAdhirAja
parameswara paramamaheswara nijiabhujopArjjina, Sri Kan-
yakAbjadhipatya Sri Chandra Deva pAdAnudhyAtA; pa (ra)
mabhattAraka mahArAjAdhirAja parameswara paramamAhes-
wara Sri MadanapAla Deva pAdAnudhyAtA ; paramabhattAraka
mahArAjAdhirAja parameswara paramamAheswarAswapati, gaja-
pati narapati, rAjartayAdhipati ; vidhivardhijyo virAravArasyami

REPORT OF TOURS IN GORAKHPUR.,

(or rasyati ?), Sri Mad-Govinda chandra Deva pAdapadma
sammatyA samasta r&ja prakriyopeta, MahArAjaputra Sri Mad-
rAjya-pAla devya vijayi.

In the fourteenth line of the first plate, I believe I can
distinguish the name of the place Gagaha.

The date is in the second line of the second plate, and reads
as follows: Sumvat 1199, PhAlguna sudi u, Sanau.

In the eleventh line of the second plate, I read the words
“ Yam dharmmahetu nripAnarh kAle kAle pAlan yo bha vadbhi,”
&c., &c.

GagahA is an ancient site ; and there are mounds of ruins
there.

The other inscription is on a broken monolith pillar
which was standing at BhAgalpur, on the Gorakpur side, or
north-east bank, of the Ghaghra River, 4 miles below
Mahil GhAt, and exactly opposite to TurtipAr. The inscrip¬
tion is much injured and defaced, and a great portion of the
right side of it has been entirely broken away ; and a large
piece has been broken out of the pillar. It is said to have
been struck by lightning.

The inscription consists of twenty-one lines. The letters
are in a form of the Kutila character, and I should judge the
age of the inscription to be about the close of the tenth or
beginning of the eleventh century, A.D. I could not find
any date, and it has probably been broken away. But some
European has taken upon himself to decide the age of the
inscription to his own satisfaction, and in a most public
and ostentatious manner, for he has caused to be engraved
on the pillar, below the old inscription, the words Circa
A. D. 900, in very plain English letters 1 But whoever the
European was who thus sought to perpetuate his dictum, I
must beg to differ from him as to the date of the inscription,
as I do not think it can be so old as 900 A.D. ; andi I do
not believe it can be older than about the beginning of the
eleventh century, or about a century later than the date
ascribed to it.

Above the top of the old inscription, some Hindu religious

SARAN, AND GHAZIPUR. 6l

devotee has engraved in large modem Nagari letters the words

“ Baja. Jogi, ooi ” !*

The total height of the pillar was about 17 feet,
with a circumference of about 5 feet. It had a square base
below, but the whole shaft is round. The capital is rather a
thin stone vertically broad and flat horizontally, and gradual¬
ly decreasing step-fashion underneath. The local tradition
about the pillar is that it was raised by R 4 ja Bhimala, an
ancestor of the present R&jas of Majhaoli, who are of the
Bisen tribe.

Some time afterwards I received, through the kindness
of the Collector of Gorakhpur, two small modern copper¬
plate grants obtained from a place called Chuatariyd, near the
NipAl border. The language of the first portions of the in¬
scriptions, consisting of the invocation and dedication, &c.,
is Sanskrit; but the language of the body of the grants is
in the northern or Nipalese form of the Bhojpuri dialect of
the Hindi. The first plate is dated in Samvat 1836, or A.D.
1779, and the second plate is dated in Samvat 1845, or A.D.
1788. As a respectable specimen of the peculiar dialect in
which the terms and conditions of the grants are written, I
will here give a reading of the first plate.

Invocation in Hindi, at top of plate :—

Sri Ram I:

Sri Bhaw&ni Ji rupi ke saujayat.

Patra Sahi.

Next follows a circular seal-shaped ornament, containing
a variety of devices, namely, a kat&r,—a kat&r, leaf, lotus
bud, spear-head, and dice box,—a fish, sankh, throne, the
rnoon and stars, a flower and the sun,—all representing the
insignia of the R&ja. Inscription in Sanksrit round the
interior of the circle:—Swasti Sri Sad&-Siva chararia kama-
tasy&-rana, Sri Man Mukund sena dev&n&m.

# I read tins as another record of our old friend c< jMagalf] clhwaj [jogi] 007/
the figures 700 being misplaced. See Archaeological Survey Reports, Volume
XVI, Plate 31.— A. Cunningham .

62

REPORT OF TOURS IN GORAKHPUR,

Sanskrit Dedication.

Swasti Sriswara charana smarana purvaka rupa NArAya-
nety&di vividha virudawali virdjm&nminolata Sri man-m&ha-
r 4 j&dhir&j Sri Sri Sri Man Mukund Sen Bahidur devAnAm
sadAsamar vijayinAm,

Grant.

Age, swasti sri, ChautariAsur Vir Sen ke hyA ka-lAng thuh
maM pAt samet Asiphur-ko kuthi ghA sarv ahk virtti be
talab kai dihal; utar wor Gandak-sandh; purv wor Jhainba-
kholA; pachhiw wor KarAgadi-khola; dakhin-wAn Shukai,
Net 4 sSndh; aur pachhim-bSi sakhuwS madhe phayS kandSrS
samet. Asiphur-ko kuti ghS samm amal karai tekar siwSn •
purv P&lhun-kholS; dakhin wor, DewarSli GhSt, ShSdyS-
wodSr ; pSchhim KumbhidyA-kholS, JigSjor, Nets ; uttar wor,
KameryS, PandhySrS sSiidh; kai dihal. Sajal, sankat, sapath,
batursiwSn uchhinn kai dihal. Apane khatr jamS se chalan
karahi. Samvat 1836. San 1187 sSl. PhSgun sudi 7. Roj 2
MakSm Butawali RSjdhSni subham.

. As it may possibly be of use to the Government, as well
as to the Civil Officers of the Gorakhpur District, to be able
to identify the locality and extent of the land to which this
grant refers, I may state that I believe I have been able to
make out the boundaries of the land given in this grant.
This land was given by Mukund Sen, an independent RSja
of Butwal, in the NipSl TarSi, about 66 miles to the north
of Gorakhpur. About 25 miles to the south of Butwal,
there is a place called Mukundgarh, close to the British
boundary, which was founded by this R&ja Mukund Sen.
Eleven miles to the south-south-east-half-south from Mu¬
kundgarh, there is a village marked in the maps as Chau-
turwa, or Chaotarwa, which must be the Chaotari4 of the
copper-plate grant, and the same as the ChaotariyA which
was mentioned as the place where the copper-plate was
found, in the note of information, in Urdu, which I received
along with it.

The land was granted to a person called Vir Sen, chief of

SARAN, AND GHAZIPUR. 63

ChaotaricL The name of the estate granted was Asiphur.
I cannot find the name of this, place in the maps, but I
believe I can find the boundaries of the estate. In the
copper-plate there are two different statements of the boun¬
daries given. In the first of these two statements, we find
that, a point styled Gandak-sAndh was a boundary to the
north; and I find, for certain reasons, that this must be at a
point situated at the commencement of an eastward bend of
the Chhota Gandak River, about 3 miles to the south of
Nichlaol; and I understand Gandak-sAndh to mean the edge
or border of the Gandak, and that this must have been the
north-eastern boundary corner of the estate. In the second
statement of the boundaries, we find that two places called
KameryA and PandhyArA-sAhdh were situated to the north;
these must therefore be places on the northern and north¬
western boundaries of the estate, and I have identified the
second with Pudaree, or PadAri, about 5 miles to the south¬
west of Nichlaol, and I have identified the first with Ku-
murya, or Kamerya, about 8-| miles to the west-south¬
west from PadAri, and 9 miles to the east of Chaotarwa,
unless, indeed, the phrase KameryA PandhyArA-sAhdh means
KameryA on the border of the PandhyArA River, which in
that case must be the name of a small river which still
runs past KamaryA. Again, in the first statement of the
boundaries in the copper-plate grant, we find that a place
called NetA, or NetA-sAhdh, was situated to the south;
and in the second statement, we find that a place called
NetA was situated to the west. I take these two places to
be the same, and I conclude that the simple name of the
place was NetA, though coupled with the word sAhdh, in
the first instance, and which I suppose to mean border. I
have identified this with a village still called NetA, 9!
miles due south of KamaryA, and 12 miles to the south¬
east from Chaotarwa, and consequently NetA must have
been the south-western corner boundary of the estate. In
the second statement of the boundaries, two places called
DewarAli GhAt and ThAdya-wodAr are mentioned as being
situated in the south, and I take this to have been the south-

REPORT OF TOURS IN GORAKHPUR

eastern corner boundary of the estate, and I believe it to
have been a ghAton a tributary of the Chhota Gandak River,
near a place called Ahrowlee, or Ahiraoli, or somewhere be¬
tween two places called Muttyureea, or Matyuriya, and Dho-
dhilla, about 12 miles to the east of Neta. " In the first
statement of the boundaries there is a place called KarAgadi-
khola, mentioned as being to the west, and I take this KarA-
gadi to be probably the same as the Burgudie or Kurgudie
(i.e., Kargadi ?) of the maps, a little over i-| miles to the
east-south-east from Kamarya or KameryA, which was the
north-western boundary of the estate, and nearly 11 miles
to the east horn Chaotarwa. these boundaries would give
an estate of about from 9^- to 12 and 14 miles in extent from
north to south, by about from .12 to miles in extent from
cast to west, or an area having an ideal mean of 12-g- miles
each side.

The second copper-plate states the gift of the office of
KAzi to a person named Ran Mardat Sen and his heirs by a
Raja MahAdatt Sen of PAlpA, in NipAl, north of Butwal, in
Samvat 1845 (A.D. 1788), on the thirteenth day of the dark
halt of the month of AshAd, and seventh day of the week.

After the usual Sanskrit preface, like the other, the lan¬
guage of the inscription suddenly changes to the plain verna¬
cular Hindi dialect of the locality, which reads as follows:—

Age, Ivaji Ran Marddat Senu ke mades prabat jAhA le
PAlpA kai rAj hai, tAhA le ke kajyai bhArA britA kai ke dihal
pust dar pust le, jab tAi hamAr santat rahe wo kAji kai santat
rahe, tab lai kajyAi bhArA kare mAmulx khApan kajyAi kai
khap, sa.rv Ahlc ine dasai mades prabat se lihal kar khusi
khAtrijmA se kajyAi kai kAm kail kare; iti sri tAmr patt.
Samvat 1845 sAl, AshAd krishn 13, roj 7. Mu kAm PAlpA

subhm

MArphat Sri Krishna Pandit.

Before finally quitting my notice of objects or places of
archaeological interest in the Gorakhpur District, I would
like to mention a few other old sites, or places where there
are mounds here and there.

Of these, the most worthy of notice is Domangarh, which

SARAN, AND GHAZIPUR

is a large and high mound, consisting of the ruins of an
ancient fort, situated about miles to the north-west of
Gorakhpur, close to the north-east of the junction of the
Rohin River with the Rapti; a bend of the Rohin River pro¬
tecting the position on the north-west, west, and south-west;
the Rapti flows beyond to the south; and the north-east!
east, and south-east of the position is protected by the
Kakrahwa NAla, the southern continuation of which is called
the JawainiyAn Mia. Thus it happens that during the rainy
season, when all the water-channels are full, Domangarh is
entirely surrounded by water. It will be seen from this des¬
cription that the position of Domangarh must have been a
very strong and well-protected one in old times, and might
prove a very strong position even now, if utilised and reforti¬
fied, or entrenched, by a military force. The place is well
known to all residents of Gorakhpur, as there is a modern
house on the top of the great mound, to which the Euro¬
pean residents of Gorakhpur occasionally retire for change
of air.

Domangarh is said to have been founded by, and to have
derived its name from, a ruling tribe or family called Dom-
Katar, who are considered to have been Kshatriyasor RAjpfits.
This name, Dom-Katar, would at first sight appear to have
some such signification as Dom-Killer, or something of that
sort. But the name of the ancient fort Dothan-garh simply
means the Dom J s fort., and the common people say that it
was founded by Dorns. Others say that the Dom-Kattar were
the RAjas of the Dorns, and I suspect that this was the real
truth. 1 think ws have here another of several instances of
the chiefs, or ruling families, of inferior races, taking the tank
of RAjputs. Thus we have Doras and Dom-Katars, Bharsand
RAj-Bhars, and lastly, Gujars and Bada-Gujars. The last
named are commonly called Bar-Gujars, but in one of their
own inscriptions which 1 discovered at MAchAri in RAjputAna,
their name is plainly written Bada-Gujar, which simply means
great Gujars. Yet the Bada-Gujars or Bargujars are consi¬
dered to be RAjputs, while the Gujars are not. If such facts
as these do not; point to some former admission of powerful

F

66 REPORT OF TOURS IN GORAKHPUR,

ruling families of inferior races to the rank of Kshatriyas, then
I do not know what does.

I t is now a long time ago since the Dom of Dom-Katar
R&jas were ousted from Doman-Garh by certain RAjputs,
who were the ancestors of the so-called Sat&ssi R&jas of Rudr-
pur, of the RAjas of Bansi, and the R&jas of Unaola. It is
( said to have happened thus. The last Dom-Katar Raja of
Doman-garh is said to have had a minister or Dew&n, called
Suvari Tewari, who joined in a conspiracy against the Raja
along with three Rajput officers, of whom one was named jay-
singh and another called Bijaysingh, but the name of the
third is not known. They murdered the Dom-Katar RAja, and
then divided the land or raj between them. Jaysingh then
became RAja of Unaola, Bijaysingh became RAja of B&nsi, and
the third, whose name is forgotten, became the first SatAssi
Raja

A son of the Raja of Anaola or Unaola, named Horil
Singh, became the adopted heir of RAja Bisrarn Singh of what
is now called Gorakhpur (probably RAmgarh to the east of it),
and fought against and defeated the RAj-Bhat RAjasof Bhaw-
ApAr, on the west bank of the RApti, below Gorakhpur. The
sixth in descent from Horil Singh was Raja Rudar Singh or
Rudra Sinha, who founded Rudrapur or Rudra-pura. This
last fact will serve to show how almost modern Rudrapur is
as compared to Doman-garh, and how very ancient Doman-
garh must be.

The bricks (that is, any which have been found entire)
which compose the interior or oldest portion of the ruins of
Doman-garh, are very large and thick, and of a square shape.

The ancient Dom or Dom-Katar chiefs or RAjas of Dom-
an Garh would appear, at one time, to have held sway over
the greater portion of what is now called the Gorakhpur Dis¬
trict, especially along the east bank of the Rapti River and its
tributaries, as well as along the west bank of the Gandak River.

I think there cannot be any doubt that they were the Kings
of the Doms, and that the Dorns were the aborigines of the
Gorakhpur District. That district is full of names of places,
derived from the Doms, such, for instance, as Doman-garh,

SARAN, AND GHAZIPUR.

67

Domri (a very common name), Domar DAr, Dom-kaicha,
Domra, Doma HAta, Domariya ( a very common name ), Do¬
main, DomAth, &c., &c. Moreover, it is only in the Gorakh¬
pur District that we find the genuine jangal Doms in their
true and original wild, independent, and wandering state, and
in which state they are most expert and inveterate thieves,
and, always carrying a concealed knife, are ready to murder at
a moment’s notice, without the least scruple ! It is true that
a tame and domesticated sort, of people called Doms are found
settled down in other neighbouring districts, as in Motih&ri,
S&ran, Azimgarh, and even in Benares, as well as those set¬
tled in the town of Gorakhpur, but they were utterly different
from the wild, wandering jangal Doms of the Gorakhpur
District. For the wild jangal Doms of the Gorakhpur Dis¬
trict are a wandering people, like, but much wilder and more
truculent than, Gypsies; living in the jangal, with scanty im¬
provised temporary shelter, or sometimes no shelter at all ; al¬
ways moving about, and hardly ever to be found two days in
the same place ; appearing suddenly sometimes here and some¬
times there, with the flitting uncertainty of sprites or demons ;
always intent on robbery, and ready to murder; always carry¬
ing a concealed knife ; having a thieves’ language of their own;
generally tall, lithe, supple men, and powerfully made ; hav¬
ing a cunning look, and a sinister but confident and daring-
expression of countenance; and their women fond of finery,
bright colours, and jewellery.

Now, it is mentioned by the Chinese traveller Hiuwen
Thsang that in his journey from the Ashes Stfipa, or Char¬
coal Stfipa, at the city of the Moriyas in the Nyagrodha
forest, to Kusinagara, he travelled in a north-east direction
for a long time through a vast forest, full of wild bulls and
wild elephants, and infested with brigands !*' The site of the
city of the Moriyas in the Nyagrodha Forest has been identi¬
fied by me with the ruins of Rajdhani, between the Gorra
and Pharend Rivers, 14 miles to the south-east from
Gorakhpur. There is still the remains of a great forest

Ancient Geography of India, page 430 .

VOL, XXII.

68 REPORT OF TOURS IN GORAKHPUR,

there. Nilgai and Jeopards are still met with in that jangal.
Fifty years ago elephants roamed there; and the country
is still infested with thieving Doms ! I therefore believe that
the brigands mentioned by Hiuwen Thsang were the ancient
and aboriginal Doms of the Gorakhpur District.

I believe that Mr. Crooke, of the Civil Service, when
Joint Magistrate of Gorakhpur, proposed to identify the
Doms with the Romany Rai, or Gypsies ; and I believe he
also noticed their secret language, their cunning, their
thieving propensities, and their restless and wandering
habits, as well as the evidences of the antiquity of
their existence as a peculiar people indigenous in the
Gorakhpur District. I do not know, however, whether
Mr. Crooke ever imagined any possible connection to exist
between the two names Dom and Romany! If Romany
were a term of eastern origin (which is doubtful), then, as the
Indian name Dom is spelt with a cerebral D, it might easily
become changed into Rom, westwards, in Europe. But it
is still an open question whether the term Romany was
derived from Roumania, or not.

Besides Domangarh, there are several other mounds of
ruins which may be noted here ; namely : —

i. Asuran ka PokharA. This is an ancient pond or
tank, situated at the village of Jattai, about a mile to the north-
north-east of the town of Gorakhpur. The reason why the
tank is called Asuran ka PokharA is said to be because an
ancient R&ja of the place named Sri PAla had a daughter
called Kaolpati, who was demanded in marriage by several
Rdjas, who had assembled for the purpose ; and so RAja
Sri PAla promised to give his daughter Kaolapati to any one
of the suitors who could dig a tank, of certain given dimen¬
sions, in a single night. One of the suitors, a Raja from the
south, or Dekhan, who had a great host of followers with him,
undertook to dig the tank, as required, in a single night. Pie
did so, and then claimed the princess Kaolapati in marriage.
But as it was believed that he performed this feat by the
assistance of genii, or demons, called Asurs, consequently
the tank which he dug was called Pushkar AsurAn&m, or

6 g

Asuran ka PokharA, or the Asurs’ Tank. This

is one version

of the story; but there is another version which runs as fol¬
lows : It. is said that the person who dug the tank, or
caused it to be dug, was an Asur RAja, or king of the Asuras ;
and that by means of his followers, who were all Asuras, he
was causing the tank to be dug, in order to obtain Kaolapati
in marriage; but her father, the Raja Sri Pala, not wishing’
his daughter to marry an Asur, bethought himself of some
means whereby he might put a stop to the digging of the
tank ; so when the Asuras had dug three sides of the tank,
RAja Sri PAla caused a light to be exhibited through and from
behind a circular sieve, through the trees, at some distance,
in order to simulate the rising of the sun. Then the stupid
Asuras, thinking that the sun was really rising, and that in
consequence they had not been able to complete the tank
during the night, and before sunrise, according to agreement,
left off their work and ran away, in order to avoid "exposure
to shame and derision, when only three sides of the tank had
been excavated; and this, the legend says, is the reason why
the Asuran ka PokharA has only three sides to this day.

Alas ! what a story to invent, to account for a mere three-
sided dam evidently constructed to stop and hold the surplus
pluvial waters coming down from the Tarai land on the north
and north-east. For on that side not only was no embank¬
ment required, but it would have prevented the intended
ingress of the pluvial surface water, which this three-sided
dam was purposed to catch 1

Still, nevertheless, that portion of the story which refers
to RAja Sri PAla, and the betrothal of his daughter Kaolapati,
may very likely be founded on actual fact. But who was Sri
PAta ; or to what dynasty did he belong; and what was the date
of his reign? Could he possibly have been an ancestor of
the PAla kings of Magadha, or BihAr ? If so, he must have
lived before A.D. 815, the date given for the accession of
GopAla Deva, the first in the list of the known kings of
Magadha.

According to one authority, Yasovigraha, the founder of
the Rahtor family, who became kings of Kanaoj, was also

70 REPORT OF TOURS IN GORAKHPUR,

called Sri P&la, though otherwise I should rather have
been inclined to suppose that Sri P&la may have been the
name of an ancestor of Yasovigraha. But if Yasovigraha
was called Sri P&la, I may note that he must have lived about
A.D. 1017, which date 1 obtain by counting back at the rate
of twenty-five years for a generation, from the date of the
Gagahi copper-plate, which is Samvat 1199, or A.D. 1142,
and in the time of Rijya Pftla, the son of Govinda Chandra.
But General Cunningham places the date of the accession of
Chandra Deva, the Rahtor conqueror of Kanaoj, in A.D.
1050. Chandra Deva was preceded by Mahichandra, and
the latter was preceded by Yasovigraha, who is supposed by
some to have also been called Sri P&la. If we now count
back twenty-five years fora generation, from Chandra Deva to
Yasovigraha, we get A.D. 1000 as about the date of the acces¬
sion of Yasovigraha. But even this date of A.D. 1000 would
seem to be far too late for the Sri P&Ia of the Gorakhpur
traditions, which have the appearance of being of very ancient
date,

2. Ram-garh, sf miles to the east of Gorakhpur, on the
east bank of Ram-garh Til, and on the south side of the
road to Kasya.

3. Bheriyi-garh, 2J miles to the north-east of Gorakhpur,
and on the south side of the road to Pipriicft.

4. * Baitil-garh, about 4! to 4I miles to the north-east
from Gorakhpur, and to the north of the road to Pipr&ich,
and dose to the west bank of the Gordhoiya Nila.

5. Maola-Kol and Pattra, respectively 8 and 9 miles to
the north-east from Gorakhpur and on the road to Pipr&ich.

6. A mound on the west bank of the Jakahi Til, about
7|- miles to the north-west from Gorakhpur, 1 mile to the east
of the fakahi mound, there is a place called Sakhui, which
will be noticed afterwards.

7. Bhiti, 9I miles to the north-north-west from Gorakhpur.

8. Rija Biri, on the east bank of the Rapti, 11 miles
to the north-north-west from Gorakhpur.

9. Kanapir-Gangipir, 11-| miles to the north-north-west*,
half-north from Gorakhpur.

10. Kikhu-kMri, 16 miles to the north-north-west from
Goi*akhpur.

11. Sarahri Dih, on a lake on the east bank of the Rohm
Nadi, ii miles due north from Gorakhpur.

12. A mound of ruins near Tekrya, at the northern end of
the Chiluwa Til, only 2 miles to the east-north-east from
Sarahri Dih, and 12 miles to the north-north-east-half-north
from Gorakhpur.

Strange to say here we have two mounds of ruins situated
on lakes, close to the west of the Rohin Nadi, with a place
called Kanapir, 4 miles to the west of one mound, and 6 miles
to the west of the other; and a place called Kikhu-khftri,

to 8 miles to the north-west of them ; and a place called
Sakhui, from 6 to 7! miles to the south-west of them ; dr
with the very surroundings which belong to the site of Kapila-
vastu, at Bhuila, which is situated on a lake, on the west bank
of the Riwai River, and with Kanakpur, 6| miles to the west,
of it, and Kakupur or Nagara Dih, 74 miles to the north-west
of it, and a place called Sarkihiya, 4! miles to the south of
it. Such a series of exact coincidences is more than strange.

13. Narkataha Dih, on the Rohin Nadi, 14^ miles to the
north of Gorakhpur.

14. Matihaniya, about 20 miles to the west-north-west from
Gorakhpur.

15. Beraicha and Matkopa, 30 miles to the north-east
from Gorakhpur.

16. Bhawapir, on the west side of the Nandaor Til, west
of the Rapti River, and 7 miles to the south of Gorakhpur.

17. Bakra Dih or Bakhira Dih, situated close to the
south-east of the great lake commonly called Bakra Til,
but the proper name of which appears to be Bakhira Til,
Bakhira Dih is situated between the great lake and the
Ripti River. Bakhira Til itself is said to have been the site
of an ancient city, which was destroyed and overwhelmed on
account of its wickedness; and there is a story about it, pre¬
served in local songs, connected with the forcible appropria¬
tion by the Rija of the place of the young bride of a Brah¬
man, which is opined to be not decent enough to relate, The

7 ? REPORT OF TOURS IN GORAKHPUR,

proper ancient name of the lake is said to have been Lakshmi-

Sarovar, or Lakshmisar. It has also been called the BadArii
Til.

18. Magahar, 13I miles to the west from Gorakhpur. It is

a very ancient site ; but the remains at present visible there
do not appear to be of very ancient date. It is, however,
reputed to have been the seat: of Buddhist hierarchs, for
sometime after Kapilavastu was destroyed., Magahar was the
birth-place of famous reformer ICabir DAs. There are two
shrines there dedicated to Kabir DAs, one for Hindus and
the other for MusalmAns, to the east of Magahar, close to
the right bank of the Ami River.

19. Baraon, near Samogar, to the east of the RApti,
nearly 32 miles to the south-south-east from Gorakhpur.

20. luxiriya (the byreeah of the maps), on the west bank
of the RApti, opposite to Samogar.

In a previous report I have already described other
much more important ruined sites in the Gorakhpur District,
namely, Tameswar, identified with Maneya; and the KudawA
NAla, identified with the Anoma River; Sirsara, MahathArt,
and Paithana; Updhaoliya and RajdhAni SAhankot; Chowra.
and Bhopa; Mithabel; the Rudrapur SAhankot; the site of
Kusinagara, and Temple and Stupa of the NirvAna, near
Ivasya; and I'arilnagar-Ghetiyaon, the site of PAwa, with
other mounds in its neighbourhood.

The Gorakhpur District, contains perhaps more ancient
sites than any other district in India.

I was unfortunately again attacked with a return of the
larai fever in the Gorakhpur District, and was for some time
unable to move any further. But as soon as I could gather
sufficient strength, 1 started again on a fresh journey of explo¬
ration with the intention of going southwards into the SAran
District, though I was ill the whole way and found myself in
a most miserable and desperate condition in consequence.

I noticed an ancient site or mound of ruins near Motipur,
about 28 miles to the south-east from Kasya, but I was so
debilitated by fever that I had not the strength to walk about
in ordei to examine the ground personally at this place.

SARAN, AND GHAZIRUR.

73

17■ Dighwa Dubaoli (Sdran District ).—At Dighwa Du¬
baoli, about 33 miles to the north of Chapra, I found an ancient
site, and two extraordinary pyramidal-shaped mounds. These
two extraordinary mounds are situated close to the south-east
of the village of Dighwa Dubaoli, and east and west of each
other. The western mound is situated almost adjoining the
south-south-eastern end of the village, and the eastern mound
is situated at the distance of 640 feet to the east-south-east of
the other, and close to the road. Each of these mounds is of a
pyramidal shape, with four corners at the base projecting con¬
siderably outwards, so that a ground plan of one of these
mounds would resemble a four-pointed star surmounted centri-
cally by a cone. Each side of the square of the plane area of
the base of the eastern mound gave about 145 feet of horizon¬
tal measurement from one projecting point to another. The
circumference of the surmounting cone at. base measured 240
feet, which is of course at some height above the surrounding
flat ground, as there is a slope up from each of the four corners
of the base of the mound, measuring 25 feet up to the slant, to
meet the base of the cone. The sloping sides of the cone itself
alone measured 45 feet in height (slant measurement). The
top of the cone ends in a small flat area. I estimated the
total perpendicular height of the mound to be about 20 feet.

Of the other western mound, the eastern side of the
square of the area which it covered measured 160 feet, and
the southern side 127 feet. The total slanting height of the
mound on the eastern side was 70 feet, and on the southern
side 66 feet. These measurements will give a less perpendi¬
cular height to this mound than the other. The circum¬
ference of the base of the cone at some height above the
ground measured 209 feet.

These mounds appeared to be formed of clay, but mixed
with small fragments of brick and pottery.

At the distance of 950 feet to the south of the eastern
mound, there is a roundish-shaped mound of moderate height,
with a horizontal diameter of about 200 feet from north to
south, and about 140 feet from east to west. There is an
old well here.

74 REPORT OF TOURS IN GORAKHPUR,

Across the road to the north of the village there is a
portion of a mound which appears as if cut off by the road
from the large flat mound on which the village Dighwa Dub-
aoli itself stands.

These mounds are said to have been the work of Cheru-
Chal, that is, of the Cherus, an aboriginal race who seem to
have once been powerful in this part of the country, but who
now inhabit the hills to the south of the Ganges.

I heard of another mound called Damdama, on an old
riverbed, close to the south-west of a village named Budhshi,
about 4 miles to the east of Dhangsi, which latter place is
nearly 20 miles to the east-south-east-half-east from Hathwa,
and 10^ miles to the west-north-west from Dighwa Dubaofi.

18. Cher an (Sdran District ).—'From Dighwa Dubaoli 1
went on, in very bad health, to Chapra, and there became very
ill, so that I was very little able to move about. I however
managed to visit Cher&n (the Cherand of the maps), a very
ancient place on the bank of the Ganges, with mounds of ruins
of an ancient city, nearly 7 miles to the south-east of Chapra.
On the top of the principal mound there is an oblong square¬
shaped masjid, or mosque, with an inscription in the Ruffe style
of character over the doorway. This mosque must have been
entirely built out of the ruins of some large ancient Hindu tem¬
ple, for eight square Hindu pillars, or rather pilasters, line the
inside of the walls. The stone of which these pillars are made
appeared to me to be some kind of Greenstone. The inscrip¬
tion over the doorway is in three double lines, and, as far as
1 can make out, appears to bear the name of A 1 & ul dunya
w’al din abua an zafar Hftsdn Sh&h ul Suit An ibn Saiyad
Ashraf, who was king of Bengal about A.D. 1498 to 1520.
It must have been this MusalmAn prince who destroyed an
ancient Hindu temple at Cheran, and built the mosque out of
its materials.

CherAn is situated just at the junction of an old rivet
channel (an old bed of the Ghaghra River) with the Ganges.
A portion of the elevated ancient ruined site has been cut
away by the river channel, showing a high cliff of earth whiclj
is full of large ancient bricks, and is pierced by numerous

shafts of ancient wells of narrow diameter lined with cylinders
of red earthenware. Cher&n is said to have been founded by,
and to have derived its name from, the Cherus, or, as the
common people say, Cheru-Ch&x.

To the west of the Ghaghra River and of Chandpurin the
Baliya District, there is a place called Chai-chera, and an¬
other called Cherethi, the names of which may perhaps bear
reference to the former occupation of that part of the country
also by the Cherus Chai or Cliay, would seem to have been
the name of an ancient chief, or of a ruling family, among the
Cherus, and I believe that some such name is preserved in
the traditions of the Cherus on the hills to the south of the
Ganges. Indeed some of the natives derive the name of
Cher&n from a Cheru chief called Chai or Chae, whence the
name of the place would be Chai-rana.

I have already stated that the Mas]id of Husen Shah at
Cheran was built out of the materials of an ancient Hindu
temple which was destroyed by the MusahnAns. The anti¬
quity of the temple (and probably also of some other build¬
ings formerly connected with it or surrounding it) may be
judged off by the size of the bricks. The largest and most
ancient of the bricks measured i yf inches in length, by 10
inches in breadth, and 3! inches in thickness 'The next in
size were I4f inches, by 10^ inches, by 3! inches. The small¬
est in size were I2f inches, by inches, by 3^ inches, with
a few rather smaller, namely, 12 4 by 8 inches. On the
great mound I also observed some fragments of brick having
a convex curve on one side, as if they had belonged to a
stupa.

iq. Na-lo-yen, or Nardyana (Narainpur ). — In General
Cunningham's Ancient Geography of India, at pages 438, 439,
and 440, he quotes from the travels of the Chinese pilgrim
Hiuwen Thsang, to the effect that, at the distance of 200 li, or
33 miles, to the east of the capital of the kingdom of Chen-chu,
or the Lord-of-battles, supposed to be near GhAzipur, the
Chinese traveller arrived at a monastery called Aviddhakarna,
„which General Cunningham proposed to place near Baliya, on
the north of the Ganges. But it would seem that the other

76 REPORT OF TOURS. IN' GORAKHPUR,

Chinese traveller, Fa-Hian, refers to the same place under the
name of the Vast Solitude, for which General Cunningham pro-
poses the Sanskrit equivalent of Vrihadaranya. But I believe
that I have discovered the very spot, under the name of Dhar-
mardnya, close to Baliya! This site will afterwards be des¬
cribed by me in its proper order; but I must now let it pass, as
my present objects in view bear more reference to the Saran or
Chapra District, and its neighbourhood; but on the way, we
have still to find the site of a temple on the north side of the
Ganges, which Hiuwen Thsang calls Na-lo-yen, or Ndriyana.

From the monastery above mentioned, Hiuwen Thsang
travelled in a south-easterly direction for ioo li, or 16 miles,
to the bank of the Ganges, which river he crossed, and then
turning to the south for some unrecorded distance, he reached
the town of Mo-ho-so-lo, or Mahdsdra, which has been identi¬
fied by ,M. Vivien de Saint-Martin with the village of Masdr
(the Musad of the maps), 6 miles to the west of Ard (the
Arrah of the maps). The Chinese traveller then suddenly
mentions his arrival at the temple of Na-lo-yen, or Ndrayana,
to the north of the Ganges, without stating either its distance
• or bearing from the last place. It seems probable, therefore,
that the Chinese traveller went due north to the Ganges, and
crossed straight over. Now there are three old roads"leading
due northwards from near Masdr to the Ganges, the more
usually travelled one reaching the Ganges near a village marked
in the map under the unpronounceable name of Pudoomeueean
(?), which may perhaps be intended for Padumaiyan. Another
road strikes the Ganges a mile to the west of the above, at a
village called Hetimpur. Either of these roads leads to the
usual ferry which the country people commonly make use of
when they want to cross over to the villages opposite on the
north side of the Ganges, the names of which are Narainpurand
Gangapur. d he small village of Narainpur is not usually mark¬
ed in the maps; but it is said that there were originally two
small villages of that name, one of which is still situated about
a mile to the north-east from Gangapur, and about the same
distance off from the river. The other village of the same,
name is said to have been situated somewhere on the old

SARAN, AND GHAZIPUR.

77

bank of the river to the south of the former, but was washed
away by an encroachment of the river a few years ago.
There is also said to have been the ruins of an ancient temple
there. This site is only 4 miles to the west of one of the
channels by which the Ghaghra River joins the Ganges. It is
this site at Narainpur that I would propose to identify with
the N&r&yana or Na-lo-yen of Hiuwen Thsang. I visited the
spot myself in a boat.

There is a mound of ruins at the village of Lachhmipur,
which is an old site, about 3! miles to the north-east of Gangi-
pur and Narainpur.

20. The Asylum Stupa, or Stiipa of the conversion of the
Man-eating Demons .— Let me again quote from the same
author —“ At 30 li, or 5 miles, to the east of the temple (of
N&rAyana), there was a famous stupa built by Asoka on the spot
where Buddha had overcome and converted certain evil de¬
mons, who were said to live upon human flesh. The demons
embraced Buddhism, or, as it was expressed by the ancient
Buddhists, sought the refuge or asylum of the Three Precious
Ones, that is, of the Buddhist Triad Buddha, Dharma, and
Sangha.” General Cunningham thinks that as Sarana is the
Sanskrit term for asylum or refuge, the stftpa would probably
be called the Sarana Sthpa, and would therefore probably be
found in the District of Saran. Now 5 miles to the east of
Narainpur would bring us on to a large island* in the middle
of the mouth of the Ghaghra River, where it joins the Ganges.
The stupa may therefore possibly have long ago been washed
away by the river.

But at the distance of only 8 miles to the north-east
from Narainpur, there is a mound or pile of brick ruins at
Godena, close to Revilganj, on the east bank of the Ghaghra,
near its mouth, and 3§ miles to the west of Chapra. Again'

3 miles to the north of Revilganj, near a village called
Nawada, there are two mounds of ruins called Chatra. But
if the Asylum stupa was anywhere in this quarter, it would

* This large island is about 4 miles square; and there are three villages on it
marked as Bati lola* Baiju Tola, and Loha Tola. The road from Ara to Re¬
vilganj, after crossing the Ganges by a ferry near a village called Sinha, crosses
the centre of this island. The island is covered with a growth of small Jhau trees.

78 REPORT OF FOURS IN GORAKHPUR,

most likely be at Godena, because there is a popular tradi¬
tion actually current there to the effect that the name of
Godena is derived from and is a corruption of that of Gautama,
and that Gautama himself resided and taught here for some
time. It is now, at the present day, generally supposed that
this tradition refers to the Gautama who was the author of
Ny&ya philosophy ; but this may perhaps be only a modern
adaptation of the 'tradition, and it may possibly originally
have referred to Gautama Buddha.

21. The Drona Stupa, or Kumbhdn Stupa .—General
Cunningham further quotes from Hiuwen Thsang to the effect
that, on leaving the Asylum StCtpa, the Chinese traveller
proceeded ioo li, or nearly 17 miles, to the south-east, to
another sthpa which was said to have been built by a Brah¬
man over the vessel, or kumbhan, with which he measured
the relics of Buddha into eight equal portions, each of
which was equivalent to one drona in measure. The stupa
was however called the Kumbh&n or Kumbha StCtpa in. Cey¬
lonese chronicles. Hence General Cunningham suggested
that as degh* is the common Hindi name of a large metal
vessel of exactly the same shape as the kumbha, the site of
the stftpa might possibly be found at or near a place marked
as Deegwara, in the maps, or rather Digw&ra as the name
is really pronounced, a little over 17 miles to the east from
Chapra, or at least that it was a convenient name to remem¬
ber. But Digw&ra is too far off, if the Asylum Stupa was
anywhere in the neighbourhood of Revilganj, where I have
suggested it might have been. I had Digw&ra examined, but
although the village is situated on a mound-like rising ground,
and there is also a temple at the village, no promising mound
of ruins was to be found. Moreover, the real name of the
village is Digw&ra, which does not seem to show any connec¬
tion with degh.

I would however beg to propose as possible alternative
sites, either the neighbourhood of a village called Kijndar-
budha, i6£ miles to the east from Revilganj, and 12 miles to

* is not the word degh purely Persian C, Carlleyle,

SAKAN, AND GHAZ1PUR.

79

the east of Chapra; or else SarCta Dih, io| miles to the east
from Revilganj, and 6 miles to the east of Chapra,

But why should not CherAn itself, the most ancient place
in the whole of the SAran District, have been the site of the
Kumbh&n Stupa? It is 11 miles to the east-south-east from
Godena or Revilganj on the Ghaghra; but if, as I have
supposed, the Asylum Stupa was really situated on the large
flat island in the middle of the mouth of the Ghaghra River,
5 miles to the east of Narainpur, where it must long ago
have been washed away by the river, then the distance from
that point, to Cheran would be nearly 13 miles direct as the
arrow flies; but. the actual distance probably travelled by
road and by frequented ferries must have been more round¬
about, and could not have been less than 15 miles at least,
which I think would sufficiently meet all requirements. I
think therefore that the site of the KumbhAn stupa should
really be looked for among the mounds of ancient ruins at
Cheran. For instance, as I before stated, the mosque of
Husen Shah bin Saiyad Ashraf, at CherAn, which was built
out of the materials of an ancient Hindu temple, is situated
on the summit of a high mound of ruins, which might-
just possibly contain the ruins of a stupa buried in its in¬
terior.

It is worthy of remark, with regard to the name of the
place called Cheran or ChirAn, that chiran and chirAyu mean
ancient; while the root chir (with the vowel 1 long) implies
the act of cutting asunder, splitting, rending, dividing, or
division, as in the Hindi chirna, chirAna, and chirAo, and might
just scarcely possibly refer to the division of the remains of
Buddha, into eight parts, each equal to a drona. as measured
by a kumbha of that capacity which vessel was afterwards
enshrined in a sthpa, which was therefore called the KumbhAn
StApa. But the place where this was done may have been
called the dividing, or the place of division; and the memory
of some such signification may have been preserved in such a
name as ChirAn ; though certainly bhAg, or even AdhyAy,
would be more likely terms to be applied to mere division by
measure, into equal parts, shares, or lots. There is also the

So REPORT OF TOURS IN GORAKHPUR,

Hindi verb chhurAna, to separate, to set free, to get rid of, to
disintegrate.

After leaving- the Drona or KumbhAn StApa, Hiuwen
Thsang continued his journey to the north-east, and crossed
a river, which he called the Ganges, on his road to VaisAli,
but which must have been the Gandak. It must have been
the Gandak which he crossed, because he was obliged to
cross the Gandak on his way to VaisAli; and he could hard¬
ly have crossed such a large river without mentioning it.
Moreover, probably in his time any large river would have
been called Ganga.

General Cunningham’s work, the Ancient Geography of
India, from which I have made several quotations in this
report relating to the NArAyana of Hiuwen Thsang, the
Asylum StApa, and the Drona or Kumbhan Stupa, was pub¬
lished in 1871 ; but in 1873 General Cunningham published
his third volume of the reports of the Archaeological Survey.
At pages 72 .and 73 and 77 of that report, in a description
of ArA, he alters his opinion with regard to the position of
the Asylum Stupa and Drona or Kumbhan StApa. He sup¬
poses that in the time of Hiuwen Thsang the Ganges flowed
close past Masar and ArA, and that Hiuwen Thsang only
saw the temple of NArAyana, on the opposite side of the river,
from the old bank of the river at. MasAr, but did not go across
to visit it. He therefore thinks that the Asylum StApa was
at Bakri, close to the west of ArA, and nearly 5 miles to
the east of MasAr; and identifies the Brahmanical legend
about the man-eating Bak-Asur, with the Buddhist legend
about the man-eating demons converted by Buddha. Finally,
he proposes either CherAn, 15 miles to the north-east from
ArA, or else Bhita (where the ruins of a stupa have been
found), 12 miles to the east of ArA, as the probable site
of the Drona or Kumbhan StApa.

In the case of Bhita being identified as the site of the
Drona Stupa, it of course follows that the river first crossed
by Hiuwen Thsang, to the north-east, on his way to VaisAli,
must have been the Ganges. But then, as I said before,
what becomes of the Gandak River, which Hiuwen Thsang

mmmmmmmmmmmsmm

;i^{h^ '^.N'j'' z- 1 ’ ‘ i ' !^ , ' , v "p ' ; ■ 1,1 '■ "' : ' ‘ ’

SARAN, AND GHAZIPUR.

8i

must also have crossed on his way to Vais&li ? Surely he
could scarcely have omitted to mention the crossing of such
a large and important river as the Gandak, or Naraini as it is
now called!

Then, again, with regard to the supposition that the Ganges
flowed close past Mas&r and Ara in the time of Hiuwen
Thsang, and that Hiuwen Thsang did not visit the temple of
N&r&yana, on the north bank of the river, himself, at. all, but
only saw it from the old south bank of the river at Masar.
If that really was the case, it will surely become evident to
any one, on looking at the map, that in order that the temple
of N&r&yana, on the opposite side of the river, could have
been clearly visible to Hiuwen Thsang from Mas&r, it must
have been situated only a very short distance to the north of
it, say not more than 2 miles at most, which \vould require
that the temple must have been situated on the present south
side of the Ganges, and close to the north side of the present
Grand Trunk Road, the line of which must then have been at
the bottom of the Ganges ! (Since raised up, probably, for
the special benefit of our enginers!)

But if we suppose that Hiuwen Thsang really did visit
the temple of Narayana himself, then it may have been
situated at any distance to the north of Mas&r, wherever the
north bank of the Ganges really was in the time of Hiuwen
Thsang; and consequently it may have been situated just
exactly where, as I have previously stated, an old village
called Narainpur, with its temple, has been washed away into
the bed of the Ganges, near Gang&pur. Gang&pur is situated
on the present north bank of the Ganges; and there is a small
modem village also called Narainpur to the north-east of it;
but. the site of an old village, also called Narainpur, is now
swallowed up in the bed of the Ganges.

When I last saw that part of the Ganges, it had cut away
the land marked on the maps to the south-east of Gang&pur,
and it ran quite close past the village itself. The river had
made a sort of blind bay, called a kol by the natives, just at
and above Gang&pur. From thence a new channel turned
round southwards and south-eastwards, and then turned sharply

vox., xxn.

82 REPORT OF TOURS IN GORAKHPUR,

off south-westwards ; and I heard that it had broken through
to the south of Birsingha, which is marked in the old maps
as being on the south side of the Ganges ! Thus the Ganges
has recently been approaching one of its ancient, southern
channels, which ran from Sohra to Bahoranpur, considerably
to the south of the channel marked in the maps.

22 . The Dharmdranya {and Dharmaoli ), at Baliya t iden~
tijied as the site of the Aviddhakarna Monastery of Hiwwe-n
Thsang, and the Vast Solitude {or Wilderness') of Fa-hian .—I
have already previously mentioned that somewhere on the
north side of the Ganges, and at the distance of about
33 miles to the east of the capital of the Kingdom of
Chen-chu, or the Lord-of-battles, supposed by General
Cunningham to be probably either Gh&zipur, or else some
spot in its immediate neighbourhood, the Chinese travel¬
ler Hiuwen Thsang arrived at a Buddhist monastery, called
the 'Aviddhakarna, which means the pierced ears, or perhaps
slit ears, the Hindi kan-phat&, a term still applied to men
of certain religious orders who have long slits in their ears,
by which they are drawn down to a great length ; and an
actual instance of this'may still be seen in the case of the
Sant, or Mahant, and his chelas, or disciples, at the Mandap
of Gorakhn4th, in Gorakhpur, where, from their long slit ears,
they are called Kan-phatA Gossains by the common people.
And it is scarely necessary to add that long slit ears were
specially characteristic of Buddhist ascetics and devotees ;
whereas mere pierced ears are, and probably always have
been, common to all Hindus of all denominations.

General Cunningham (Ancient Geography of India, page
439) suggested that as the name of the Monastery Aviddha¬
karna would easily in course of time become corrupted to
to Bidkarn, and then afterwards perhaps even to Bikan, that
the name might perhaps be still preserved in that of a village
called Bikapura (the Beckuppoora of the maps), less than a
mile to the east-south-east-half-east of Baliya, as marked
in the now rather old survey, in the maps which I have. But
when I visited the place myself in the rainy season of 1879,
the old village of Bikapura had apparently been swept away

SARAN, AND GHAZIPUR. 83

by the encroachments of the flooded River Ganges; and the
ousted inhabitants seemed to be living in a sort of make-shift
rude hamlet of huts, close adjoining to the small town of
Baliya; and I suppose that the .wretched representative of
the old village probably inherits its name of Bikapura. But
the name of Bikapur might perhaps stand for Bhikhupur, and
might thus be a vernacular corruption of Bhikshupur, meaning
the town of the Bhikshus, which would refer to the Bud¬
dhist mendicant monks themselves!

But the above is not the only place in the same locality,
which has, in recent times, or indeed quite of late years, been
washed away into the deep dark surging waters of the relent¬
less river, in the encroachments caused by excessive floods
during the rains. For about a mile to the south-east of
Baliya there was an ancient place called BhagrAsan (marked
in the old maps as Bagraso), with a famous temple of Devi
BhawAni; and a great fair or mela, called Dadri Chhatra, used
to be held there annually on the pftrnamAsi of KArtic. This
place was also famous as the site of a hermitage of the Muni
or Rishi Bhrigu ; and the place is said to have been originally
called Bhrigu-Asan or BhrigAsan after him, of which name
BhagrAsan is therefore believed to be a corruption. I should,
however, rather have taken the name to be BaghrAsan, and
have supposed it to be a corruption of VyaghrAsan, and thus
to have borne reference to Devi BhawAni. But however that
may be, the whole of this ancient site is now engulfed in the
bed of the river!

But I found something better and more satisfactory than
either Bikapura or BhagrAsan at Baliya! For I found the
actual site of the monastery visited by Hiuwen Thsang ! I
visited the place in a boat, in which I was making my way up
the river from Chapra to GhAzipur, against an adverse wind
and tide, while examining all the ancient sites on the banks of
the river; but 1 could only visit those on the northern bank of
the river, for the wretched flat-bottomed boat could not tack
against stream, and against an adverse west wind which was
blowing down the river, and it had therefore to be towed for
the greater part of the way along the northern bank.

VOL. XXII.

G I

84 REPORT OF TOURS IN GORAKHPUR,

1 saw several mounds of ruins at, or in the immediate
neighbourhood of, Baliya, and I felt certain I had correctly
identified the site I was in search of, more especially from two
names still existing there, namely, Dharm&ranya and Dham-
aoli, or Dharmaoli! But as I had engaged the boat by con¬
tract for a certain time, and much delay had already been
caused by slow progress, I could not spare time to survey the
place then. But this I had done afterwards, through the
obliging kindness of Mr. Leupolt, C.S., who was then (1 be¬
lieve) Joint Magistrate of Baliya. The survey was made by
a clever young Native student, named Charitra Lall, under the
superintendence of Chittru Lall, Officiating Tahsild&r of
Baliya.

Now, I have already previously intimated that the same
monastery which Hiuwen Thsang called the Aviddhakarna is
believed to be mentioned also by the other Chinese traveller
Fa-Hian under the name of the Vast Solitude, for which
General Cunningham suggested the Sanskrit equivalent Vri-
had&ranya. But. in a footnote to page 439 of his Ancient
Geography of India, he remarks that in Beal's translation the
vihcir, or monastery, is called simply the desert, which would
in Sanskrit be simply Aranya ! The correct Sanskrit word for
desert, waste, or wilderness, or for waste barren land, or for
wild land bearing only stunted scrub or bush, such as are
now more commonly and indiscriminately called jangal, is of
course Aranya. And a monastery devoted to the study or
practice of the chief doctrine or law of the Buddhist faith,
namely, Dharma, and which was established in a desert place,
or a wilderness, would therefore likely be called the Dharmi-
rati^a Vih&ra, or Dharm-aranya, Arama; and this very name,
Dharm-aranya, we find actually still preserved, up to the pre¬
sent time, in the name of a spot at Baliya.

At the distance of about 450 feet to the north of the
north-eastern corner of the town of Baliya, there is an
ancient tank, which is called the Dharm&ranya Pokhra; and
to the north and east of it there are (or were till quite
lately) traces of the former existence of an ancient jangal, or
scrubby forest, or waste ground with scrub, probably a rent*

SARAN, AND GHAZIPUR. 85

nant of the ancient Aranya, as well as the palms, mango trees,
and other trees, of the present time. In reply to an enquiry
made of the then Officiating Tahsild&r of Baliya, Chittru Lall,
cm this very point, he said There is an ancient pond on the
north side and close to the town of Baliya, called DharmA-
ranya PokharA, and it is said that there was formerly a long
desert or forest about the pond. So here we have an actual
proof of the former existence of a desert or forest on this
spot!

Secondly, there are mounds of ruins at a place called
Beduwali, about a mile to the north of Baliya.

Thirdly, near the village of Wazirapur, at the distance of
about 4,000 feet to the east-south-east-half-east from the
town of Baliya, there is a mound of ruins, with a small pond
at its western side. This mound measured 165 feet in cir¬
cumference, 73 feet in diameter from north to south, 67 feet
in diameter from east to west, and about 14! feet in height.

Fourthly, about 850 feet to the south-south-east from the
last mound, there is another mound of ruins, near a village
vulgarly called Dhamaoli, which is a mere boorish modifica¬
tion of its proper name Dharmaoli, and probably a modern
corruption of the Sanskrit Dharm-alaya.* This mound
measured 283 feet in circumference, log feet in diameter from
north to south, 43 feet in diameter from east to west, and a
little less than 13 feet (or 12-A- feet) in height.

Fifthly, at the distance of 2,400 feet to the east-north-
east from the Dhamaoli mound, and near the village of Mu-
hammadpur (or say about miles to the east-south-east-
half-east from Baliya) there is a still larger and much higher
mound of ruins, which is situated on the north side of a large
oval-shaped pond of water. This mound measured 299 feet
(or say about 300 feet) in circumference, 72 feet in diameter
from north to south, 81 feet in diameter from east to west,
and about 24^ feet in height. I would not wonder if it should
eventually turn out that this mound contained the ruins of a
stupa.

* Similarly, in the Saran district also, there is a place called Dharmaoli,
9f miles to the north-east of Chapra.

86 REPORT OF TOURS IN GORAKHPUR,

Sixthly, at the distance of about 500 feet to the east of
the last-named mound, there is a long narrow-shaped mound,
running eastwards, along the north side of a road, for over
500 feet, to a temple, which is situated on the eastern end
of the mound.

From the foregoing description which I have given of the
remains about Baliya, I think there cannot be any doubt that
I have identified the site of the monastery mentioned by
Hiuwen Thsang and Fa-ITian, and that its real original name
must have been Dharm-^ranya, which agrees with Beal’s
rendering. .

Moreover, the country to the north and also to the east
of Baliya must really have been, and was formerly in an¬
cient times, a wilderness ; and in those quarters, even up to
quite recent times, there was a good deal of waste land and
barren land, and also some scrubby jangal, but particularly
about, or to the north and east of, the DharmS.ranya PokharA
(as certified to by the Officiating Tahsildar of Baliya), and
also about Sivar&mpur, to the east of Muhammadpur, as well
also as about the Suraha Tal, a large marshy lake about 5
miles to the north of Baliya.

Baliya is supposed to have derived its name by corrup¬
tion from that of the Rishi VMmiki, who is said to have
had his hermitage there, or to have dwelt on the spot for
some time. Its ancient name may therefore perhaps have
been V&lmikiya. But there is also a spot on the bank of the
Ganges at Bithhr (north of K&npur, or Cawnpore) called
VAlmiki ki Kuti, where his hermitage is said to have been.*'
The name of Baliya might however possibly retain some
allusion to the pierced ears of the old Buddhist monks, as
Mli means ear-ring, and baliya means a person wearing ear¬
rings.

At the time of Hiuwen Thsang’s visit, I think that the
Ganges very probably flowed much further south, close past

* For this information, respecting the site of the hermitage of Val mi ki at
Bithur, I was first indebted to my writer, Babu Budhram. He also informed me
that Jajmafi, on the south bank of the Ganges, 5 miles to the south-east <^f
Cawnpore, is supposed to be the site of the capital of Yay&ti, and to have derived
its name from him.

SARAN, AND GHAZIPUR. 87

Bhojpur, and thence on eastwards, where an old channel of
that river is still plainly distinguishable ; and if, as has been
said, Hiuwen Thsang crossed the Ganges 16 miles to the
South-east (or say east-south-east) from the monastery,
on his way to Mas&r, it must have been somewhere about
Nainijor, or Dharmangathpur, which are now on the south
side of the Ganges. Even now this is the usual ferrying or
crossing place for people going to and from Haldi and Ma-
thiya on the opposite side of the river, and from this ferry
an old track, or ancient line of road, leads in the direction of
Mas&r and Ar&.

23, Other ancient sites on the Ganges above Baliya , or
between Baliya and Ghasipur. —I have previously mentioned
a small village called Narainpur, on the north side of the
Ganges, nj miles north from Mas&r, which Narainpur I have
proposed to identify with the Na-lo-yen or N&r&yana of
Hiuwen Thsang.

But though not in any way connected with Hiuwen
Thsang’s travels, there is another much larger place called
Narainpur on the north side of the Ganges, about 2} miles
to the west of Baghsar or Baxar, 17 miles to the south-west
from Baliya, and 21 miles to the east of Gh&zipur. About
1 mile to the east of this Narainpur, and on the bank of
the river, there is a place called Mathiya ; and half a mile
to the south of Narainpur there is a village called Kotwa,
close to another village called Sikandarpur. The whole of
these places occupy an ancient site, and there are many tem¬
ples there, but I could not get a single inscription.

On the south side of the river, on the banks of the Thora
Nadi, and about 2 miles to the south-south-east from Na¬
rainpur, there is a mound of ruins called Chetiya.

On the north bank of the Ganges, nearly opposite to
the mouth of the Karamn&sa River, about 5 miles to the
south-west from Narainpur, and about 1^ miles to the
north-west of Chaosa, there are two groups of mounds of
ruins called Chetiya and Ambi Kot or Ambirikh. The
mound of Chetiya (which is close to the east side of the
other) from its name might perhaps possibly contain Bud-

88 REPORT OF TOURS IN GORAKHPUR,

dhist remains. The mounds of Atnbi Kot or Arnbirikh con¬
sist of the remains of a very ancient fort, which is said to,
have been founded by Ambika Rishi, or Ambarikha Rishi.
Nevertheless, the place is also said to have belonged to the
Cheru ka Rdj. I think it is most likely that Ambika Rishi
had a hermitage there in which he dwelt, while the original
inhabitants were Cherus. At any rate, it is certainly a very
ancient site.

A portion of this ancient site has been cut away by the
river, leaving a high perpendicular cliff overhanging the river;
and in this exposed section 1 could see numerous bricks and
fragments of ancient pottery. Very ancient coins are said to
be found on this spot.

On the south side of the Ganges, near the east bank of
the mouth of the Karamndsa River, and about miles dye
south of Arnbirikh, I saw a mound.

About two-thirds of a mile to the west of the mouth of
the Karamndsa River there is an old village called Biri
Close to this village I saw a conical or rather a pyramidal-
shaped mound. Again, about a mile to the west of Bard, and
about if miles to the west of the mouth of the Karamndsa
River, there is a large mound of ruins, probably those of an
ancient kot or fort. This is about miles to the north¬
east of a place named Guhmur (Gehmur ?) in the maps,
near which there is also a railway station of that name
which is spelt as Gahmar in the Railway time-tables. If I
might hazard a conjecture that the correct spelling of the
name of this place might perhaps be Gehmur, it might pos¬
sibly denote the dwelling of Mur, which was the name of a
demon (the Demon of Death), fabled to have been destroyed
by Krishna, who in consequence of this feat obtained the
name of Murdri, or the foe of Mur.

But there is also a kind of grass called ghamtir.

2 4 • The, Capital of the Kingdom of “ Chenchu/’ or the
1,01 d-of -Battles. As has already been stated, the monastery
visited by Hiuwen Thsang was about 33 miles to the east of
the capital of the kingdom of Chen-chu or the Lord-of-
battles.

SARAN, AND GHAZIPUR. 89

General Cunningham (Ancient Geography of India, pages
438 and 439) proposed to identify this place with Gh&zipur,
and remarks that the original Hindu name of Gh&zipur is
said to have been Garjpur, and that as Garjan means prima¬
rily any roaring noise, and secondarily battle, and as Garjana-
pati is a title of the god of war, that therefore the original
Sanskrit name of the place may have been Garjapatipura ;
and this would, so far, give us a pretty exact rendering of the
Chinese Chen-chu, translated as Lord-of-battles.

Now, if we measure 33 miles, with the compasses, on
the map, from the position of the Dharm-Aranya Pokhra at
the north-east corner of the town of Baliya, in a direction
nearly due westwards, it brings us to a point on the small
MangM River, 7! miles to the north of Gh&zipur. Or if we
measure in a south-westerly direction, in the actual direction
of GhAzipur itself, the distance of 33 miles brings us to a
village marked in the maps as KAlispur, on the B4su Nadi,
miles to the east of Ghazipur. Hence the full distance
from the Dharm&ranya at Baliya to GhAzipur direct, as the
bird flies, turns out to be about 35$ miles, or about 2} miles
greater than the travelled distance given by Hiuwen Thsang.
But any given travelled route, or distance by road, between
two places, can never be less than the direct distance as mea¬
sured in a straight line on a map ; or in other words, the
direct distance, in a straight line, can never be more, but
must be less, than the travelled route by road. Consequently
Gh 4 zipur thus appears to be too far off, for the site we are
in search of.

Now therefore, if a travelled route by road, between any
two places, was 33 miles, then the actual distance in a direct
line, if measured on a map, would be much less, or probably
not more than 30 miles at most.

Let us therefore now try the distance, of 30 miles, with
the compasses, on the map. Thirty miles from the Dharm-
ctranya at Baliya, in a direction nearly due west, brings us to
a place called Samanpur, on the MangM River, 8-J miles to
the noi th-east of Ghazipur j while, again, 30 miles in a west-
south-westerly direction brings us to a point between the

90 REPORT OF TOURS. IN GORAKHPUR,

BAsft Nadi and the Ganges, near a place marked as Dungar-
pur, or else to a point on the BAsu Nadi between ShahbAzkftli
and Ferozpur, 5^ miles to the east-north-east from GhAzipur.
So this last trial, again, leaves us at too great a distance
short of GhAzipur, to allow of its being absolutely or satisfac¬
torily identified as the site we are in search of. Of course
it is possible that Hiuwen Thsang himself has made a mis¬
take in his record of the distance, and that it may really
have been greater than he states. But at present, so far,
with the only data available to us, our analysis has left us
with unsatisfactory results.

But Hiuwen Thsang also gives us the distance of the
capital of Chen-chu from VarAnasi or BanAras, and he says
that it was situated 300 li, or 50 miles' to the east, of
BanAras. If we measure the distance from BanAras to
GhAzipur with the compasses, on the map, we find the
direct distance in a straight line, to be exactly 39 miles to
the north-east from BanAras; but the distance as travelled
by road may probably be about 45 miles at the utmost.
Now, the travelled distance of 50 miles from BanAras, men¬
tioned by Hiuwen Thsang, would probably be only about 45
miles direct, if measured in a straight line on the map;
and this distance of 45 miles eastwards from BanAras would
place the capital of Chen-chu about 6 miles to the east,
or rather east-south-east, of GhAzipur, or exactly on the
very line which one of my previously proposed measure¬
ments of 30 miles from Baliya reached. Moreover, GhAzipur
is situated north-east, and not east, from BanAras. This
result again throws GhAzipur entirely out of our reckoning.

My idea therefore is that the site of the capital of Chen-
chu has been washed away by the river; and I may here
remark that there are traces of an old bed of the Ganges to
the south of the present one, which ran from a point about
2 miles to the north of Nasratpur, north-eastwards close to
the north of Reotipur, at a general distance of about from
5 to 6 and 7 miles to the south south-south-east, and
south-east of GhAzipur. Reotipur is exactly 30 miles to.
the south-west from Baliya.

SARAN, AND GHAZIPUK.

9 >

I may however mention that there is a village called
HemrAjpur 2o| miles to the west-south-west from Baliya,
14! miles to the east-north-east from GhAzipur, and about 54
miles to the north-east from BanAras. The name of HemrAj-
pur would appear to mean the town of the king of gold,,
But the excessive distance from BanAras puts this spot entirely
out of the question altogether.

Then again 8| miles to the south-south-east-half-south from
HemrAjpur, we have, on the north bank of the Ganges, the
ancient mounds of ruins named Ambirikh and Chetiya, which
have already previously been mentioned by me. This
ancient site is 22$ miles to the south-west from the DharmA-
ranya at Baliya, and 54 miles to the east-north-east from
BanAras. The excessive distance from BanAras, however,
puts this site also entirely out of the question.

Let us now draw a straight line on the map from BanAras
to Baliya, and we shall find that the total distance in a direct
line is 74! miles. But the sum of Hiuwen Thsang’s two
distances of 50 miles and 33 miles, taken together, amounts to
83 miles, which is 8-| miles in excess of the actual direct
distance in a straight line; and this excess of 8-| miles has
to be allowed for crooked roads, or winding tracks, in travel¬
ling, in the time of Hiuwen Thsang ; and certainly the allow¬
ance is not at all too much. Now, if we make an equation as
follows—as Hiuwen Thsang’s total travelled distance of
83 miles, between BanAras and the Aviddhakarna, or Dharma-
ranya Monastery, is to the first part of his travelled distance
of 50 miles, between BanAras and the capital of Chen-chu,
so is our total actual direct distance, of 74J miles, from BanAras
to the DharmAranya at Baliya, as measured on the map in a
straight line, to the first part of our required direct distance,
in a straight line from BanAras to the capital of Chen-chu—
we then get as the result a small fraction under 45 (or
44T) miles, as the direct distance in a straight line from
BanAras to the capital of Chen-chu, and if we deduct this
first part of the actual direct distance, namely, 44— or 45
miles, from the total actual direct distance of 74^ miles, we
have 29-fo- or 30 miles left for the actual direct distance from

9 2 REPORT OF TOURS IN GORAKHPUR,

i lie capital of Chen-chu to the Avuldhakarna or Dharm&ranya
Monastery at Baliya. If we noty take the compasses and on
our straight line previously drawn measure 30 miles from
Baliya south-westwards in the direction of BanAras, and
then, again on the same straight line measure 45 miles
fiom Bandres north-eastwards in the direction of Baliya,
the two measurements will meet at a point on the south bank
0! the Ganges, half a mile to the west of a village called
Harshankarpur, and about 61 miles to the east-south-east-half¬
east from GhAzipur, but only 2 miles to the north-north-west
from Reotipur, which, as I have previously pointed out, lies
on the southern edge of an ancient deserted bed of the
Ganges. Consequently, we might now, perhaps, be justified
m supposing that the capital of Chen-chu may have been
situated somewhere in the neighbourhood of Harshankarpur,
the locality of which (though now on the south side of the
river) must formerly have formed a part of an old north bank
of the Ganges when it flowed in its ancient bed between
Harshankarpur and Reotipur. But, as I have once before
suggested, I think it is very. probable that the site of the
capital of Chen-cbu may have long ago been washed away
by the Ganges.

However, as I have also previously ventured to hint, it is
just possible that either Hiuwen Thsang or his copyists
may hace made some error in the record of the two travelled
distances of 50 miles and 33 miles; and if we might
dure to alter them to 45 miles and 38 miles respectively,
that would place the capital of Chen-chu at GhAzipur, as
General Cunningham proposed.

General Cunningham speaks of GhAzipur as being just
5 ° anles to the east of BanAras. Now all I can say is,
that the direct distance, in a straight line, as measured on
the map, is 39 miles; whde the travelled distance, or
journey by road, the most round-about way, along the north
bank of Ganges, at the present time, I find to be almost
universally computed at about 44 to 45 miles! But by
crossing to the south side of the Ganges, by the Chochak- »
put NagAwa GhAt, and then crossing the intervening

SARAN, AND GHAZIPUR. 93

peninsula to the Baluwa Ghkt, after crossing which latter a
straight road leads to Ban&ras, the distance becomes still
less, or only about 40 miles; that is, from the west end of
the native town of GhSzipur, to the east end of the town of
Ban&ra$ ; but if we reckon from centre to centre of each
town, it will give about 2-| miles more.

General Cunningham proposed Garjapatipura as an equi¬
valent for the Chinese term Chen-chu, or the capital of the
Lord-of-battles, as applied to the town, because he believed
that the modern Mu sal man name of Ghazipur was only at
slight alteration of the (supposed) original Hindu nameGarj-
pur. But besides Garjapati or Garjanapati, he gives several
other proposed Sanskrit equivalents for the Chinese Chen-chu,
such, for instance, as Yodhapati or Yodhar&ja, Yuddhanatha,
Vigrahapati, and Ranaswami, &c.; to which I may add
Ran&ditya, Sangr&man&tha, Sangr&mapati, Sangramasenb.,
Sangr&meswar, Ghams&napati, Saniarapati, Dh&rasena, &c„,
&c. A consideration of all these various possible equivalent
terms may perhaps eventually lead to the discovery of the
true site.

For instance, there is a place named Samanpur, in the
maps, on the MangM River, about 8§ miles to the north-
north-east-half-north of Ghkzipur. If the name of this place
might be intended for Samarpur, it would, mean battle-town,
and it might thus be a modern contraction of a former longer
name, such as Samarapatipur, which would mean Lord-of-
battle-town, the very thing we are in search of! The dis¬
tance from this place to Baliya is exactly 30 miles.

Again, with regard to the place named Gahmur in the.
maps, on the south side of the Ganges, about 14 miles
to the south-east of Gh&zipur, if it were not for its excessive
direct distance of 50 miles from Banaras, we might perhaps
be permitted to imagine that the correct orthography of the
name might possibly be Ghamaur, which might then be a
corruption and contraction, through the course of time, of
some older name, such as Ghamsan-pur or Ghamsinapatipur
through the intermediate form of Ghams&naur! But, as I
have said, the direct distance from Banaras is far too great.

94 REPORT OF TOURS IN GORAKHPUR,

I would, however, beg to call attention to a place called
Udharanpur, nearly 2| miles to the west-south-west of
Reotipur, and 6 miles to the south-east from Gh&zipur. At
Udharanpur, and at a village called Tonga, i mile to the
south of it, there are mounds of ruins, and these places lie on
an ancient bed of the Ganges which I have previously
referred to. It is possible that the name of Udharanpur
might be a corruption of Yuddharanapura.

SARAN, AND GHAZIPUR. 95

REPORT OF OPERATIONS DURING THE SEASON OF

1879-80.

2$. Ghdsipur .—In my previous report I have already
stated that General Cunningham proposed to identify the site
of the capital of the Kingdom of Chen-chu, or the Lord-of-
battles, with Ghazipur, and that he proposed Garjapatipura as
a Sanskrit equivalent for the Chinese rendering of the name,
noticing at the sam„e time that Garjpur was said to be the
original Hindu name of Ghazipur.

I have also previously remarked that the capital of Chen-
chu is stated by Hiuwen Thsang to have been situated 50
miles to the east of Ban&ras, and 33 miles to the west of the
Aviddhakarna Monastery, which I have identified with the
Dharm&ranya at Baliya, but that the actual position of
Ghctzipur does not agree wi,th these distances, as Ghdzipur
is only 39 miles in a straight line from Ban&ras, and the
travelled distance by road is only about 45 miles, while the
direction is north-east and not east. I have also remarked
that the distance of Gh&zipur from the Dharm&ranya at
Baliya, identified with the Aviddhakarna, is too great, as the
direct distance in a straight line is 35^ miles, while the tra¬
velled distance by road given by Hiuwen Thsang is only 33
miles, which makes the matter impossible, as the travelled
distance by road can never be less than the direct distance
measured in a straight line on the map.

Consequently, unless Hiuwen Thsang may have committed
an error in his record of the distances, Gh&zipur would
appear to be placed entirely out of the question.

As to the original Hindu name of Ghizipur, I may state
that some of the people seemed to think it had anciently been
called Gddhipur, while others said they thought the name had
been Gajpur, but there is some suspicion thrown upon this by
the fact that the Hindus generally pronounce the present name
■ of the place as Gajipur. Some of the people also said that
they had heard that the place had been founded by a Rlja

REPORT OF TOURS IN GORAKHPUR,

GAdhi, or GAth, or GAj, But this story I had already heard
also long before I went to GhAzipur.

At the same time, I think there can be very little doubt
that the spot which the native town of GhAzipur occupies is
an old site. On examining an exposed section of the high
river bank on which the town of GhAzipur stands, one can see
that the soil contains many fragments of old brick and pottery.

There is an old site about 3 miles to the west of the
town Oi Ghazipur near two villages called Hempur and
Atraoli, and I hear that a copper-plate with an inscription
has been found there since I visited GhAzjpur.

Such a full account has already been given of GhAzipur
by Mr. W. Oldham, C.S., in his Historical and Statistical
Memoir of the GhAzipur District, that very little has been left
for me to say.

26. Old sites to the west of Ghdsipur. —There is a dih, or
mound of ruins, called Siuri ka RAj, near the south bank of
the small Gangi River, to the south-east of a village called
hermit, about 6-f miles to the south-west from GhAzipur.
There is also a small mound to the west of the village, and
another to the north, and another to the south. I take this
name, Siuri ka RAj, applied to these mounds of ruins, to indi¬
cate the site of an ancient town which was founded by the
Suirs or Saviras.

There is a small conical mound dose to the north-west
of Nandganj, and there is another mound about a mile to
the south of that place.

There is an old fort, over-growm with scrubby jangal, near
Barbampur (the Burunpoor of the maps) about a mile to the
south-west of Nandganj.

There are two mounds of ruins near a village called
SabuwA, on the south bank of the Gangi River, about 2
miles to the south of Nandganj.

There is another mound of ruins to the west of Meharaoli,

miles to the north-east of Chochakpur Ghat.

2 7 - Masaon Dih, Joharganj or Bdnhjhuldwan, or Dhand-
war, and Krelulendtapura.—On the north bank of the*
Ganges, about 22-jj miles by straight measurement, or about.

SARAN, AND GHAZIPUR. 97

A'A ’ vAr ’’!'.,'■; v ?*‘ AA :'. A-fer % ■ v-’A

24 miles by road, to the west-south-west-half-west from Ghh-
zipur, the large village and Tahsili of Saidpur or Saiyadpur is
situated. It is 4|- miles to the south-west of Bhitari, where
the inscribed Gupta Pillar is.

About 2 miles to the north-west of Saidpur, and about
Si miles to the west-south-west from Bhitari, there is a very
large and high mound of ruins called Masaon Dih.

About a mile to the south of Masaon Dih, and about

miles to the west of Saidpur, and perhaps a little over
a third of a mile to the west of a village named Budhoo-
poor (Budhupur ?) in the maps, there is a village called Johar¬
ganj, which is not marked in the maps. This place is said
to have been formerly called B&nhjhul&wan, from a mound of
ruins on the northern edge of the road, close to the west of'
Joharganj, where robbers, the chief of whom is said to have
been the zamind&r of the place, laid in wait for travellers, and
seized them by their arms and shook them about, until they
made them give them what they wanted. The rendezvous
of these robbers was in a house which formerly stood on the
top of the mound of ruins.

I excavated this mound of ruins, near Joharganj, in the
centre, vertically downwards, to a considerable depth, even
down to about even with the level of the river; and found in
it a regular historical epitome, ranging from recent times back
to th<* stone age ! In the uppermost portion of the mound, I
found the remains of the ruins of an old house. Below that,

I came upon the ruins of an old temple, and found some
sculptured stones in it, on two of which there were short
inscriptions. One of the inscriptions is important, as it gives
the word Krelulendrapu(ra) as the ancient name of this
old site, which includes also the great mound of ruins
called Masaon Dih about a mile to the north of joharganj.
A zamindAr of a neighbouring village said that the ancient
name of the place was Kalandarpur, while a Brahman told
me it was, Krelendrapur, or Krelendra-nagara; but on the
stone, the name engraved seems to me to read plainly as
Krelulendrapu (ra), the terminal p being somewhat defaced,
and the final r being entirely broken away. The age of the

98 REPORT OF TOURS IN GORAKHPUR,

'

letters appeared to me to be about the twelfth century A,D.
They are of exactly the same style as those of No. 7 of the
Hindu mason’s marks on the Hindu pillars at the Kutb
Masjid at Dehli, as given at the top of Plate XXXVII of
Vol. I of the Reports of the Archaeological Survey. There
the word Vilu or Bilu is in exactly the same style as the first
portion, Krelu, of the inscription on the Joharganj stone.

This discovery immediately put me in mind of an inscrip¬
tion on a coin described by Mr. Thomas at pages 94 and 95
of the Second Volume of Prinsep’s Essays on Indian Antiqui¬
ties. This is a coin of the Gupta series. There is a long
but somewhat imperfect inscription on the coin, which
Mr. Thomas proposed to read as Sri (Na)nda Gupta vikram-
endrasya Sri Gupta Krilalendra. But Professor Fitz Edward
Hall proposed to amend the reading as follows : Sri Nanda
Gupta Vikramendrasya Sri Gupta KiUlendra. But to my
mind, in the facsimile of the inscription which Mr. Thomas
gives, the last name appears to me to read plainly as
Kr-l-l-ndr, all the letters being entirely without any top vowel
marks, and the only vowel visible being the u attached to the
lower limb of the G, in the word Gupta. In the name
Kr-l-I-ndr, the common r, curved to the left, is attached to
the lower limb of the K, so that it cannot be read either as
Kri, nor as Ki\ but it might be read either as Kr, or as Kre.

I myself would therefore propose to read the word on the
coin either as Kralalendra or as Krelalendra. But on the
stone dug up on the spot, at Joharganj, the word, I think,
appears to be plainly Krelulendra. We may therefore sup¬
pose that, the ancient city which occupied the side extending
from the bank of the Ganges at Joharganj northwards to the
great mound called Masaon Dih, was called Krelulendrapura,
and that it was the capital of Sri Gupta Krelulendra.

I would with much, diffidence venture to suggest that the
name of Krelulendra might possibly be derived from the
Sanskrit root Kr, to scatter, and either lol, moving, or lol , to
desire, or to be eager; whence it might perhaps signify—
moving to scatter, or eager to scatter, like Indra.

But Masaon Dih is said to have had another ancient name,

SAKAN, AND GHAZIPUR. 99

namely, DhanAwar, or, as some said, DinAwar. ft is certain
that this ruined site is of more ancient origin than even the
Guptas ; because f obtained some punch-marked and other
very ancient coins there, which belong to an age antecedent
to the rise of the Guptas. Perhaps, therefore, the other name
of DhanAwar may be older than, and have preceded that of,
Krelulendrapura.

Now, in connection with this, it is somewhat remarkable
that, among the ancient coins found at Masaon Dih, I obtain¬
ed two thin square copper coins, bearing an inscription which
is the same in both, in the ancient Asoka lAt characters, and
which I read as Dhana-devasa. The last part, of the name
at least looks more like devasa than datasa; but it is
immaterial for my present purpose which it is, so long as the
first part is Dhana. And I would now venture to sug¬
gest that Dhana-deva (or Dhanadata.) may very possibly
have been the original founder of this ancient place, and that
therefore the original name of the place may have been
DhanA-pura, which gradually became corrupted to Dhanawar,
just as the ancient Indrapura of the copper-plate inscrip¬
tion of the time of Skanda Gupta, found at Indor Khera, in
the Bulandshahr District, became changed to Indor, through
the intermediate form of IndrAwar. I would then suppose
that, on the rise of the Guptas into power, Sri Gupta Krelu-
lendia made Dhanawar (the present Masaon Dih) his capital,
and changed its name to Krelulendrapura.

But I must now again proceed with my account of the
results of my excavation in the mound near joharganj. On
another stone I got a short inscription consisting of one
single word, which appeared to read as TindatA. On another
stone there was the.single word Driti. On another there
was the single word Pan(cha). These are probably mason’s
marks. On another stone there was a figure of a bird in
rough outline, very rudely engraved. I also found a portion
of the fallen kalsa of the former old temple; and also some
fragments of statues, one of which was the upper portion only
of the face'and head of a small stone statue, also a small
sculpture in relief, in pale reddish-white sandstone, of Surya

v «c XXII. u '

roo REPORT OF TOURS IN GORAKHPUR,

in his chariot with four horses, and also a small broken
figure of an elephant in white stone, with the lower portion
only remaining of the figure of a man riding on its back,
and a very small copper image of some female divinity.

I also found a couple of very much defaced but old coins
in the excavation,—one a moulded coin, and the other a punch-
marked coin.

Besides the above I found the following miscellaneous
curiosities: an old broken crucible for melting metal; a
small object of burnt clay, shaped something like a small
shortened hourglass, or like the shape of a vertebral bone ;
a horse’s head in clay ; some small earthen vessels; a very
much rusted spear point, broken into three pieces; a rusted
fragment of the blade of a small knife or dagger; a very
fine thick piece of ancient black glass, or k&nch, very much
resembling obsidian ; a small fragment of some thin metal
vessel; two large pointed oval clay beads, with holes through
them ; portion of an ivory armlet, or chfiri ; several very
ancient-looking and ornamental churis, or armlets, kanch
(broken) ; several agate beads of various shapes; a circular
polished ornament of rock-crystal, roundly convex on one side
and flat on the other; two iron arrow-heads; a copper
torque(?) with bulb-shaped ends, about 6|- inches in length.
I also found a good deal of ashes in spots here arid there.

When I hacl got down to the bottom of the debris of the
ruins of the old temple, I carried the excavations still further
down below it, in order to see if I could find anything still
older beneath all. It was here that I found a much worn
copper punch-marked coin. At length I reached firm clay,
interspersed with layers of sand and kankary gravel ; and in
that 1 found a few specimens of what are (whether rightly or
wrongly) generally called pre-historic remains. (Although,
as to whether they are really entirely pre-historic or not,
after all, may be at least a doubtful question, At any rate
these few remains last discovered, in the lowest portion of my
excavation, were lying in very unhistoric-Iooking clay, &c.,
and at. a great depth, apparently about on a level with the
river.) These few remains consisted, in the first place, of a

SARAN, AND GHAZIPUR.

IOI

curious-looking little celt, made of very dark-coloured stone,
and polished, especially towards the edge, and of which the
width across the blade measures a little less than i | inches
and the breadth backwards about i-§- inches, the width across
the narrow butt-end at the back being three'quarters of an
inch. But evidently the back of the implement must once
have ended in a long conical point (for insertion into a
handle) ; and the point having probably got broken off in the
course of use, it has been rubbed down pretty smooth into a
blunt sort of butt. The cutting edge spreads out wide, like
that of a small broad axe. This implement very much resem¬
bles one described and figured by Mr. Evans at page 115,
fig. 71, of his Ancient Stone Implements of Great Britain, only
that my specimen is much broader in the blade. My small
celt is a polished one ; but Mr, Elvans has another small
short broad-bladed celt of this shape, described and figured
at page 87, fig. 42 of his work. But in this case his speci¬
men is a chipped one, only partly polished on one side and at
the edge. These kinds of implements, if pushed with the
blade forwards, would do as fleshing instruments for cleaning
the inside of raw hides.

Another stone implement found by me in the same ex¬
cavation is now evidently only a portion of its original length.
It has been broken short off at one end, owing to a natural joint
in the stone; and there it shows a nearly square section, with
three sides straight, and one side curved or rounded. What
I call the upper flat, part of the implement has a portion of
a high raised keel running longitudinally along its centre.
The opposite side, which I call the bottom, or under side, is
somewhat rounded. I think this implement must have been
used as a rubber, grinder, or polisher; and that it must have
been held by the raised keel on the back, between the first
two fore-fingers and the thumb. This implement is ij inches
in length, by 1J inches in thickness one way, and a little over
an inch the other way.

In this excavation I also got two pieces of red hematitic
clay-ironstone, called geru, rubbed or pojished down into
several smooth flat facqs. They must evidently have been

102

REPORT OF TOURS IN GORAKHPUR,

used for making paint or colour. (It will hereafter be sCen,
that about a year afterwards, I found similar pieces of rubbed-
down geru, or red hematite, along with stone implements, in
excavations which I made in some caves, in the North Riwa
hills, on the south of the Mirzapur District.)

Lower down in the same excavation at Joharganj, in the
Gh&zipur District, I also obtained a core, of apparently some
kind of black jasper, having five facets on it, from which
flakes had been struck off; also, a thick flake of dark silici-
ous stone, with three facets on it, from which three smaller
flakes had been struck off; also a small long, thin, or nar¬
row-shaped, core, of greyish white jasper, with seven facets
on it, from which small long narrow flakes had been taken off ;
also, several worked flakes of agate, one of which appeared
to be the point of an arrowhead.

Along with the stone implements, I also found two rather
strange objects. One was a large poison fang of a snake.
This fang measured more than i| inch in length ! The
other was the long sharp saw-edged fin bone, or spine, of
some fish of the kind called Tengra. Both of these objects
appeared to be very ancient, and to have lost all trace
of animal matter; and they were very brittle. I have no
doubt they were used by the aborigines of the “StoneAge”
to tip their arrows with.

In this excavation, along with others of its surroundings,
therefore, as I have said, I verily found an historical, or rather
chronological, epitome, ranging from recent times and the
middle ages back through the age of the Guptas and that
of their predecessors in early Buddhist times, to the earliest
period, when the GhiDipur District was a wilderness, inhabited
by rude pre-historic wandering aboriginal tribes !

It is worthy of remark that not a single article of metal, nor
any pottery either, was found with the stone implements in the
lowest stratum which I reached, at the bottom of my deep pit
of excavation. The greatest depth reached in my excavation
was about 33 feet below the top of the mound, or about from
18 to 20 feet below the mean level of the surrounding ground.

About 1,000 feet or so to the south-east of this mound,

SARAN, AND GHAZIPUR. 103

there was another rather conspicuous high mound of ruins,
on the bank of the river; and close to the west of that (and
to the south of the excavated mound), and to the south
side of the road, there were some lower mounds of ruins, and
several broken weatherworn sculptures, and fragments of
statues of Hindu divinities, lying on the ground. The pre¬
cipitous face of the bank of the river, opposite this spot, is
full of ancient broken bricks and fragments of pottery.

I also visited two smaller ruined sites, or low mounds of
ruins, to the west of the village of Aonrih&r, which is situated
about 2J miles to the westnorth-west-half-west from Said-
pur,—or about -£- mile in the same direction from Joharganj,
and about 1 mile to the south-west from Masaon Dih.

Of ancient coins found at Masaon Dih and Joharganj,
I obtained altogether sixty-one; and also one heart-shaped
copper medal, bearing Buddhist symbols, and intended for
suspension round the neck. The following is a list of the
coins:—

Five oblong-shaped, punch-marked, copper coins; one of
them only bearing the remains of a legend, in the ancient
Asoka kit character, which appears to read as “y-Achala-
varma.” The word “ Achalah ” appears to have had some
word preceding it, which terminated with a y: and the termi¬
nal word, whiqh I read as “ varma,” is not certain, as the
small letters are much rubbed, and not distinct.

A small, thick, defaced copper coin, spoilt in mould ; but
had a rude human bust on it.

Forty-five square copper coins, with an elephant on one
face, and five Buddhist symbols on the other.

Two thin square copper coins, of a larger size; with,
on one face, an elephant, with a pillar or standard, surrounded
by a Buddhist railing, in front of it; and above that a legend,
in the ancient Asoka characters, which I read as—Dhand-
devasa (or Dhand-datasa). On the other face five Buddhist
symbols. These two larger coins are of exactly the same
type as the forty-five smaller ones ; only that the two larger
ones bear inscriptions, while the smaller ones never have any.

Another broken coin of the same type.

104 REPORT OF TOURS IN GORAKHPUR,

A round copper coin, with an elephant, on one face ; and
a chaitya, or stfipa composed of three arcs and surmounted
by an umbrella, on the other.

Around copper coin, with a bull (?), to right, on one
face, and above, to left, a cross of which the four arms ter¬
minate with a ball. On the other face five symbols, differ¬
ing from those of the preceding coins.

A defaced copper coin, probably of the same type as the
last.

A much worn copper coin, with linear human figure stand¬
ing ; of the same type as what are known as the copper Bud-
dhist-Satrap coins.

An alloyed-silver coin, of the degraded Indo-Sassanian
type, and allied to the Var&ha Dramma series.

A copper coin, of Sri PratApa.

A gold coin, of Sri Mad-Gangeya Deva.

Among the ruins at Joharganj 1 observed some bricks
measuring 13! inches in length, by 9 inches in breadth,
inches in thickness.

To the south, west, and south-east of Masaon Dih, and
about three-quarters of a mile to the north of joharganj,
there are traces of an ancient, river bed, probably an ancient
branch of the Ganges. It appears to commence to the west
of Bhitari, apparently from the right bank of the Gangi River,
and to run thence westwards and south-westwards, until it
passes close by the southern edge of Masaon Dih. From
thence it turns gradually south-westwards, and south south-
westwards, until it reaches the banks of the Ganges, just
where it is joined by the Gomati River. We may therefore
suppose that the Gomati, Ganges, and Gangi Rivers were in
ancient times all three connected by a river channel, on the
north bank of which the citadel of the ancient city of
Krelendra-nagara or Dhan&war (Dhanfl-pura?) was situated.

I he dimensions of the great mound of Masaon Dih are
as follows: It measured about 1,500 feet in length from east
to west, by about 1,000 feet in breadth from north to south at
the west end, and about 600 feet in breadth at the east end.
The highest point of the mound rises to a height of, probably,

SARAN, AND GHAZIPUR.

105

nearly 50 feet above the surrounding fields, while the height
of the rest of the mound varies from about 20 to 30, and in
some places perhaps 40 feet.

There is a tank called Kalwari-ka-Pokhra, with high em¬
bankments on two sides, at a short distance to the north of
the great mound.

A portion of a small terra-cotta figure was found on the
mound, and also one of those small circular, slightly-orna¬
mented objects of pottery, about half an inch in thickness,
of which I have found a good many on other ancient mounds;
and as there is no hole through the centre and they are of
equal thickness throughout, 1 take them to have been used
as gotis for pachisi, or draughtsmen.

On parts of the mound, mostly near the edge, there are
narrow, circular wells lined with cylinders of earthen-ware
measuring 2$ feet in diameter. These wells might be kot-
hilas for storing grain ; but in that case they would all be
higher up on the mound in order to escape from water enter¬
ing at bottom. Consequently the majority of them which are
near the edge were probably wells for drawing water; while
the few that are on the upper part of the mound may have
been used, either for the other purpose above referred to, or
for some other.

The whole of this great mound is entirely waste and un¬
occupied, and covered with trees.

28. Chandraoti, or Chandrdvati .—There is an old place
called Chandraoti, or Chandrdvati, on the left bank of the
Ganges, about3 miles to the south of the junction of the
Gomati, 7I miles to the west of Bairdnt, and about ii| miles
to the north-east from Banaras. The place is said to have
been founded by a Rdja Doman Deo, or Domana Deva. The
ancient site is situated on the very brink of the river bank.
It consists of ancient ruined ramparts forming an irregular
figure, and surrounding the present village of Chandrdvati.
It is full of old bricks and pottery. There are three rather
plain Jain temples there, of no very great age. Chandrd¬
vati is a site well known to the Srawakis or Jains.

J06 REPORT OF TOURS IN GORAKHPUR,

The largest of the old bricks measured 9^ inches by 6
by 2 inches.

29. Chiraiya-Kot.— Chiraiya-Kot, about 25 1 miles to the
north-west of Gh 4 zipur, is a very ancient site, and many
ancient punch-marked coins have been found there. But it
is so well known, and has been visited by so many people, and
is, besides, of such small size, that it does not require much
description.

It is a square-shaped mound of earth, measuring about
160 feet from north to south, by about 150 feet from east to
west. It is situated in the middle of the village, and a modern
school-house is built on the top of the mound.

There is an old tank to the north of the village, with a
mound on the south side of it. This mound is higher than
that in the village, but it may perhaps have been formed
merely by the earth which was dug out of the tank.

jo. Gdrha-Jta-kot. —G&rha-ka-Kot is an ancient site,
situated nearly 6 miles to the north of Chiraiya-Kot, and on
the bank of a large jhil close to the north of a village called
Bhatri. The River BhaisM takes its rise from the Jhil. This
ancient site is also called R&j Bhar-ka-Kot. I am indebted
for the discovery of this place to my writer B&bu Budh
Rim.

The entire extent of this ancient site measured about
2,400 feet from north to south, by about 1,500 feet from east
to west. The whole of this extent of ground is covered with
fragments of bricks and pottery. On this, at the distance of
about 1,300 feet from the northern limit of the traces of ruins,
500 feet from the southern limit, 600 feet from the eastern
limit, and 400 feet from the south-western limit, there is an
old ruined fort, covered with jangal, which measured 600 feet
from north to south, by 500 feet from east to west. The
jhil approaches near to the fort on the western side. In the
fort, at the distance of about 400 feet from its western side,
there is a ruined conical-shaped mound of bricks, which has
a circumference of about 100 feet, and a perpendicular height
of about 1 1 feet. It may possibly be a ruined stupa.

Bricks actually seen on this mound measured 13 inches,

SARAN, AND GHAZ1PUR.

I O'

by 8|-, by 2 inches. But it. is said that bricks have been
found there upwards of 2 feet square and very thick.

The popular story is that the fort was built or occupied
by Bharsj but there seems reason to believe that the founda¬
tion of the ancient site must be far more ancient than the
time of the Bhars.

The people say that, some of them were once digging a
well for a SAdhu, who lived on the mound, and at the depth of
36 feet they found a chulha, or fire-place, and two earthen
pitchers, one of which was filled with grains of sAwAn, and the
other was filled with grains of kodo, all charred.

There is also a superstitious story current, to the effect
that at night some mysterious being, riding on an elephant,
comes on to the mound, and performs the horn sacrifice there;
and that afterwards the ashes of the hom and elephant dung
are sometimes found there.

3/. Khaim Dih .—Khaira Dih is the ruined site of a_
very ancient city, situated on the right bank of the Ghagra
River, close to the north-north-west of TurtipAr, in the
GhAzipur District, and exactly opposite to BhAgalpur.

That which represents the fortified portion of the ancient
city, enclosed by broken ramparts and ruined walls, measured
1,600 feet from north to south, by 1,500 feet from east to west.
The present village of Khaira is situated on the eastern ram¬
part. Signs of ancient inhabitation, however, extend for
some distance to the south and south-east, in the direction
of TurtipAr.

Khaira Dih is said to have been the residence of Jama-
dagni Rishi, and the birth-place of his son ParasurAma, the
fabled destroyer of the Kshatriyas. It is said that Parasu¬
rAma, on leaving Khaira, went to SohnAg, an ancient place
in the Gorakhpur District, about 8 or 10 miles to the north¬
wards of BhAgalpur, and there performed tapassya; and
there is a temple with a statue of ParasurAma at SohnAg,
and an annual fair is held there on the 3rd of the Sudi of
BaisAkh.

About 6 miles to the west of Khaira Dih, there is a large
jhil or lake called Raktoe, where it is said that SahasrabAhu

jo8

REPORT OK TOURS IN GORAKHPUR,

was killed by Parasur&ma; and it is fabled that the blood
t which flowed from Sahasrab&hu formed a lake, and was
therefore called Raktoe. A small river called the H&hfi
flows out of this lake and runs north-eastwards to join the
Gh&gra. i

Bricks actually seen at Khaira measured i foot 2-| inches
by 11 inches by 3 inches ; but much larger bricks are re¬
ported to have been found there, which are said to have
measured 2 feet by 1 foot 6 inches by 5^ inches.

Five ancient coins were obtained at Khaira Dih. Three
of them are Indo-Scythic ,- one of them being a copper coin
of Kadpluses of the usual type ; another is a copper elephant
and rider coin of Ooerki or Huvishka; the third may be either
of Ooerki or Kanerki. A fourth coin is very large and thick,
having a curious device like a flower; with some other
symbols, and apparently some traces of an inscription, on one
face ; and some large unrecognisable device on the other face.
The fifth is a small square coin with Buddhist symbols, and
of a similar type to many that were found at Masaon Dih. It
is said that immense numbers of coins of the Indo-Scythic
type are annually found at Khaira Dih, and sold by the ser
and melted down.

32. Bairdntj or Vairanta .—To the south of the Ganges,
about 6? miles to the south-south-east from Said pur, about
16 miles to the north-east from Ban&ras, and about 22| miles
to the south-west from Gh&zipur, there is a very extensive
ancient site called Baidfnt, situated on the south-east bank
of a loop-shaped river-channel which is called the B&n
Ganga, but which is in reality some former ancient bed, or
back-water, of the Ganges.

All the people of that part of the country will have it that
this is the true Vairata, where it is said that the Pandus hid
themselves during the last year of their enforced banishment.
But. the real name of the place to the south of the Ganges,
at present under consideration, is Bair&iit, or in Sanskrit
Vair&hta; while on the contrary the true Vair&ta was situ¬
ated in the Matsya country; and it has already been identi¬
fied with Bair&t in R&jput&na.

SARAN, AND GHAZIPUR.

109

Another instance of an imaginary Vair&ta, or rather
Vairht-khera, was discovered by General Cunningham at a

1 11 1 n ' 1 1 .. . L 4- It n *-+• |-» r V m

place called Barikhar, 42 miles to the north-north-west from
Nimsar, and 68 miles to the south-south-east from Pilibhit,
General Cunningham of course concluded that the idea was
derived simply from a slight similarity of name; though he

remarks that the true name of the place appears to be
Badishar.

But this is not the only case of Brahmanical duplex iden¬
tification of ancient historical sites which I have met with;
for 1 have found several other doubles, or attempts at duplex
dentiftcations of sacred or historic sites, which have origin¬
ated with the Brahmans, for reasons best known to them¬
selves. (Probably in order that they might always be sure
of securing their profits, perquisites, and pickings from pil¬
grims in either one or other of two or more places in differ¬
ent parts of the country or in both at once.) For instance,

, there are two different places widely separated, both of which
are reputed to represent the ancient Vy&ghrapura of the
Pur&nas, where the Var&ha AvaCir of Vishriu is said to have
taken place; namely, r, Baghera in Rajputana ; and 2, the
Bar&h Chbetr or Var&ha Kshetra, on the Kuano River,
in the Basti District, which has been identified as the Vy&ghra-
puri or Koli of the Buddhist traditions, where Maya Devi
(the mother of S&kya Buddha) was born.

Secondly, there are two different places also widely sepa¬
rated, both of which are reputed to be the ancient Santipur
or Shronitpur, the capital of B&nftsur; namely, 1, Mas&r
(or Mahas&ra) near Ar 3 in Bihar; and 2, Bijaymandar
Garh (or Viyayamandar Garh) near Baiana in Rajputana,
the ancient name of which really was Santipur, and the
ancient name of Baiina is said to have been Banasura or
Banlsur-nagara.

Thirdly, there are three different and still more widely
separated places, all of which have the reputation of being
the site of the traditional Kundalpur, the capital of Raja
Bhishmak, where Krishna is said to have carried off his bride
Rukmini; namely, 1, Bidar in Southern India, identified

no

REPORT OF TOURS IN GORAKHPUR,

with the ancient city of Vidarbha, or else some other ancient
site in the country or kingdom of Vidarbha; 2, Baragaon
in Bihar, which the Brahmans say is the site of Kundalpur,
but which General Cunningham has identified as the site of
the ancient Nalanda ; and 3, AhAr, on the Ganges^ in the
Bulandshahr District, to the north of Anupshahr. But, how¬
ever, at all events, wherever the legendary Kundalpur may
be supposed to have been, it is quite certain that Vidarbha
was in Southern India, and it has been identified with Bidar ;
though the Hindus of the Bulandshahr District will have it
that AhAr is the site of Kundalpur. In a foot-note to my
former report on AhAr, General Cunningham has animad¬
verted on my quoting from RAja Kuar Lachman Singh his
expression Bidar, or the Berars of Central India. But Gene¬
ral Cunningham seems to have forgotten that he himself
formerly actually made use of the very same expression,
namely, Vidarbha or Berar at page 28 of volume 1 of the
Reports of the Archaeological Survey of India.

I could bring forward several other instances of the same
sort; but the above are quite sufficient of their kind to prove
the duplicity, in more senses than one, of such Brahmanical
traditions. I may, however, add just one more instance
which attracted my attention while writing another report of
the previous season. Baliya, to the east of Ghazipur, is re¬
puted to have been the site of the hermitage of the Rishi
\ almiki, but there is also a spot (a mound surmounted by a
temple), on the bank of the Ganges close to BithAr, north
of Kanpur (or Cawnpore), which is called Valmiki-ki-Kuti,
where his hermitage is reputed to have been. The country
about Bitbur is still called BrahmA-varta, and a great mela
or fair is held there annually in honour of Brahma.

Having thus paved the way, by removing a popular error,

I may now proceed with my description of BairAht. The
ancient site of BairAnt consists, first, of a very ancient ruined
fort, on the eastern edge of the BAnganga Nadi ; and, se¬
condly, of the site of a former ancient town, which is a high
ground running from the fort for a long distance southwards,
and then for a little distance south-westwards, along the bank

SARAN, AND GHAZIPUR.

I I f

of the old river. The old fort is of earth-work, but contain¬
ing many ancient broken bricks. The fort is nearly a paral¬
lelogram, which measured about 1,350 feet in length from
north to south, by about 900 feet from east to west. Its sides
consist of ramparts from 70 to 100 feet in thickness, parts of
which are still pretty high, while in some places they have been
broken down or cut through by small pluvial water channels.
There are the remains of high earthwork bastions at three
comers of the fort, namely, on the north-eastern, north-western,
and south-eastern corners. The sites of ancient gate-ways can
still be distinguished in the four sides of the fort, but speci¬
ally in the northern and southern sides. More than a third
of the southern part of the interior of the fort is low. The
ground then rises northwards for about one-third more; and
the northern fourth part of the interior of the fort is still
higher. Close inside of the north-eastern bastion, there is
the site of some large building. About the middle of the
southern part of the interior of the fort, there is a small
conical mound of ruins with a stone linga on the top of it.
There is another stone linga on the summit of the middle
of the western rampart. The old exterior ditch of the fort is
quite plainly discernible on the northern and southern sides.

About 380 feet to the north of the fort, the present village
of BairArit is situated; and there is an additional small tola ,
or hamlet, to the south-west of it, and only 270 feet from
the fort. There is a long mound 150 feet to the north-north¬
east of the village.

Two thousand and fifty feet to the north of the village
there is an old embanked tank, called Bhaktin-ka-TalAo, with
a small temple on the west side of it. Three hundred and
twenty feet to the north of the tank, there is a small mound
of ruins; and about 630 feet to the west of the tank there is
a temple called RAmsAla, where an Aoghaf Mahant and his
disciples live. About a quarter of a mile to the north of the
RAmsala, lies the village of RAmgarh.

There is some high ground, containing fragments of
,brick and pottery, about 650 feet to the north-east of the
village of BairArit. About 230 feet to the east-south-east of

I 12 REPORT OF TOURS IN GORAKHPUR,

the village, there is a large statue of Hanurn&n on a platform
under a tree.

Two hundred and seventy feet to the south-west from the
south-western corner of the ancient fort, and at the very edge
of the old river, there is a small conical mound of ruins called
Devi-ka-Th&n. About 450 feet to the south of the fort,
there are the remains of a high ancient rampart, running
east and west, like a long narrow ridge, for about 1,400 feet.
Close to the south of that, and on the high bank of the Bdn-
ganga River, but divided from the long rampart by a deep cut,
there is a large, broad, flattish-topped, and somewhat rectan¬
gular-shaped mound, or high ground, which measured about
800 feet from north to south, by about 600 from east to west.
On it there was a small heap or mound of bricks and stones,
with a broken arghd of a linga lying on it. The whole of the
surrounding ground is full of fragments of ancient brick
and pottery. To the south of this there is a nhla; and
1,200 feet to the south of that, on the high bank of the
river, there is a very small village called Kakrahti, with two
old indigo factories near it, one to the north and the other
to the south of it. To the south of the village there are
two deep n&las. Again, about 2,000 feet to the south of
Kakrahti, and also on the high bank of the river, there is a
village called Rasiilpur, with a high conical mound at its
south-western corner. The whole of this extent of ground,
on the high eastern bank of the Bdnganga, thus far south¬
wards from the old fort, has evidently been the site of an
ancient town; and fragments of old brick, but principally of
old pottery, are constantly being turned up by the plough.
But this is not all; for the site of the ancient town extends
along the high river bank for about 3,000 feet further
to the south, or rather somewhat south-west from Rasul-
pur, for the bank of the river takes a south-westerly turn
from that village. Towards the southern end of this con¬
tinuation of the ancient site, there is a gently sloping round-
topped mound, which is full of fragments of brick and pottery.
Close to the north of it there is an ancient gh^t. lead¬
ing down to the river. To the south of this, and at the most

south-westerly point, or termination, of the site of the ancient
city, there is a high earthen bastion, much furrowed by the
running off of water during the rains. Close to the south of
this there is a mound of ruins, with a linga on the top of it,
round about which I found several fragments of sculpture
collected together. Two of these I brought away with me.
They consist of imperfect portions, or pieces, of small square
pillars, which must apparently have belonged to a stone rail¬
ing, as one of them has narrow, oblong, rectangular-shaped
sockets in three of its sides. They are each sculptured on
three sides. On three sides of one of them there is a
strangely burlesque-looking face; and above each, divided off
by a sculptured band, there is a semi-circular ornament, some¬
thing like what is found on some varieties of Buddhist railing
pillars. On the other fragment there is a kind of ornament
which it is difficult to describe, but which I think, has a
Buddhist look about it.

The whole length of the site of the ancient city, inde¬
pendent of the fort, and counting from the fort southwards,
is about 7,700 feet by one mode of measurement, or about
8,000 by another; or a little less than i| mile. But if we
include the fort also, the total length of the entire ancient
site is upwards of if miles, or say nearly 2 miles. Indeed, if
we include a few small mounds to the north of the fort, about
the village of Bairint, we get as near as possible about 2
miles for the entire length of this ancient site.

The breadth of the site of the ancient city, from the bank
of the river backwards, or from west to east, is not so easily
ascertained; because the ground to the east has been much
levelled down, and the old eastern boundary much obliterated
by cultivation and by the cutting in of fields. But as far as
1 could ascertain by careful personal examination, the breadth
of the site of the ancient city, from east to west, towards
its northern end, appeared to be about 2,000 feet, while to¬
wards its southern end it decreased to about 1,400 feet and
j,ooo feet, and at its extreme southern termination to only
$.bout. 800 feet.

The ancient city appears to have been bounded on the

vol. xx n.

1

114 REPORT OF TOURS IN GORAKHPUR,

extreme east, by another more shallow, ancient river-bed, which
is now dried up; but which becomes flooded with shallow water
during the rains, and is therefore used as rice-ground. On
the east side of this, and about 2,011 feet to the south-east
from the ancient fort of Bair&nt, there is an old village called
Pras&dpur, which stands on a mound of ruins; and close to
the north of the village there is a very ancient tank with high
embankments and some very old trees growing on them.

Very ancient coins are found at Bairint. I myself and
my servants together picked up 101 coins on this ancient site.
The following is a list of them :—

20 oblong rectangular-shaped copper punch-marked coins

of the most ancient type; only three of them bearing
single letters of an archaic type,—one of them appar¬
ently S, another L, and another J,—punched into them.

2 square silver punch-marked coins.

2 round silver punch-marked coins.

1 oblong copper coin, blank.

1 ancient copper coin coated with silver.

1 ancient square copper Buddhist coin, with lion and Bodhi
tree on one face and the Buddhist tri-ratna symbol on
the other.

1 small square copper Buddhist coin with a chaitya sur¬

mounted by two umbrellas on one face and an elephant
on the other.

2 round copper Buddhist coins with chaitya on one face

and elephant on the other.

1 round copper Buddhist coin with chaitya.

1 small square copper coin with a horse (?) on one face
and a tree (?) on the other face.

21 square copper coins of the same type as some of
those found at Masaon D'ih, namely, with an ele¬
phant, and three symbols on one face and a Bodhi tree,
chaitya and double cross, and a small symbol like
the Asoka form of the letter M on the other face,

1 much worn square-shaped copper coin, broken at onp
edge, with a rude indistinct device somewhat resemb-

SARAN, AND GHAZIPUR. l <5

ling the figure of a man with some animal (a lion ?)
rampant beside him.

2 much worn copper Indo~Scythic coins, one of the Kan-
erki type and one of the couch lounger (Ooerki) type.

i oval copper coin of Jyesthadatta, the name being in
ancient Asoka characters.

5 much worn copper coins of the Buddhist Satrap type;
and one of them retaining the word Khatrapasa on it.

4 copper coins of Vijaya Mitra.

4 small copper coins of the Mitra dynasty of the peacock
and palm tree type.

4 other defaced coins of the type of the Mitra dynasty.

4 silver coins of the degraded Indo-Sassanian type.

14 ancient but defaced coins.

92 ancient Hindu coins—Total

9 Muhammadan coins, of which three are of Ala-uddin
Muhammad Shah, Khilji, and the rest are of the old
jaunpur dynasty.

101 coins-—Grand total.

From the preponderance of ancient punch-marked coins
in this collection, it is evident that Bair&ht must be a very
old place indeed.

Of other objects of a different kind, mostly picked up in
nAlas in the old fort, I may mention the following:—

I found two curved and tapering articles of bronze (?) or
of some alloy of copper, about 4! inches in length (round the
curve), and one small one about -f inch in length. These
articles are very much curved,—thick at one end and taper¬
ing to a point at, the other,—and shaped very much like
miniature elephant’s tusks.

I also found numerous large beads of agate, cornelian,
onyx, and rock-crystal, and also one large ornamental bead
of ivory. Also a piece of a broad ivory or shell armlet.

Also a piece of some ancient vessel or platter of some
kind, of grey stone, with a shell or sankh-pattern engraved
ori it. Also a thick fragment of some copper vessel.

n6 REPORT OF TOURS IN GORAKHPUR,

Also an iron arrow-head, much eaten away by rust, and
the point of another iron arrow-head ; also the point of the
blade of an iron sword, or spear or dagger-knife; also a
curious three-pointed object of copper.

I also found numerous small articles of copper, and also of
some mixed metal (bronze?., such as broken rings, &c., and
two articles of twisted bronze (?) wire, one with a loop or whole
at the end of it, and also a curious little long lozenge-shaped
metal object, with pointed ends and a hole through the
middle of it.

And lastly, I found two small relics of quite recent times,
namely, two small articles of iron, partly inlaid with gilt orna¬
mentation, which I took to be the hinge-slide covers or cheek
pieces of the priming pans of match-locks !

But I have now to mention some relics of still greater
antiquity than even the punch-marked coins, or, indeed, of
unknown antiquity. In the fields, and in the nAlas, or ravines,
about this ancient site, I also found some few specimens of
■ so-called pre-historic remains, consisting chiefly of cores an'd
flakes, of agate, &c,, namely:—

Eight worked cores, of agate.

Nine worked flakes, of agate.

A worked flake of some glossy grey-coloured sort of
stone, or other substance, of light weight. (Query, fossilized
organic substance ?)

Two very small worked flakes, of black chert.

One very small flake, of opaque brown-coloured stone.

A small roughly polished, conical object, of agate; such
as might have been used as a piece in some game like
chequers.

A small piece of geru (red hematitic clay-ironstone),
rubbed down smooth on three sides by human agency,—evi¬
dently to make paint, or colour.

A small roughly-polished, conical object, of bluish grey
stone.

A curved piece of some ornament, made of shell, (?) evi¬
dently ground into shape.

Thus at Bair&ht also (as well as at Joharganj and

S'ARAN, AND GHAZIPUR. II 7

Masaon Dih), I obtained, in the relics which I found, a
regular historical epitome,—ranging from the stone age, and
through the succeeding age of copper and bronze, and of
rude punch-marked money, up to the age, of iron, and of
mould-minted and inscribed money; and thence on up to
recent times !

In a former Report of mine on Indor Khera, in the
Bulandshahr District, it will be seen that in an excavation
there, I found a stone hatchet or celt, along with fossilized
bones.

I also found a couple of stone hammers, along with some
portions of fossilized deer’s antlers in a deep excavation at
Bhuila, in the Basti District. But I am not sure that this
discovery was ever officially reported upon by me before.

I also found worked flakes in Rajput&na, nearly nine
years ago!

Since, however, the submission of this present Report has
been delayed for some time, I may now take this opportunity
to state that, since then, I have found worked flakes and
stone implements in the fields in the immediate neighbour¬
hood of the town of Banda:—besides celts, or stone hatchets,
and stone hammers, and other stone implements, through the
whole of Bundelkhand, and P&tar Kach 4 r; and, through the

Sohawal State, stone implements also in the Nagod State,
and thence down to the south of Maihar; and also, above all,
among the hills of the Riwa Plateau, and in the southern
part, of the Mirzapur District, and lastly, I have found some
worked flakes, of agate and chert, in the fields in the im¬
mediate neighbourhood of the town of Mirzapur!

The question now, therefore, is not—“where are stone im¬
plements to be found ? ” but rather—“ where are they not to
be found ?” For, as far as my own experience goes, they
appear to be findable almost everywhere in India, at least !

Might it. not perhaps turn out to be the same in other
parts of Asia, as well as in Europe and America; or possibly
.in all parts of the world? Indeed, if people only had eyes to
see such things! Stone implements have hitherto been

118 REPORT OF TOURS IN GORAKHPUR,

looked upon as rare wonders, but they cannot, and should
not, be so any longer.

Some of the ancient bricks at Bairaht had marks im¬
printed on them, which I recognised as letters of the ancient
Asoka alphabet, very rudely formed. I recognised the fol¬
lowing letters, of which I shall here give the English equiva¬
lents for the sake of convenience; namely:—

1. —M.

2. —Y.

3. —Vi.

4. —Laha.

5. —R^sa, or DAsa.

6. —Raga, or Rata.

jj. Hingtar, or Hengutar ; and Dhdnapur. —Hingtar
consists of a village and a small fort, and is situated about 4
miles to the east of BairAnt. The proper name of the place
would seem to be Hengutar; but the common people pro¬
nounce the name like Hingtar, or perhaps Hengtar.

DhAnapur is situated about 6 miles to the east-north¬
east-half-east from BairAnt, and 2-J miles to the east of
Hingtar, and has mounds of ruins on two sides of it.

Both of these places are said to have been founded by
RAjas belonging to a race or tribe called SuriyAn, whom I
myself believe to have been Savaras. Of this race, there
appears to have been a RAja called DhAna Deva, who founded
DhAnapur. Could he have been the same as the Dhana
Deva of the coins found at Masaon Dih, one of the old names
of which was DhanAwar ? There is also some supposition
about some Hengu RAwat having founded Hingtar or Hengu¬
tar. But, at all events, the founders of both places were
SAriyAns.

The remains at Hingtar consist of a small oblong-shaped
fort, close to the south side of the village. The fort is sur¬
rounded by a ditch. Within the fort there are ruins both of
brick and stone. The fort has been added to or rebuilt upon
while in possession of the Muhammadans, and there are
several blocks of stone bearing carving of Muhammadan

SARAN, AND GHAZIPUR. 1*9

workmanship; but there are also several sculptured pillars,
some standing and some fallen, which are of decidedly Hindfi
workmanship. The interior of the fort was, however, so
filthily dirty and offensive, that it was quite impossible to
examine anything at all closely. I may, however, mention that
there are the fallen ruins of a Masjid in the fort, and which
was no doubt partly built out of Hindfi materials; but there
is an inscription in Persian characters on a block of stone
which must have belonged to the doorway of the building,
and in this inscription I can distinguish the following:
Tan&hi ul Masjid Gheyfts-ul-din baha w&l-din ans&ri itma ibn Murshid
Masjid min shuhra.

The remains at Dh&napur consist of an ancient fort, or
kot, overgrown with trees, to the south-west of the village of
Dh&napur; and of a mound of ruins about half a mile to the
north-east of the village. The old fort of Dh&napur is, how¬
ever, only about a third of the size of that of Bair&nt.

INDEX.

A

Anoma River

A'soka, New Edict Pillar of .
As u r a n - ka- Pokh a ra
Asylum Stupa

B

Bair&nt, or Vairanta .

Bainya

BaitiUgarh .

Bakra-dih

Bar Forest and Mithabel
Bara Shankar
Baraicha .

Bara on
Bhawapar .

Bhopa -
Bherigarh .

Bhiti .

Bodh Barwa
BuLkot . «. ' •

C

Chandaka’s Return, Stftpa of
Chandraoti, or Chandravati.
Changed Garments, Stftpa of
Chen-chu, Kingdom of
Cheran or Saran district .
Chiraiya-kot
Cut-hair, Stftpa of

D

Dewa-dth >

Dhanapur ....
Dharmaoti....
Dighwa-Duhaoli
Domangarh
Drona St&pa

Page

F

Fazilnagar, near Pawa

• *9

G

Ghazipur ....

• 95

H

Harewa-Barewa.

• 57

Harha Nadi, Mounds.

• 47

Hingtar .

. 118

J

Janki-kot, or Jankigarh .

50

K

Kakbu-Khari .

• 7*

Kanapar-Gangapar

. 70

Khaira-dih

. 107

Kusinagara

16, 58

L

Lauriya, Mounds near

• 3 6

M

Madhuban-Bindraban

• 57

Magahar ....

• 7 2

Maneya .

2

Masaon-dih, old site .

- 97

Matihaniya

• 7i

Maula-kot ....

• 70

Mithabel and Bar Forest

* 13

Moriyas, City of the .

7

Mounds, near Lauriya

■ 36

• 47

Page

3

5 *

68

77

io$

7 2

70

71

13

57

7i

72

7i

15

70

7 °

56

56

5

105

5

88

74

106

5

56

118

85

73

6S

78

122

INDEX.

N

Page i

R&mgarh . . .

Narayanpur

. 75

Rampurwa, Asoka Pillar at.
Ritdrapnra

Narkataha-dih .

• 71

New Edict Pillar of Asoka .

• 50

S

P

Sarah ri-di'h

Stfipa of Cut-hair

Pawa or Chetiyaon

• 19

—— of Chandaka’s Return

Pillar of Asoka, new *

. So

——- of Changed Garments

R

,i-— Asylum

——- Dr on a

Raja-bari .

* 70

tr

Rajdh&ni, or Upadhaoliya .

7

Ramagrama, near Rampur

De-

Upadaoliya or Rajdh&ni

oriya .

. 2

Uncha-dih

Page

, 1 °

• 5°

9

71

5

5

5

77

7»’

7

57

Government of India Central Printing Olfice.—No. H. D.—4*11-85,—•650,

Lithographed at the Survey of India Offices, Calcutta, February W80.

S3 Kumbni^'a

STUPA

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33

vol. xxii. RAMAGRAMA. . plAtjs ii.

<§L

VOL. XXII

K U.S I N A’G A R A

PLATE III.

LlUaofirapbed at the Survey of India Offices, Calcutta, January 1880.

ELEVATION

j Section of Mound shewing Platform of masonry,
with Stupa on top.

i

A. C. CarUeyle, del.

lithographed at the Survey of India Office*, Calcutta, February 1880.

VOL. XXII.

POSITION of ASOKA PILLAR

PLATE VI

© Sissfxyi

A. C. Carlleyle, del.

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Lithographed at the Survey of India Office#, Calcutta, February 1886.

SECTION OF

EXCAVATION OF ASOKA PILLAR,
R A M P U R W A,

Vfaiter;:

... VO-vV:

iflSS®

Scale 10 Feet to one Inch.

-to

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VOL. xxn. RAMP UR W A. plate vm.

LiUiotJraptiod at the Surrey of India Office*. Calcutta, February 1886.

miSTQy

A. G. Ca.Tlle.yle, del.

PLATE IX.

JOHARGANJ or BUDDHUPUR

D H A

Scale 1 1nch — (jOO Feet .

O 300 600 900

Mound excavated containing
the buried fouudatioTis of

a.

lithographed at the Survey of India Offices, Calcutta, February 1880.

K re-

ndra

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M!N ISTfty

lithographed at the Survey of India Offices, Calcutta, January 1886.

lithographed at the Survey of India Offices. Calcutta, January 1880.

Lithographed at the Survey of India Otficea, Calcutta, February 1886.

ON THE

BANGANGA NALA

Eastern part of the Benares District
South of the Ganges.

1.S00 Feet.

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--i-

5400 f*

1

Scale 1 Inch =

1800
t i i ,t >

• WON'* 0 '

PLATE XIV.

VOL. XXII

Da^Kitf

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Ttatairpur ..

Ghosi

Mahal akpur

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AZIMGARH

V “Sliah^mii

AtrarT

drum dab ad

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Lbirpur

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IGAVANA

Xdtho^mpUad at the Surrey of India Offices, Calcutta, February 1M5.