ASIA

CORNE

JNIVERSTY LIBRARY

3 1924 066

JOURNAL

OF THE

ASIATIC SOCIETY OF BENGAL

VOL. LII.

PART I. (History, Antiquities, Ac.)

(Nos. I. to IV.— 1883 : with 23 Plates.)

EDITED BY

'J' he Philological ^Secretary.

“It will flourish, if naturalists, chemists, antiquaries, philologers, and men of science

in different parts of Asia will commit their observations to writing, and send them to

the Asiatic Society at Calcutta. It will languish, if such communications shall be long

intermitted; and it will die away, if they shall entirely cease.” Sir Wm. Jones.

CALCUTTA:

PRINTED BY J. W. THOMAS, AT THE BAPTIST MISSION PRESS,

AND PUBLISHED BY THE

ASIATIC SOCIETY, 57, PARK STREET.

1883.

T

\N

y t

\ ! 3 )

J\. ^4 *2..

*

CONTENTS

OF

JOURNAL, ASIATIC SOCIETY OF BENGAL, Vol. LII, Part I,

for 1883.

No. I.

f Page

Folklore from Eastern Gorakhpur (N. W. P.) — By Hugh Fra¬

ser, C. S., . 1

The Pagoda or Varaha of Southern India. — By Surgeon Major

G. Bidie, M. B., C. I. E., Superintendent Government Central

Museum, Madras (with three Plates), . 33

Coins Supplementary to Thomas’ “ Chronicles of the Patlian Kings

of Delhi,” No. III. — By Chas. J. Rodgers, Principal Normal

College, Amritsar, (with two Plates), . 55

Relics from Ancient Persia, in Gold, Silver, and Copper. — By

Major-Genl. A. Cunningham, C. S. I., C. I. E. (with two

Plates), . 64

Note on a Sanskrit Inscription from the Lalitpur District. — By

Ra'jendrala'la Mitra, LL. D., C. I. E., . 67

No. II.

Folktales from the Upper Panjab. — By the Rev. C. Swynnerton,

M. R. A. S., Chaplain of Naushera, . 81

The Rupees of the Months of the Ilahi Years of Akbar. — By Ch.

J. Rodgers, Principal Normal College, Amritsar, (with two

Plates), . 97

Notes on the Remains of portions of Old Fort William discovered

during the erection of the East India Railway Company’s

Offices. — By R. Roskell Bayne, (with five Plates), . 105

Essays on Bihari Declension and Conjugation. — By G. A. Grier¬

son, B. C. S., . 119

Note on the preceding Essay. — By Dr. A. F. Rudolf Hoernle, ... 159

On the Temples of Deoghar. — By Dr. Ra'jendrala'la Mitra,

(with one Plate),

164

IV

CONTENTS.

Nos. Ill & IV.

Page

Memorandum on tlie superstitions connected with child birth, and

precautions taken and rites performed on the occasion of the

birth of a child among the Jats of Hoshiyarpur in the Panjab.

— By Sirdar Gurdyal Singh, . 205

A new find of Muhammadan Coins of Bengal (Independent Period).

— By Dr. A. F. Rudolf Hoernle, (with two Plates) , . 211

On Stone Implements from the North Western Provinces of India.

— By J. H. Rivett-Carnac, Esq., C. S., C. I. E., F. S. A., &c.,

(with three Plates), . 22 L

Notes on the History of Orissa under the Mahomedan, Maratha,

and English rule. — By John Beames, B. C. S., . 231

Relics from Ancient Persia in Gold, Silver and Copper. — By Major

General A. Cunningham, C. S. I., C. I. E., (with one Plate), 258.

On Gonikaputra and Gonardiya as Names of Patanjali. — By

Ra'jendrala'la Mitra, LL. D., C. I. E., . 261-

The Town of Bulandskahr. — By F. S. Growse, C. I. E., (with

two Plates), . 270

LIST OF PLATES

IN

JOURNAL, ASIATIC SOCIETY OF BENGAL, Vol. LII, Part I,

for 1883.

PL I — III, (pp. 37). Pagoda or Yaraha Coins of Southern India.

PI. IY, V, (pp. 55). Coins Supplementary to Thomas’ “Chronicles of

the Pathan Kings.”

PI. YI, YII, (pp. 65, 66). Relics from Ancient Persia.

PL YIII, IX, (p. 103). Rupees of the Months of Akbar’s Ilahi years.

PI. X, (pp. 106, 114, 116, 117). Plan of the neighbourhood of the Old

Fort William, shewing the Streets, etc., existing in 1847.

PI. XI, (pp. 107, 114). Plan showing the portions of the walls of Old

Fort William, uncovered in building the E. I. Railway Co.’s new

offices.

PI. XII, XIII, ( pp. 107, 114). Remains of the Old Fort William, Cal¬

cutta.

PI. XIY, (pp. 107). Rough Sketch showing N. E. Bastion of Old Fort

William.

PI. XY, (p. 177). Ground plan of the Temples at Vaidyanath.

PI. XYI, XYII, (pp. 217), Rupees of Mahmud Shah I and Barbak Shah

of Bengal.

PI. XYIII, XX, (pp. 224). Stone implements from the N. W. Provinces

of India.

PI. XXI, (pp. 258). Relics from Ancient Persia.

PI. XXII, XXIII, (pp. 272, 274). Terra-cotta Antiquities from Buland-

shahr.

LIST OF ERRATA.

page 23, line 3 for W4

24, „ 3

55

24, ,, 23 ,, ’Til'll

24, „ 27 „

24, „ 36 „ frof

25, „ 9 „

25, „ 12 „ but the

25, „ 33 „ though

no C'

„

read THT

25,

26,

28,

30,

31,

81,

82,

83,

89,

124,

125,

126,

148,

150,

153,

157,

158,

160,

161,

163,

211,

55

aftTFfqTT

but with

thou

55

.

Digitized by the Internet Archive

in 2019 with funding from

BHL-SIL-FEDLINK

https://archive.org/details/journalofasiatic5211asia

JOURNAL

OF THE

ASIATIC SOCIETY OF BENGAL

Part I.— HISTORY, LITERATURE, &e.

No. I.— 1883.

Folklore from Eastern Gorakhpur (N. W. P.) — By Hugh Fraser, C. S

Communicated by F. H. Fisher, C. S., and edited by G. A. Grierson, C. S.*

[The following songs ancl snatches were collected add translated by

Mr. Hugh Fraser, C. S., during his residence at Kasia, the head-quarters

of the subdivision of the same name. He kindly placed them at my

disposal for use in the Statistical Memoirs which are under preparation

in connection with the North-Western Provinces’ Gazetteer. As the

volume containing the Gorakhpur Memoir had been published before these

songs were received, I have forwarded them to Dr. Hoernle for publication

in tbe B. A. S. Journal. In his note accompanying the contribution,

Mr. Fraser says, “ I have written the songs down exactly as I heard them,

but have had no time to go over them thoroughly, so cannot be absolutely

certain as to the spelling, especially as regards dotted letters ; but except

these points I think they are correct, although many of the letters may

seem strange ; e. g., pahira for pahina, ivJiaili for nihaili, &c. I am sure,

however, that many of the Verb endings are not correct though they are

as they were given to me.” The notes to the songs, &c. are Mr. Fraser’s.

— F. H. F.]

* [The translations and notes are by Mr. Fraser. Tbe notes added by Messrs.

F. H. Fisher and G. A. Grierson -are distinguished by their initials, F. H. F. and

G. A. G. The text which was originally communicated in a romanized version, has

been very carefully revised and transcribed into Nagari by Mr. G. A. Grierson, with

the assistance of Bihari Pandits, and may now be accepted as perfectly correct.

The Hindi prosodical mark | (= English v-,j has been used for marking doubtful

vowels, when they are short. Mr. Grierson has also contributed some valuable notes

On certain dialectic peculiarities, noticeable in the songs. — Ed.]

A

2

Hugh Fraser — Fol/clore from Eastern Oorahhpur. [No. 1,

No. I.

Sung by women and boys while iveeding.

MELODY. jffa |

(6 + 4 + 4 + 2, + 6 + 4 + 4 + 1 = 31 instants).

3

1883.] Hugh Fraser — Folklore from F astern Goralchpnr.

JtTfe mft K |

^>3R^T m 4t II II V* II

1 w, | I ^

*rhfl^TT jftf*; m ft € i

fw:T sftiWr xjvkt i ^ctfewr 4i ii ii ^ ii

Notes. — I write as it was given me, but think two if not three songs

must have been mixed up, i. e., the first four lines, and the last eight lines

seem to differ from the middle ones. [Mr. Fraser is correct. In Shaha-

bad, where the above is also current, verses 3 — 9, inclusive, are a separate

song. — G. A. G.] (

The frequent. «TT at the end of the verse, is put for rhyme and metre,

and has no sense. [Cf. Vidyapati XXVI for a similar use of the word *TT

in Maithili. The word gives emphasis to the verb of the sentence, and is

said to represent the Sanskrit *r«T. — G. A. G.]

Translation I.

In what was the unseemliness in the black clouds ; ye gods ! in what

was the unseemliness of a husband. In smoke was the unseemliness of

the black clouds ; in his marriage-relations that of a husband.

Stooping low I swept out the yard. The Raja threw a clod* at me.

The people of the village, Raja, are your brothers and nephews — ye gods !

bow do you jest with me thus. I went to pluck flowers in the Raja’s

garden. The Raja threw a clod at me. “ Why did you throw a clod at

me, Raja? Am not 1 too a daughter of the village ?” “ Even if you are

a daughter of the village, what came you to do in the garden ? This is

the time, fair one, for taking your sport. Afterwards you will become

worn with child-bearing. Stooping low I went for water, lest, ye gods,

any one might recognize that I was the mother of a child.

Where, fair one, is produced the dark lamp-black, and where the

fragments of red lead ? In the candle, fair one, is produced the dark

lamp-black, in the bania’s house the fragments of red lead. Where, fair

one, does the dark lamp-black look beautiful, and where the fragments

(or powder) of red lead ? On the eyes, fair one, the dark lamp-black,

on the forehead the red lead is beautiful.

* Throwing a clod is the village manner of inviting to an intrigue.

4

Hugh Fraser — Folklore from Eastern Gorakhpur .

[No. 1,

No. II.

MELODY. |

(6 + 4 + 4 + 2, + 6 + 4 + 4 + 2 = 32 instants).

fcifs^T f+fe i

5R RG % ^[RT I! tl JfT || II \ II

SR ^rhiT jtr ^ irii^r i

fafjrc ^f%^T Wr% ii ii ^ 11

^ | .

G\

sfe *TT*T m %T *TT II II ^ ||

i st?RT I

3ft33T *;5rT 5R «H*T m II %T TfT II II 8 ||

m € 'f^$5r ^f^RlT € ^rr+TT I

^\T ^ *IRT i ^f*RIT II %T *TT || || ||

^l4l *1RT f*fR%! ^fRJT i I

%t^i ^ 4rt i ii %x vrr n n< n

Notes. — 'The word %*TT, at the end of every verse except verse 2, and

the word «n at the end of verse 2, are a sort of chorus without sense.

[It is really two words, viz., the interjection %[, and *IT which occurred in

the last song. It should be noted that except in v. 3, *ri does not form

any portion of the metre. Nor, I fancy, should it in verse 3, in which a

word seems to have been dropped out. I would conjecturally amend the

latter half to +RT ^ II %T »TT II Similarly, I should

read for the second verse (second half) fafiR II

%T »TT ll— G. A. G.]

I cannot find in the dictionary, it is equivalent to

would he the long form of or ^T^t, but no dictionary

with which I am acquainted gives this meaning to either of these words.

— G. A. G.]

I am not quite sure of the meaning of ^T^T, which I cannot find,

but think it means Sweet-heart. [In JBihari and 'V are interchange¬

able. 3ff+T therefore equals 3TT^T, the strong form of ^T1^, Krishn, also

called Nand Lai, who forms the subject of the poem. — G. A. G.J

1883.] Hugh Fraser — Folklore from Eastern Gorakhpur. 5

Translation II.

The beautiful girl (lit. medium coloured) wrote and sent a letter —

“ Nandlal mount with your train and come.” When her sweetheart (?)

reached the fields near the village he softly softly plays the flutes. “ Where

will you fasten the train from elephants to horses ; where Nandlal’s

following ?” “ In the grove I will fasten the elephants and horses ; in

the house I will put up Nandlal’s following.” “With what then will

you feed the elephants and horses, with what Nandlal’s following ?”

“ The elephants and horses I will feed with grain and grass • I will give

curds to Nandlal’s following.”

No. III.

MELODY. 1

(6 + 4 - 1-4 + 2, 4 + 4 + 4 — 28 instants).

( Chorus , 6 + 4 + 4 + 2 = 16).

H Wlif 11

( chorus ) % t II II \ n

fW ^ 11

( ch. ) T. fTOVlf^lT II II ^ II

( Ch. ) T Pflf^ II II ^ II

iffiT hsi+Nt II

( ch. ) X Tmfs. II II a II

4t+ 1NH € *f^TT |

( ch. ) T. froftfiTOT II II 1 II

G

Hugh Fraser — Folklore from Eastern Gorakhpur. [No. 1,

WIZ € t ^

=f ^ 5tT

( ch. )x f^^rtPf^T *mfk II II i II

wcf w*m4\ h i

ife ii

(ch.)x fTOrtf^5K T.m fi II li II

^W^}l f^<if *1t 3fR%! |

*T ^rf if ||

( ch. ) t froitf^r mtfk ii ll ^ ii

f3^i *i4r |

c{lf% fi^T SHfa %1TT ||

( ch. ) t fiortfw^T zmfk 11 11 £ ll

Wt fW3* f^f3^I I

*ifi fingi fi^finn h

( ch. ) ^ PreRlfro ii ii \° ll

Teanslation III.

The mango trees have blossomed and the mahuwas dropped their

flowers. By whom shall I send a message ? Ah ! heartless one, leave thy

service.

O Bhikam Kayath, who dwellest behind my house, write hut one

small letter ; Ah ! heartless one &c.

Of what shall I make the paper, of what the ink ? Ah ! heartless

one &c.

Tearing up my skirts, of them shall I make my paper, from the lamp¬

black in my eyelids the ink ; Ah ! heartless one &c.

Round the edge write all the message, in the middle the separation

for twelve months ; Ah ! heartless one &c.

Wayfarer on the road thou art my brother ; take thou my message ;

Ah ! heartless one &c.

Tell thou my message to my husband, thy wife, mourning the

separation, is disturbed ; Ah ! heartless one &c.

“ Thy husband I nor know nor recognize ; to whom shall I tell the

message ?” Ah ! heartless one &c.

1883.] Hugh Fraser — Folklore from Eastern Gorakhpur.

7

“ Exact at noon in the Nawab’s court there in the middle sits my

husband Ah ! heartless one &c.

He stretched forth his hand took the letter and read it. “ Behold”

said he “ my wife writes of our separation Ah ! heartless one &c.

No. IV.

METRE. JltcT |

(6 + 4 + 4 + 2, 4+4 + 4.= 28 instants.)

arHc i

I ^•n

^ JiiiT *tt ii ii \ ii

xw l I

«nit xt* ! ^ ii ii ^ ii

^ (lW) HTci |

*TH? ! ^it^T 5fT || || ^ ||

^rrt ! ^TfcT 511 || || 8 II

Sff? TIlt% Jli *nfcl I

^rst kw ! mfk Tfr\m *tt ii || <1 1|

^Ji^r i

^nrt ! 4\fv sfci^T 5iT ii ii < ii

(55R) ^jt^t vp&H t i

*STft 5TT II II >a II

^TT* i irfNx I

Wt KHT ! ^ TRcTt 5TT II II ^ II

crtf% i faji?rr) hict i

w£\ *:t*t ! ^ q° ^Jiqr 5ii ii ii £ ii

%kt fWi ^ (iq® ) i^i^t 1

xw ! i iji^t 5ii ii ii

\° ii

8

[No. 1,

Hugh Fraser — Folklore from Eastern Gorakhpur.

My beloved went to the East to trade and (ere going) gave me a

country parrot.

“ By day I will feed you, parrot, with milk and rice from a dish

And at night will take you to sleep between my breasts.”

An hour of the night past a watch remained. In the midst of the

night the parrot bit through the fastening of my bodice.

Had I followed my first thought, parrot, I had thrown you on the

ground. — Ah Bam ! my second thought was, ’tis the plaything of my

husband.

Ah parrot ! I will give thee milk and rice in a dish ; thou wilt go,

parrot, thou wilt go in search of my beloved one. Ah Bam ! thou wilt

go, parrot ?

Flying far the parrot went to Calcutta, and sat on the turban of my

beloved.

He took it from his head and seated it on his knee (thigh), (Ah Bam !)

and began to ask, is all well at my house ?

Thy wife weeps daily and hourly (Ah Bam !) thy mother weeps ; yes,

thy mother weeps the whole year through.

1883.] Hugh Fraser — Folklore from Eastern Gorakhpur.

9

No. v.

METRE. JTfa I

(6 + 4 + 4 + 2, + 4 + 4 + 3).

ffcRI I

fcif^Sl ^ ^(^>) II

{chorus.) II H ^ II

€ i^r Jitfc |

€ *rar ^ ii

0 oh .) || II ^ II

I r' — I 1 I __

JI^TT H STRI *fiT ^TCI^T I

fef if*r ii

{ ch .) II II ^ ||

* I V I «J I ->

CIK ^T3TT ^T *TB?:T I

— I - 1

*rcn: ^:t ^ ii

(ch.) II «m

stih^t iffw i

'site fsffa ^nrc: ii

(cA.) ii « 1 ||

irte crk ^rjft^rr seto 1

33t *?>{% ^ ii

(ch.) II || ^ ||

% ^T fefifa ^3 T cftff I

S ^T f 5 "fTO i ^T«T II

(<?/*.) II || ^ ||

i (^*r) ^ir ^ i

<rtw srtJi yR ii

(ch.) u

B

II « 11

10

[No. 1,

Hugh Fraser — Folklore from Fastern Gorakhpur.

«T5R: cftt% 'flT II

( Ch .) q^fa «TOT II II £ IS

cTtW ^ q»* * * §T I

i ^rq* ii

(<?/g) BqYqT || g g

Translation Y.

Behind my house, brother tell ;f press out linseed oil.

(Ch.) oh ! foreign Bee.J

The fair girl put linseed oil on her head, so her hair all got clotted.

(Ch.) oh ! foreign Bee.

I went to rub my locks (forehead) in my father’s tank, and my

“ tikulf”§ fell into the middle of the stream.

(Ch.) oh ! foreign Bee.

I touch your feet, young brother-in-law. Throw a big net into the

tank.

(Ch.) oh ! foreign Bee.

On one side was entangled shells and weeds. On one side my

“ tikuli.”

(Ch.) oh ! foreign Bee.

I touch your feet, young brother-in-law. Take up my “tikuli” and

give it me.

(Ch.) oh ! foreign Bee.

* Concerning the metre of this line see my note. — G. A. G.

t Telz, long form telia, a man of the oilman caste. — G. A. G.

J A hlack bee with a yellow tail like a Bumble Bee. [This song appears to me

to be originally, of a Vaishnava character, the mystic meaning of which may or may

not have been lost. If a Yaishnava poem, it represents a conversation between

Krishn and some married Gopi. A close parallel will be found in Vid. V. In all

these love songs a gallant (whether Ivrishn or not) is frequently represented as a Bee

or as a mosquito, reference being frequently made to their insinuating voices. Thus

in Vid. XXXVII 4, 6, the poet calls the lover “the bee.” An enhanced attraction in

such illicit love is that the lover is a foreigner come from a far country (compare

Yid. LXXX for another example), and hence a refrain such as “Oh foreign Bee,”

though having no direct reference to the subject matter of the text is fitting according

to native ideas to a song of intrigue like the present. — G. A. G.]

§ The spot of silver worn on a woman’s forehead. — G. A. G.

1883.]

11

Hugh Fraser — Folklore from 'Eastern Gorakhpur.

If I should take up your “ tikuli” and give it you, then what will you

give as a gift to me ?

(Ch.) oh ! foreign Bee.

I’ll give you, brother-in-law, a ring for your hand, a necklace fit for

your wife.

(Ch.) oh ! foreign Bee.

In the fire would I cast your finger-ring, sister-in-law ; may the

lightning blast your necklace.

(Ch.) oh ! foreign Bee.

In the folds of your dress, sister-in-law, are two cocoanuts ; one a gift

to me, one to my brother.

(Ch.) oh ! foreign Bee.

No. VI.

METRE. IRREGULAR.

(6 +4 + 4 + 2, 6 + 4 + 4 + 2 — 32 instants.)

ctt ire JTure ^reim 11 11 \ n

sre f uif^5T ivte'i Jii ^tut i

^re Jii 11 n ^ 11

And so on ad infinitum , merely changing the name of the jewel

each time.

Translation VI.

Thirty-six towers, thirty-two doors — there the Raja had a hasuli* made.

Place, Malin,t a garland round my neck ; on my neck a garland, on

my husband’s a rosary.

* A kind of neck-ring. — G. A. G.

t Fem. of Mali, a gardener. — G. A. G.

12

Hugh Fraser — Folklore from Eastern Gorakhpur.

[No. 1,

No. VII.

Sung by women while using the handmill («TpT)*

STcWT^t I

(6 + 4+4 + 2, + (1) + 4 + 4 + 3=28 instants.)

i JlflpqT I

€ *\fx #T*T ||

•\ I I

(ch.) ^ ! fifqsqT ^tci^ ll

cR i fH |

€ qfJT^T Si ^TC ||

{ch.) x xm ! qfjreiT Jii ^rc II

qw ott ff qqr i

S i X\ fTRIS II

{ch.) ^ ! fif^T II

$q A+i1' qTsrc Jq drciq i

€ fqfqqiT fifti qrc+T* n

-N I

I q^TT ! TWfx II

qrtff € fqfqqjr % q*W *r^q%! * i

ll \ B

ll ^ »

II 8 ll

*T q^Tf *TqqR |l

(ch.) ^ <^T ! qqpff smfq II

qv ^fqiq f^qfl^TT I

i qife itfi fiqfJli WV II

{ch.) x qqri i qife xmfx u

Si jRfaq?T t: jfTfjr Si itfiqr I

i qfqpqi H

{ch.) ! qfq;pqi xmfK

'O

* I am not quite sure of the meaning of this, whether it refers to stretching tho

running bed ropes (f^r^TT»rT), or going to sleeP on the bed (^^T«Tf). [See my note

on dialectic peculiarities of this song. — G. A. G.]

13

1883.] Hugh Fraser — Folklore from Eastern Gorakhpur.

3TER snf^JT ^ RT I

^ ll

( Gil .) ^ ^ II II ^ II

dm ^ RjRif m RTiwf i

^ d%ir nr? ii

( ch .) t: t^x ! T<mfk ll h £ ii

dm df% *r^ if% ii^^x i

si ^?r **f*r i ^TJTTTT II

(ch.) ^ ! f*T Sjfc II » VH

II I V I I

j I « | ^ Ni ^

% WT'? ^ II

^ ^ ‘ |

(ch.) ^ <HRT I ^Ff ll || ^^ ||

T^R 4r Vfa STf%* |

€ 5sh <cfam fsrai^ ii

(ch.) ^ *Nr ! ^b swifc ll II ^ ii

jrffRT *HcR BiTCif BiSfbBT I

B BIB BBT f^BBT ^B TC II

(^.) ^ |bt ! br sbt^ ii u ^ n

BIB B^BTtf% BB^ B^B^M} I

B ^Ttf^T BBB 'fBTB ||

l

(ch.) ^ ^BT ! Blfa || || \ 8 II

Tbanslation YII.

Behind my house is a lemon tree,

And the lemon tree’s shade is cool.

(Ch.) ye gods ! the lemon tree’s shade is cool.

Beneath that tree came my cruel soldier,

And his turban struck its branch.

(Ch.) ye gods ! his turban struck its branch.

Behind my house carpenter, brother and friend,

Wilt thou not fell that tree ?

(Ch.) ye gods ! &c.

14

Hugh Fraser — Folklore from Eastern Gorakhpur.

[No. 1,

One stroke he struck and a second struck,

And the lemon tree fell with a crash.

(Ch.) ye gods ! &c.

Of that lemon tree I had a bed made,

And the bed was pleasing to me.

(Ch.) ye gods ! &c.

Upon it lay down my tyrannous soldier,

And my clothes and bodice got wet.

(Ch.) ye gods ! &c.

“ The heat is great and my bodice wet,

For a moment” said I “ lie apart.”

(Ch.) ye gods ! &c.

Scarce did this word reach my tyrant’s ears,

But he mounted astride his mare.

(Ch.) ye gods ! &c.

I woke his mother, I woke his sister,

Shall my husband go in wrath ?

(Ch.) ye gods ! &c.

The one seized his clothes, and the other seized his clothes,

I, his wife, seized the horse’s rein.

(Ch.) ye gods ! &c.

Let go you my clothes, and let go you my clothes,

Let go, wife, the horse’s rein.

(Ch.) ye gods ! &c.

Such a thing, wife, I will never endure,

I will marry another wife.

(Ch.) ye gods ! &c.

On hearing this word I fetched forth a knife,

Saying, strike husband, strike for my life.

(Ch.) ye gods ! &c.

His mother implored him, his sister implored him,

And at last my husband gave ear.

(Ch.) ye gods ! at last my husband gave ear.

1883.] Hugh Fraser — Folklore from Eastern Gorakhpur.

15

No. VIII.

farci T I

The two following are birhas sung only by Abirs and Dhobis.

(6 + 4 + 4 + 2,4-1+4 + 4 + 3=27 instants.)

SW i ( WRT ) H I

ST ( ^ ) II II \ ft

^TcT ( eft ) v?*TcT ifa mrqj fq^sf I

iff ^nfllT ^RT J[f% II II ^ II

Ktfem i fsrerc srtfcOTT I

€ m %UT II II ^ H

i 4f*r fasprerc i

si

f% *Tfft 5JI*!t %TC II II 8 II

Translation VIII.

All the rest my father married round the village site.

But me he has married far away.

With walking and walking my feet begin to ache.

And the dust loads my petticoat each day.

The day has arrived when the bride must leave her home.

The people of the town wept sore.

Sorely wept her lover as he seized the “ doli”# pole.

For his mate is going to leave him ever more.

* A kind of litter. — G. A. G.

16

Hugh Fraser — Folklore from Eastern Gorakhpur.

[No. 1,

No. IX.

METRE. IRREGULAR.

(6 + 1+4 + 2, + 5 + 4 + 3=27 instants).

I

€ TJF ^ |

si

i v? ^ tot* ii

WIT f^UTJT

% I

II \ II

II R II

^3tTT I

^ t}€^TT Tp*J5T |

fsHTO W ^i^TT TOT ||

fifTO ^ ^TO feUTTT % |

'ETOSTT U5TUTT ||

II ^ H

II 8 II

* was translated to me as meaning * quickly.’ ? should it be

f^TT) turning to look.’ [See note on dialectic peculiarities G. A. G.]

Translation IX.

Question.

Who it is that goes with twinkling feet ?

Who that goes hastily away ?

Who that proudly carries his head ?

Whose young one goes slinking off ?

Answer.

’Tis the mungoose goes with twinkling feet.

The jackal goes hastily away.

The hyaena who proudly carries his head.

Whose young one goes slinking off.

1883.]

17

Hugh Fraser — Folklore from Eastern Gorakhpur.

No. X.

afto i

(6 + 4 + 4 + 2,4-4 + 4 + 3=27 instants).

spa l

x.

Question.

Who is it that is as the Arab horse ?

Who is its rider ?

Who the tyrannous soldier ?

Whom does he seize and carry off ?

Answer.

’Tis the hukka that is the Arab horse.

Its bowl is the rider.

The tongs are the tyrannous soldier.

And it seizes and carries off the fire.

The following is an incantation sung by a snake charmer

over a boy supposed to have been bitten.

C

18

Hugh Fraser — Folklore from Eastern Gorakhpur.

[Ho 1,

No. XI.

METRE IRREGULAR.

WCT fUc^T *TfaTU I

Translation XI.

Behind my house is a goldsmith my friend.

There are two hundred and four beetles in my house.

Kindly fetch yellow mustard seed.

Put the bracelet on the arm.

Six months six earths there are.

The deer began to eat.

Wake, wake, Jogin mother.

19

1883.] Hugh Fraser — Folklore from . "Eastern Gorakhpur.

(Mantra) Sat guru ke bando par.

A four cornered tank.

At the landing place Debi made bread.

There sitting she bathed.

The Garur gave a cry.

Debi came out and put on her sari (veil).

And stretched forth her hand on every sting,

Then cried aloud to all the world,

Thus may God deaden poison.

(Mantra) Sat guru ke bando par.

[Note : Being an incantation tbe lines are nonsense. The “ Sat guru

&c,” is the effective mantra. The above is the nearest meaning I can

arrive at.]

No. XII.

METRE. jfhT I

(6 + 4+4 + 2, 4 + 4 + 4=28 instants).

Translation XII.

The snake sat on the mango branch.

His wife picked up the mangoes.

The snake sat on the clove tree.

His wife picked up the cloves.

Had I but known that the snake would come to my house.

I had swept the path with my skirts.

# * # *

[In the end of 1880 crowds of respectable persons went begging all

over the district. It turned out that this was a “ Nagpuja.” One person

20 Hugh Fraser — Folklore from Eastern Gorakhpur. [No. 1,

from each house in a village went out for 2|- days begging. During that

time they would not sleep under a roof or eat salt. They generally had a

drum and went about singing the song of which having lost my notes I

can only give a fragment. Half the proceeds of begging were give to

Brahmans and the other half invested in salt and batasa which was eaten

by the whole village. This form of puja may be used to avert any

calamity, but in that instance it was to avert danger from snake-bite. I

could not discover in what quarter the movement originated but it spread

from village to village and hardly a single village failed to join.]

No. XIII. Proverb.

SR, € STIC I

91? % SR eft Wt[ 5Ff*T % ||

Translation.

If one cannot get rid of his wealth by having a brahman servant,

trading in goats, or from an excess of daughters, he will do it by fighting

with bigger men.

[A better translation would be, ‘ If you cannot get rid of your wealth

by having a brahman servant, keeping possession of money received from a

butcher, &c.’ A chik is a butcher of goats and sheep, but not of oxen,

and it is considered unlucky to use money received from one. If any such

happens to be in the house on an otherwise unlucky day, it is put to one

side, and not touched. The translation of Mr. Fraser is, however, a possible

one. — Gr. A. G.]

Notes on dialectic peculiarities.

No. I.

This and the following poems are in nearly pure Bhojpuri, — a dialect

of the Bihari language. Two other dialects of the same language, Maithili

and Magadhi, will be found referred to below.

As might be expected, such songs taken down as they are from

the mouths of ignorant and uncultivated people are seldom correct as

regards the laws of metre. This is especially the case in the first song,

which presents several difficulties in the way of scansion. All the lines

can, it is true, be read after a metric fashion, if the prosod ial marks

given in the text are followed, but this can sometimes only be done

by altering the usual pronunciation of the words. The fact is that these

songs were composed for singing, and not for metric recitation, and in

1883,] Hugh Fraser — Folklore from Eastern Gorakhpur.

21

such all pronunciation is made to yield to the necessities of the tune.

Take for example the first word in these songs, as I have heard it

sung, the second syllable, fsr, is pronounced and held on for as long as

five or six other syllables together, so that, to judge by the singing, even

would be a very inadequate representation of the pronunciation of

the word. Yet the word is certainly in ordinary prose, and

(or rather see next note) is required by the metre, such as it is.

Hence, except in the case of No. IV, I have not given the name of

the metre at the head of each song, but the name of the air to which it is

sung. No. IV is not sung to any special air, and hence I have given the

name of the metre as Thumari. Most of the songs are sung to the air

called Kajart git, an air which is popular at the commencement of the

rainy season, when the sky is covered with clouds, and which is so called

for that reason, the clouds being compared to or lamp-black collyrium.

If it is wished to classify the songs under any known metre, it will be

found easiest to class all Kajaris as irregular Thumaris, but pandits deny

that they fall under any metrical system whatever.

V. 1. is instr, sing, (shortened from for the sake

of metre) of the neuter interrogative pronoun, ^r, ‘what.’ One of

the oblique forms of is which regularly becomes in the instr.

or for metre This instr. in ^ is common throughout

the Bibari dialects. In Magadhi it is only used in the case of masc.

nouns ending in a silent consonant, — thus ‘ I shall

take away by force’, where is the instr. of ‘force.’ As

does not end in a silent consonant, the form could not occur

in Magadhi. In Maithili, as in Bhojpuri, the term ^ can be added to

any noun, and (also in this like Bhojpuri) a final long vowel is shortened

before it, — or when the final vowel is ^jt, the vowel is elided. Hence we

get in Maithili from ‘ a girl’ : and from *fhfT, ‘ahorse.’

Similarly in Bhojpuri we get from 3^, ‘ what (obl.)\ and

(see v. 2 of the present song where the word is written ijfisfjTjr for metre)

from ‘abed’. The only difference in custom between Bhojpuri

and Maithili is that the former shortens the first syllables of and

igfarr, as they are in the antepenult., and followed by a consonant, while,

according to the most trustworthy authorities on Maithili, this shortening

of the antepenultimate does not occur in the instrumental.

for Vi#"’, both syllables being shortened for the sake of metre,

is the 3rd plur. (or honorific) past of the ‘ become’. The form

of the termination is unusual. The usual form would be (singular)

or (in Saran) (plural). If we consider as a further develop¬

ment of then an intermediate form Vf#* must be supposed, just as

there actually exists at the present day in Magadhi a form V^rf^r*r, beside

22 Hugh Fraser — Folklore from Eastern Gorakhpur. [No. 1,

the further developed form , ‘ they became’, the short vowel in the

final syllable being lengthened to compensate for the weakening of the

nasal. Maithili has a still older form of or viz., In

the text the second vNk* is plural only in an honorific sense.

*lfr, The perpendicular mark over the first syllable, and elsewhere

over syllables which would naturally be pronounced long, means that for

the purposes of scansion the syllable is to be considered short.

is the long form of ‘ a cloud’ and of W*?,

J 'A.

‘ a husband,’ the first syllable of the former is shortened, as falling earlier

than the antepenultimate. See Hoernle’s Gaudian Gram. § 25 and § 356.

Y. 2. — see note on efrfwTjr above.

Y. 2. is the past part, of ‘ bow’, ‘ bend’.

^JTcTT, is the oblique form of ^rpr^, ‘ a court yard’. Skr. =

Magadhi Prakrit = Bihari ; Skr. ^JTfPRT = Magadhi Prakrit

= Bihari oblique ^ar*TT. Hence nominative, ^Tfjr*r, ‘ a courtyard’,

but loc. ^arsiT 'in a courtyard’. Occasionally, however, ^JI*TT is

incorrectly used in the sense of nominative.

is long form of TT«ir, ‘ a king’ ; and of ‘ a lump’.

1st singular past, of f ‘ sweep’. The singular ter¬

mination in %T is rare in Bhojpuri, though common in Magadhi. Bhoj¬

puri usually adopts the plural termination thus, is a

contraction of the still older form which still survives in Maithili.

is probably a compound of the past part. and an obsolete

verb ‘lam’, no longer survives, but we have ‘lam’, in

the Ramayan of Tulsi Das, and ‘ he is’, and other forms in Maithili.

3rd plur. [i. e. honorific) pres, conj., in sense of Indicative of

The usual form would be '=q^n'°r*r, see note on above.

V. 4. is the long form of %JT, ‘ people’ ; vjfrr^RT of

‘ a bi’other’s son’ : of ‘ a jest, joke’. In the translation of

this verse I would prefer to read ‘my’ instead of ‘your’.

is the oblique form of just as ^JI*TT is of sgfjrfT. — is

the genitive of ‘ I’, and its oblique form is used as an optional general

oblique base of the pronoun ; — so also in all dialects of Bihari.

Y. 5. — this is the oblique form of an old verbal noun

‘ a plucking’. The direct form (wrfg') is common in the Ramayan

(whether in this particular verb or not, I have not noted), and still

survives in Maithili. I have, elsewhere, gone into the question of these

oblique forms very fully, and it will be sufficient to point out here that

the direct form has become in Hindi and Bihari what is called the “ Root”

in intensive compounds, the final x in this case being dropped. Thus

t*fT, in Hindi means, ‘ to beat violently’, literally ‘ to give a beating’.

This verbal noun ^TTY, or ^TfY, ‘ beating’, has the following oblique

forms.

1883.] Hugh Fraser — Folklore from Fastern QoraJcpur. 23

In the Ramayan Tipr or 'WTT.

In Maithili, or

In Magadhi and Bhojpuri flT*;.

They are common in desiderative compounds, generally with a dative

postposition, or %. Thus (Bhojpuri), ^rr ^t^T, ‘ he wishes for

beating’, i. e., he wishes to beat. So also we have in Marathi

‘ I fancy he wants to eat me’. It will be seen that in

Marathi the oblique form ^T^JT ends in ^t. This is also the case in Hindi,

where such phrases as *?TTT ‘ a beating on a beating’, are common.

Here the word WCr is undoubtedly the oblique form of TUK'f, as I have

shown elsewhere. This oblique form in explains the desiderative and

frequentative compound in Hindi, which has much puzzled grammarians.

These compounds are usually stated to be formed with the past part., thus

3iT*rT, ‘to read frequently’, and #I^TT ‘to wish to speak’,

where xfgy and are called past participles. Really they are oblique

forms of the verbal noun (or root), being the oblique form of

(nff, or xpf’t), and sfTtsIT, the oblique form of (^Tf% or %T^t).

Hence we get >fTY«TT (and not ^T^*TT), ‘ to wish to die’, because

?TTT, and not is the oblique form of (^fc or fl^f), ‘ the act of

dying’.

Y. 6. 3fT is the regular Bhojpuri form for the neuter interrogative

pronoun, ‘ what ?’. 3»r is used also in western Magadhi, but in eastern

Magadhi and in Maithili we first meet the Bangali

^ir^T is the regular Bhojpuri 3 sg. pres., see Hoernle’s Gd. Gram,

is emphatic for ‘ I also’.

is a contraction of the redundant form of which

is the long form of irf^, ‘ a daughter’, see Gd. Gram § 356. ^tt in this

verse, has not, I believe, any negative force. Hence, 1 would trans¬

late ‘ 1 too am’, instead of ‘ Am not I too’ ; and omit the mark of interro¬

gation.

Y. 7, ^<3 altered from ^3> for the sake of metre. ^3? is the

regular feminine 2 plur. of the present tense of the verb subst. ^

‘ be’. added gives the force of the conjunctive mood. The termi¬

nation <3* is the peculiar mark of the 2 plur. feminine through all tenses

of all verbs : compare v:^T, and further on.

3f is the direct sign of the genitive, and is unaffected by gender.

Its oblique form is 3\T, also unaffected by gender. These are the pure

Bhojpuri forms ; those given by Hoernle (Gd. Gram., § 373) refer to the

western Bhojpuri spoken near Banaras.

rfr, iff, <f;, or g, are all forms of the 2nd pers. pronoun non-

honorific.

24

Hugh Fraser — Folklore from Eastern Oorakpur. [No. 1,

3TT, oblique verbal noun, — direct form ^ (^fBc or See ^Vi-

above.

2. plur. fem. past, of ^t, ‘ come’. See ^3 above.

V. 8. Tyf% is the oblique adjectival form of x, ‘ this’.

therefore means rather ‘ at this time’, than, ‘ this is the time’ ; is

either the oblique, or the long form of ‘ time’.

is more usually pronounced The \/ ^ ‘ take’ takes in the

pres, imperat. an optional base (in Magadhi, whence 2 imperat.

form

fW, contracted for 2 plur. fut. fem. oE «TT ‘ go’.

(more properly ^TWtR^T), is the long form of

fem. of ‘ a parent.’

Y. 9. long form of TTT^t, ‘water’.

Y. 10. is the usual word for ‘ black’, in Bihari. is long

form of ‘ collyrium’. T^T is oblique of £ vermilion’.

Y. 12. *f«fT (loc. ‘ in the eye’), is oblique form of *f*r, ‘eye’: and

(‘ on the forehead’) of f%^rK, ‘ brow’.

The translation makes the *TT in the 6th verse a negative. This,

however, is hardly necessary ; the sentence being equally capable of being

translated as a simple direct statement, instead of a negative question,

expecting an affirmative reply.

No. II.

V. 1. for the regular 3rd sing, past of iisr, ‘ send’.

See note on above.

long form feminine of ‘ light brown’.

^T^T, for 2nd plur. imperat. of ^T, ‘ come’.

Y. 2. long form of ‘ the lands near a village’,— a

common Bihari word.

would be better ^STR^TT, see note on ’^TR^TT, above.

'Sj • 1

V. 3. in this and other similar words, the ^ (or >3, short for

metre) at the end of the word, is the sign of the 2nd plur. feminine.

&c- are causals, hence the diphthong in the last syllable

but one.

Y. 4. qfJT^IT is long form of ^tjt, ‘a garden’. is generally

specialized to mean, as here, ‘an orchard’.

V. 5, 6. &c. are almost certainly incorrect for

&c. The causal of m ‘ eat’, is BsI^r, and not f^R, 4 cause to eat’.

No. III.

V. 1. — I doubt the correctness of the spelling of this word.

It is more usually spelt STfoK.

— i- e. with final vowel lengthened for the sake of metre,

is a very common Bihari corruption of

1883.]

Hugh Fraser — Folklore from Eastern Gorakpur.

25

V. 2. fqw^TBT is long form of fqipqiiy, ‘ the ground behind a house’,

is more usually spelt

2nd imperat plural of ‘ give’. The termination 3? for the

2nd plural is rare in Bhojpuri ; but is the usual one in Magadhi. It

also occurs in Maithili in the "termination ^f^r, which is simply with

the redundant plural termination added thereto,

is emphatic of TFBT, ‘ one only’,

is contracted from fafaBBT, the redundant form of f^fa^T,

which is the long form of f’qf5!', ‘ a letter’.

Y. 3. ^fzj, see note on FIVES' in the 1st song.

ofilxr is a common adjective used with 3iTJT5T, ‘paper’. It means

literally, ‘ fresh, clean’, but the sffrJTST, has the special sense of ‘ not

written upon’. qrjr5RT is the long form of qrTJT5T.

B'STal^T is an unusual form. A more usual form would be BfB^TBT.

Y. 4. has a common oblique form ^E|^yr (cf. Song xii, 4).

«i *TT as already pointed out is oblique, in the sense of the locative.

Y. 5. is oblique form of WY ‘ an edge’, just as is of

An older form of is ^Tfy or ^Tf%, which still survives in Maithili ;

cf. the Mth. noted above.

is the precative imperative.

is oblique of and bbt of BTy, ‘a place’. The regular

oblique of Bps; would be BfyqjT, but the first syllable is shortened, owing to

its falling in the antepenult, and a euphonic B is inserted. Hence we get

B^^jf or B^jT. fq'B BBT means ‘ in the middle place’.

qy^t, this is qiyB, ‘twelve’, with emphatic added. The of

the first syllable is shortened as it falls in the antepenultimate.

Y. 6. Cf. Vidyapati 79, 9. is a precative form,

emphatic for bbt, ‘my’.

V. 7. afy, is almost certainly incorrect for rilfy, the gen. fem. of

Tf;, ‘though’.

fqy^] is instrumental of fqy?.

V. 8. rft^yr, is the oblique genitive of <£, ‘ thou’. The direct

genitive is ifr^y, which, when agreeing with a noun in an oblique case

(like ^), takes the obi. form rfbqTT.

fq^NrTand 53TB qjf are the regular Bhojpuri 1 sing. pres. ind.

Y. 9. faqr is altered from B^BT for the sake of metre.

l£T?Fy^T is long form of y^q^Y ‘ midday’. The word is feminine,

and hence takes the long form ^q^fy^T, instead of ^q^y^T.

<TTf% is the general oblique form of #, ‘ that’, used as an adjective

agreeing with f«pq. fqB is for the locative of both syllables

being shortened for metre.

26 Hugh Fraser — Folklore from Eastern GoraTcpur. [No. 1,

Y. 10. conj. participle of the f ‘extend’, more

usually written

f^^^Tand 3^3f*T, are 3 plur. past, while is 3 sing. past.

The v/ 3*3 or ‘ say’, is a rare one. The more usual one is 3T^T, common

in Maithili. In Maithili means ‘ to speak’, exactly like the Hindi

and its causal 3*93*3 means ‘ to call’, exactly like the Hindi W«rT*rT.

No. IV.

In copying this song into the Devanagari character, I was met by

its extreme corruptness. Several of the verses have more words than

will scan, for instance ^JT3T is superfluous in v. 3. Again words are

evidently missing in others, for instance two instants are missing in v. 2.

This song is known in Arrah, and by the help of competent pandits I have

been able to make it fairly correct. In order, however, to show what

changes have been made, I have enclosed in marks of parenthesis those

words or portions of words which, like *5JT3T in v. 3, and ^ in v. 11, are

superfluous in the original. Words added to fill up the metre of the

original, like t in v. 2, and ^JT3T in v. 8, are marked with an asterisk. In

verse 14 a whole phrase has had to be added, which I have enclosed in

square brackets. In this verse the portion in square brackets was not in

the original.

In vv. 8, 10, 12, 14, I have altered to according to

all authorities is certainly incorrect as an oblique form of ‘ my’.

It has probably been written through confusion with the Hindi iit.

is a form of Western Bhojpuri, but, so far as I can ascertain, it is not

used in Gorakhpur, nor anywhere where pure Bhojpuri is spoken.

Y. 1. is here an optional direct form of ‘ my’. Just as

the genitive of 3*Wt, ‘ a horse’, is Eppf 3T, or sPr^T with oblique 36,

so tbe genitive of ^ ‘ I’, is or with oblique TitH.

V. 2. long form of vrfg' has two meanings, so far

as I am aware, 1, the country of Magadh (Gaya), and 2, Uncouth. The

two meanings are closely connected according to popular opinion, but

which meaning is the original, and which the derivative I do not know.

V. 3. is feminine. Hence its long form is

V. 4. 3 is contracted from 3*1%, the general oblique form of ^ this.

V. 7. 35T is probably incorrect for 3rd, ‘ I do’. is 1. sing,

pret. conditional.

V. 9. is general oblique form of ff. It is really a genitive.

Of. song V. 9.

^3® is 2 plur. fut. The first person is *93*3, the 2nd plur. 3n;3^ or,

contracted, 3r3«.

V. 11. is the regular 3 pres. ind. of ^ (= Hindi ^), ‘ fly’.

27

1883.] Hugh Fraser — Folklore from Eastern QoraJcjour.

will not scan. would be the 3 sing. pres. conj. used in the

sense of the indicative, as frequently happens.

V. 13. is the oblique verbal noun governed by ^UT%*r : see note

on above

V. 14. «|i¥I^rfrrqT is long form of fJ^^TrlT.

y. is. is the regular 3 sing fem. pres. ind. of KT, ‘ weep’.

No. V.

The metre of this song is one instant short throughout the 2nd line,

the measure of which should be 4 + 4 + 4. In Shahabad this is corrected

by lengthening the final syllable of each line.

V. 1. — The word is ^ in the original, but is the version

current in Shahabad, and is required by the metre. It is 2 plur. imperat.

of t, ‘ give’.

V. 2. loc. sg. of ‘ a head’.

is the 3rd plur. pret. of f ^rUT^, * to join’. The past parti¬

ciple is or It must be noted that usually in Bhojpuri

the past part, ends in ^l^r, the term, being rare, and confined princi¬

pally to the Western districts of the dialect. In Maithili and Magadhi,

the termination is never used ; hence the past participle in these

dialects would be always (^TJITWt^r). So also in these dialects the

past participle of */ ‘ see’, is and never It is not till we

get to the extreme east where Bangali is spoken that we find the termina¬

tion again. So sharply is this distinction preserved, that a Tirhut

man, who speaks Maithili, would at once pronounce any person who said

(instead of meaning ‘ I saw’, to be a Bangali from this

fact alone. We may summarise the above as follows :

Bhojpuri

Maithili

Magadhi

has I generally W

\ sometimes ^T.

£ have always

Bangali has always ^r.

is long form of (Hindi ^T^r), ‘ hair’.

V. 4. is the regular Bhojpuri 1 pres. ind.

is the adj. with the pleonastic suffix XT-

WX is loc. sing, of ^ITJPC, ‘ a tank’. The first syllable is shortened

as it now falls in the antepenult. : so also in the long form

BTT, see note to song VI, 2.

V. 5. is the regular Bh. 3 pres. ind.

V. 7. is contracted for the oblique form of ‘ thou’.

V. 8. is evidently superfluous, and spoils the metre.

28 Hugh Fraser — Folklore from Eastern Gorakpur. [No. I,.

*J«PC^T is a long form of The regular long form would be

but, as the first syllable is farther back in the word than the

penultimate, it is lightened by changing the class nasal «r to anundsik.

We thus get But, as I have mentioned in my note on just

as 'V can be written so can ^ be written «T, hence we get finally

Fi«H3T. This word is an illustration of a general rule of spelling in Bihari,

that when anundsik is followed by the third or fourth consonant of any

class, the two together may be represented by the nasal of the class or

nasal of the class aspirated respectively. . Thus, we have —

(1) or ‘ a limb’, ^ifar or (rare) ‘ a tear’, or

‘ testicle’, or ^t*r, ‘ sleep’, or ‘ a mm tree’.

(2) ft' q or ‘ a lion’, or {rare) ‘ middle’, %fg- or

‘ a pumpkin’, qrfa or ^fT^, ‘ Ivrishn’, or ‘ a pillar’.

is feminine, and the proper form would be TTsrf^IT. is

vj A \J \J

the form in the version of the song current in Shahabad.

'SfTJr. — I am unable to account for the final tf in this word. It is

possibly incorrect. In the Shahabad version the word is may

be the old Magadhi Prakrit nominative, if it is really correct.

V. 9. «rtf% is here in its true meaning of a genitive singular.

Y. 10. — The Shahabad version is

‘ two lemons’. It is probably the correct one, as and not ^T, is the

Bhojpuri for ‘ two’.

The last line will not scan. I can make nothing of it. The Shaha¬

bad version is ^ ^ ^T*TT, which is only a repetition of the latter

half of v. 7.

No. VI.

V. 2. ^t?: is the Hindi 'S'T^r. Another form of the same root is

met with in v. 4 of the last song.

J7# is locative.

No. VII.

This song is sung to the melody called STFreift, a name dei’ived from

gjf <T, ‘ a handmill’, and ^TT, ‘ a house’, i. e., ‘ the song of the mill’. It is

a very melancholy air.

Y. 1. faf^T, long form of or (fem.), (see note above-

on in V. 8.) ‘ a mm tree’, and not ‘ a lemon tree’ as has been

translated. (see Y. 10) is the word for a lemon. wTpr; for 5rf*\

J v» Ov '

for sake of metre, srft; is fern, of oT’C ‘ cool’, a common Bihari word,

Oy C\ ' >

( cj . ‘ the cool night’, Vid. 50, 3.) The Hindi word is

V. 2. loc. of 7TC, ‘ base’.

the old form of the direct verbal noun (root) of the verb,

used in the sense of the conjunctive participle. See note on ^fTf- in No. I.

29

1883.] Hugh Fraser — Folklore from Fasten Gorakpur.

V. 3. fJiTT?;, also the direct form of the verb. noun. This termina¬

tion still survives in Bhojpuri in the case of causal and other verbs

whose roots end in ^it, or ^F?.

V. 4. direct verb, noun of .f (Hindi ^TT«TT, ‘ to produce

a continued loud sound’). In Maithili the form is as in Manbodh’s

Haribans, 2, 52, aT<?i *3^ ‘ she fell crashing like a

cut tree’.

Y. 5. 1 sing. past, of ^ Wf?, 4 mortice’. means

‘ a mortice’, and ‘ to join by morticing’.

Y. 6. Qf<T^3, 3 plur. past, of ‘ sleep’. The root vowel is

shortened as its falls in the antepenult., and is followed by a consonant.

The long vowel appears in the 2 plur imperat. ^?fo in the next verse.

iTTfs is translated as £ clothes’. I have not met the word in that

meaning. The version of the song current in Shahabad gives Tft3, ‘ back’ :

which hardly gives a better meaning, tufe means literally, ‘ any flat

surface’, — one of the resultant meanings is ‘ the side-boards of a bed’ :

another meaning of xnf? is ‘ a bandage’, or c fillet’,

V. 9. The Shahabad version gives ^33^# ) in place of the second

V. 10. 3 sing. past. fern, of ‘ seize’, ‘ place’. The masc.

would be

V. 11. WA? 2 plur. imperat. fem. of WFf, ‘ release’, = the Hindi

sfrf. ^Ff is the usual Bihari form of the root, being comparatively

rare.

V. 14. The Shahabad version has T instead of

j j

No. VIII.

The metre in the first two verses is very doubtful. I have conjectur-

ally enclosed in marks of parenthesis, words which should be omitted to

make the verses scan.

V. 1. or as it is more usually written ^TjF^T, has the same

meaning as jitTFf^T. See note on this latter word above (Song II, 2).

•3%, fem. of 3^, ‘ great’. has an oblique form with which

it is often ignorantly confounded.

V. 2. a!f% 3 sing. fem. past.

V. 3. fifnjK is the invitation sent by the husband’s family to the

bride’s family, to send the bride to her husband.

(long form of oVtf^FC) is in the vocative case, and means

* O companion’ ; the man who brings the invitation being the person sup¬

posed to speak.

V. 4. 5JI^TT, 3 sing. pres. ind. of y/ 3iT, ‘ go’.

30

Hugh Fraser — Folklore from Eastern Gorakpur.

[No. 1 ,

No. IX.

V. 1. *3* means ‘ who is this’. is merely a strengthened

form of y, ‘ this’.

qyr?;, does not equal f^UTT?;. It is the verbal noun (conj. participle)

of q^T, ‘run away’, (cf. 13 an gall The q^T is common in

Bihari: thus, in the Maithili Haribans of Manhodh (10, 38), rffsT

•r^qfrT qrjTj; ‘ deserting the field of battle the king ran away’.

Y. 2. ^q«fT is oblique of * own’. The latter half of this

verse, and of v. 4 has four instants too many.

Y. 4. fqqqr is an optional form of qq^T, the long form of qiY, ‘a

tiger’. I have never met the word in the sense of ‘ hysena’.

No. X.

g and ^ in the 2nd and 4th verses appears to be superfluous.

No XI.

The metre of this incantation is most irregular. It affords no assist¬

ance towards judging the correctness or otherwise of the spelling.

As usual in these doggrel incantations, in which the charmer assumes

an air of superior education, it is full of Hindi forms. Examples are q

‘ they are’, in the 1st verse, and the typical long % of the 2nd verse. In

the Bihar dialects the sign of the direct (and not the oblique genitive)

is always short.

V. 1. qy, one would have expected qy, the locative here.

V. 5. This is Hindi. qTy is almost certainly incorrect for qrc or

qTq, and the whole means ‘ I reverence the feet of the good (or possibly

seven) teacher (or teachers).

Y. 7. for is a regular Bihari 3 sing. fern, past of

y (or ^ »5t), ‘bathe’.

JT^ii is instr. sing, of Jiygr = JPJ^T.

V. 8. qf^YT is the Hindi past tense of qfqgqT, ‘ to put on’.

fqqryq = Hindi fqq\gr<TT- for qgrfy, is conj. participle of

TT^rr^r, ‘ stretch out’, the causal of f qgg, ‘ be scattered’.

Judging from the language of the above song, the charmer was pro¬

bably a Muhammadan.

No. XII.

V. 1. qg#q, 3 plur. past of qg, ‘ set’, qg is the regular Bihari

root. qq is borrowed from Hindi, when used at all, as in the last song,

is locative of qife, ‘ a bough’.

V. 3. The metre of these two lines is beyond correction. ojfqgT

is 1 sing. pret. conditional of qftq, ‘ knovv’. is 3 plur. future of ^r,

31

1883.] Hugh Fraser — Folklore from Eastern Gorakpur.

contracted from is oblique of ‘a cloth’. — {Of. Song II

4). is long form of which is feminine.

I would now draw attention to the ample evidence these songs afford

of the existence of an oblique form in Bihari nouns, different from the

direct form.

At present too little is known to form any complete set of general

rules, but I may recapitulate what I have stated more fully in other

places.

1. The verbal noun, usually called the root, has in Bhojpuri and

Magadhi an oblique form in tf (or Maithili y or ^). Thus (^f*3),

* the act of seeing’, oblique form ( = Hindi in desiderative

compounds) ; yjrc (^rfy), £ an edge’, obi. ^tt.

2. A certain number of nouns, pronouns and adjectives ending in

T, ^ , yf, and *r, have an oblique form in ’yjT. Examples are,

‘ second’, obi. spfayT.

‘ great’, „ T.

‘ the act of seeing’, „

‘own’, „ 'SR^T.

This includes all the pronominal genitives, such as obi. :

&e. A complete catalogue of the nouns of this class is not now available,

but it is a very large one, and every week’s study gives me new examples.

Probably it will be found that every tadbhava noun ending as above

described can have this oblique form, but it would require a more intimate

knowledge of Bihari than is at present possessed by any European to

entitle any one to speak authoritatively on this point.

Another set of grammatical forms of which there are many examples

in the foregoing songs, is the instrumental in y, and the locative in y :

attention has frequently been drawn to them in my notes.

It is not to be expected that these songs, sung as they are by the

most ignorant classes should satisfy strictly all metrical laws ; but the

metre is generally clearly discernible, and when obscured the reason may

often be found in the tendency to repetition, and to the use of long and

redundant forms.

These songs were sent to the Asiatic Society written in the Roman

character, and it has fallen to my lot to transliterate them back again

into Deva Nagari. I have altered as little as possible ; the only changes

which I have ventured to make I have noted, except where the original

transcript was undoubtedly and clearly wrong. I have been assisted in

my task by several pandits whose native language is Bhojpuri, and who

were also acquainted with the songs themselves.

32

Hugh Fraser — Folklore from Eastern Goralcpur. [No. 1,

Most of the songs are current in this district (Shahabad), with more

or less variations from the text herewith printed. As an example of the

variations, I here give the second song, as dictated to me in Ara (Arrah).

^rfwr i

Nt ^ ^ttnt NNfywT Nfe 11 n \ n

WN 31 TN ®f» JTTtjNNT I

Tiftt Ntt NfWl WT? TT II II t II

I <N 4

<ff^TT farsfiN WW NT II II ^ II

I ^ I

srfjpsrT t Nf^T % nTnnt i

^ter^T fdltf ^ ^ttnt NT n ii a n

5*T T Nf^WT n stTnnt i

4

3TT T *TT^T Nt II II ‘1 II

^TNT Jre ftTCN T Nfa^T N NlTfNT I

ittNRT T ^TTNT Nt II II <f <1

The above version appears to me to be the more distinctly, Bihari of

the two ; e. g., the Bihari ‘ you will cause to stay,’ in the 3rd verse

compared with the Gorakhpur! ^3, which has a very Hindi air about it.

The last song given by Mr. Fraser is a specimen of the Nag song,

of which there are several examples in my Maitliil Chrestomathy.

In conclusion, I would express a hope that this most interesting col¬

lection of folk-songs will stimulate other gentlemen having equal oppor¬

tunities with Messrs. Fraser and Fisher, to lend a hand at collecting

materials for a most fascinating study. The Bihari folk-songs are a mine

almost entirely unworked, and there is hardly a line in one of them

which if published now will not give valuable ore, in the shape of an

explanation of some philological difficulty. But it is from comparison

of various versions of the same song from various portions of the Bihari

tract that there is most hope of tangible result : and this can only be

attained if other gentlemen, officials and non-officials, can be induced to

collect a few of the songs current in their own immediate neighbourhood

and forward them to the Society, where it is unnecessary to say that they

Tvill be valued and welcomed.

1883.]

G. Bidie — The Pagoda or Vardha coins.

33

The Pagoda or Vardha coins of Southern India. — By Surgeon Major

G. Bidie, M. B., 0. I. E., Superintendent Government Central

Museum , Madras.

(With three Plates.)

The monetary system of Southern India in the olden time was simple

enough, the unit being the gold pagoda , which was subdivided into fanams

and cash. Latterly, from political causes, the varieties of these coins be¬

came very numerous, so that their discrimination at the present day is a

matter of some difficulty. The immediate prototype of the pagoda is found

in a globular punch struck coin, Plate I, Fig, 1, weighing 51915 grs. and

having only just the trace of a device. It is believed to be of Buddhist

origin, and to belong to an early type of that class of money. This rude

form was succeeded by coins made with a die or dies, some of which are

known as Tunicas. All these bear Buddhist symbols and are heavier than

the more recent pagodas. One of this type, represented in Fig. 2, weighed

60.1 grs. and has a strong resemblance to the ordinary pagoda. The next

forms, in chronological succession, which have come under my notice are

the Chalukyan, Nonambamdi and Gajapati pagodas, which are followed by

those of the house of Vijayanagar. The sovereigns of these dynasties would

appear to have reserved to themselves the right of coining money, but,

after the conquest of Vijayanagar by the Mahomedan kings of the JDakhan

in 1565, every petty state assumed the privilege of setting up a mint.

This gave rise to an infinity of forms and Col. (afterwards Sir Thomas)

Munro, writing in 1806, regarding the coins in. the Bellary district, says,

<l the currency consists of 32 different kinds of pagodas and 15- of Kupees.

They are chiefly local having been issued by Nawabs, liajahs and Poli-

gars.”* Taken as a whole the pagodas afford most valuable and interest¬

ing information, regarding the early political history of India south of the

Kistna. Unfortunately their value in this respect was long overlooked, and

until recent times no systematic attempt was made to form a permanent

public collection of the series. Owing to this neglect many of the forms,

more especially the older ones, are quite unknown to numismatists, and

there is but little prospect now of making good this defect. As regards

those that have been preserved but very little information of a reliable

kind has been recorded, and the few facts that remain refer mostly to the

more modern forms and are scattered in local histories, travels and such

like, which sometimes contain incidental allusions to the currency of the

day. The vernacular designations of the several types of the pagoda

* Kelsall’s “ Manual of the Bellary District” p. 287.

E

34

[No. 1,

G. Liilie — The Pagoda or Vardha coins.

differed in the various districts in which they circulated, and cannot he

much relied on as affording trustworthy information, regarding either the

chief who struck a coin, or its place of mintage. There is also reason to

suspect, that after the fall of Vijayanagar some of its former vassals made

coins which were exact copies of those previously issued by the superior

power; just as after the ruin of the Mughul Empire, many Native States

coined rupees bearing the name of some former Emperor of Delhi. This

no doubt was done partly as an act of homage to a power that might again

be in the ascendant, and partly out of deference to popular prejudice, which

was apt to regard with suspicion any new form of coin. Thus Munro in

speaking of the varieties of pagodas iif the Bellary district remarks “ in

Raidrug the Venkatapati pagoda is commonest, while in Gurramconda the

ryots will not look at it.”* Even Hyder, when building up his mushroom

kingdom on the plateau of Mysore, did not dare to risk the opposition of

popular feeling bjr introducing a new pagoda, hut actually overcame his

pride and religious scruples so far as to copy a familiar Hindu form, with

an obverse hearing figures of Siva and Parvati ! So also, after the fall of

Seringapatam, Krishna Raja, who was then placed on the throne of

Mysore, selected the same old Hindu symbols for the obverse of his pagoda

as had been adopted by Hyder. To numismatists, who have been accus¬

tomed to study old European coins or those of the Mahomedan sovereigns

of India, the Madras pagodas appear particularly puzzling and uninterest¬

ing, as they do not always hear the name of the sovereign who struck

them, and never give any information as to the place or date of mintage.

Although the name Pagoda , as applied to a coin, is of comparatively mo¬

dern origin, the derivation of the term is very obscure. Prinsep says it is

“ a Portuguese appellation derived from the pyramidal temple depicted on

one side of it,” f and this would appear to be the general opinion of other

authorities. Bartolomeo, who lived in Southern India from 1776 to 1789,

calls the coin “ Bhagavadi,” and describes it thus: “ a gold coin with the

figure of the goddess Bhagavadi, called by the Europeans very improperly

Pagodi or Pagoda, is round and on one side a little convex. ”J Bhagavadi

or Bliagavati is one of the names of Durga or Parvati ;§ and, as Barto¬

lomeo was an accomplished linguist, his etymology of the term Pagoda is

probably correct. || The gold and silver pagodas of the East India Com¬

pany with the figure of a temple on the reverse (PI. 3, Fig. 24) are com-

* Kelsall’s “ Manual of the Bellary District,” p. 287.

t Thomas’s “Prinsep’s Indian Antiquities,” Useful Tables, p. 17.

+ Translation of a voyage to the East Indies &c , by Fra Paolino Da San Barto¬

lomeo, p. 87.

4 Ziegenhalg’s “ South Indian gods,” translated by Metzger, p. 145.

|| The pagoda alluded to by Bartolomeo is doubtless the “ Durgi,” PI. 2, Fig. 12.

1883.]

35

G. Bidie — The Pagoda or Vardha coins.

paratively modern, and it seems more probable that this device was adopted

with reference to the prevailing popular European designation of the piece,

than that the coin was called “ Pagoda” on account of its bearing the figure

of a temple. The common Tamil name for the pagoda is Vardha, an appel¬

lation due to the circumstance, that some of the older types had on the

obverse the figure of a Vardha or Poar — the symbol of the Chalukyas and

kings of Vijayanagar — or the image of Vishnu in the Varaha avatar. The

Hindustani name of the pagoda is Hun, a word probably derived from

JELonnu, the Canarese designation of the half pagoda. That the Maho-

niedans should have adopted this corruption of the Canarese term for the

coin is explained by the fact, tfuft; when they invaded the Carnatic, they

first saw the pagoda or half pagoda in the hands of a Canarese speaking

people. According to Sir Walter Elliot the term vardha is never- used in

ancient Tamil records in connection with money, but the word pon, which

originally signified gold. He is also of opinion “that the normal standard

coin was a piece equal to the modern half pagoda, the pagoda itself being

the double pon, which ultimately became the vardha .” The weights of the

different forms of the vardha vary, and it is a curious fact, that the Vene¬

tian Sequin, which used to circulate freely on the Malabar Coast, and the

Ducat which also found its way to Madras are very nearly of the same

weight as the pagoda. According to Prinsep the weights of the 3 coins

were as follows :*

Grains.

Venetian Sequin . 52-40

Ducat . . . 53 50

Star Pagoda, average . . 52 40

Kelly gives the weight of the star pagoda as 52’5G grains and adds

that the metal was 19^ carats fine, which gives “ 42-043 grains of fine

gold.”f

Other pagodas of native States varied in weight from 45'30 to 52’87

grains each.

Prior to 1818 all public and mercantile accounts were kept in Pagodas ,

Fanams and Gash as follows : —

80 Cash = 1 Fanam

42 Fanams = 1 Pagoda.

The complete system, however, for some time prior to the introduction

of the rupee as the monetary standard, embraced other coins, thus: — ■

10 Cash = 1 Doodie

2 Doodies = 1 Pice

* Thomas’s “ Prinsep’ s Indian Antiquities,” U. T., pp. 43 and 44.

f Kelly’s “ Universal Cambist,’’ Vol. 1, p. 90.

30

G. Bidie — The Pagoda or Vara ha coins.

[No. 1,

4 Pice == 1 Fanam

42 Fanams = 1 Pagoda.

The East India Company and other European merchants kept “ their

accounts at 12 Fanams the Rupee, and 42 Fanams or Rupees the

Star pagoda, but the natives reckoned “ the Rupee at 12 Fanams, 60 cash,

and the Star pagoda at 44 fanams, 50 cash.”* * * §

The present paper does not include all the forms of the pagoda that

have been in circulation in Southern India, but only those of which there

are specimens in the Madras Museum, together with a few others which

have been deemed necessary to illustrate the subject, or to render the mo¬

nograph more complete. In describing'Hhe coins they will be grouped as

far as possible according to djmasties, and the groups arranged in chrono¬

logical order. In treating of coins concerning which so little has been

recorded, and which are intrinsically so difficult, it is hardly to be expected

that all my conclusions will invariably be accepted, but I shall be glad if

they excite discussion and elicit further reliable information.

Buddhist Coins. — The Buddhist religion was introduced into South¬

ern India in the time of the great Asoka. In the 17th year of his reign,

246 B. C., the third Buddhist Council was held, after which Missionaries

were sent to propagate the faith in Mysore, Kanara and the Dakhan.f

Of the success of this propagandism we have abundant evidence in archi¬

tectural remains, in inscriptions, and in the narrative of the Chinese pilgrim

Huen Thsang, who came to India in the 7th century of our era, to see the

shrines and learn the doctrines of Buddhism. It is also known that the

early Pallava kings, who ruled the country throughout which the Telugu

language is now spoken, were Buddhists, J and it is probable that, like

Asoka, they made it the State religion. The well known remains of the

tope at Amravati in the Guntoor district, “are perhaps the most beautiful

and perfect Buddhist sculptures yet found in India.”§ This magnificent

structure was erected in the 4th century of our era, and quite recently a

more ancient tope, at Juggiapett on the opposite side of the Kistna, was

brought to notice by Mr. R. Sewell, C. S., and explored by Dr. Burgess.

There is also reason to believe, that the oldest temple at Conjeveram was

originally a Buddhist shrine, and undoubted remains of similar structures

at one time existed near Nagapatam, and in the Tinnevelly and Trichno-

poly districts. || A huge stone Buddha image was also some years ago dug

* Kelly’s “Universal Cambist,” Vol. I, p. 90.

f “ Cave Temples of India,” p. 17.

J Rice’s “ Mysore Inscriptions,” Introduction, p. 88.

§ “ Cave Temples of India,” p. 64.

|| Elliot in Journal, Madras Literary Society, Yol, XIX for 1857-58, p. 226.

1883.]

G. Bidie — The Pagoda or Vardha coins.

37

up near Tuticorin, and is now lodged in the Government Central Museum.* * * §

We may therefore infer that Buddhism flourished over the whole of

Southern India for about 1000 years. In the 7th century of our era it was

on the decline, in the 8th it was rapidly disappearing and shortly after that

it vanished from the country generally. f The causes of the extinction of

Buddhism are not well known, but it was probably due partly to the in¬

crease of the Jains, and partly to Brahminical persecution and the rivalry

of Sivaism. The specimens of Buddhist coins found in the Madras Presi¬

dency are made of lead, copper, silver and gold. Some of the older gold

and silver forms are simply globules, or irregular shaped flat pieces of

metal on which various figures have been stamped with a punch. On the

other hand, some of the lead coins are of superior make, and bear on tbe

obverse bold and fairly well designed figures of the elephant, lion, bull or

horse, or of a ship. The coin No. 1 described below, belongs to a series

older than, and which was probably the prototype of, the pagoda. In form

it greatly resembles some of the pagodas, and its weight is so very nearly

tbe same, that the difference may be attributed to loss by wear.

PI. I, Fig. 1. Globular with traces of punch marks on both sides

This coin was received years ago from the Collector of Dharwar, under the

name of Goolrourha pagoda, probably a corruption of Gutilca, “ pilulus,” the

ancient name of these small spherical coins. J This specimen probably

belongs to the 1st or 2nd century of the Christian era.

Weight 51.945 grains.

PI. I, Fig. 2. This figure has been copied from Sir Walter Elliot’s

“ Numismatic Gleanings, ”§ as a good example of an early die-struck coin,

and as the scroll on the reverse is of a type which is repeated on some of

the older Hindu pagodas. It also appears in the carvings of some Madras

temples, and not unfrequently is tacked on as the tail to a swan-like bird.

Oh. A State chair or seat surmounted with four dots or spheres, and

placed under the portico of a temple : above the lintel of the portico parts

of 2 lotus flowers.

Rev. The tail of a bird ; or arabesque of foliage according to Elliot.

Chalukya Coins. The Chalukyas, ancient sovereigns of Oudh, in-

' xvaded the South of India in the 4th century, and soon became the domi¬

nant power. Their capital was at Kalayana, in the Nizam’s territory,

and their signet was the hoar. Their other insignia were th e peacoclc-fan, the

anJcusha or elephant goad, the golden sceptre, Sfc. j| About the beginning

* Dr. Burgess says it may be Jain, but it has all the appearance of Buddha.

t “ Cave Temples of India,” p. 19.

X Sir W. Elliot in Journal, Madras Literary Society, Yol. XX. 1858, p. 84.

§ Journal, Madras Literary Society, Yol. XIX, 1857-58, PI. VIII, Fig, 30.

|| “ Lice’s Gazetteer of Mysore,” Yol. I, p. 205.

38

G. Bidie— The Pagoda or T'ardha coins.

[No. 1,

of the 7th century the Chalukyas separated into two branches one of which,

the western, remained at Kalyana and the other, the eastern, made Vengi

their head-quarters. The western line continued to flourish till about the

middle of the 12th century, after which it rapidly declined, and the Chalu¬

kyas ceased to exist as a roval house in Southern India before the beginning

of the 12th century.

PI. I, Fig. 3. This is copied from pi. 1, fig. 5, of Elliot’s “Numis¬

matic Gleanings,” No. 2.

Ob. A boar caparisoned, and surmounted with the sun and moon.

Rev. A central boss surrounded with dots, which, Sir Walter Elliot

says, represent a chalcra or wheel. It probably was coined in the 7th or Sth

century of our era.

PI. I, Fig 4.

Ob. Boar to the right richly caparisoned, and with scrolls above and

below.

Rev. According to Elliot a radiating chakra or wheel ; but it may

be a snake ornament or the lotus. Probable date of coinage Sth or 9th

century of our era.

Weight , 58.225 grains.

It will be observed that its weight exceeds that of the ordinary pagoda.

This coin was sent to the Museum in 1855 by the Collector of Bellary,

under the erroneous name of “ Gajapati pagoda.”

PI. I, Fig. 5. Copied from pi. 101, fig. 13, Moore’s “ Hindu Pantheon,”

which is a figure of a specimen found in Tippu’s Cabinet.

Ob. Boar to the left, with sun and moon, and part of a scroll above,

below a scroll, and dagger like a cross.

Rev. A scroll or bird’s tail like that on Fig. 2.

Nonambavadi Coiisr. According to ltice “ the name of the Nolam-

bavadi or Nonambavadi thirty-two thousand provinces, extending over most

of the Chitaldroog and Bellary districts, specially connects itself to all

appearance with the Pallavas.”* This line of sovereigns ruled the whole of

the country from Calingapatam in the north to the seven Pagodas in the

south, their western limit extending into Mysore.f As already stated,

the early kings of the dynasty were Buddhists, and the topes at Amravati

and elsewhere in the north were erected in their reign. So also were the

monolithic temples of the Seven Pagodas, but at a later date ; for although

the architectural designs are exclusively Buddhist, they are covered with

purely Brahmiuical emblems. The date of the Amravati tope has been

fixed at about A. D. 400, and that of Mahavallipuram, or the Seven Pago-

* “ Mysore Inscriptions,” p. 53.

f Rice’s “ Mysore Gazetteer,” Yol. I, p. 202.

18S3.]

30

G. Bidie — The Pagoda or Par aha coins.

das, at about A. I). 700.* Mr. Rice has from inscriptions given a tentative

list of Pallava kings, extending from A. D. 200 to A. D. 1120.f For

many centuries of the latter years of their sway they were in continual feud

with the Cliolas, Chalukyas and other Southern powers, and were finally

conquered and driven from their kingdom by a Chalukya king, A. D. 1138

to 1150. J Up to the close of the Gth century their capital was in the

north country called Vengi, but shortly after this they were dispossessed

there, and established their seat of Government at Conjeveram.§ It is

probable that about this time they built or encouraged the building of the

rock-cut temples at the Seven Pagodas, and the fact that these were never

completed may have been due to some interruption in the shape of strug¬

gles with warlike neighbours. That such marvellous structures should have

been undertaken by a people who had erected the topes at Amravati and

elsewhere in the north, is just what might have been expected, and the ming¬

ling of Buddhist and Brahminical designs in the work is explained by the

circumstance, that the people had long been familiar with Buddhist archi¬

tecture, and had but recently adopted the Brahminical creed. In short the

latter had not yet had time to create an architectural style of its own. The

Nonambavadi district was wrested from the Pallavas by the Chalukyas,

and subsequently passed into the hands of the Hoysala Ballalas. While

thus owned it continued to be called Nonambavadi, but apparently dropped

this name on coming under the sway of the Vijayanagar house. || In the

Bangalore Museum there is a coin which has the name “ Nonambavadi”

in Hale Kannada characters on the reverse, and Mr. Rice infers, that as

this title was never applied to the district in later times, “ the coin would be

as old as the 13th century, and perhaps older.” There is no specimen of this

most interesting coin in the Madras Museum, but simply an electrotype

copy, which fails to bring out properly the figure on the obverse.

Rl. I, Fig. 6.

Ob. Figure of Harihara:^f

liev. Three lines in Hale Kannada, the middle one reading ( No)nam -

bavadi.

For a long time this was the only copy of this coin known to exist, but

of late I have heard of another one passing into private hands, and probably

when next seen it will have been converted into a shirt-stud !

* “ Cave Temples of India,” p. 110.

t “ Mysore Inscriptions,” p. 53.

X “ Mysore Inscriptions,” p. 58.

§ Rice’s “ Mysore Inscriptions,” p. 52.

|| Rice’s “Mysore Gazetteer,” Vol. I, Supplement, p. 3.

It Union of Vishnu and Siva, Dowson’s “ Classical Dictionary of Hindu Mytholo¬

gy,” p. 117; also product of “Siva’s union with Vishnu in the female form,”

Ziegenbalg’s “ South Indian Gods” by Metzger, p. 6.

40

G. Bitlie — The Pagoda or Varaha coins.

[No. 1,

Gajapati Dynasty or Elephant Lords* * * §

The device of the elephantf originally belonged to the Kongus or

Cheras, whose dominion first included the Malabar, Coimbatore and Salem

districts, and latterly a large portion of what is the modern Mysore terri¬

tory. At one time their capital was at Skandapura in N. lat. 1 L° 40'

and East long. 77°, but in the 3rd century it was moved to Talkad on the

Cauvery. The Cheras are supposed to have been the people called by

Ptolemy Caret, and their country the Carura regia Cerebothri.\ About

the 9th century of our era their capital Talkad having been captured by

the Cholas, the Kongus fled to Orissa, and established there the Ganga

vamsa line of kings. They were also called Gajapati, and it is believed

struck the Gajapati Pagodas. Wilson in his “ Description of Select Coins”§

says “ they are not unfrequent, and are the work of the Gajapati princes

of Orissa, who reigned from the 11th to the 16th century.” In Southern

India genuine copies of the Gajapati pagodas are scarce and dear, but at

Bangalore fictitious ones are made, according to demand, with such in¬

genuity that it is by no means easy to distinguish the real from the false.

PL I, Fig. 7.

Ob. Elephant to the right caparisoned with jewelled trappings.

Mev. A scroll of foliage or peacock’s tail, as in fig. 2.

There are two specimens of this in the Museum, one of which was got

from the Collector of Danvar and the other purchased.

Probable date of coinage, 13th century.

Weight. One weighs 60 75 grains and the other 6021 grains. These

weights are also much above the average of the pagoda.

Lingayat Pagoda. I have adopted this designation for this pagoda with

some hesitation, as the symbols on it are, as regards their significance, very

obscure. Marsden in his “Numismata Orientalia” Part II, pi. 43, fig. 1077,

gives a representation of it, and at page 740 states, that it is a coin of a

Hindu prince of Bijapur who resigned some time prior to Yusuf Adil Shah,

who founded the Adil Shahi dynasty there in 1439. One of the specimens

of this coin, now in the Museum, was sent from Canara to the Madras

Exhibition of 1855, under the name of “ Lingaity Pagoda,” and this identi¬

fication has been adopted as a popular and probable one. The Lingayat

sect of Hindus was founded about 1160, at Kalayana, by Basava, prime

minister to Bijjala, a Kalachurya prince. || The distinctive mark of the

* Rice’s “Mysore Inscriptions”, p. 47 and “Asiatic Annual Register for 1804,”

Section “ Characters.”

+ Thomas’s “ Pathan Kings of Delhi,” p. 170, note.

1 Rice’s “ Mysore Gazetteer,” Vol. I, pp. 197, 198.

§ “Asiatic Researches,” Vol. XVII, p. 593.

[| Rice’s “ Mysore Gazetteer,” Vol, I, pp. 210, 382.

I8S3.]

41

G. Tiidie — The Bagoda or Vara ha coins.

Lingayats is a peculiar shaped silver case containing a small black stone.

This box is either fastened to the arm or suspended from the neck, and the

symbols on the coin may have reference to this portable linga.

PI. I, Fig. 8. Oh. A figure which may be the linga with a snake-like

scroll on it.

Bev. A figure which may be the yoni, or linga and yoni combined. *

Probable date, 14th century.

Weight. One specimen weighs 5P025 and the other 50'85 grains.

Vijayanagar or Bijanagar Pagodas. This dynasty was the last

great Hindu power, and one of the most important that ever existed, in

Southern India. Its capital was built near the site of the ancient Kish-

kinda, the kingdom of the monkey-flag, and the magnificent ruins of it which

still exist testify to the wealth, power and splendour of this once famous

sovereignty. The city was situated on the banks of the Tungabhadra about

34 miles N. W. of Bellary, near Anagundi, the Rajah of which claims to

be descended of the royal house of Vijayanagar. The empire, as well as

the city, was founded by two brothers Hakka — afterwards named Harihara —

and Bukka, with the assistance of the learned Madhava who afterwards

became their prime minister. There is no very certain information as to the

descent of the two brothers, but Ricef states that they “ were sons of San-

gama, described as a prince of the Yadava line and the lunar race,” who

had their capital at Devagiri, the modern Daulatabad. The Vijayanagar

house rose into prominence between A. D. 1336 and 1350. For some time

its territory was confined to the neighbourhood of the capital, but when at

the zenith of its power it ruled the greater part of Karnata and Telingana,

and also the Canara Coast. The empire lasted, with varying fortune,

from 1336 till the 25th January 1565, when its forces, under Rama Raja

the usurper, were defeated and its power shattered on the fatal field of Tali-

kota, by a combination of the armies of the four Mahommedan principali¬

ties of the Dakhan. The accounts given of Vijayanagar, by European

travellers who visited India prior to the ruin of the dynasty, speak of the

general prosperity of the country and the great splendour of the city.

This state of affairs did not last after Talikota, as the various Palegars

and other petty chiefs, who were thus relieved of the yoke of the

empire, at once began to fight amongst themselves for supremacy, and the

land groaned under pillage and rapine. As already mentioned, these subor¬

dinate States on becoming independent at once assumed the right to coin

money, and hence the numerous varieties of coins found in Southern India.

About a year after the decisive battle, Tirumala Raja, the brother of Rama

Raja, returned to Vijayanagar, and attempted to restore it, but finding this

* It has also been suggested that the symbols may be of Jain origin.

f “Mysore Inscriptions,” p. 81.

42

G. Bidie — The Pagoda or Vardha coins.

[No. 1,

hopeless he retired to Penkonda. The descendants of the true line finally

took shelter from the storm of Mahommedan invasion at Chandragiri, a

hill fort, which together with that of Vellore, was built by Rayas of Vijaya-

nagar. From the former fastness Sri Ranga Raya, the then representative

of the old house, granted, in 1610, a deed handing over to the English the

site of modern Madras. Unfortunately that document was lost during the

French occupation of Fort St. George, but it is stated, that in addition to

the grant of land it conferred the privilege of coining money, on the con¬

dition, that the English should preserve on their coinage “ the representation

of that deity who was the favourite object of his worship.”* Six years

after this he was a fugitive from the Mahommedan power of Golcondah,

and with him the Vijayanagar family may be said to have disappeared from

the political horizon of Southern India.

PI. I, Fig. 9,f This coin is of great interest as pertaining to one of

the two brothers who founded the Vijayanagar Empire. There are two

copies of it in the Museum one of which was received from the Mysore

treasury under the name of “ Hanumuntaroi,” and the other from an

unknown source with the designation “ Hanoomuntha” pagoda. From

this it would appear that the figure on the obverse is popularly supposed to

be a representation of Hanuman, to which it has a strong resemblance. It

is possible that Bukka adopted this emblem from the circumstance, that

the city of Vijayanagar was built near the site of the ancient Kishkinda,

the capital of the monkey race ; or its assumption may he due to his

having subdued the country of the powerful Kadambas, whose ensign was

the monlcey-Jlag.

Oh. Hanuman seated on a throne ; right arm uplifted and grasping

something in the hand, left hand resting on the thigh.

Pev. Inscription partly cut and worn away, but with the name

“ Bukka” distinct. Probable date A. D. 1350 — 79.

Weight. One specimen weighs 52'5 grains and the other 5065 grains.

PI. I, Fig. 10a. This figure is borrowed from pi. 104, fig. 3 of

Moore’s Hindu Pantheon, and is the representation of one of the many

coins the property of Tippu Sultan, which fell into the hands of the captors

of Seringapatam. Moore supposes the figure on the obverse to be “ Garuda,”

but says he has seen it called “ Kanduharundujp an evident corruption

of “ Ghunda Bhairunda,” the name of a coin included in the Mackenzie

Collection. Wilson in plate 4 of his “Description of Select Coins’’^

* Marsden’s “Numismata Oricntalia,” Part II, p. 739.

t For the deciphering of the inscription on this, and on following coins hearing

Sanscrit inscriptions, I am indebted to the kindness of R. Sewell, Esq , Madras Civil

Service, of the Archaeological department.

t “ Asiatic Researches,” Vol, XVII, p. 595.

1883.]

43

G. Bidie — The Pagoda or Vardha coins.

gives 4 figures of coins of the same series and observes, that they are

ascribed to the Vira Raya of Coimbatore, and are the “ Garuda Mudras,”

No. 11 of the Mackenzie Catalogue of Hindu gold coins. This would

appear to be a mistake, as they are undoubtedly the “ Gunda Bharundas,”

No. 30 of the Mackenzie Collection. The figure on the coin is described

by Wilson as “ a double-headed figure of Garura, holding an elephant in

each beak and each claw.” In Southern India this two-headed bird is

always known as “ Ghunda Bhairunda,” and is regarded as distinct from

Garuda, which has but one head. Considerable doubt has Hitherto existed

as to the dynasty to which these remarkable coins belong, but this is now

settled by the coin figured, for the reading of which I am indebted to Dr.

James Burgess. Specimens of the “ Ghunda Bhairunda” are not uncommon

in copper, and a representation of one of these is given in plate II, fig. 10.

Ob. A two-headed bird like the Russian emblem, but holding a

small elephant in each beak and in each claw.

Pev. Sri Pratapa Deva Raya.

The Deva Raya here referred to was the third king of the Vijaya-

nagar line, counting Harihara and Bukka as conjoint sovereigns. He

reigned from 1401 to 1451, and was frequently involved in sanguinary wars

with Firoz Shah of the Bahmani house of Kalbargab, although Firoz

married his daughter. Abdul Razzak the Persian ambassador who visited

Vijayanagar in A. D. 1441, during Deva Raya’s reign, says,# that the city

was “ such as eye has not seen nor ear heard of any place resembling it

upon the whole earth.” “ In the king’s treasury there are chambers with

excavations in them filled with molten gold in one mass. All the inhabi¬

tants of the country, whether high or low, even down to the artificers of the

bazaar, wear jewels and gilt ornaments in their ears and around their necks,

arms, wrists and fingers.” “ The jewellers sell their rubies and pearls and

diamonds and emeralds openly in the bazaar.” The architectural and

general features of the city are also described, and it is said “ the country

is for the most part well cultivated and fertile, and about 300 good seaports

belong to it,” also that it “ is so well populated that it is impossible in a

reasonable space to convey an idea of it.”

PI. I, Fig. 11. The forms of this coin in the Museum, although

evidently struck with different dies, yet agree generally both as regards the

inscription and the figures on the obverse. The popular names under

which they were from time to time received from various districts of the

country differ greatly, and, curious to say, not one of them implies that the

coin belonged to the Vijayanagar house. The type of the obverse of this

pagoda appears to have been a favourite one, as not only was it adopted by

subsequent sovereigns of the dynasty, but also by the Nayaks of Bednur,

* Rice’s “Mysore Gazetteer,” Vol. I, pp. 228, 229.

44 G. Biilie — The Pagoda or Varaha coins. [No. 1,

who were vassals of Vijayanagar, as well as by Hyder, and Krishna Raja

Wodeyar, of Mysore.

Ob. Siva and Parvati seated, and with the sun and moon overhead.

In some there is just a trace of the deer to the right of Parvati ; in

some Siva holds in his right hand the Damaru or Dram ; and in some it

grasps the Club or Khatwanga. In one the right hand holds something

suspiciously like the Chunk, but it is probably intended to represent his

Bow.

Rev. Sri Pratapa Deva Raya. In some the word Deva is given as

Dava.

Weight, 52 '525 grains.

PI. II, Fig. 12, 12 a and 12 b. This coin has long been popularly known

as the Dargi pagoda, the figure on the obverse being regarded as Durga

the bull-headed consort of Siva. From the examination of a number

of specimens, however, it is apparent, that the symbols that accom¬

pany the figure on the obverse are not Sivaite, but the chank or chakra

of Vishnu, and that the figure itself represents the Yaraha or Boar incar¬

nation. In fact it is from the figure of the boar on this and the Chalu-

kyan coins already described, that the pagoda got the Tamil name of

Yaralia. The inscription on the reverse shews that this form was first

struck by a Vijayanagar king, but there is strong reason for believing that

it was subsequently reproduced by tributaries of that house, and notably

by the Chitaldroog Nayak about the end of tbe 17th century. It is also

probable that the term Durgi as applied to this pagoda had originally no

reference to the figure on the obverse, but was simply a popular modifica¬

tion of the word “ Durga” a hill-fort, and the diminutive title of Chital¬

droog the place at which tbe more modern specimens were struck.

Ob. Figure of Vishnu in the boar incarnation, with the chank or

chakra emblems.

Rev. Sri Pratapa Krishna Raya.

Weight. From 50875 to 51 837.

In some specimens the inscription is not quite complete, and there are

several types of the Varaha figure on the obverse. The Krishna Raya who

struck the coin reigned from 1508 to 1512. With his predecessor Nara-

simha the line was changed, and various romantic accounts are given of

Krishna’s descent and early years. It will be observed that he or some

predecessor changed the State religion, the figures of Siva and Parvati on

the coinage having given place to that of Vishnu. During Krishna Raya’s

reign the kingdom of Vijayanagar was at its zenith, as regards its

power, extent, prosperity and wealth, and he appears to have been one of

the most distinguished sovereigns that ever sat on the throne. “ He kept

possession of all the country up to the Krishna : eastwards he captured

1883.]

G. Bidie — The Pagoda or Varaha coins.

45

Warangal and ascended to Cuttack, where he married the daughter of the

raja as the bond of peace, while westwards his conquests extended up to Sal-

sette.”* About the end of his reign shadows began to fall on the pros-

perity of the Vijayanagar house, and gradually it was involved in ruinous

revolutions and contests.

PI. II, Fig. 13. This is a coin of Sadasiva of Vijayanagar who

reigned, nominally, from A. D. 1542 to 1573, but was virtually controlled

by Rama Raja his minister who finally usurped the throne.

Oh. Siva with the trisul in his right hand and the antelope in his

left. Parvati on the left side of her lord.

Pev. Sadasiva.

Weight. 52 912 grs.

The obverse of this coin is the exact prototype of the “ Ikkeri” and

“ Bahaduri” pagodas, and at one time I had doubts as to whether the

Sadasiva, whose name is on the reverse, was not the Nayak of that name

who founded the Ikkeri house in the Shimoga district of Mysore, f and

established a mint there which was afterwards captured and worked by

Hyder. Originally a poor man, he is said to have discovered some hidden

treasure with which he built a fort. He then visited the Court of Vijaya¬

nagar and obtained, in A. D. 1560, a grant of the Government of Barkur

Mangalur and Chandragutti, with the title of Sada Siva Nayak. His

successor established the capital at Ikkeri, but in 1639 it was moved to

Bednur, the modern Nagar of the Shimoga district, and at one time a place

of great strength and importance.!

PI. II, Fig. 14. This coin has originally been somewhat roughly

executed, and the die of the reverse has apparently slipped to one side, so

that the inscription is not in the centre and is partly incomplete. The

reading is therefore not quite satisfactory, but the name seems to be that

of Tirumala Raja, who was the maternal uncle of Sadasiva. He is said to

have for a time usurped the throne of Vijayanagar, but having rendered

himself disagreeable to the Court and people, Rama Raja with the assis¬

tance of the nobles expelled him, on which he committed suicide. A

romantic story is told of his having transferred the sovereignty of part of

Mysore to the Wadeyars, but this is very doubtful.

Oh. Siva and Parvati.

Pev. Sri Ti (rumala) Raja.

The specimen in the Museum is a half pagoda.

Weight. 25 -8 grs.

* Rice’s “ Mysore Gazetteer,” Vol. I, p. 230.

f Buchanan’s “ Mysore,” Vol. Ill, p. 254.

| Rice’s “Mysore Gazetteer,” Vol. II, p. 355.

[No. 1 ,

46 G. Bidie — The Pagoda or Tardha coins.

PI. II, Fig. 15 and 15a. The two specimens of this coin figured

were both received under the name of “ Venkatapati pagoda,” viz. one from

the Collector of Bellary and one from the Mysore Commissioner’s Treasury.

Marsden* gives a figure and description of a coin of this type and says it

resembles two figures of S. Indian coins, in the work of the old traveller

Tavernier “ which he attributes to a raja of Velouche, probably a corrup¬

tion of Vellore.” Wilson also alludes to this pagoda and states, that it was

struck by Venkatapati Raja of Chandragiri in the beginning of the 17th

century, after the overthrow of the Yijayanagar kingdom. ”f Referring

next to Capt. Newbold’s account of the Bellary district, J written in 1839,

it appears, that at one time Venkatapati pagodas were also coined at Rai-

drug, and this statement is further borne out by the fact, that the Collector

of the District in sending specimens of the pagoda to Madras in 1855 says,

that they were coined at Raidrug by “ Vencatapaty Naidoo Poligar of that

place.” It seems likely therefore that the Yenlcatapati pagoda was first

coined at Chandragiri by the ex-raja of Vijayanagar, and latterly at Rai¬

drug. One of the last Palegars of that place was named Venkatapati, and

as the family were descended of a former Commander-in-Chief of Vijaya¬

nagar and were long vassals of that house, they would naturally, on setting

up a mint, copy the coinage of the dynasty with which they had been so

intimately connected. Venkatapati the Palegar was a contemporary of

Hyder, and had to yield allegiance first to Delhi, and finally to Seringa-

pa tarn.

Oh. Figure of Vishnu under a canopy ; four-armed and holding up

the usual symbols.

Bev. Sri V(en)kat(e)svara(ya)namah.

Weight of one 51’05 gr. and of the other 50 725.

It will be observed that this pagoda is very different in every respect

from those issued by the rajas of Vijayanagar, when in the zenith of their

power; in fact the coin has more the appearance of a religious token than

of a piece of current money, and would seem to imply, that in their humi¬

liation and troubles the rajas sought consolation from devotion to religious

duties. Or it may have been adopted with reference to the neighbouring

shrine of Tripati having been taken under their special protection.

Gandikata Pagoda.

PI. II, Fig. 16. This coin was sent to the Madras Exhibition of

1855 bv the Collector of Bellary as a “ Timmanayanee Perathapum, coined

at Goondicotta by Timma-Naidoo Palaigar of that place.” According to

Newbold also the “ Gundicotta” pagoda was termed “ Timma Naid Per tap,”

* “ Numismata Orientalia,” Part II, p. 738, fig. 1073.

f “Asiatic Researches,” Vol. XVII, p. 596 and PI. IV, fig. 96.

+ “Madras Journal of Literature and Science,” Vol. X, p. 131.

1883.]

47

G. Bidie — The Pagoda or Yardha coins,

and was in circulation in the Ceded Districts in 1839. # Gandikota is a hill

fortress in the Cuddapah District, and stands on a scarped rock some 300

feet above the bed of the Pennar river. It is said to have been built before

Vijayanagar, and it had a famous temple endowed by one of the Vijaya-

nagar kings. f In the old days the fort was considered impregnable, and

was held by a line of Palegars, who were vassals of Vijayanagar. This

explains the adoption of the obverse which is identical with that of fig. 15,

and is a further illustration of the retention of a familiar device in deference

to popular prejudice. A formidable place like Gandikota was not likely to

remain unnoticed by the various chiefs who sought in succession to acquire

the territory that formerly belonged to Vijayanagar. Accordingly we find

that it was first captured by Mahommed Ivuli of Golkonda, early in the 17th

century. Subsequently it passed into the possession of various other

powers, and was finally captured by Capt. Little in 179 L. The inscription

on the reverse is said to be in debased Nagari which probabljr implies, that

the coins are copies of still older ones, struck probably late in the 16th

century before the capture of the fortress by Mahommed Kuli.J

Ob, Figure of Vishnu under a canopy ; four-armed and holding the

usual symbols.

Rev.

Sri Pam.

Raja Pam.

Ram Raja.

Weight. — 26T5 gr. (a half pagoda).

The Rama of the inscription is probably the usurper Rama Rajah,

who occupied the throne of Vijayanagar about the middle of the 16th

century. It was he who led the Hindu forces against the Mahommedans

at the battle of Talikota, which ended in his death and the ruin of the

empire. Specimens of this pagoda are by no means rare, and forged

modern ones are quite common.

CniTALDBOOG PAGODA.

PI. II, Fig. 17. This is no doubt one form of the real Durgi pagoda,

struck by the Nayaks of Chitaldroog after the fall of Vijayanagar. Chital-

droog was long held by a warlike family of the Bedar, or hunter caste,

founded by Timmana Nayak about A. D. 1508. Although nominally

vassals of Vijayanagar they maintained a semi-independence, and being bold

and ambitious gradually acquired a large extent of territory. During the

* Gribble’s “ Cuddapah Manual,” p. 301.

f “Madras Journal of Literature and Science,” Vol. X, p. 131.

X The legend on this coin was deciphered by Pandit Bhaja Vandul Indraji for

whose kind aid 1 am indebted to Dr, Codrington, Secretary B. B. Royal Asiatic Society.

48

[No. 1,

G. Bidie — The Pagoda or Vardha coins.

wars that raged in that part of Southern India in the 17th and 18th cen¬

turies, Chitaldroog not only managed to maintain its existence, but to take

a more or less conspicuous place in the turmoil. Finally, having attracted

the cupidity of Hyder, the fort of Chitaldroog was captured by him though

treachery in 1779, after several vain attempts to seize it by force of arms.

The ruling Nayak at tlie time was also taken and sent, along with his

family, a prisoner to Seringapatam. Not content with this Hyder deported

20,000 of the inhabitants of the place who were also of the bold and hardy

Bedar caste, with the object of completely breaking up the power which

had manifested such formidable and enduring resistance.

Ob. Durga, a form of Parvati.

Pev. Some coarse imitations of Nagari characters.

Weight. 52-25 grs.

Hawkes describes and figures a “ Doorga” and “ Molay Doorgee”

pagoda, both of which were struck at Chitaldroog.

Tkavancode Pagoda.

PI. Ill, Fig. 22. Two specimens of this coin were got from the

Treasury of H. H. the Maharajah of Travancore, one of which was

designated “ Anantha Varahen.”

Ob. Peculiar figure of Vishnu placed between two lotus flowers,

with conventional representations of the usual symbols in his hand.

Pev. Convex granulated.

Weight. 52’43 grs.

PI. II, Fig. 18. This coin, a double pagoda, was struck by His High¬

ness the late Kama Varma, G. C. S. I., Maharajah of Travancore, and is very

well executed. There is also a single pagoda of the same type.

Ob. The sacred shell surrounded with a wreath.

Pev. Hound the margin, Travancore, and in the centre within a

wreath

1877.

R. V.

the letters being the initials of H. H. the Maharajah.

Weight. 7S-8 grs.

East India Company’s Pagodas.

Very little has been recorded regarding the earlier coinage of the East

India Company, and accordingly the effort to arrange their pagodas and

those of their contemporaries in chronological order has been a task of

great difficulty. Permission was granted by Charles II in 1077 to the

Company to coin money, on the condition that it should not resemble Eng¬

lish currency. For a long time after this the process of minting was the

rude native method. Moor in his “ Narrative of the operations of Capt.

49

IS 83. J G. Bidie — The Pagoda or Yaraha coins.

Little’s Detachment”* gives the following account of the state of the mint

and mode of coining in Bombay, in the end of last century.

“ In Bombay there is no mechanical process either for ascertaining the

value of the piece, or of giving it the impression. The manner is as fol¬

lows : the metal is brought to the mint in bars the size of the little finger,

where are a number of persons seated on the ground provided with scales

and weights, a hammer, and an instrument between a chisel and a punch ;

before each man’s berth is fixed a stone by way of anvil. The bars are cut

into pieces, by guess, and if, on weighing, any deficiency is found, a little

particle is punched into the intended rupee ; if too heavy, a piece is cut

off, and so on until the exact quantity remains. These pieces are then

taken to a second person, whose whole apparatus consists in a hammer and

a stone anvil, and he batters them into something of a round shape, about

seven-eighths of an inch diameter, and one-eighth thick ; when they are

ready for the impression. The die is composed of two pieces, one inserted

firmly into the ground ; the other, about eight inches long, is held in the

right hand of the operator, who squatting on his heels (the posture in

which all mechanics and artists work ; the posture, indeed, in which every

thing is done in India, for if a man has a dram given him, he finds it con¬

venient to squat upon his heels to drink it), fills his left hand with the

intended coins, which he with inconceivable quickness slips upon the fixed

die with his thumb and middle finger, with his fore finger as dexterously

removing them when his assistant, a second man with a mall, has given it

the impression, which he does as rapidly, as he can raise, and strike with

the mall on the die held in the right hand of the coiner. The diameter of

the die is about an inch and a half, inscribed with the Great Moghul's

names, titles, date of the Hejra, his reign, <fcc., but as the coins are not so

large, they do not, consequently, receive all, nor the same impression. The

rupee is then sent to the treasury, ready for currency, as no milling, or

any farther process is thought necessarv.”

With so simple a process it was not difficult to set up a mint, wherever

deemed necessary. In the south the chief mint towns were Madras and

Arcot, but money was also coined at Porto Novo and various other places.

Pagodas continued to be struck by the Company up to 1819, the year in

which the change was made from pagodas to rupees in the keeping of public

accounts. In the year 1835 the Company’s coinage was adjusted accord¬

ing to the Standard of the present day, as regards weight and quality.

Pl. II, Pig. 19. This pagoda was apparently originally struck by one

of the ex-rajahs of Yijayanagar, when resident at Chandrageri. Marsden,

pl. 48, fig. 1070 gives a representation of the pagoda and makes the following

remarks regarding the Chandrageri rajahs and their coinage. “ It was from

* London 1794.

a

50

[No. 1,

G. Bidie — The Pagoda or Varaha coins.

one of these rajahs that the English East India Company purchased, in the

year 1620, the spot of ground on which stood the old fort and factory of

Madras, now enclosed within the works of Fort Saint George, together with

the privilege of coining money, under the stipulation that the English

should not fail to preserve on their coinage the representation of that deity

who was the favourite object of his worship.” Unfortunately the latter

portion of this statement cannot now be verified, as the document under

which the Rajah made a grant of the site of Madras to the Company

appears to have been lost or destroyed when the French had possession of

Fort Saint George, in 1746. The Company, however, for many years

adhered to this type in their issues of the pagoda

Oh. Three rude standing figures of Venkatesvara and his two wives,

Pev. Convex granulated.

Weight:— 52 7625 gr.

„ 53-525 „

„ 52-53 „

„ 53 62 ,,

PI. II, Fig. 20. Of the two specimens of this coin in the Museum one

was received from. Bellary under the name of “ Carmamutty Pagoda” struck

at Masulipatam, Coconada &c., by a Nizam of the Dakhan The other

came from the Mysore Treasury under the name of “ Imam Oodeen” pago¬

da. Newbold in his paper on the Ceded Districts* says, “ a number of

gold pagodas were introduced by the Asaph Jah or Hyderabad chiefs, among

which was the Karkmodi coined at Karkmod, Masulipatam &c.” Where

Ivarkmod is I have been unable to discover, probably it is an obsolete name

of some town or village Marsden in PI. 48, fig. 1083 gives a figure of

this coin and says, this him is named by Sonnerat “ pagoda ancienne d*

Arcate” and “ has three figures on the obverse like those of Porto Novo

and some of Chandrageri.” It appears probable therefore that the obverse

of the pagoda was copied from a Chandrageri coin, first by Abdullah Kutb

Shah of Golkonda who captured Chandrageri in 1646, and latterly by

Nawabs of the Carnatic. The symbol on the reverse is said by Marsden

to represent the Arabic letter ^ the initial of Muhammad Ali Nawab, as it

was of Abdulla Kutb Shah.f We have thus a clear line of descent for the

obverse of this coin, the device having been first adopted by the ex-Raya

of Vijayanagar when living at Chandrageri, next by the kings of Golkonda

during their tenure of the fortress, thirdly by the Nawabs of the Carnatic

who wrested Chandrageri from the Golkonda chiefs, and finally by the

East India Company.

* “ Madras Journ. of Literat. and Science,” Yol. 10, p. 131.

t As -will be seen hereafter Haidar put his initial on the reverse of his coinage o i

the lkkeri pagoda.

I8S3 ]

G. Bidie — The Pagoda or Varaha coins.

51

Oh. Rude figure of Vishnu, as Veukateswara, and his two wives.

Per. Convex granulated and with a symbol or letter in the centre.

Weight. — 5255 grains.

PI. Ill, Fig. 21. This coin is known as “Porto Novo,” “Scott,”

“ Purunki,” &c. pagoda. It appears to have been first struck by the Dutch,

and to have had an extensive circulation. Subsequently it was copied by

agents of the East India Company, as is evident from the following extract

of a letter from the Madras Council, to the Deputy Governor of Fort Saint

David (near Cuddalore), under date the 21st July 1G91.* “ We doubt

the Dutch will make a clamour at your- coining their pagodas and decry

them all they can ; however, make the experiment, but be sure to equal

them in all respects both in fineness and weight and stamp, and we shall

give them all the reputation we can here and to the southward and could

you effect it, currently it would be of great service to the Plonourable

Company in their trade in those parts, but if you fail you must make

another stamp.”

Oh. Figure of Vishnu.

Pev. Convex granulated.

Weight. — 52 2375 grs.

PI. Ill, Fig. 23. This is the old Star pagoda of Madras, and is some¬

times termed “ Company varaha” and also “ Puli varaha.” It was the

form of the star pagoda current prior to that described under fig. 24, but

is not of such good quality as the old pagoda, fig. 19. The former, accord¬

ing to Kelly ,t is 19|- carats fine, whereas the latter is about 20f carats.

Shekleton in the Assay Tables^ says the star pagoda weighs on an average

52-400 gr., and contains 42'550 gr. of pure metal.

Oh. A figure intended, apparently, for Vishnu with a star above the

head.

Pev. Convex granulated and with a star having 5 rays.

Weight of one specimen 53'0875 grs. and of another 52 G25 grs.

This is the coin in which all public and private accounts were kept,

and all dues and salaries paid, for a number of years.

PI. Ill, Fig. 24. This is a double star pagoda of the Honourable East

India Company, and is the most modern development of the coin. There

is also a single gold pagoda with precisely the same obverse and reverse ;

and half and quarter pagodas of the same type were struck in silver. It is

of this form that Moor in his “ Hindu Pantheon” says, “ this coin I

imagine to be intended for the use of Madras, and cannot but lament that

* Garsten’s “Manual of South Arcot,” p. 33.

(• “ Universal Cambist”, Vol. X, p. 90.

| “ Assay Tables of Indian and other coins,” p. 11.

[No. 1,

52 G. Bidie — The Pagoda or Varaha coins.

so miserable a specimen of our taste and talents should be suffered to go

forth.” In designing it the artist seems to have deemed it necessary to

give some reason for the nam e pagoda, by putting on the reverse the figure

of the gopuram of a Hindu temple, and he then surrounded this with stars

to indicate that it was a star pagoda. Again on the obverse, to keep it in

harmony with the old forms, he has introduced the figure of a Hindu god,

which is apparently intended for Vishnu. There is no date on the coin,

but it appears to have been first brought into circulation early in the

present century.

Ob. The Gopuram of a temple surrounded with stars, and the in-

scription “ Two pagodas.”

Rev. Vishnu surrounded with dots, and the words two pagodas in

Tamil and Telugu.

Weight. — 91'3 grs. Shekleton’s “Assay Tables” give the weight as

91 -0-10 grs.

Counterfeit specimens of this pagoda are very often seen in jewelry?

but may usually be easily detected, as in the genuine buns, the milling on

the edge is obliqne like a section of a rope, whereas in the forged ones

the milling is like that on modern English coins. The coin as a whole is

certainly a hideous production, but curious as perhaps the first departure

from a native towards a European type.

Adoni Pagodas.

PI. Ill, Fig. 25. This coin came from Bellary under the name of

“ Muhammad Shahi pagoda.” It bears no date, but has the name of the

mint-town Imtyazgurh, which is the designation that was given to Adoni, in

the Bellary district, by Humayun. The obverse bears the name of Muham¬

mad Shah. Adoni was formerly a place of great strength, and from its

position came to occupy a conspicuous place in the wars and feuds that for

so many years desolated the southern parts of the Dakhan. During the

existence of Vijayanagar it was held by the Rayas, and on the fall of that

state, in 15G5, it was annexed by the Adil Shahi dynasty. In 1690 it was

captured by the forces of Aurangzib, and included in the Soubah of Bija-

pur, under the empire of Dehli. When the authority of the latter began

to decline it was appropriated by the Nizam, and held for a series of years

by various younger branches of that house. Haider twice attacked Adoni

without being able to capture it, but in 1786 Tippu took it, after a seige

of a month, and destroyed its fortifications. On the conclusion of peace

in 1789 it was restored to the Nizam, and in 1799 was handed over to

the English as part of the Ceded Districts. This coin was probably struck

in the first half of last century, while Adoni was still nominally under

the authority of imperial Dehli. On another specimen which I have

1883.]

G. Bitlie — The Pagoda or Vardha coins.

53

seen, the hun is said to have been coined in the 3rd year of the reign of

Muhammad Shah, which would be about A. D. 1722.

Oh. J>

Pev. alA

Weight. — 5 L'35 grs.

PL III, Fig. 26. The two specimens of this coin in the Museum were

received from the Collectors of Bellary and Dharwar respectively. It is a

hun of Alemgir II struck at Adoni, and must have been coined there while

that place was held by the Nizam. The reverse in both the Museum speci¬

mens is illegible, but I have seen others in which the name of the mint

town, Imtyazgurh or Adoni, was quite visible.

Ob. (Jhc

Pev. oA

Weight. — 57'2375 grs.

Mysore Pagodas.

PI. Ill, Fig. 27. This coin has already been alluded to in this paper.

The form of obverse which it exhibits, with figures of Siva and Parvati, was

first adopted by the Yijayanagar Rajahs, and subsequently copied by the

Bednur Nayaks. The capital of the latter was originally, and up to A. D.

1610, situated at a place called Ikkeri, and hence the coin from having

been first struck there received and still retains the. name of “Ikkeri

pagoda.” In the year above mentioned the seat of Government and mint

were transferred from Ikkeri, to a village that received the name of Bidanur

or Bednur. In course of time, as the Nayaks added to their territories,

Bednur became a place of great importance and wealth, and was very

strongly fortified. In 1763, during the time of Rani Virammaji it was

captured by Hyder Ali, and it is said that the booty thus obtained amount¬

ed to 12 millions sterling.* Hyder changed the name of the town to Hyder

Nagar, and established his chief arsenal there for the manufacture of arms

and ammunition. He also continued the mint which he found in existence,

and there first struck coins in his own name. For his buns he adopted the

obverse of the old “ Ikkeri pagoda,” but on the reverse he erased the

Nagari inscription which had previously existed, and substituted his own

initial. Various issues of this coin took place during Hyder’s reign, but

he appears to have been rather ashamed of the obverse and to have been

careless about the dies, as the figures of Siva and Parvati in some of the

pagodas are very badly executed. The form struck by Hyder is known as

the “ Bahaduri” hun or pagoda, and being made of superior gold it always

commanded a favourable rate of exchange. An issue of the same coin was

* Rice’s “Mysore Gazetteer,” Vol. 2, p. 383.

54 G. Bidie — The Pagoda or Yardha coins. [No. 1,

struck by Hyder at Bangalore, and this bun is said to be distinguished by

the name of “ Pedda-talei Bangaloorei.”*

Ob. Figures of Siva and Parvati, with the trident and deer.

Pev. A granulated surface with Hyder’s initial in the centre.

Weight. — 52'8 grs.

PL Ill, Fig. 28. This is a “ Sultani” pagoda, struck by Tippu. It

will be observed that he discarded the old Ikkeri obverse with its obnoxious

Hindu figures, and boldly adopted a new one of a type common to Muham¬

madan coinage. The reverse bears the initial of his father Hyder, with

the numeral 4 indicating the year of Tippu’s reign, and also the word

Nagar the place of mintage. There are several forms of this bun agreeing

generally except as regards the mint towns, some having been struck at

Puttun or Seringapatam, others at Dharwar &c. This specimen was coin¬

ed before Tippu introduced his reformed calendar, which runs from the

date of the conversion of Muhammad, or 13 }rears prior to the date of the

Hejira. The date given is A. IT. 1200 which corresponds with A. D.

1785 ; and as Hyder died on the 1st day of A. IT. 1197, the year of Tip¬

pu’s reign given, viz., the 4th, is correct. The retention of Hyder ’s initial

on the reverse was probably a mark of filial respect, on the part of Tippu,

but he may have also been influenced by a desire not to change too abrupt¬

ly the reverse of the Ikkeri hun, coined by bis father. In another speci¬

men in the Museum struck at Dharwar, the date is A. H. 1216, that is

according to the revised calendar, and the year of reign the Gth.

Ob. JoUJ|

i r * •

Pev. j

Weight.— 52*7625 grs.

PI. Ill, Fig. 29. This coin is known as the “ Farokhi pagoda” and,

according to Hawkes, “is supposed to have been so called by Tippu in

honour of a new sect of this name.” Others state that it was so designat¬

ed from the circumstance, that Parolchi was a title of one of Muhammad’s

successors. Marsden (Vol. II, p. 717) observes regarding the term “ on some

of the copper money we shall find it to stand, apparently, for the name of

a place, otherwise called New Calicut.” At first I was inclined to adopt

the last suggestion, and there seems little doubt that in some cases the

words Parolchi patan do indicate that the coin was struck at a fort near

Calicut, which, according to Wilks, was called “ Ferrockhee.”f In other

instances this cannot be the case. Thus on the hun described by Marsden,

Part II, p. 716, the place of mintage given along with the word Farokhi is

Hyder Nagar (Bednur). Probably the term was originally adopted as a

* Hawkes’ “ Coinage of Mysore,” p. 5.

t Wilk’s “ History of Mysore,” Vol. II, p. 180. Madras Edition of 1869.

1883.] C, J. Rodgers — Coins Supplementary of the Pathdn Kings. 55

pious token of respect for one of Muhammad’s successors, and subsequent¬

ly in some cases did double duty by expressing this and also the place o£

mintage.

Ob. (f'!’? (JjWl I

Kev. I I cAj J. jjti

Weight. — 52 8 grs.

PI. Ill, Fig. 30. This is one of the pagodas issued in the name of

Krishna Raja Wodeyar, who after the death of Tippu was put on the

Mysore throne by the English. The first issue was struck in 1800 by the

Dewan Purniaiya. Buchanan* says regarding it “ on the fall of Tippu

the Mysore government having found it convenient to coin pagodas of the

same value with those before current, struck them at Mvsore and Nagrara,

but restored the old name of Ikkeri.” In addition to this, as already men¬

tioned, the obverse of the original Ikkeri was also retained, and the in.

scription on the reverse is a palpable imitation of the legend on the Vijaya-

nagar pagodas, the word “ Pratapa” being omitted. This liun was,

according to Mr. Rice, called the H osa Ilclceri Varaha , or new Ikkeri

pagoda, to distinguish it from the old form, the Hale IJclceri Varaha f

Ob. Siva with the trisula in his right hand ; to the right Parvati

and the conventional deer ; overhead the sun and moon,

Kev. Sri Krishna Raja.

Weight. — 52 7125 grs.

Coins Supplementary to Thomas' 11 Chronicles of the Pathdn Kings of Delhi, ”

No. III. — By Chas. J. Rodgees, Principal Normal College, Amritsar.

(With two Plates.)

My only excuse for giving a third supplement to the excellent work

of Mr. Thomas is this, that just before leaving India and after my arrival

in England I obtained from Afghanistan and India a great quantity of

coins amongst which were many which have not yet been edited. Informa¬

tion about these would I thought be welcome to the numismatic world

and to historians.

PI. IV, No. 1. Obverse, f** Ij bfieJ|

Keverse. Horseman with inscription illegible.

No. 2. Obv. | j LioJ|

Keverse. Horseman under which iybo rS The o is under the

nose of the horse.

* “Journey through Mysore,” Vol. Ill, p. 258.

t “ Mysore Gazetteer,” p. 3 of Appendix, Vol. I.

56

C. J. Rodgers — Coins Supplementary of the Pathdn Kings. [No. 1,

No. 3. Obv. UiaJijAA)

Rev.

No. 4. Obv. ^tac^/i ^IkLJi J&c

Rev. ’ft TiaT inverted as in type (in old Hindi) intended

for Sri Muizz. on rump of bull.

No 5. Obv. Bull over which #t

Rev. Horseman on hind quarters of which and over

the horse *Jt

No. 6. Obv. ill cJUai«J| Weight 146'6 grs.

j UiHi

r&-h.Jl y\

pho 6+s:'0

Margins .* — ^ j t ^

Rev. *-Ul 3/1 *J| i

HJ| 64^'°

&JJ l

'I ^X/ot

Margin : — (3s't J cl**jl ^-(k! >j&

No. 7. Obv. ”&U\ il| Hii)

dljj Jj>"j t'+s''0

^JaX’i/t c)lU-~d|

^.jJ6.Jj ^ 1aXo4 <" i b &

6.+S'0 1 _^|

Margin : — <M'C U"+^ 3 J cA-*-J ^

2?<?y. ABiWr;oJt^UJ| Weight 82-5 grs.

_j Lj^J/ j.*/o

_yUaJ[j.j! wJ«iJ|

J«U 64^'°

Margin : — Same as in Reverse of No. 6.

No. 8. Obv.

yi <i)(is.l~>J|

bdoJl iltf

6+s'c |

Margin : — . r"*-5 j £ jt Jyt" l5* .

i2<?y. Same as on Rev. of No. 6. ) . ,

Margin .— ditto. J AboVe

1883.] 0. J. Rodgers— Coins Supplementary of the Pathdn Kings . 57

No 9 Ohv. in circle same as in No. 8 but without >

Margin .—Same as on No. 8 but with mint and year

probably dlffe1^ Same ag Qn No. 8. Weight 94 grains.

No. 10.

Mur gin

Ohv.

Kev.

ditto.

tdaJl He Weight 45 1 grs.

o+sz'0 J

f

<jjjl ...Jlil

No. 11. JRev. and Obv. same as in No. 10. Margin has no dots.

Obv. has remains of mint over it, probably vif)

No. 12. Obv.

t . ; |

51c fk* lit

o'jS

0.*3=A5

,Ual~J|

No. 13.

No. 14.

No. 15.

a rose :

CJ

Ohv. round bull under Bull

Kev. To right of Horseman

Obv. in square which is in a circle :

^Ual^Jl

pke ^it

(?) co

Kev. in square inscribed in a circle : —

UJ

^Ikl — J\

Ohv. in dotted circle eAbJi

f^J\

Kev. margin round small dotted double circle which encloses

U

58

C. J. Rodgers — Coins Supplementary of the Pathdn Kings . [No. 1,

Plate V, No. 16. Ohv.

^ i

^ J I ^

Rev. To right of and above horseman ^thl-Jt

No. 17. Ohv.

No. 18.

No. 19.

No. 20.

No. 21.

Rev.

Ohv.

Rev.

Ohv.

Rev.

Ohv.

Rev.

Ohv .

Rev

No. 22.

a »t thlwJf

Ohv. in a circle ^UsLJi

ji I

^1^ ^

J**

^lkJU|

jSi ( a piece or bit ?)

&>y> ( j on margin)

LWl j

oAL j,

&£ ^lac J/t

.J&l

Rev.

J'

• UJfl

A/Of ^ w ;

I

Margins : — Ad+hw ^ ^l-w _j aNJ| ^ao

No. 23. Obverse in margin ^IkLJt ^Ji i/| ^IJaLvJ)

in circle (?)

Rev. in dotted circle, 8 aU( 8

*JUi Jit &Ji y

^s:'0

<xjjl

No. 24. Obverse. Over horseman

Rev. Bull, inscription illegible.

No. 25. Same as above, showing 3 in old Hindi.

No. 26. Obverse in a circle : —

59

18S3-] C. J. Rodgers — Coins Supplementary of the Pathdn Kings.

^ . jj&J I ^ 11.^

Reverse.

^»XA3} pACLxi~.+}\

Margins to both obverse and reverse : — •

No. 27. Obverse J*£

Rev.

Uly

L S'

,aO.S^

■1a ,3

No. 28. Obverse and reverse same as in No. 26 bat the year is pro¬

bably different, the word ^aJ| takes the place of a£~J| and the inscriptions

are enclosed in squares inscribed in the marginal circle?.

No. 29. Obv. ( )

fxitjJt dsfx-C (_£jUJ|

cXL>

Rev. j&Jtjil

dil&jj sUljli I

vr |

This coin is of silver and copper. Thomas says his (No. I78a, foot

x-o|

(parts of)

Margin : — j3 J •vs f*'-' ’1

Reverse not given, same as No 195 of Thomas, p. 249.

©0 C. J. Rodgers— Coins Supplementary of the Pathdn Kings. [No. 1,

No. 32. Obverse : — Same as in 31.

Margin : — ! L5-'* jL» Asy yj ^jlTj

Reverse as in No. 31

No. 33. Obverse as in No. 31.

Margin : — city o.*s (Jl«j

Reverse as in No. 31.

No. 34. Same as No. 33, but with mint in the margin iltyfa

No. 35. Same as No. 33, but with mint in the margin simply?

without the title %'t

Tlie inscriptions on the above coins mostly tell the story of each. It

may be as well perhaps to direct attention to the peculiarities which led me

to figure them.

Plate IV, No. 1 is to me a new coin. I have seen several of Ilduz of

this type. Indeed No 2 is one of that general’s. As there are in existence

coins of ’Ala-ud-din Khwarizmi of this type, I judge them to be of the same

mint, Kirinan.

No. 3 I attribute to Mu’izz-ud-din bin Sam. The peculiar lozenge on

either side is unique.

No. 4 is a new type of the some sovereign’s mintage.

No. 5 is still another new type of the same king’s.

No. 6 is a large gold coin. The one in the British Museum weighs

320 grs. The inscriptions are identical but are not distributed exactly as

on that coin. Again this one has a pellet in the middle of the lines form¬

ing the squares. It weighs 14G'6 grs. only. I obtained it at. Lahore after

the last Afghan war from a merchant.

No. 7 is one from Dr. Stulpnagel’s find. The one edited by him of

this kind was double struck. This one gives the names of the two bro¬

thers plainly.

No. 8 is a beautiful coin of ’Ala-ud-din Khwarizmi struck at Fanvan.

No. 9 is a similar one struck at Gazni. (In the India office collection

are two drawers full of gold coins of this sovereign. This collection is

now in the British Museum, and it will be thoroughly examined and catalo¬

gued. Let us hope that of the numerous duplicates some will find their way

back to the shores whence they were taken. This India office collection shows

how utterly useless a collection of valuable things may become. There is

no catalogue of it, and no interpreter. No one knows as yet what may or

may not be in it. Had it stayed in India, native students of history might

have obtained much information from it. And 1 hold that the more in¬

formation, just and accurate, a native of India obtains of former rulers and

governments, the more loyal will he be towards the present most righteous

rule of India.)

No. 10 is a new type ii small silver of ’Ala-ud-din Khwarizmi. It

61

1883.] C. J. Rodgers — Coins Supplementary of the Pathan Kings.

weighs but 45T grs. It is of the same type as a coin of Chingiz Khan

given by Thomas, No. 76, p. 91. As I had a specimen of both these sover¬

eign’s coins of this type I made them over to the British Museum.

No. 11 another new type of the same king’s.

No. 12. In copper a beautiful specimen of the Farwan mintage of

the same sovereign.

No. 13. Another old specimen of the same king’s coins. The Sikan-

dar under the bull is quite a novelt}r.

No. 14 is still one more novelty with the patronymic Talcash on it.

No. 15 is again a similar type differently treated.

Plate Y, No 16 is a second copy of a coin I have before edited. No. 10,

pi. XVIII, Vol. XLIX, Pt. I, 1881. That coin had on the top of the

obverse certain signs I could not make out. On the present coin they are

plain enough.

No. 17 is also a Dehli coin of very small dimensions. I have several

of these which I attribute to Shams-ud-din Altainsh.

No. 18. I am not quite sure of my readings of this coin. “ Ayr ah"

is certain. But the name of the coin is not so certain.

No 19 is important as giving us certain information about the king

of whom there are but sparse notices in history. This shows him once in

possession of Gazni,

*No. 20 is the only small silver coin I have ever seen or heard of,

of the early Pathans. It is rarer than Queen Ann’s farthings and much

older.

No. 21 is a silver gilt coin of ’Ala-ud-din Khwarizmi. It is the only

one of this type I have ever seen.

No. 23 is also a coin of this sovereign. In this paper alone I give

ten. These are all perfectly different from each other in treatment.

No. 22 is the earliest gold coin struck at Dehli that I know of. Pos¬

sessing as it does the margin on the reverse in its entirety it is a fine coin.

The margins were the same on both sides.

Nos. 24 and 25 are coins I attribute to Malih Chhaju in the reign

of Jalal-ud-din Firfiz Shah. He was the nephew of Balkan. To com¬

plete the numismatic record of the interregnum between the reigns of

Mu’izz-ud-din Kaikubad and Jalal-ud-din we wanted not only this coin

but of Kaiumours whom Jalal-ud-din placed temporarily on the throne.

Mr. Delmerick had this coin I believe. If not, it is still with Pandit

Narain of Dehli. Chhaju was a rebel but it is distinctly recorded of him

that he struck coins in his own name.

* Since drawing the above I have seen in Mr. Grant’s cabinet a similar coin of

Nasir-ud-din Mahmud. It weighs 13 2 grs. Mine is 13'8 grs. being in somewhat

better condition.

62 C. J. Rodgers — Coins Supplementary of the Pathdn Kings. [No. 1,

No. 26 is a fine gold mohur of Jalal-ud-din Firuz. It has the mar¬

gin on both sides, as has also the rupee of his which I have figured No. 28.

Both these coins are drawn simply to illustrate this fact of their possess¬

ing two margins. Mr. Thomas says of his No. 121, that the obverse occu¬

pies “ the entire surface of the coin.” He gives only the margin on the

reverse. All the other rupees I have are like this one of Mr. Thomas.

But for all that, I believe the dies had marginal legends. The mohur No.

26 is in remarkably good condition, and the inscriptions come out as

plainly as those on the rupees. From this I infer that not only does it

hear the name of Dehli but that it was also struck there.

No. 27 is one of those little damris that no one would think of

picking up. But it bears the dreaded name of Taimur and it was struck

at the capital of his Indian conquests Dehli. So far as I know it is

unique.

No. 29. The inscriptions on this coin are given by Thomas. But his

was of fine silver, and as he did not figure it, I thought it right to do so.

See footnote, p. 213 of his work.

No. 30. This is quite a new type of the coins of Bahlol Lodi. Tho¬

mas gives 5 types of this king’s coins. This is th q fourth new type I

have discovered.

Nos. 31 to 35 are five coins of Muhammad Tughlaq. The mints are

new in this type being Lakhnauti, Tughlaqpur, Satgaon, Dar ul Islam and

Dehli. This type (it is No. 195 in Thomas) rejoices now in seven mints ;

the five o-iven here and the Daulatabdd and TaJchtgdh i Delhi ones edited

by Thomas. Tughlaqpur is new to history. The title Ildim as applied to

a town is not new on coins. These five coins were found amongst thou¬

sands in Dehli and Jagadri. They are the results of many hours of weary

hunting under a hot sun. The Daulatabad type of this coin is very rare

in the Panjab. But the gold coin struck at Deogir I have seen several of

both 728 and 727 A. H. (Thomas, No. 174.)

Of all the coins here edited No. 19 is the most important. I have

upwards of twenty of the bilingual coins of this king. They all, with the

exception of this coin, have a small badly drawn outline of a horse in the

centre round which the Arabic marginal legend runs. In the case of this

coin, however, we have the name of the mint instead of the horse — Gazni.

Now up to the present all the notice we had of this ruler was a statement

that he was a ruler of Sind. His father had ruled in Gazni and Kirman.

This coin gives us evidence of his rule in his father’s dominions. As I

have seen some thousands of Gazni coins and have only seen this one of

this ruler, I judge that he reigned but a short time in Gazni. The coins

with the horse are common, but no two coins seem to be from the same

die. Hence we may infer that in his seat of government, wherever it was,

1883.] C. J. Rodgers — Coins Supplementary of the Path an Kings. G3

(I have found his coins most abundantly at Amritsar and Ludianah) he

ruled a goodly number of years and was a powerful sovereign.

If I am correct in my assignment of coin No. 21 it shows us that we

should not despise the meanest bit of stamped copper that falls into our

hands. Mr. Thomas quotes the fact of his having struck coins in his own

name. Every such quotation it should be the delight of the numismatist

to corroborate by the production of the actual coins. There are numerous

instances of the record of this fact. But if we hunt in the Museums of the

country for numismatic corroboration we shall look in vain. And private

cabinets would not help us much I am afraid.* This should not deter us

from searching in the public cabinets of every market town — the heaps of

old coins in the possession of every money changer.

Coin No. 27 is another illustration of this very point. When I read

the story of the invasion of Taimur, I wondered that I had never met with

his Indian coins. Many of course must have been melted down. I have

a dim idea of having once seen in a notice of some one’s collection, the

mention of a gold coin of Taimur’s struck at Dehli. I should like to

know from my fellow workers if this coin is still in existence. My copper

one is now in the British Museum. Nearly all the other coins here drawn

and described are also now in the National Collection. They ought to

have come back to India. But I found that in England they would be

taken care of, shown to all enquirers and properly catalogued and described.

In India I know of no place fit for the proper keeping of historic medals.

The immense empire of India is too poor to support a curator of coins and

cannot as yet boast of an Imperial Cabinet. And yet we talk of India

being a continent. And in truth it is so, and each country of that conti¬

nent has its record in coins (in some cases in coins only). It were surely

well if Imperial indifference could be transformed into Imperial interest in

this matter.

* I have just been reading the life of George Thomas, the only Irishman who

ruled in India as an independent sovereign. He says he struck coins in his own

name. I believe some are in existence still, hut I have not as yet seen one. Neither

does the Lahore Museum as yet contain one. We, Panjab collectors, are a slow lot

of folks after all.

64

A. Cunningham — Belies from Ancient Persia.

[No. 1,

Belies from Ancient Persia, in Gold, Silver, and Copper. — By Major-

Gen. A. Cunningham, C. S. I., C. I. E.

(With two Plates.)

Second Notice.

Since I wrote my previous account of the “Relics from Ancient

Persia in gold, silver, and copper, ”§ several new objects have been dis¬

covered, as well as a large number of coins. The find spot of these relics

is on the banks of the Oxus, near a place called Kawat or Kuad, two

marches from Kunduz and about midway between Kliulm and Kobadian.

The place is one of the most frequented ferries on the Oxus, and has

always been the chief thoroughfare on the road to Samarkand. My

informants, whose agents are still at Khulm, say that the owner of the

land has now stopped all search by other people, and that he intends to

explore on his own account.

The coins which I have seen, consist of 14 gold and 76 silver pieces.

Amongst the former there is one inscribed double Daric, five common

D arics, one double stater with a king’s head covered within Elephants

skin, and Reverse, Victory with wreath (see Plate XVII, fig. 9 of my

previous account) ; besides some fine staters of Antiochus, and two of

Diodotus. The silver coins consist chiefly of tetradrachms of Athens

(archaic), with one of Akanthus in Macedonia ; the remainder being

of Alexander, Seleukus I, Seleukus and Antiochus, Euthydemus and Anti-

machus. There was also one Nickel coin of Agathokles, and a few copper

coins of Euthydemus and Agathokles. The discovery is still marked by

the continued absence of any Parthian coins, which would seem to show

that the deposit must have been made before the time of Mithridates I

(Arsakes VI). This conclusion is further borne out by the absence of the

coins of Eukratides, the contemporary of Mithridates. As the coins of

both of these Princes are very common, I conclude with some confidence

that the deposit must have been made before their time, or not later than

200 to 180 B. C.

The ornaments and other articles of gold which have been discovered,

though few in number, are of considerable interest — as they present us

with several novel objects. They comprise a gold circlet of large size with

two winged and horned gryphons at the end : 4f inches each way. As an

engraving of this fine specimen of ancient Persian work has already

appeared in the London Illustrated London News with a description by

Sir Geo. Birdwood, it need not be given here. Sir George rightly divined

* Bengal Asiatic Society’s Journal, Vol. L, Part I, 1881, p. 151.

1883.]

A. Cunningham — Relics from Ancient Persia.

65

that it was of ancient Persian origin. Its use is a puzzle. It is too small

for the neck and rather too large for the arm, and the inward bend of

the smooth portion seems to preclude all idea of such a purpose. Its in¬

trinsic value is between 600 and 700 Rupees. Major Burton, the owner

of this very fine piece of ancient Persian art, kindly showed it to me, and

at the same time permitted me to have a photograph of it. The tips of

the horns have been flattened, which I take to be a proof that the orna¬

ment was intended for actual use. It may have been a handle for the lid

of a box, a purpose for which the inward bend of the smooth portion would

specially fit it. The bend might have played in a ring fastened in the

middle of the lid, and the handle, when not required for lifting, would have

lain flat on the lid.

The principal object in Plate YI, marked A, is a small figure of

solid gold, weighing 518 grains, or about 5^ Darics. It is two inches and

one-tenth in height, and is very minutely and neatly wrought. It

represents a Magus in full costume, with the barsom , or holy wand in his

right hand. On comparing this figure with that of the larger one in my

previous account (Vol. L, Plate XIV), it will be seen that they mutually

illustrate each other, and at the same time confirm the accuracy of Strabo’s

description of the Magus.

“ The Persians, “ he says “ have also certain large shrines called

“ Pyrsetlieia. In the middle of these is an altar an which is a great quan-

“ tity of ashes, where the Magi maintain an unextinguished fire. They

“ enter daily, and continue their incantation for nearly an hour, holding

“ before the fire a bundle of rods, and wear round their heads high tiaras of

“felt, reaching down on each side, so as to cover the lips and the sides of

“ the cheeks.” ■*

In the large figure the upper part of the tall head dress is thrown

back behind the head, thus showing that it must have been made of a soft

material like felt, as stated by Strabo. In the two views of the present

small figure which I have given, we see the tall head dress of felt represent¬

ed erect, like that worn by the horseman in the Plate of Statuettes of my

previous account (Vol. L, Plate XIII, fig. 1). Here also the lappets cover

the cheeks, and apparently also the lips. The lappet over the mouth, how¬

ever, is embroidered, and as the head dress is almost quite plain, the mouth

lappet may not have been attached to the cap. The small figure also carries

the barsom, or wand of twigs, in the right hand of the larger figure. The

dress also is different, as the tunic of this small figure reaches quite down to

the feet, while that of the other only came down to the knees. The long

tunic was the old Sarapis or Median dress, while the shorter tunic was the

Kandy s or Persian dress of a later date. The smaller figure is therefore of

an earlier date than the larger one, and it may perhaps represent a Mayas

l

66

A. Cunningham — Belies from Ancient Persia.

[No. 1,

of the times of Darius or Xerxes, while the other belongs to the later period

shortly before the conquest of Alexander. The smaller figure also has some

marks on the forehead, which in India would be distinctive symbols of the

religious sect of the wearer, as a votary of Mahadeva and Par vat l.

D is a gold seal with fine, deeply cut symbols, not unlike hieroglyphic

characters. As I am not acquainted with these characters, I am unable to

say whether the seal is a genuine one or not. Its weight is 178 grains.

C is a thin gold ring of inferior workmanship, weighing only 35

grains. It represents a lion couchant.

D is a circular boss of 3f inches in diameter and convex on the upper

surface. This curious ornament weighs 851 grains and is in my own

possession. In the middle there is a slight rise or knob, pierced with 5

holes, through which I suppose that pins were passed for fastening the

plate to some back ground. Round the outer edge there is a continuous

corded pattern, one quarter of an inch in breadth. The circle itself is

filled with a hunting scene consisting of three horsemen, one of whom is

pursuing two stags at which he is preparing to hurl a spear. The second

is pursuing a pair of Ibex with upraised spear, and the third is shooting

an arrow at a hare. The gold is thin, and the work has been beaten up

from behind (repousse). Each horseman has a bow case on the left side of

his horse. Their dress appears to be similar to that of the Satraps on the

coins, the head dress being a soft cap with long lajjpets. The Kandys, or

tunic, is striped and embroidered down the front. The trowsers of the

horseman pursuing the hare are cross-barred, which probably represents

the TroLKiXai ava^vpiSes or “ parti-coloured” trowsers of Xenophon.

As to the use of this circular ornament I conjecture that it may have

been a boss for the centre of a shield. In India it is usual to have five

similar ornaments on a shield, one in the middle and the other four at

equal distances around it. To strengthen it for such a purpose, it would of

course have had a plate of iron or brass behind it.

The three gold bracelets in Plate VII, are complete. All the others

that I have seen previously have been cut in pieces by the finders. They

are of three different kinds, plain, ribbed, and twisted, and are also of three

different lengths of single, double and triple coils.

No. 1 is a plain bracelet of one coil ending in two Antelope heads.

It weighs 1310 grains or 10 Darics, and is of good workmanship, the

animals’ heads being neatly and artistically wrought. The horns are made

to lie back on the neck, so as not to present any points to catch in the

dress of the wearer.

No. 2 is a ribbed bracelet of two coils ending in two lions’ heads. It

weighs 3555 grains, or about 26 Darics, and is 22 inches in length.

No. 3 is a spirally twisted bracelet of three coils ending in two

67

1883 ] R. Mitra — Sanskrit Inscription from Lalitpur.

Antelopes’ heads, like those of No. 1. It is 81^ inches in length, and

weighs 3600 grains or about 26J Darics. The spiral twist is very evenly

made, and the workmanship is good. The antelopes’ heads are somewhat

worn by use.

No. 4 is a lion’s head which formed one end of a spiral bracelet. The

half which came into my possession is 10 inches in length, so that the

bracelet was most probably of two coils.

No. 5 is a lion’s head from one end of a bracelet. This fragment is

all that came into my possession, and as it is rather thinner than any of

the othei's, I think that it may have been a three coil bracelet. The lion’s

head is of very superior execution. The mouth is open, showing several

pointed teeth, and the mane has been separately wrought in curly locks

which have now become flattened. The deeply sunk eyes must, I think,

have been originally filled with small rubies.

Note on a Sanskrit Inscription from the Lalitpur District. — By

Rajendkalala Mitba, LL. D., C. I. E.

Some time ago Mr. F. C. Black presented to tbe Society a large stone

slab, which he bad discovered in the Lalitpur District. It was found in a

jungle which had overgrown the ruins of the old fort of Deoghar. When

discovered it was seen, says Mr. Black, “ standing, loosely propped up

against two small columns in the eastern portion of the fort, and near to

a group of ruined Jain temples there.” This shows that it was not in situ ,

but there is no reason to doubt that it belonged originally to one of the

temples, from which it had fallen off, and was afterwards set up against the

columns by some wood-cutters or others. Mr. Black remarks that “it

would probably have been destroyed in a few years had it remained in the

jungle, so I removed it.”

The slab measures 6' 2" x 2' — 9" with an average thickness of 3

inches. From marks on its sides and back it is evident that it was

originally built into a wall. Its front is smooth, and set off on all four

sides with a raised flat band, one inch broad, having a cyma on the inner

edge. The surface is covered with a Sanskrit inscription in 34 lines.

There is also a line of inscribed letters on the upper band, but it is not all

legible. At the beginning of the record, at the upper left corner, there is a

circle 5" — 5'" inches in diameter, bearing the conventional outlines of an

eight-petalled lotus, and on the petals there are letters arranged enigmati¬

cally, which I have not been able to read. In front of this lotus there is a

mystic diagram having letters within the loops of its twining lines, but the

purport thereof I cannot make out. The letters of the record are of the

old Deva-nagari type, each about an inch long. They were carefully and

K

08

R. Mitra — Sanskrit Inscription from Lalitpur. [No. 1,

well cut, but owing to exposure and ill-usage they have been obliterated at

many places, and at others become so smudgy as to be unfit for reading.

These accidents have caused breaks in almost every line, and it is impossi¬

ble to interpret the record fully and satisfactorily.

The language of the record is exceedingly verbose, highly inflated and

involved, full of meritricious ornaments, and, with the breaks caused

by the abrasions aforesaid, not easy of comprehension. I pored over the

record for many days, and had the assistance of my learned friend,

Professor Kamakhyanatha Tarkaratna, who went over the first tentative

reading letter by letter with the original stone before him, but could

not secure a perfect reading. The translation annexed has been pre¬

pared by Babu Haraprasada S'astri, from the revised reading of Professor

Kamakhyanatha.

The date, which occurs at about the middle of it, (line 15,) is given

with some care, and both in letters and figures. It is — “ Thursday, the

full moon of Vaisakha in the era of Vikramaditya 1481, corresponding

with the 1346th year of the era of Salivahana, when the constellation

Svati was on the ascendant, and Leo in conjunction.” This would be about

the end of April or beginning of May in the year 1424 of Christ. The

sovereign named is Shah Alambhaka, of the Ghori dynasty, king of

Malava or Malwa. I know of no king of this name; but in the Ghorian

dynasty of Malwa, founded by Sultan Dilawar Ghori, the second chief was

Sultan Hushang Ghori alias Alap Khan, who founded the town of Mandu,

removed thereto the capital of the kingdom from Dhar, and reigned

from 1405 to 1432, and there is no doubt that it is this chief we have in

the Sanskritized Alambhaka. The name of his new capital occurs in the

inscription as Mandapapura.

The subject of the record is the dedication of two images, one of

Padmanandi and the other of Damavasanta, by a Jain priest of the name

of Holi. The dedication was made by order of Subhachandra, who pro¬

bably was a high priest of the sect. He has no royal epithet added to his

. name.

The record opens with an eulogium on Vrishabha, who is to dwell at

Kanta in the town of Varddhamana. This is evidently meant for an

image of Rishabha Deva, the first Tirthankara, who is addressed as Sugata,

and also as Sadasiva, or eternally auspicious. The next saint eulogized is

STi S'ankara, who is identified with Ananta. The next is Chandra, and next

come successively Takshaka, S'antasoma, S'asi, and, after a break, Sarvajna.

Having praised these deified saints, the writer turns to mortals. The

names are Madasarada, S'rimula, S'rikuna, Dharinachandra, Ratnakirti, and

Prabhachandra Deva. These were probably high priests who preceded

Padmanandi who was living in the time of the encomiast, and in whose

69

1883.] R. Mitra — Sanskrit Inscription from Lalitpur.

honour the monument was set up. He was a great saint, endowed with

manifold virtues, but I find nothing tangible in his praise that would be

worth relating. Now, after a break, occurs the day and the name of Shah

A'lambhaka, who issues forth from Mandapapura with his valiant army,

intent on conquest. Then occurs a break, and there is nothing to show

how the Muslim chief happens to be connected with the subject matter of

the record. Apparently he had a Hindu wife of the name of Ambika, but

from breaks preceding the name I cannot be sure of it. Anyhow this lady

had a son named Holi, who is praised for his religious devotion and high

moral qualities. Nothing is said of his position as a king or ruler, and

obviously he had not any pretension of that kind.

Now comes, after a few breaks, a genealogical table in which the

following names are legible :

O O

Next follows the notice of the dedication, which was apparently effected

by Holx with the cooporation of Gunakirti, Harapati, Vardhamana,

Nandana, Sunandana and others.

Holx is then eulogized for his virtues as the lord of the congregation,

meaning of course the Jain congregation of the place where the dedication

was made, i. e., the town of Vardhamana.

The writer concludes the record by giving a brief account of himself.

He belonged to the Gotra of Garga, and of the family of Agrotaka. One

Hatabudha, had three sons named Ksliuna, Haragangi and Amara. A

break now disturbs the genealogy, and then comes Vilkana by Palkeka.

Hara had by Ratnasrx a son named Talkana. Then a break, and it is

followed by the statement that Vilhana was the son of Vardhamana, who

styles himself a great poet and devout worshipper of Jina.

As all the persons named were either Jain ascetics or private house¬

holders, the information afforded by the inscription is of no historical

value.

70

R. Mitra — Sanskrit Inscription from Lalitpur.

[No. 1,

Transcript of an Inscription from Lalitpur.

t I 3T^rf ^r^T^S^rrTWTJI^: I ^JT«T

VI

g^THT^ fgrT'Jrt g?TT WJfFJ fM 5T*j II *>+

+ -i- + wcj: *fT^ w I w w ^

gn?T sr: g^r ftitr f%?iTaV s,

>? i ^%rt <*ifq(?) Fu^gr: 11 ^ + +

+ w^rwswr^ i igfgw*TTrm;q fwsr ^%rt 11 a g*qr-

WTOTgwwq ^rtf ^rgsgjqrjrtqire i %

\ i g^q WNraftq ii a. g^^'srTgqsrriPrttjgsnqs^’ i ^ fa«T-

^narg- g^q -f- + g^gf ini'll i ^WM(?)Fi*r snjrrgmt^-

*JT^(?) | gr^llr g^gftq f*r<gqfw II •£ f^JI^I^TJrCalT^- ^

a i gfsrg g^qi gg: I ^g^irgTglTgg%Tcgq n c g^gxrcfg^w -

ftfe^gg - gqqgnqrgigg i swqjj g ^Jn^TQj^trgts^^f^: i fig^g^-

'gjjg: fgg wPa^w: n grgfegg fgqitiggqfigg'g q»ig a

* i ^rofor^faRqf gsftg i gwNqf^ggqTcqqqTggig: sngft^gfgfsrggf g

ffictg - - WU ^3grgi% g^/g gqT ^^Tg^TlIHanrfl^^T-

f%3rarafacj i fag^ggT^ggwg^g^g^g'iigftfqg^rafggqgt — a,

i I gq: SlfsigiS^tr II U f ^fg -

J '

f%gf i fq^Tqg f^gurf gfg gggftgrggiqsfqf ^ i

« i gr'^ifgg: gg; g g<wr| ii ^ gfaw^UT ^qgf^gg g^qg-

^ gggigqj# i W’q qgufqiTTJiqi nfx# gtfr - f^g^gg;TJTg'sjggT*gT

gW^q <gg gqf fg gig: 1 ggjTOgg^SWgiggjgqgTg g ggN^j: II

^ ^ 'si

ggjrgTJigrqiqiqrCqqgT- <>

n 1 g^qigg^rggWtfqgigg^Tgggigq^ grjftgtsgfg-sj i ggi*;: gq><g: gigrsp-

V .J sj J

fqqigr: g gar^gfcjfgg gfaqr - faww - gg ii ^ gqN^gg^gi

'si <?s J

qfTMSKgigg i ggjTggisgqggf gg^mq^Tlgg: ii a

®N

*JTiWT: <fi- c

<* i gqftgg i ggrgqmirgr gqgf gjgtrsgq: ii * gqTGjggggj s-ncgggfgg-

vj S» a

gqjggiT^^qT - 1 ?3*ST - gf^f

*wq%qtsT gqqmgig ^ n ^ ^c^f^-

i -g ^i^ifjq- «;:

71

1883.] R. Mitra — Sanskrit Inscription from lalitpur.

\o I II ^ ^TS^Ti^lcI^SfiT-

vj ■>

sf?BgTSfWT«T: fq^qQ’qq>^q^rsh\Tsq - - qqT^Tqf^:

¥1$% + + ZW ’SJTfli

qqqijqq'^swr^iqTfa q<r qrqT5Tf^q>T^*pq 1 °

\\ II qiqTq^Tfq Wgf^* II S> ^

qTBJTq ^rf^^eJ^m^rs I 5T - q qqm urn q - ll ^ % q^I^T*

Vj

qfai 1 STTq: ^%rff qq^^T II 3 qqn- <$*s\-

f%rT %HIW qfq- U

'J ^

\<? II ff ^Rt^fc qrqffqq: qq^qq^TWilfari I ^Tq: qqjfeq qqfq^fqri qqr:

qqqjTfq?r ^T^T^^if^^qfrqfa qTJrwqq*m^iq 11 a # - qr +

vj vj

^rffr q^g7qq*5rT qjfq: qrfcmwfrrq^qHreq^: qrqrfqi ^f?r 1

Vj sj

* l 1 qiqjqgqmqr *r %q qftfqq^qiq'tT n y. 'giqT’tiq: qqqqrrjiqksr^;

^^nr: qqq^fcpsrq: i fa - qqqrqqi<q - 11 3 ^T^Wtef-

qfaqfqqfa q: %nfq qq qqrq qqj q^qqf^qr jnrrjitnr*r q^' q qrtfsi^ 1

qqiqiqiqq^q-

la 1 qiq^fqqT w?it qqjqfqtqiiT^rfq^qqqTqqqTqT q^nf^ cr <qtaqT n ^

vj Vj

^q^rr^^KT: q^q^q - qqqqqfqqfqqT - qir

qqifq^Ef: STT^J qrrq^qq Ijqq^q: II % ^q qq^faq ^qfqJJRT^-

\* "

arqi^ ^a sit- \b

\y I % ^SUf^qi^RiqT \\Vi f JTraTTTTTS3ffTq^qq^?n^f qqqrqqi qjlfaq:

c\ J

1 faqqrcfRq 11 qifqfqqr + + - q*n?i mnqr-

vj

q»Tqf - ssqqi^q 11 - qiqreaqrqqTfqfq^gq^qqqTqiqq^T^nqTTq-

^Tf^?»fl315TTq1siT-

\<? I qj^qq^ 1 qHrrqqT^rqqT^qqre^ qtTtfv$TqjTq% fq:qnqi fqaTqrq q^-

qq^i^STf^T^qn% 11 s. - ^qii^rqisqTqrq^qqT^f^rq^qq'] +

+ qj 1 qfqqrq faqfsKmfqrqjjRT^ qfrfqq: ^fqfqqr ^fqfq: ^tiq: 11 «,

#TS»}TTf%TSr fqqqqqi#TT Vqq

1 ^r^qjsriqi^rsT: 1 qr$<3 fqqqqq^iT $q qqrqqi sm + tw 11 ^ fq^qr-gqr

ji^jrargeft^qr^iT + + qu^Tqr^r^ - — fqqqrqswr q^r fqq qfqq 1

q’q q]qqT^^TjTfwqqifq^rqr q^c^tr ar^q: qqt sn^THq + qflq%q-

-4 J vf

f-rfqqf^q't: ^Tq^Tq: II ^ + + ^Tqi^r^fq^qrfq-

^ ^ t

| qiqqi^rqq; ^q*T^rq?qq^>q<qq: I qqrrq^rft - qnqgrqjqq -

qfqfq + fq** n fqqraqq fqq^rr - qfqqqTWT qi^Tnj^q^Qqr snxpjr-

sf

72

Ii. Mitra — Sanskrit Inscription from Lalitpur. [No 1,

HI fTSilf^PST ^fHfn 3TH<Trf^%^ It *

I II i HHTWH HT^HRcT: ^

hth n 'Q - q^nsTif^^: ^rr^

qflfcfqqi^r: I H^iqsfq 5qV%n<tr-

qf«qTff^l ^qTHf^rP^HTSSTSR-

| WI^THTS^^Tf^rH^?) II c: qffqqj^^fTHT §qfRRT 3U*rRT *51^: I

II £ R: ^t^f!T + + ^I<T - ^HSIT^HT-

HTH: || cf^^qp^T^RT^

j c\ j

«?? I 3rcfH: II U HTT^

' ' ^ J

^rq?^Tf^#fai^T9 f^JT^Ifq + + 7T + H^-

<q wt^i fH<TT h ^if^reiprfHq: n ^ vft-

^Tfqr - Nlf^HlHHT I *J- ^

vj

I II ^ fw.HTTZit: q^RWqp?I%HT |

rL \& vj

+ + H || \B -f |r -f- frf ^rjcpn^ -

qiT I nqf?r TndR^ fagRfrr ^ if^rtf n %a, wqTHfa hhhuit-

-j •* , j

qm? ^q^riq h: l ^ + HT^tT %r-^

^ i q^^q^nq^THHi^n h^t

ht^it-hi h^ 'ti^T ^hinwttt ii *371%^% - ^rmnqfrH -

I HTHTgHPCHfaqTfHH^T H^I^I

'J

u Hi%r- ^

>? a I ^q^HTTH: fitf qq fqq T! ^ f¥

Vj V* ^ vj

^fft i h + + n qptfi fqi - nnqr -

•v ^

%rf% h + + t n *.£. ’sftfr^qiH^TqiT Hcqflfms^Rt

3I^r^^q^TI7rtHfH I HTT f^^H- *^a

^ i I 5IT^ f^HR H^TT^ifrT WWff\ ^TqT-

q;^: II \o ^T fn^fH?!T + fHqfqqfWir - STRfT^rffr | ^^tqFqf^.

sj j 'J

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73

1SS3.] R. Mitra — Sanskrit Inscription from LaJifpur.

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74

R. Mitra — Sanskrit Inscription from Lalitpur. [No. 1,

Translation of an Inscription from Lalitpur.

Line 1. Victory, be to thee, O Vrishabha, in the sea of nectar, named

Kanta, whose beauty shines forth supreme, and which is situate in

Varddhamana.

O thou great minded Sugata, thou spotless moon, bright with light,

for the welfare of the good, thou spreadest victory, right thinking, pros¬

perity and peace. (1)

* * * * I take refuge under the Arhatine lustre, resplendent and

glorious, for the non-appearance of what is mortal in me in this stream of

transmigration. (2)

May the kind Sadasiva (eternally auspicious) protect us always from

destruction ! It is ready (to help) in the attainment of what is good. (3)

Line 2. Even the pure flamingo becomes like a chakora in the clear

moonlight of Chidananda (eternal gladness of the soul).

I worship S'risankara, charming like the lord of prosperity * * * *

possessing all the signs of greatness, the delighter Jinendra, the good

friend, one to whom no enemies are born. He is like a chakora.* (4)

I salute with delight the one-headed lord, worthy of receiving

great honours from the lord of cultivated land,f with a beautiful neck, well

deserving of worship, furnished with signs, the Amaya (without illusion),

though with Maya or illusion on his left side (as wife). (5)

Line 3. I adore Chandra, among the chief gods, to whom no enemy

was born, the cause of the destruction of the ungovernable, with sticks in

their hands, the abode of great whiteness # * * * the delighter of the

ears of the good, whose symbol is the stag. (6)

For the prosperity of nirvana I merge in the essence of him who by

bis power burnt the eight works which destroy the future world and which

pervade the regions above, below, and on all sides. (7)

I bow to Takshaka, the unconquered, whose symbol is the hissing lord

of serpents. (8)

Line 4. One woo brings about the Jaina ceremony of Varudhamana,

though so very difficult.

With the lord of the mountains on his face # * * * with varie¬

gated teeth * * * * because of Vetravali and Kali. May Santisoma,

without fault, the cause of the happiness of the whole world, the spotless

moon, prevail for our prosperity. (9)

* The simile is intended to convey the idea that even as the chakora or Greek

partridge is fabled to he satisfied with, and to subsist on, moonbeams, so is an Arhat

satisfied with purity as his sustenance.

t I take the mythological proper names like &c. in their deriva¬

tive meanings ; most likely they are double entendres.

75

1883.] R, Mifcra — Sanskrit Inscription from Lalitpur ,

He who consumed Kama by the fire of the eye on his fore¬

head, who killed Kama’s father, who is followed by S'abti, who has three

eyes, who is without any female on his left, (who has not married)

# * * * (10)

Line 5. S'antisoma * * * * for the prosperity of the three worlds.

When there is a possibility of transmigration, I worship with de¬

light on the pretext * * * * the heir of lotus feet * * * * because

the conqueror of precious stones from the lowly heads of mortals, of immor¬

tals, and of the serpents, of the Arhat S'asi, the destroyer of S'iva’s beauty

through the rays issuing from the orbs of nails shining moonlike as it

were from the midst of a beautiful tamala tree * * * * (11)

Line 0. I adore, for breaking the chain of transmigration, for delight,

and for prosperity, the speech of the lord who dispels the evils of darkness

from the melting hearts of his worshippers. I adore also the celestial river

falling on the disk of S'ri S'arvajna, the moon ; both these are white like

milk, camphor, dew, necklace, diamond and Mahadeva, and are bright with

the shining and thick ripples of the milky sea scattered over with the

moon, the kunda flower and the kumuda flower. (1*)

Line 7. In the great ceremony, named Madasarada, of S'ri Mula

Lakshmi on the waterside, not to be slighted, where the crowds delight the

king, where violences occur # * * * Dharmachandra is the Qnly person,

whose words are the only means of access to the inaccessible moonlike

Jinendra named S'rikuna # # * # and whose rising fame is still flowing

continuously. (2)

Line 8. He whose fame is chanted day and night in the worlds

of mortals, immortals and serpents, whose fame is like moonlight,

delightful to the kumuda-like ears of the elephants of the quarters, — may

he, Dharmachandra, a spotless fullmoon obtain in the rise *****

shining S'rimula * * * obtain the prosperity of the moon ! (3)

On the Udayachala hill the moonlike Dharmachandra, the dispeller of

darkness, more brilliant than silk, was followed by Ratnakirti.

Line A May the rays of fame of the brilliant sunlike Ratnakirti pre¬

vail, for the blooming of lotuslike, pure and untarnished asceticism. (4)

He whose # * like the nectar-dripping light of the moon on account

of issuing from his feet * * * prevails over all. (5)

May Ratnakirti, the teacher of the holiest of the holy in the seven

holy places, * * * for the glory of the moonlike Jina * * *

He who made the goddess of speech an ornament to himself by

the elegance and flow of his language, on the seat adorned by the lotuslike

feet of Ratnakirti. (1)

* The figures within parantheses indicate the number of the stanza ; the stanzas,

however, have not been numbered in one continuous, but in different, series.

L

76

II, Mitra — Sanskrit Inscription from Lalitpur , [No. 1,

Line 10. He who is like a powerful storm in the crushing jousts of

malignant antagonists, who is like the sun in dispelling darkness and

spreading happiness over the world, who is like the fullmoon without a

stain, the giver of happiness, — may that S'riprabhachandra Deva prevail

for the prosperity of the original congregation !

Him followed Padmanandi, the sin-dispelling dust of whose feet adorned

the breasts of their females, and was carried away on the crowns of the

crowds of kings who bowed to him and used it as their frontal mark.

In the presence of Padmanandi who could claim a rivalry * * *

No # # # No # * * measures him who * (2)

Who were they ! Alas ! who were the fortunate men that after

hearing sages speaking in accordance with the Puranas were blessed with

the religious teaching from Padmanandi’s smiling face ? (3)

In the religious places of the Jainas the asceticism of Padmanandi

was like a lamp which burnt out and converted it into black collyrium,

and Kama like a moth flew into the flame.

Line 12. Passions were put to shame ; adverse opinions were dispelled

like darkness ; sentiments had their full play ; moral principles were

established ; and religion flourished. (4)

The soothing brilliancy of * # * * becomes like a pure white

flamingo, like the milky ocean, like the moon. Those that had not

before chanted often and often the fame of Padmanandi in the three

worlds, now vie with each other to do so.

Line 13. His fame, the good actress, dances well in unison with any

tune of renown. (5)

He is like an ocean of knowledge. His august voice was the

most substantial thing of his time. He was an authority. He melted

in Pranava * # # * for the benefit of the world. (6)

I think the man who is possessed of the intelligence of Indra, of

Upendra, of the serpent king, and also of Vrihaspati, even he will not be

able to enumerate the numerous good qualities of Padmanandi.

Line 14. The pure intelligence of the noble sage, entering into the

ocean of the world fixed itself in the calm ocean of intelligence, which

intelligence may be compared to a boat, which plays the part of a lotus

merrily. (7)

The lotus feet of Padmanandi * * * * with eyes fixed on religion

* # * delightful to the mind of * * * blooming like the kumuda

flower is Subhachandra Deva. (1)

In the year of king Vikramaditya, 1481, that of Salivahana 1346, on

the fullmoon of the month of Vaishakha, on Thursday, the asterism being

Svati in conjunction with Sinha (the same given in figures) — the king

Sahi Alambhaka, the illuminator of the race of Gauri (Ghor), the ruler of

1883.] R. Mitra — SansJcr it Inscription from Lalitpur. 77

Malava and Palakeska, issued forth with his sword uplifted, followed bj his

invulnerable army, from the city of Mandapapura in quest of victory.

The intelligent and methodical (king) built according to rules # #

delightful as the crown-jewel of S'iva * * for the great Bodhi. (1)

There was such a lord of the three worlds on earth with a shining

vessel of fame.

Line 17. Who obtained all the qualities to make the three worlds

happy. (2)

He who had a pure painting of his wide-spread fame * * * * *

spotless moon * * * with the sounds of elephants trumpeting with

pride. (3)

The Lord * * # the mitigator of sufferings * * without pride

even in good times * * * like clouds watering the creepers of fame

* * * * # (4^

He had a wife named Ambika, pure like lightning # # * *

devoted to her husband, fortunate like the daughter of the mountain, the

mother of jewels amongst men, she was like Jagadamba. (5)

They (husband and wife) got a son named Holi, the delighter, a

lover of poetry and enterprise, and possessing matchless beauty.

Line 18. His parents were, like word and its meaning, intimately

associated with each other. (6)

Line 19, Holi, by fulfilling the growing desires of the beggars of

Varddhamana, became as it were the all-granting tree of desire. (7)

Victory be to Holi, tbe all-granting tree of desire, whose roots are

firm, whose leaves are beautiful, whose branches are tall, which is full of

fruits, pure and delicious, shady and beautiful in appearance.

He is refreshing like the moon even in heat, the punisher of bad men.

Line 20. A better abode of lustrous fame than the sun and moon. (8)

By means of continuous showering of high and well-formed clouds

did he often delight his beautiful wife, a creeper on a princely bed. (9)

He who * * # his wife * * * good himself, the conqueror and

giver of wealth named Dhana * * * by tbe name of Ivainala. (10)

No need of bel fruit, the wealth of females (their busts); no need

of the younger sons of the family of Galhesha ; no need of gold, diamond

and agallochum ; no need of the earth with jewels and also of gojara. (?)(11)

Line 21. May the Lord of the congregation, may the lord Holi,

conquer ****** because * * * they gave * * * being the

protege, the earth her quality of sustaining everything. (12)

Line 22. The worlds are wonderstruck by the good Holi, whose fame

increases the moonlight in the boundless milky ocean, like Vishnu. (13)

Whose universal fame in Kali (age) is by the spotless Vishnu * *

he, dwindling down into the moon * * * * (14)

78 R, Mitra — Sanskrit Inscription from, Lalitpur. [No 1,

The successful Holx, the teacher, feels the weight of speeches and

makes the world wonderstruck. (15)

He is accomplished, virtuous, straightforward, lover of the good

religion.

Line 23. His ways are straight, and he has no greed nor ambi¬

tion. (16)

The fame, which issues forth from the white palace of the sky, is used

by females, leaving off pearl ornaments. (17)

May Holi, the boundless, become united with the leader Dhanan-

jaya. Holi is a man whose fame, white like the ketaki flower * * *

pervaded all the quarters — the fame which is identified as it were with

cranes, full of hilarity. (18)

You are, oh my son, heaven itself, and I am Trisha, * * # very weak.

Line 24. Tell me cheerfully why do you lament over your parents ?

Why do you search for them ? Do you long for their springing into life

again ? “ Where is Kali, tell me, O royal poet * * # in the indestruc¬

tible Varddhamana * * * like me * * * Holi. (19)

In Holi, the lotus tank, fame spreading over the whole world becomes

a lotus, and S'esha becomes its stalk. The elephants become its leaves.

Light spreads over all the quarters. (20)

Line 25. In the Meru the spotless moon, driving away the fear of

sunset, oh wonder ! sports like a Marala, or plays like a lotus-stalk.

The moon being laughed at * * * # blossoming * * # be¬

comes '* * * when the fame of Holi spreads like the ocean all over the

world It appears like an all-pervading mountain, and becomes like a boat

of religion. There is one reason for this, and that is as it should be. (21)

Line 26. It is a fact that Holi is powerful, it is also a fact that I

am to be made known as one strong in the power of speech. It is, therefore,

oh Sages, that our affection grew with our age. (22)

He who made the delightful * * # Indra * * * * the temple

of Jina. (23)

For the increase of his own contentment, for his own blessings,

for his own prosperity, as well for the delight of those that have conquered

their passions as well of those that are mere spectators, * * * (24)

Line 27. In the quarter * * * there was one named Sayudeva.

He got a son named Yalladeva by Vedasri. (1)

He too got a son named Lakshmanapala Deva, the wise, furnished

with all the signs of greatness. (2)

A son named Kshemaraja by STi # * * * He was perfectly suc¬

cessful in the attainment of virtue, desires and wealth. (3)

He was the second, but second to none in harassing his enemies by his

rising power.

1883.] R. Mitra — Sanskrit Inscription from Lalitpur. 79

Line 28. He was an ocean of sweetness, and very strong in bear-

ing the burden of state. (4)

He always preferred the company of Hevarati, free from all bad

feelings, the only refuge of meditation and virtue, always desiring pros¬

perity, and the lord of all prosperous men. It is he who devoted himself

to Jina * * * * in good men. (5)

He obtained by Padmasri a son named Nayanasinha, the sun of

the lotus of his race. He was inferior only to gods. (6)

Line 29. He went to heaven, — leaving a son named Ratna, devoid of

all bad feelings. (7)

He obtained, by Malhana Degana, a son named Rambhamaya. He

was like a young moon, by means of his knowledge of the fine arts (kala),

###### desirous also of associating with her husband * * * the

son beloved to Queen Dilhana. May the chief descendants of Padmasinha

be in prosperity ! (8)

Line 30. Who can perform the ceremony of consecrating the statue

of Padmanandi F His name alone is sufficient, the consecration is a great

thing.

Still he, by the command of S'ubhasoma, through the aid of

Gunakirti, of the sages Harapati and others, and of Varddhaman, (2)

and also of Nandana, Sunandana and others, consecrated, according

to rules, the statues of Padmanandi and * * # * Dama-vasanta, two

great souls. (3)

Holi in this world is the lord of the congregation.

Line 31. He was the seal-bearer of the lord of the congregation, of

the lord of gods, and also of the lord of speech. He is followed by all his

friends * * by means of all the auspicious ceremonies, he cheerfully

helps all. He pours showers of nectar. (4)

May Holi, the greatest of men, be victorious ! He is the lord of

truth and virtue. By the water he has to pour for consecrating his gifts,

Holi every day sends a heavy shower. (1)

He is always full of religion. He is always prosperous. He is

always munificent. His fame * * * * (2)

May Holi, the giver of prosperity, be victorious ! The glad earth is

the frontal mark of his fame.

Line 32. He shines like a rival of the moon. (3)

The goodness of wise Holi all over the world * # # * the

tremulous light of the spotless moon * * the young * # * of the

# # * of beauty * * * of the lotus heart at the lotus feet of the

spiritual guide, the enemy of eternal darkness which are being dispelled by

the morning beams. (4)

In the family of Agrotaka, in the gotra of Garga, were born the

wise sons of Hatabudha,

80

R, Mitra — Sanskrit Inscription from Lalitpur.

Line 33. named Kshuna, Haraganga, and Amava. (5)

The son of the first was Vilhana, whose mother was Palhika. Hara

has, by Ratnasri, a son named Talhana with beautiful eyes.

Then * * * * (3)

The venerable Yilhana was born of Varddhaman by Vasantakirti.

* * # * (4)

(I do not understand a few words here.)

Line 34. The good poet Varddhaman, the chakora, after worship¬

ping Jina the ascendant, for the delight of the good * * * * this

eulogium ( prnsasti .) (5)

(I do not understand a few words here.)

May well-meaning men delight in drinking with their ears the

nectareferous * * * * words issuing from the mouth of Varddhaman !

* * * * * May the good be prosperous ! May the son live long ! * *

* * Sabi Alambhaka.

The son of S'ahi Alambhaka, the crown jewel of hostile kings, roaring

at his proper place * * * * Gaurikula in this world *****

journal, As, Soc. "Beng 7* ol. LJlPt. 1883.

PM.

Pagoda or Varaha Coins of Southern India.

t

»

Pll.

_ - _ _

T,itlr. & Printed by W. i’lewman & Co., LcL, Calcutta.

Pagoda or Varaha Coins of Southern India.

Journal. As. Soc. Beng., Yol. LII Pfc. X., IiJtM

/

.

I

Journal, As. Soo. Ben£„ Vol. LII. Ft- I.. 16.33.

Pl-M.

LlOb

Print*cll>y w. 'Np’vmnr. Sc r'o.. Lrt.. Calcutta

Pagoda or Varaha Coins of Southern India.

PIN.

\

Coins Supplementary to Thomas’ “ Chronicles of the Pathan Kings.’

Pl:V.

C. J. Rodgers, del.

Iith L Frtated by W. Newruan & Co. Ld , Calcutta.

Coins Supplementary to Thomas’ “ Chronicles of the Pathan Kings.”

>

I * •

Journal. As. Soc. Bengal, Vol. LIL. Pt. I,, 1883.

PL: VI.

Lith : e£ Printed by W. Newman 8c Co., Ld., Calcutta.

RELICS EROM ANCIENT PERSIA.

A.

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Gold

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'Journal As Son. "Bor, gal, Vol. LIT. TV I.. 1®*.

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Lit-b Sc Printed by W. Nemnau. i. Co., L2 , C-reutta.

Relics from ancient Persia.

JOURNAL

OF THE

ASIATIC SOCIETY OF BENGAL

Part I.— HISTORY, LITERATURE, &e.

No. II.— 1883.

Folktales from the Upper Punjab. — By the Rev. C. Swvnnerton',

M, R. A. S., Chaplain of Number a.

“ In Winter’s tedious nights, sit by the fire

With good old folks, and let them tell thee tales !”

The tales and stories which I propose to present to the notice of mem¬

bers have been literally gathered on winter’s nights from the lips of the

peasantry of the Upper Panjab. So far as I am aware, not one of them

has appeared in print ; but in any case, whether some few of them have

been published or not, there must still exist in the ensuing series a pecu¬

liarity of treatment and a freshness of incident, together with many other

important points of difference, which will mark this collection as an original

effort, interesting in itself, and interesting too for purposes of comparison.

The story-tellers were partly Panjabis, and partly Pathans ; some of them

were tottering old men, and some of them youths, robust and strong. They

are the tales which are the delight of the village Hazrah on winter’s nights,

when icy winds are blowing, and when the young men gather round the

blazing fire to hear of the fantastic deeds of giants and fairies, and the

adventures of animals and men, or when the village guest, if not too tired

to sit up, alternates the recital of fictitious wonders by news from the

great world, or commands the attention of auditors as simple as himself

by circumstantial accounts of most disastrous chances, of moving accidents

of his own, by flood and fell. It was at the little village of Ghazi on the

river Indus, thirty miles above A'tak, that many of these stories were

21

82

C. Swynnerton — Folktales from the Zipper Punjab. [No. 2,

told to the compiler, and translated to him viva voce from the Panjabi by

his hospitable host and attached friend Thomas Lambert Barlow, Esq.

There within sight and hearing of the majestic river of history and

romance, in a district exclusively pastoral, close to the fabled mountain of

Gangar, in the midst of many a ruined temple and fortress of an earlier

race and a former faith, on ground historical and even classical though now

so obscure and unknown, these interesting gleanings of old-world folklore

were carefully gathered and stored. Exactly opposite lies a line of rocky

hills overlooking the rushing waters of the river. On this spot stood an

ancient city of fabulous strength and vast extent, the home of four Hindu

brothers, all of them kings. Each of the low peaks of which there are several

is crowned by a tower, a palace or a temple, while traces of connecting

walls and ruined dwellings traverse the ground on all sides to the very

edge of the cliff. This city according to tradition was so vast that one of

its gates was close to Hund, an equally ancient site, which stands on the

same bank about twenty miles to the south. What was the name of this

once mighty capital ? Possibly it may survive among the popular names

of the peaks and ravines on which it was built, as Gcillah, Pihur, Gharri

dha Lar, Parri dha Kattha, Gaddhi dha Kattha, Gangarianh dha Kassi,

Bhoru dha Kattha. Hund has been identified as the spot where “ Sikander

Badshah” crossed over his conquering army of Greeks, and undoubtedly it

possessed an important ferry from the very earliest ages.

A few miles to the north of Ghazi where the hills begin to close in,

we can almost see the collection of hamlets known as Torbela, the inhabi¬

tants of which are addicted to the curious vice of eating clay, as people

in other parts are given to the consumption of opium. Opposite Torbela

stands the warlike independent village of Kabbal. It is here, between

these two rival villages not more than twelve miles from Ghazi, that the

Indus breaks through the gorge of the restraining peaks on either side, the

last spurs of the Himalayas, forming the territory, in part independent,

but partly under our dominion, which the inhabitants call Yakistan. How

beautiful is the view miles and miles up the river, with the descending lines

of the precipitous mountains, one behind the other, receding ever more and

more into blue haze, until crowned by the distant snows ! As one sits in

the warm winter sun, among the river boulders at Ghazi, where the gold-

washers are busy at work, and as one directs one’s gaze northwards, past the

bare tawny hills into the remote distance, one thinks how all this land was

once in the hands of a dynasty of Greeks, of helmed Menander, or lightning-

wielding Antialkidas, whose coins attest the excellency of the arts in these

remote places when under their accomplished sway, but of whose influence

every living trace seems to have disappeared, unless, in the classical designs

of the village basketwork, or in the graceful devices in red and green on the

83

1883.] C. Swynnerfcon — Folktales from the Upper Panjab.

country nambdas of felt, one may be permitted to detect a remnant, how¬

ever slight, of Grecian taste and western refinement. Passing on to

a succeeding era, one remembers the local tradition of king Rasalu who,

from those very heights to the left, hurled at his rival on the eastern bank

a mighty defiance in the shape of a huge mass of greenstone weighing a

maund and a half. Five kos it hurtled through the air, and it still reposes

on the spot where it fell. Or, one longs for a holiday, however short, and

for money and men, to penetrate beyond the tributary Sirin, famous for

marsir, and to visit the remoter hills of Thannaul, the district of

Nawab Akram Khan, whose Summer House gleams from a distant peak,

there, among much besides, to search for and to find the “ Haldi Pillif

or great Rocking Stone, of which the people tell, and which though of

towering size can be moved, say they, by a touch of a single finger.

However, it is time to address myself to the Folktales. I shall at¬

tempt in this issue little or no commentary, but I would leave each one of

them to speak for itself, merely premising that the first series shall consist

of a selected number of fables and short stories, and the next of longer and

more ambitious stories having much resemblance in general character to

the tales in the “Arabian Nights.”

I. The Weaver and the Prophecy.

A village weaver went out to cut firewood. Climbing a tree he stood

upon one of the branches, which he began to hew off close to the trunk.

“ My friend,” said a traveller passing below, “ you are standing on the very

limb which you are cutting off. In a few minutes you and it will both

fall to the ground.” The weaver unconcernedly continued his task and

soon both the branch and himself fell to the foot of the tree as the traveller

had foretold. Limping after him the weaver cried, “ Sir, you are God, you

are God, Sir, you are God — what you prophesied has come to pass.” “ Tut,

man, tut,” answered the traveller, “ I’m not God.” “ Nay, but you are,”

replied the weaver, “and now pray, 0 pray, tell me when I am to die?”

To be rid of bis importunity, tbe traveller answered, “ You will die on the

day on which your mouth bleeds,” and he pursued his way.

Some days had elapsed when the weaver happened to be making some

scarlet cloth, and as he had frequently to separate the threads with his

mouth, a piece of the coloured fibre by chance stuck in one of his front teeth.

Catching sight of this in a glass, and instantly concluding that it was blood,

and that his last hour was at hand, he entered his hut, and said “ Wife,

wife, I’m sick ; in a few moments I shall be dead : let me lie down, and

go, dig my grave !” So he lay down on his bed, and turning his face to the

wall, closed his eyes, and began deliberately to die. And indeed, such is the

power of the imagination among these people, that he would have died with-

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out doubt, if a customer had not called for his clothes. He seeing the man’s

condition and bearing of the prophecy, asked to examine his mouth. “ Ah,”

said he, “ what an idiot are you ? Call you this blood ?” and taking out the

thread he held it before the weaver’s eyes. The weaver, as a man reprieved

from death, was overjoyed, and springing to his feet he resumed his work,

having been rescued, as he imagined, from the very brink of the grave.

II. The three Weavers.

There were three weavers, all brothers, who lived in the same village.

One day the eldest said to the others “ I am going to buy a milch buffalo.”

So he went to a farmer, paid for the buffalo, and brought it home to his

house.

The second brother was quite touched by the sight of it. He viewed

its heads, its horns, and its teats, and then said “ O brother, allow me to be

a partner in this beautiful buffalo ?’* Said the elder, “ I have paid for this

beautiful buffalo twenty-two rupees. If you wish to be a partner in her,

you had better go to the farmer, and pay him twenty-two rupees too, and

then we shall have equal shares in her.”

Shortly after the third brother came in and said, “ 0 brother, you have

allowed our brother to be a partner with you in this buffalo, won’t you let

me take a share too ?” “ Willingly,” answered the other, “ but first you must

go to the farmer and pay him twenty-two rupees as we have done.” So

the third brother did so, while the farmer chuckled, saying, “ This is a fine

thing for me getting all this money for my skinny old buffalo !”

The three brothers now agreed that each one of them should have a

day’s milk from the buffalo in turn, and that each should bring his own

pot. The two elder brothers had their turns, but when the third day came,

the youngest said, “ Alas ! what shall I do ? I have no pot in my house !”

In this perplexity the eldest remarked, “ This is a most difficult business,

because you see if you milk the buffalo without a pot, the milk will be spilt.

You had better milk her into your mouth.” His ingenious solution of the

problem was at once adopted, and the youngest brother milked the buffalo

into his mouth. Going home he was met by his wife who asked, “ Well,

where is the milk ?” Her husband answered, “ I had no pot, so I had to

milk the buffalo into my mouth.” “ O you did, did you,” cried she, “ and

so your wife counts as no one ? I am to have no milk ? If I am not to

have my share, in this house I refuse to remain.” And she went off in

anger to the house of her mother.

Then the three brothers went together to the headman of the village,

and complained, begging him to order the woman to return to her husband.

So the headman summoned her and said, “ O woman, you may have your

share of the milk too, just the same as your husband. Let him visit the

85

1888.] C. Svvynnerton — Folktales from the Upper Panjdb.

buffalo in the morning and drink the milk, and do you visit her in the

evening.” Said she, “ But why could not my husband have said so ?

Now it is all right, and besides I shall be saved all the trouble of setting

the milk for butter !”

III. The Weaver and the Water-melon.

Once upon a time a poor country weaver visited a town, where he saw

a quantity of water-melons piled up one above the other in front of a

bania’s shop. “ Eggs of other birds there are,” he said, “ and I have seen

them : but what bird’s eggs are these eggs ? These must be mare’s eggs !”

So he asked the bania, “ Are these eggs mare’s eggs ?” The bania instantly

cocked his ears, and perceiving that he was a simpleton answered, “ Yes,

these bird’s eggs are mare’s eggs.” “ What is the price?” “ One hundred

rupees apiece” said the bania. The simple weaver took out his bag of

money and counting out the price, bought one of the melons and carried

it off. As he went along the road, he began to say to himself, “ When

I get home I will put this egg in a warm corner of my house, and by and

bye a foal will be born, and when the foal is big enough, I shall mount it

and ride it to the house of my father-in-law. Won’t he be astonished ?”

As the day was unusually hot, he stopped at a pool of water to bathe.*

But first of all he deposited the melon most carefully in the middle of a

low bush, and then he proceeded to undi'ess himself. His garments were

not half laid aside, when out from the bush sprang a hare, and the

weaver, snatching up part of his clothing while the rest hung about his legs

in disorder, made desperate efforts to chase and overtake the hare, crying

out, “ Ah there goes the foal, wo, old boy, wo, wo !” But he ran in vain,

for the hare easily escaped, and was soon out of sight.

The poor weaver reconciled himself to his loss as best he could, “ Kis¬

met !” cried he : “ And as for the egg, it is of course of no use now and not

worth returning for, since the foal has left it.” So he made his way home

and said to his wife, “ 0 wife, I have had a great loss this day !” “ Why,”

said she, “ what have you done ?” “ I paid one hundred rupees for a mare’s

egg, but while I stopped on the road to bathe, the foal jumped out and

ran away.” His wife replied, “ Ah, what a pity ! if you had only brought

the foal here, I would have got on his back and ridden him to my

father’s house !” Hearing this, the weaver fell into a rage, and pulling a

stick out of his loom began to belabour his wife, crying, “ What, you would

break the back of a young foal ? Ah you slut, let me break yours !”

After this he went out, and began to lament his loss to his friends

and neighbours, warning them all, “If any of you should see a stray

foal, don’t forget to let me know.” To the village herdsmen especially he

- * Literally : On his way homo he tarried ut alvum exonera.rct.

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C. Swynnerton — Folktales from the Upper Punjab. [No. 2,

related his wonderful story, how the foal came out of the egg, and ran away,

and would perhaps be found grazing on the common lands somewhere.

One or two of the farmers, however, to whom the tale was repeated said,

“ What is this nonsense ? Mares never have eggs. Where did you put

this egg of yours ?” “ I put my egg in a bush,” said the weaver, “ near

the tank on the way to the town.” The farmers said, “ Come and

show us !” “ All right,” assented the weaver, “ come along.” When

they arrived at the spot the melon was found untouched in the middle

of the bush. “ Here it is,” cried the weaver, “ here’s my mare’s egg.

This is the thing out of which my foal jumped.” The farmers turned the

melon over and over, and said, “ But what part of this egg did the foal

jump out of?” So the weaver took the melon and began to examine it.

“ Out of this,” cried one of the farmers, snatching back the melon, “ no foal

ever jumped. You are a simpleton and you have been cheated. We’ll

show you what the foals are.” So he smashed the melon on a stone, and

giving the seeds to the weaver, said, “ Here are foals enough for you,” while

the farmers themselves amid much laughter sat down and ate up the fruit.

IY. The Weaver-girl.

A certain quarter of a village was inhabited only by weavers. One

day a fine young weaver-girl was sweeping out the house, and as she swept,

she said to herself, “ My father and mother and all my relations belong to

this village. It would be a good thing if I married in this village and

settled here too, so that we should always be together.” “ But,” continued

she, “ if I did marry here, and had a son, and if my son were to die, oh how

my aunts and my friends would come, and how they would all bewail him !”

Thinking of this she laid her broom against the wall and began to cry. In

came her aunts and her friends, and seeing her in such distress, they all

began to cry too. Then came her father and her uncles and her brothers,

and they also began to cry most bitterly, but not one of them had the wit

to say, “ What is the matter ? For whom is this wailing ?” At last, when

the noise and the weeping had continued for some time, a neighbour said,

“What bad news have you had ? Who is dead here ?” One of the uncles

answered, “ I don’t know ; these women know; ask one of them!” At

this point, the headman arrived at the spot, and cried, “ Stop, stop this

hubbub, good people, and let us find out what is the matter.” Addressing

himself to an old woman, he said, “ What is all this disturbance in the

village for?” “ I don’t know,” answered she, “ when I came here, I found

this weaver-girl crying about something.” Then the weaver-girl on being

questioned, said, “ I was weeping because I could not help thinking that if

I married in this village and had a son, and if my son were to die, all my

aunts would come round me and bewail him. The thought of this made

1883.] C. Swynnerton — Folktales from the Upper Panjdb. 87

me ci*y.” On hearing this, the headman and his followers began to laugh,

and the crowd dispersed.

V. The two Weavers and the Grasshoppers.

Two weavers took guns and went out for a day’s sport. As they pass¬

ed through the fields, one of them espied an immense grasshopper sitting

on a madar plant, which as they approached flew on to the shoulder of

his companion. “ See, see, there he is !” cried he, and levelling his piece,

he shot his friend through the heart.

VI. The old Weaver and the Camel’s footprints.

One night a camel trespassing in a weaver’s field, left there the marks

of his feet. In the morning the owner brought to the spot the oldest

weaver in the village, expecting that he would be able to explain what

manner of animal had trodden down his corn. The old man on seeing the

footprints both laughed and cried. Said the people “ 0 father, you both

laugh and cry. What does this mean?” “I cry,” said he, “ because I

think to myself, ‘ What will these poor children do for some one to explain

these things to them when I am dead,’ and I laugh, because, as for these

foot-prints, I know not what they are!”

VII. Greeba the Weaver.

At the village of Bhurran lived an old weaver named Greeba who for

a wonder was shrewd enough. It happened that Habbib Khan the

lambardar laid a tax on the weavers’ houses at the rate of two rupees for

every doorway. When Greeba heard of this, he tore down his door and

laying it on his shoulders carried it off to the Khan’s. “ Here, Khan,” said

he with a profound salaam, “ I have heard you want doorways, so I have

brought you mine. I also hear you want the sidewalls, and I am now

going to fetch them too.” Hearing this, the Khan laughed and said, “ O

Greeba the weaver, take hack your door, your tax is paid.”

VIII. The Black Bee and the Black Beetle.

A villager once reared a black bee and a black beetle together, imagin¬

ing them to be brothers. In looks they were not unlike, and the “ boom”

which they uttered seemed precisely the same. One day he set them fly¬

ing. The bee lighted on a rose, while the beetle settled on a dunghill.

“ Ah,” said the village seer, “ these creatures are like ourselves, and it is only

by observation that we can say who is worthy of friendship and who is

not.”

IX. The Gardiner’s Wife, the Potter’s Wife, and the Camel.

A gardener’s wife and a potter’s wife once hired a camel to carry their

goods to market. One side of the beast was well laden with vegetables,

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C. Swynnerton — Folktales from the Upper Panjab. [No. 2,

and the other with pottery. As they went along the road, the camel kept

stretching back his long neck to pilfer the vegetables. Upon observing this,

the potter’s wife began laughing, and jested her friend on her ill-luck.

‘‘ Sister,” said she, “ at the end of the journey there will not be a single

vegetable left — you’ll have nothing whatever to sell !” “ It is true you are

luckier than I am,” answered the gardener’s wife, “ but remember the first

to win are the last to lose !” When they arrived at the market place, the

camel man ordered his animal to kneel down, but the weight on one side was

so much greater, by this time, than the weight on the other, that the camel

gave a lurch as he got on his foreknees, and crushed the pottery between

himself and the earth, so that most of it was smashed, and what was not

smashed was cracked. So it ended that the gardener’s wife had something

at least to sell, but the potter’s wife had nothing.

X. The Mule and the Traveller.

A certain mule, having a great opinion of himself, began braying pre¬

tentiously, so that every one stopped to say “ Who is that ?” A traveller

passing by at that moment said to him, “ 0 Sir, pray tell me what was the

name of your mother ?” “ My mother’s name was Mare” answered the

mule proudly. “ And what was your father’s name ?” continued the

traveller. “ Be off,” said the mule, “ be off ! None of your jesting with

me. You are impertinent !”

XI. TMe Tiger and the Cat.

Tigers at first were ignorant, until the king of the tigers once came

to the cat and begged him for lessons. The cat consenting taught the

tiger to watch, to crouch, to spring, and all the other accomplishments so

familiar to the race. At last when he thought he had learnt everything

the cat had to impart, the tiger made a spring at his teacher intending to

tear him and eat him. Instantly the cat ran nimbly up a tree whither

the tiger was unable to follow. “ Come down,” cried the tiger, “ come down

instantly !” “ No, no,” replied the cat. “ How fortunate for me that I did

not teach you more ! Otherwise you would have been able to pursue me

even here.”

XII. The Dog and the Cock.

Once upon a time a dog and a cock were sworn friends. But a famine

fell on the land and the dog said to the cock, “ There is no food for me

here, so I am going away to another country. I tell you this that yon

may not blame me, and say, ‘ This dog was my friend, but he left me with¬

out a word !’ ” The cock answered, O dog, we are both friends. If you

go, I go. Let us go together, and as you are a dog you can forage for us

both, since if 1 expose myself the village dogs will set on me and eat me

1883.] C. Swynnerton — Folktales from the Upper Panj&b. • 89

up.” “ Agreed,” said the dog, “ when I go for food, you shall hide in the

jungle, and whatever I find I will fetch to you, and we’ll share and share

alike.” So the two friends set out. After a time they began to approach

a village, and the dog said, “ Now I am going forward for food, but do

you remain here. Only, first of all, if anything should happen to you when

I am away, how shall I know it ?” Said the cock, “ Whenever you hear

me crow several times, then hasten back to me.” So for some time they

lived happily, the dog bringing in supplies every day, while at night he

slept beneath the tree on which the cock sat safely at roost.

One day in the absence of the dog, a jackal came to the tree and look¬

ing up, said, “ 0 uncle, why, pray, are you perched so high ? Come down

and let us say our prayers together !” “ Most willingly,” answered the

cock, “but first let me cry the bhangh* for all good Musalmans to come

and join us.” So the cock crew most lustily three or four times, until the

dog in the village heard him, and said, “ Ah something is about to happen

to my friend — I must get back.” He at once started for the jungle, but

the jackal, when he perceived his approach, began to sneak off. Then cried

the cock, “ O good nephew, don’t go away, stop at any rate for prayers.

See, here’s a pious neighbour coming to join us !” “Alas, friend, I would

stop with pleasure,” replied the jackal, “ but it just occurs to my mind

that I quite forgot to perform, my ablutions. f Farewell!” And quicken¬

ing his pace, he disappeared.

XIII. The Silversmith and his Mother’s Bangle.

Silversmiths as a class bear a bad reputation for mixing up an undue

quantity of alloy in the silver of their customers. There was once a silver¬

smith who in a moment of disinterestedness promised his mother that he

would give her a bangle which should contain nothing but pure silver.

“ You are my mother,” said he, “ and I as your son who owe you so much

cannot do less.” So he cast a bangle for his mother out of un mixed silver*

and when it was finished, he stored it up for her and went to bed. But he

was quite unable to get a wink of sleep. He turned from side to side, and

moaned and fretted in torment, frequently exclaiming, “ Ah that wretched

bangle ! What a simpleton was I to make a bangle without alloy !” At

last he could stand it no longer, so he got up, lighted his lamp, and did

not rest until, having melted down the silver once more, he had recast it

with a considerable admixture of base metal. Then with a conscience

purged of offence he returned to his deserted couch, and in an instant he

* The Musalman cry to prayers is called the bhangh. So also is the crow of

a cock.

f Literally, “ Proh dolor, amice, pepedi : domum redire me decet ut ablutiones

meas perficiam. Yale !”— a satirical reference to the frivolous regard which the

stricter Muhammadans pay to the punctilios of ceremonial washings.

N

90 C. Swynnerton — Folktales from the Upper Panjdb. [No. 2,

was asleep, while a fat smile of pleasure and contentment betokened the

satisfaction of his mind.

XIV. The Jackal and the Voice op fame.

A jackal prowling round a village one evening was spied by some of

the village dogs which instantly gave the alarm. At the same time some

wayfarers began to point at him and cry, “ See, there he goes, there he

goes !” “ This always strikes me as a most remarkable thing,” said the

jackal as he cleared off, “ I haven’t a single acquaintance out of my own set

in the world, and yet wherever I go, everyone seems to know me ! How

inconvenient is fame !”

XV. The Four, Associates.

Once upon a time a crow, a jackal, a hyena, and a camel swore a

friendship, and agreed to seek their food in common. Said the camel to

the crow, “ Friend, j-ou can fly. Go forth and reconnoitre the country for

us.” So the crow flew away from tree to tree, until he came to a fine field

of mashmelons, and then he returned and reported the fact to his com¬

panions. “ You,” said he to the camel, “can eat the leaves, but the fruit

must be the share of the jackal, the hyena, and myself.” When it was

night all four visited the field, and began to make a hearty supper. Sud¬

denly the owner woke up and rushed to the rescue. The crow, the jackal

and the hyena easily escaped, but the camel was caught and driven out

with cruel blows. Overtaking his comrades, he said, “ Pretty partners you

are, to leave your friend in the lurch !” Said the jackal, “ We were sur¬

prised, but cheer up, to-night we’ll stand by you, and won’t allow you

to be thrashed again.”

The next day the owner as a precaution covered his field with nets and

nooses.

At midnight, the four friends returned again, and began devouring

as before. The crow, the jackal and the hyena soon had eaten their fill,

but not so the camel, who had hardly satisfied the cravings of hunger,

when the jackal suddenly remarked, “ Camel, I feel a strong inclination to

bark.” “ For Heaven’s sake don’t,” said the camel, “ You’ll bring up the

owner, and then while you all escape, I shall be thrashed again.” “ Bark

I must,” replied the jackal who set up a dismal yell. Out from his hut

ran the owner, but it happened that while the camel, the crow and the

jackal succeeded in getting away, the stupid hyena was caught in a net.

“ Friends, friends” cried he “ are you going to abandon me P I shall be kill¬

ed.” “ Obey my directions” said the crow, “ and all will be right.” “ What

shall I do ?” asked the hyena. “ Lie down and pretend to be dead,” said

the crow, “and the owner will merely throw you out, after which .you can

1883.] C. Swynnerton — Folktales from the Upper Punjab,

91

run away.” He had hardly spoken when the owner came to the sjjot, and

seeing what he believed to be a dead hyena, he seized him by the hind legs

and threw him out of the field, when at once the delighted hyena sprang

to his feet and trotted away. “ Ah,” said the man, “ this rascal was not

dead after all !”

When the four associates met again, the camel said to the jackal,

“ Your barking, friend, might have got me another beating. Never mind,

all’s well that ends well; to-day yours, to-morrow mine.”

Some time afterwards the camel said, “ Jackal, I’m going out for a walk.

If you will get on my back, I’ll give you a ride, and you can see the world.”

The jackal agreed, and stooping down the camel allowed him to mount on his

back. As they were going along, they came to a village, whereupon all the

dogs rushed out and began barking furiously at the jackal whom they eyed

on the camel’s back. Then said the camel to the jackal, “ Jackal, I feel a

strong inclination to roll.” “ For Heaven’s sake, don’t,” pleaded the jackal,

“ I shall be worried.” “ Roll I must,” replied the camel, and he rolled, while

the village dogs fell on the jackal before he could escape, and tore him to

pieces. Then the camel returned and reported the traitor’s death to his

friends, who mightily approved the deed.

XVI. The Jackal and the Ewe sheep.

Once upon a time a certain jackal made a dash at a ewe-sheep hoping

to catch her. The sheep rushed into a half-dry tank where she stuck in

the mud. The jackal attempting to follow her stuck in the mud too.

Then said the jackal, “ O aunt, this is a bad business !” “ O nephew,” an¬

swered she, “it is by no means so bad as it will be soon, when my master

appears. On his shoulder he will have a sangal (forked-stick), and behind

him will follow his two dogs Dabbu and Bholu. One blow with his

stick will hit you in two places, and his dogs will drag you out by the

legs. Then, dear nephew, you will know this business is not so bad now

as it will be then !”

a

XVII. The Pathan and the Plums.*

There is a certain small black plum grown in the Hazara District,

called the Amlok, which, when dried, looks like a species of black beetle.

One day a Pathan stopped in a bazaar and bought some of them, laying

them in a corner of his lunghi. As he went along he took out a handful

in which there chanced to be one of these beetles alive, and the little creature

feeling the pressure of the man’s hand began buzzing and squealing. But

the Pathan determined to be deprived of no portion of his money’s worth,

said “ Friend, you may buzz, or, friend, you may squeal, but in the measure

* This tale and “ The Pathan and the Ass” ridicule two of the principal cha¬

racteristics of the Pathans]according to popular estimation.

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C. Swynnerton — Folktales from the Upper Pcmjdb. [No. 2,

you came, and in the measure you’ll go.” Saying which he clapt the whole

handful, plums and beetle together, into his mouth and devoured them.

XVIII. The Patha'n and the Ass.

A Pathan was one day sitting in a ferry-boat which was moored to

the bank of the Indus. His talwar or sword lay by his side. Presently

down came a countryman driving a donkey and requesting to be ferried

across the river. The donkey, however, having come to the boat refused

to enter, utterly regardless of entreaties, threats and blows. Suddenly the

Pathan sprang from his seat, seized his tulwar, and at a blow smote off the

donkey’s bead. “ To a Pathan,” cried he, “ this stubborn pride is permissi¬

ble ; but to an ass — never !”

The people of Bauer, though noted for their bravery, are considered

by their neighbours as the most stupid of mankind, not even excepting

weavers. This fact is illustrated by the following anecdotes :

XIX. The Baner Man and the Mill.

A Baneri came down to the Indus where he saw a water-mill at

work. Said he to himself, “ People say that God is known by His wonder¬

ful ways. Now here is a wonderful thing with wonderful ways though it

has neither hands nor feet. It must be God.” So be went forward and

kissed the walls, but he merely cut his face with the sharp stones.

XX. One Baneri asked another,

“ If the Indus were set on fire where would the fishes go ?” “ They

would get on the trees” said the other. Then said the first, “ Are fishes

like buffaloes to climb up trees?”*

XXI. The Widow op Baner.

There was a widow of Baner who had two sons. They had cut the

harvest of their little ancestral field, and their two bullocks were treading:

out the grain, when suddenly the sky became overcast, and a storm of rain

swept by. The poor silly woman instantly caught a certain familiar insect,

a friend to man, and, running a needle and thread through it, hung it up

to a neighbouring ber tree, as a charm to drive away the unwelcome

shower. At the same time she addressed God in the following: words :

“ O God, my boys are but children, and in this thing are innocent. But

thou art a white-bearded man. Didst thou not see that this rain was not

wanted for thrashing out my wheat ?”

XXII. The Baner man and the boat.

A countryman who had spent the whole of his life in the fastnesses

* This tale was not a mere invention of the story-teller. It is frequently told in

ridicule of the dense stupidity of the Baneris.

93

1883.] C. Swynnerton — Folktales from the Upper Panjdb.

of Baner and had never seen the Indus determined to perform a journey.

Descending to the Yusafzai plains he made his way to Atak, and when

he saw one of the large eight-oared ferry boats crossing with the flood to

the opposite bank of the river, he cried to the bystanders — “ What long

legs that creature must have!”

XXIII. The Baner! and his drowned wife.

There was once a sudden flood in the Indus which washed away num¬

bers of people, and among others, the wife of a certain Baneri. The dis¬

tracted husband was wandering along the banks of the river looking for the

dead body, when a countryman accosted him thus, “ O friend, if, as I am

informed, your wife has been carried away in the flood, she must have floated

down the stream with the rest of the poor creatures. Yet you are going up

the stream.” “ Ah sir,” answered the wretched Baneri, “ you did not

know that wife of mine. She always took an opposite course to every one

else. And even now that she is drowned, I know full well that, if other

bodies have floated down the river, hers must have floated up !”

XXIY. The man and the Bear.

One day when the river was in flood, a certain dark object was seen

floating down the stream. Thereupon a poor man, mistaking it for a log

of wood, plunged into the water and swimming with vigorous strokes,

seized it with both his hands. When too late he discovered that he was

clasped in the shaggy embrace of a bear. “ Ah,” cried his friends from the

shore, “ let him go, let him go !” “ Just what I am trying to do,” answered

the unhappy man, “ but he won’t let me go !”*

XXY. The Crow and its young.

An old mother crow was once engaged in giving sound advice to her

newly fledged young ones. “ Remember” said she, “your principal enemy will

be man. Whenever you detect a man in the act of even stooping towards the

ground as if for a stone, at once take wing and fly.” “ Very good,” answered

one of her precocious youngsters, “ but what if the man happens to have a

stone already in his hand ? Can you advise us how we shall proceed then?”

XXVI. The Jackal and the Fleas. f

There was once a jackal so infested with fleas that life was a burden

to bim. Determined to be rid of them, he sought for a pool of water, and

* Logs of deodar are frequently floated down the Indus from the Himalayas.

During floods many of these logs are washed away from the “ timber yards’’ far up in

the mountains. For every log recovered the villagers along the hanks receive a

reward of four annas from the owners. Each log bears its owner’s mark.

f The English fable of the Fox and the Fleas is almost exactly similar.

94

C. Swynnerton — Folktales from the Upper Punjab. [No. 2}

snatching up a small piece of dry wood in his mouth, he began to enter

the water with ‘measured steps and slow.’ Gradually as he advanced, the

astonished fleas rushed up his legs, and took refuge on his back. The

rising water again drove them in multitudes from his back to his head, and

from his head to his nose, whence they escaped on to the piece of wood

which became perfectly black with them. When the sly jackal perceived

the situation of his foes, be suddenly bobbed his head into the water, relin¬

quished the wood, and with a chuckle swam back to the shore, leaving the

fleas to their fate.

XXVII. The Elephant and his keeper.*

There was an elephant which was accustomed to suffer most cruel

treatment at the bands of his keeper, and the keeper knowing the sagacity

of these animals, and being in fear of his life, used to sleep some little dis¬

tance from the tree to which the elephant was tied. One night the

elephant, taking up a long loose branch, chewed the end of it in order to

separate the fibres, and having twisted them in the long hair of the sleep¬

ing man, he dragged him within reach and trampled him to death.

XXVIII. The Miser and the Grain op Wheat.

A great miser was once sitting on a precipice and dangling his feet

over the edge. Hunger having become insupportable, he took out his small

bag of parched grain, and began to toss the food, grain by grain, into his

mouth. All at once a single grain missed its destination and fell to the

bottom of the ravine. “ Ah what a loss !” cried he. “ But even a grain of

wheat is of value and only a simpleton would lose it.” Whereupon he in¬

continently leaped down from the rock, and broke both his legs.

XXIX. The Miser and the Pice.

A miser once found his way into the bazar to buy bread. The wea¬

ther was unusually warm, and as he trudged along, the perspiration gathered

round the coin, which was closely clutched in his hand. Arresting his steps,

he gazed at the moist piece with a fond eye and said, “ I won’t spend you — ■

weep not, dear Pice, we shall not separate after all — I will starve first !”

So he restored the money to his bag, and begged for scraps from door to

door.

XXX. The two Misers.

Once upon a time two misers hobnobbed together to eat their food.

One of them had a small vessel of ghee into which he sparingly and grudg¬

ingly dipped his morsels of bread. The other miser, observing this, pro¬

tested vehemently against such wasteful extravagance. “ Why waste so

* This anecdote, told by a Panjabi, probably belongs to Hindustan.

95

18S3.] C. Swynnerton — Folktales from the Upper Panjab.

much ghee,” said he ; “ and why do you risk the waste of so much more,

seeing that your bread might slip from your fingers and become totally

immersed P Think better of it, and imitate me. I take my vessel of ghee,

and hang it just out of reach to a nail in the wall. Then I point at the

ghee my scraps of bread, one by one, as I eat, and I assure you I not only

enjoy my ghee just as well, but I make no waste.”*

XXXI. The False Witness.

A caravan of merchants came and pitched for the night at a certain

spot on the way down to Hindustan. In the morning it was found that

the back of one of the camels was so sore, that it was considered expedient

not to load him again, but to turn him loose into the wilderness. So they left

him behind. The camel, after grazing about the whole day, became exceed¬

ingly thirsty, and meeting a jackal, he said to him, “ Uncle, uncle, I am

very thirsty/ Can you show me some water ?” “ I can show you water”

said the jackal, “but if I do, you must agree to give me a good feed of meat

from your sore back.” “ I do agree,” said the camel, “ but first show me the

water.” So he followed his small friend, until they came to a running

stream, where he drank such quantities of water that the jackal thought

he would never stop. He then with some politeness invited the jackal to

his repast. “ Come, uncle, you can now have your supper off my back.”

“ Nay,” said the jackal, “ our agreement was that I should feed not off your

back, but off your tongue, f dear nephew. This you distinctly promised,

if I would take you to water.” “ Very well,” replied the camel, “ produce a

witness to prove your words, and you can have it so.” “ A witness I have

and will bring him presently,” replied the jackal. So he went to the Wolf,

and stating the case, persuaded him to witness falsely. “ You see, wolf,

if I eat the tongue, the camel will certainly die, and then we shall both

have a grand feed to which we can invite all our friends.” The two

returned to the camel and the jackal appealing to the wolf asked,

“ Did not I engragre to show the camel to water on condition that

he would give me his tongue ?” “ Of course you did,” said the

* This anecdote is an instance of the truth of the saying of Solomon — “ There

is no new thing under the sun.” Many readers will he reminded of the Irish dish

“ Potatoes and point,” consisting of a large supply of potatoes and of a very limited

supply of meat, bacon, or even fish. The potatoes are eaten, but the more solid fare

is merely pointed at. The following passage from Carlyle’s “ Count Cagliostro”

refers to this singular custom — “ And so the catastrophe ends by bathing our poor

half-dead Recipiendary first in blood, then, after some genuflexions, in water ; and

‘ serving him a repast composed of roots,’ — we grieve to say, mere potatoes — and —

point /”

t “ Sore back” in Panjabi being chigh, and “ tongue” jib , there was sufficient

similarity of sound to suggest prevarication.

or,

C. Swynnerton — Folktales from the Upper Panjdb. [No. 2,

wolf confidently, “ and the camel agreed.” “ Be it so said the

camel, “as you both delight in lies and have no conscience, come and eat

some of my tongue,” and he lowered his head within reach of the jackal.

But the latter said to the wolf, “ Friend, you see what a diminutive animal

I am. I am too weak to drag out that enormous tongue. Do you seize

it and hold it for me.” Then the wolf ventured his head into the camel’s

mouth to pull forward the tongue, but the camel instantly closed his

powerful jaws, and crushing the skull of his enemy, he shook him to death.

Meanwhile the jackal danced and skipped with glee, crying out, “ Behold

the fate of the false witness — behold the fate of the false witness !”*

XXXII. The Traveller and his Camel.

Once upon a time a traveller, coming along the desert road with his

laden camel, stopped to rest during the noon-tide heat under a shady tree.

There he fell asleep. When he awoke he looked at the camel, and finding

to his sorrow that the faithful companion of all his journeys was dead, he

thus apostrophized him : —

“Where is the spirit fled, ah, where,

The life that cheered the weary ways P

Could’st thou not wait one hour, nor spare

For me, thy Friend, one parting gaze ?”

3fr5T IWT ^ HIT *T |

wr*. «tt whth n f

* This story is intended as a satire on the practice which prevails so widely among

the natives of all parts of India of getting up false cases and procuring false witness

in courts of law.

t Literally — “ Where is the spirit fled which bore the load ? When leaving, it

saw not me its well-known friend !”

1883.] The Rupees of the Months of the llahi Years of Akhar.

97

The Rupees of the Months of the llahi Years of AJebar. — By Cu. J*

Rodgers, Rrincipaly Normal College , Amritsar.

(With two Plates.)

The work of Marsden made known the coins of Jahangir on which

are struck the signs of the zodiac. These coins were in gold and silver. If

I remember right Marsden gives a complete set of the signs for one year.

And these were all struck at one place. But the zodiacal coins were struck

at more mints than one. Alimadabad and Agra were, however, the chief.

Asirgarli and Agra had struck coins on which was an image of a hawk, in

the time of Akbar. Ajmir struck the bacchanalian coin of Jahangir. All

these coins are now so exceedingly rare that they command fabulous prices,

and these prices have tempted unscrupulous men to imitate them so that

the market is full of imitations of several degrees of degeneracy.

The custom of striking the month as well as the year on the coin

seems to have been an old one in the East. Mr. Thomas in J. R. A. S.

Yol. IX, p. 315, gives Coin No. 79 with on it, and on p. 316, No. 80

has the same month. No. 81 has No. 85 No. 86 In

the British Museum Coin Catalogue, Yol. II, Oriental Coins, p. 118, coin

503 has ^ on it. This is one of Mahmud’s. My own small collection of

Gazni coins has one of Mas’aud’s with the same month on it, and two coins

of Maudud, varying in other particulars of inscriptions, agree in having this

same month. One of the same king has One of Farrukhzad’s coins

has (V^. Dr. Stulpnagel in this Journal, Yol. XLIX, part I, 1880 edited a

coin of Gyasuddin and Muizzuddin struck at Ghazni in the month

of the year 596 A. H. It was a common thing to say that the coin was

struck ts* during the months of such and such a year. The coins of

Firwan and Ghazni and of the Sultans of Kashmir indulge in this expression.

In my paper on the “ Copper Coins of Akbar,” I drew attention to

the fact that the 28 coins therein figured gave the names of no less than

six months of Akbar’s llahi years. In the present paper I propose giving

rupees of each month of the same years. I was in hopes that I should be

able to get the whole of the months of one year struck in one place. As

yet I have not succeeded in this. I have seven months of one year of

Jahangir (for Jahangir struck also in the same manner as his father Akbar

and used the same names of the months) ; six of these were struck at Lahore

and one at Qandahar. Of Akbar’s 19th llahi year I have seven rupees all

of different months, but of these, two were struck at Tatta, three at

Lahore, one at Alimadabad and one at Burhanpur. I have also one other

rupee of this 19th year, but its mint I can’t make out jy^i (Sitapur ?).

Of the years 16 and 18 I have rupees of five months. The whole of my

collection of Akbar’s rupees (I have rupees of each year of his reign except

965) enables me to give each month, and the fact that these coins were

o

98

The Rupees of the Months of the IWn Years of ATcbar. [No. 2,

struck at different mints in different years, will take away from the mono¬

tonous nature of a series issued from the same place. The styles of the

coins issued* from the Lahore mint differed very considerably as we shall

see, but Ahmadabad and Tatta were rigidly monotonous in their issues.*

Up to the year 992 A. H. the coins of Akbar had been strictly ortho¬

dox in their inscriptions. The name and titles of the Emperor had occu¬

pied the obverse, the margins containing the mint &c. being in nearly all

cases illegible. The reverse had gloried in the Kalimah, and its fragmen¬

tary margins were embellished with portions of the names of the four

companions of Muhammad. The first rupees were round and of the size

of those of Slier Shah and his successors. My first square rupee of Akbar

is dated 984. Lahore and Fathpur Sikrf seem to have begun coining

square rupees in 985. After 9S6 for several years I have no round rupees

in my cabinet. They are all square. The coins in my cabinet with Ilahi

years on them begin from the 30th year. On these coins, instead of the

Kalimah, we have ad i\ “ God is the greatest, may his bright¬

ness shine forth.” The year and month, and mint complete the inscrip¬

tions. The Kalimah rupees, however, did not cease being struck. I have

them of 993, 994, 995, '-^1 1000 and 1001.

The use of the Persian months by Akbar leads us to consider what

the Persian year was. Prinsep in his “ Useful Tables, an appendix to the

Journal of the Asiatic Society” published in 1836, gives at p. 12 a short

account of “The Era of Yezdegird III or the Persian Era,” and at p. 37

“ The Tarikh Ilahy or Era of Akbar.” In “ Historia Religionis veterum

Persarum eorumque Magorum” by Thos. Hyde, S. T. D. Regius Profes¬

sor of Hebrew and Laudianus Professor of Arabic in the University of

Oxford, published at Oxford in 1700 A. D., there is a full account of the

various Persian epochs and years in Chap. XIV. In Chap. XV he gives

the months in Pahlavi and Persian together with the Greek corruptions of

the names. He also gives the names of the 30 days of the month in both

Pahlavi and Persian. In Chap. XVI he gives the months and days of the

year of Yezdegird with the names of the appended five days. In Chap.

XVII he treats of “ Years and Epochs in general and of the Persian year

in particular.” In the XIXth Chap, he shows the origin of the names of

the Persian months. In the (a short account of the con¬

tents of which book was printed in this Journal many years ago, and which

has lately been lithographed and published in India) amongst wonders

many, is given a sober account of the Persian months. And again in the

or a most useful little book of 70 pages by

* Mr. Grant has let me have a coin of Ahmadabad which is similar to the later

Lahore coins of Akbar. It is of the 47th year and of the month Tir and of same type

as iso, 2, plate I.

99

18 83.] The Rupees of the Months of the Ilahi Years of AJcbar.

Munslri Devi Pershad published by Nawal Kishore, Lakhnau, 1878 A. D

(the result of five years of labour as the author tells us), in Chap. II

Sect. I, p. 52 &c., we have a short but clear account of the Persian, Jalal

and Ilahi years. Much more may have been written on these subjects.*

I shall here give as plain and brief a notice as will suffice us for our

present purpose, and I refer those who have time and opportunity to the

works already mentioned and to others, for fuller and more particular

information.

The Persian year was instituted by Yezdegird III eight days after the

death of Muhammad. The year was divided into 365 da}rs. There were

twelve months each of which had 30 days, except the twelfth which had

35 days. The fractions of the days in 120 years made another month, so

that every 120 years there were 13 months in the year. The first month

was duplicated, for the first time this occurred, the second month for the

second time, &c. The names of the months were :

F arwardin

Ardibihisht

Khurdad

Tir

Amardad or Mardad

Shahriyar

Mihr

A ban

Azar

Di

Bah man

Isfandarmuz.

There were no weeks. But each day of the month was named separate¬

ly. Hyde gives these names both in Persian and Pahlavi.

Malik Shah Sultan of Khorasan improved somewhat on the above.

Making his year commence on the entrance of the sun in Aries, be ordered

that the year should receive an additional day whenever it was required.

This was mostly as with us every fourth year. But after the day had been

added seven or eight times, the addition was postponed for a year. The

days were added at the end of Aban, not at the end of Isfandarmuz. These

days were called The five days added to the Persian year wore

termed Aiyhwo First of all the months were called —

Mah Nau

Nau Bahar

Garni a Faza

* In the History of Cluj rat is a translation of the proclamation of Akbar in his

30th year about the Ilahi year.

100 The Rupees of the Month of the JlaJn Years of Alclar. [Ko, 2,

Koz Afzun

Jahan Tab

Jab an Aral

Mihr Kan

Khazan

Surma Faza

Shab Afzun

Atish Afzun

Sal Afzun.

But after awhile the old Persian names were again used.

In the 30tli year of Akbar, i. <?., in 992 A. H. Hakim Fathullah

Shiraz! got out a new era and year for India. The object in view was to

create a uniform year throughout the vast empire Akbar had conquered.

The era began with the reign of Akbar, i. e., on 19th February 1556. The

months and days were similar to those of the Persian year. There were

no intercalary days. Hence the days of this year never corresponded with

the days of the Jalall years of Malik Shah’s era. This year was termed

Ilahl.

The Ilahl years of Akbar’s coins begin with the 30th year. He as

I have already stated after a few years left off the use of the Kalimah on

his coins and also the names of the four companions. To make his depar¬

ture from established usage more marked, he made all his early Ilaln rupees

square.

Jahangir commenced his coinage by reverting to the year of the

Hejirah and by putting the year of his reign without the use of the word

llahi . It was simply I or rA^>» &c. In his 6th year (according to

coins in my cabinet) or perhaps before, the Lahore mint commenced a

series of coins inferior to none of Jehanglr’s in beauty and finish, on which

were the year and month of the Ilahl year (commencing, however, from

the 1st year of Jahangir) on one side, and the names of Jahangir and

Akbar on the other. This series was copied at the mints of Akbarnagar,

Qandaliar, Jahanglrnagar, Tatta, and Kashmir.

In two large square heavy rupees I have, the Ilahl month was woven

into a couplet thus : —

jf I Jsfiw 2(b*>

and again

jj J*. [) JO jf* ?! —

* In the Cabinet of Alexander Grant, Esq., C. E. is a large round coin weighing

2173 grains on which is this couplet with “ Bahrnan” month in it.

jj&y jj jji I

1883.] The Rupees of the Months of the llahi Years of AJcbar. 101

There may be a series of couplets of this kind. Mr. Delmerick edited

one with the month Isfandarmuz on it, the couplet running thus : —

t jsfi° cj ^ ^

My coins weigh 217 and 216 grs. Mr. Delmerick puts his down at

219 grs. Dr. Stulpnagel had some coins of this square heavy series stolen.

General Cunningham in 1880 had one also. The whole of the months may,

I have not the slightest doubt, be obtained in time. The twelve months

of the zodiacal coins, and the twelve months of the llahi years of Jahangir

I have already noticed would of themselves form a trio of most interesting

series. t

When Jahangir died and Shahjahan ascended the throne, the Kalimah

which had been absent so many years of the reign of Jahangir from the

coinage at once took its place again on the issues from all the mints. I

have three rupees of Shahjahan’s first year. The one struck at Surat has

on it f »r a (sj In another place it has «^| Of his second

year I have two rupees, one struck at Patna in Amardad Mali of the llahi

year 2. It has on it the Kalimah in full, also the date 1038. The other

one was struck at Multan in Aban Mah of the same year. It also has on

it the Kalimah and date 1038. The series of Shahjahan’s rupees, on which

the square lozenge comes, as a rule ignores the llahi years. One, however,

which I have was struck at Bhakkhur in Aban llahi.

After the death of Shahjahan no Emperor put the llahi months on

his coin. Each rupee was dated with the year of the Hejirah, and with

the year of the reign in which it was struck. The llahi system may be

said to have died out, therefore in the early part of the reign of Shahjahan,

so far as the coinage was concerned. In the Akbar series of llahi rupees

there is one portion on which the names of the months do not come. Only

the year is there without any mint. Some of the earliest of the series are

in this fashion. I have one gold one of this type and several silver ones.

From their scarcity I judge them to have been proof coins. Some of them

are in a beautiful state of preservation, fresh as from the mint.

Gold coins of the llahi years are also procurable. They are scarcer

than the silver ones, but still I have no doubt that were an exhaustive,

scientific and systematic search to be made, the whole of the months might

* In the B. M. there is a coin which has ij-f) instead of (*■*1

f I find in my small cabinet one of Jahangir’s gold coins of exquisite beauty and

finish has ePAAt* worked up into a couplet, thus.

^jA.| jj

» — ep! e/p?' 8^" j

This coin weighs 219 grains hut it has a small loop on it.

102 The Rupees of the Months of the Ilahi Years of Akbar. [No. 2,

be eventually recovered. Of course it is late in the day now to commence.

In my previous papers I have stated that old coins were getting scarcer and

scarcer. In the Calcutta Review for April 1881 I showed how “ Portable

Indian Antiquities” were quickly and quietly disappearing from the coun¬

try. Native ladies like their ornaments of pure gold and silver such as

are in mohurs and rupees. English educated officers (and what officer is

not now thoroughly educated) are constantly on the look out for these

memorials of past glories. Hence search as we will, coins really good and

old are seldom met with. One cannot help hoping that the coins in the

India Office in England may be ultimately restored to India. These would

form a nucleus for an Imperial collection. They are now in the British

Museum for the purpose of being arranged. There are no doubt many

duplicates. These should be distributed to Madras, Bombay, Kurrachee

and Lahore where there are gentlemen in charge of the Museums who take

a pride in their work and in the Institutions committed to their care.

Beyond and above all present collections is the one belonging to General

Cunningham which contains coins of greater beauty and rarity than any

other. Whatever else the Government of India does, the reversion of this

collection to India should be secured.

I am not so sanguine about a copper series of Akbar’s Ilahi months.

I have eight months now. But copper coins disappear relentlessly.

Every manufacturer of copper vessels, and their number in India is legion,

regards an old copper fulus or sikka of Akbar, with its 315 or so grains

of good copper, as a god-send, and he melts it down or beats it out ruth¬

lessly. As Akbar was the only Mogul who tried to rule India, and as

mementoes of his reign are not so very numerous, we ought to have a com¬

plete collection of his coins in gold, silver, and copper. The editor of the

Ain-i-Akbari gives a few gold, silver and copper coins in the latest Lucknow

edition of that work. The author of the gives a list

of ten coins at the end of Akbar’s reign. One of these is the gold coin

with figures of Ram and Sita on it, and on the other side the month and

Ilahi year, a* This is the coin from which all the sapient

money changers of the bazaars name all coins with figures on them “ Sltd

Ramil” It is also noticed by the editor of the Ain-i-Akbari.

Akbar went on coining until his death ; hence the list of mints given

in the Ain is not complete or correct. There were several active mints not

noticed in that work, e. g., Asirgarh, Burhanpur, Srinagar, Gobindpur,

Tatta, Fathpur and Lahri Bandar. I have coins of Akbar struck in all

these mints except Asirgarh. But there are many mints given in the Ain

from which I have not as yet seen a coin of any kind.

* On the gold coin in the* British Museum there are the two figures but without

any inscription in Hindi.

1883.] The Rupees of the Months of the Haiti Years of ATchar.

103

Besides rupees there are parts or divisions of rupees of Akbar’s mints

obtainable. Three coins in mj cabinet average 17'2 grains.

Five coins average 42*75 grains. Five average 75 9. I have a gold

Ilahi coin weighing over 186 grains. The first Ilahi rupees average about

175 grains.

Now what I should consider an exhaustive, scientific and systematic

collection of Akbar’s coins would include a specimen of every type struck

at all his mints in different metals, weights, shapes, sizes, months and

years. The possible coins to he obtained should be tabulated, and as speci¬

mens of each are obtained, each should be marked off. The collector would

thus see what his wants were.

It seems strange that about 100 years after the time of Akbar, James II

should strike coins with the names of the months on them. Flis gun

money has months on it. I should think there are collections in England

in which each month is represented. Knowing next to nothing of English

coins I cannot say.

Without further prelude I will at once proceed to examine the rupees

drawn in the accompanying plates. The first twelve are round ones. They

all agree in the matter of reverse. It is &1J|

The obverses are as follows, in order of the months

It will be noticed that only No. 8 has anything beyond the name of

the month. This rupee has the word for month 8^ on it. The ornamenta¬

tion on each rupee varies according to the mint. Agra and Lahore have

by far the most graceful writing on them. The inscriptions on the Ahmad-

abad rupees are particularly stiff and formal and ugly. I am not quite

sure whether No. 7 was struck at Sitapur or not. The mint is new to me.

I have a second one of the same mint and month, but of another year.

No. 9 is of a new mint — Lahnhandar, a port of Sind now no longer known

104

The Rupees of the 3fonths of the Ilahi Tears of AJcbar. £No. a,

by the people of Sind. These two mints are not in the Ain-i-Akbari.

Neither is that of Nos. 8 and 12, Burhanpur.

It will be noticed also that none of these round rupees are of Akbar’s

early Ilahi years. The earliest I have is the 38th year (No. 10.) From

the 30th year all my rupees of Akbar are square. Perhaps more fortunate

collectors may possess earlier round Ilahi rupees.

The inscriptions on the square rupees are as follow : —

(13)

(14)

(15)

(16)

(17)

(18)

(19)

(20)

(21)

(22)

(23)

(24)

J

J.

Do.

LS

,1a,'

■j

Obverse.

jS\ *Ut

yf\ a-') I

Do.

aJil

Do.

cU dJJl

Reverse.

^Jt r •

^1 rv

diij M ■*

r«s

\°r *[/0

r • ojbl »bo

^IjkLo |*«

cstr^l

rn HAL. <Jb^

jf\ a1J|

I have not square rupees with the months Farwardin* and Isfandar-

muz on them. Hence I put in their places Nos. 13 and 24, two novelties

of the Ilahi series. They are destitute of both mint and month. They

have only the Ilahi years. Three of the rupees Nos. 13, 20 and 23 are of

the first Ilahi year.f Tatta\ is a new mint town not in the Ain-i-Akbari.

It and Lahri Bandar seem to have been Akbar’s only mints in Sind.

Bhakkhar is in the Ain as a mint.

Nos. 13, 14, 17, and 24 are without mints on them. I have several

more mintless square rupees all of great beauty.

I almost dare to indulge the hope that some day or other I shall get

a complete series of square rupees of each mint. I dare not hope that I

shall get one of each month of each year, for I do not think that every

* There is a Tatta one of this month in the British Museum, and since drawing

the plate, I have myself obtained one, through the generosity of my friend W. Theo¬

bald, Esq., struck at Dehli in 37 Ilahi.

t I have since obtained a fourth of the month Di struck at Dehli. This gives me

three Dehli rupees all struck in the first Ilahi year of Akbar, i. e.} the 30th of his

reign.

+ There is a possibility that this mint may be Patna. The coins are, however, so

rough that they do not in any way resemble some remarkably fine coins I have, struck

undoubtedly at Patna.

105

1883.] It. It. Bayne — Notes on the remains of Old Fort William.

mint was always so busy as to issue rupees monthly for a series of years

Many mints of Akbar’s are as yet unrepresented in my cabinet. My means

are small : my opportunities few. I cannot afford to purchase all I see.

Those I have given will, however, convince my co-workers in numismatics

that the coinage of Akbar offers a field worthy of being searched in. The

results give us variety in inscriptions, in mints and in execution.

The weights are given to each rupee, the figures underneath the bar

indicating the No. of grains in each case.

Notes on the remains of portions of Old Fort William discovered during the

erection of the Fast Indian Railway Company's Offices. — By It. lios-

kell Bayne.

I presume that I may take it for granted that most of my readers know

from “ Orrne’s History of the Military Transactions of the British Nation

in Indostan” published in 1778, something of the locality and the form

of the first Fort William. To those who do not, Vol. II, Book VI, headed

11 the war in Bengal”, of the above work will give a very good general idea of

it, and the Map of “ Calcutta in 1756” contains much interesting informa¬

tion that has been of considerable use and guidance to me. In p. 62, from

Orme’s account of Old Fort William we read as follows :

“ The fort of Calcutta, called Fort William, was situated near the river,

and nearly half way between the northern and southern extremities of the

Company’s territory. Its sides to the east and west extended 210 yards ;

the southern side 130, and the northern 100 : it had four bastions, mount¬

ing each 10 guns : the curtains were only four feet thick, and, like the

factory of Cossimbazar, terraces, which were the roofs of chambers, formed

the top of the ramparts ; and windows belonging to these chambers were

in several places opened in the curtains : the gateway on the eastern side

projected, and mounted five guns, three in front, and one on each flank

towards the bastions : under the western face and on the brink of the river,

was a line of heavy cannon, mounted in embrasures of solid masonry ; and

this work was joined to the two western bastions by two slender walls, in

each of which was a gate of palisadoes. In the year 1747 warehouses had

been built contiguous to the southern curtain, and projecting on the out¬

side, between the two bastions, rendered them useless to one another ;

however, the terraces of these warehouses were strong enough to bear the

firing of three-pounders which were mounted in barbette over a slight

parapet.”

106

R. Roskell Bayne — Notes on the remains of [No. 2,

Fort William was not the first Fort built by the English Traders in

Bengal ; that at Hugli bad been erected either at the first voyage to

Bengal or soon after, about 1640 ; it was called a Factory, and the Mogul

Empire jealously prevented anything like a bastion being erected about it.

In 1696 on the outbreak of a war between the Rajas on the western

side of the river Hugli and the Mogul Empire, the three European

settlements were allowed to enclose their factories for the protection of

their goods, and says Orme, “ they, taking for granted what was not posi¬

tively forbidden, with great diligence raised walls with bastions round

their factories.” Such was the origin of Hugli, Chandernagore and Cal¬

cutta Forts. Calcutta is then described as a small town contiguous to Soota-

nutty : we may ascribe the date of 1696 to the first Fort William as an

enclosed fort.

In 1753, the Mahratta ditch was dug, originally intended to be seven

miles long, only three were completed, this was a work carried out at the

request and “ at the cost,” so says Orme (p. 45), “ of the Indian inhabitants

of the colony.” He remarks, “ Allaverdy made no objection to this work,

and moreover permitted the English the same year to raise a rampart

with bastions of brickwork round their factory at Cossimbazar.” This, I

am inclined to think, must have been the date of the addition of the outer

bastions of Fort William ; which, as I shall be able to shew, are additions.

I, however, cannot find any direct allusion to their being built.

In 1756, repairs to the fort were begun in compliance with orders from

the Court of Directors. Holwell writing in a letter, dated November 30th,

1756, says — “ On the receipt of your letter by the Delawar in April we

began to put the settlement into as good a posture of defence as we could,

and as the parapet and embrazures as well as the gun carriages to the

westward of the fort were much out of repair, they became the first object

of our attention ; a number of workmen were employed, and I believe the

parapet and embrazures, the greater part of which we were obliged to pull

down, were more than half run up — when they were stopped by a Purwannah

from the Suba.”

That these repairs had been going on for some time past, and that

they were extensive, is evident from the fact that considerable diligence

bad been employed in excluding spies from the city who had reported that

the place was being fortified.

The excuse sent was to the effect that war had broken out between

England and France, and in order to prevent their factory from being taken

by the French, they state, “ we were only repairing our line of guns to

the water side,” which Orme states “ extended on the brink of the river

in front of the western side of the fort.”

1 have prepared a plan, Plate X, from a portion of Simm’s Map, which

107

1883.] portions of Old Fort William.

is a particularly accurate survey shewing the buildings as they stood in

1847, and over it I have shewn the fort in a thick outline, following Orme’s

measurements for the south curtain and the length of the east and west

sides. The measurements taken by me comprised the whole of the north

east bastion, a portion of the north west sufficient to determine its junction

with the curtains, all the north curtain with about 150 feet of each of the

east and west curtains. All these dimensions I have accurately taken, and

with them and Orme’s figures, I have laid out the east the west and also the

south sides.

Measurements made on this Map near the north west bastion at its

junction with the curtain wall to the river are as follows : water line in 1756

about 70 feet, in 1847-49, 425 feet, to Jetty edge of to-day, 1882, very near¬

ly 800 feet. They serve to shew how the river bank has been pushed west.

The second or larger scale Plan, Plate XI, that I have prepared, shews

the outline of the buildings newly ei’ected. The walls which are tinted

black are the walls and bastions of the first erected fort ; whether the

small inner square of the north west corner should be shewn as belong¬

ing to the old Fort, I cannot now say as I failed to note if the work

butted or bonded into the curtains. The lighter tint shews the bastions

erected after the square towers, with faces, flanks and salient. The next

lighter tint shews some inner walls, .always in brickwork in mud, and run¬

ning parallel to the curtains, and about 13 to 14 feet within them. Occa¬

sionally I find a cross wall, but I have failed to note them all, or I have

missed them.

I have also shewn on this plan such drains as I found. The regular¬

ly formed building in the centre, it will be seen, I have called the Carpen¬

ter’s shop. The small diagrams to a larger scale are the sections of walls,

Plates XII and XIII, drains etc.

The whole of the dimensions recorded were made by myself in order

to ensure a faithful record of what I found.

The small perspective sketch, Plate XIV, has been made from the measured

plan and filled in from a little pencil sketch made in my note book at the

time ; at no period of the excavation was it laid as completely bare as is here

shewn, I was hurrying on with the work of building the Company’s offices

and had no time to stop to expose the whole at a time.

I will now proceed to recount to you what I found, as nearly as I can,

in the order in which I found the works shewn on my plans.

On January 2nd, 1880, I opened the ground on which the East India

Railway Company’s offices are built. It had just been cleared to floor level

of some Custom House sheds built at various periods, some I believe as

recently as 1866. I took the curb level at the junction of Clive Street

and Fairlie Place as my datum for levels, calling it 10T5. The general

108

E. Eoskell Bayne — Notes on the remains of [No. 2,

level of the floors of the godowns was about 1‘0" above this. The floor of

the new building, to which I shall have to refer in a comparison of levels,

is 15 feet above my datum or 103'00.

In starting the setting out of my foundations I selected as a commence¬

ment the longest straight wall ; it is a wall 220 feet long. Before we had

been at work excavating a day, I might almost say a few hours, we

found we were on an old wall, the full length of our proposed wall, and

almost in exact alignment with it and 4 feet thick.

Knowing as I did that I was in the locality of old Fort William, I

inferred that I was on the wall or one of the walls of the Fort, and I proceeded

at once to dig down at its side in three or four places in order to see how

far it went down and what it was like. I found it went down nearly two

feet below the level at which it had been decided our walls and concrete

were to go, and as it was a good straight solid wall with a fair base, it

was decided to build on it in place of pulling it up. Its base being smaller

than our calculated areas and pressures, it has a greater load than the one

ton to the foot of the other walls ; its load is tons, but its solidity

has warranted the use made of it, and it saved some two or three

thousand Bupees. In addition the wall, buried though it be, we know it

to be there, it has not been annihilated.

In setting out this 220 feet wall ,of the new building, I had been

guided by the curb stone of the footpath of Fairlie Place, and had laid out

my wall parallel to it. I now found, (after it had been settled to make

use of the wall), that it was 9 in. in its length out of parallel with the curb, so

in order to utilize the wall, I had to throw my centre line longitudinally

westward to the north and eastward to the south on a centre point

9 in. each way, and my new wall then lay exactly over the centre of the

wall that proved to be the north curtain of old Fort William. I mention

this in detail, as I wish to call attention to the very close alignment of

streets of to-day with those shewn on the small Map that accompanies Orme’s

Yol. II, already referred to. The plan is headed— “ Plan for the intelligence

of the Military Operations in Calcutta when attacked and taken by Seeraj-

ul Dowleh, 1756” — I shall have occasion later on to call attention to this

close adherence to old lines of streets, this case I think a very remarkable

one.

So soon as I had satisfied myself that this wall was a part of the old

Fort, I narrowly watched the excavations following it and began to keep a

careful record of the walls as they were exposed. Immediately following

this discovery of the north curtain wall, I found we were on some very heavy

and closely built walls that soon proclaimed themselves in their raking

lines as the flanks and faces of a bastion. As far as I possibly could,

without delaying my work, I had the earth from between the walls

109

1883.] portions of Old Fort William.

excavated before the demolition of the walls themselves was begun, as

it may be imagined there was very little of the old walls left, for the

corners of the new building, made up as they are of a main staircase, bath¬

rooms and urinals, implies a network of cross walls in the new work. In

every case the old walls go down some two feet below the new walls, and in

some cases (the north face wall for example) have a slice cut off their inner

face from nil at one end to one or two feet at the other, and so we cut and

sliced them to make way for our foundations. About this time we found the

walls of a staircase or ramp in the junction of the north curtain wall and the

old square bastion of the earlier construction, There was another, a stair,

at the corresponding corner at the south-east bastion ; for Holwell tells us

at the time the prisoners were in the verandah near the Governor’s House :

“ Besides the guard over us, another was placed at the foot of the stairs at

the south end of this verandah leading up to the south-east bastion to pre¬

vent any of us escaping that way.”

As I have already said, the fort walls were founded at a lower level

than the walls of the new building by 2 feet, so that below our foundations}

would still be found a map as it were of the old Fort.

I now found that the outer bastion with its flanking faces and salient

was a later work, as the junctions of the flank walls with the older curtains

butted and did not bond, in addition the old plaster surface had not been

taken off but the new work was built against it. I afterwards found this

to be the case with the north-west bastion, which, as will be seen, had not

a square bastion similar to the north-east corner.

The walls were battered with a fall in of about one in ten, and the outer

faces were finished with a thin coat of lime plaster of a rich crimson tint,

and reticulated in imitation of stone work, the stones being about 1'6 long

by about 9 to 10 in. deep. This was the case with both the bastions.

It struck me, as I exposed this deep red plaster, that probably this

factory bastion would be called the Ball Killa (Red Fort), and it suggested

itself to me that the Ball Diggee (Red Tank) may have taken its name from

the Red Fort.

All this work of the bastions, more particularly the later portion, was

of very good material and excessively hard to break into. The bricks of

all their old works were x 4 x 1^. The lime used here was shell lime.

We often found large oyster shells, of a size that would weigh a seer to a

seer and a half, embedded in the wall, and by the hundreds strewn about

and buried in the fillings.

The spaces between the older walls of the bastion were loose earth

filling and no floor, the spaces behind the new bastion faces and flanks

were paved brick on edge. The level of this paving and the bottom edge

of the external plaster was 98 00, or 3-6 below my datum line, 5'0 below

110

[No. 2,

R. Roskell Bayne — Notes on the remains of

the floor level of the new building. On a corner of the plaster in the pas¬

sage way behind the bastion north face was a bench mark, consisting

of an inverted arrow-head, in black on the white plaster.

Of the east curtain wall we saw but little, only where we cut through

it with our cross walls, and it began to be a matter of regret whenever we

had to cut through it, it was such a labour and toil and caused such delay.

The soil to the north curtain wall appeared to have been but little

disturbed, and so far qs I noted, to keep about the level of the plaster

noted in the north-east bastion. Unfortunately a little north of this wall

there had been a wall of the Custom House sheds that had disturbed the soil,

but as a rule the level seemed, as far as my observation went pretty regular.

On the east curtain wall there had been little or no disturbance, the soil was

often quite undisturbed, and only here and there were potsherds in it.

I could not make much of the north-west bastion ; it was nothing like

so regularly built, and had not the older inner square tower (unless the two

square walls shewn on my plan belonged to it), there was no ramp or stair to

the roof that I noted, and altogether it was very confused, and we were push¬

ing on with concrete and walls, that there was no time to wait until dis¬

jointed fragments could be read and understood. Here I find at least that

the old walls of the north and west curtains met with a small rounded corner,

as the older plaster was still on the walls where the newer work butted it.

This bastion appears to me to have been of very much smaller size. Added

to all this 1 had not the opportunity of exposing the salient, as I had done

in the north-east one.

As already stated the east and west curtain walls I have traced for 140

feet south.

In one place in the east wall I found, what appeared to me to be a sill

of a door and a plastered jamb, but a Custom House wall had gone through

the old wall about here, and so obliterated it that I could not make

certain of it. On the north curtain wall there was neither break nor

opening.

My next discovery of interest was a shed that had evidently been built

an open one, and afterwards enclosed. It was 90 feet long by 40 feet wide,

built parallel to the north curtain wall with a row of 8 piers down the centre,

just such a flat-roofed godown on brick piers as is to be found all over

Calcutta to-day. Down the centre face of each pier had been a sunk water

channel, all were visible at floor line and the shallow drain on the north

side into which they ran was perfect. The spaces between the columns

on the faces had been filled in, thus turning an open into a closed shed.

The floor of this shed was brick on edge, and all over the floor in some

places 1^, in others up to 8 or 9 inches in thickness was burnt wood ash,

the floor of the godown in places where I had to cut through it bearing

Ill

1883.] portions of Old Fort William.

traces of severe fire. This place I identify as the Carpenters’ shop, and to

which I will draw attention later on. The floor of this godown wa3

98-28 which makes it very nearly 49" below our present ground floor

level. The wall plaster was uninjured, but we know that lime plaster will

bear without injury a severe fire. The wood ash I take to be the debris

at the time of the burning of the fort ; above it, as will be seen from my

section, is the khoa debris from a roof fallen by fire or demolition.

It evidently was never cleared out after the fire, but had become a heap of

rubbish, and so built over by the succeeding floor, shewn at the next higher

level. Along the north wall of this shed I found large heaps of cinder

with pieces vitrified as if from a forge. The earth to the north was about

T9' below the floor level of the shed.

I now come to the lightly tinted walls behind and parallel to the

curtain walls. They vary in width, as will be seen from the plan, in no case

18 feet, the dimension given by Holwell of the “ Black Hole”. In one

place only did I find any outer verandah, namely, on the west wall.

In every case these walls were of brickwork in mud, at least that por¬

tion that I found below the ground. They were very deep, almost as deep

as the curtain walls, and very thick, all of them made of very thin brick.

In a few places I found cross walls, and I find in my note book a note to the

following effect : “ behind the 3' 0" mud walls, the space seems to be divid¬

ed into cells.” I do not, however, find actual record of more than a few of

these cross walls. I would very probably miss them, as, if there were but

few, it would be quite a chance my coming on to them, and unless my walls

or column foundations coincided with them, I should of course miss them,

and I had no time to spend over searching for them. I could do little

more than note and record what I came across.

I have a particular object in specially drawing attention to these inner

walls and chambers which, as will be anticipated, points to the locality,

size and character of the Black Hole, but this I will postpone until I have

described the walls etc., found, only repeating that my explanation of not

always finding the cross walls of the chambers equally applies to my not

finding the outer verandahs corresponding to those of the Black Hole:

I simply did not hit on them in the foundations of my walls, or it may be

that the “ court of guard” rooms only had a verandah. Along that portion

of the west wall, also alongside an entrance door to be alluded to presently,

and where most probably a guard would be stationed and would require a

verandah, did I find verandah foundations.

I will return to the western wall, but before describing it, I must remark

that as the walls of the new building running north and south approach¬

ed the west, I found the natural ground sloped west, and that the drain follow¬

ed a depression, which by the time it reached the west curtain wall had grown

112

R. Roskell Bayne — Notes on the remains of [No. 2,

almost into a creek, compelling me to put in the foundations of the last two

walls 3, 4 and 5 feet below the other walls, and the soil there was black

stinking river mud full of pot-sherds, and here we found a great many

boars tusks of a small size.

Following the west curtain wall from the north west bastion, and

about 45 feet from it, we found a Sumph into which the drains all emptied,

or over which as we found them they all ended. Wc came on to this

Sumph from behind, and before we actually found out what it was, we had

destroyed its east face, and the loose filling caved in from the top as we

cleared it out at the bottom, thus proclaiming its nature.

The main drain, that running from beyond the Carpenters’ shop, I had

traced right up to the west curtain wall. I have shewn it in section in fig. 3,

Plate XII, it was a parallel-sided drain, at the upper end not more than 6 in.

wide, widening to 13 in. at the lower end, and everywhere filled up with black

mould. Over it and burying it was a later drain, a broad saucer drain, that

in its turn had become filled in and buried. The two drains kept the same

course ; it was only the last 75 or 80 feet that the second drain was found.

The Sumph into which these drains emptied was about 3,-6" square, and as I

have said, coming on as we did from the side of an opened trench, we had de¬

stroyed it in part before we knew what it was, so that we did not see the

entry of the two drains into it. The parallel-sided and lower drain fell fast

toward the Sumph nearly 2 feet in 10 ; where we had cut across it, we found

it full of pot-sherds, a coarse glazed blue and white ware, not a scrap of old

willow pattern, square ended broken glass bottles, a black loamy earth,

and a few very coarse thick pipe stems and bowls. We cleared out about 4

feet of this drain, tunelling as it were into it and then ceased.

The Sumph had been filled in with brick rubbish very loosely, so that

the filling was full of cavities into which water had filtered, leaving on all

the bricks a thin deposit of clay. This Sumph was nearly perfect up to

about the second level of floors and material, above the re6t the road ran.

On emptying this Sumph we found on its western face a low arch with a

versed sine of about 6 in. and above the floor of the Sumph. Into this opening

we thrust a rod and found it 3 feet deep with water ; probing 3 feet deep,

we could feel a bottom of brickwork ; we then tried it horizontally, and

thrust our rod into vacuity ; we tried a second and a third time and at last,

finding that 20 feet found no end, we concluded it to be a drain.

As we had found water of which we were in want for our building

operations, we decided to make use of it, and sank out to the bottom

of the culvert which we then found to be a parallel-sided drain 26" wide

and 3 feet 6 high with an arched bottom and top ; on a man trying to go

into the drain we found it silted up about 2 feet deep. We put up a one

H. P. Ryder Engine, and for 12 months drew water from this source. The

water was perfectly clear and limpid. The workmen all drank of it.

113

1883.] portions of Old Fort William.

Since the completion of the building a man hole has been sunk over this

culvert, 45 feet to the west of the curtain, and a Tangye Engine has now

drawn for 21 months about 10,000 gallons of water a day from it. At a

point, 30 feet beyond this well and to the west, is an iron grating, so I have

been told by the coolies who have been into the drain to clean it out. The

culvert falls about 15 inches in 30 feet from the well to the grating.

The old Sumph was filled in on the completion of the work and not

destroyed.

The water is clearly river water as a green vegetation grows over it

in the hot weather, precisely similar to a vegetation growing over the Chand

Pal water in an adjoining tank pumped direct from the River, so that

there is still existing some communication or filtration.

To continue my account of the west wall, at 55 feet from the flank

wall of the bastion I found one jamb of a doorway in a wall 6 feet thick.

This extra thickness of wall I could not understand at first, but on consi¬

deration I could see that the wall had been thickened on account of the door

opening, and on looking for the other jamb I found a Custom House wall

had passed through and destroyed it. I then looked for and found the

extent of the thickened wall, which I found to be 16 feet wide, leaving an

opening of 8'-4." There is a change of level in the pavement, inside and

out, in this door opening ; they both have been additions on the date of the

wall as the plaster jambs go below both floors. On finding this door in

the curtain wall I dug west, following the pavement and looking for the

rampart wall which I found at 25 feet distance. I looked for this, guided

by the Panorama of Calcutta in Orme’s Vol. II. Again referring to his

plan, I could see that I was not at the limit of the ground west of the curtain,

so I continued my searching west, until at 45 feet from the curtain wall I

found a second wall 2, 6" thick and parallel with the first and second

walls ; this I take to be the River or Quay wall. The doorway of the

rampart wall measures 7'T" wide, it has a stone sill in the opening, and

here again the paving has been added since the door was originally built,

as the plaster jambs and step go behind and below the pavement. These

doors are the River side entrances alluded to by Holwell in his letter of

November 30th, 1756 in which he states that “ The Suba from his litter

returned my salaam,” this was on his resigning his sword “ and moved

round to the northward and entered the fort by the small western gate.”

These two outer walls I have found again further south. The entire space,

so far as I have found it between the curtain wall and the next wall west, is

paved with a brick on edge, a good large 10 inch brick well burnt, laid

in sand or soorkey on a brick flat which is laid on 2 or 3 inches of burnt

wood ash, the whole forming a good level well laid floor. In places at a

lower level of 4£ I find this floor again inside the curtain wall. I found it

114 K. lloskell Bayne — Notes on the remains of [No 2,

the whole length of the north curtain, between it and the mud and brick

wall. I do not know if on the west side it only occurs in the gateway or

if it continues north and south, 1 do not recollect it to the north towards

the Sumph, but I found it further south in some gun platforms I have

yet to describe. These details I have just described I found since the

completion of the building, and on searching for some information as to

a wall on which I found myself in doubt when preparing the diagrams for

this paper.

In putting in the drain pipe from our latrines I cut through what

appears to me to have been a sunken gun platform and the commencement

of a second to the south. There were three steps down into it, plastered with

splayed edges almost as if new, so perfect was the plaster and the edges.

The three steps were respectively 6", 8" and 4 inches in one place, the 8" and

the 4" uniting into one of 12" ; the change had been broken away before I

saw it. The curtain wall had a sunken face in it, thus thinning it to about

3 feet. This work was all addition as there were plaster faces behind the

platform work. The outer face of this curtain was in some cases plastered,

in some only whitewashed.

I imagine these to be some of the hurried works taken in hand, as

alluded to by Orme, at the time the fort was assailed.

I would point out here (shewn on the Plan, PI. X, 0 and PI. XI) the

verandah foundations opposite this western gate the only place in which

I have found signs of verandahs. I do not now understand the cross wall

shewn in my plan opposite the entrance gate. On the east face of this

verandah wall was a very perfect surface drain, with a second one coming

into it. I have no record of cutting through this verandah wall when

putting in the drain already alluded to, so that I presume it stops short

of the gun platform. This completes my notes of this wall.

I particularly drew attention to the inner parallel walls behind all the

curtains, north, east and west, referring to Orine’s description of the fort

telling us of these inner walls. I have drawn to a small scale, Fig. 5

Plate XIII, the south-east bastion, reproducing the north-east bastion

with its stairs to the terrace. My authority for shewing these stairs at this

bastion I have already cited from Orme.

From the small map in Orme’s Yol. II, of Calcutta, I make the centre

gateway to be about 180 feet from the south-east bastion. I have shewn in my

conjectural plan this central portion as having 94 feet clear width inside and

100 feet outside. I scale this projecting portion as 10 feet, and Orme tells us

it had one gun on each flank, for which I have allowed a projection of about

12 feet, whether more or less, does not affect what I want to draw attention

to. On the right, so called by Holwell, that is the south, I have put

the room of the guard allowing a small verandah on the north, of 10 feet

115

1S83.] portions of Old JToi't 'William.

in width ; the room itself I have shewn 20 feet. The barracks behind it I

shew as 40 feet. I nest shew a chamber 17 feet wide ; this, as will be seen,

brings us up to the face of the square bastion, the first built portion of the

Fort. So that we have only to shorten by one foot the barracks, or the room

of the guard, or the space inside the gate, to make up this dimension to

18 feet. In any case here undoubtedly was the Military Prison, the Black

Hole, so called by soldiers themselves, not so called, as many suppose, because

of the events that occurred here.

I have drawn your attention to a shed which I have called the Car¬

penters’ shop. I will now quote a few lines from Holwell’s account of the

closing events of the 20th June.

“ As soon as it was dark, we were all, without distinction directed by

the guard over us, to collect ourselves into one body, and sit down quietly

under the arched verandah or piazza to the west of the Black Hole

prison, and the barracks to the left of the court of guard ; and just over

against the windows of the Governor’s easterly apartments. Besides the

guard over us, another was placed at the foot of the stairs at the south end

of this verandah, leading up to the south-east bastion, to prevent any of us

escaping that way. On the parade (where you will remember the two

twenty-four pounders stood) were also drawn up about four or five hundred

gun-men with lighted matches.

“ At this time the factory was in flames to the right and left of us ; to

the right the Armory and Laboratory ; to the left the Carpenters’ yard :

though at this time we imagined it was the Cotta- warehouses.* Various

were our conjectures on this appearance ; the fire advanced with rapidity

on both sides ; and it was the prevailing opinion, that they intended

suffocating us between the two fires : and this notion was confirmed by the

appearance, about half an hour past seven, of some officers and people with

lighted torches in their hands, who went into all the apartments under the

easterly curtain to the right of us ; to which we apprehended they were

setting fire, to expedite their scheme of burning us. On this we presently

came to a resolution, of rushing on the guard, seizing their scymitars and

attacking the troops upon the parade, rather than be thus tamely roasted

to death. But to be satisfied of their intentions, I advanced, at the

request of Messrs. Baillie, Jenks and Revely, to see if they were really

setting fire to the apartments, and found the contrary ; for in fact, as it

appeared afterwards, they were only searching for a place to confine us in :

the last they examined being the barracks of the court of guard behind us.

“ They ordered us all to rise and go into the barracks to the left of

the court of guard. The barracks, you may remember, have a large

* The Company’s cloth warehouses.

116

E. Roskell Bayne — Notes on the remains of

[No. 2,

wooden platform for the soldiers to sleep on, and are open to the west by

arches and a small parapet-wall, corresponding to the arches of the

verandah without. In we went most readily, and were pleasing ourselves

with the prospect of passing a comfortable night on the platform, little

dreaming of the infernal apartments in reserve for us. For we were no

sooner all within the barracks, than the guard advanced to the inner arches

and parapet-wall ; and, with their muskets presented, ordered us to go

into the room at the furthermost end of the barracks, commonly called

the Black Hole prison ; whilst others from the court of guard, with clubs

and drawn scimitars, pressed upon those of us next to them.

“ Figure to yourself, my friend, if possible, the situation of a hundred

and forty-six wretches, exhausted by continual fatigue and action, thus

crammed together in a cube of about eighteen feet, in a close sultry night,

in Bengal, shut up to the eastward and southward (the only quarters from

whence air could reach us) by dead walls, and by a wall and door to the

north, open only to the westward by two windows, strongly barred with

iron, from which we could receive scarce any the least circulation of fresh

air.”

I do not think there is any room to doubt now the exact locality of

the Black Hole.

In the plan attached I think it is on the spot marked N (on Plate X)

and if my scaling from Orme’s Map is correct, and if his 210 yards given as

the length of the east face is correct, the foundations of the building still

remain, and their exact locality could with very little trouble or expense be

found, because, as I have stated, these verandah walls go down very deep, deeper

than the Custom House shed walls, and would consequently be, as I found

those to the north, undisturbed. The salient and the faces of this bastion

there is no doubt have been destroyed by the Post Office buildings, but

the inner corner of the older square bastion appears to me to have fallen

beyond the Post Office building, if, as I have said, Orme’s figures are

correct ; and as I have shown they are exact on the north face.

I would now draw attention to the south-west corner. It will be seen

that a considerable portion of this lies beyond the old Military Accounts

Office. If the building is condemned as one to come down, I do hope

attention will be called to obtaining a faithful record of all to be found

here, and I am persuaded that all the bastion foundations will be found

below those of the house as intact as I found those of the north-east

bastion.

An expenditure of 150 Rupees judiciously applied would enable us to

determine a good deal more of the fort walls without disturbing any build¬

ing or breaking up any floors.

To return again to the levels of the old fort, I would draw attention

117

1883 ] 'portions of Old Fort William.

to the floor and differences of level. The Carpenters’ shop, for instance,

with its floor of brick on edge over 3 in. of fine concrete laid on 3 in. of brick

rubbish ; going upwards above this floor, wood ash, and the debris from

the destroyed roof, then a tile floor on concrete T 5" above the first floor,

then again over that l"-6" of rubbish, and then a metaled road, that in this

place ran between two Custom House sheds; then, if I had made my section

through one of the sheds, its floor of brick on edge over brick flat, and now

again the floors of the new buildings, of stone pavement on 6 in. of con¬

crete or 8 in. of concrete with Portland cement finishing. These two last

are four feet nine inches above that of the Carpenters’ shed of 1756. Thus

there are four floors in succession, first that of 1756, then the tile floor, age

doubtful, then one of 1866, and now the new one of 1883.

I have incidentally referred to the streets shewn on Orme’s map,

comparing them with those of to-day. In the extract from Simm’s Map,

on which I have shewn by a thick dotted line the water edge as shewn

on Orme’s map, a ghaut will be noticed that does not quite fit in

with the end of Khoyla Ghaut Street. This non-fit is due I fancy to an

error in Orme’s map increased by my plotting from a map without a scale.

1 have, however, adhered closely to what I have measured or scaled, and

have not cooked my dimensions in order to make them fit in. The angle of

the street is exactly as at the present time.

The wide opening in Clive Street opposite the Bonded Ware Houses,

and the little bend west at the head of Clive Ghaut Street are as exact as

this small scale could shew them. Church Lane is another accurately fit¬

ting bit, and so in fact are numerous others.

Judging from the Map already referred to, “ the Park,” now Dalhousie

Square or Lall Diggee, appears to me to have extended itself north a little,

and the road on the north of it to have been correspondingly narrowed.

I have shewn on the Plan (Plate X) the place which I conjecture to

be the un- finished Bavelin, into the ditch of which Holwell says “ the

dead bodies were next morning thrown.”

At the time the drainage pipe was put down in Fail-lie Place, Mr.

Bradford Leslie, then Engineer to the Municipality, noted that they had

to cut through a pucca ghaut exactly opposite the lane leading up to

No. 2 Fail-lie Place. It agrees exactly with the ghaut shewn on Orme’s map,

and also on the perspective sketch from the river side. This is a valuable

piece of confirmatory evidence of the correctness of this plan and the old

line of river bank at that date.

Nothing of interest was found in the excavations save a chain shot

or two, some 30 or 40 cannon ball of varying sizes, and of malleable iron,

some almost bullets in size ; these were mostly found at the west end of

the Carpenters’ shop and outside it. The breach end of an old 10 pounder

118 R. R. Bayne — Notes on the remains of Old Fort William. [No. 2,

gun, and the top end and ring of an old anchor stock was all that was turned

up.

In conclusion, I would here note a record I have made of the build¬

ing, and of the extreme point of the north-east bastion (the salient as it is

termed).

Whilst rounding off the corner of our boundary wall so as to ease the

foot traffic passing it, I have secured the little bit of triangular land be¬

longing to the building by paving it, and on this paving I have had cut,

in the northern line of the bastion face and on the eastern edge, a line

parallel to the eastern face but two feet removed within it, as the actual line

lies below the foot path and off the East Indian Railway land.

I would have liked to have placed a small tablet here to record one

fixed point of the old fort, but as I was spending money belonging to

the Government of Bengal, I could not do it. The stone to carry a tablet

is inserted, ready if at any time the money to pay for the tablet is

forthcoming. My idea was a brass plate with an engraving on it of the

outline of the fort and a short legend of explanation.

I would solicit permission to make a few excavations here and there

in the Custom House compound. Digging a few holes does not cost very

much, and with the north portion of the fort and lines to start with,

the exact spots could be indicated without much guess work or hunting for

them.

I think an excavation (I don’t ask for it) at a place measured from the

point of the central or east gate drawn east, and about 100 feet east of

the east curtain would find the burial place of the victims of the night of

June 20th, 1756.

I do not know if any records were kept of what was found during the

building of the Post Office north-east corner, I fear none. It was stated

that when the Port Commissioners offices were built, some of the founda¬

tions then uncovered were those of the fort. A glance at Simms Map,

now that we have the north curtain fixed, will shew that this cannot

have been the case, as this site in 1756 lay in the river or at least

beyond the river wall of the fort, and in the mud banks.

In the excavation for the buildings now going on in Kovla Ghaut

Street, the river wall shewn in Orme’s map should have been found just

about here, but as I have found this river wall to be only a small wall,

2'. 6" thick, it would probably escape detection amongst such a maze

of walls, and of so many ages. I was repeatedly over these excavations

to see if anything of interest was to be found.

One wall I found, a battering wall 2'TO" thick, 2,-3" at an upper point,

but it was too far inland to be the river wall. The character of the work,

however, was the same as that found in the inner walls of the Port, partly

119

1883.] G. A. Grierson — Essays on Declension and Conjugation.

bricks in mortar, partly in mud ; on the outer face the earth sloped River-

wards as if tipped in from the wall ; it had behind it a sort of floor roughly

laid, small khoa over a large quantity of oyster shells and brick rubbish.

Essays on Biliari Declension and Conjugation. — By G. A.

Gbieesoit, B. C. S.

A. Inteodttctoey.

The dialects of the Bihari* language present many interesting facts

to the student of philology. Hitherto only two of these dialects have

been thoroughly investigated, and each of these in one special form. Dr

Hoernle’s Grammar treats of the Bhojpuri dialect as spoken near Banaras,

where it is by no means free from the influence of its neighbour the

Baiswari, and the present author’s Maithili grammar treats mainly of the

standard dialect of the centre of Mithila. The Magadhi dialect has not

been treated of in any form, but it will be found a most useful object of

study, as showing the stepping-stone between the somewhat archaic forms

contained in standard Maithili, and the more phonetically attrited forms

which we find in Bhojpuri. The last language, extending to nearly the

centre of Hindustan, and spoken by a warlike energetic race may be consi¬

dered as the most phonetically advanced of the three Bihari dialects. Its

people have no literature to which their speech can be referred, and with the

energy peculiar to their race they have disembarrased themselves to a large

extent of the somewhat cumbrous grammatical forms of their ancestors,

and have succeeded in wearing down periphrases and compounds into new

words bearing no outward sign of their origin. The inhabitants of Mithila,

on the contrary, intensely conservative from beyond historic times, f and

possessing a literature dating from the fourteenth century, have changed

their language but little during all this period. As Maithili was born at

the time when the Gaudian languages first emerged from the Prakrit, so

it has remained to the present day, and the herd-boy, as he tends his

buffaloes in 1882, speaks the same language as that in which the old master-

singer Vidyapati sang of the loves of Radha and Krishna to king S'iv Singh

five centuries ago. It is to Maithili therefore that we must look for the

earliest forms of Bihari declension, and if we do we shall rarely be disap-

* This is the name which I have adopted here and elsewhere for the “ Eastern

Hindi language” treated of by Dr. Hoernle in his Gaudian Grammar.

t At the marriage of Sita, which took place at Janakapura in Mithila, Earn is said,

in Maithil tradition, to have cursed the haughty Maithil Brahmans, who refused to

hold any account of the foreign prince from Audh. The curse runs,

120

G. A. Grierson. — Essays on Bilt art Declension. [No. 2,

pointed. Magadhi all this time held a middle course. Its peculiar home

was the hilly country about Bihar and Gaya, where there was little inter¬

course with other tribes, and little mental or material progress. It had no

literature, and therefore nothing to retard, while it had little to aid its pro¬

gress. Hence its middle position between the antique Maithili, and the

practical work-a-day Bhojpuri.

The object of these papers is to bring to a common focus all the

information which I have collected concerning the dialects of Bihar,

and to lay them in this shape before the Society. I shall treat mainly of

the following dialects :

A. Bhojpuri, spoken in west Bihar.

B. Magadhi, spoken in south Bihar.

C. Maithili, spoken in north and east Bihar.

Of the last there are two sub-dialects.

1. North Maithili spoken in north Tirhutand Bhagalpur.

2. South Maithili spoken in south-east Tirhut, and north

M unger.

Besides these the dialects of language borderlands will be consider¬

ed, viz. : —

A. The Baiswari of the Ramayan of Tulsi Das, which is the

border dialect between Bihari (Bhojpuri) and Hindi.

B. The dialects of the border land between Bihari (Maithili)

and Bangali, spoken in (1) south Bhagalpur, and (2)

central and western Purniya.

I shall also have occasion to refer to the dialects of dialect border¬

lands, viz. :

A. Maithili- Bhojpuri of south-west Tirhut.

B. Maithili-Magadhi of south Munger.

There is not any bordeidand of importance between Magadhi and

Bhojpuri. The following table shows the relative positions of these dia¬

lects and sub-dialects.

PQ

North Maithili

r h i l i

South Maithili

Maith il-Mugadhi

MAGADHI

a

<s>.

by

a

as

a^

by

k

1883.] G. A. Grierson — Essays on Bihari Declension. 121

B. Declension.

I. Case.

I divide the consideration of this point into two heads :

a. Organic declension.

ft. Inorganic declension.

By organic declension, I mean that kind of declension which is not

formed by postpositions, but by actual inflection. By inorganic declension

I mean that kind of declension which is formed by postpositions added to

a base whether inflected or not.

In Bihari there is a very full organic declension in the singular num¬

ber. It is found in its fullest form in the north Maithili dialect, and the

terminations are as follows. They can only be added to the weak* form

of a noun.

* I adopt the terms weak, strong, short, long, and redundant, from Hoernle s

Gaudian Grammar. §§ 201, 356.

B

122

G. A. Grierson — Essays on Bihdri Declension.

[No. 2,

The following are examples of the above terminations :

A. — Baiswdri.

Acc. ft fR qnRWRT, ‘ then Brahma advised the

earth’. Ram. Bd. ch. 199, 9.

ft, — qmft qm ?r qr*ffq q^TTT, ‘ beholding Bam

with affection she called near her friends.’ Ram. Ba.

do. 265, 1.

Instr. f%, — qsqf<T fqqit, ‘ Bam warned Lakhan with a

sign.’ Ram. Ba. ch. 284, 8.

ft, — qw ^IT^Tft q* qfq^Ttf qwft «|iW, ‘ the Lord, sensible of

their affection, asked their welfare with politeness.’

Ram. A. ch. 25, 2.

it, — qiw4 ^*rftrr ^R*f ‘ Behind one’s back an enemy

in the viciousness of his soul.’ Ram. Kis. ch. 7, 7,

where qTW° is in the instrumental case, much like the

Hindi tiw #, which means both ‘ behind’ (instr.) and

‘from behind’ (all.).

q, — ff^q^T fq^TJT *rft srqr, ‘as water is not different from

crystallized ice.’ Ram. Ba. ch. 123, 11.

Dat. fe— qrq ttfa qffr? qmrf qrfc #T fqq vPCflf^ ^ff , ‘ after

affectionately performing every rite, the king gave

(her) in marriage to Bharat.’ Ram. Bd. chh. 49, 4.

ft,— qs fqfa tffft qjTqy; tT, ‘ in many ways he shows honour

to the bondmaid.’ Ram. A. ch. 24, 4.

Abl. f^,— 3T^f? qfw qrft fi^rfqfq ^ToTT, ‘the king having inquired

from the guru, performed the family rites.’ Ram. Bd.

ch. 319, 8.

ft, — siTrjft fq«rft vrq ‘ from your mother and

your father you have well become debt-absolved.’ Ram.

Bd. ch. 284, 2.

Gen. ft, — ^rqi'Tft tqitf, ‘at the words of Lakhan,

Janak became afraid.’ Rdm. Bd. ch. 286, 4.

ft— KTSift 3* qT q^rr ‘ There is a great love of the

king for you.’ Ram. A. ch. 40, 6.

— only used with pronouns (omitting \st and 2nd per¬

sonal pronouns) rTFQ ftqr^ qft ^q ‘ again, all

approached hers.’ Ram. Kis. ch. 25, 3.

q, — only used with 1$£ and 2nd personal pronouns, fi* ^Tq

rT WST, ‘an illusion (arising) from egoism and

from “ mine” and “ thine.” ’ Rdm. Ar. ch. 12, 2.

1883.]

G. A. Grierson — Essays on Bihari Declension. 123

Loc. ft, — 5T*rwf ^ITWT, ‘ what remained over went into

the guests’ quarters.’ Ram. Ba. ch. 332, 7.

*T^Ts; srijit, ‘ at dawn to-day having bathed

at Prayag.’ Ram. A. ch. 262, 6.

ft,— rf*r fcg ^T^riTf^ rSjTJft, ‘ to

please Ram every tree was laden with fruit, whether

in season or not in season, without regard to the time

of year.’ Ram. Ln. ch. 6, 5.

55, — ^W!55 ^ * if he persist in obstinacy, in

the end it burns his bosom.’ Ram. Ba. ch. 259, 5.

55, — ^vr?55 tff ^ <T^f sit qjtf , ‘ where there is water, in the end

there will be mud.’ Ram. A. ch. 175, 4.

— *fTW *n«fT, ‘ afterwards the son of the wind

bowed his head.’ Ram . Kis. ch. 23, 9.

The terminations ^ of the instrumental, and 55, 55 and >?; of the locative

are rare in the Ramayan, and survive only in a few indeclinables like

q-T$, 8fc. There may be isolated instances of © and 55 being

used to form other cases, but I have not noted them in the course

of my reading.

• • •

Probably the Baiswari case postpositions W, ?T, and others are also

instrumentals, cf. post Maithili «r, and rf.

Note. It is better to consider this form in if as an instrumental, and

not as a locative, as (1) the locative is already supplied with another

organic termination and (2) comparison with the Maithili dialect shows the

termination as exclusively used in the instrumental case in that dialect,

and (3) other dialects such as Panjabi and Marathi show traces of the same

tendency. See post, under head of derivation.

B. — Maithili.

Ace. ft, — ^ f%7T ^ ^?ft ^T*T, ‘ he is my friend who brings my

enemy.’ Man'hodh, 6, 39.

ft, — tier ^ftft ’qr, ‘ the buffalos are grazing in

the field, beat the calves.’ Prov.

Instr. ft,— «l*Tff, ‘ he opened the bonds and

fetters with violence.’ Man. 4, 42.

ft,— Hjjfc ft/f#, ‘ I would have swept it with my

body-cloth,’ Nag Songs, No. 1.

5?,—' Jf^T, ‘ (as much as I would say)

with half my lip, that also is gone far away,’ Yul. 73, 4.

124

G. A. Grierson — "Essays on BiTiari Declension. [No. 2,

Instr. t — qfTix qfw wfxx qn^lX* ‘ he binds his waist witli knife and

dagger,’ Mars. 4, 1.

This example is Musalmani-Maithili, and the words may

be nom. plurals fern, borrowed from Urdu. I shall

hence give other examples.

aftfx 5RTJ1 ?vtxif ^T^fx, a fair woman is blinded by pride.

Prov.

w 3TTTJ, ‘ like a cow (distracted) by the

losing of her calf,’ Man. 3, 17.

To this must he added the very common colloquial forms

ij ‘ by this,’ gjq ‘ by which,’ ‘ by that’ which occur

in literature only in company with prepositions ; and

the illative conjunction or ‘ therefore.’ Examples

of the first are,

q qfx xrera» ^T, ‘ in this way was the circle of the

rds.' Man. 6, 5.

^qfx q'XX ^f<T 5i^r, ‘in what way the guards had gone

to sleep.’ Ib., 17.

The following are colloquial examples, not made to order,

q, qri} x ‘for this reason (by this), it happened by

conversation.’

srrxT^r ?rft ‘ I cannot

hear the Kuran by the ears, with which I have heard

the S'rimad bhdgavat.'

sgqx if % X^TX, ‘ he saw you pleased,

therefore he came.’

^qXT ^ xqq ^rfx if TX¥, ‘ there was noj'unity

amongst themselves, thence fell the adversity.’

qrzfqrif sfiJTfT W, ‘by discussions a quarrel arose.’

Compare the following example of the instr. of qffr

‘ what ?’

^^XT ’XTX XXXwt, ‘ why do you make me out a

thief ?’

Classical examples of the use of ?f or fr"are the following :

if «rf% 3\xf9 JTXT#, ‘ therefore he does not eclipse it.’ Vid.

14, 8.

rj xfx ‘ therefore the lotus does not dry up.’

Vid. 14, 6.

1883.]

125

G. A. Grierson — Essays on Bihari Declension.

Dat. o^Tf^TT ^«TT*T, ‘ to all he made meet reverence.’

Man. 9, 62.

All. f%, — from boyhood cowherds learn

cattle-tending. Man. 4, 12.

3?, — TWPCq ’C^T, ‘from that place their hopes

remained equally (unsatisfied).’ Man. 1, 8.

— f%3T «rf| rfcT^ W, ‘ nothing came to pass from there.’

11. 7.

Gen. §T^T, ‘ a means of the going of Akrur.’

Man. 7, 17.

fj, — only used with pronouns (omitting 1st and 2nd personal

pronouns), q-W rT^r#, ‘ whose mind trembles

exceedingly,’ Vid. 7, 5.

— only used with ls£ and 2nd personal pronouns, *rfit

‘he is not my brother-in-law,’ Vid. 79, 7.

% — only used in the 2nd personal pronoun, qT^ q^W flTg

qT^ft, ‘ nay feet have touched thy water, 0 mother,’

Vid. 78, 3.

Doc. f^, — olfl^TT ^^T«TT^T, ‘ into the Jamuna-pool went

Krishn.’ Man. 4, 18.

^ 5i^T, ‘ in her astonishment, the vermilion

was rubbed off,’ Vid. 26, 4.

‘the yadari has dried up in the fields.’

Famine sony, 12.

SI, — q^3s f^rq«T VK* si^T^T, ‘ Krishn was extremely skilled

in wrestling.’ Man. 9, 30.

*rf% VT9slfa qjqsJ, ‘ even at any time he spake not

harshly in anger.’ Man. 7, 35.

q, — ‘ I shall go on an unfrequented river

bank,’ Vid. 5, 3.

This form of locative is very common in all Bihari dialects

in phrases such as sp ‘ in every house,’ &c.

From the above we are justified in drawing up the follow¬

ing model paradigm of the organic declension of the

word qfif , the weak form of ‘ a horse,’ in the sin¬

gular number.

12G G. A. Grierson — Essays on Bihdri Declension. [No. 2,

Note as to Plural. The above is the singular declension. In the

Ramayan the terminations in f? are used in a plural sense ; thus,

‘ there is no difference between things possessing

qualities, and those without them,’ Bam. Bd. ch. 123, 1 : native pandits,

indeed, maintain that the termination is properly only used in the

plural, and that when used in the singular, it is always in an honorific sense.

This theory is generally borne out so far as my experience goes, and hence it

will be convenient to assume that in the Ramayan the terminations f%,

and ^ are singular, and the termination ft plural.

In Maithili, the termination ft and H are used equally in a singular

and in a plural sense. An example of the plural usage of ft will be found

in the example given for the Locative. .

The termination ^ of the Instrumental is used only in the singular of

nouns. Of Pronouns the case is different, vide post. Maithili nouns always

form their plural periphrastically by adding a noun of multitude, which is

1888.]

127

G. A. Grierson — Essays on Bihari Declension.

itself declined in the singular, taking the singular terminations. The only

words which take a new base in the plural (both for the nominative, and

oblique cases) are the words ^r*lf«T, and (see Mill. Gram.

§ 25 for the two last) which form their instrumentals ^rtrft^y,

and I am unable to give any examples from literature of the use

of these three words.

For further remarks concerning these plural forms in f«T, vide post.

Derivation.

At present I do not propose to consider the genitive terminations ^5,

T, and % as they are only used in connection with pronouns, and can be

more conveniently discussed under that head.

The remaining terminations are

Bamayan, f%, ff, 55, 55, if,

Maithili, f%, ft, 55, 55, — % *?.

Before proceeding further, I must warn against another set of termi¬

nations in use in these dialects, which are merely particles of emphasis, viz.,

ft?, ''ft or 'ft* 55 or 55, see Hoernle, G. G., § 550, and the Author’s

Mth. Gram., § 205. These are entirely different in origin, but are liable

to lead to confusion.

The following table shows the declensional terminations in Apa-

bhramsa Prakrit. H. C. means the fourth book of Hemachandra’s Gram¬

mar. K. I. means Kramadisvara quoted in Lassen, pp. 449 and ff. Md.

means Markandeya quoted by Hoernle.

Table showing the declensional terminations of nouns in Apabhramsa Prakrit.

128

3

Gs

&

l-l

02

G. A. Grierson — Essays on Bihari Declension.

[No. 2,

05

G

O

• rH

G

• H

a

S-t

<D

-4^

<D

G

,® o

3 e+H

rjf

HH

CO

Q

3

1_ (N

2|w CO

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OT.W

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rH

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3.

hh

h<

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d

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•w o

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bpd'g

C . v>— ^

S3

CD

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S-H

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rG

05

rG

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• «— < '

£

°-£?S

*g «

^ h3*

aw

‘ 60

33

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S3

<D

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rH

o

rG

S3 .

•£ 3 _

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a>

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600-

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&IV .

33 <M

3

£

:3£

✓ • ^

3

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rG -3>

w S3

f|F Eni-i

C3

<u

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o

rG

05

rG

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VO

CO

3

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CO

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&

S3

a>

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3

fe'CO s

w hh ira

, -CO <N

■w

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(IP

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k> Oh

3

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<M 05

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Table showing the declensional terminations of nouns in Apabhramsa PraJcrit.

1883.]

G. A. Grierson — Essays on Bihdri Declension.

129

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130

[No. 2,

G. A. Grierson — Essays on Bihari Declension.

The casual terminations of the Ramayan have been discussed by

Hoernle (G. G. pp. 195—212). The results arrived at are as follows : With

the exception of ijw, which may be considered as a strengthened form of

all the above forms are found in Apabhramsa Prakrit. Taking each form

separately we find ;

A. With regard to P?, that it is used in the following cases : —

See Hoernle G. G., §§ 365 and 367. As regards the Prakrit form ff, it

is a weakened form of % which is properly a termination of the genitive

singular, and has been extended to the abl. and loc. in Prakrit, and fur¬

ther extended to the acc. instr. and dat. in the Ramayan. In Maithili, it

has altogether lost its genitival sense, and is not used in the dative, as in

the Ramayan. This termination f% is derived from the Sanskrit termina¬

tion ^ of the genitive. So that we get the series Skr. Ap. Pr.

Bihari ‘ of a horse.’ It will be seen that the termination

in Bihari, being added to the weak form of the noun, presupposes

a Skr. and not which latter would become Ap. Pr,

and Bihari ^fbfTf%.

Other examples are Slcr. ‘ a sage,’ gen. sing. (for

Ap. Pr. Bihari , : and Skr. ‘ a teacher,’ gen. sing

3TTT: (for Jiw), Ap. Pr. 31^, 3T^f%, Bihari,

^ # vJ Vi

It is not necessary to give examples of Skr. strong forms in for our

present purposes, — for the termination f% is, in Bihari, only added to the

weak form of nouns.

B. is used in the Ramayan only in a plural sense. In Maithili it

has (to a great extent in use) superseded f%, and is used in the sense both

of singular and plural in the following cases : —

* Used also sometimes in singular, vide Hoernle, p. 208.

1883.]

G. A. Grierson — Essays on Bihari Declension.

131

See Hoernle §§ 367 and 369. As regards the Prakrit form, two

derivations are plausible. One connects it with the Prakrit abl. plur.

suffix f^T, and the other with Skr. abl. dual termination (see Hoernle

l. c.), which would regularly change in Pr. to ^ or

The following examples will show the process. Skr. ‘a horse

abl. dual, ; or Pr. abl. plur. (Arsha) ^bsf^TT; Ap. Pr. gen. plur.

: Bihari qtf :

Skr. TifiT, ‘a sage;’ abl. dual, ; or Pr. abl. plur. (Arsha)

wf*rf^3T ; Ap. Pr. gen. plur. ; Bihari,

Skr. 3T^, ‘ a teacher abl. dual, ; or Pr. abl. plur. (Arsha)

'J ^

Ap. Pr. gen. plur. 3T^%; Bihari

It is possible that these two derivations are not incompatible with

each other. It will be observed, that when the Skr. has a long vowel

before ikff, Arsha Prakrit has (and only then) a long vowel before

It is possible therefore that the first three syllables of are directly

connected with and that the syllable *TT is an additional pleonastic

ablatival suffix.

C. sJ. It is rarely used in the Ramayan, and probably only in the

locative. It is evidently a weakened form of the Ap. Prakrit Both

U and occur in all masculine and neuter nouns having ^ bases in Ap. Pr.

Bases in % and <3 take only ^t. Feminine bases use ^ as the termination

of the abl. and gen. plur. (IT. C. IV, 351). In Maithili ^ is used in all

genders and with all weak bases. The use of these two terminations is

as follows :

The use of these terminations has therefore been extended in Maithili

to the locative and dative. The dative, it need hardly be pointed out

does not occur in Prakrit. The origin of is obscure. Lassen, (p. 462)

identifies it with an assumed Skr. suffix ^ ; while Hoernle (§ 368) connects

it with the Skr. abl. plur, suffix through *«T.

132 G. A. Grierson — Dssnys on Bihari Declension. [No. 2,

D. It is rarely used in the Ramayan, and probably only in the

locative. In Ap. Prakrit, and Maithili it is used as follows :

See Hoernle, §§ 367, 369.

This termination is probably a weakened form of the Prakrit abl. pi.

suffix ^T. The derivation of is obscure. From the analogy of fWT,

we might expect it to be a compound of ^ + 3t (Lassen, p. 310) : ^

is the Prakrit termination of the locative plural, and it may be noted that

whatever vowel precedes the termination ^ in Prakrit declension, the same

vowel precedes

Thus, Prakrit, —

The termination ^ occurs in ATsha Prakrit, but not ^r, which tends

also to show that the latter is a later, and may be a compound form.

One example of this form will suffice. Skr. a sage ; loc. plur.

Arsha Prakrit, Prakrit, Pr. abl. plur. ; Ap.

Pr. gen. plur. : Bihari instr. plur.

Note in the above that it is only in classical Prakrit that the final

vowel of Tif«T is lengthened. We have Arsha, and Ap. TifcTs?, so that

\i vj

we are justified in assuming an intermediate form

It is easier to derive from rather than from

^ # J j

directly ; as it is more natural to derive the genitive from the ablative

than from the locative. As regards the formation of an ablative by the

1883.] G. A. Grierson — Essays on Bihdri Declension. 133

addition of an ablative sign to a locative, this is of common occurrence in

Gaudian languages. It is quite usual to hear phrases such as %

filT which is, literally, ‘ he fell from on the horse,’ and which means

in English, £he fell from,’ or, ‘ off the horse.’

E. v, q* — the latter of these I consider to be simply a lengthened

form of the former : and with this remark it will be sufficient to dismiss it.

With regard to V, the case is different, and will require more elaborate

treatment.

V is used in the following cases :

It will be seen that this case is used throughout all dialects as an

instrumental termination, — and so also in Panjabi (seldom), e. g., in the

word vjpT (S7cr. wt*T) ‘indeed,’ ‘truly;’ hence ‘although;’ and in Mara¬

thi, e. g., by a house.’ In western Bhojpuri it takes the form ^«T;

thus, ‘ by fear,’ ‘ by hunger.’

In Ap. Pr., according to Md., the termination is added directly to the

base of the noun, whatever it is ; so that we have qtjjv, ‘ by a forest,’ from

‘by a girl,’ from qT^TT, ‘by fire,’ from (nom.

‘by wind,’ from (nom. qT^i). (Examples taken from Md. apucl

Hoernle, § 367.) It will be observed that when the nom. sing, ends in

long ^T, it is unchanged, but when in long i;, or long the final vowel is

shortened before if. H. C. and K. I. do not give the termination to

feminine nouns, and give qqr instead of qijjv. In other respects they agree

with Md. Mi’s qvtvi is probably for qw so that the three grammarians

are at one, except with reference to feminine nouns.

Maithili goes a step farther. It (Gram. § 19) substitutes the v for

the final vowel in all nouns whose direct forms end in ^ or ^r, so that we

have 'Hi#'1', ‘ by fruit,’ from qT^r, qr^, ‘ by a story’ from or to use the

same examples as are given for Prakrit, it has qq'' for Pr. qqrv, and qj^r*

for Pr. qr^TTV.

With regard to nouns ending in other vowels, it follows the Prakrit

rule. The q is simply added, and the final vowel, if long is shortened, —

134

G. A. Grierson — Essays on Bihari Declension. [No. 2,

so that we have ijfev; ‘ by a daughter,’ from #3^. With regard to the Pr,

examples, the nominatives both end in short vowels in Maithili ; ^ifJT,

‘fire,’ makes and ‘ wind,’ makes «T3^, or -

Finally the forms \ in Maithili referred to above must be

again noted here, as important, and pointing clearly to the derivation.

The only remaining cognate form is the word used colloquially as

the instrumental of the oblique form, of the neuter interrogative

pronoun ‘what,’ (see Mth. Chr. Voc. s. v. ^Tt).

As to the derivation of these forms, they may possibly come

from the Skr. instrumental in *r, which exists in bases in the form

^ (.fsYT*T ). The forms which most plainly show their origin are the

pronominal ones, and ip. It must be noted that these are not

formed from the oblique bases of their respective pronouns, which are

( or ), ( or and <rf*T ( or rTlf% ) respectively

( Mth. Gram. §§ 71, 76, 78), but stand completely apart from the

declension of these pronouns as isolated forms. The nominatives of these

pronouns are W, and #, so that in one of these cases at least it has not

been formed by nasalizing that case. It is hence most rational to derive

them through missing Prakrit forms from Sanskrit y«T (Yaidik), ‘by this,’

%*T, ‘ by which,’ and ^«T, ‘ by that.’ It must be noted also that while the

proximate demonstrative in Maithili ‘ this,’ has an instrumental form

the remote demonstrative ^*1, ‘that,’ has no such corresponding form,

(see Mth. Gr. § 70, addenda). Similarly the Skr. proximate demonstrative

pronominal base has no remote demonstrative form. Classical Skr.

has instead of the simpler Yaidik instrumental form ‘ by this’ ;

for an example of the latter, see K. V. I, 173, 9, **r, which the Vedartha

Yatna translates

As regards the form the termination may be referred to the

Skr. instrumental termination ^JTT, (^rftpTT), Pr. (^fi3T^n), but the

derivation of the stem is involved in much obscurity.

Having thus shown that these pronominal forms and ^ are

most probably connected with the Skr. instrumental, it remains to consider

the nominal forms. With regard to ^ bases, the same reasoning applies,

and ilT^ bears exactly the same relation to sfbz*T, that ^ does to y*r. With

regard to feminine bases ending in ^r, the case is different. In it the Skr.

instr. ends in ^*?T, from which I would derive the Prakrit termination

The lengthening of the penult, in Pr. is probably due to the force of

analogy, all the other cases in Sanskrit, except the vocative having a long

penultimate. The termination ^ cannot of course be attributed to this

* With regard to the shortening of the Antepenultimate, see Mth. Gr. § 5, addenda.

I have written the words as they are pronounced, and not as they are usually written.

1883.] G. A. Grierson — Essays on Bihari Declension. 135

form, and I refer it to the well known tendency of Prakrit to reduce all

nouns to one common declension, which is carried further by Ap. Pr. and

the modern Vernaculars, than we find in the classical Prakrit of Vararuchi.

By a similar process I would account for the instrumental forms of

bases with other vocalic endings.

E. This is the most universally distributed of all the case ter¬

minations. It occurs in all the Bihari dialects, and in the Ramayan. It

appears in all the Prakrit dialects from the classical of Vararuchi to the

Apabhramsa ; and, to take examples of cognate modern languages it is

found in Bangali, and in all the local dialects of Hindi. It also occurs in

Sanskrit as the locative of nouns whose bases end in In the modern

languages, too, it is only used with nouns ending in a final (silent)

Thus we have STS' ‘ on a landing place,’ from WTS, 3TT^ 4 in a village, from

aiTH, but no corresponding forms for words like 3TSJT, or Similarly

also in Bangali ‘ a boy,’ makes but the locative of sfhft

‘ a mare,’ is quite a different form, It is the same in classical

Prakrit, Arsha, and Pali ; in all these y is only used as the termination of

the locative of ^ bases. We thus get the following table :

From the above it is evident that the locative termination y is used

throughout all these languages only with bases in ^Ef. Feminine bases in

are no exception to this rule, for the termination y in Arsha and Pra¬

krit is of entirely different origin. In Apabhramsa Prakrit there are two

forms of the locative one in y (fTW), and one a weakened form in (?rf%),

both of which are used only with bases in The latter it appears to me

not unreasonable to consider to be a weakened form of the former.

136

G. A. Grierson — Essays on Bihari Declension.

[No. 2,

It therefore appears possible that this Bihari locative in y is the Skr.

and classical Prakrit loc. suffix y, which has been preserved unchanged.

The fact that it has remained unchanged in the modern languages need

not surprise us: for it has admittedly remained unchanged in the classical

Prakrits, while all the other case suffixes have changed in them. If there¬

fore the locative has retained vitality so far, it need not astonish us that

it has retained it to the last.

Note on the above. It will be seen that in these derivations of y and

y, I have given an etymology different from that put forward by so high

an authority as Dr. Hoernle in his Gaudian Grammar, §§ 367 and follow¬

ing. Dr. Hoernle considers f asa contraction of nf#, and ^ as a con¬

traction of yjfyr respectively, terminations which have already been dis¬

cussed and disposed of. This derivation is also plausible, but I venture to

think that an equal amount of plausibility attaches to the derivation given

above, on the following grounds.

Lassen (p. 461) connects the termination y with Skr. term. y*r, but

Dr. Hoernle considers that this is untenable because Skr. y«r cannot

be added to feminine bases in ^H. This point has been already discus¬

sed by me, and I need not repeat what I have said here, — but, admit¬

ting for the sake of argument that Lassen is wrong, Dr. Hoernle’s

theory is also open to objection. Dr. Hoernle takes the termination

and supposes an elision of which gives which is contracted

to y; hence he gets the forms in Apabhramsa Prakrit, ^y, ^Typy,

^fjTjy, and 3 pay, which he derives from supposititious forms #^yry)f?,

and which he considers old genitives.

It thus appears that the letter yj in the termination is absolutely neces¬

sary for the theory ; only can be contracted to y ; if the termination

ever takes the form it must be contracted to and if it takes the

form it can only become ^3^. It must be remembered that we are

only dealing with weak bases, for in the modern languages, y is only

added to weak bases, and never to strong ones and it remains

to be seen what form takes with weak bases. Really, this termination

is f? and not y|f% and the vowel ^ is only the termination of the base,

* This may he denied ; but the fact remains that some weak forms do undoubtedly

take the termination y; e. g. qjrT <a word,’ instrumental so also yt ^ and

which are undoubtedly formed from a weak bases, and this is quite sufficient for my

argument. If I can prove that a single weak form takes y' in the instrumental, it

does away with the argument that ^y' or ^y can in all cases he derived from

It may he noted here that in the Magadhi dialect of Bihari only

masculine weak forms ending in a silent consonant take y, and y • thus, from

‘force’, instr. hut never yfcjy, or

1883.]

G. A. Grierson — Essays on Bihari Declension.

137

so that the weak forms of the old genitive plural, above quoted, would be

and not and not and not

and not Now, it is possible to derive from hut

impossible to derive from I know that it can be assumed

that is derived from the strong form but it is equally

easy to derive it from the instrumental (Prakrit) ^fjJT<5|T (or from

^ni), and this last derivation has the following advantages :

(1) It accounts for the termination y in nouns which (like 1T<t) are

never used in modern languages in their strong, but always in their weak

forms.

(2) It accounts for the fact that if is always (with one or two

isolated exceptions) used in a singular sense, while the termination ft is

distinctly a plural one.

(3) It accounts for the western Bliojpurx forms in such as

®T«T,

(4) It is simpler to derive the instrumental if from a Skr. instru¬

mental, and the locative y from a Skr. locative, than to take two termina¬

tions, for one case (the genitive), one singular, and the other plural, and to

adopt one, for no very valid reason, as a locative singular, and the other as

an instrumental singular.

Another argument of Dr. Hoernle’s given in the foot note to p. 208

is as follows ; ‘ this explains why the Marathi instr. in if is seldom used

except with the prepositions or 3TScr ; for it is really a genitive or ob¬

lique form, and as such naturally takes a postposition. If it were, as

commonly supposed, identical with the old Skr. instr, in y*r, the addition of

the postposition would be very superfluous and anomalous.’ The addition

of the postposition may be superfluous, but it is not, I think anomalous.

In Maithili the preposition fV^TT ‘without’ governs the instrumental,

both in the form in if, and in its inorganic or periphrastic form.

Examples are,

(1.) Organic instrumental.

Famine song, 10.

ft*IT «TJT f%W «rf? ‘ without water nothing sprouted in the

vi

world.’

(2.) Periphrastic instrumental.

Sal. 3.

fy*TT yyy In %T«TT JITITTjy, ‘ without a husband how can I pass

my days?’

These examples taken together show that there is no idea of a genitive

sense, but that there is a pure idea of an instrumental sense in in

the first example.

With regard to the locative termination y, the arguments respecting

T

138 G. A. Grierson — Essays on Bihari Declension. [No. 2,

it are exactly the same, mutatis mutandis , as those regarding and I do

not repeat them.

/3. Inorganic Declension of nouns*

By Inorganic declension I mean that kind of periphrastic declension

which is formed by postpositions added to a base whether inflected or not.

In Bihari the base undergoes regular inflection or preparation for the recep¬

tion of postpositions. This occurs both in the singular and plural, each

of which has a direct (or nominative) and an oblique form.

It will be convenient to deal with the question of number first. The

following are the plural forms.

1883.]

G. A. Grierson — Essays on Bihart Declension.

139

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140

[No. 2,

G. A. Grierson — Essays on Bihar i Declension.

Reference to the above will show that the oblique form of the plural

has four terminations, viz., , ?r, fff : and these terminations are only

added to the weak base of a noun. This is even the case when the noun

is not used in the singular or in the nominative plural in the weak form.

JE. g., (Banaras-Bhojpuri) nom. sing. crp3T (strong form), ‘a barber’;

nom. plur. (strong form) ; and obi. plur. «TT^?r (weak form). It is

commonly said that strong-forms shorten their termination before *T in the

oblique plural, hut this is hardly the correct way of looking at the matter.

The base iir?sr cannot be said to be formed from the base i?rgT, for this would

presuppose (as will he seen further on) a Skr. form i?TE3ffT*rt, which would

become in Prakrit (see Hoernle, p. 211) (whence perhaps O. H.

cf. Hoernle, p. 195), *ifT^PF?, which would

become in Bihari or and not iirf «T.

The only exception to this is the Maithil-Magadhi sub-dialect, which

forms the oblique plural on the base of the long form, which may be

referred to the Prakrit long form above referred to.

These plural oblique forms are not used in Maithili in the case of

nouns, except in a few isolated words like ‘all,’ and ‘people.’

They are common, however, in Maithili pronouns where the plural form

has acquired a singular honorific sense, — thus, rrfsT ‘ him,’ a?f«T, ‘ whom.’

Wherever these forms are used in the oblique plural, they can also be

used in the sense of a direct plural, in most of the dialects. The oldest

dialect (that of the Ramayan) confines these forms principally to the

oblique case, but not universally, as in the phrase fsiwr ^

‘ I have beaten those who have beaten me.’* Banaras Bhojpuri follows

the Ramayan very closely in this particular, but the other dialects use the

oblique form indifferently in the direct and oblique cases plural.

To sum up the results of the above, we find that in Bihari the nomina¬

tive plural can alwaysf be the same as the nominative singular ; and cer¬

tain dialects also form an oblique plural in *r, f%, or f*r, which is also

in certain of these adopted by the nominative.

With regard to the periphrastic plural, the usual affixes are ‘ all,’

and %TJI ‘ people.’ Bhojpuri, however, and the sub-dialects of Purniya,

and Bhagalpur add the words

Bhojpuri

Purniya-Maithili faff

Bhagalpur-Maithili

* Kellogg (p. 224) adduces this verse as an example of the use of the case of the

. . _ ^ si-

agent before a transitive verb. As, however, ^ which occurs in the same sentence

also before a transitive verb is undoubtedly in the nominative (the oblique form being

■flTf^) it is more convenient to consider as an example of the oblique plural

used in a nominative sense.

f The Ramayan is very rare, and is probably a form borrowed from Hindi.

1883.]

G. A. Grierson — Essays on Bihari Declension.

141

The first I believe to be a deroded form of ‘ all,’ through an

intermediate form then appears naturally as its oblique plural,

with a lengthening of the final vowel.

Similarly, I would connect f^f%, with the Maithil word ^1%‘all.’

through an intermediate form or and then ^ easily appears

as a contracted form of the same word.

In the Bihar districts bordering on Bangal a form or is

used to form a plural. A reference to the neighbouring Bangali gives the

word meaning ‘and’, ‘other.’ This is derived from the Skr. mean¬

ing ‘ other.’ Its use in Purniya and Bhagalpiir is best seen in the pro¬

nouns, where it is used with the oblique form of the genitive singular, thus

‘ others of me’, ‘ we.’ So also T iirf T ‘ horses.’

I consider a plural of through transposition from

Affinities and derivation.

The derivation of the plural termination *T, f%, fir, is from the Skr.

gen. plural in through Prakrit ( cf ‘ of five’),

(<?/! Hoernle, pp. 202 and 211). The only difficulty in this derivation is

the termination in fNr and fff. This I believe to be inorganic, and is

due either to the memory of the Skr. neuter nom. plur. in fir which led

to confusion, or (more probably) to false analogy with the very common

termination of the third person plural of the Bihari verb in f%, which has

quite a different origin, viz., from the Skr. fsfi. E. g., the 3rd plural past

of the verb ‘ see,’ is which is frequently written

or Seeing therefore these three plural verbal termina¬

tions, false analogy would inevitably suggest the addition of the form

to the regular plural substantival forms and iilTST. It may be

noted here that there is also a Skr. nom. neut. plur. in fsfi (wrafa), which

may have lent its aid to the false analogy.

On the preparation of the base.

It is commonly said that in Bihari the oblique form of nouns is the

same as the direct. This, however, is not the fact, and I hope to be able

to shew that a distinct oblique form of nouns and of possessive pronouns

exists throughout all the dialects.

It will be convenient to consider first the Bhojpuri affixes of the

genitive. Hoernle (p. 220) gives the genitival affixes (amongst others)

as ctf, oblique %. The latter termination in use in Banaras, is not, how¬

ever, pure Bhojpuri. It appears to me to be borrowed from Hindi and

not to be a pure Bihari form. The oblique form % is almost universal

over the Hindi area, and is not used in any Bihari dialect with which I

am acquainted.

In the pure Bhojpuri of western Bihar the forms are —

142

[No. 2,

G. A. Grierson — Essays on Bill an Declension.

Direct , or # (sometimes written 3f), and oblique , 3TT.

Examples are the following.

Direct , ^ - ^ ^tstt ‘ this is the king’s house.’

<$*3- ^ ‘ 1 am the maid-servant of king Kans.’

Direct, m ^T<T ?TS^r> ‘matters of every kind were heard.’

Indirect, effT - 357 TflT^TT 35 <fi^T ^7*3 «TT’€!t , ‘ there is no sin

in (lit. of) the slaying of a deceiver.’

3fe<T»r 3fT ■§■?: ifTvft 3TC, ‘ there are many books in the pandits’

house.’

In Maithili, also, there is a genitive in 3T (Mth. G. § 22). In the

case of nouns this has lost all inflexion, but in pronouns we see the inflexions

still remaining. E. g., the Relative pronoun obi. form plur. (used as

an honorific singular) sjfvr (Mth. Gr. § 7t5) : hence, adding the sign of the

genitive we get This has an oblique form 57f«T«ffT, used as a base

of the other cases, but that it is really an oblique genitive is evident from

the following example ( Vid . 39, 2).

5?f5FRrr ‘at whose birth I went,’ in which is in the

locative case, the postposition being poetically omitted.

Again the gen. honor, of % (Mth. Gr.) is 35»f37 (3lF*r30> and its oblique

form is ^T3iT, as in (Sal. 1),

3TK*T, ‘ for the sake of him’, and (Sal. 21)

^ ‘in his watch.’

It must be noted, however, that the oblique form 35T is more rare in

Maithili than in Bhojpuri, for it has disappeared altogether in nouns.

There is in fact, a distinct tendency in thetli Maithili to use, even in the

case of pronouns, direct forms instead of oblique ones. E. g., in Sal. 1 we

have 3nT«T beside the more correct 35*7357 3i77;*r, and so we have (Sal.

10) 35*735 <3735 instead of the more correct 35*T35T % ‘ from his cry.’

The Song of Sallies is, it must be remembered, in very thetli language ;

that is to say, in the language of the lowest people, and is in one or two

places absolutely incorrect.

A similar pronominal oblique genitive form in 3fT may be noted in

all the other Bihari dialects, but, for want of a literature, it is difficult to

give authoritative examples.

To sum up this part of the explication ; 1 — Bihari has a genitive post¬

position 35 or 37, which has an oblique form ^57. This oblique form has in

the eastern and southern dialects fallen into disuse in the case of substan¬

tives, but still survives everywhere in the pronouns. •

The question of genitive postpositions naturally leads to possessive

pronouns. The following are the possessive pronouns in Maithili. As

they will be treated of at length under their proper heading it is not

necessary to give them for other dialects.

1883.]

G. A. Grierson — Essays on Bihari Declension.

113

Pronoun.

*r, ‘ i,*

vr, ‘ 1/

fiT, ‘ thou,’

‘ thou,’

‘ self’ (Sal. 18)

T , ‘ this,’

%, * that,’

‘ who,’

W, ‘ that,’

%, ‘ who ?’

Possessive.

‘my.’

* my.’

rfK, ‘thy.’

?fhfC, cfNrc, ‘ thy.’

‘ own.’

W, ‘ of this.’

* of that.’

‘ whose.’

TT^TT, ‘ of that.’

‘whose?’

The last five are not properly possessive pronouns, but are regular

genitives formed by adding the genitive postposition to the pronominal

bases %, *T, ?l, and respectively. As, however, in their adoption of

an oblique base they run exactly on all fours with the true possessive pro¬

nouns, it is convenient at present to consider them also as such.

All these possessives are used as genitives of the various corresponding

pronouns, and are usually considered as such. Thus iin; is said to be the

genitive of iT, of ^ff, '3pq*r of and so on.

All these possessive pronouns have an oblique form, formed by

shortening the antepenultimate or penultimate, and lengthening the final

vowel to ^T. Thus,

This oblique form is used for two purposes.

A, as a true oblique genitive.

B, as a declensional oblique base.

A, as a true oblique genitive.

Examples. STC ^ ‘in my house.’ (Sal. 19).

^nr«TT i?" ‘in one’s own hovel.’ (Sal. 20).

‘the mare of his own riding.’ (Sal. 21).

Occasionally the direct form is used instead of the oblique, as (Sal. 17).

‘a bond of my own chastity’ (ib.).

144 G. A. Grierson — Essays on Bihart Declension. [No. 2,

It is difficult to give examples out of Vidyapati, as he frequently

lengthens a final vowel for the sake of metre, which is misleading.

B, as a declensional oblique base.

The correlative pronouns have each two proper declensional bases, — 1,

a singular one, and 2, a plural one. In Maithili the singular has in all cases

acquired a non-honorific sense, and, in the case of ‘ this,’ %, ‘ that,’

custom has further confined it to referring to inanimate objects only.

(Mth. Gr. §§ 70, 72, 79, 85, and 86). The plural base has in all cases

assumed a singular honorific sense. In addition to these bases (which

appear under similar circumstances in all Bihari dialects, vide post), the

oblique form of the genitive is frequently used in the sense of another

oblique declensional base. This is quite regular, for as will he seen later

on, the postpositions attached to this base are all nouns either in the

instrumental or locative case. Thus ii, means ‘in the middle of

which,’ (Mg. Pr. S7cr. W liff^ *n£) in which the

Pr. in the genitive case is (as will be seen hereafter) the direct

origin of the oblique form 3KT. The following table shows the three

oblique declensional forms of each of the pronouns in Maithili.

1883.]

G. A. Grierson — Essays on Bihdri Declension.

145

From the above it will be seen that both the oblique genitive singu¬

lar and the oblique genitive plural form new periphrastic declensional

bases, one singular, and the other plural.

As far as use goes, it may be noted that the proper oblique forms

singular and plural of the correlative pronouns ai*e generally used as adjec¬

tives, and the periphrastic ones are always used as substantives.

The following examples show the use of these forms.

A. Proper oblique singular.

Vid. 34, 2, ‘ hath any one used reproach¬

ful words to thee ?’

Sal. 1, ‘he wrote down that day,’

B. Proper oblique plural.

Phojpuri fables, 6, % ^T^TW<T ‘he goes about causing us

to fight.’

Sal. 1, 2fiTT:«r, ‘ for the sake of that lord.’

C. Periphrastic oblique singular.

Vid. 55, 4, ttss tPCT, * in return I will ask for thee, my

lord.’

Sal. 12, qrc Tif?r ‘ do not pass him over.’

D. Periphrastic oblique plural, or honorific.

Mth. chr. p. 2, wf«?, # ^ ‘ you know well what

sort of son there is to me ( niihi filius qualis est)\ where is idiomati¬

cally used for the dative and must not be confounded with the

genitive

Sal. 13, rft «rf€, ‘ till then there will not be leave

to depart to him ( illi ).’

Sal. 19, Iff ‘ How wilt thou get a present

from me.’

Under the last head, two examples have been given of a dative of

possession. These forms which at first sight look like oblique forms of

the genitive used in a direct sense, are thus explained by competent natives.

This explanation is most reasonable, for there can be no doubt about

sfel being very different in meaning from and about

being different in meaning from 55^ ‘qj^wfiiT.

In conclusion I append here, a list of all the pronominal genitival

forms which I have collected from the prose of the Maithil Chrestomathy.

I have submitted them all to Babu S'ri Narayan Singh of Darbhanga, a

gentleman who has an intimate acquaintance with the Maithili language,

united to an intelligent knowledge of English. He has noted for me any

optional form, when such case be used.

A. direct genitives governed by a nominative .

Sal. 7, frrfx^T %^vr ‘ how beautiful the woman of that.’

146

[No. 2,

G. A. Grierson — Essays on Bihdri Declension.

Sal. 15, ^ erf# ‘ I have not the power.’

Sal. 16, t^T, ‘ whose son ?’

Sal. 20, ^3X3; ‘ my profession will be damaged.’

B. direct genitives governed by an accusative in the form of the nomi¬

native.

Sal. 5, ^f*T, ‘ hearing whose weeping.’

Sal. 7, viWK ^T^^r(T^), ‘ whose beduU you have brought.’

Sal. 8, ^q«T ‘ take your beduli. ’

Sal. 16, <T^ f%f% ‘ having written a bond of that.’

Sal. 18, ^ ^Til^r 5JT^j, * go to your house.’

Sal. 20, ^w(*f ‘ he went to fetch his brother.’

Sal. 20, ^'ORr ^ ‘ bind your enemy.’

C. direct genitives governed by a noun in an oblique case, — rare, but

permissible.

Sal. 1, ‘ for the sake of him.’

Sal. 10, 35?T3? ^Teff #, ‘ from his call.’

Sal. 17, ‘ of (my) own chastity.’

According to Babu S'ri Narayan Singh, the direct form is admissible,

wherever the oblique form is usually employed, but not vice versa. Thus

the following pairs are equally correct.

admissible.

(1) qrrc^r

(2) surar #

(3) q^T C

(4) ^xq»r

(5) qimq i|Tf T

usual.

— ^TT^’ST

— €

— q^yT 3x

— qfqqr ^srffRr

— ^fq«fT

"Where, however, the governing noun is in the nominative or in the

accusative in the form of the nominative, the oblique form can never be

used. The following therefore are wrong.

JfTT^rq Xgf#T, rl^T qiqrTK ^q*TT 3x1 WCT

The phrase 'qxxTT «rfNf is, however, correct, but then is the

dative of possession, ‘ to me there is no power.’

D. Broyer oblique genitives governed by nouns in oblique cases.

Governed by,

Instr. Sal. 1, 2, 3, ^qrT 3vK3T, ‘ for the sake of him’ (cf. C.)

Gen. Sal. 21, ^q*TT #T^T, ‘ the horse of his own riding,’ ‘his

own riding horse.’

1883.] G. A. Grierson — Essays on Bill art Declension. 147

Sal. 5, ‘ she arrived at her own garden.’

ib. 3?«T3fT (her companions) came to her

garden.

Sal. 6,^Tf^r ^xpfri ‘ having brought him to your garden.’

Sal. 9, ^7*TT 'xjRRrsft, ‘ she came to her garden.’

Sal. 11, srsnffT ^ , ‘at her bed-head.’

Sal. 16, xtT^t, ‘ near me.’

Sal. 19, ^ ‘ in my house.’

Sal. 19, fTf^TT ^ ^T, ‘ in thy house.’

Sal. 19, ^r;tt ‘ in my own hovel.’

Sal. 20, ^TJT, ‘ near me.’

Sal. 10, 21, ^*T3\T xp^i ‘in his beat.’

E. Oblique genitives used as an oblique declensional base.

Sal. 5, 3T35XT f^T, ‘ having given whom?’ ‘through whom.’

Sal. 6, Wlf%, ‘ having abandoned thee,’ ‘ except thee,’

Sal. 11, cf^T ‘ (he began to) consider this,’ (ff5j^t«T

3TTR is a compound verb.)

Sal. 12, xny *?f?r ‘ do not pass him over.’

Sal. 13, ‘ I would tell him.’

Sal. 13, cRTCT f^T, ‘ through him.’

Sal. 14, ‘ you have tied me up.’

Sal. 17, ‘ you got me released.’

Sal. 19, rft^^T ?T*T ‘ I will satisfy thee.’

Nag. songs , 4, ^*TT ‘ he caused me to journey a

journey.’

Instr. Sal. 16, rTt^TT If 3>lt, ‘ I may marry thee.’

Sal. 20, rf^T W If <sTf^ ‘ in fighting with all them.’

Dat. Mth. Chr. p. 1, ^fsr^T ^TffT ‘ he has no mother.’

ib. p. 2, #^*T ‘ what sort of son I have,’ see above.

Sal. 5, 53*T3fT *1T3F «TTxr JTT^t ^3? ‘ have her father and mother given

her abuse ?’

Sal. 13, *rfi ‘ (there will) not (be) leave to him to

depart.’

Sal. 15, rrl^yT ‘ I will give you leave to depart.’

Sal. 15, flSfKT 5TT«T ‘ go to her and say.’

Sal. 19, # ^cfT*f ^ ‘ give that to me as a reward.’

Sal. 19, tpTT t«T ‘I give' you a reward.’

Famine song, 5, * to whom shall I relate ?’

Sal. 19, If 'ft H, ‘ what will you take from me.’

Nag. Songs , 4, If fafw wiT*rf% ‘ he asked alms from me.’

Doc.

%

All.

148

[No. 2,

G. A. Grierson — Fssays on Bihdri Declension.

Loc. Sal. 14, «Tt^T ^W*f, in your presence.’

Sal. 20, rfT in the meantime.

Occasionally the oblique form ends in ; e. g. '.-ffqfqiT qTWT

‘after him (went) the earth,’ Man. 1, 12.

Having exhausted the question of the oblique form of the genitives of

pronouns, it now remains to consider those of substantives.

First we shall take the following words, which, ending in «r, qr, If,

and T, offer examples of nouns with oblique forms exactly like those of

pronominal genitives. There are doubtless many others, but these are

those of which I am at present able to give proof by means of examples.

They are —

To these may be added the following,

^jf, WR, ‘front,’ oblique ^?if, ^JTJrf, ‘before.’

W, qTif , ‘ rear,’ „ qwf, qT^T, ‘ behind.’

«STT°, ‘ place,’ „ qf, « in a place.’

Examples are, —

Direct , ‘ seeing the courtyard empty,’ Man. 3, 15.

«fTy«T (i. e., *r«r) •flTTTj-^r, ‘ her eyes filled with tears,’ ib.

'qfq ^q, ‘ I shall take the first portion,’ Fable, 7.

(dir.) qf T (obi.) qq TPsl, ‘ lay (the burden of)

great favours upon the great,’ Vid. 3, 6.

tfq ‘ the second one who weeps is Channa,’

Mars. 3, 2.

‘the third after three,’ Vid. 9, 1.

^ qfr: 5%, ‘ how the watch went to sleep,’ Man.

6, 17.

*T<f q^T ‘ let go, 0 Krishn, my cloth,’ Vid.

* 21, 3.

1883.]

149

G. A. Grierson — Essays on Bihari Declension.

«J5fPC vr% ‘ a blind dog barks at the wind,’

Prov.

It is not necessary to give examples of other direct forms in T.

■^TJl {or ‘ a pendulous front,’ Mth. Chr. Voc.

S. V. ^ITJT.

, S'

TTTW lor qTW ) ‘a heavy behind,’ ib. s. v. ■qrw.

j v <\ o 'j

I do not know of any authoritative example of but the word is com-

mon colloquially.

Oblique, ^JT^TT ‘ does any one keep a thorn tree

in his*fcourtyard,’ Man. 2, 7.

^TT 3f% ‘on her eyes she applied collyrium,’

Sal. 18.

I do not know of any authoritative example of but it is commonly

used in conversation to mean, ‘ at first’.

An example of WT has been given above.

‘ the end of the third,’ Vid. 60, 3.

TW *J, ‘ from Salhes’s watch,’ Sal. 12.

«T?Tf^f, ‘ I would have swept the road with

my cloth,’ Gorakhpuri songs, No. 12.

^rrsrf^f 1 what does a deaf

man lose by sleeping, or a blind man by waking,’

Prov.

fWTT TJ1TT ^ Tjfc^T *TT, ‘ on the forehead the frag-

ments of red lead are beautiful,’ Gor. Sgs., Mo. 1.

^JrT wr* ‘ they departed one behind the other,’

Sal. 17.

f3%UPiT, ‘in the middle place, (write) the

separation of twelve (months).’ Gor. Sgs. Mo. 3.

Finally we come to the two verbal nouns in ^ and W, described in Mth.

Gr. § 189. These two forms are current throughout all the dialects of

Bihari, as will be seen later on, and in nearly all these dialects, they have

an oblique form as follows :

Bandras Bhojpuri.

Direct. Oblique .

* The text has but q^p would he more correct, There is a

tendency in the theth holi to drop nasal sounds.

150

[No. 2,

G. A. Grierson — Essays on Biliari Declension.

Bhojpuri.

(rare) not used.

tW ^T.

Examples ,

Direct , ^3i 3ir^rT, ‘lie does speaking,’ ‘ he speaks frequently.’

Oblique , xTWrT^^Tf ^TT %T^IT, ‘ what comes from regretting where

’TWrr^T is the oblique form of xne<TT3^T. ( Fable 15).

Maithili-Bhoj puri.

(rare) not used.

Examples ,

Direct, ^ ‘ he speaks frequently.’

Oblique , TTWt^T $ ^ ^ WSTT ‘ what can come of regretting ?’

where ^«tWt is oblique form of xf^rTT^.

Northern Maithili.

Examples,

Direct, 3TTTR ^f*r, ‘hearing her cries,’ (Sal. 5).

Oblique, *rH? ‘it is not proper to regret,’ ( Fable 15),

where is the genitive of tr^crTTjsr, (for ir^frp-^T^).

Occasionally the oblique form in this dialect ends in ; e •

f^iW ‘ she began to say something,’ Man. 1, 12.

vj sJ

Direct, ‘ lie speaks frequently.’ (Grammar).

Oblique, ^ *rf^ ^cT, ‘from fussing nothing will

come to pass.’ (Fable 14).

The verbal noun in has had an influence even on foreign words.

Thus the Arabic word «f^T, has an oblique form ^^fT, as in the sentence,

ef^r, ‘ in exchange for this benefit,’ (Fable 15).

Southern Maithili. Furniya Maithili.

Same as Northern Maithili.

Bhagulpuri-Maithili has the oblique form of but authori¬

tative examples are wanting. It has for the oblique form of

or according to locality.

In Maithil-Mdgadht the verbal noun in ^ appears to have dropped

out of use. The verbal noun in follows Northern Maithili.

Finally, Magadhi agrees with Maithili.

1883.]

G. A. Grierson — Essays on Bihari Declension.

151

We thus find that with the exception of a doubtful form in Bhagul¬

pur, and the extreme Western case of Banaras-Bhojpuri, an oblique form

of verbal nouns in ^ and ending in and ^jt obtains more or less

currency.

In South Bhagulpur this ^tt is weakened to which it is important

to note, as it gives the clue to the derivation of another set of oblique

forms to be now noted.

In the Maithili of South Bliagulpur nouns ending in a silent conso¬

nant (that is to say weak forms in ^f), vocalize that consonant in the

oblique cases. Thus ‘ a house,’ Acc. The same dialect has

a feminine genitive affix the masculine of which is %'C5', which

leads one to presume that as in the same district is a weakened form

of so also is a weakened form of

In Mdgadhi such nouns ending in a silent consonant (that is to say

weak forms in ^l) have an oblique form in tf : thus, Obi.

Magadln immediately adjoins the Maithili of Bhagulpur, and hence it is

evident that this oblique form is weakened from mj. The weakening of

^JT to tf is borne out by tbe old Maithili accusative postposition ^»f, which

has become in modern Maithili and the close connection between tf and

^ is shown by the indeclinable participle of the root ‘ to do,’ which

is either ^"(Mth. Gr. § 172) or ^ (Vid. 66, 5).

This concludes the discussion concerning the different varieties of

oblique forms in Bihari which end in ^fT. To sum up, we may reduce what

we have observed to tbe following.

In Bhojpuri the affix of the genitive has an oblique form in ^T, thus

oblique 3>T ; and in all Bihari dialects the pronouns have an oblique

genitive in ^r, thus tf3»?;t. This oblique genitive is also used as a

general oblique declensional base.

In Magadhi, and a cognate sub-dialect, all nouns in the weak form

have an oblique form in TF or % thus, oblique or gyo.

This oblique tf or ^ is either a weakened form of or a form closely

connected with the above oblique form in ^T.

In the majority of Bihari dialects, verbal nouns in ^ and ^r, have

oblique forms in ^[T or ^jf, and so also there are cases of other and even

foreign nouns in y;, ^l, «r, and which have similar oblique forms ; also a

few cases of nouns ending in and

[Note on some apparently irregular forms in the song of Salhes.

It must be remembered that this song is printed exactly as it was

taken down from the mouth of a Dom. These Dorns are great wanderers,

and hence besides the theth or vulgar forms (such as for &c.)

which abound in it, there are one or two forms which must be referred to

other dialects, viz.

152 G. A. Grierson — Essays on Bihar i Declension. [No. 2,

Sal. 7. ^TT^*r, Banaras Bhojpuri for rft^T ^rr’T-T. The form is

never used in Maithili.

Sal. 18. fa^% #r?T ^*rfa®f VT afa, if this means ‘ recognized people

became unrecognized,’ it must also be Banaras Bhojpuri. It may, however,

mean ‘ in recognition, people became unrecognized,’ in which case fa5^

is the regular locative of the verbal noun fa^^r, ‘recognition,’ obi.

instr. fa^T, loc. favfa. Similarly in

Sal. 18. qn; vi may be considered as locative

of and the sentence mean literally, ‘in dryness I will cross the river.’

The following also are locatives : —

Sal. 17, 18. ‘ in reality.’

Sal. 7, 12, 14. ‘ at once.’

Sal. 12, ‘ at first.’

Sal. 20. *Tf^, ‘ in fighting,’ for «T being frequently substituted

for in theth holt : as it is also done in the line immediately preceding

where we have for iifarc# , and in the very common and vulgar

or for 5Tnj«I, ( see gram. § 197).

The only other form to be noted is the anomalous

Sal. 19. snfa ^ *rfe«T, ‘ by caste I am a gipsy,’ where ir is not a

Maithili, but -a western form appropriate enough in the mouth of such a

woman. Compare, however, Sal. 20, 5TTfa=fr

Derivation. »

We have already seen that the oblique plural in *r or (fa or far) is

derived from the Sanskrit genitive plural ; and by parity of reasoning we

should be led to expect that the Bihari oblique form singular in is de¬

rived from the Sanskrit genitive singular. It will now be shown that this

is the fact.* It must be observed that these oblique forms are used (as far

as we have hitherto investigated) only with nouns in the weak form. Thus,

tWi 3TC, are all weak forms. Strong nouns of the ^

base in are commonly said to remain unchanged in the oblique cases,

thus, i(T^T, ‘ a horse,’ obi. i|T^T, but in reality as will also be now seen,

the oblique form, though the same in appearance as the nominative, is of

different derivation, — in short, just as qv; (nominative) corresponds to Skr.

1Z^, and (old form of oblique Efv;o) to Skr. ; so ifaT (nominative)

corresponds to Skr. and iqT<pT (oblique) to Skr. We thus

come to the general rule that strong forms of ^ bases always, and weak

forms of bases frequently have an oblique form in ^r.

* With regard to the following, see Hoernle, pp. 194, 195. I have, however,

come to slightly different conclusions.

1883.]

G. A Grierson — Essays on Bihari Declension.

153

Let us take weak forms first : —

(1) . Skr. nom. sing. R"# ‘a house;’ gen. sing. J2TV*?T; Magadhi Pr.

nom. sing. ST, ‘a house,’ gen. sing. hence (ekt^) ; hence, by

elision of final Bihari oblique form, g^T.

(2) . Skr. nom. sing. ‘ what is to be done ;’ gen. sing. ;

Mg. Pr. nom. sing. gen. sing. ; hence Bihari

nominative ‘ what is to be done,’ ‘ an action ;’ oblique 3fT«lT ‘ of an

action :’ Bihari locative, = Mg. Pr. ; Skr.

(3) . Skr. nom. sing. ?5rf, ‘a thing done;’ gen. sing, ; Mg. Pr.

nom. sing. (as if from Skr. Jfffcfi), gen. sing. ;

A'rddha Mg. Pr. nom. sing. ; gen. sing. ; Bihari nom. sing.

(^r) ‘an action,’ loc. sing. (tfi^TT) = Pr.

= Skr. («5<T^J) *?■«?, ‘ in an action.’

One example of a strong form will suffice, Skr. nom. sing. ‘ a

horse ;’ gen. sing. ; Mg. Pr. nom. sing. ijusTF, * a horse,’ gen.

sing. in^W, ifT^TC ; Bihari, nom. sing. %^T, ‘ahorse,’ oblique form,

WTfT, loc. sing. iqr? T ^*, = Mg. Pr. = Skr. *rsq.

Similarly the Bihari oblique form in ^f, is really a plural, and is

derived from the Sanskrit genitive plural, through the Mg. Pr. gen. plur.

in (H. C. IV, 300), thus,—

Skr. nom. sing. (for ^f^rrsj ), ‘ what is to be said ;’ gen.

plur. *cfifq«T3TT*rr ; Mg. Pr. nom. sing. ; gen. plur. Ap.

Pr. nom. sing, (K. I. 50) ; gen. plur. hence Bihari nom.

sing. ; obi. (with elision of ^ and contraction of concurrent vowels)

efrfwf (for ; loc. plur. ^ = Ap. Pr. = Mg. Pr.

= Skr. *ef>fa?T3n5rr TT!q.

Note, it is difficult to derive the Bihari oblique form from the Ap. Pr.

gen. termination for, though this would account for strong forms like

ifi^T (= iiTV^l35 by contraction of the two concurrent vowels), it will not

account for weak forms like 3TT, which would be in Ap. Pr. spCsS, and not

*1^35. But see contra Hoernle, pp. 194, 195.

Affinity.

One affinity must be noted here, the Bangali so-called gerund in the

genitive case in ^FC, e. g. that is to say i^fitsie[T + K, just as in

Bihari we have ^ and being respectively the signs

of the genitive.

Other oblique forms.

There is another oblique form of the verbal noun which requires care¬

ful noting. We find it in the following forms ; —

x

154

[No. 2,

G A Grierson — Essays on Bihari Declension.

Baiswari

Banaras Bhoipiirl ^tr (P

BhojpM

Maithil Bhojpuri

North Maithili ^©, (Purniya)

South Maithili ^4i, ^Ho.

Maithil- Bangali ^§,

Maithil-Mdgadhi

Magadhi

These forms are all of them oblique, and are never used in the sense

of the nominative. They are especially common in compound verbs, in the

sense of the dative, e. g., in the phrase “the clock

wished for the act of striking,” i. e ., “ was about to strike,” *TTV ^TR^T,

“ he became attached to beating,” i. e., “ he began to beat.”

Verbs ending in vowels sometimes insert a euphonic ^ or W, so that we

get phrases like vr, “ the fill of drinking,” “as much as one can

drink.” Examples of this form are very common, and one or two others

will be given subsequently.

I have met one or two other cases of nouns, which are not verbal

nouns, such as ‘ an edge,’ having a similar oblique form.

Examples, —

(Direct) o}R ff o gpjR 1 if you go to the edge (of a field),

have a stick (to protect) your head,’ Mill. JProv.

( Oblique ) ‘write near the edge,’ Gor. Sgs. 3.

It will he seen that in all the dialects (except, perhaps, Banaras Bhoj¬

puri), the termination is short, and that each dialect has one or more of

these terminations, viz., v:, tj, or To trace the derivation of these

forms it will be more convenient, first to consider the derivation of the

suffix of the Genitive, which as will be seen further on occurs in the fol¬

lowing forms in the various dialects of Bihari <$, and or in old Bihari

3R, as in Ram. Ba. do., 35, 3R, in which g?© is written an

absolutely separate word. These genitival affixes are all derived from

the Sanskrit ®<t:, through the Mg. Pr. f%y. Here we have a termination

Ty, or % formed from a Mg. Pr. termination in

Now, to trace the derivation of the Bihari oblique form, we are bound

by all analogy to refer it to a Mg. Pr. genitive case, and, judging from the

analogy of W, or 3>©, we may refer the oblique form of the verbal noun

of which we are now treating to a Mg. Pr. genitive case in or

We shall now change the example, and take the root THT, ‘ beat,’ as

more convenient to deal with than the root ‘ see,’ which has only

doubtful equivalents in Prakrit. We are entitled, then, as above shown,

to derive «R, or *TR© from a Mg. Pr. genitive or if

155

1883.] G. A. Grierson — Essays on Bihari Declension.

such exists. Such a form as does exist both in S'auraseni and Maga-

dhi Prakrit (see Vara. V, 22). Feminine nouns in long form their

genitives in thus “ a river,” gen. sing. Moreover, just as

*?Tr, is weakened to HR®, so in later Prakrit is weakened to *R^T,

or

We may hence conclude that is the direct descendent of

the genitive singular of the Magadhi Prakrit feminine noun

It now remains (a) to see what has become of this Prakrit nom. fem.

?TT^t in the later Gaudian languages, and ( b ) to trace it to its Sanskrit

origin.

(«). The usual phonetic law of development is that Prakrit nouns

ending in long vowels, shorten these vowels in the modern Gaudian lan¬

guages. Under another well known Gaudian phonetic law, these final

short vowels are, in some dialects, liable to elision. Hence we should expect

to find a form jttIt or in the modern languages. Both these forms do

exist in the modern languages. Eastern Gaudian ( i . e., Bangali, and Bihari)

prefers the form while western Gaudian and Marathi prefer the

shortened form tjr. In all these cases the word is feminine, which shows

that WK cannot be derived from a Prakrit masc. nom. 5TTTT ; and the deriva¬

tion I have suggested is borne out by the following reasons.

(1.) Western Hindi possesses a parallel strong form TIR5), derived

from the Prakrit strong form HTf^UT, which is itself the strong form of

the Prakrit from which the modern TfTf^ or is derived.

(2.) The declension of this verbal noun in Marathi (see Man. 2nd

Ed., p. 53) shows clearly the derivation. In the second declension of

Marathi nouns, all nouns derived from Sanskrit nouns in x (such as fVffT,

1 a wall’ from Skr. fwfrl) or x (such as “ dry ginger,” from Skr.

form their oblique form in x, thus, — fVnft and This is plainly derived

from the Prakrit genitive fVi’fN, (Var. Y, 22) and or ^ja5!?;,

the genitive of feminine nouns in and x having in Prakrit similar forms.

But in Marathi another class of nouns also follows the same declen¬

sion, viz., “ feminine nouns derived from Marathi verbs,” such as

* a deficiency,’ obi. '^^1, connected with “ to break and TflT,

“ a beating,” connected with wyijU “ to beat.” That is to say, they are

derived from Prakrit nouns in x or x> viz., Marathi obi. corre¬

sponds to the Prakrit rjft, gen. gifc, and Marathi T[R, obi. ; H. dir.

or *nfic ; Bihari obi. correspond to the Pr. gen.

or flRH.

In this series, I have given no oblique form for Hindi. In the majo¬

rity of cases this has disappeared in that language, but it survives in

* Maithili prefers the form but Bhojpuri and Magadhi (except in poetry)

always have jq-y;.

15G

G. A. Grierson — "Essays on Bihari Declension. [No. 2,

phrases like tihT TTTf’t (a beating on a beating) ‘ a mutual assault,’

‘ a mutual running,’ ‘ a running here and there.’ In these phrases TiTYt and

are the direct strong forms corresponding to the Prakrit nominative

TiTfY^T, and respectively, but thy- and are distinctly oblique

forms, which I would derive as follows : —

Dr. nom. Pr. gen. "Hindi obi.

TTTft WTffaT (Var. V, 22) TFTTT

The contraction of these terminations to ^|T need not cause any

objection. would naturally become tjt, and finally ^?T, just as Pr.

became ^ and finally 3\T, and Pr. became Hindi and

finally H. H., ^i^T. Moreover the form in Pali is *?Tfr?JT, with

a short penultimate, and though no similar form is recorded for Ap. Pr.

still H. C. IV, 329 would entitle us to assume the possible existence of

such a one.

This direct verbal noun HTT or is what is called the root in Hindi

grammars. It occurs frequently in Intensive compounds in forms like

^*tt, ‘ to give a beating’, &c., and in the so-called conjunctive participle

TUT % or TlTfY % or ('with the % dropped) simply ??TT , ‘ having beaten,’ lite¬

rally ‘ having done a beating.’ So also % ‘ having done the action of

doing,’ and THT % ‘ having done the action of doing a beating.’ %, as

will be shown under the head of conjugation, = the Vedic Skr. (Skr.

3i<3T), ‘ having done’; hence, S'r. Pr. ^fY^F (H. C. 4, 271), and Hindi (with

elision of Y) %. Mg. Pr. (Yara. XI, 16) has instead hence (through

3ff^TfV,) the corresponding Bihari form (See, however, Hoernle,

§ 491, for a different explanation of the forms.)

The oblique Hindi form of the verbal noun, ?TTTr, also occurs in

Desiderative compounds ; e. g. TTTYT ‘ he wishes to beat,’ in

which TFTYT is for Tim ‘ he wishes for a beating’. This is borne out by

the Bihari practice of introducing the post-position ^rr in such compounds ;

e. g., (Magadhi) iiar ^TT ‘ I wish for sending,’ ‘ I wish to send’

(Gr. § 118). It also explains the fact that in Hindi this form (mis¬

called by grammarians the Past Participle) does not change for gender.

Moreover in Hindi it explains clearly the (so-called) anomalous forms «TRT

(not jrtt) ^T^TTT, ‘to wish to go,’ and trt (not ttsett) ^T^TT ‘to wish to

die’ (see Kellogg, p. 193). The same form (with the dative particle w) is

also used in Marathi; e. g., (Man. p. 151) TT^TT ^T^T^T, ‘I

fancy he wishes to eat me.’

To recapitulate therefore ; —

There is a Prakrit feminine nominative TfT^t, which is the direct

ancestor of the Gaudian verbal noun ?jty or *nfr.

1883.]

157

G. A. Grierson — Essays on BiJiarz Declension.

This Prakrit fem. has a genitive which has three forms to be noted at

present, viz., from which I derive the Gaudian

oblique forms as follows : —

(&.) It now remains to trace this Prakrit to its Sanskrit original.

This is the abstract noun formed in Sanskrit bj the affix or These

two affixes are closely connected, only differing in the kind of verb with

which they are employed. They form verbal nouns by adding ^it to the

stem. Thus —

Verbal stem. Verbal noun.

“live” “life”

#<3 “write” “aline”

and so many others.

Sometimes a parallel feminine form is found in (affix ). Example

“ roar” “ a river.”

“ kill” wC5! “ a pestilence.”

The rules as to which stems in Sanskrit take and which take T, are

very intricate, and in the vulgar language were certainly not always adhered

to. At any rate, in Prakrit we find the termination ^ superseding the

termination ^T, so that we have (Var. V, 24).

Vararuchi in the Sutra confines the change to four words only, but we

find the option largely extended in the later Prakrit of Hemachandra

158 G. A. Grierson — Essays on Bih&ri Declension. [No. 2,

(III, 32, &c.), and it is therefore only fair to assume that in the modern

languages the change had become the rule.

We are justified therefore in considering that the Gaudian verbal noun

ending in \ or in a silent consonant, is derived from the Sanskrit feminine

verbal noun in or ^ or or ).

In conclusion I now give examples of the various forms (direct and

oblique) of this verbal noun.

(a) Direct form ending in

3T ^ *rf%, % JTilr, “the bridegroom has not yet met

the bride, and they are fighting about the wedding bracelet,” Prov.

«r® w ^KT, “ the act even of seeing thee, my husband,

did not take place,” i. e., “you were not even seen by me.” Vid. V, 5.

This last is a good example of the formation of the passive voice from

this form of the verbal noun. Observe that ffin in the last example must

be a verbal noun. If it is attempted to construe it in the sense of the con¬

junctive participle, nonsense can only ensue. Observe also that it is still a

verbal noun, and governs the accusative (ffrrT).

( b ) . Direct form ending in a silent consonant. (H. Hindi) %T

WIT fll’CT, “ he beat me a great beating,” Beames, C. G. II, 50.

(c) . Oblique form ending in ^ or

“ he began remembering the goddess Asavari,”

Sal. 10.

“ he went for the bringing of his brother

Motiram,” i. e., “ he went to bring him.” Sal. 20.

Bhojpuri, — ‘ I went for plucking flowers,’ Gor. Sgs.. 1.

<Tf ^>T , ‘ for doing what did you come,’ ib.

Baiswari, — q?: ^*3^ ^n*TT, “ with ten thousand ears for

hearing others’ faults.” jRdm. Bd. ch. 5, 9.

{d & e). Oblique form in ^JT, and strong direct form in

(H. H.) wft, “ a mutual beating.”

(f). Oblique form in

Marathi, *?t ffri5! %TH , “ nowhere is there a horse of this

kind.” Molesworth, s. v. ins-.

We have already seen that the Bihari terminations f%, ff-, 5? and 5?

were originally used as terminations of the genitive in Prakrit. We may

hence expect to meet them also used as terminations of general oblique base

in Bihari. This will be found to be the case. I have not noted any in¬

stances of Di being so used, but instances of the other three are common.

The following examples are taken from Manbodh’s Haribans.

f%, — wfe, £ next day all arose together,’ 4, 7.

(fa*if% + ^) ^ifir fapslT, ‘the flame of fire was (one) of

poison,’ 4, 21.

150

1S83.] A. F. Rudolf Hoernle — Note on the preceding Essay.

#T »rrf% ‘ from the first, have I had this

fear,’ 6, 21.

— ^TRl^T ^3553? qfiTWTTF, ‘ the mouths of all began to water, 5, 2.

S, — vifr #rc, ‘ the eyes of Hari became filled with

tears’, 9, 52.

#7 ‘he goes out from the courtyard,’ 3, 2.

Note on the preceding Essay. — By A. F. Rudolf Hoernle, Ph. D.

The great difficulty which one still too commonly meets in the com¬

parative study of the Gaudian languages, with regard to the derivation of

their inflectional forms, is the want of continuity in the descent of the

latter. We know them in their modern Gaudian stage, and in their ancient

Prakrit stage ; but very often the intermediate links are unknown. These

would have to be looked for in the popular literature of the period inter¬

mediate between Gaudian and Prakrit ; that is, about 700 to 1000 years

ago. I say, the popular literature, because the Gaudians are not descended

from the Literary Prakrits, but from the vernacular (Apabhramsa) forms of

Prakrit. Of such popular literature, if it existed, very little has -survived

or, at least, is known to have survived. One of the oldest specimens is the

Hindi Epic of Chand, the Prithirdj Rasaio, which is about 700 years old.

Moreover, this as well as nearly all of the older popular literature known

to us is in verse, while, for the particular question of derivation, prose

literature would be far more useful.

Besides such fragments of survived popular literature, some help is

afforded by those portions of the later Prakrit grammars which treat of the

Apabhramsa Prakrit, and in which their authors have embodied many com¬

paratively modern forms, current in their own time, mixed up with much

older forms known to them traditionally. This remark applies, for example,

to the grammar of Hemachandra, who lived about 750 years ago.

Whenever the intermediate links are wanting, it is both natural and

right to bridge the gap by the help of conjecture, and it is nothing sur¬

prising, that conjecture sometimes takes differing lines and arrives at different

results. There are, however, instances of forms, of which the series of links

of descent is almost, if not entirely, complete ; and it may be hoped, that

gradually, as our knowledge extends, their number will increase.

One such instance occurs among the forms referred to in the preceding

Essay. This is the form ending in ^ # or ^ and occurring in such words

as or ft# “behind” or “afterwards”, “ etc. These forms

160

A. F. Rudolf Hoernle — Note on the 'preceding Essrrg. [No. 2,

may end in ai, or e, with or without a nasal ; thus tjr!| or xtt#, qrw or

The nasalised and unnasalised forms are equally common ; but the forms

in ^ or xr are modern and in present use, while those in or xr are older.

The latter are still met with in the Ramayan side by side with the more

modern forms. Examples of both may be seen on pages 122, 123. In the

much older Hindi of Chand’s Prithirdj Bdsau, only the forms in ^ or ^

occur ; both, with or without nasal, being used promiscuously. But by the

side of them, a still older form in ^ or is occasionally met with.

Thus ; ^ in

I “ the men walked in pairs, one (pair) be¬

hind the other,” XXXY, 18,

'YSl #rr Yq i “ Hahuli Hammir, hearing it,

joined his hands before the king,” XXXV, 16.

YT5J 5jtIt q | “ the king knows the whole condi¬

tion of the land in this part (of the country)” XXXV, 17.

?TT qfw xfT^T«T ^r=l Y*T ^ I “ before that ( i . e. sunrise) the

warriors mounted and issued forth to the battle-field against the

enemies,” XXXIV, 32.

Again q in

?TT^t f% YT^r | “ just like Gopal in the midst of his sport,”

XXXV, 25.

f%fq “he gave (.him) a letter, which he had written

before,” XXXIV, 21. “

q^’ft I “ if ever you flee back, it will be the

laughing-stock of the enemies,” XXXIII, 19.

^TJT ^ JW SWR I “ on a Sunday, the seventh

(of the month), by means of a mine, cleverly laid, the fort of

Jambu was breached;” XXXV, 21.

“ The Samantas in the service of their lord entered into the

enemy’s country exactly in the same artful way as Hanuman did

in the glorious service of Rama,” XXXV, 21.

qq ^F«TT^<T mi I ffq l(T#t fqq «T?T mi ll “ The armoured

horsemen were so cut to pieces, as a husband’s fortune is scattered

by (his taking to himself) a second wife,” XXXII, 62. *

Again

occurs in the last quoted instance, where one manuscript has preserved

the old form

There is good reason to believe that these older forms in ^y> for v, were

much more frequent in the Epic as originally composed by Chand. For

* The printed edition has which is a misprint.

1883.] A. F. Rudolf Hoeriile — Note on the preceding Essay. 161

occasionally, where the MSS. now read v, the metre requires thus

showing that the form y is a later one, due to subsequent copyists.*

Now turning to Hema Chandra, we find that the usual form in

the Apabramsa Prakrit is while by the side of it occasionally and

occur. f

Thus : ^ in

fy^TW I “ for thee, O fool, who think thus, it

becomes at last morning IV, 362, 420.

tr ys Wlftq I “ hence I know (that) it is

Hari when he speaks before me,” IV, 391.

fq-^ ^Nifcri i “ when I see the lotus-face of

'J vj t J

my beloved, then my pleasure is complete,” IV, 332, 420.

Again in

*T ^gT ®fTT^ I “ without thee, beloved, the

load does not fall, why then art thou grieved?” IV, 421, 423.

Again in

yjcrf% yre 5f <T NT'S I “ now let what may happen to the

breasts of Radha,” IV, 420.

STTRf? JfPSUT?; aftVN *1# y^ i ^

w

“As long as there is this perverse mode of business among men, so long

let the evil man engage in it, but the good keeps aloof,” IV, 406.

Here yj^?;, y^f^ and are evidently equivalent forms, an inflection

of the pronominal base yi^, corresponding to (see H. C. IV, 401,

418). In Chand this inflection occurs in the modified form or

“ then,” “ now.”

* There is a similar case. The termination of the third pers. sing, present in Hindi

is now y ; the older form is y, and a still older form is The latter occasionally

occurs in Chand; e. g., TI1£T *T ftlfl’ “the flock of vultures does not

cease (following) behind,” XXXV, 22. Similarly Yf?; “ he is angry,” *TJV “it is

spoilt,” in XXXV, 25. In XXYI, 52 *TY '3^g “men fly up in different

places,” we have ^3^ , for as the metre requires, which shows that Chand

must have written ^3-gy. The form in is Prakrit*

f In the examples quoted from Hemachandra, I have substituted the anunasiJca

( ) in several places for the anmvdra which appears in the printed edition of Prof.

Pischel, who follows herein the MSS. That the former is correct, is shown by the metre,

which is the well-known doJid in all those examples. Prosodically the difference

between the two sounds is great, the anusvdra making the preceding vowel long by

position , while the anunasiJca has no such effect. In writing Natives are apt to over¬

look this difference, but never in pronunciation. — In the second example (from IV, 391)

the printed edition (and MSS.) has YYft which, as the metre shows, should be Yig

(cf. H. C. IV, 362). — In the sixth example (from IV, 406) Y?i does not represent the

Skr. yf?r “it goes,” as Trivikrama’s commentary erroneously translates, but the Skr.

yyy ( nom. sing. fem. of “that” (see H, C. IV, 363); it qualifies

X

162

A. F. Rudolf Iloernle — Note on the preceding Essay. [No. 2,

Similarly — clTfff% “ so long-as ,” “ token-then,” are inflections

of the pronominal bases cTTfr, which, with the same meaning, are met

with, both in the Ap. Prak. and in Chand, e. g.,

5IT7T fiT3®S; I rTTiT ^ *prl4 SRJRli XR ^ 3*5^

II “ so long as the cracking blow of a lion’s paw does not

fall on their broad forehead, that noise of the mad, furious ele¬

phants resounds,” H. C. IY, 406.

f<T I ^3tJT ^ ?IT*T II “ a lion roared

on their left side, then Devi descended on the right (side),”

Erithiraj Rdsau, XXXV, 22.

Both this and the preceding set of pronominal bases correspond to the

Sanskrit *JRfT, rJRT-

Now this evidence shows that the Gaudian termination etc., can¬

not be identified with the Sanskrit instrumental termination x?;?r, but that it

is to be traced back to the Apabhramsa Prakrit ending or

There is another circumstance, making for the same conclusion, which

is worth noting. There is good reason to believe that the Sanskrit

termination y«r, whenever it was employed in the later vernaculars (which

happened occasionally) was always felt to be a tatsama and preserved nearly

intact. The^ vowel xj was, sometimes, shortened, but the final »r was not

changed into a mere nasalisation of xj. In Chand the Sanskrit instrumental

in ^*T occurs but very rarely, and always unchanged ; thus,

xgpc ST faff X? I SRYfa It “ In this battle

success was missed through their cowardice ; thereby you may

know (that they behaved like) young women,” XXXIII, 30.

In Bangali the forms hem “ so,” ^ Tcena “ why,” ^ cfT Tcen'na

“ because,” 5hr jena “ as if” are still in use (see Shama Churn Sircar’s

Bg. Gr., pp. 217, 218, 237, 238) ; here e is short, but na is intact. Perhaps

the commoner Bangali forms jeman “ as,” teman “ so,”

Jceman “ how” (ibid., p. 216) may be similarly explained as instrumentals

of the Apabhramsa pronominal bases (above noticed), the old

ending being shortened to ^«T, but again keeping the final »r intact.

In Maithili, also, occur jena “ as,” fr^tT tend “ so,” (see Grierson’s

Mth. Gr. Part I, p. 109, in Extra No. of J. A. S. B., 1880), : * where the

final long ^jr is merely the Maithili way of indicating a short open d as

distinct from % which latter is pronounced something like dw.

There remains the question to what inflectional case the Apabhram¬

sa Prakrit terminations or belong. Now Hemachandra (IV,

357) expressly ascribes the suffix to the locative sing, of masc. and neut.

bases in a, and also (IV, 347) to the loc. plur. of all bases, whether ending

in a or i or u. He further ascribes (IV, 341, 352) the suffix to the loc.

sing, of all bases in i and u, and to fern, bases in a. We have therefore Hema-

* Maithili ®T , ?Tarc, I think, contractions of the Ap. Pr, rff# (H. C. IV, 357).

163

1883.] A. F. Rudolf TToernle — Note on the preceding Essay.

chandra’s express authority for looking on the termination as indicating

theloc. sing. ; and since the suffix Fxf (as a locative suffix) is in all probability

a mere variety of the suffix Ft, we may assume that, even though not

noticed by Hemachandra, it might also be used with bases in a, just as with

bases in i and u* However that may be, it is certain that in after times

both suffixes and f% were used as terminations of the locative singular.

This is proved both by the usage of Tulsi Das in his Ramayan and of the

Maithili, as already stated in the preceding Essay, pp. 126, 130. If modern

pandits maintain that the suffix rt is always used by Tulsi Das in a plural

sense, they can only do by saying that when it is used in the singular it con¬

veys an honorific sense. But this is merely an easy method of theirs of squar¬

ing awkward facts with a pre-conceived theory. Pace the pandits, we must

judge for ourselves ; for instance, taking the example, quoted on p. 123,

there is no conceivable reason why “ not in season,” should

have a plural sense, whether honorific or otherwise, standing as it does by

the side of the singular fFg “ in season”. Many other examples, of similar

undeniable singulars, might be cited.

It may be added that in the examples quoted above (p. 160) from

Chand the words “in this part,” “ on the seventh day,” and

many other similar instances, cannot well be explained as anything else

than locatives.

However, I am not absolutely concerned to prove that every single

modern form in v: or ^ corresponds to an Ap. Prak. locative. It is certain

that a later period, the affixes Ft and fx? were used in a much looser way,

as a sort of general inflectional suffix (as may be seen from the examples,

cited on pp. 122 — 125), and it is, therefore, quite permissible to say, that

the modern termination v; is used in the sense of the instrumental in certain

cases (viz., in the regular declension of the Maithili, see Grierson’s Mth.

Gr. Part I, p. 9). This does not apply, however, to phrases like qiw"

etc., which can be directly traced to the Ap. Pr. and shown to be locatives.

But in any case, by whatever particular case-name they may be called, the

modern forms in y, ^ are direct descendants of Ap. Pr. forms in

I will only add, in conclusion, that I am inclined to agree with the

theory put forward on pp. 154ff regarding the probable derivation of the

verbal noun in a or i, obi. ai or e, though I should carry up the descent of

the oblique forms to the Ap. Pr. terminations in and 55 rather than to

the literary Pr. termination in Thus, the obi. and (p. 151)

correspond to the oblique and EfF (see p. 151), and I would identify

the South Maithili and Magadhi oblique epo (pronounced ghardw with aw

as in the English “law”) with Ap. Pr Ef*;^, while the Magadhi obi. is

the same as Ap. Pr. Eppf%. I hope to have another opportunity of further

explaining this view.

* Indeed, as H. C. gives both forms (= ^^f^) and (—

promiscuously, he virtually allows the unnasalised suffix r? to a-basos.

164

Rajendralala Mitra — On the Temples of Deoghar.

[No. 2,

On the Temples of Deoghar .*• — By Rajendralala Mitra,

LL. D., C. I. E.

(With a Plate.)

Deoghar, ‘ the home of gods,’ is a small town, four miles to the south

of the Baidyanath Station on the chord line of the East Indian Railway,

and about two hundred miles due west of Calcutta. Lat. 24° 29' 43'' N.

Long. 86° 44' 36" E. During the later Muhammadan rule it formed a part

ot the Birblium district, but it is now included in the Santal Pargannahs,

lying on its west side. It is situated on a rocky plain, having a small

forest immediately on the north, a low hill on the north-west, called Nan-

dana Pahada, a large hill called Trikuta-parvata about five miles to the east,f

and other hills to the south-east (Jaime and Pathadu), south (Phuljiiari),

and south-west (Digheria), at varying distances, but within twelve miles

from its centre. Immediately to the west of the town proper there is a

small rivulet named Yamunajor, about 20 feet broad, which exists as a dry

ditch for the greater part of the year. About half a mile to the west of

this runs the river Dharawa, which, making a bend, runs also along the

south at a distance of about a mile from the town. The space between the

town proper and the river on the south side belongs to the Ghatwali estate

of Rohini ; but the town of Rohini is situated about three miles to the west

of the river. The river varies in width from 50 to 120 yards, and during

the rains and for two months afterwards is a shallow stream, but in the hot

months it is a dry bed of sand from which water is drawn by scraping the

sand to the depth of about a foot. It takes its rise in the hills of the

Hazaribag district, and, after a winding course, falls into the Mor or Alayu-

ralcshi ‘the peacock-eyed,’ i. e., having water lustrous as the eye of the

peacock, near Suri, receiving, before the junction, the waters of the aforesaid

Yamunajor. It is subject to very serious freshets. After a heavy

shower during the preceding night, I noticed, one morning at 6 o’clock at the

end of October, 1881, the water to be barely three feet deep, and four hours

* There are notices of the archaeology of the place in Montgomery Martin’s

‘ Eastern India’, Yol. II ; in Hunter’s ‘ Annals of Rural Bengal,’ and in his ‘ Statistical

Account of Bengal,’ Yol. XIV ; in the ‘ Mukarjee Magazine,’ (a note by Babu Bholanath

Chunder) ; and in the Archaeological Survey Reports, Yol. VIII, (Mr. Beglar’s Report) ;

hut none of them is such as to preclude the necessity of a detailed account. None of

them gives the inscriptions to he found at the place.

t Mr. Beglar says, “ Eight miles north-west from Baijnath is a group of hills with

three curious peaks, it is known as the Trikuta hills,” p. 145. The direction given is

quite wrong,

1883.] Rajendralala Mitra — On the Temples of Deoghar. 165

afterwards, there was an impetuous current eight feet deep, and so strong that

none could swim across it. I was, on the occasion, placed in a ludicrous

situation. My cook had forded the river at early dawn, right opposite to

my bungalow, and at 10 o’clock, when he returned with his purchases, the river

was impassable, and I had to satisfy myself with the sight of the materials

of my breakfast waiting on the opposite bank. The water subsided at 3 p. m.,

when my servant easily recrossed the river by fording. I have been told that

the freshets are at times so sudden that a person may be overtaken by one

before he has half crossed the river.

The forest on the north is called Data Jungle, deriving its name from

that of a Fakir, whose descendants now own the land. It appeared to me

very like a hunting-ground or Shikargah of some old Raja, not unlike

the hunting-ground of the Dumraon Maharaja, but much smaller, being

limited to an area of about a mile and a half. It is not much encum¬

bered by brushwood, and one can very easily walk about in different parts

of it.

The area of Deoghar is under two miles, and the fixed population at

the last Census was reckoned at 8005, of which 4961 were males and

3041 were females. But the influx of pilgrims on particular holidays

is said to rise from two to fifty thousand heads. The pilgrims, however,

do not, generally speaking, prolong their stay in the town for more than

10 to 12 hours, and their presence does not seem ordinarily to affect much the

sanitary condition of the town, which has the reputation of being

highly salubrious. The soil is fertile, and the crops are rich ; but the

cultivation is carried on principally by the Santals who live in the neigh¬

bourhood, and not by the Hindu population, among whom there are about

300 families of priests, a good many of whom look for their earnings mainly

to the gullibility and the religious zeal of the pilgrims.

Deoghar is now the head-quarters of a subdivision, and has besides the

usual public offices, a good hospital and a school teaching up to the Entrance

standard of the Calcutta University. A Municipal Committee, with an in¬

come of about two thousand rupees a year, has charge of the sanitary esta¬

blishment of the town, and to their credit it must be said that the roads and

drains of the place look clean and well taken care of.

In so far the place is of little importance. It is, however, of much

interest to antiquarians, on account of a large sanctuary which stands in its

centre.

There is no temple in Bengal which can claim a higher sanctity than

that of Baidyanatha at Deoghar. Its renown is acknowledged by a hundred

thousand pilgrims, who resort to it every }rear, and its antiquity is carried

back in some of the Puranas to the second age of the world. It was in

the l’reta Yuga, says the S'iva Purana, that the cruel Titan, Havana,

1GG

Rajendralala Mitra — On the Temples of Deoghar. [No 2,

feeling that his golden metropolis in Ceylon, rich and unrivalled as it was,

would not be perfect without the presence in it of the great god Maha-

deva himself, repaired to the Kailasa mountain to secure the grace of

that dread divinity. It so happened, however, that the god was at the

time in the society of his consort, who was then in a huff, and Nandi,

the warder at the gate of his mansion, would not permit a stranger

to pass in. But the demon was not to be so easily baulked. He

seized the warder by the neck, and hurled him to a great distance

from his post. This made the mountain tremble, and the lady in very

fear gave up her anger, and sought the protection of her lord.* S'iva

was greatly pleased at this occurrence, and when the unmannerly demon

pleaded in excuse of his conduct by asserting to the host that as a

son he was justified in appearing before his parents at all seasons, and the

warder had no business to prevent him, the god readily offered him

a boon. The prayer was then made in due form that he should

take his permanent residence with the demon. This was, however,

not granted. Ravana was told that one of the twelve resplendent emblems

of the divinity ( Jyotirlinga ) would be quite as effective as S'iva in propria

persona, and that Ravana might take it away on the only condition that the

transfer should be effected without a break in the journey, but that should

the lingam he deposited anywhere on the earth in course of the journey,

it would proceed no further, but stick there for ever. To Ravana, ac¬

customed to travel from Ceylon to the heaven of Indra and back, the

condition did not seem very hard, and he assented. The lingam was

immediately taken up, and the journey begun. There were, however,

difficulties in the way which the demon did not think of. The gods

dreaded the effect of the lingam being established in the kingdom of one

who was the most powerful enemy of the celestial hierarchy, and if Maha-

deva were to be the protector of that demon’s metropolis, there would be

no means left them for his overthrow. They accordingly sat in solemn

conclave, and devised their plan of outwitting their enemy. Varuna, the

regent of the waters, entered the belly of the demon, and created an un¬

pleasant sensation, and a pressing necessity soon arose for Ravana to relieve

himself. Vishnu, in the garb of a decrepit old Brahman, appeared before

him, and accosted him. Unconscious of the plan that had been laid to

entrap him, Ravana begged of the Brahman to help him by holding the god

for a few minutes, and the request was readily acceded to. Ravana made

over the lingam to him, and retired to a side. He was greatly delayed in

his return by the mischievous action of the god of waters within him, and

* There is a story very like this in Pilpay’s ‘Fables,’ and in it the presence

of a thief makes a truant wife reconciled to her lord.

167

1883.] Kijendralala Mitra — On the Temples of Deoghar.

when he came back, lo ! the Brahman had disappeared, and the lingam was

lying on the ground at a considerable distance from the spot where he had

alighted.* The spot where Havana had descended is now called Harla-

juri ; the place where the lingam was deposited is Deoghar ; and the Vaidya-

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Rajendralala Midra — On the Temples of Dcoglicir. [No. 2

natha of our day is the lihgam aforesaid. Deoghar as a name of the place

is, however, quite modern. In Sanskrit works we find in its place Harda-

pitha, Haridrapltha, Ravana-kanana, Ketaki-vana, Haritaki-vana, and Vai-

dyanatha. In Bengal the place was generally known under the last name,

but the East Indian Railway Company having opened a station near it

and assigned to the town that has grown up around it the name of Bai-

dyanatha, the people, for the sake of distinction, have used the name of

Deoghar. In the Post Office seal the name is Baidyanath Deoghar.

The story as related in the Vaidyanatha-mahatmya of the Siva Purana

is embellished with many tedious and circumstantial details which it is not

necessary to notice here, particularly as those details are not borne out by

the Padma Purana, which alters them to a considerable extent. As both

the versions are fictitious — the results of wild, uncontrolled fancy — they are

of no interest except to the pious Hindu.

The story runs that Ravana tried hard to remove the lihgam from the

spot where it had been placed, but failed. The divinity would on no ac¬

count move from the place. The Titan, growing desperate, used violence ;

but that served only to knock off a bit from the top of the lihgam, but

not to move the divinity from the position it had taken. This showed the

folly of the course Ravana had adopted, and he fell at the feet of the lih¬

gam, and begged for pardon. He made amends, too, for his sacrilegious

violence by daily coming to the place and worshipping the divinity with

sacred water brought from the source of the Ganges on the Himalaya moun¬

tains. The latter part of the operation was subsequently dispensed with by

the excavation of a well in which the waters of all the sacred pools on

the face of the earth were deposited.

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1883.]

169

Rajendralala Mifcra — On the Temples of Deoghar.

According to the Padma Puraua, the Brahman deposited the lingam in

due form, consecrated it with water from a neighbouring tank, repeated his

prayers, and then departed. A Bheel was present when this was done ; he re¬

ceived instructions from the Brahman and, following his example, worshipped

the lingam, but having no vessel handy, brought the water for worship in his

•mouth, and used it in his adoration. When Havana at last returned, he

related, all the circumstances, and pointed out that the Brahman was no

other than Vishnu himself. Havana then excavated a well with an arrow,

brought into it the waters of all the sacred pools on earth, and duly wor¬

shipped the god.* This is obviously a S'ivite version of the story of the

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Vaidyanatka-mahatmya of the Padma-purana. Chapter 2,

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170 Rajendralala Mitra — On the Temples of Deoghar. [No. 2>

fowler Visvavasu who worshipped Jagannatha before the Hindus took up

that divinity. #

After the death of Havana, according to one set of traditions, (not

noticed in any Purana), the lingam lay neglected for ages, until it was no¬

ticed by a rude hunter, Vaiju by name, who accepted it for his god, and

worshipped it daily, and proclaimed it to the world as the lord of Vaiju —

Vaidyanatha. Before this occurrence, the lingam was known by its original

name of Jyotirlihga, the lingam of light, or the name it derived on its

transfer, Ravanesvara.

The Santal tradition differs from this. According to it, as sum¬

marised by Dr. Hunter in his interesting ‘ Annals of Rural Bengal,’ “ In

the olden time,’ they say, * a band of Brahmans settled on the banks of the

beautiful highland lake beside which the holy city stands. Around

them there was nothing but the forest and mountains, in which dwelt the

black races. The Brahmans placed the symbol of their god S'iva near the

lake, and did sacrifice to it ; but the black tribes would not sacrifice to it,

but came, as before, to the three great stones which their fathers had wor¬

shipped, and which are to be seen at the western entrance of the holy city

to this day. The Brahmans, moreover, ploughed the land, and brought

water from the lake to nourish the soil ; but the hill-men hunted and

fished as of old, or tended their herds, while their women tilled little

patches of Indian-corn. But in process of time the Brahmans, finding the

land good, became slothful, giving themselves up to lust, and seldom

calling on their god S'iva. This the black tribes, who came to worship the

great stones, saw and wondered at more and more, till at last one of them,

by name Byju, a man of a mighty arm, and rich in all sorts of cattle,

became wroth at the lies and wantonness of the Brahmans, and vowed he

would beat the symbol of their god S'iva with his club every day before

touching food. This he did ; but one morning his cattle strayed into the

forest, and after seeking them all day, he came home hungry and weary,

and having hastily bathed in the lake, sat down to his supper. Just as he

stretched out his hand to take the food, he called to mind his vow ; and,

worn out as he was, he got up, limped painfully to the Brahmans’ idol on

the margin of the lake, and beat it with his club. Then suddenly a

splendid form, sparkling with jewels, rose from the waters, and said :

‘ Behold the man who forgets his hunger and his weariness to beat me,

while my priests sleep with their concubines at home, and neither give me

to eat nor to drink. Let him ask of me what he will, and it shall be given.’

Byju answered, ‘ I am strong of arm and rich in cattle. I am a leader

of my people ; what want I more ? Thou art called Nath (Lord) ; let me

too be called Lord, and let thy temple go by my name.’ ‘ Amen,’ replied

* Cf. my Antiquities of Orissa, II, p. 102.

1883.] Rajendralala Mitra — On the Temples of Deoghar. 171

the deity ; ‘ henceforth thou art not Byju, but Byjnath, and my temple

shall be called by thy name.’ ”*

Romantically as this story has been narrated by the charming writer,

it is as thoroughly fictitious as the one that the Hindus recite, and utterly

worthless as data for any historical inference. It cannot be under any

circumstance more than three hundred years old ; it is probably of a much

more recent date. The Indian-corn, which the women of the black races

are said to have cultivated, was unknown in this country before the

Spaniards or the Portuguese brought it from America, and the black races

could not possibly have known it in the olden time, or about the time

when the temple was first built. There is no name for the corn in the

Sanskrit language, and the vernacular names Janerd, Bhutta , Maided are

all obviously foreign. In Janerd we have Rio Janeiro, and in Maided we

recognize the Mahiz of the Island of Hayti, whence maize was first

brought to Europe. It is true that the aboriginal races now cultivate

it very largely, but that is not due to its being an aboriginal product, but

to its being easily cultivated, and therefore better suited to the primitive

husbandry of the Santals. The “three stones of aboriginal worship” are

altogether a misidentification. As will be shown in the sequel, they

are parts of a purely Hindu structure, attached to a Hindu temple, and

used for Hindu ceremonials. It may be added that the tomb in which the

mortal remains of Byju are alleged to be deposited is scarcely two hundred

years old. Byju is no other then a clumsy copy of the Puranic Bhilla,

the forester, and must go the way of his archetype.

Some of the Puranas, without openly rejecting the story of Ravana,

carry the date of Vaidyanatha’s advent at Deoghar to a much earlier period.

It was not in the second, but in the first, age of the world, Satya Yuga or

the “age of Truth,” when the gods of heaven had not yet settled down to

their respective places, and jealousies and rivalry and dissensions were rife

for precedence, that S'iva, claiming a higher rank than that of his father-

in-law, Daksha, treated him with marked discourtesy at a public assembly.

The patriarch resented this by not inviting him to a grand sacrifice, and Sati,

the daughter of Daksha, failing in her expostulations with her father, com¬

mitted suicide, rather than continue to be known as the daughter of one

who had reviled her divine husband. Overpowered by grief, S'iva, in a fit

of frenzy, stuck the corpse of his wife on the point of his trident, and

roamed about as a madman. The sight created a scandal, and nobody

being able to approach and remonstrate with S'iva, Vishnu cut up the body

with his discus into fifty-two parts, which fell on different parts of India.

The heart fell at Deoghar, and thence that place attained its sanctity, and be¬

came known by the name of Uardapitha “the sanctuary of the heart.”

* * Annals of Rural Bengal,’ pp. 191/.

172

Rajendralala Mitra — On the Temples of Deoghar. [No. k2,

S'iva nursed his grief here for a long time, carrying the heart on his

breast like the Scotch knight who brought away the heart of Richard I,

from France, and earned the surname of Lockheart, changed afterwards to

Lockhart. It is added, that inasmuch as this was the only way in which

S'iva offered the final obsequies to his consort, the place derived the al¬

ternative name of Ohitdbhumi, the “cremation ground.” It is worthy of

note, however, that at present there is no temple, shrine, or spot at Deoghar

which is associated with this occurrence, though at all the other fifty-

one places mementos of some kind or other are still extant.

Yet another story. It was again at the first age of the world that

S'iva manifested himself as lingams of light at twelve different places under

different names. These included 1st, Somanatha, in Saurashtra ; 2nd,

Mallikarjuna at STisaila ; 3rd, Mahakala at Ujjain ; 4th, Onkara, at

Amaresvara ; 5th, Kedara, on the Himalaya ; 6th, Bhimasankara, at

Dakini; 7tb, Visvesvara, at Benares; 8th, Tryambaka, on the banks of the

Gautami ; 9tli, Vaidyanatha, at Chitabhumi ; 10th, Nagesa at Dwarka ;

11th, Ramesa, at Setubandha ; and 12th, Ghusrinesa, at S'ivalaya.* These

include all the principal and most celebrated lingams in India.

On the top of the lingam at Deoghar, the goddess Sati appeared as a

pandanus flower, and for along time afterwards dwelt in a grove near it in order

to be ready at hand to worship the emblem of her lord. Owing to this cir¬

cumstance the place became known as Ketakivana, or the “ pandanus grove.”

How our Pandits reconcile these contradictory stories, 1 know not,

and it would be futile to inquire into the subject. But to turn to the me¬

morials now extant with which these stories are associated.

The temple of Vaidyanatha now stands in the middle of the town, and

is surrounded by a courtyard of an irregular quadrilateral figure. See plan,

Plate XV. The east side of the courtyard facing the public road measures,

from north to south, 226 feet, and near its southern limit there is a large

arched gateway with a Nuhbatkhana on top of it. The Nuhbatkhana is,

however, not much used, a separate two-storeyed building, close to the north

of it, having been provided for the musicians. The gateway also is not much

used, as it has been partially blocked by a one-storeyed building. On the

south side, which is faced by a range of shops, the length is 242 feet. On

ii ii

^rvrsngf ^ n ii

1883.] Bajendralala Mitra— On the Temples of Deoghar. 173

the west, the length is 215 feet, and, in the middle of it, there is a small

doorway leading to a bye-lane * The greater part of the north side is

covered by tbe private residence of the Head Priest, but towards the north¬

east corner there is a large gateway with massive side pillars, and it now

serves as the principal entrance to the temple enclosure. All pilgrims are

expected to enter by this gate. The length of this side is 220 feet. All

the above measurements have been taken within the enclosing walls. The

whole of the area is paved with flags of chunar free-stone, the gift of a

Mirzapur merchant, who spent a large sum on this pious work.

The principal temple stands on the centre of this area, facing the

east, as old Hindu temples usually do. It is a plain stone structure,

rising to a height of 72 feet on the slope. Its surface is cut into a check

pattern by plain perpendicular and horizontal mouldings. When originally

built it comprised a single cell 15' 2" X 15', opening due east. A low porch

or lobby, 35' X 12' divided into two aisles by a row of 4< pillars, was added

sometime after, and a second porch, a little

shorter, followed at a later date. Both the

porches are paved with flags of basalt. The

appearance of the facade is shown in the

annexed woodcut, copied from a photo¬

graph. The woodcut does not show that

the central opening is flush with the court¬

yard The ends of the lobby are accessible

by small doorways, which are reserved for

the use of priests and respectable female

pilgrims. The other three sides of the cell

are faced by pillared verandas which are

reserved for the use of those pilgrims who

come to fast for days to secure special

blessings from the divinity in the temple.

On the east side of the northern veranda

there is a masonry vat into which flows the

water and milk used for the ablutions of

the lingam. The water in it is of a dirty colour, being loaded with unit

Idahpal, and washings of flowers, t ‘.which impart to rt a fragrant

. Mr. Beglar*s — TatsjLTe orth

entrances to it ; the prmcpal one rsto the wcst^ ^ ^ ^ (p. 138). The

Of the two mmor ones, one is on the gecond door on the north is the

east gate is the largest and theses one^sm which formS a part of the sacred

« «c pUs who arint the water.

174

Rajendralala Mitra — On the Temples of Deo ghar. [No. 2,

smell, and is esteemed as highly sacred. Every pilgrim is expected to

taste a few drops of it, and to carry away a phial full of it. I was

informed that the water is bailed out of it from time to time, to prevent

its becoming tainted by the putrefaction of the vegetable matter mixed

with it. When I tasted it, I did not notice any foetid odour.

The presiding divinity of the temple is the Jyotirlinga or Vaidyanatha

of the story cited above. It is of a cylindrical form, five inches in diameter,

and rising about four inches from the centre of a large slab of basalt

shaped like a yoni and pointing towards the north. Fixed firmly as it is

in this slab, it is not possible to ascertain how much of the lingam is buried

under ground. The top is broken, and has an uneven surface, one side being a

little higher than the other side. The fracture is attributed by the

Hindu legend to the assault of Ravana, and by the Santal legend to that

of the forester Byju ; probably the real cause has to be looked for in the fana¬

ticism of some iconoclastic Muslim. Daily pouring of water and milk by

hundreds of pilgrims and repeated wipings after every offering, have

smoothed the surface and made it even glistening, but the in*egular frac¬

ture is prominently perceptible.

The cell is exceedingly dark, and, entering it after circumambulating

the temple in the glare of the midday sun, one can see nothing in it ; and

two ghi-fed lamps are all that are held up to help the faithful in beholding

the emblem of the divinity : one of them is kept burning all day. With the

feeble light of the lamps, and after repeated washings, I noticed the lingam

to be of a dull amber colour, mottled with black specks. The original colour

was doubtless grey, but the washings with milk and frequent smearing

with sandal-paste have given it a yellowish tinge, and the specks suggested

to me the idea of the stone being granite. The cell contains no furniture

of any kind, and the walls are bare and unplastered. One block of basalt

on the top of the doorway, I was told, contained an inscription. But

going up to it by a ladder and holding two torches by its side, I found the

supposed writing to be mere chisel marks.

The lobby in front of the cell is, like the cell itself, paved with flags

of basalt, but it contains nothing in the way of furniture or fixtures.

There is, however, a small inscription on the left side of the entrance to

the cell. This will be noticed lower down.

The second porch has, as shown in the woodcut, in front a row of pillars

spanned by blocks of basalt. On the right side there is a sandstone image

of a bull, which is by some dignified with the name of S'rijuta or ‘his

excellency.’ Near it there are some small bovine images, and bells bang

under the ceiling. Every pilgrim, entering by the front door, has to pull the

bell-rope to announce to the divinity the approach of a devotee. In most

cases the priests do the needful in behalf of the pilgrims. This rule is

strictly enforced at the temple of Visvesvara at Benares.

1883.] Rajendralala Mitra — On the Temples of Deoghar. 175

The ritual of worship is simple enough. The mantras are few, and

the offerings limited. Pouring of water on the lingam, smearing it with

sandal-paste, and the offering of flowers and a few grains of rice constitute

the worship. This is followed by the offering of money in silver or gold,

no copper being allowed to be brought in contact with the divinity.

Rich people offer horses, cattle, palkis, gold ornaments and other valua¬

bles, and sometimes rent-free land in support of the daily worship, the title-

deed in such cases being ordinarily a bel leaf on which the donation is written,

and the leaf is swept out in the evening. This deed, however, is more

faithfully respected than many muniments on parchment. There is

nothing here like the consecration of enormous quantities of dressed

food and sweetmeats which obtains at Bhuvanes'vara, Puri, and else¬

where. The god delights in water, bel leaves, sandal and flowers, and

they are all that are necessary for his worship. He is, however, very

particular about the quality of the leaves and the water. The former

has to be brought from the Trikuta Hill. For ordinary use the water of

the sacred well, excavated by Ravana, is held sufficient ; but water from the

sources of the Ganges on the Himalaya near Badrinath, Sanskrit Badari-

natha, or from the Manasarovar lake in Tibet, is highly prized, and thou¬

sands of pilgrims, mostly hermits, bring it from those distant places. A

great quantity is also brought from the Ganges near the Jangira rock.*

Adverting to it, Mr. Montgomery Martin says, “ but the great emolument

of the priests arises from about 50,000 pilgrims who at various times

come to carry away a load of water which they intend to pour on

* General Cunningham derives the name from that of a saint, and not from

that of the Emperor Jahangir as some do. He says, “ Here the course of the

river is changed hy two rocky hills ; one called Jangira, standing in the middle

of the water, and the other called Bais-karan forming a bluff headland at the

end of the stream. The former derives its name from Jahnu Rishi, who had

established his cell or A'srarn in a cleft of the rocks. Hence the rock itself was

called Jdhnavi griha, or “ Jahnu's house,” which was gradually shortened to Jahn-

gira, just as Raja griha has now become Rdjgir'’ (Archaeological Survey Reports,

XIY, p. 20. ) This is a mere guess, and on the face of it not tenable. If the meaning

be “ Jahnu’s house,” the compound should he Jahnu-griha, which would correspond

with Raja-griha, the first member of which is a noun. If the derivative form be

accepted, the term should be Jdhnava griha, the neuter noun griha not admitting

of a feminine adjective like J dhnavi to qualify it, nor could the name of the saint he

feminine. If the term he taken as a derivative feminine noun, the meaning would

be the house of the river Ganges, and we would come to the absurdity of calling the

rock the house of the river. If the word be spelt with a short final i in the derivative

form, we create our giant vi with the object of knocking it down immediately after

without any object, and that against the ordinary rules of Sanskrit elision. The name

originally was Jahnugiri or “ the rock of Jahnu.” Both griha and giri would change

into gir in the vernacular without any difficulty, and the context can alone determine

the original term.-

17(5 Rajendralala Mifcra — On the Temples of Deo ghar. [No. 2,

the head of various celebrated images in distant parts. In the south

of India I have met pilgrims carrying their load from this place ; but by

far the greater part goes to Devaghar in Virabhum where it is poured on

the Priapus or Linga called Baidyanatha, to whom this water, taken from a

scene of former pleasure, is considered as peculiarly acceptable.”*

A special charge was formerly made for the offering of this water, and

it was called Gangdjali. The priests now keep a supply of sacred water in

phials to help such pilgrims as come without a supply. A few drops of

this water are sprinkled on the flowers which the worshipper offers to the

divinity. The water is described to be from Jangira, or from Badarinathaj

or from Manasarovar according to the whim of the priest at the time.

The verandas on the north, the west, and the south sides of the

temple are reserved for such pilgrims as repair to the asylum of the divinity

for special blessings. Their daily number varies from 20 to 40, and they

include both men and women from all classes of the community, from the

richest to the poorest. The plan adopted to extort the blessings is curious.

It is a sort of a distress warrant on the divinity, threatening him with the

sin of murder if he should decline, and reminds one of the Brehon law

of distress, under which a creditor who required payment from a debtor of

higher rank than himself should fast upon him. In the ordinary affairs

of life this law is well known in this country from an early date under the

name of “ sitting Dharna.” A.t one time it was so prevalent that the British

Indian Government felt it necessary to pass a special law, Regulation VII

of 1820, to prohibit it. When one fasts on a god the word ordinarily used

is hatya or killing, for the resolution is to commit suicide by fasting, should

the divinity implored decline to grant the favour sought. It is in fact

Tliarna under another name. The blessings sought are various. Ordinarily

men fast for the cure of their diseases ; women mostly for the cure of

the ailments of their children, or for obtaining children. The usual prac¬

tice is for a pilgrim to bathe in the S'ivaganga tank in the morning, worship

the lingam, and then to lie down on the bare pavement of the veranda till next

morning, when he or she rises, performs his or her worship, drinks a mouthful

of water from the vat on the north side, and then lies down again. This

practice is continued for three days and three nights, in course of which the

pleasure of the divinity is generally communicated to him or her in a

dream. Sometimes the dream comes on the very first night, sometimes on

the second or the third, and sometimes not at all ; the dream, when vouchsafed,

manifesting itself in such words as “ Go away, you are cured or “ Go, and

do such and such things (naming them) and you will be cured or “ You

will be cured j” or “ Your wish will be fulfilled in course of such a time”

* Martin’s ‘Eastern India,’ Vol. II, p. 38.

1383.]

177

Rajendralala Mitra — On ll/e Temples of Deoghar.

(naming it). Should no dream come, it is understood that the person is too

sinful and utterly unworthy of the god’s mercy. Formerly the fasting was

continued sometimes to seven, eight, or nine days, and dreams came on

after such protracted fasting; but, some deaths having taken place from

starvation, the priests do not now permit a longer fasting than of three

days. The sight of these miserable beings on the third day is pitiful indeed.

I once noticed a woman of about 30 years of age, lean and emaciated,

who was too weak to walk from her place to the vat, and to have a drink

of water, and had to be led thereto by her companion. It should be added,

however, that this absolute fast is highly efficacious in many cases. Per¬

sons who had suffered for months or years from painful chronic diseases,

which had made life a burthen to them, have returned home perfectly

cured, while others have been greatly relieved. Nervous diseases, particu¬

larly hysteria, are often cured. And there are not women wanting who

profess that they have been cured of their barrenness. One common com¬

plaint among Hindu women is that their children die young, so that they

cannot have two sons living at the same time, and for this they sometimes

fast at the gate of the lord, and are not unoften blessed. Of course there

can be no statistics to show the percentage of cures, and it must be com¬

paratively small, perhaps not more so than at Lourdes and other places in

Europe, but it is sufficiently large to keep up a constant stream of pilgrims

submitting to the fast. Some of those who are blessed have their names

engraved on the pavement of the verandas, and there are a great many

names so engraved. Formerly the pilgrims lay in the open courtyard, but

about one hundred and fifty years ago the verandas were built to protect them

from the sun and rain.

Leaving now the great temple, I must go over the courtyard to notice

the minor sanctuaries. The terrace, marked No. 1 on the annexed plan,*

(Plate XV) is used by pandits on cold weather mornings for expounding the

Sastras. It is also used for performing sraddhas.

No. 2 has been replaced lately by a large stone temple, which the

present Head Priest has erected in honour of his father.

No. 3 is dedicated to the goddess Kali, a black stone image, similar

to what is now prepared in Bengal to represent that divinity. The image

is remarkably well executed. On the top of the door there is an inscrip¬

tion which gives the name of Harinatha 0 jha and the Sam vat date 1700. A

second inscription on a side gives a different date.

* I am indebted for this plan to Babu Rashabehari Dutt, Kanungo of Deoghar.

He measured the temples without taking any angles, and the location of the different

temples is, therefore, not absolutely correct. For all practical purposes, however, the

plan is quite satisfactory. Since preparing it, I find Mr. Beglar has published one in

the Archaeological Survey Reports, Vol. VIII.

A A

178 Rajendralala Mitra — On the Temples of Deoghar. [No. 2,

No. 4 is dedicated to the goddess Annapurna, ‘the great almoner.’ It

too has an inscription.

No. 5 is the sacred well Chanclralcupct * the repository of the holy

waters of all the sacred pools on earth, which Havana is said to have exca¬

vated to relieve himself of the necessity of daily bringing water for worship

from the Himalaya mountains. It is very awkwardly situated, right in

front of the main entrance to the courtyard. The parapet round the well

is of an octagonal form, and is kept in such good repair, with the plaster

often renewed, that it is impossible to judge of its age from its appearance

or make. The water is very good and clear, and that would suggest the

inference that much sediment cannot have accumulated at the bottom. It

is largely used both for the daily service of the temples and for drinking

purposes b}T the people of the neighbourhood.

No. 6 is an unfinished temple. Mr. Beglar describes it at some length.

He says:

“ The finest of all the temples is the unfinished temple D ; this, from

the plan, is seen to be a single cell, once surrounded on all sides, now on

three sides only, by pillars, which supported the roof of a veranda all

round. From an examination of the pillars, however, it is clear that they

formed no part of the original design, as they differ among each other in

form, in size, in execution, and in position with reference to the central

building, the pillars being not at a uniform but at varying distances from

the walls on the various sides ; these pillars further shew that the enclo¬

sure wall is a later addition even than themselves, as one of the pillars is

imbedded in the eastern enclosure wall.

“ Divested of its pillars, this temple is seen to be a single cell, sur¬

mounted by a tower roof ; it is ornamented externally by plain raised bands

of mouldings ; these are neither elegant nor bold, and are situated so high

up, leaving such a height of bare blankness below, as to look quite out of

place. Below, the corners are indented and sculptured into plain rectili¬

near mouldings by way of ornament ; this process has the effect of making

the corners look particularly weak, and, but for the veranda, which now

acts a friendly part, by breaking up the height, and shutting off as it were

the main tower from the basement portion, the error of the proceeding

would become painfully evident. * * *

“ The tower does not diminish with a graceful curve, but slopes up¬

wards from above a certain point in almost a straight line. The knee or

* SpTfyrf I

c\

^ rTSTHT fafW ^ffrPT^ II

in* 1^° i

1SS3.] Rajendralala Mitra — On the Temples of Deoghar. 179

point of intersection of the vertical lower portion and the inclined upper

tower portion is so little rounded as to be painfully prominent, and promi¬

nent too in such a way, as to shew that the architects really did not know

how to deal with it ; they had not the courage to leave the line sharp, and

bring it out by a bold moulding, and they had not the taste to round it

gracefully.

“ The form appears to be a compromise between the Muhammadan

dome of the early type, i. <?,, without a bulge, and the Hindu spire ; if a

semicircle be described on the top of the vertical portion of the tower, and

if on the semicircle so described a triangle, whose base is less in width than

the diameter of the semicircle, be slipped, till the lower extremities of its

sides rest on the curve of the semicircle, we shall get a form that nearly

approaches that of these towers.”*

Elsewhere he says, “ I have described but one of the temples in the

enclosure, that is, the best of the group, and may be regarded as the type

of the others. ”f

These disquisitions about art and compromises and types are, however,

thrown away. The temple is not a finished work of art ; as we now see it,

it is the result of an accident, and no general deductions can be drawn

from it. It is, moreover, singular in appearance, and cannot have served

as a type for any other. It is well known to the people that the temple

was undertaken by Vamadeva Ojha, an early ancestor of the present Head

Priest, with the ambitious object of erecting a temple of larger and

nobler proportions than the abode of Vaidyanatha, and to dedicate it to

Lakshmi-narayana, thereby making the Vaishnava divinity outshine the

S'ivite lord, even in his own stronghold. The plans were settled with

this object in view ; the plinth was to be 6 feet high, the fane of Vaidya¬

natha having no plinth at all ; the exterior dimensions were fixed at 37

feet by 35 feet, those of Vaidyanatha’ s temple being 22' x 21' ; the altitude

was to have been 120 feet against Vaidyanatha’ s 70 feet. The work was

commenced accordingly ; the plinth was completed, and the main building

carried to a height of 5L feet, when Vaidyanatha appeared to the presump¬

tuous priest in a dream, and threatened dire retribution if the heterodox

idea should be any further pushed on. None could disobey so dreadful a threats

The original idea was abandoned, and the works were stopped at once;

To prevent, however, the unsightly walls remaining standing as a monument

of folly, a flat roof, 21 feet square, was put on, and the walls somehow plastered.

The verandas on the west and the south sides were at a later time covered

in, but not on the north and the east sides, though the plinths on those-

* Archaeological Survey Reports, VIII, pp. 139-8>

f Ibid, p. 142.

180

[No. 2,

Rajendralala Mitra — On the Temples of Deoghar.

sides had been built and the pillars set up. In the annexed plan, the roofed

portions alone are shown.* The fact mentioned by Mr. Beglar that one of

the pillars juts into the surrounding wall should show that the wall dates

from a later time ; but the unequal and irregular width of the verandas and

their unfinished condition, supported by the belief that they were added

subsequently, may well suggest the idea of the wall being of an earlier period.

The base of the temple and the boundary wall existing, the width of the

verandas had to be regulated according to the space available.

It would seem that no image had been prepared when the temple was

taken in hand, and, when the crisis arrived, it was out of the question to

think of a new image. But the temple having been roofed in, something

had to be put in it, and we now find three images of Vishnu on the throne

which had been designed for one image, that of Lakshmi-narayana. The

images are loosely propped against a wall behind the masonry platform,

instead of being fixed by their bases. They are in alto-relievo, each repre¬

senting a four-handed human figure standing on a lotus throne. They are

of unequal size. The largest image is 3'-6" high, the next 2 feet, and

the last l'-6" ; and they have apparently been brought away from some old

temple, for they have been injured by the removal j parts of the back-frame

have been broken and other parts chipped off.

No. 7 belongs to Ananda-bhairava, who is represented as a human

being, lifesize, squatting on a lotus seat, and engaged in meditation. At

first sight one is apt to take it for a Buddha in meditation. The temple

was undertaken by Anandadatta Ojha, but he did not live long enough to

finish it. His son Paramananda did not care for it, but his grandson,

Sarvananda, completed it in A. D. 1823.

No. 8 is a vat or well, situated right in front of the last. It is

assumed to represent the two rivers Ganges and Yamuna, and named accord¬

ingly.

No. 9 is situated to the south of No. 7, and is dedicated to the images

of Rama, Lakshmana, and Janaki. The images are very modern, and call

for no remark. The temple was built by Ramadatta Ojha in the 9th

decade of the last century.

No. 10 is the vat wherein flow the waste waters of the great temple,

and afford the only sustenance which the pilgrims derive during their

rigorous fasts.

No. 11 is the great temple already described.

No. 12 is a flat-roofed temple with a small porch. It contains a lin-

gam which has the distinctive name of Nilakantha or the ‘ Blue-throated/

* In the plan annexed to Mr. Beglar’s note in the Archaeological Survey Reports,

Vol. VIII, all the four sides are shown.

1883.]

181

Rajendralala Mitra — On the Temples of Deoghar.

The story is that, on the occasion of the churning of the ocean by the

gods and the demons, a large quantity of poison was evolved which threaten¬

ed immediate destruction to the churners, and to save them, S'iva quaffed

off the lethal draught, which stuck in his throat, and caused a blue or

black mark to be apparent on it.

No. 13 is dedicated to Parvati, the consort of the presiding divinity

in the great temple, and the eternal union of the two is indicated by a

piece of cloth tied by the two ends to the pinnacles of the temples, stretch¬

ing from one to the other, a distance of about 70 feet. The temple is well

built, and stands on a plinth about 8 feet high. On the centre of the cell

there is a masonry platform on which are placed two black stone images of

unequal size, one a four-handed standing female l'-6" high, and named Grauri,

‘the fair one,’ the other, eight-handed, standing behind a buffalo which she is

destroying ; the latter is 14 inches in height and named Parvati, ‘ the

mountain born.’ Both are slightly chipped in some places. They have

apparently been brought from some old temple or other, and not made

expressly for the fane in which they are now placed. They are held in the

highest veneration, and offerings of sweetmeats and other articles are made

to them in large quantities. During the three days of the Durga-puja,

in October, upwards of a thousand kids are sacrificed to their honour

besides several buffaloes. Vaidyanatha dislikes these offerings, and is

averse even to look at them, and the door of his temple is therefore closely

locked during the time the sacrifices are made. This temple was built

by Ratnapani Ojha at the beginning of the last century.

No. 14 belongs to Vagala Devi or Vagalamukhi. It was built by

Ramadetta Ojha, between 1782 and 1793 A. D. The goddess is said to be

one of the ten forms of Durga known under the common appellation of

Mahavidya. According to some Tantras she is four-handed; according to

others, two-handed. Her dhyana pictures her as a female of grave appearance,

excited with wine, bright as gold, four-handed, three-eyed, amorously dis¬

posed, holding a short club and a lasso in her right hands, and a tongue and a

thunderbolt in her left hands, arrayed in a yellow garb, and decorated with

golden earrings, her breasts hard and close, and she is seated on a golden

throne.”* Her peculiar habit is to seize her enemy by the tongue and then

V*

^rrr*:n;w it

Raja Radhakanta’s Supplement to his * S'abdakalpadruma,’ p. 1258.

182 Rajendralala Mitra — On the Temples of Deoghar. [No. 2,

break bis skull -with her club. She is the presiding divinity of a great

many malevolent incantations.

No. 15 is a small temple, built by Ramadatta Ojha, apparently from

materials obtained from an old shrine, for, on the architrave of its porch,

there is an inscription in the old Lat character. The presiding divinity is

named Surya or the sun-god, but the figure, as I saw it, is that of the

Buddhist Padmapani, 2 feet in height, and there is on the base of it an in¬

scription beginning with the words Deya dharmoycim in the Kutila charac¬

ter, which leaves no doubt as to the personage the image was originally

intended to represent. Nor is this a singular instance of the adoration of

a Buddhist image under a Hindu name. Indian antiquarians have noticed

instances of the kind in almost all parts of India. There is a Bengali in¬

scription on the porch of this temple.

No. 16 holds an image of Sarasvati, a daughter of Mahadeva, and

patroness of knowledge. Both the temple and the image are insignificant,

and held in little respect.

No. 17 is an open veranda, originally intended for the shelter of

pilgrims and hermits, but now used as the repository of several images of

different kinds picked up from distant places. The largest image is that

of the monkey-general of Rama, and the temple is named after him Hanu-

man Kabir.

No. 18 is dedicated to Kala-bhairava, a form of S'iva, but the image

is of a very suspicious look. I should have taken it for a Dhyani Buddha

had I seen it in a Buddhist temple, and putting it beside Surya alias Padma¬

pani there need be no doubt about its character. It is 3 '-6" in height.

No. 19 is the sanctuary of Sandhya Devi, the goddess of Vesper.

She is also called Savitii Devi, the wife of the Sun. Her first name was

Tara Devi, a name well known among Buddhists. Her image, as seen in

the temple, is that of a fierce-looking female seated on a car drawn by horses,

but the car and horses are broken and smudgy. The temple was built by

Kshemakarna Ojha in 1692 A. D.

No. 20 has for its presiding divinity an image of the elephant-headed

Ganesa. It is very little cared for. It was built by Ramadatta Ojha

(circa 1782-1793).

No. 21 is a veranda with two ranges of pillars, and originally intend¬

ed like No. 17, for the use of pilgrims. It has now some images set up

by hermits. The two principal images are S'yama, a form of Krishna, and

Kartikeya, son of S'iva.

No. 22 is the eastern gate with a pavilion on top, and intended for

musicians, but not in use now.

No. 23 is the two-storeyed Nuhbat-khana or music-room noticed

above, and now in use.

183

1883.] Rajendralala Mitra — On the Temples of Deoghar.

In Captain Sherwill’s ‘ Survey Report on Birbhum’ it is stated that

“ all the temples hut three are dedicated to Mahadeo ; the remaining three

are dedicated to Gauri Parvati, his wife,” and this has been quoted in Dr.

Hunter’s ‘Statistical Account of Bengal,’ Vol. XIV, p. 324. The details

above given will show that such is not the case.

The road leading from the northern gate of the great temple passes

along the western edge of a large lake, called S'ivaganga. The lake measures

about 900 x 600 feet, having, in November, when 1 saw it, about 13 feet

of water. The water is of a greenish colour, and held to he impure,

though largely used for bathing purposes. The lake forms part of a large

tract of low-land or ravine, the western portion of which has been cut off

by a heavy embankment, on the top of which runs the road aforesaid. This

embankment must have been put up by Maharaja Mana Sinha, the great

general of Akbar, who came to this place on his way to Orissa, as I find his

name is associated with the western portion, which is called Mamsarovara.

This portion has silted up greatly, and, except during the rains, remains dry.

It is connected in a roundabout way with the lake by a small rivulet

named Karmanasd, which is described to be the spot where Ravana eased

himself, and its connection with the lake makes the water thereof impure.

The drainage of this portion is discharged into the Yamunajor which runs

at some distance to the west.

To the north of the hollow aforesaid there is a small spot of low land

which forms the cremation ground of the town. And to the north of

it and of the lake stands the forest which forms the northern boundary of

the town.

To the south-west of the temple courtyard, on the south side of the

main road, there are two small temples with a terrace in front, six feet

high, and set off on the upper edge with a trefoiled moulding. On the top

of this occurs a stone structure which has been thus described by Captain

Sherwill, in his ‘ Survey Report on Birbhum’: “ At the western entrance to

the town of Deoghar is a masonry platform about 6 feet in height, and 20

feet square, supporting three huge monoliths of contorted gneiss rock of

great beauty ; two are vertical, and the third is laid upon the heads of the

two uprights as a horizontal beam. These massive stones are 12 feet in

length, each weighing upwards of seven tons ; they are quadrilateral, each

face being 2 feet 6 inches, or 10 feet round each stone.” (These measurements

are wrong. The uprights are 12 feet high, having each face 1' 6”

broad, or 6 feet in the round. The cross piece is 13 feet long, and T 9" inches

broad on each side. The weight must be propotionately reduced.) “The hori¬

zontal beam is retained in its place by mortise and tenon. By whom, or when,

these ponderous stones were erected, no one knows. There is a faint at¬

tempt at sculpture at each end of the Yertical faces of the horizontal beam,

184

Rajendralala Mitra — On the Temples of Deoghar.

[No. 2,

representing either elephants’ or crocodiles’ heads.”* Dr, Hunter calls

these “the three great stones which their (the Santals’) fathers had wor¬

shipped, and which are to he seen at the western entrance of the holy

city to this day.”f Babu Bholanath Chunder dissents from this opinion,

He says : “ It is evident that Mr. Hunter has written from hearsay, and not

from actual local observations. His ‘ beautiful highland lake beside which

the holy city stands,’ is no more than a large artificial tank like the Lai

Dighi. The ‘ three great stones’ — ‘ two vertical, and the third laid upon

the heads of the two uprights as a horizontal beam’ — supposed by him to be

relics of aboriginal worship, — are at once made out by Hindu eyes to be

no more than a Hindu Dollcdt frame in stone, with mahara faces at the ex¬

tremities of the horizontal beam, which is used for swinging Krishna in the

Holi festival. The rude Santhals, who can yet build no more than a that¬

ched cabin, and who depend for all their iron- work and instruments upon

the Hindu blacksmith, are not the people to have fashioned the stone into

well-edged slender pillars, or cut the mortises and tenons in which is retain¬

ed the horizontal beam, or carved the elegant mahara faces at its ex¬

tremities.

The argument about the primitive races not being able to carve large

stones is open to question. There are huge stones and carved colossal

monoliths in different parts of the earth which are attributed to persons who

certainly were not much more civilized than the Santals of the present day.

It is, however, not necessary to enter into this question here. Certain it is,

the gallows-like structure is not peculiar to this place, nor has it any con¬

nection with the Santals, who do not now worship it, nor is there any rea¬

son to suppose that they ever did so. There is nothing to show that

the Santals were in the habit of worshipping a stone scaffold like the one

under notice, and certain it is that in no part of Santalia, and indeed in no

part of India inhabited by the black races, is there a stone gallows to he

seen, which would justify the assumption that such a structure was ever an

object of worship. Had any religious sanctity been attached to it, it would

have been seen much more abundantly than what appears to be the case.

The terrace in front of the temples, however, settles the question as to the

use of the gallows. In every part of India where the Krishna cultus

has found access, such gallowses are invariably seen in close proxi¬

mity of ancient temples. Of course where stone is scarce, wood is

generally used to make the scaffolding, but where stone is available it is

always preferred. A remarkably handsome structure of this kind will he

seen in plate XXX of my ‘ Antiquities of Orissa,’ Yol. II. It is regularly

* Apud Hunter’s ‘ Statistical Account of Bengal, ’ Vol. XIV, p. 325.

f * Annals of Rural Bengal,’ p. 192.

J Mookerjee’s Magazine, Yol. II, pp. 26/.

185

1883 ] Rajendralala Mitra — On the Temples of Deoghar.

used at Bhuvanesvara for the purpose of setting up a swing during the

swing festivals. At Puri there is a similar structure to the north of the

great temple, and used for the same purpose. Innumerable other instan¬

ces may be easily cited, but they are, I think, not wanted. In my own

house there is a wooden structure for hanging the swing for my family

divinity, and almost every old family in Calcutta can produce samples of

it.

Mr. Beglar had not, evidently, read Dr. Hunter’s work when he wrote

his report on Vaidyanatha, and his idea is that the gallows represents a

gateway. He writes : “ There is, however, one object that must be except¬

ed : this is a great gateway consisting of two pillars spanned by an archi¬

trave ; this is clearly the remains of some great ancient temple, which has

entirely disappeared, leaving its outer gateway alone standing. I infer it

to have been an outer gateway from its resemblance in all essentials to the

great outer gateway of the temple at Pathari in Central India ; like it,

it stands entirely isolated, and although the pillars are plain rectangular

ones, and have not the elaborate sculpture and the graceful statues that

adorn the example at Pathari, there is nevertheless about it an air of im¬

pressiveness that takes it out of the commonplace. I could not obtain

access to it, but was obliged to content myself with a distant view ; it is

situated on a small raised spot entirely surrounded by private huts ; at

present it is known as the hinclold, or swing, and at a certain festival the

statue of Krishna is brought and made to swing beneath it.”# The terrace,

six feet high, on which the pillars are fixed, is sufficient to show that the gate

theory is not at all tenable. No one in his senses would have thought it pro¬

per or convenient to have a terrace six feet high to block his principal gateway.

It might be said that the terrace is a subsequent addition, but to prove

this, one must dig into the terrace, and show that the stones are buried

below the level of the surrounding ground. Mr. Beglar had got the right

information, but he failed to utilise it. I cannot make out how he found

any difficulty in coming near the pillars, for they stand right on the side

of a public highway, and are easily accessible to all comers.

On the north side of the road, a little to the west of the pillars, there

is a small square chamber with a pyramidal roof, which has a plain tomb

in its middle, and this is said to contain the mortal remains of Vaiju. The

building cannot be two hundred years old, and there is nothing in it to

show that it is in any way connected with the alleged discoverer and

breaker of the lingam which bears his name. In fact the name is an old

one, and applied in the Puranas to the lingam of S'iva in very distant parts

of India. It is often applied to Dhanvantari, the oldest Hindu surgeon.

It means the “ lord of medicine,” and S'iva is the great lord of all herbs. The

* Archeological Survey of India, Reports, Yol, VIII, p. 128.

B B

186 Rajendralala Mitra — On the Temples of Deoghar. [No. 2,

S'iva Purana explains the name to mean ‘ he who had been worshipped by two

physicians’ (Vaidyas,* the two Asvins). It should be added, however, that

the Padma Purana recites, in one place, that part of the Santal legend which

accounts for the name of Vaidyanatha from that of Yaiju or Vaidya,f and

provides for the contradiction by saying that the Bhilla of the second age

was born as Vaiju in the present or Kali age, and from that time the name

got currency. The Vaidyandtha-mdhdtmya of the Padma Purana, as I

have it in print, is, however, of doubtful authority ; it names most of the

temples, some of which are under 150 years of age, and, even if we rejected

those parts as interpretations, the age of the work cannot be carried very

far back, while the name of Vaidyanatha is unquestionably old.

To turn now to the inscriptions. J The most important record in con¬

nexion with the history of the principal temple is the one which occurs in

the lobby of that temple, on the left hand side of the doorway. It

is engraved in the Nagari character on a sandstone slab 2'3'' X 1'3," and

comprises five lines of matter. The letters measure each 2 inches in height.

The language is Sanskrit, and the text runs thus : —

No. 1.

Y<?rfY yyyty% yy(s)^yyt% yyyt ,

vj <N

xj

fYYYYYYf^YY ^YfY I

YYYfYYiYYSlfYY I

# YYTT«Tf vf^TY %IfYYY YYTYY !

Y^jYTYfYfY wty YYYfiYYYTY^r i|

S'iva Purana.

t yy WTcmtTvt yyBty; I

YT# YTYT VYTYTYf YYTYTiiiT VrfV^fw II ll

YIYYST YTYTYPY YTYTT YTkfYY:YTY I

vJ 'J

YY: YrY YY YpY YYTYY II II

<N

YYfYT^fY YTY^YYPY YYrP I

O

Y|YJ wfYYYPjlT YY YTY YfYxqfY || < o ||

YYJYTYfY YTYY fYYTY Y 3Z^fvfI Y I

YfYiYfYi YYTYYf YTYJi YYfY YY M \ II

XS vj

1 Impressions from all the inscriptions noticed here are preserved in the Library

of the Asiatic Society. They are not of sufficient importance to justify the publica¬

tion of their facsimiles.

1883.]

Rajendralala Mitra — On the Temples of Deogftar.

187

Translation. “ In the S'aka year of mountain [8], moon [1], arrows

[5], and earth [1, or S'aka 1518 = A. D. 1596],. at the request of Raghu-

natha, through good-will towards numerous worshippers, this temple,

designed for the destroyer of Tripura and (itself) the giver of all blessings,

was quickly erected by king Purana of pure mind and untarnished qualities.

This stanza is the composition of the king.”

As a piece of royal composition this poem is not fit subject for criti¬

cism ; but the word balati in the second line is not Sanskrit, in the sense

in which it has been used here. There is an error of spelling too, but it

is due to the engraver. The name of the king in full is Purana Malla, a

chief of Gidhaur, said to be (but obviously incorrectly) the 9th in a direct line

from Vira Vikrama Siiiha, who founded the Gidhaur house in A. D. 1167. The

fifth from Purana obtained the title of Raja from the Emperor Shah Jahan in

1651. Gopala Sinha, the 19th from the founder, was the reigning chief when

the English took Bihar. Mr. Beglar has failed to read the name, and says,

the record “ mentions the name of some king with the title of Nripati.

Raghunatha’s name also occurs in the last line” (p. 140). The name of

Itaghunatha occurs in the 2nd line, not in the last.

No. 2.

The story runs that the above inscription was forcibly put up by

Purana Malla after causing certain repairs to be done to the temple to

mark his supremacy and ownership of the surrounding land, including

the property called Taluk Deoghar, which he had taken from its former

owners. It might be that the chief did more than mere repairs. The

lobby is unquestionably of a later date than the temple itself ; and the

chief probably caused it to be erected to improve the temple. Anyhow,

the priest Raghunatha Ojha, whose name Purana Malla recites, was not at

all pleased with the inscription ; but, unable to resist the chief, bided his

time, and when the chief was gone, caused the porch to be erected and

therein set up his own inscription. Tradition has it that the priest fasted

for some days at the gate of Vaidyanatha who in mercy revealed to him

in a dream that he should build a new porch, and set up an inscription ; but he

claims the credit of having erected the temple. The record is, like the

last, in Sanskrit language, but inscribed in the Bengali character. It

extends to 13 lines, each nearly 4 feet long. The letters are about an inch

in height. The following is its transcript in the Deva Nagari character : —

Vj

*T TPT?: W II ^ It

188

[No. 2,

Rajeudralala Mitra — On the Temples of Deoghar.

\ 3

w Tl>f^TW n ^ ii

vi ^ v>

TT^rfw*r ff t

ii a it

^ ^IfTT WTJI?q *T3^«n: \

^ ^rf^c^frr sr^sitoTfw^ ii * it

^TW %F ^ffrfgrT I

^nr^w «t%jt ^rfarr n f it

' ^fWrr i

^ref^riFts^r w’ Twsrrfi^j n o it

vj C\

w*tt ^f%«T^r i

vj

Twurm ^ t^rrsrf f^r^rt t wpt ^ ii « it

sNrTCfs^ tft ^r Trrsr^t i

7?%?r?trr# ^TT#r^j^TT^ ii c it

frt^' f*r%?trt ^f«TT w- \

^T ^Tf^fTT fft WPT 7rajT5T ^Tlf^ft It \* It

•j

tt^TiT^PT *T?rff ^%PT TJT It \\ It

¥r^prttf?n^n ^t ^Hpcrsrre t ttt t

N vj

VXT ^X II II

frrg: %T^jTsi%r^g t^T*' wronw t

WK&\ f<ff W*J ^<^Tfw^fT>!fT II ^ IJ

c\

trfTfJrsq m ^qr^TTTRfrT i

N>

^stiMVemrerg ^if^rsf ii it

Tfrfijr^^rrt tt^j^t ffw^T*?rRf^ i

it^T g ?rf€T wni f^tw^T ii it

srar^f ^*nt*r wtou i

\j

?TTTcT ^ fWT^T »JrT# II \<f It

Mi$?'«r*n: f?^TT f^rRWftr 7Z"ft^T fi%rTT rHT *1% f

^ni^f%<Tf^T?i ^~?t^*r*T*rRT ii it

1883.] Rajendralala Mitra — On the Temples of DeogJiar. 189

fsprs: ^MlrTl'slf^-’ I

vJ

^ i i ^r^Trft^T^t n i»

Jit f^rf?r af>m g vrf^g i

fafaiT II U II

^rm: wr^f |

U 4 J ^

^gV*3 5SV^fffrT ^gfN^^f^rr II <?° II

SJ^T ^t^rifsr: ^T^sfgi^r^WTflfTT I

ff^T <T^T ^r^ff^ltUT: 3W^r#r^*P II ^ \ II

*rlm *rrf*r^ f%ri^Tfx:€t i

^ r? ^Tcr^rRtw ^ *r n ^ it

4ftlpq«TT^Wsr*ro3t?r i

'J nJ vj

mr wt^t + + +f*r^ g^i^i ^ i Pca 3 1 f< ii ^ ii

Translation. “ The sage desired to erect on the Haridra-pitha (an old

name of Deoghar) a magnificent edifice, resplendent as moonlight. O

wise king of Cholas, such an edifice could not be the work of man, but

doubtless it will be accomplished some time in the Kali age. Listen, 0 king,

to the ancient history of the noble-minded sage Kalyana-mitra Partha, who,

born as a Brahmana and pertaining a portion of Rama, will some day in the

Kali age, build an excellent Matha in the forest of Ravanesvara. Himself

the donor, he will diligently cause the foundation to rise forth — he a godly

being in the guise of a man. There he will establish the lingam measuring

a hundred thousand (_ yojanas ), but rising only eight fingers on the altar.

Its top is like the crest of a mountain spreading over half a yojana. By

worshipping it one obtains the merit of worshipping a hundred thousand

lingams. (It had been obtained) by Padmanabha (Vishnu) craftily from the

tenheaded (Havana) for the preservation of the gods and the overthrow of

Daityas.

“ At a time when the chaste goddess was in a sulky mood on the

Kailasa mountain, there came to the gate the ten-necked (Ravana) who, on

being prevented by Nandi (from entering the palace), seized with his hands

the noble mountain, and burst forth in a lion’s roar. Frightened by the

noise, the wanton Devi at once gave up her sulks. The great lord

laughed on hearing the noise. The lady was abashed greatly at this, and

felt annoyed with the ten-necked. S'ambhu, graciously disposed, blessed

the king of Daityas with the promise for removal to Lanka, Three and a

half kotis of Dovas were seized with fear, and in a body sought with prayer

the shelter of the Devi of the form of Kalaratri. Forsaking her bewitching

190

Rajendralala Mitra — On the Temples of DeogTiar. [No. 2r

form, she manifested herself as Vesper (Sandhya) and, taking her seat at

Haridra-pitha, subjugated the ten-headed. At this time Hari, assuming the

form of a Brahman, took the lingam in his hands (from those of Havana),,

and waited for a moment. The ten-headed was engaged in relieving him¬

self for a danda (21 minutes), and in the meantime the Brahmana dropped

the lingam on the earth (and disappeared). He (Havana) tried once, twice,

and thrice to take it with his hands, but his strength failed him. Failing

for the fourth time after a final effort, the ten-headed lifted his hands to

his head, and felt disgusted with his arms. Desisting from exerting for

his object, he stood aside like a mouse, and the overpowerer of Cupid sat

firm, penetrating down to the seventh infernal region.

“ After a time, O king, he who overcame the ten-headed, who conferred

chaplets of Mandara flowers on the heads of celestial damsels, was born in

Ayodhya, and the supreme goddess smiled at seeing in him her tool for the

overthrow of Havana.

“ There is no place greater or more secret than this, said S'ambnu ; it is

two miles square and four cubits high. As often as, 0 lord of mor¬

tals, distress obtains in this place (region), so often does Hama, the

lotus-eyed, descend in incarnation. Verily is this haughty goddess

beneficent to him like a mother. He verily should be known to be Hama

who will cause this temple to be made.

“ By the noblest Brahmana Baghunatha, the ocean of merit, the bee on

the lotus feet of the auspicious Vaidyanatha, with the grace of -

has this - been erected, - the palace, the bridge, the grove, the

waters, the matha and all.”

The shrewd priest, it will be noticed, has taken shelter of distorted

Puranic legends and ambiguous references to palaces, gardens, bridges, &c.,

to avoid directly contradicting the powerful chief of the land, and, by a

play upon the meaning of his name, has allied himself with Hama, of whom

he claims to be an incarnation. He had acknowledged the aid of the con¬

queror at the close of the record, but the name of the conqueror has since

been obliterated after the word prasada 1 grace.’ This has obviously been

deliberately done. I cannot make out to whom reference is made as the

“ wise king of Cholas.” Mr. Beglar says, the inscription “ records the erection,

or rather I consider the repairs, of a temple by one Sri Vaidyanatha

Mahamyama. This name and also the name of one Baghunatha occurs

in the last line.”*

No. 3.

The inscription, on the right hand side pier measures 18 x 7 inches,

and comprises 7 lines in the Maithila character. It run thus: —

* Archeological Survey Reports, VIII, p, 140.

1883.] Rajendralala Mifcra — On the Temples of Deoghctr, 191

i ■srerot^TO^rag«rnr i sfarnwi-

^ I ^R»iR TTWrs^TrJ^^TT: II f^T^R^WRf Wf[ ^JT

S i (^r) fw?r^T#fan^?%*r ii TlT^t^fVrr-

8 i ^ gwRR# i ^%Rt^r ^f^trFrfw €^-

^ I f^ffl^rf ^ II ®^T S|f?rsf •• ^ ^T t^T^T ^IX^Sr I

<C i ^Tw^^rw n xx ii ^iifqtR^^ WTTtrwfffi^f^-

\i \J \j

O I K' I fq-S^TSUlf ^3I7f: ^sRrit II fl^TTfjltTSWTTip^ II

Translation. Adityasena of great renown, the ruler of the earth to

the verge of the ocean, the performer of the horse and other great sacri¬

fices, became king. His vigour was as great as that of the immortals. In the

Krita age, issuing forth from the Ohola metropolis, after performing the

horse-sacrifice three times, giving three lakhs and thirty thousand golden

coins to great sages, performing the Tula ceremony a thousand times over,

during which he gave away a krore of horses, he, jointly with his queen

Ivoshadevi, performed this noble deed. Having consecrated it through

noble Brahmanas, the king himself laid down the divine road for the good

of the three worlds by establishing this abode of Nrihari. This Varaha, the

giver of enjoyment and salvation, was established by Balabliadra, for the

translation of his parents to heaven, and for their welfare on the earth.

This is the chapter on Mandaragiri.”

The purport of this Vaishnavite inscription shows that it has been

brought away from the Mandar hill, where Balabhadra, a Chola king, had

dedicated images of the boar and the man-lion incarnations, and stuck up

here as a curiosity. It has no connection with the temple of Vaidyanatha.

No. 1.

The temple of Kali has two inscriptions, one over the doorway, and the

other on the left hand pier. The former comprises five lines in relief

Nagari letters, each over two inches in height, and divided into two por¬

tions by a perpendicular line in the middle. The left hand portion gives

some dates, and the right hand portion the name of Harinatha. The

purport of the record is not very clear. It appears in the form of a

prophecy. Reading the record along with No. 5, I am disposed to think

that the temple was undertaken by Harinatha in 1613, and completed by

Jayandrayana in 1712 A. D.

192

Rajendralala Mitra — On the Temples of Deoghar.

[No. 2,

^ i ^NrN?r^-

\ i w fiwn Tfr **-

Nj

« I <T*£ OO^OO ^■^TT V^°°

1 I *TTS^: + + fcPTT ° •

Translation. In the year of dot (0), the sky (0), the rishis (7), and the

moon (1 = 1700 and corresponding to the Christian year 1613), in the

month of Magha, on the 14th of the waxing moon, made 31 mathas ... Push-

kara. On hundred ... 100 ... Samvat 1700, Magha, waxing moon .

The first date is obviously the Samvat year which is next repeated in

figures. The date corresponds to A. D. 1643.

The right hand portion.

\ i ^twt

^ i ssrfswTOT

^ I TT5TJT?i^

vj

8 i f*rRHftf«T

Translation. By order of Yaidyanatha, in this matha of Kalika,

thou' 0 Brahmachari, shalt become, under the name of Harinatha Brahmana,

a royal priest and noble king ( Rajendra ).” Mr. Beglar says the date is

scratched out after the word Samvat. It is not so.

No. 5.

This is the second inscription in the temple of Kali. It comprises

nine lines in Nagari letters, and runs thus : —

^ i - -

^ I - - ^C?JT I cT^T:

8 I II vn-frfryxjTrr?-

vj vj \i

'i. i *ttst i YifW u rrwr; wr^;-

<( i i sr^wETsiffiRrf ii

I ^TcJUT^ ^VT€I*r-^T-

193

1SS3 J Rajendralala Mitra — On the Temples of Deo ghar.

c i f?r Itw i + + + fa f ftaTmfa-

CV

«r | ^ ^tTrr: W l) II

Translation. [The first two lines are illegible ; they apparent^ contain

a praise of Kali.] “ For her the Brahmana of the name of N arayana preceded

by Jaya, the servant of S'ambhu, erected this beautiful edifice, the resplen¬

dent giver of all blessings. In the month of Magha of the year numbering the

S'rutis (4), the fire, SiJchi (3), the flavours, rasa (6), and the moon (1 = 1634,

and corresponding to the Christian year 1712) Jayanarayana S'arma built

this joyous house. Having attained her blessings, he completed this

delightful and agreeable house, on Sunday, the 10th of the waxing moon,

in the month of Magha. As long as this beautiful temple shall flourish on

the earth so long will the moon, condemning her own qualities, feel

degraded, the Meru mountain remain stationary, and S'esha remain sunk

in the region below.” [The last two lines are full of lacunae, and only their

purport is here given.]

No. 6.

This is from the temple of Annapurna. It is inscribed on a slab mea¬

suring 13" x 8", and fixed over the doorway. It comprises 11 lines of

writing in the Bengali character. The following is a transcript of it in

Devanagari letters :

I W II \ II

w 1 m (^) f ii^ii

ff w i itwt tri n ^ n

^ IT I f ^Ti II a II

1 I flTlT II 1 II

'J C\ 10 'si

^rf flf I WmtfTSrf VW W l| ||

swtrfffl# fwwr(^r)^lf^^TT^: i f n « n

TDTT$*T(?) fRP I if tf TT^I TTT W lift II « II

Translation. “0 goddess, giver of blessings to immortals, thou art

the delighter of the heart of S'ankara. 0 Annapurna, be thou the giver of

blessings to those who are thy deserving votaries ! Thy complexion is re¬

splendent as the rising sun of the colour of the hibiscus flower. Deign, O

S'ahkari, to grant me salvation which I pray of thee, after having built

this noble matha, this pure place, bright as clear crystal through the grace

of S'ambhu himself. In the S'aka year of the Vedas (4), the sky (0), the

c c

194

Rajendralala Mitra — On the Temples of Deoghar. [No. 2,

oceans (7), and the moon (1, = 1704, and corresponding to the Christian

year 1782), in the beneficent year Pramatln (of the cycle of Jupiter), in

the month of Magha, this place was built by the learned Ramadatta,

the firm in knowledge, the worshipper, the Brahmana. He had beard all

the Puranas, he had given alms to Brahmanas, he had offered oblations

to the fire, he had performed Yajnas according to the rules of the Yedas,

he was born in a pure family, the pure, the doer of noble deeds, the son

of Devakinandana, he was known as the auspicious Ramadatta. A part

of his name was associated with Rama, and hence he was a worshipper

of S'ankara. He was attached to his friends. He was the doer of good

deeds like Raghunatha.”

Ramadatta was kept out of the Pandaship of Vaidyanatha by a rival

claimant for a long time, but was appointed to the post in 1782, by order

of the Provincial Council of Burdwan. The temple marks the year of his

installation.

No. 7.

There are two inscriptions in the temple of Anandabhairava, one on

the doorway, and the other on the pedestal of the image. These have been

numbered 7 and 8 by me. No. 7 measures 9" x 5," and comprises 9 lines

of Sanskrit in the Nagari character. The following is a transcript :

^ i fa fa wti-

^ I I 'H I Wflfw l

^ i ^fa)urffr

8 I m + 4 ^^TI*

^ I T IK II

^ N v5 \J \J

i 5?TRT: ^fa(fa)witr5T?ri-

I fa-

J Ywcq W ii ^ il vt(yt)% ii

Translation. “ He, of the name of Rama, whose glory was bepraised

by all the wise men on earth, who was like a god on earth, whose mind

was drunk like a bee at the resplendent lotus-feet of Vaidyanatha, was

born. His name was Ananda ; he was well experienced. The noblest

among his sons,— of contented mind, — made this for the gratification

(of the lord), Paramananda was born; his grandson renowned in the

1883.] Rajendralala Mitra — On the Temples of Deoghar. 195

world, the moon of good qualities, the delighter of men like Sarvananda

(the son). In the S'aka year reckoning five (5), four (4), the sages

(7), and the moon (1 = 1745, and corresponding to the Christian year

1823), in the wane of the month of Phalguna, having established an

image of Bhairava in this abode, he dedicated it to him. In the S'aka

year 1745.”

No. 8.

No. 8 is in three lines of Sanskrit. It is so filled up with sandal-paste

that I have not been able to get a legible facsimile of it. It seems to be in

the Kutila character.

No. 9.

The temple of Surya contains two inscriptions, and I have numbered

them 9 and 10. No. 9 occurs on the pedestal of the image, and it com¬

prises two lines of engraving in the Kutila character ; but the letters have

suffered from decay, and have been otherwise so filled up with sandal-paste

that I cannot read the whole of it. The legible letters are :

TZZH \ + + + 31T + + +

The first five letters are perfectly clear, and they comprise the

usual Buddhist formula of dedication — Deya dharmoyam. The name of

the dedicator cannot satisfactorily be made out. It seems like Griddhaka

Devikara-dasa, unquestionably a Buddhist monk, who had consecrated an

image of Padmapani, which now does service for Surya.

No. 10.

A record in five lines of Bengali character, not legible. The marked

difference in the nature and character of the two inscriptions (Nos. 9 and

10) affords very strong presumptive proof of the image having been brought

from another place, and not made for the temple.

No. 11.

A record in eleven lines of Bengali character placed on the doorwajr

of the temple of Savitri Devi. The following is its transcript in Deva-

nagari letters :

' vj vj

?> I wtw: Vj;yf^f5TWW fWrc-

8 I gfow ’ftw-

19G

[No. 2,

Rajendralala Mifcra — On the Temples of Deo ghar.

1 1 srsiraF ffa n *n% t^;fa*TT33*n3rfa*rfa-

■s’

i i t *rm fa^fafarT^ (^) *nu-

* i srTVT^nwTrr i ^farr fa*i-

C\J '

c I #t*ric^pnjf?r faw?q ^rrv C^Tifaft)

<» i ^favw«ifa*fa1' (*?fa) 3ft fa^rnfaft" ii

Os

V i ^*tt ^T^nf^r -

U i % (%) rfafa wt -

Translation. “Firm, adorable, a sea of merit, saint-like, an ocean of

good behaviour, honoured by the good, having fame as untarnished as the

moonlight in autumn, a Brahmana, the chief among Yatis, the pure one —

such was the wise Ivshemakarna, the bee on the lotus-feet of S'ri Govinda.

He erected this large edifice, the approved of the daughter of the moun¬

tain, (Savitri is said to have been born of a mountain). In the S'aka year

numbering the Vedas (4), the soothing-rayed one = moon (1), six (6) and

the moon (1, = S'aka 1614 and corresponding to the Christian year 1692)

on the 10th of the waxing moon in the month of Magha, the Brahmana

Ivshemakarna, the doer of good deeds, completed this edifice, where dwells

the goddess who obviates all misfortunes and fulfils all desires, forgetting

her beloved abode on the blue hill. Having given a profusion of wealth

at sacrifices, having given alms — Ivshemakarna knowing” — (concluding part

illegible).

Mr. Beglar takes this inscription to mean “ the construction of the

temple by several people.

No. 12.

From over the doorway in the temple of Ganesa. An inscription of

eight lines in the Bengali character. The following is its transcript in

Nagari letters :

v. i fafa(faO i yu) ? n

vi

^ I Vt ‘SllT I aETSTr-

« I fa || ^ (*)

V» J

i i iwt i fa^fa^

55, ->.C S>P . A.

| TT3- )^: (W)

c i 73r?Tre-' I

Translation. “ May it be auspicious ! Salutation to Ganesa. In the

pure year of S'aka, numbering the Vedas (4), the Vasus (8), the flavours (6),

* Archaeological Survey Reports, VIII, p. 141.

1883.] Rajendralala Mitra — On the Temples of Deoghar. 197

and the moon (1, making together 1684, and corresponding to the Chris¬

tian year 1762) the chief of Brahmanas, Tikarama, erected this beautiful

temple (matha). In the pure year, numbering the S'rutis (4), the Vasus($>),

the Hasas (6), and the moon (1, corresponding as above) the noble Brahmana

and sage, named Tikarama, whose abode is pure, and who is always engaged

in good works, erected this lofty matha, beautiful as the moon and re¬

splendent as the lightning, for the abode of the son of Hara.”

For a proper understanding of the dates of the different temples above

described, it is necessary here to notice the history of the several

persons who have been named as their dedicators. They all belong

to one family — that of the present High Priest or Sarddr Panda, as he is

generally called. He says he has a Jcursindmah or genealogical table pre¬

served in the archives of the temple, and has furnished me with extracts

from it, from which I work out the following notes. I must add, however,

that I have not seen the table in question, and can say nothing about its

authenticity.

The tradition is that the lingam of Vaidyanatha was in charge of her¬

mits who had worshipped it for ages, hut that in the 16th century, twelve

Brahmanas, all householders, came from Mithila and took part in the wor¬

ship, and officiated as priests for pilgrims who could not themselves conse¬

crate their offerings. This was but natural. Indian hermits are mostly

illiterate men, and in a contest for supremacy in religious ministrations it

is hopeless for them to get the better of clever Brahman householders and

men of the world. In time one of the twelve was so far successful as to

become the leader of the band, and to wheedle Mukunda, the Sannyasi

who had then charge of the lingam, out of that charge, and make himself

the owner and master of the sacred shrine. His name as given me by the

Head Priest, was Judan Ojha ; but Babu Bholanath Chunder, in his article

in the Mookerjee Magazine calls him Chandra Muni, and the party from

whom he got the lingam, Chiku, a disciple of Mukunda; but according to

my information Chiku was the grandson of Judan Ojha, unless we assume

two Chikus. The surname Ojha, is a corruption of Upadhyaya, and that

would suggest the idea that the Brahman was a professor of Sanskrit learning.

When he came to Deoghar is not known, but from what follows it will be

seen that he must have come in the second half of the sixteenth century.

(n). His son Raghunatha succeeded him, and, according to the inscrip¬

tion No. 1, requested Purana Malla to erect the great temple in 1596 A. D.,

or, as the second inscription would have it, himself erected the shrine. In

either case he must have become the Chief Priest a few years before 1596

A. D., and his father may be fairly presumed to have had a ministry of 20

to 25 years.

(in). Raghunatha was followed by his son Chiku Ojha, who seems to

have done nothing to commemorate his name. His son was

198 Rajendralala Mitra — On the Temples of Deoghar . [No. 2,

(iv). ManuOjha, who, like his father, did nothing to associate his name

with the sanctuary of Vaidyanatha. His successor

(y). Vamadeva commenced the building of the temple of Lakshminara-

yana. Allowing 10 years for the remainder of the ministry of Raghunatha

from 1596 and 20 for the duration of the ministry of Chiku and Manu,

Vamadeva would come after 1626 A. D. His son

(vi). Kshemakarna is credited with the erection of the temple of Savi-

tri, and its date is given in inscription No. 11 at 1614 S'aka. = A. D. 1692.

(vn). Sadananda was the son and successor of Kshemakarna. He was

followed by his son

(yiii). Chandramohana Ojha. His successor

(ix) . Ratnapani Ojha built the temple of Parvati. As Kshemakarna

dated his temple of Savitri in the S'aka year 1614 = A. D. 1692, and Jaya-

narayana’s temple of Kali was completed in the S'aka year 1734 = A. D.

1612, Ratnapani, the great-grandson of the former and father of the latter,

may he fairly presumed to have lived at the beginning of the 18th century,

and the date of the temple of Parvati must be some time in the first decade

of that century.

(x) . Jayanarayana was the son and successor of Ratnapani, and he

completed the temple of Kali. The date of this shrine in inscription No. 5

is 1634 of the S'aka era. His son was

(xi) . Yadunandana. He contributed greatly to raise the resources

of the temple by obtaining from the Gidhaur Rijas Mardan Sinh and

Syama Sinh a permanent grant of the taluk of Deoghar and of the village

of Kutea in the Gidhaur Raj, the net income of which now amounts to a

considerable sum. The grant is dated 30th of Phalguna in the Bengali

year 1130 == A. D. 1737. I have seen the deed, and have no reason to

doubt its authenticity. It affords a fixed point in the calculation of the

dates of the Ojhas. It is not known how long Yadunandana lived after

obtaining the grant, but at his death his son appears to have been an

infant, who was set aside by one

(xn). Tikarama, a distant relative, who officiated as head priest for

some time. To him is attributed the temple of Ganesa in 1762. He was

ultimately deposed from his post by the rightful owner,

(xm). Devakinandana. Devaki had studied Sanskrit for a long

time at Viranagar, and was reputed to be a great scholar. During his

ministry Deoghar and the surrounding country were taken from the chief

of Gidhaur by the then Raja of Birbhum, AliNaki Khan, who defeated him

in battle,* and, on his death, his son Ramadatta was, through Court influence,

set aside, and the chief Pandaship was obtained by one

(xiy). Narayanadatta, said to have been a porter in his service.

Narayanadatta obtained a sanad from the Raja of Birbhum, and officiated

• Hunter’s Rural Bengal, p. 435.

1883.] Rajendralala Mitra — On tlie Temples of Deoghar. 199

as priest for some time. During the 8th decade of the last century, British

power was fully established in Birbhum by the defeat of Asad Jam Khan,

and Ramadatta sued the usurper before the Provincial Council of Burdwan,

and obtained a perwana, dated January 31, 1782; but his rights were not

fully restored to him until October 23, 1788.

(xv) . Ramadatta signalized his ministry by the erection of the tem¬

ples of Ramachandra, of Surya, of Saras vati, and of Annapurna. On his

death in 1793 A. D. his son

(xvi) . A'nandadatta succeeded him in the ministry. He commenced

the building of the temple of Anandabhairava, but did not live long enough

to finish it. His third son

(xyii). Paramananda set aside the claims of Sarvananda, a grandson of

Ananda by his eldest son, and himself became the chief priest. He caused

a large tank to be excavated in mauza Kurmidehi, and named it A'nanda-

sagara. He died in 1820 and a dispute arose about the succession, and this

lasted for a long time, but the ministry of the temple was conducted by

(xviii). Sarvananda, who in 1823 completed the temple commenced by

his grandfather, and consecrated the image of Anandabhairava. The date

in the inscription on the temple is S'aka 1745 = A. D. 1823. Sarvananda

served as high priest for 14 years.

(xix) . Psvarinandana was the son of the last ; he held a long minis¬

try of 40 years. His son Purnananda died in the lifetime of his father,

and the succession, after some dispute, devolved in 1876, on the grandson

(xx) . S'ailajanandana Ojha, who is the present Sardar Panda. He is

well versed in the S'astras, and is generally respected for his learning, piety

and public spirit.

According to the details above given the temples may be arranged chro¬

nologically thus : —

200 Rajendralala Mitra — T In the Temples of Deoghar. [No. 2,

These dates show very clearly that the temples of Deoghar are all very

modern. But from what has been stated above with reference to inscrip¬

tion No. 2, it will be seen that I make an exception in favour of the principal

temple. According to the inscription No. 1, it should date from 1596 A. D. ;

but I do not wish to submit to its authority. If we are to believe that there

was no temple before the date of Purana Malla, why should Raghunatha

request him to build the temple? and what did Judan, the father of

Raghunatha, obtain and worship ? There must have been something which

Mukunda and his ancestors had worshipped, and which was made over

to Judan alias Chandra Muni, long before the advent of Purana Malla in

Deoghar. Tlie testimony of the Vaidyanatha Mahatmyas, both of the

Padma Purana and of the Siva Purana, is worthless. The Mahatmyas did

not originally form a part of the Puranas to which they are affiliated, and

are obviously of a recent date. I have seen no old MS. of those works, and

the quotations above given have been taken from a Benares lithograph of the

first, dated Samvat 1931, and from a print of the second, dated Sam vat 1938,

and both have obviously been tampered with. The Mahatmya affiliated to the

Padma Purana refers to the temples of Savitri, Ganesa, and Kali, and they

were, as shown above, built in 1692, 1762 and 1712 respectively, and it must

therefore either be more recent, or quite corrupt. There are, however, several

authentic works on pilgrimages dating from the 12th to the 14th centuries,

and they refer to the sanctity of Vaidyanatha. Authentic portions of the

Puranas also refer to it, and they are unquestionably anterior to the 10th

century, and in their time Vaidyanatha must have attained considerable

celebrity to be fit for record. And the questions, therefore, arise, did

Vaidyanatha then and up to the time of Purana Malla remain only as a

stump of stone projecting four inches above the level of the ground, in

an open field, and unprovided with any shelter ? or, was there a temple over

it, which was replaced by a larger one by Purana Malla ; or does the record refer

to something connected with the temple, and not to the temple itself ? The

first question is so futile that it must be at once rejected. A place of great

sanctity, highly eulogised in the Puranas, and strongly recommended as a

place of pilgrimage, could not have remained in the form of a stump of four

inches on the bare earth in on open field for centuries without a covering, du¬

ring the Hindu period, after the downfall of Buddhism: some pilgrim or other

would have soon provided it with a temple. There are tens of thousands

of lingams in all parts of India, but out of them only twelve have been

selected to be specially sacred and by far the most ancient. As shown

above, the Hindus and their S'astras are unanimously of opinion that Vaidya¬

natha is one of these twelve, and contemporaneous with the Mabakala of

Oujein, dating over 2000 years, of Somanatlia of Saurashtra, of Ramesa

near Cape Comorin noticed in the Ramayana, of Bhuvanesvara in Orissa,

1883.] Rajendralala Mitra — On the Temples of Deoghar. 201

dating from the 7th century, and seven other equally old and renowned

lingams, and it could not have all along remained neglected and with¬

out a temple. The inference, therefore, is inevitable that there must

have been a temple of some kind or other. This leads to the second

question as to the present temple having replaced an old one. That

might at first sight appear probable; but the belief of the Hindus is that

it is a sacrilege to pull down a S'iva temple and rebuild it, and the denuncia¬

tions in the Smritis are dire against such sacrilege. Rebuilding of temples is

permitted in all cases where movable images are concerned ; but in the

case of lingams which are fixed to the earth, the pulling down of the temple is

equal to the desecration of the lingam itself, which from that moment ceases

to be adorable, and must at once be cast into a river. I cannot, therefore,

believe that Purana Malla knocked down an old temple, and erected a new

one in its place. No Hindu remaining a Hindu and claiming religious

merit by the act could have done such a thing. Repairs, additions and

extensions are allowed — nay commended ; but a marked distinction is made

between them and pulling down. The latter is not permissable under any

circumstance, not even for the purpose of rebuilding. It is true that

when Aurangzebe desecrated the temple of Visvesvara at Benares, the

lingam there was removed, and subsequently provided with a new temple

in its neighbourhood, but the act was not in accord with the canons

of the Smritis which prohibit the removal of lingams, and only tolerated

in the case of a very renowned lingam, as in the case of Somanatha at

Gujarat, but it would be no precedent for a Hindu to follow as a voluntary

act of piety. It is obvious to me, therefore, that the tradition which holds

the temple to be old, and ascribes to Purana Malla only the lobby is correct,

and that having defrayed the cost of the lobby which became a part,

and an integral part, of the temple, he, by a figure of synecdoche,

claimed credit for the whole. In fact he does not use any equivalent

for the word “ whole,” but only by implication suggests the idea. The

inscription, moreover, is placed within the lobby, and its purview need

not extend beyond the boundary of that apartment. The same may be

said of the inscription of Raghunatha. That worthy defrayed the cost

of the porch which put to shade the work of an oppressive superior

and conqueror, and by a figure of speech took to himself the credit

of building the whole of the temple and a great many other things which

probably never existed. The rivalry of the priest and the potentate can be

best explained by- accepting the truth of this tradition.

Mr. Beglar is of opinion that Deoghar was formerly the seat of a large

Buddhist establishment ; but the arguments on which he has come to it,

do not appear to me by any means satisfactory. He says, “ It now

remains to ascertain, if possible, why these temples were built here, and

D D

202 Kajendralala Mitra — On the Temples of Deo cjhar, [No. 2,

not rather at any other place ; this is accounted for by the existence of the

two ancient inscribed statues, one of which is clearly Buddhist ; and of a

third figure, not inscribed, hut clearly Buddhist, being a fine-seated statue

of Buddha himself, beautifully polished, and equal in execution to the

finest statues to be met with in Bihar. These statues prove beyond a

doubt that here was at one time a large Buddhist establishment.

“ What this establishment was named, it is, perhaps, impossible now

to determine with certainty ; but if I may be permitted to speculate, I

should think it to have been the site of the famous Uttaniya monastery of

Winjjha. Winjjha is the Pali equivalent of Vindhya; the passages in

Tumour referring to it are — p. 115 — ‘ the monarch, departing out of his

capital and preceding the river procession with his army through the wil¬

derness of Winjjha, reached Tamalitta on the 7th day,’ and in p. 171,

‘ From various foreign countries many priests repaired hither’ * * * *

‘ There Uttaro attended, accompanied by sixty thousand priests from the

Uttaniya temple in the wilderness of Winjjha.’

“ It is evident that the wilderness of Winjjha lay on the route from

Pataliputra to Tamluk. I have indicated some of the routes from Tamluk

to various places. The principal route would, it appears to me, have to

pass through, or close to, modern Bankurah ; from here there was a choice

of several routes. Clearly the route to Bhagalpur would branch off north¬

wards from there, passing through Seuri, under Mandar, close past Bhaski-

nath; it is remarkable that an old track yet exists from Bhaskinath to

Deoghar Byjnath, whence it goes on skirting the eastern spurs of the

Ivawalkol range, past Afsand, Parvati, Bihar to Patna. I should consider

that this was the route taken bjT the king when he passed through the

wilderness of Winjjha, for it appears to me pretty certain that the wilder¬

ness of Winjjha can only refer to the wild country now known in part as

the Santal Parganas.

“ If this be admitted, we have but one place in the Winjjha forests

where Buddhist temples existed, as testified by existing Buddhist relics,

and this place is Deoghar Baijnath.

“ It is remarkable that close to the city of Deoghar and still closer to

the temples is a small village named Utmuria ; this may be a corruption

of the original of the Pali Uttama. I put forward this suggestion merely

in the absence of any more positive ; it is possible that an examination of

the 3-line inscription from the Buddhist statue noticed before may throw

new light on the subject.”*

The starting question “ why the temples were built here (at Deoghar)

and not rather at any other place” is simply gratuitous. One may as well

ask why was London built on the bank of the Thames, and not on that of tho

* Archaeological Survey Beports, Yol. VIII, pp. 141/.

203

1883.] Rajendralala Mitra — On the Temples of Deoghar.

Dee or of the Liffey ? There is no reason why it should be elsewhere and not

here. A pious man builds a temple and endows it richly, and its grandeur

soon secures it notoriety ; or a hermit sets up an image and effects miracu¬

lous cures, and they suffice to make the place famous, to attract pilgrims, and

to promote the construction of costly buildings. When I was at school, I learnt

Lourdes to be a very small town, or rather a large village, of no importance

whatever, and not worth knowing, though ancient ; but the cures lately effec¬

ted there have made it so famous that not to know it now would imply gross

ignorance of passing events. If the cures continue, it will in time become a

large town, and a place of great consequence. Vaidyanatha is noted prin¬

cipally for the cures effected there, and it is but reasonable to suppose that

it rose into importance from the time when the cures were first effected.

Tarakesvara, in the Hooghly district, is known by every pilgrim to be a

modern place, not quite two hundred years old, and not noticed in any

authentic Sanskrit work ; but the cures effected there makes it a powerful

rival of Vaidyanatha. In the case of miraculous cures there is no necessity

whatever for any anterior sanctity or fame, so long the cures are satis¬

factory.

Nor does the presence of the Buddhist statues in any way militate

against spontaneous fame. The temples in which the statues occur are of

very recent dates. Anandabhairava’s temple dates from A. D. 1823, that of

Siirya from 1790, and that of Savitri from 1692, and we have nothing

to justify the belief that Buddhist sanctuaries existed at the place till such

recent dates side by side with Vaidyanatha. I feel certain that even Mr.

Beglar would not admit that there was a Buddhist temple at Deoghar in

the third decade of this century, from the sanctuary of which the image of

Anandabhairava was removed in 1823. The temples of Lakshmx-narayana,

Parvati, and Annapurna have images which, I have shown above, have been

brought from old temples elsewhere ; if we accept the local theory we

must believe, by parity of reasoning, that they too thrived side by side

with Buddhism. This would be absurd, and the most obvious conclusion

would be to assume that the Buddhist, as well as the Hindu, images have

been brought from elsewhere, and set up from time to time according to

circumstances. Nor is it necessary to assume that they have been brought

from one place, and a near place. They are of such a character as to

admit of their being easily conveyed from very distant places. The inscrip¬

tion No. 3 is from Mandar, and some of the images may have likewise

come from that place.

The speculations regarding the identity of Uttaniya with Deoghar

are exceedingly imaginative, and cannot by any means serve as data of

sufficient importance to justify their being accepted as majors in an argu¬

ment of this kind. To put the speculations into logical forms: — 1. Utta¬

niya lay within a forest of the Vindhya mountain; the Santal Pargannahs

204 Bajendralala Mitra — On the Temples of Deoghar.

are mostly wild country at the eastern end of the Vindhyan chain ;

therefore Uttaniya is the same with Deoghar. 2. There are several routes

from Patna in the north to Tamlulc in the south ; one of them passes from

Bankurah to Bhagalpur to the north-east ; therefore Deoghar lay in the

way from Patna to Tamluk. 3. Uttaniya was a famous monastery from

which sixty thousand priests issued forth in a body ; Deoghar is a small

town surrounded by uninhabitable jungle and wild hills ; therefore Deoghar

is Uttaniya. 4. Uttaniya is very like Utmuria in sound ; Utmuria is near

Deoghar ; therefore Deoghar is the same with Uttaniya. Taking the

speculations in these forms one cannot resist the temptation of recalling

Fluellen, and saying — there is a river near Monmouth and there is a river

near Macedon, and salmons grow in both ; therefore king Hal is the same

with Alexander the Great.

I feel that my remarks in regard to the origin and date of Yaidya-

nathaare more destructive than constructive, and that I fail to supply fixed

dates and positive statements ; but in the absence of satisfactory data, it is

better to rest contented with such negative results than to mislead the pub¬

lic by mere conjectures, which are very apt to be taken for facts, and

to result in falsifying history.

Journal, As. Soc. Bengal, Vol. LII, Pt. I, 1833.

PLATE VIII.

Journal, As. Soc. Bengal, Yol. LII, Pt. I, 1883.

PLATE IX.

RUPEES of the MONTHS

OF AKBAR’S ILAHI YEARS.

Pl.x.

PLAN

OF THE NEIGHBOURHOOD OF THE OLD FORT.

SHEWING THE STREETS, ETC., EXISTING IN 1874.

THE POSITION OF THE FORT IS SHEWN IN

THICK OUTLINE.

4.. B. C- D The four Bastion*

E. Entrance from the East

F Carpenter's Shop.

G-- Governor's House

H . H Inner space behind curfeam

I. N. W . River Gate

O Verandah "Wall (only found here )

P. Stair to Roof (shown in plate — .)

Q. Stair mentioned bv Hoi well

R R. Drain

S JSTew Well.

T Pueca Shaut (cut through by

T\£r. B. LiHslie.)

jC. JC- Buildings as now in existence

” with road over site of N. or

Black Hole.

Y. Z. Liine of Pipes put down Eefc-

ruary, 1883

I

lourra' As Soc Benga ■. LII .. Pl ’

PLAN SHEWING THE PORTIONS OF THE WALLS UNCOVERED IN BUILDING THE

Pi. XI.

1063

EAST INDIAN RAILWAY CO.’S NEW OFFICES.

_

7? yofff

SHALLOW SURFACE DRAIN ALONG WALL OF QODOWN

LARGE QUANTITIES OF COAL

— ASHES HERE

A HHOA FLOOR HERE

\ FLOOR OF

> PAVED FLOOi

js Hep 'jvJTll

PAVED ELOOI fj

Xbie* do'

shews outline of F. I B. Offices

Dark cross batching shews older portions or Fort

Lighter cross batching shews addition of Bastions

I'he lightest cross hatching shews inner verandah n ails of brick m

K

( o

Uj

o

'

*

t

1

/

Journal, As. Soc. Beugal, Vol Iall., Pf. L, 1893.'

PL: XP.

o

il

0

lZ

Litli . Sc Printed by W. Kowman L Cc., lid , Calcutta.

REMAINS OF OLD FORT WILLIAM, CALCUTTA

carnal As Soc, Bengal, Vol. LTI.r Pt. T 1B33-

fig. iv.

END OF DRAIN CULVERT AND SUMPH THROUGH W. CURTAIN.

FIG.V.

— IQ3jX)1 2 - Fie or l&velb nt_ Flew Building _

Datum line,

tat- 5

SECTION OF DRAIN AND SUMPH

LOOKING SOUTH.

PLAN OF S.E. BASTION WITH CONJECTUREO

ARRANGEMENT OF BLACK HOLE.

Firm

REMAINS OF OLD FORT WILLIAM, CALCUTTA.

.

V

Journal As. Soc Bengal Vol LIL. Pt I , 1883

Tl- 27K

Remains op old Fort William, Calcutta

rough Sketch showing Northeast Bast.on exposed during the ekcavat.on por

Noik.-The innw war. portion i, th. e»rli„ work, the ootor portion wili tl»« .lopinj flank, j,

BUILDING THE E. I. P„. CO.'c

i the additional work of 1756

Offices

/

. As. Socy, of Bengal. Vol, Ll^Pt, I, IS^.

PL/ TF X V.

GROUND PLAN OF TEMPLES AT VAIDYAN ATHA-

SCALE or FEET

Photitdiiiiograpiicd ai tlii- Surveyor .'jwua:vl'3 Ol'Emt*. Falrutt-o

JOURNAL

OF THE

ASIATIC SOCIETY OF BENGAL.

— <s> —

Part I.— HISTORY, LITERATURE, &e.

Nos. Ill & IV. — 1883.

Memorandum on the superstitions connec ted with child birth, and precaut ions

taken and rites performed on the occasion of the birth of a child among

the Jdts of Mo ship dr pur in the Fanjdb. — By Siedae Guejdyal Singh.

I have selected the above subject as I think it will give a clear insight

into the superstitions of the rural population ; for a native woman can never

omit to do anything, however ludicrous it may appear to others, which

may be thought necessary for the safety of her son, or which may be be¬

lieved to be conducive to his happiness, or which may he imagined to have

the power of warding off any danger, real or imaginary. I wish to be par¬

doned for mentioning anything herein which may be improper according to

our ideas of propriety in such matters, for I must give a faithful descrip¬

tion. I have already omitted what appeared to be somewhat indecent.

If abortion has ever happened, or if there is any fear of it, besides the

charms which they might get from the Syanas or “ cunning men,” any one

of the following articles is kept on the body of the woman with child to

prevent abortion.

1. A small piece of wood taken from a scaffold on which some convict

has been hanged.

2. A pice which has been thrown over the coffin (biwan)# of an old

man or woman.

3. Tiger’s flesh or nail.

As soon as a child is born, the midwife takes it away from the mother,

and if it is a male says a girl is born, and if a girl then says “ pathar ”

(stone) is born. “ Pathar ” so used means a girl, and the knowledge of the

* [Properly the ‘bier;’ a corruption of Skr. f%fn*T biman. Ed.]

E E

206

G. Singh — Superstitions connected with child hirth. [No. 3,

birth of a son is kept away from the mother for a time to prevent her

feeling a sudden rapture of happiness.

The dayi (midwife) washes the child with water put in an earthen pot

(thikra), in which must be thrown some silver before the midwife would give

the child to the mother. Whether this means a sort of fictitious purchase

to defeat the mischief’s of witchcraft, similarly as the 1 dhukao ’ ceremony

means an attack on the family of the bride and taking her away by force,

(the primitive method of procuring wives), is a question which cannot be

hastily answered. But it is a fact that the midwife does not give the male

child to the mother until she is paid. For one day and a half the child

draws no nourishment from its mother’s breast. The pap must be washed

by the sister of her husband, if there be any, before any nourishment can be

given from it to the son. The husband’s sister is paid according to means

for this ceremony.

Throwing oil on the ground is the thing done on all auspicious occasions,

probably to satisfy tbe demons of the earth. This is also sanctioned by

Brahmanical ritual, and with them worship of the earth-gods to prevent the

mischief of the demons inhabiting the lower strata of the earth is frequent.

Oil is thrown under the bed of the mother, where green grass is also put,

green grass (dub being the emblem of prosperity. It is also

given by friends to the father of the new born child in congratulation of the

birth of the son and indicates their good wishes to the new born.

To prevent any mischief to the child or the mother during the time

of her confinement, the following precautions are taken :

I. Fire must be constantly kept in the room and should never be

allowed to die out. The primitive Aryans were fire-worshippers and I

think this is a remnant of their hom (%¥) and other ceremonies now

never practised except on marriage. The Gubars of Persia used to keep

fires burning for hundreds of years, and it was most probably so in ancient

India.

II. Grain must be kept near the bed of the mother. Grain repre¬

sents plenty of good luck, which has a peculiar power of removing all evil.

III. Water should always remain in the room. It is the common be¬

lief that witches attack the unclean, and water being a purifier they cannot

come near it. This belief is very general and is found as well in Islam as

in Brahmanism. The Musalmans have it on the highest authority that

$> ' 9 9 s Cts

water is the purifier ), so it is also according to Manu.

IV. Some weapon should also be placed near. It is believed that

witches have no power over armed persons, but they attack the weak and

the foul. It is from this belief that the bridegroom when marching at the

head of a marriage procession must be armed, so that fairies being enamoured

with him might not take him away. Those who are now deprived by

1883 ] G-. Singh — Superstitions connected with child birth. 207

the Anns Act of carrying arms, carry a small knife instead, to frighten

the fairies and spirits away.

Y. The handle of the plough (hal da munna) is kept under the

bed. As the plough turns the soil from which grain is produced, witches

do not approach such an implement.

YI. There should be a lock on the bed, or it should be chained round

(bel maria). Iron has great power of preventing the mischief of witchcraft,

and a bed chained with iron is therefore quite safe.

VII. On no account should a cat be allowed to enter the room. Her

cry even should not be heard by the mother. Some do not even let her

name a cat (billi). The most unlucky dream for a woman in her confine¬

ment is that of seeing a cat. Some^say that witches come in the disguise

of a cat which should therefore not be allowed access, and others think that

‘ A'th maha’ (&*bo *#J|), the habit of a child being born in the eighth month

of pregnancy, is engendered by the fact of a cat entering the room of

confinement. There are several stories in Oriental literature of sorceresses

in love having gone to their beloved in the disguise of cats. I believe

there is one in the Arabian Nights, but I have not got that book with me

just now and cannot refer to it, and there is another in the Persian book

justly called “ a jewel in the necklace of a dog”, for referring to which

I beg to be pardoned. It is in the first part of Bahar Danish (cA’O

in the 6th story related to the prince. (Compare also iEsop’s Fable, No.

198). A child born during the eighth month of pregnancy is believed

to die on the eighth day after birth, in the eighth month, the eighth year

or the eighteenth year. When speaking of the age of a child, the number

eight (ath <^t) is called “ an ginat” ‘■sAfcfl (uncounted) so

^,1 an-ginat din = 8th day

do. malffna = 8th month

oaf do. barha == 8th year.

By the way I may mention here, a baby is called as many years old as

he is days or months old — 4 ‘ barhe’, 1^- ‘ barha , &c. when applied to a

small baby means that he is 4 days or 1^ months old. Returning to the

unlucky pussy, if a cat happens to enter the room, ashes should be thrown

over her to ward off the danger. In native sorcery, the common practice

to drive witches away is by throwing enchanted grains, or ashes, or water

over the object possessed, followed by the repetition of the charming words.

For fairies flowers are used. For semi-gods like Hanuman and goddesses

like Devi incense is burnt, and prayers substituted for charming words.

VIII. The house should not be swept clean by a broom, as this might

have the effect of sweeping all the luck out of the room.

IX. There should also be no small opening for a drain (mori) in the

208

G. Singh — Superstitions connected with child birth. [No. 3,

room of confinement. If there were it should be closed. For surely

through it witches might enter, because it is from its nature unclean.

X. A lamp should be lit during night, and it should not be put out

in the morning, but allowed to burn out. Putting a light out means

extinguishing the light of good fortune. A son is called by the natives

“ Light of the house” (ghar ka diwa), for without him it would be all dark,

the symbol of unhappiness.

XI. The mother and the baby must not on any account come out

of the room for thirteen days. On the thirteenth day after birth, they

are to come out of the room in the following manner. The mother takes

a bath, and the old clothes worn by her are given away to the midwife

employed, who divides them sometimes with the nain or barber woman.

This nain, who is the customary maid-servant of the house, brings,

in a small earthen pot (thikra), cow urine, green grass, a nut (supara),

and the “ naharna” or instrument for cutting nails. After the mother

has finished her toilet (which is a much simpler process than the

toilet of European ladies) the ‘ nain’ sprinkles with green grass the

cow urine on her person. Incense (dhup) is burnt and nails are cut by

tbe barber woman, which must not be cut previous to this day. The

mother must put on the barber’s (nai’s), — not the barber woman’s but her

husband’s — slippers. What does it mean ? Perhaps she, coming out in the

shoes of a servant, may be understood by the witches and other such beings

not to be the lady of the house to whom they might cause any mischief ;

except this I cannot conjecture any other reason. Then the mother takes

the child in her arms, and walks forth out of the room. The barber woman

throws some oil on the door side and the water woman (jhiwari, or any

other) stands with a pot full of water and green grass ; for these they are

both duly paid according to the means of the lady. In the outer room

the Bidh Mata (h>b° the “ Vidhata Mata” (f^TcTTfTT<TT ) of the learned,

the goddess of generation is worshipped. The Brahmans have no hand

in this worship. The women form an idol of cow-dung (gobar), cover it

with a red cloth and make their offerings to it, consisting of the food

cooked for giving a feast on the occasion. It is to be observed that this

is certainly a relic of the manners of those times when primitive Aryans

worshipped their gods without the intervention of the priestly caste. Now,

the Hindu gods would scarcely listen to prayers of the common folk, unless

their cause were pleaded by the Brahmans. Then drums are beaten,

Brahmans fed and a feast given to all the relatives present, and the mem-

bers of the household congratulated. That idol is kept in the house till one

and a quarter month after the day of birth and then deposited near the well.

This completes virtually all that is necessary for the proper care

to be taken in the period of confinement which, however, lasts for forty days*

209

1883.] G. Singh — Superstitions connected with child birth.

But the mother must not stain the palms of her hands or feet with the

colour of the mahindi or hinna plant ( Lnwsonia inermis ) and must not

wear cloth coloured with kusumbha dye, until the ancestors are worshipped

and a feast given to the kinsmen. On this occasion dhiyanls or the

girls horn in the tribe must also be fed, paid and reverenced. There is

no limit of time as to when this grand feast is to be given.

Thenceforth nothing is to be feared except that dreadful goddess

“ small-pox.” She must be periodically worshipped. Of the mode of

her worship I will give a separate description ; meanwhile suffice it to say

that on her days and the days of her bir or follower, Tuesday and Satur¬

day, the boy should not have a bath.

There is one other subject which I think must not remain altogether

unnoticed. It is the influence of the evil eye, and what should be done

to prevent the mischief caused thereby. Mothers naturally watch their

sons with great anxiety. If at any time the baby refuses to take his

nourishment, the first thought of the mother is, that he is under the in¬

fluence of the evil eye. But to be sure whether this is so, she takes on a

Saturday or Sunday seven red peppers, touches the person of the young

one seven times with them, and without speaking to any one throws them

in the fire. If they give out any odour whilst they burn, the baby is safe

from the evil eye, but if no odour comes when the peppers burn, then it cannot

he doubted that the young one has been looked at by some evil eye. If

the mother, whilst touching him with the peppers, talks to any one, the

charm is broken and must be done again. There is also one other method

of finding this out, viz., throwing dough wrapped round by cotton threadj

after touching the child seven times with it, into the fire. If it burns without

the threads being burnt, the boy is under the influence of the evil eye, but if

the threads burn first, then the evil eye is not to be feared. This mode of

ascertaining the evil eye is not so generally adopted as the one mentioned

first. When it is thus found out that it is the evil eye which ails the

baby, they then think out who it must be, whose eye fell on the child.

Surely it can be no other than the person who stared at the child longest

and who praised him most. Hence it is the rule with the friendly visitors

not to praise the child much. If it be done so by any one, the mother

or other friend of the baby takes a little earth in her hand and throws

it across the child. Horse owners and dealers are also seen doing this,

after some new comer has inspected the horse. When the person whose

evil eye fell on the baby comes again, the child is hidden from his eye,

and some earth from under the footsteps of the offending person is quietly

taken and thrown in the fire. It may be observed that the native method is

safer than the English which requires spilling of blood to remove the evil (see

the Bev. A. Jessopp’s Account of Superstition in Arcady in the Nineteenth

210

G. Singh — Superstitions connected with child birth. [No. 3,

Century for November 1882). This will remove the influence of his eye.

If it cannot be ascertained who was the person from whose look the child

is suffering, recourse is had to the “cunning” man (syana). He generally

gives some charmed water with which the face of the baby and the breast

of the mother is to be washed, or some charmed ashes which are applied

to the forehead of the child, or anything else which he might think fit to

administer. To prevent the mischief of the evil eye, the following pre¬

caution is thought to be ordinarily quite sufficient. When the child

is going out, or when visitors are expected, or when he has been dressed

in new clothes, his forehead or cheek is daubed with a small black mark.

Anything black is believed to have the power of warding off the mischief of

the evil eye. Thus they put black woollen collars (gandas) on the necks of

beautiful horses, buffaloes, or oxen. It is also from this belief that those

hideous black drawings representing old sorceresses, or demons, or witches,

we so often see on the walls of newly built houses in the bazar, are drawn.

Sometimes a picture of a black snake or fish on the wall is thought

to be sufficient. I must stop here, for I have gone already far from my

subject which was to give some account of the evil eye as connected with

the well-being of children.

In conclusion I have to point out that the above related supersti¬

tions and beliefs are by no means peculiar to the Jats of any part of the

country. The description given is of superstitions prevalent amongst

the Jats of the Easteni Panjab, and I have gathered the information from

the most trustworthy sources, i. e., from old native women. But I find

that most of the above will hold good of all classes of inhabitants of the

Panjab with a few alterations here and there. I am informed that the

Kshatris, Brahmans and Banias of the towns are far more superstitious

than are rural population. As to the extent to which such beliefs prevail,

there are very few men who really believe in them, but there are very few

women who do not believe in such things. So all such things are managed

by women, and in most cases men do not come to know of them even.

It will appear that on the one hand some of these superstitious beliefs

are the relics of old faiths and manners which have in some instances been

incorporated in the modern religions, and on the other hand they are the

absurd beliefs of an ignorant and credulous people. It is also manifest

that the modern religions discard such superstitions. Yet all religions

prevalent in the Punjab, Hinduism, Sikhism, and Muhammadanism have

failed to eradicate these superstitions, and it must be so until women are

also educated and brought up like men. Truly, every candid native must

confess that in India women have their own superstitious religion which

does not practically differ much, whether they be nominally Hindus, Mu¬

hammadans or Sikhs.

1883.] A. F. Rudolf Hoernle — A new find of Muhammadan Coins. 211

A new find of Muhammadan Coins of Bengal ( Independent Period). — By

Dr. A. F. Rudolf Hoernle, (With two Plates).

In February or March 1883 a treasure consisting of 85 silver coins

(Rupees) was found by some kulis while they were working at an embank¬

ment lying to tbe north of Daulatpur and south of Bansigram in the Thana

Dewan Serai in the District of Murshidabad.*

As usual the coin3 were forwarded to this Society for identification

(on the 22nd May 1883) and thus came into my hands. The result

I exhibit in the following table :

A large number of the coins are very much disfigured by shroff-marks.

Regarding the object of such disfigurement, see Blochmann’s explanation

in this Journal, Vol. XLIV, p. 288, footnote.

* See official letter from H. Mosley, Esq., Collector of Murshedabad to the Com¬

missioner of the Presidency Division, No. 271 G., dated Berhampore, 10th May, 1883.

t Taken from Blochmann’s Table in J. A. S. B., Vol. XLII, p. 308.

+ One of these is broken in two pieces.

212 A, F. Rudolf Hoernle — A new find of Muhammadan Coins. [No. 3,

There are several circumstances which give to these coins a particular

interest.

In the first place, nearly one half of the coins of Ruknu-d-din Barbak

Shah are entirely new. Only a very few coins of this Sultan have, hither¬

to, become known, and they are all of the anonymous type; while many

of the coins, now found, give his full name Ruknu-d-din. Also among

the coins of Nasiru-d-dxn Mahmud Shah I, there are no less than six

entirely new types, Nos. 3, 4, 5, G, 7, 8, while among the four other,

already known types, some give new dates, and others, being in better

preservation, throw additional light on the legends.

In the second place, the present coins settle a curious point regarding

the use of the so-called leunyat or patronymic appellation. I believe it

has been generally assumed that no more than one leunyat could be borne

by the same ruler. At least, this appears to have been the only reason

for setting aside those few traces of a contrary evidence which, as I shall

presently show, did occasionally crop up. But the testimony of the coins,

now discovered, appears to leave no reasonable doubt on the subject that

some rulers did make use of two leunyats. The Muhammadan histories,

to judge from Blochmann’s “ Contributions to the Geography and History

of Bengal” in Vols. XLII, XLIII, XL1V of this Journal, know of no

other leunyat for Nasiru-d-din I but Abul Muzaffar, nor any other for

Ruknu-d-din, but Ahul Mujahid. But the present coins show — and other

evidence, as I shall presently show, confirms the fact, — that both those

Sultans were in the habit of using both names, Abul Muzaffar and Abul

Mujahid. Whether they did so at will, or for stated reasons, I am not

able to determine ; but the point might be worth further investigation.

Having once recognized the fact of the use of several leunyats , I began

to make a search for any previously recorded traces of it. Those I found

I shall now enumerate, only premising that my examination was a cursory

one, and that a closer search may reveal many more instances.

(a). In the Xth Yol. of this Journal the Hon’ble H. T. Prinsep

describes a number of Muhammadan coins found in Howrah*. Among

them

No. 3 is a coin of Abul Muzaffar Sikandar Shah, the son Ilyas Shah.

He is commonly known by the leunyat Abul Mujahid.

No. 15 is a coin of Jalalu-d-din Abul Mujahid Muhammad Shah.

He is the tenth Sultan of Bengal, from 817-834 A. H., and his usual

leunyat is Abul Muzaffar.

No. 25 is a coin of Saifu-d-din Abul Muzaffar Hamzah Shah, the son

of A’zam Shah. He was the seventh Sultan reigning from 800-804 A. H.,

and he usually bears the leunyat Abul Mujahid.

* J. A. S. B., Yol. X, PP. 168, 169.

1883.] A. F. Rudolf Hoernle — A new find of Muhammadan Coins. 213

No. 28 is a coin of Nasiru-d-din Abul Mujahid Mahmud Shah. Prin-

sep reads “ Mahomed Shah’5, and adds that “ he appears to be Mahomed

Shah, afterwards king of Hindustan whe reigned from A. H. 627-631.”

This shows that his “ Mahomed Shah” is an error for “ Mahmud Shah”.

It is clear, however, from the style of the legend on the obverse, that the

coin is not one of the Dehli Emperor Nasiru-d-din Mahmud Shah, hut of

the Bengal king of that name, in fact, of the same Nasiru-d-din Mahmud

Shah I, to whom the coins of the new find belong.

Unfortunately these coins were not figured, and it will perhaps not

be quite safe to rely implicitly on the correctness of Mr. Prinsep’s read¬

ings. If the leunyat Abul Mujahid was read correctly, his coin of Nasiru-d-

din Mahmud may have been one like No. 7 or No. 12 of the present set.

(b). Mr. Thomas, on p. 136 of his “ Chronicles of the Pathan kings

of Delhi”, describes a gold piece of Mahmud Shah, the grandson of Firuz

Shah, on which he reads the leunyat as Ahiil Mahamid. The letters,

however, on the figure of the coin (his PI. IV, fig. 113), I think, are quite

susceptible of being read as Abul Mujahid ; and still more so on a coin

of Mahmud’s father Muhammad Shah (Mr. Thomas’ Plate IV, fig. 131).*

But however that may be, there is a gold piece of Mahmud in the Society’s

collection, which clearly gives him the leunyat Abul Muzaffar, as shown

in the wood cut. It, at all events, shows that Mahmud assumed two

leunyats, Abul Muzaffar and Abul Mujahid or Abul Mahamid, which¬

ever of the two latter be the correct reading.

(c). Blochmann, in Vol. XL1II of the Journal, quotes an inscrip¬

tion of Barbak Shall, of the year 868 A. H., which gives that Sultan the

leunyat Abul Muzaffar. f On this he observes in a footnote, that “ it seems

to be a mistake for Abul Mujahid.” But there is an old Persian Diction¬

ary, the Sharafnamah-i-Ibrahimi which, as Blochmann himself informs us,

is dedicated to Barbak Shah and, in the concluding verse, also styles him

* Thus the large, elongated dot over ■sr'*5 can certainly not he the “ zabar” of

Mahamid, though it may be the worn “pesh” of Mujahid. I have referred to both

Badaonf and Ferishtah ; but neither of them mentions the leunyat of Mahmud,

t J. A. S. B., Vol. XLIII, p. 297.

F F

214 A. F. Rudolf Hoernle — A new find of Muhammadan Coins. [No. 8,

“ Abul Muzaffar”.* Blochmann suggests that the Barbak Shah here in¬

tended may be “the Barbak Shah of Jounpur who ruled in Jounpur from

879 (the year when the Bengal Barbak Shah is said to have died) to 881,

etc.” But this is not very probable. In any case, the testimony of the

inscription, which is really unimpeachable, is confirmed by the coins, now

found, which give Ruknu-d-din’s full name and date. Indeed, from the

fact that not less than 18 coins of 4 different types (Nos. 13, 14, 15, 16)

give him the lcunyat Abul Muzaffar, while only 2 coins of 1 type (No. 12)

style him Abul Mujahid, as w’ell as from the fact that the author of the

Persian Dictionary, in dedicating his work to Barbak Shah, addresses him

by the name Abul Muzaffar, it would almost seem that Ruknu-d-din pre¬

ferred that lcunyat to Abul Mujahid, albeit he is better known by the

latter lcunyat in the histories. Out of four known inscriptions, three call

him Abul Mujahid, while in the fourth he is called Abul Muzaffar. f

(d). In Yol. XLIV of this Journal, Blochmann published a coin

(his No. 8) which clearly reads Abul Mujahid. J This he himself admits ;

his words are : “ if the last had not been found together with the others,

I would be inclined to attribute it to Mahmud Shah II, as the lcunyat

looks more like Abul Mujahid than Abul Muzaffir.” Still for the reason

mentioned, and under the prejudice that a king could not use two different

leunyats, he reads Abul Muzaffar. Probably the same reasons prevented

Blochmann from recognizing that his coin No. 3 (or fig. 4 of his Plate)

also reads “ Abul Mujahid,” though the letters, in this case, are not quite

so clear as in the case of his No. 8. But an imperfectly preserved “Abul

Mujahid” can generally be almost certainly distinguished from an imper¬

fect “ Abul Muzaffar” by the presence or absence of the connecting stroke

after the Id za and respectively, which otherwise have a great resem¬

blance to each other. The difference can be very clearly seen by compar¬

ing No. 3 with No. 4 in Blochmann’s Plate ; the former has Abul Muzaffar,

the latter, Abul Mujahid. Moreover, there is fortunately among the

newly found coins one (No. 10) which is a duplicate of Blochmann’s No.

3 and on which the word “ Mujahid” is clear enough. Now Blochmann’s

No. 3 is dated 852 A. H. ; and my three specimens of No. 8, of the

Mujahid type, are dated 86[*] 862, 865. The only king with whom all

these dates agree is Nasiru-d-dxn Mahmud Shah I, who reigned from

846-S65 A. H. ; and these coins, therefore, clearly prove that Mahmud

Shah I made use of the lcunyat Abul Mujahid as well as of the lcunyat

Abul Muzaffar, though in the histories lie appears to be only known by

* J. A. S. B., Yol. XXXVIII, p. 8, Yol. XXXIX, p. 296, footnote,

t J. A. S. B., Vol. XLII, p. 272, Vol. XLIII, pp. 295, 296, Vol. XLIY, p. 291.

J J. A. S. B , Vol. XLIV, pp. 288, 289 ; Plate XI, fig. 9.

1SS3.] A. F. Rudolf Hoernle — A new find of Muhammadan Coins. 215

the latter. This being so, it becomes very probable that the coins of the

same (*. e., Mujahid) type which bear no date or the date of which is no

more legible, must be ascribed to the same Sultan Mahmud Shah I. To

this class belong my coins Nos. 9 and 11, Blochmann’s No. 8 (his fig. 9),

aud the coin No. DCCXX1V published by Marsden in his Numismata

Orientalia. The latter was republished by Laidlay in Yol. XY of this

Journal.* Both he and Blochmann ascribe it to Nasiru-d-din Mahmud

Shah II, f commonly known as Abul Mujahid, probably a grandson of the

first Nasiru-d-din Mahmud Shah, who is supposed to have reigned in 896

A. H. As they had not the advantage of the present evidence of dated

coins, their error is not surprising ; nor, indeed, in the absence of legi¬

ble dates, can their ascription be said to be impossible, but probability

is greatly the other way. The second Nasiru-d-din, as Blochmann shows,

can only have been about seven years old at the time of his accession ;

for at his father Fateh Shah’s death (probably in 892) he was two years

old ; and he was murdered after a reign of only about six months.

Under these circumstances there is little probability, that coins — and coins

too of various types — were struck in his name. Moreover, it will be

observed that the coins of the present find, are nearly all of Mahmud I

and Ruknu-d-din ; there are only five of previous reigns, but none of

any reign after Ruknu-d-din. If the undated coins of the Mujahid

type were ascribed to Mahmud II, there would be a large gap in the

series of coins, extending over no less than five reigns, between Ruknu-d-

din and Mahmud II. For this reason, too, it is more probable that the

undated coins belong to Mahmud I.

(e). In Yol XLII of this Journal, p. 289, Blochmann has given an

inscription of Nasiru-d-din Abul Mujahid Mahmud Shah. He was unable

to read the date, and ascribed the inscription to Mahmud Shah II, on

account of the Tcunyat Abul Mujahid, mentioned in it, while the hunyat

of Mahmud Shah I, as he says, was Abul Muzaffar. The date, however,

is not so illegible as Blochmann makes it out to be. It is in all pro¬

bability 84-7 or 849 ; see his Plate VII, No. 3 ; in the left-hand lower

corner the word <*>•-«> “ year” is distinct ; just above it is clearly

enough the word “ seven” or “ nine” ; and above that, again, is

the word (rather indistinct) “ eight hundred” ; lastly to the im¬

mediate right of is the word “ forty” ; the whole date being

j j 847 or ^ j £—3 849. Indeed the date is so

clear, that I suspect it was merely because Blochmann felt himself unable

* J. A. S. B., Vol. XV, p. 331 ; Plate Y, No. 18.

f J. A. S. B., Yol. XLII, p. 289.

+ See J. A. S. B., Vol. XLII, p. 288.

216 A. F. Rudolf Hoernle — A new find of Muhammadan Coins. [No. 3,

to make it agree with the reign of Mahmud II, that he thought it was

illegible. The year 847 or 849 only suits Mahmud I, and it shows that

the inscription must be ascribed to him and that he used also the Jcunyat

Abul Mujahid. It thus appears that out of six known inscriptions of

this Sultan, he calls himself Abul Muzaffar in five,* * * § and Abul Mujahid in

one. A circumstance which tends to confirm the ascription of the last

inscription to Mahmud I is that it commemorates the erection of a mosque

during the Sultan’s reign such as could hardly have been

built during the short reign of 6 months of Mahmud II, a boy 7 years old.

In the third place. My coin No. 8 b is important as it fixes a new date

for Mahmud Shah I. The latest date hitherto ascertained, from inscriptions,

was 863. f The earliest known date of Mahmud’s successor Barbak Shah

was Safiar 865. Thence Blochmann rightly concluded that Mahmud Shah

must at least have reigned till the beginning of 864. J The coin, No. 8b,

now proves that he actually reigned in the year 864.

In the fourth place. The reverse of No. 8, is noteworthy. Laidlay

(J. A. S. B., XV, p. 328) says of Nasiru-d-dm I, “ being unable to record a

royal paternity on his coinage, he seems to have contented himself with the

simple repetition of his name and title, etc.” But Nasiru-d-dxn I evident¬

ly had neither cause nor inclination to be so humble, for on the coins

No. 8, he claims to be the son as well as the grandson of a Sultan. This

claim is supported by the histories, which “ agree in describing him as a

descendant of Ilyas Shah.”§ May not his reverse on No. 8 show that

he was actually a grandson of Ilyas Shah, and a son of Abul Mujahid

Sikandar Shah ?

In the fifth place. There is a curious resemblance between my coin,

No. 12, of Barbak Shah, and the coin of Saifu-d-din Abul Muzaffar Firuz

Shah II, published by Blochmann in Vol. XLII, p. 288. The resemblance

is particularly striking in the reverse.

I now proceed to describe the coins : —

I. Abul Mujahid Sikandar Shah.

Of this Sultan there are two coins. One belongs to the type described

by Mr. Thomas in the J. A. S. B., Vol. XXXVI, p. 66, No. 26, and figured

in Marsden’s Numismata Orientalia, Plate XXXVI, No. DCCLIX. The

other (Plate XVII, No. 18) is also described by Mr. Thomas, ibidem, p. 64,

* J. A. S. B„ Vol. XLI, pp. 107, 108 ; Vol. XLII, pp. 270, 271 ; Vol. XLIII,

pp. 294, 295 ; Vol. XLIV, p. 289.

t J. A. S. B„ Vol. XLII, p. 269, Vol. XLIV, p. 288.

7 J. A. S. B., Vol. XLII, p. 269.

§ J. A. S. B., Vol. XLII, p. 269.

1883.] A. F. Rudolf Hoernle — A new find of Muhammadan Coins. 217

No. 22, but not figured. The mints and dates are not legible on either

of the two.

II. Ghiyasu-d-din A’zam Shah.

His coin is of the type figured and described by Mr. Thomas, ibidem ,

p. 69, No. 35. Mint and date illegible.

III. ShIHABU-D-dIn BaYAZID SHAH.

His coin is of the type figured and described by Blochmann in J. A.

S. B., Yol. XLII, p. 263, No. 1. Mint illegible, date apparently 809.

IV. Jalalu-d-din Muhammad Shah.

His coin is of the type figured and described by Blochmann, ibid.,

p. 267, No. 3. Mint illegible ; date apparently 828.

V. Nasieu-d-din Mahmud Shah I.

fa). Muzaffar Type.

No. I. (Plate XYI, fig. 1). Five specimens; apparently duplicates

of the coin, No. 5, described and figured by Blochmann in J. A. S. B.,

Vol. XLIV, p. 289, the date of which however was not legible. One of the

present coins (fig. 1), now in the Society’s Collection, shows the date 818 ;

on the others it is not legible. The legends on both sides are the same

as on Col. Hyde’s coin, published in J. A. S. B., Vol. XLII, p. 269, No. 1.

Obv. ^ILLJt jjU y\ Li*Jl jm si)

HeV. A|^A ^ tj AlJlAJixU.

No. 2. (Plate XVI, fig. 2). Nine specimens. The obverse legend

is the same as that of No. 1, except that the word is here placed

below, instead of above, the word cfiliLJl. The reverse reads:*

/[&[* AXw, A.'. hi J A^Lo 0*1^. j p li .wo f 6

One of them (fig. 2) shows the date 8[5]3 (Aar ; two others

are dated [85]2 and 859. The coin, No. 7, published by Blochmann,

J. A, S. B., Vol. XLIV, p. 289 (fig. 8 on his Plate) is very much like the

coin, now figured, in general appearance ; but the latter has a double row

of scollops on the obverse, while Blochmann’s coin has only one row and,

besides, has the words jjU, placed as in No. 1 of the present series.

* The word appears on all these coins as

218 A. F. Rudolf Hoernle — A new find of Muhammadan Coins. [No. 3,

No. 3. (Plate XYI, fig. 3). Five specimens ; in all respects like

No. 2, except that the latter are small, thick pieces, while No. 3 are large

and thin with broad ornamented margins. On two specimens the dates

are legible ; one (fig. 3) has 860; the other probably 8[5]9.

No. 4. (Plate XVI, fig. 4). One specimen ; a small thick piece,

like No. 2 ; also with the same legends ; but that on the obverse differently

arranged, in a rather curious way. Date, probably on reverse, obliterated

by shroff-marks.

No. 5. (Plate XVI, fig. 5). Three specimens ; very crude pieces,

one of them broken in two. Obverse legend as usual ; the reverse entirely

illegible through shroff-marks.

No. 6. (Plate XVI, fig. 6). Five specimens ; with very slight

variations; broad, thin pieces, like No. 3, hut without any margin on the

obverse. The lettered surface of the latter shows the well-known orna¬

mental elongated strokes. The legends on both sides are the same as on

No. 1. On one coin (fig. 6) the date is 847, on another apparently 84[8].

(b). Mujdhid Type.

No. 7. (Plate XVI, fig. 7). One specimen ; in all respects like

No. 6, except that the word Mujdhid is substituted for Muzaffar. The

date is 862. A similar coin was published by Laidlay in J. A. S. B.,

Vol. XV, Plate IV, No. 7, but its reverse legend is different, viz., that of

No. 2 of the present series. He wrongly ascribed it to Jalalu-d-din Mu¬

hammad Shah. Blochmann appears to have read on it Abul Muzaffar, but

the name is exactly as on my coin, and is clearly Abul Mujahid.

No. 8. (Plate XVI, figs. 8a and 8 b). Three specimens ; in general

appearance, like Nos. 6 and 7 ; the obverse legend is also the same, but

the reverse has the following inscription of which the latter portion is

continued from the area on to the margin :

in margin in area

r - ^ \ / - A - n

j Axl/o <XiJ| /\ «]fc ^UaJLjl ^j|

They are all dated ; one has 862, another (fig. Sb) has 864, the date

of the third (fig. 8a) is mutilated 86[*].

No. 9. (Plate XVII, fig. 9). One specimen ; in general appearance

like No. 2 ; both legends also the same as on No. 2, except that the word

Mujdhid is substituted for Muzaffar. The date which would have been

on the reverse margin is unfortunately lost. The coin, No. 8, published,

by Blochmann, in J. A. S. B , Vol. XLIV, p. 289 (fig. 9 of his Plate)

appears to have been identical with the present one. He makes the legend

1883.] A. F. Rudolf Hoernle — A new find of Muhammadan Coins 219

on the reverse to be the same as on Col. Hyde’s coin ( i . e., the same as

on No. 1 of the present series) ; hut this is clearly an error; for his coin

shows distinctly the word and on my coins both words (*&«!

and can be made out. But it should be noted that the inscrip¬

tion is distributed over area and margin, as in No. 8, thus :

in margin in area

r - A - ^ ( - A - \

<X j ik.!.w] j A$Xc oJX j £, yZ i kjli

No. 10. (Plate XVII, fig. 10). One specimen; similar to No. 9, but

the lettered surface of the obverse is ornamented with elongated strokes.

Both legends are the same as on No. 9, but the reverse legend is differently

distributed over area and margin, <*£Lc AlJ| being in the area, and

the rest in the margin. This coin is evidently a duplicate of coin, No. 3,

published by Blochmann, in J. A. S. B., Vol. XL IV, p. 288 (fig. 4 on his

Plate). On the present specimen, the word Mujahid is quite distinct, while

Blochmann’s coin supplies the date (852) which is illegible on mine.

No. 11. (Plate XVII, fig. 11). One specimen ; a broad thin piece,

in general appearance like No. 3, but with different ornaments on the

margins, and a different legend on the reverse area. The latter is the

same as on No. 1, while the legend of No. 3 is the same as on No. 2.

Unfortunately the date is illegible.

VI. Ruknu-d-din Barbae Shah.

(a). Mujahid Type.

No. 12. (Plate XVII, fig. 12). Two specimens ; broad, thin pieces,

with lettered surfaces only ; the legends being :

Ohv. yl y UalvJl aliiojb ^oll j LioJ| ^LLLJl

Rev. AVP AiJ| b+s:'0 aIJ| 211 <5Jt 2/

Dates of both, 874.

(b). Muza-far Type.

No. 13. (Plate XVII, figs. 13« and 135). Eleven specimens ; in gen¬

eral appearance like No. 11 ; large thin pieces, with two areas and two

broad ornamented margins. The legends on the areas are :

Olv. ^jI ^UaLJt jjli&jlj y\ j IfioJf

Rev. The same as on Nos. 1 and 11.

220 A. F. Rudolf Hoernle — A new find of Muhammadan Goins. [No. 3,

The following dates can be recognized : 867, 870 (on fig. 13a

Ay» aitj-A), 871, 875, 877. The last date is indistinct and might be 867.

One specimen (fig. 133) shows very clearly 827 (Ary though there

can be no doubt that the 2 ( r ) is either a mistake for 6 ( 1 ) or a badly

executed 7 ( v )• The words preceding the dates seem to be

“ treasury”, and “ with the fourth”.*

No. 14. (Plate NVTI, fig. 14). Two specimens ; a slight variety of

No. 13, the j of on the obverse commencing the second line of the

legend, while on No. 13 it ends the first line. The date is just recogniz¬

able as 878. There is no trace of any margin, but they are probably

clipped away.

No. 15. (Plate XVII, fig. 15). Three specimens; another slight

variety of Nos. 13 and 14, the j being placed as in No. 14, and the last

word c/kl~J| being written on the same line with idA instead

of below it, as in Nos. 13, 14. Observed dates 867 (on fig. 15) and 877.

No. 16. (Plate XVII, fig. 16). Two specimens ; a variety of No.

15, the letters, especially on the reverse, being much larger and coarser.

Date and margins clipped away.

(c). Anonymous Type.

No. 17. (Plate XVII, fig. 17). Twenty-five specimens ; exactly like

the coin, figured and described by Marsden in his Num. Orient ., Plate

XXXVIII, No. DCCLXXV. Among them there are 16 dated 873, two

dated 872 and one dated 870. The dates of five are illegible ; and one

(fig. 17) seems to show 761 twice ! The words preceding the dates are,

on some &!>*- (on fig. 17), on others

All the coins figured on Plates XVI and XVII are now in the

Society’s collection, except the coin of Sikandar Shah (PI. XVII,

fig. 18) which is in my possession. In the Society’s collection are the

following coins : 2 specimens of No. 1 (d. 848) ; 4 of No. 2 (d. 852, 853,

859) ; 4 of No. 3 (d. 859, 860) ; 1 of No. 4; 1 of No. 5 ; 3 of No. 6

(d. 847, 848) ; 1 of No. 7 ; 2 of No. 8 (d. 864, 86*) ; 1 each of Nos. 9,

10, 11 ; 1 of No. 12 (d. 874) ; 13 of No. 13 (d. 867, 870, 871, 875, 877,

827). In my own possession are the following ; 1 specimen of No. 1

(d. 8 [48]) ; 1 of No. 2 (d. 859), 1 of No. 3 (d. 8[5]8); 2 of No. 6

(d. 857); 1 of No. 8 (d. 862); 1 of No. 12 (d. 874); 2 of No. 13

(d. 867, 870).

* On the or land-tax of the fourth ; see Blochmann in J. A. S. B., Vol. XLII,

p. 219.

1883.]

J. H. Rivett-Carnac — Stone Implements.

221

On Stone Implements from the North Western Provinces of India. — By

J. H. Riyett-Cabnac, Esq., C. S., C.I.E., F.S.A., &c.

(With three Plates.)

The Proceedings of the Asiatic Society for January 1882 contain a

short account of a collection of stone implements, made during the past

few years by Mr. J. Cockburn and myself in the Banda District of the

the North Western Provinces of India.

It is now proposed to describe the collection more in detail, noticing

specially what are believed to be the new types brought to light, together

with certain specimens which appear to carry with them the explanation of

the manner in which they were manufactured and hefted.

The division of labour between Mr. J. Cockburn and myself has been

arranged as follows : The larger stone implements, i. e., the hammers,

ringstones and the celts of well known types, many of which have been

found or collected during my tour, are to be described by me. Mr. Cock¬

burn has undertaken to figure and describe at length, in a separate paper,

the very large, varied and most interesting collection of chert implements

which he has found, comprising many new types, none of which had been

before found in this part of the country, and to which he has devoted the

attention of a careful and enthusiastic observer.

The more rare and interesting of the specimens described by me have

been carefully drawn to scale, and will be found figured among the illustra¬

tions which accompany this paper.

Even to those who have no knowledge of India, the locality of these

finds may be easily indicated on the map, by taking as a starting point,

Allahabad, the great city at the confluence of the Ganges and the Jumna.

For hundreds of miles the huge tract between these rivers, together with the

adjoining country beyond, consists of a level plain of alluvial soil containing

few trees, beyond the artificially planted groves of the villagers, and no trace

of stone save the nodular limestone locally known as kunkur. Some 10 miles

to the west of Allahabad, the point where not only the two great rivers meet,

but also where the Railway from Bombay and Jabalpur joins the main line

of the East Indian Railway, the country suddenly changes, and rock, hill and

jungle assert themselves for the first time, extending thence to the south

and east for hundreds of miles, through a but little known country towards

Katak, and following the Railway line west during its whole course, to

within a short distance of Bombay itself.

The Banda District is situated on the eastern boundary of this tract,

and is entered by the Railway about twelve miles after leaving Allahabad.

G G

222

J. H. Rivett-Carnac — Stone Implements.

[No. 3,

In nearly all its characteristics, Banda differs from its sister Districts of the

Doab. The country is hilly and well wooded, and the monotonous level of

the plain is exchanged for pleasant valleys and picturesque upland.

The rocks most commonly met with, are the Kaimur Sandstones, gra-

natoid gneiss, diorite, the hornblendic rock, of which the celts later to be

noticed, are chiefly formed, and the basalt of the trap sheet of the Deccan,

veins of which intrude themselves here and there among the more common

formations. In the south of the district the lower Yindhian formation,

known as the Tirhowan Limestone, is met with. This is the matrix of the

chert nodules and bands, the material used for the smaller and more deli¬

cate implements, the description of which will be found in Mr. Cockburn’s

paper.

This wild and picturesque country, lying within easy reach of that old

established centre of Aryan civilization, Prayag, the “ Sangarn” or sacred

junction of the two holy streams, having been familiar to the Hindus for many

centuries, has enjoyed great popularity, and has been invested with a

full share of romance by the Aryan invaders, whose appreciation of the

picturesque nooks and cool retreats of the upland, must have been enhanced

by a long and tedious progress through the monotonous plains of Upper

India. It was in the Banda District that Rama, having resigned his kingdom

in filial deference to his father’s vow, and accompanied by Sita, and his

brother Lakshman, took up his abode, choosing the wild forest which then

covered the hill of Chitrakut, or Kamadagiri, or “ abode of delight,” a site

now marked by hundreds of temples, the annual resort of hundreds of

thousands of pilgrims. Some of the most beautiful passages of the

Ramayan describe the picturesque forest, and this pleasant country among

the Banda hills, into which civilization has not even yet fully penetrated

or robbed of its many sylvan attractions. It was in this forest that Sita

was carried off by Havana, and it was here that Rama undertook the

avenging expedition against Lanka, during which, as tradition has it, he

received valuable assistance from the monkeys of the forest, or in other

words from the wild tribes inhabiting this tract, who were probably armed

with the stone hatchets and the stone clubs which form the subject of the

present paper.

The hill country of which Banda forms the eastern limit, still contains

semicivilized tribes, differing in their language, in their physical and other

characteristics from the Aryans of the plains. The old Hindu records con¬

tain accounts of these wild men of the woods, and the ancient stone carvings,

occasionally found among the ruined temples of the forest, or on Buddhist

topes like Sanchi, represent a class easily distinguishable in form and

feature from the Aryan invaders. A carving found by Mr. Cockburn at

Kalanjar, evidently of great antiquity, represents a figure holding in the

1883.]

J. H. Rivett-Carnac — Stone Implements.

223

right hand an implement which closely resembles a stone celt fixed in a

wooden handle. Likewise one of the most interesting of the Sanchi carv-

ings figured by Mr. Fergusson, in his well known work on Tree and Serpent

Worship, represents, what is believed to be, a Dasyu with an axe fixed on to

the handle by cross bands, in a manner in which it is known this stone im¬

plement was liafted. There would then seem reason to believe that

the stone implements found in the wild country of Banda are the remains

of aboriginal tribes of India, who driven out from the fertile delta, by the

wave of invasion from the North, sought refuge in the hills and jungle, in

the manner that the aboriginal tribes of Britain are known to have receded

to the hilly country of the island before the Saxon and the Dane.

All over the immense jungle tract of Central India, Cromlechs, Kist-

vaens, stone circles closely resembling those to be found in Britain and on

the continent of Europe are to be found. The similarity between the stone

implements, now to be described, and those of Europe, is equally remarkable,

and there would seem to be little doubt, that these implements were long,

and up to a comparatively recent date, in use amongst these tribes, who have

as yet made little progress in civilization.

So far as I have yet been able to learn, none of these implements have

been found in use at the present day, even among the most backward of

these tribes. No one I have met with on my tours had been able to explain

the use of any of these implements. They are regarded as wonderful, mys¬

terious, often as holy. Turned up by the plough at some depth below the

soil, the celt is supposed to be a thunderbolt, driven deep into the earth from

on high, and the finder places it under the village pipul tree, sometimes

sanctifying it with a daub of red paint, and constituting it a Mahadeo or

Phallus. Stone implements, especially the smaller ones, flakes and arrow¬

heads, have been found by European officers on the surface of the soil, or in

the beds of streams, and notably by Mr. Cockburn, on what would appear

to be the sites of old manufactories or encampments. But the village pee-

pul tree is generally the best and surest find. There the villagers, acting

unconsciously as valuable coadjutors in the interests of Archaeological re¬

search, have collected together, and piled up from time immemorial, these

curious relics of a bye-gone age, preserving them with that mysterious awe

that attaches in their eyes to everything that is old and rare. Save

perhaps to what may be the largest and central celt, daubed with red paint,

and from its shape worshipped as a Mahadeo, and which they will not part

with, the villagers attach no more importance to these implements left there

for centuries, than to the other piles of offering stones which surround a

jungle shrine. A little good-humoured persuasion, or a few rupees will

easily secure them for the collector of antiquarian relics.

Some idea of the abundance of these implements on these shrines may

224 J. H. Rivett-Carnac — Stone Implements. [No. 3,

be formed, from the fact that Mr. Cockburn assisted by the headmen of the

village, secured 23 celts in the village of Phuppoondee, Angassie Pergunnah,

in about an hour’s search. Probably twice this number remained hidden

in the great heaps of fragments of sculpture and waterworn pebbles which

were not searched.

The number collected byMr. Cockburn and myself, in this manner,

exceeds many hundreds, of all sizes, and of many different types, most of

them from the weather-worn condition of the surface, exhibiting undoubted

proofs of great age.

In my former papers, read before the Asiatic Society, the practice of

objects of antiquarian interest, with which India abounds, being collect¬

ed and disposed of by amateurs has been strongly condemned. It seems

right, therefore, to mention here that no specimens have been kept by either

Mr. Cockburn or myself. The best specimens have all been presented to

the British Museum, where I am glad to be able to add they have been

accepted by the Trustees, and recognised as forming a collection of un¬

usual interest. Casts of the unique specimens have been made for the chief

Museums of Europe, America and the Indian Presidency towns, and com¬

plete sets have been prepared and presented to these Museums and also

to many gentlemen interested in prehistoric research, with a view to

comparison with well known European and American types. It is gratify¬

ing to notice, that this action has already borne good fruit in the interest

that has been awakened in these remains of ancient India, and the Asiatic

Society will, I hope, at least consider, that no bad use has been made of this

large and varied collection we have been fortunate enough to have made

with the assistance and encouragement received from the Society. Several

presentations of European prehistoric remains that have been received

in exchange have been presented to the India Museum, after having been

exhibited before the Society.

Hammer Stones.

The first specimen to be described (Plate XVIII, fig. la, b) is a hammer

believed to be of a type unique in India. It was found at Alwara 2 miles

.north of the Jumna, and 37 miles south-west of Allahabad. This village is

actually in the Futtehpore District close to the boundary of Banda. It was

found by Mr. Cockburn, placed together with a number of other stones under

a sacred tvee, and was obligingly given to him, on its nature being explained,

by the Thakur who owns the village. It is figured in Plate I. This

hammer is of a tough, greyish quartzite and measures 3 50" in length

by 2 TO" in breadth and I SO'' in thickness. In form, it somewhat resembles

a modern hammer, being flat at the ends and slightly curved on the upper

surface. A groove ,50" in width and T5" in depth has been carefully carried

1883.]

J. H. Rivett-Carnae — Stone Implements.

225

round the centre in a manner which is best shown by the accompanying

sketch. The base has been hollowed out with equal care in a gouge like

form, to the depth of about *13 of an inch. The whole arrangement sug¬

gests that the hammer was attached by a ligature to a wooden or withy

handle, the ligature being kept in its place by the upper groove, while

the lower groove held the hammer in position on the rounded haft, in a

manner somewhat resembling the annexed sketch. Mr. Coekburn has

pointed out certain minute marks, especially on the lower groove, which

suggest the possibility of metal implements having been used in the fa¬

shioning of the hammer, and it may be that this implement belongs to the

transition stage from stone to metal, when metal, though available, was

scarce. The arrangement for hafting the hammer, closely resembles that

described by Dr. C. Rau, in his account of the Archaeological collection of

the Smithsonian Institution, Washington, U. S. America, a copy of which he

has recently been good enough to send me. This description of the manner

of hafting the grooved axes, extracted below, applies equally to the handling

of the hammer, and figs. 78 and 79 of the Smithsonian catalogue strongly

resemble the Indian specimen now described.

“ Owing to their frequency these implements may be counted among

“ the best known relics of the aborigines and especially in the rural dis-

“ tricts of the older states. Indian stone tomahawks are familiar objects.

“ In general they can be defined as wedges, encircled by a groove, usually

“ nearer the butt end than the edge. The groove served for the reception

“ of a withe of proper length which was bent round the stone head till

“ both ends met when they were firmly bound together by ligatures of

“ hide or some other material. The withe thus formed a convenient han-

“ die.”

The specimen now figured is it, is believed, the first of this description

found in India. It is now in the British Museum, casts having been sup¬

plied to several of the leading Museums, including the Indian Museum

Calcutta.

The collection contains several other grooved hammers of a less perfect

form, bearing no trace of metallic tooling. They appear to be water-worn

pebbles, which have been grooved to admit of being attached to a withy

handle.

The next specimen, Fig. 2, which I take to be a hammer also, is quite

unlike any of those figured in the Catalogues of the European and American

Museums that have yet reached me, though it is approached by a Scandi¬

navian hammer, to be noticed later, and is of a type not hitherto found in

India. It is a cubical mass of basalt measuring 2‘50" each way. On each

of its six sides is a hole or depression about 1" in diameter and ’25" in depth.

The whole form is not unlike an astragalus, or die of the ancients, and will

226 J. H. Rivett-Carnac — Stone Implements. [No. 3,

best be explained by fig. 2. The implement fits conveniently into the hand,

the depressions affording a hold for the fingers, and suggesting its use as a

many-sided hammer, the faces of which were changed from time to time

when the pit became inconveniently deep for use. Somewhat similar de¬

pressions may be noticed on the iron mauls used by masons in the present

day. The hammer, together with two celts, was found in the Banda Dis¬

trict, embedded in the roots of a pipal tree, which in the course of years

had overgrown them, and the specimens were cut out with some difficulty.

“ Nilsson’s Scandinavia” contains a sketch, Plate I, No. 5, of a many-sided

hammer of a somewhat similar form.

A flat red quartzite pebble is figured in No. 3. It measures 4'25" in

length by 3" at the widest part, and is only P75" thick. The two ends are

slightly flattened as shown in the engraving. The upper and lower sides

exhibit a double groove or notch for the purpose of securing it to a wooden

handle. On the upper and lower surfaces double cup-marks or depressions

measuring about '70" in diameter and nearly ’SO" in depth. The cup-mark

depressions are not easily accounted for. Mr. Cockburn is inclined to think

that they represent the process of forming a complete groove round the

stone, which has been left unfinished. To me the design appears complete,

and it would seem as if the end had, at one time, been used for hammering,

whilst, at some other time, the cup-like depressions had been utilised.

Possibly similar implements, found in other parts of the world, may have

been already described and explained.

Fig. 4 is a nearly circular piece of sandstone measuring 350" in diame¬

ter and 2'25" in thickness. The upper and lower portions which were

originally flat, show a circular depression 160'' in diameter and •50'' deep.

The sides have been grooved to a depth of ’25 of an inch. This implement

may have been used as a hammer, for though now somewhat broken, it fits

comfortably enough into the hand. Or, as suggested for stones of a similar

type, it may have been a sort of rest or stone anvil, on which flint cores were

split and worked Implements of a somewhat similar description were

found by Major Mockler in Baluchistan.

Fig. 5 represents a curiously wrought piece of basalt 3-50'' in length

and 3'' in diameter. It bears the appearance of having been split in two,

either by accident or design. A deep but narrow groove runs through the

centre, as shown in the sketch. Mr. Cockburn considers it a type of imple¬

ment resembling the single Bola, or modern slung shot, and supposes the

o-roove to have been intended for the reception of a thong. Mr. Cockburn

found a carved figure at Kalin jar, bearing in its hand an implement

which he considers resembles that now described. At the back the stone

is a small but curious depression, hardly large enough to have been produced

by hammering. I am unable to suggest any explanation of its use.

1883.]

J. H. Rivett-Carnac — Stone Implements.

227

Fig. 6, «, b of which outline and section are given is a mace-end,

or ring stone of a type well known in Europe, and of which several speci¬

mens have already been discovered and described in India by Messrs. Ball

and others. The specimen in question is of quartzite and measures 5'50"

in diameter and 2’50" in thickness. The central hole is 230" in diameter.

On either surface, towards the centre it narrows, in the manner shown in the

section, and characteristic of the working of the implements of this descrip¬

tion found both in India and in Europe.

Many examples of the type are to he found figured by Evans and

others in their works on stone implements. Perfect specimens in some

numbers have been found by Mr. Cockburn and myself, besides a large

number of fragments. The perfect specimens are generally found under

trees, deposited there together with celts, hut numerous fragments have

been picked up at the base of hills, on the Kymore plateaux, or in ravines,

together with fragments of celts and flint chips and other indications

which usually mark the sites of ancient encampments. Large round pebbles

with the drilling of the central hole, in a more or less imperfect state,

have also been found in considerable numbers, indicating that the process

was troublesome and lengthy. Some exhibit a deep cup-mark or depression

on either side, others on one side only. They closely resemble the hammer

stones found in Europe and America, and figured in the various works on

the subject. In many of these cases, it seems doubtful whether it was

intended to perforate the stone, which fitted conveniently enough into the

hand as a hammer.

Fig. 7 is a four-sided block of diorite IP' in length 2" in breadth and

2" in thickness. At about 3" from the end it has been ground to a rough

point. The implement bears all the appearance of having been used as a

pick or hoe, and is well adapted for grubbing out roots or digging out

holes. I was originally inclined to think that this instrument may have

been a stone ploughshare, such as might well have been used in a rude

state of culture. The fact of the point being unsymmetrical, and the right

side exhibiting a greater amount of wear than the left, favours this idea.

Plate XIX, fig. 8 is a long tapering well rounded piece of diorite,

measuring 9 50" in length 2-60" in diameter at the base and 1" at the top.

It bears from top to base the marks of the chipping by which it has been

worked into its present state. The implement has all the appearance of

having been used as a pestle for pounding grain or other substances. It

may possibly have been used as a stone club, like those of the Merai of the

New Zealanders, but is rather short for such a purpose.

An ill-shaped rough polygonal block of tough sandstone measuring

50" in length by 8" in breadth and 325" in thickness will he seen No. XVIII

in the collection in Plate XX taken from a photograph. It has not been

228

J. H. Rivett-Carnac — S/one Implements.

[No. 3,

separately figured. On the sides it has four depressions or holes of an inch

in diameter and ‘80'' in depth. It fits comfortably into the hand, and the

projection at the top is convenient for the thumb and forefinger. It would

appear to have been used as a hammer in the same manner as fig. 2 in Plate

XVIII. The holes seem well adapted for the narrow conical ends of some of

the celts, many of which bear the marks of hammering on the narrow end.

Lastly, before passing to the celts, by far the most numerous class in

the collection, some curious and mysterious stones, found in considerable

numbers and one of which is figured No. 9, have to be briefly noticed.

The only suggestion I can make in regard to them is that they had possi¬

bly been used as pivots. It is possible that similar stones may have been

found in other parts of the world, and that the sketch may be recognized,

and the use of the implement explained by some of my correspondents into

whose hands copies of this paper will pass.

Some specimens were picked up in situ by Mr. Cockburn about I mile

north of the fortress of Bijaygarh, on a stony plateaux that has yielded

fragment of celts and chert implements, by which it might be inferred that

they were of considerable antiquity.

Celts.

Celts similar in form to those of Europe and America have, as already

stated, been found by Mr. Cockburn and myself in very large numbers. It

is possible that their preservation is partly to be attributed to their form,

which admits of their being accepted as representing the Mahadeo or Phal¬

lus. Many have doubtless been ploughed up, but the rainfall in this up¬

land country has cut up the soil into innumerable water-courses and

ravines, and this together with the constant denudation of the soil lias left

exposed many implements which would otherwise have long lain hidden

beneath the surface. Besides those collected under trees, many celts have

been found on the surface of the soil, possibly not far from the positions in

which they had originally been lost. Numbers have been picked out of

gravel heaps stacked on the sides of roads. Altogether, including those we

have purchased from natives, who have been employed in the search, the

number of celts collected by us exceeds 400.

Tbe largest of these is 12"25 in length by 4"-70 in breadth, weighing

8fbs. 3oz. “The smallest is 2"-50 in length by 2"T5 in breadth, and weighs

3f oz.” The stone selected for the celts is, in the case of the polished ones,

diorite of varying degrees of fineness, in some cases nearly approaching

porpbery. A perfectly distinct type, roughly chipped, are of bard black basalt.

As a rule while those of the one class are thick and show an ovate section,

the basalt celts are comparatively fiat. The basalt weathers differently from

the diorite. In rare instances celts of polished sandstone have occurred.

The great mass of implements of this material are exceedingly rough pro-

1883.]

229

J. H. Rivett-Carnac— - Stone Implements.

ductions, in bal’d quartzite somewhat resemble Messrs. Bruce and Fooles

specimens from Southern India. They have not, however, yet been found

in positions which would admit of their being classed as palaeolithic types,

though it is quite possible that they may be of an older type than the

polished celts.

In material, in shape, and in manufacture the polished and chipped

celts of the first two classes closely resemble those found in various parts

of Europe, America and Australia. This is the verdict of all the Museums

to which they have been sent.

The Count de Limur, the distinguished French Antiquarian, assures me

in a recent letter, that those sent to him, so closely resemble the celts dug

out of the tumuli of Carnac and other parts of Brittany preserved in the

Museum of the Hotel de Limur, that had the latter not all been marked, he

would not have been able to distinguish the one from the other.

The collection may be considered under the classification adopted by

Evans : 1st, The chipped or rough hewn celts. 2nd, The polished celts.

Class I. Bough hewn celts of basalt may he further subdivided into three

types (A.) Heart-shaped or cordate, rather an uncommon type, the edge alone

highly polished, and so much rounded as to be almost semicircular. In many

cases inequalities of the chipping have been partially removed, but in no case

has the implement itself been entirely polished. (B.) Lanceolate. Long and

comparatively narrow and coming to a point at the end, resembling the

arrow-heads termed “ leaf-shaped” in European collections. The side edges

have the appearance of being serrated, owing to flakes having been taken off

alternate sides. (C.) Very flat and almost triangular in shape. Implements of

all these types will be observed in Plate XX which is taken from a photo¬

graph.

A rough unfinished celt is given in Plate XIX, figure 10. Fig. 1 1 repre¬

sents one of the largest, whilst fig. 12 is a selected specimen of the flat

triangular type.

The collection includes a broken basalt celt with a well defined shoul¬

der indicating that this class of implement was handled.

One or two small basalt celts with the greater portion of the surface

polished have also been found as far south as Dudhi in South Mirzapore.

They are about the length of an average forefinger and fit in between the

finger and thumb, and resemble in shape and size a jade knife, from the lake

dwellings of Constance, which the distinguished Dr. Fischer was recently

good enough to send me. The latter specimen is now in the collection of

the Indian Museum and may be compared with the Indian types.

Fig. 13 shows an outline drawing of the largest of the polished celts,

its length being 12,,-25 by 4"’70 in breadth, and the weight 81bs. 3oz.

It is difficult to conceive how it could have been hafted, so huge are its

H II

230

J. H. Rivett-Carnac — Stone Implements.

[No. 3,

proportions. The original polish has not preserved it from the effects

of the weather, during, perhaps, several hundreds of years, and the stone is

corroded and pitted on the surface, the material being fine-grained diorite.

Fig. 14 a polished celt, much weathered is, from its shape, one of the

most interesting in the collection. It is 75" long by 350 broad. On either

side is a shallow cup-mark or depression, resembling the depressions of the

celts found in Europe. It is remarkable as having two notches about half

the distance from the cutting edge. These were evidently made for the

purpose of binding it to a handle, and the opposite directions of the planes

of the notches indicate that the binding was carried round and round. In

Evans’ “ Stone Implements,” p. 9, a similar celt from India is noticed as

being in the possession of Genl. Pitt-Rivers. The Banda specimen was

found in a village about one mile from Kirwee.

The implement illustrated in fig. 15 is a battered and expended celt of a

fine-grained diorite, approaching basalt. On either side is a large oval-shaped

depression, suggesting that the stone, first used as a celt, was utilized

subsequently as a hammer. Evans in his Ancient Stone Implements of

Great Britain, fig. 207, notices that in England, it is by no means uncommon

to find portions of polished celts, which, after the edge has by some

means been taken away, have been converted into hammers. The specimen

now figured, closely resembles fig. 168 in Evans’ volume already noticed.

Fig. 16 is a polished celt of diorite, from Robertsgunge in the Mirzapore

District, and differs entirely in shape from the celts already figured. The

side view closely resembles fig. 67 of Evans’ work, a celt found in the bed

of the Thames, London. It has been blunted at the top, and is almost round

in section until within an inch and a half from the base, where it expands

slightly, as shown in the sketch. From its cylindrical form it more closely

resembles a village Mahadeo, and this may account for its having been

found on a shrine so far east as Robertsgunge. The habit of preserving

celts under trees is not general in the Mirzapore District, although celts

must be quite as abundant as in Banda, for Mr. Cockburn and a friend, who

searched together, found five in a circuit round Ivandakote. Two of these

are of a square type not yet obtained in Banda.

The collection comprises several long chisel-shaped celts and a vast

number of tiny immature implements of the same shape as the larger celts

figured. The latter may either have been hafted or used between the fore¬

finger and thumb. The diorite when ground and polished takes and pre¬

serves, under rough usage, a perfect edge. One of the smaller ones that

has been fixed into a handle of staghorn, after the manner of those found

in the Swiss Lake dwellings, has been sharpened, and I can testify from

experience, chops wood nearly as efficiently as a small iron axe.

The subject will be continued in a later number of the Journal.

1883.]

J. Beames — Notes on the History of Orissa .

231

Notes on the History of Orissa under the Mahommedan, Maratlia,

and English rule. — By John Beames, B. C. S.

[These notes were written as Chapter II of a manual of the district of Balasore,

of which I was Collector from 1869 to 1873. The work when completed was laid

before Sir R. Temple (then Lieutenant-Governor of Bengal) in 1875 ; but for certain

reasons which cannot be here stated, was not printed. In 1 877 I was asked by Mr.

Blochmann, then Secretary to the Society, to allow him to print the historical portion

in the Society’s Journal. I was unable to comply with his request at that time, and

the work was put aside. Recently being engaged in some researches regarding the

history of my present official charge, the Burdwan Division, I have had occasion to

refer to it, and as I do not know of any compilation which gives all the facts therein

contained, I have thought that it may be useful to print it.]

There is some reason for believing that for many centuries the

country between the Kansbans and the Subanrekha was totally uninhabit¬

ed, and covered with jungle. The legends of the Oriya race render it

probable that they came into the province through the hills and down

the Mahanadi, and the characteristics of their language lead me to believe

that they broke off from the main stream of Aryan immigration some¬

where about Shababad and Gya. That they are not an offshoot of the

Bengalis is proved by the fact that their language was already formed as

we now have it, at a period when Bengali had not yet attained a separate

existence, and when the deltaic portion of Bengal was still almost unin¬

habited. So that in fact they could not have sprung from the Bengalis,

simply because there were then no Bengalis to spring from.

Numerous as are the allusions in early Oriya history to the north¬

western and western parts of India, and frequent as were their expeditions

to the south, it is remarkable that there is nowhere in all their annals more

than an obscure occasional mention of Bengal, and then even as a far-off

inaccessible place. The similarity between the languages is not by any

means so great as some Bengali writers have sought to make out, and what

similarity there is, is due to the fact that they are both dialects of the

eastern or Magadhi form of Prakrit.

The ancient sovereigns of Orissa were great builders and employed

stone in their works. As the province is not deltaic, but high and rocky,

these stone buildings would last for ages, and in fact central and southern

Orissa are full of them. Now it is a remarkable fact that in all northern

Balasore from the Kansbans to the frontier of Bengal there is not a vestige

of a single fort, temple, palace or bridge that can be traced or attributed

to any older period than the sixteenth century. It is hardly possible that

if this part of the country had been inhabited, the kings and rich men who

so lavishly spent their wealth in the rest of the province on temples and

232 J. Beames — Notes on the History of Orissa. [No. 3,

forts, should not have erected a single stone building in a place where

stone abounds.

An additional argument for my view is derived from the existence

of numerous tenures of a kind originally granted for the purpose of clear¬

ing and settling forest land. These tenures, so numerous in northern

Balasore, are hardly known south of the Ivansbans except in the hills.

I may also point to the very large number of villages whose names

begin with the word “ Ban” = forest, including according to one derivation

Balasore itself, (i. e , Baneshwara, forest-lord,* Sanskrit Yaneswara) and

to the very marked prevalence of the Kole or aboriginal type among the

lower classes.

Stirling’s account of Orissa has been long in print, and is so well

known, that it would be superfluous to repeat what is there said about the

various dynasties of Orissa. It will have struck many readers of that

work that often as the towns and regions of the Cuttack and Pooree dis¬

tricts are mentioned in the historical portion, Balasore is hardly ever

spoken of. One would not of course expect to find it mentioned under

the name of Balasore, because Balasore as a town is a creation of the Eng¬

lish and quite a modern place, but no other towns, villages, or parganas in

this part of the province are ever mentioned. Till the arrival of the

Musalmans, no event in Oriya history took place there, nor is there any

evidence of its having been more than scantily peopled, if at all.

It will not therefore take long to put together the scattered

notices that exist during the Hindu and Muhammadan periods. From the

people themselves not much can be got, the best informed of them cannot,

with few exceptions, go back further than the sanads granted to their

ancestors by the provincial governors under Aurangzeb or at furthest Shah

Jehan, and the majority do not as a rule know who their own great-grand¬

fathers were, and do not care.

The first of the few notices of any part of this district occursf in

a speech made by Baja Anang Bhim Deo who ruled in Orissa A. D. 1175 —

1202, in which he informs his courtiers that the kings who had preceded

him had ruled from the Ivansbans in the north to the Basikoilah in the

south, but that he had extended his sway to the Datai Borhi river on the

north. I cannot find what river is meant, but I presume it to be the

Subanrekha, which in some parts of its course is still called Dantai. The

statement that the whole country from the Ganges to the Godavery was

* [The little village of Balasore which afterwards, under English influence, grew

into the present town, is called from a temple to Mahadeva Vaneshwara or “ Shiva the

forest lord,” probably because the place where his temple stood was covered by dense

jungles.]

f Stirling’s Orissa, p. 109.

1883.]

J. Beames — Notes on the History of Orissa.

233

under this king’s rule is clearly fabulous, and arises from the fact that

the Godavery is called by Oriyas the “ San Ganga” or little Ganges, so

that it became a natural phrase in native adulatory language to say a king

reigned from the great to the little Ganges. The area of this tract is

said to have been measured at 124 million bighas, which is unintelligible,

even with the small bighas of those days.

In 1450 we are briefly told that the Mughals came into the

country, but it is not said from what quarter, and a prior invasion in 1243

is evidently a mistake.* The expedition was really to Jajnagar in

Bengal, a place whose name has been confounded with Jajpore in Orissa.

In 1457 we find the Muhammadans attacking Orissa from the south in

conjunction with the Telingas, and the invasion of 1450 was probably from

the same quarter. The Bhunyans of Garpadda, 15 miles north of

Balasore, have in their possession a copper-plate grant of the estate which

they still hold, made to their ancestor Potesar Bhatt by the Raja Pursot-

tam Deb in 1503. The amount of land granted, 1,408 batis (= 28,160

acres), is so large that it is evident land was not of much value in northern

Orissa in those days.

The road to Orissa must, however, have been practicable in 1516,

for in that year, as we know from his life in Bengali, the great reformer

Chaitanya travelled ’from Nadiya to Puri and took up his abode there for

the rest of his days. Probably the district began to be cleared and settled

about this time under the “ Purshethi” system. Still we have no detailed

accounts of it. About this time the Afghans from Bengal, however,

marched right down to Cuttack itself, and the road which they made or

used on this and their subsequent expeditions is still to be traced, and is

known to the villagers as the “ Pathan sarak.” It runs parallel to the

present Cuttack Trunk Road hut nearer to the hills, and apparently from

superstitious motives is left uncultivated to this day.

In 1550 Mukund Deo the last indigenous kinsr of Orissa ascend-

ed the throne, and we are told of him that his sway extended to Tribeni

Ghat on the Hugli. He it was in all probability who erected the strong

chain of forts still standing at Raibanian in the extreme northern corner

of the district, just opposite the place where the old Pathan road crosses

the Subanrekha. In 1568 this fort was taken by the terrible Kala Pahar,

general of the Afghan forces who overran all Orissa, defeated and deposed

Mukund and obtained possession of the whole province. f

* See Blochmann in J. A. S. B. Yol. XIII, p. 237.

t There is some controversy about this date. Dr. Hunter (Orissa, Vol. II, p. 10,)

gives a note founded on materials supplied by my friend, the late Mr. Blochmann, from

which he derives the conclusion that the date 1568 given by the Muhammadan histo¬

rian is correct. This view has received signal confirmation from a discovery of my

234 J. Beames — Notes on the History of Orissa. [No. 3,

Balasore now begins to be more important. The road to Bengal

was open and the Muhammadan forces passed and repassed and fought

many battles along it.

Before entering into the somewhat interesting details of the

Musalman invasion, settlement and government of Orissa, it will be

advisable to state briefly the general position of India.

Akbar ascended the throne in A. D. 1556, and though very young,

soon commenced to consolidate his power. But in all parts of India

there were Hindu Bajas who had either themselves wielded independent

power, or whose immediate ancestors had done so. There were also numer¬

ous bands of Mughals and Afghans who, during the unsettled reigns of

Akbar’s predecessors, had penetrated into various distant parts of India in

search of plunder, or with a view to carving out principalities for them¬

selves by the sword. All these classes were only with extreme difficulty

and after repeated chastisements reduced to obedience, and the history of

Akbar’s reign is chiefly occupied, as are those of his son and grandson, with

the accounts of expeditions directed against refractory vassals.

Of the latter kind were the Afghan adventurers who so long

held Orissa. In 1567 Sulayman Shah Ivirani was viceroy of Bengal ;

he was in fact king in all but name. He it was who sent Kala Pahar

into Orissa ; the accounts of the histories differ widely as to the date as

well as the progress of this invasion. From local legends it would appear

that Mukund Deo, after vainly endeavouring to hold the fort of Baibanian,

retreated southwards fighting as he went, and was killed at Jajpur. As

Kala Pahar was an ultra-fanatical Musalman, in the estimation of himself

own. At Srijanga, a village ten miles south of Balasore, I found on the edge of a

large tank called the “ Achyuta Sagar” an upright stone covered with an inscription.

This stone I removed and set up in the compound of my house at Balasore, where it

now is. The inscription, as partly decyphered by myself and several Pandits, yields

the following results : The tank was dug by a Khandait who describes himself as

“ Achyut Baliar Singh son of Daitari Biswal, sole ruler in this region” ; and he says

he erected it when Man Singh, general of Akhar Padshah was in Orissa, in the 4699th

year of the Kali Yug, in the 1520th year of the Saka era, in the 30th year of the

“ Yavan bhog” or Musalman invasion, and in the 37th an/ca or year of the reign of

Bam Chandra Dev, first Sudra king of Orissa. Now both the Yug and the Saka years

agree in corresponding with A. D. 1598. Consequently if 1598 he the 30th year of

Musalman invasion, the first year of that period must be 1568 as Ahul Fazl reckons,

and not 1558 as Stirling, following the Oriya annalists, puts it. The 37th anlca would

he the 28th year of Bam Chandra’s reign, because in reckoning the anlca , the first two

years and every year that has a 6 or a 0 in it are omitted, we must thus omit the

years 1, 2, 6, 10, 16, 20, 26 and 30. This takes us back to 1570 as the year of Bam

Chandra’s accession, which leaves 1569 to represent the period of anarchy when there

was no king, according to the native annalists. This discovery of the Srijanga stone

is thus valuable as elucidating a disputed date in history.

1883.] J. Beames — Notes on the History of Orissa. 235

and his followers any one of them who was slain in battle with the Hindus

was entitled to be considered a martyr. Accordingly we find there must

have been a battle at Garhpada, for there lies buried one of Kala Pahar’s

officers with the title of Shahid or “ martyr.” His name was Hitam Khan,

and a grant of rentfree land of 138 bighas is enjoyed by the Garhpada

Bhuyans on condition of keeping up his shrine. At Bastah lies another,

Shah Husayni Shahid, at Ramchandarpur south of Garhpadda is a third

Muhammad Khan Shahid, and at Remnah a fourth Gulab Shah Shahid,

from whom also the large bazar of Shahji Patna takes its name. We can

thus trace Kala Pahar all through the district by the tombs of his slain

Captains. He left a number of his turbulent followers in Orissa and re¬

turned to Bengal where he was killed in battle. A great number of these

lawless adventurers settled at Kasba, a suburb of Balasore, and at Bha-

drakli and Dhamnagar, where their descendants are still to be found.

In 1574 Daud Khan, the king of Bengal, being driven out of that

province by the forces of the Emperor Akbar under Munim Khan, fled to

Orissa and remained hovering backwards and forwards between Cuttack

and Jellasore for some time. At last Munim Khan with a large force,

accompanied by the celebrated Raja Todar Mai marched down through

Midnapore on him. The armies met on the north bank of the Subanrekha

near the village of Tukaroi and the battle took place on the 3rd March

1575.* Munim Khan was victorious and Baud fled to Bhadrakh. The place

where the battle was fought is well known to the villagers and is still

called Mughalmarx (the Mughal’s slaughter). It runs westward for some

six miles from the present Jellasore dak bungalow towards the river.

Todar Mai pursued Daud to Bhadrakh, but Daud did not wait to be caught.

He fled to Cuttack and got into the fort there and garrisoned it strongly.

The Imperial forces, however, attacked and took it, and Daud then sub¬

mitted to the Emperor. Munim Ivhan returned to Bengal, where he and

many of his officers died of fever said to have been contracted in Orissa,

but more probably due to their own imprudence in taking up their resi¬

dence in the pestilential jungles of Gaur.

After the submission of Daud he was left in possession of central

Orissa as far north as the Baitarani, but the territory now comprised in

the Balasore district was annexed to the Subah of Bengal, f and two Thana-

* See Blochmann, Ain, Yol. I, p. 375.

f In the Am Akbari it is indeed asserted that the whole of Orissa was on this

occasion subjugated and added to the Subah of Bengal. It is described as divided into

Sirkars like other Subahs. Sirkar Jalesar (Jellasore) includes the greater part of the

present district of Midnapore. The other Sirkars are Bhadrak, Katak (Cuttack),

Kalinga Dandpat, and Raj Mahindrah (Rajamundry), but no details are given of the

two last, and it is well known that they were not subject to the Empire. (Ain Akbari

by Blochmann, Persian text, Yol. II, p. 209).

236

J. Beames — Notes on the History of Orissa.

[No. 3,

dars were appointed, one at Jellasore, the other at Bhadrakh. Balasore itself

was not a place of importance in those days. After the death of Munim

Ivhan the reins of authority became relaxed, and Baud came up into Bala¬

sore and marched into Bengal. The Afghans of Orissa were for many

years in a characteristically Afghan state of riot and quarrelling, and

Balasore, lying as it does between Cuttack and the Bengal frontier, was

often the battle-field between the rulers of the two provinces. None of

the battles were, however, very decisive, nor are there any traces of the

battle-fields still remaining, though many villages and market places with

Musalman names in various parts of the district testify to the settlement

of Afghan and Mughal invaders.

In 1582 Ivutlu Ivhan, the Afghan leader, who since Daud’s death

had been the virtual ruler of Orissa, marched through Balasore against the

Subahdar of Bengal, and advanced as far as Burdwan, where in 1583 he

was defeated by Sadik Khan. At that time the sway of the Afghans of

Orissa extended with a few exceptions as far as the Kupnarayan river, but

after this victory they were beaten back, and retreated to Cuttack, leaving

Balasore as far as the Baitarani river for a time unmolested.

Ivutlu Ivhan died in 1590, and his sons being minors sued for

peace and agreed to surrender the temple of Jaganath and the sacred

domain or “ khetra” to the Emperor. The Governor of Bengal at this

time was Kaja Man Singh, who as a Hindu was highly pleased at rescuing

the holy city from the hands of the infidels who had long exercised a cruel

and tyrannous sway over the priests.

Two years later, however, the treacherous Afghans again seized

Jaganath and this roused Man Singh’s wrath, and in a great battle fought

in 1592 on the northern bank of the Subanreklia, probably on the same

site as Munim Khan’s victory at Tukaroi or Mugbalmari, he utterly crush¬

ed the Afghans and took possession once more of Orissa. The rebels were

turned out of Jellasore and fled to Cuttack where they shut themselves up

in the strong fort of Sarang Garh, three miles south of the city. Man Singh

soon after besieged and took Sarang Garh, and received the submission of

the Afghans.

Sultan Khusrau, grandson of Akbar and son of Jahangir was named

Viceroy of Orissa, but he never visited the province, his appointment being

probably merely honorary.

Man Singh having gone to Agra to pay his respects to the Em¬

peror, the Afghans under ’Usman Khan again rose in 1598 and collected a

large force at Bhadrakh, where they defeated the Imperial troops under

Maha Singh, occupied a great portion of western Bengal, and again obtained

possession of Balasore as far as the Subanrekha. Man Singh, however,

again returned and defeated ’Usman at Sherpur ’Atai north of Burdwan.

1S83 ] J. Beames — Notes on the History of northern Orissa. 237

’Usman as usual retired to Cuttack, where he was not pursued. In all

these constant advances and retreats, the Afghans seem always to have

regarded Bhadrakh as their frontier. Jellasore was the frontier of the

Imperialists, and the intermediate country was a debateable ground over

which both parties fought at their pleasure. I mention this fact as con¬

firming what I have said on a previous page, that central and northern

Balasore even down to so late a period as this, contained no towns of impor¬

tance but was scantily peopled and not worth fighting for.

For eleven years ’Usman Khan ruled at Cuttack, but does not

seem to have exercised much sway over Balasore, as he never during that

time came into collision with the Imperial garrison at Jellasore, which he

could not have failed to have done had he ventured so far north. In 1GL1,

however, he appears to have begun aggressions once more, and encamped

on the banks of the Subanrekha again with an army of 20,000 horse and

defied the Emperor’s forces. After a fierce encounter which from the

accounts given by the native historians appears to have taken place among

the marshes near Rajghat on the southern side of the river, ’Usman was

shot in the head and died. His troops fled in disorder and Shujaat Khan,

the leader of the Mughals, entered the province as a conqueror and annexed

it finally to the Empire.

Orissa now enjoyed peace for five years under the able govern¬

ment of Ibrahim Khan, and it is from this epoch that we date the rise of

Balasore as a commercial town. The district produces rice in abundance,

and when the Afghans ceased to desolate it, it rapidly recovered and began

to export. The weavers of Balasore whose cloths were long so celebrated

now begin to be heard of, and it was not many years later than this date

that the English established themselves as traders in the district.

In 1621 Prince Khurram son of the Emperor Jehangir (subse¬

quently Emperor under the title of Shah Jahan) invaded Orissa through

the hills, turned out Ahmad Beg, the governor of the province, and after

appointing Kuli Khan in his place pushed on through Balasore into

Bengal. He does not seem to have stayed long in Orissa, though his

rebellion lasted a long time in Bengal and Behar. Orissa does not appear

to have suffered in any way from the change of governors, nor is there

anything further to be gleaned from the Persian historians save a string

of successive governors. We learn incidentally that the cultivation of the

soil was increasing and was further pi’omoted by the grant of many mili¬

tary jagirs to old soldiers of the Empire. One of these jagirs was established

at Dhamnagar where the descendants of the original grantees still live, and

a populous Musalman colony has sprung up. It was during this period as

will be seen hereafter that the English obtained from the Emperor Shah

Jahan a firman empowering them to open factories at Pipli and Balasore.

238 J. Beames — Notes on the History of northern Orissa. [No. 3,

In the time of Mir Taki Khan, who was Naib of Shujaucldin,

Nawab of Bengal, all that part of the Sirkar of Jellasore lying north of the

Subanrekha was transferred to Bengal, thus making that river the northern

boundary of Orissa. It is much to be wished that this well defined boun¬

dary had been adhered to ever since. Taki Khan ruled Orissa from 1725

to 1731. He was a bigotted Musalman, and in his time the Raja of

Khurda found or affected to find it necessary to carry off the idol of

Jaganath to the hills beyond the Chilka. All pilgrimage was in conse¬

quence put a stop to, and the revenues of the province greatly injured.

Taki Khan lies buried in the Kadam Rasul at Cuttack, but the local tradi¬

tions of Balasore represent him as having spent much of his time in that

town. He built the masonry tank, and reservoir and the mosque and

gardens known as the Kadam Rasul in Balasore.* He is also said to have

had a hunting palace at Remna five miles from Balasore under the Nilgiri

Hills, a place still abounding with game, and whose name (Sanskrit Rama-

na=a place of sport, or hunting-ground) supports the legend. There are

still at Remna extensive ruins of Muhammadan tombs and buildings. Taki

Khan is well remembered in Balasore, and his character for piety stands

high. A curious legend is current that the Vaishnava, Nandha Gosain,

whose temple is in Malikaspur a suburb of the town, was in the habit of

making a great noise with drums and cymbals while celebrating his kir-

tans or religious ceremonies. The Nawab’s devotions being disturbed by

this noise, he ordered it to be stopped. That evening when the naubat, or

beating of drums at sunset was about to take place, none of the drums

would sound, and this state of things continued till the Nawab withdrew

his prohibition from Nandha Gosain, when the drums again sounded as

usual.

In 1734 Murshid Kuli Khan was appointed governor of Orissa,

and with him came as his Dewan the infamous Mir Habib who afterwards

betrayed the province to the Marathas. The first thing Murshid did was

to induce the Brahmans to bring back to Puri the idol of Jagannath which

had been carried off for safety to the hills across the Chilka. By this step

the revenues of the province were at once immensely increased, as the

stream of pilgrims, which had for some time ceased owing to the disappear¬

ance of the object of their worship, now set in again, and the tax on them

is said to have risen from a nominal sum to nine lakhs per annum. In

1740 Ali Verdi Khan became Governor of Bengal and made himself

virtually independant of the Emperor, whose power had been much shaken

* Probably so named in imitation of that in Cuttack, which derives its name

“footstep of the Prophet” from being supposed to contain some relics of Muhammad

brought from Mecca.

239

1883.] J. Beames — Notes on the History of northern Orissa.

by the invasion of Nadir Shah and the sack of Delhi. The Governor of

Orissa refused to obey Ali Yerdi, and the latter marched against him. The

two armies met at Balasore and the native account is so precise that I am

able to identify the exact spot where the battle took place. It is about a

mile north of the Civil Station where a long ridge of high land, then

clothed with woods, slopes down into the marshes between the Nuniajori

and the Burhabalang rivers near the villages of Haripur and Dohopara.*

The river surrounds this land on three sides, and in so strong a position

Murshid might long have defied his adversary, who being cut off from the

town could get no provisions and was in much distress. Murshid’s son-in-

law, however, rashly moved out to attack the Nawab, and the result was a

complete victory for the latter. Murshid and his party got on board a

ship at Balasore and fled by sea to Masulipatam. The Raja of Rattanpur

with much promptness carried off Murshid’s women and children from

Cuttack: and delivered them to him in the south before Ali Yerdi could

come up.

Sayid Ahmad, the Nawab’s nephew, was made Governor, and ren¬

dered himself very unpopular by his tyranny. At last the people of Cut¬

tack rose against him and recalled Murshid Kuli. He would not come

himself, but sent his son-in-law Bakir Khan, who was, however, conquered

again on the banks of the Mahanadi in 1741 by Ali Verdi, who appointed

Masum Khan Governor of Orissa. He thinking all danger now at an end,

disbanded his troops who mostly returned to their own homes, and content¬

ed himself with an escort of five thousand horse and some infantry re¬

cruited in the province. In this defenceless state was Orissa, when a great

calamity occurred which entirely changed the whole current of its history,

and introduced the darkest and bitterest period of suffering that the

harrassed and wasted province has ever known.

fin the month of February 1743 (Phalgun 1150) the MarathasJ

from Berar entered the province of Orissa. After the defeat of Murshid

Kuli Khan by Ali Verdi Khan at Balasore in 1740, the traitor Mir Habib-

ullali, dewan of the former, had secretly invited the Marathas to attack

* To the traveller approaching Balasore from the north through the centre of

Murshid’s position along the Calcutta Trunk ltoad the suitability of this particular

spot for a camp of defence is very strikingly apparent. Balasore town and station

lie along this high ridge with the swampy Nuniajori winding at its foot and the river

just beyond.

t The historical details here given are derived principally from Grant Duff's

History of the Mahrattas ; the minor and local details from native tradition and the

records of the Balasore office.

X I write this word as the natives themselves do Marathd, the common

spelling Mahratta is incorrect.

240 J. Beames — Notes on the History of northern Orissa. [Aro. 3,

Orissa. At this time Raghoji Blionsla was ruler of Berar holding his court

at Nagpur. Habib’s negociations were made in the first instance with

Bhaskar Pandit or Pant (as the Marathas corrupt the word) Dewan of

Raghoji. With his master’s permission Bhaskar Pant made an attack

upon Behar in the first instance with twelve thousand horse and got as far

as Pachet, before Ali Verdi could get up from Orissa to oppose him. A

battle was fought at Katwa in which the Marathas were victorious, and

Mir Habib having been (probably on purpose) taken prisoner, at once

installed himself as Bhaskar’s adviser, and enabled him to take possession

of the town of Hugli, and subsequently to overrun the country as far as

Midnapore. Ali Verdi, however, was not discouraged, he again attacked

the Marathas and drove them through Midnapore, skirmishing as they

retreated as far as Balasore. Here they made a stand, and a battle took

place on the high land now occupied by the Civil station of Balasore, a

little to the south of the camp of Murshid Kuli mentioned in a preceding

paragraph. The result of the battle was unfavourable to the Marathas,

for they retreated on Cuttack, taking the opportunity, however, of plunder¬

ing everything they could lay hands on as they went. From Cuttack

they retreated through the hills to Berar.

Immediately on their return to Nagpore, Raghoji Bhonsla him¬

self resolved to make an attack on Bengal and marched at once. He

arrived at a place between Katwa and Bardwan, but the Maratha Peshwa

Balaji Rao having been incited by the Emperor of Delhi to restrain his

turbulent feudatory, had marched through Allahabad, Patna and Bhagal-

pur, effected a junction with Ali Verdi Khan at Mursbidabad and bore

down on Raghoji. The latter having no mind to come to open blows

with the Minister of his nominal sovereign, retreated but was overtaken

and defeated, after which with the remnant of his forces he marched

again through Balasore, plundering and destroying as he went, back to

Berar.

Into the confused history of Maratha politics in those days it is

not necessary to enter. Suffice it to say that Raghoji Bhonsla was, next

to the Peshwa, the most powerful Maratha noble of the time, and shortly

after his return to his capital he marched on Sattara, and extorted from

the puppet Raja a deed by which, while the rest of the countries under

Maratha rule, or rather misrule, were retained by the Peshwa, to Raghoji

himself were assigned the revenues of Oudh, Behar, Bengal and Orissa.

The Raja was possibly giving away a good deal more than he possessed,

but that did not much matter, Raghoji’s horsemen, with their long spears,

might be trusted to settle the rest.

In the cold weather of 1744 Raghoji sent an army of 20,000

horse into Orissa apparently by way of Sambhalpur. Ali Verdi met them in

211

1883.] J. Bearnes — Notes on the History of northern Orissa.

Midnapore and being unable to cope with them in the field proposed

negociations. He invited to an entertainment Bhaskar Pant, Ali Karawal

and the principal officers, and there murdered them. The army retreated

in confusion through Balasore and were much harassed by the peasantry

who maintained a guerrilla warfare and cut off all stragglers without

mercy.*

In 1745 Raghoji took his revenge. Marching down upon Cuttack

in November, he overran the country probably as far as the Subanrekha,

and refused to leave unless he was paid three krores of rupees. He then

advanced to Katwa, but the indomitable Ali Verdi met him there and de¬

feated him, on which he returned to Berar without his money, but

plundering as usual on the way.

Raghoji was now, fortunately for Balasore and Orissa, engaged

in wars and intrigues on his own side of the country for some time. In

the immediately succeeding years he appears to have left Orissa pretty

much to itself, though stray bands of Marathas made their appearance

from time to time in 1748 and 1749 ; but in 1750 Janoji Bhonsla, son of

old Raghoji, was sent into Orissa with Mir Habib and the two commenced

their old system of plunder and extortion. In 1750 Ali Verdi lost all

hope of resisting the marauders and gave up to them the whole province

south of the Subanrekha as well as the Pargana of Pattaspur north of

that river. The Marathas were to hold the province as security for the

cliauth or tribute always claimed by them from conquered provinces.

Stirling speaks of a second invasion which occurred in 1753, but

this seems doubtful. At any rate it could not have been led by Janoji,

for Raghoji died in that year, and Janoji was busy in securing his

succession to the hereditary office of Sena Sahib or Oommander-in-Chief

and was at Puna for that purpose during the greater part of the year.

In the year 1751, during Janoji’s occupation of Orissa, the traitor

Habib met his deserts. Janoji charged him with embezzlement and

made him prisoner in his camp at Garhpada, a large and important village

on the borders of Moharbhanj, 15 miles north of Balasore, and still the

seat of a respectable family of zemindars. Habib was indignant at being

confined, and with a few followers tried to escape, and the guards placed

over him hacked him to pieces. The place, where his camp was pitched,

is still known as Habibganj. It is a small bazar and village in Pargana

Garhpada.

There is nothing further at this period specially relating to

Balasore. In 1755 the whole province was finally and conclusively made

* One is glad to see the Oriya peasantry showing some little spirit on this occa¬

sion. It would have been better for them had they done so oftener.

242 J. Beames — Notes on the History of northern Orissa. [No. 3,

over to the Marathas at the request of the zemindars of Midnapore and

Burdwan in exchange for 4 lakhs of the “ chauth”, the remainder to be

paid from Bengal. Janoji’s attention was engrossed by more exciting

events in his own country, and he contented himself with getting as much

money as he could out of the province and leaving it to be governed by

his officers as they chose. The northern limit of Orissa was at this time

not as is generally stated at the Subanrekha, but included Pataspur and

Bhograi.

The oppression of the Marathas has often been written about. To

this day the peasant’s name for anarchy and oppression is “ Maratha

Amal.” Janoji Bhonsla died in 1773, and was succeeded by his brother

Sabaji, who ruled till 1775, when he was slain in battle by Madhoji his

brother, who succeeded him as regent for his own son Baghoji II who had

been adopted by Janoji and named his successor.

Before continuing the history of Balasore under the Marathas

it will be interesting to collect the scattered notices of their presence in

Orissa as it affected the then growing power of the English. Our

countrymen as will be stated more in detail in the next section, had for

more than a century been in possession of factories and trading-posts in

Orissa.* The chief of these were at Balasore and Pipli on the Su¬

banrekha of which more hereafter. The first entry in the Government

records is dated 25th February 1748, and records the alarm caused by the

Marathas, then encamped at Katwa in Burdwan and threatening Mur-

shidabad. On the same date Mr. Ivelsall, Resident at Balasore, suggests

the sending of the post by mounted postmen as faster than runners.

The Marathas were in great force in the Santhal Pergunnahs and all over

lower Bengal, and took a fort on the site of the present Botanical Gardens.

The Nawab sends a hint to the English to the effect that they should

drive away these marauders who had plundered the Company’s fleet of

boats laden with silk from Casimbazar.

In August of the same year, Mr. Kelsall again writes from Balasore

that the “ Morattoes Horse” had attacked the factory of Balramgarhi

at the mouth of the Balasore river, but had been repulsed by the Nawab

who had pursued them into Cuttack.

In May 1749 the Nawab was at Cuttack, the Marathas had fled,

but were expected to return the next year, which, as we have seen, they did

under Janoji. There were still, however, parties of them hanging about

Diamond Harbour and the lower reaches of the river. They seem to have

given the English a wide berth, though the timid Bengalis could make no

* Selections from the records of the Government of India, by Rev. J. Long

1748 to 1767.

243

1883.] J. Beanies — Notes on the History of northern Orissa.

stand against them. The Marathas were not blood-thirsty, their object

was plunder, but of that they were insatiable. Too contemptuous of the

Oriyas to take any great precautions, they seem to have wandered about

in small bands stripping the country bare as they went.

In 1750 with Janoji’s return matters grew worse and we find Mr.

Kelsall reporting that, owing to the disturbances in the country, he

could not “ purchase any ready money goods, as the weavers or greater

part of them have been obliged to abscond.”

Stirling would appear to be correct as to an invasion in 1753,

(though I do not think Janoji himself could have been with it), for the

Resident at Balasore writes from Balramgarhi on 1st February of that year

in a very desponding tone — “ Weavers at Balasore complain of the great

scarcity of rice and provisions of all kinds occasioned by the devastation

of the Mahrattas, who, GOO in number, after plundering Balasore had gone

to the Nellegreen (Nilgiri?) hills; several weavers have brought their

looms into the factory, and the few who remain declare they shall be

obliged to quit the place. Desires he will send him 1500 or 2000 maunds

of rice on the Honorable Company’s account.”

The residency at Cuttack does not seem to have been established

till 1757, nearly a hundred years later than Balasore ; for there is a letter

dated 24th July of that year from Mr. John Bristow urging that he be

allowed to hoist the Company’s flag there. Again in 1759 Mr. Gray is

directed to stay at Cuttack as long as he can with safety to himself, to

keep the Government informed of the proceedings of the “ Morattoes.”

Even so late as 1760 the English do not seem to have contem¬

plated that the Marathas would permanently retain Orissa, though one

would have thought that they must have heard of the treaty in 1755, in

spite of which “ Mr. John Burdett at Balasore requests to be allowed to

keep the spies allowed for that Factory, while the Marathas remain in the

country, otherwise it will he impossible for him to acquaint us with their

motions.” (March 27.)

It appears in fact that the Marathas were bad neighbours, and not

careful to confine themselves within their treaty boundaries. Long

after 1755 the Burdwan Raja collected and kept up troops from fear of

them and “ Gawsib Singh the Jellasore zamadar, a man of great valour”

was sent into Midnapore to protect the ryots. Pattaspore being in the

hands of the Marathas, Jellasore mnst have been a very exposed position,

a long narrow strip in fact of the Nawab’s territory stretching far down

into the country held by the Marathas, and consequently exposed to in¬

roads from them. The collection of troops by the Bard wan Raja was

probably simply a feint and was seen through, and he was ordered to dis¬

band them. Sheo Bhat Santra was the first Maratha Subadar of Orissa,

244 J. Beames — Notes on the History of northern Orissa. [No. 3,

and he it is who is alluded to in the Proceedings of 25th February 1760

as “ Shubuts having entered this Province with a party of Marathas and

commenced hostilities against us.” The people of Balasore have no dis¬

tinctly historical facts to relate of this period ; all they know is, that bands

of “ Bargis,” as the Maratba horse were called, were always wandering

about the country, fighting and plundering under pretext of collecting

revenue. The zamindars and khandaits were turbulent and refractory,

and it is astonishing how little influence the Marathas seem to have had

over them.

In 1761 we hear of the troops of “ Shah Bhut” coalescing with

the Rajas of Birbhum and Bardwan, and subsequently returning to

Balasore by way of Midnapore. It appears from Proceedings of Septem¬

ber 17, 1761 that Sheo Bhat considered himself entitled to take posses¬

sion of Midnapore, and to ravage Bengal whenever he did not get his

chauth, and the English therefore resolve on that date to “ set on foot

an expedition against Cuttack,” the Nawab to pay the cost by an assign¬

ment on the revenues of Jellasore and Cuttack. The omission of all men¬

tion of Balasore shews that it had still no importance in the Revenue De¬

partment. The old division into the Sirkars of Jellasore, Bhadrakh, and

Cuttack was evidently still in force. Sheo Bhat had at this time forcibly

annexed the chauth of Midnapore to that of Cuttack and was deaf to the

Nawab’s remonstrances. Mr. Johnstone the Company’s Resident at Mid¬

napore was beseiged in “ Midnapore house” 14 days by Sheo Bhat at

the head of a large force, and made a gallant defence. This roused the

Calcutta Committee and they suggested to the Nawab that the war

should be carried into the enemies’ country by an expedition to Cuttack,

which would have the effect of securing to him “ the total ancient

possessions of the Soobahs of Bengal” and be “ a considerable addition to

his revenues and a firm barrier against future incursions of the Marathas.”

They wrote at the same time to the Bombay Committee urging them to

make a simultaneous attack on the Marathas from their side.

Nothing, however, came of this, owing to the Nawab’s unwilling¬

ness to act. In 1763 there is a letter from the Governor at Balasore to

one “ Moonshee Gholam Mustapha” directing him to warn Sheo Bhat

that in case of his continuing to oppress the ryots “ the army that is just

arrived from Madras ” would be sent against him, and the town of

Cuttack taken from him. In 1764 Sheo Bhat was turned out, and

Bhawani Pandit appointed in his place. On the 5th October the latter

writes a threatening letter stating that the former Nawab’s negociations

concerning the chauth were never brought to an issue without the ap¬

proach of an army. Unfortunately the extracts in Mr. Long’s book are ar¬

ranged chronologically, so that we never get the full thread of any one series

1883.] J. Beanies — Notes on the History of Orissa. 245

of transactions. I cannot say therefore what was the result of this letter,

but as the English on their part had their hands full at this time with

their quarrel with the Nawab, their inaction is perhaps sufficiently ac¬

counted for.

There is, however, great dearth of information about the internal

affairs of Balasore at this time. On 4th December comes another letter

from Bhawani Pandit stating that two years before the zamindars of

Moharbhanj and Nilgiri had plundered the inhabitants of some parts of

Balasore and entered into a confederacy with Bhaskar Pandit, faujdar of

that place, whom they had carried off into Nilgiri and kept there, so that

no revenue had been received from him for two years. This is hardly to

be reconciled with the fact that two years earlier Sheo Bhat and his

cavalry had been ravaging Midnapore and Jellasore. The gleanings

remaining after Sheo Bhat, for the Nilgiri zamindar to pick up, must have

been scant enough. One wonders after so many years of plundering what

there could have been left for any one to take. Bhawani writes again on

the 27th to say, he had come to the neighbourhood of Jellasore with his

troops, but as the Maharaja (Janoji) had always been desirous to do

“ what is most beneficial for the poor inhabitants of the country” (f !) he

bad ordered his officers not to enter either Jellasore or Midnapore, so as to

avoid any breach with the English. All this while Sheo Bhat was still in

Orissa exciting the zamindars and paiks to resist the new Governor Bhawani

Pandit. The Raja of Kanika whose territories lay partly in Balasore and

partly in Cuttack was notorious for the disturbances he kept up. He and

his paiks were conspicuous then, and as we shall see for forty years after,

for their oppression and general unruliness.

The Court of Directors in 1764 express their great pleasure at

learning that the proposed expedition against the Marathas in Balasore

and Cuttack had been given up as “ conquests are not our aim.” They

little foresaw what an amount of conquests would soon be forced on them

by circumstances !

The Marathas were now, however, on good terms with the Eng¬

lish, and in February 1764 there was a good deal of correspondence.

Three residents were appointed, Mr. Marriott at Balasore, Mr. Hope at

Cuttack, and Mr. Moore at Malood ; their chief business was to keep open

the communication between Calcutta and Madras, and on one occasion

mention is made of sending letters by this route to Bombay, a project

frequently revived in subsequent times. A letter was also written to

“ Bauskir Pandit, Fauzdar of Ballasore” (probably the Bhaskar Pandit

mentioned above) requesting him to assist Mr. Marriott who was to live

at the Company’s Factory ; and another curious letter to “ Chumina Sen,

Chief at Cuttack” requests him to give strict orders to the zamindars to

K K

246 J. Beames — Notes on the History of Orissa. [No. 3,

provide “ oil and mushauls, tom-toms and pike-men &g. according to

custom.” The tom-toms were to be beaten to frighten away tigers which

infested the jungles through which the road passed, a significant hint as to

the desolate state of the country in those days.

At the end of this year, however, we again hear from Midnapore

and Balasore of threatening bodies of Maratha horse on the Balasore

frontier, to check whom it was thought advisable to despatch a small force

under Major Champion to garrison Midnapore. Janoji appears about this

time to have sent a force of 5,000 cavalry to take possession of Midna¬

pore.

We now come to the acquisition by the Company of the Dewany.

The Directors in 1767 agree to pay to the Marathas all arrears of

chauth on condition of the cession of Orissa, and negociations were in

consequence opened with Janoji to this end. A vakil, one Udaipuri Gosain,

was appointed by Janoji to treat with the Bengal Council, and the amount

was fixed at 13 lakhs of rupees. The vakil, however, pretended that he had

no authority to deliver up the province to the English, and there the

matter seems to have rested for the time being.

From this point there is little more to record of general history.

The internal history of Balasore for the next thirty-four years is also

nearly a blank. The Maratha Governors were as follows as far as can be

ascertained :

Of the local Faujdars in the Balasore district tradition has pre¬

served some scattered reminiscences. Bhaskar Pandit was Faujdar about

1760, and is mentioned as we have seen in the English records. The story

of his having been carried off into Nilgiri by the Baja has been noticed

above. From him is probably named the village of Bhaskarganj opposite

to the Mission premises at Balasore.

1S83.] J. Beames — Notes on the History of Orissa. 247

Lala Kishor Rai is also mentioned as Faujdar, but his date is not

certain. He is said to have founded the Lala Bazar near Barabati in the

town ; and to have built a Baradari or twelve-doored palace near that

place.

After h im came Raghunath Sarang whose name is connected -with the

village of Raghunathpur, eighteen miles east of Cuttack ; he was suc¬

ceeded by Motiram whose administration lasted for a long time, some say,

for fifteen years, but this is improbable as the Marathas were constantly

changing their officials, and few, even of the higher grades, held office for

more than four or five years. In his time an expedition was sent against

Bairagi Bhanj, Raja of Moharbhanj who had withheld his peshkash. This

expedition returned victorious and brought with it, besides the captive

Raja, two idols of Hanuman and Lachminarayan which are still wor¬

shipped in temples in the town.

The last Maratha Faujdar of Balasore was Mayura Pandit, com¬

monly called Moro Pant who lived on the site where the Jagannath

temple in Balasore now stands. He appears to have been a rapacious

tyrant, and there are several allusions to him in Captain Morgan’s early

letters. When defeated by the English, he retired to Cuttack plundering

the ryots as he went, and in the following year we find the revenue

authorities allowing remissions on account of rents forcibly collected in

advance on his retreat by Moro Pant. Oddly enough he is stated in the

correspondence to be still residing in Cuttack, and it is suggested that he

be brought to account for his spoliations, but the wise policy of passing

a sponge over all transactions of the former Government, which prevailed

at that time probably saved him, as we do not read of his being questioned.

To close the account of the Maratha period, I here bring together

various facts or traditions which I have collected from natives of the

district. The town of Balasore in those days consisted principally of the

bazars which had grown up round the English and Dutch settlements,

and of the suburbs lying along the river, then as now, chiefly inhabited

by Muhammadans, as Ivasba, Muhamadpur, Nurpur &c. Motiganj, now the

centre of the town, and the principal market-place was founded by

Motiram, probably about 1785 — 1790. The rest is described as a plain

covered with jungle and scrub. The road to Jagannath ran through the

town past the Gargaria tank to Phulwar Ghat and must have been from

the nature of the country almost impassable for six months of the year.

Rents were paid chiefly in cowries, and all collections were remit¬

ted to Cuttack once in three months, including the peshkash from

Morbhanj and Nilgiri. The peshkash of Amboh, Keonjhar, Sokinda,

Chidra and other mehals near the Baitarani appears to have been paid

through the Faujdar of Bhadrakh. Old men still remember to have heard

248 J. Beames — Notes on the History of Orissa. [No. 3,

their fathers tell of the terrible punishments inflicted by the Maratha

rulers. All cases were tried verbally, no record of any kind being kept,

and culprits were sentenced to be tied to the heels of a horse which was

then flogged through the streets. Others were bound, smeared with

sugar and exposed to the ants and other insects. Others again had their

fingers tied together and wedges of iron inserted between- them.

The trade of the port was even then considerable. Madras ships

came for rice and paddy, and the Laccadive and Maidive islanders then as

now visited the port. It was from these latter that the cowries, so

much used as currency, were obtained.

A seer of rice was sold for 15 gandas or about 70 seers to the

rupee. (It was G5 seers in 1805, and now in favourable seasons sells

at 30 or 32.) Opium cost a pan of cowries per masha, salt 14 karas per

seer. The advantages of low prices were, however, much counterbalanced

by the capricious exactions of the rulers. Although they seem to have

had the sense not to drive away the trade by oppressing foreigners, yet

upon the natives of the province itself they had no mercy. It was

dangerous to be rich, or at least to display any amount of wealth, lest the

attention of the Marathas should be called to the fact, and plunder and

extortion follow as a matter of course. It is not surprising therefore that

when the English appeared on the scene, the Marathas were left to fight

their own battles, quite unsupported by the people. Indeed, they seem to

have been so conscious of their unpopularity as never to have attempted to

enlist the sympathies of the Oriyas on their behalf. Had they done so,

the turbulent Rajas of the hills and the sea-coast might have given us a

great deal of trouble and enabled the Marathas to hold out for some

time.

The English Period. The English as traders.

To Balasore belongs the honour of containing the first settlement

made by our countrymen in any part of the Bengal Presidency. By a

firman, dated February 2nd, 1634 the Emperor Shah Jahan granted them

permission to establish a factory at Pipli on the Subanrekha.* They were

prohibited from settling on the Ganges or any of its branches, in conse¬

quence of the disturbances caused by the Portuguese in the Sundarbans

and other places shortly before. In 1640 through the intervention of Mi\

Boughton, a Surgeon who had obtained great influence over several mem¬

bers of the Boyal Family by curing them of various diseases, the English

obtained permission to establish factories at Balasore and Hughli. In

consequence of this permission they applied to the Nawab who granted

them 12 batis (a bati is 20 bighas) of land near the village of Balasore

which was then rising into some importance as a port. The settlement

* Stewart’s History of Bengal, page 244.

J. Beames — Notes on the History of Orissa.

249

1883.]

was called Barabati (i. e. twelve batis) from its extent, and is at present

the principal quarter of the modern town of Balasore, and the residence

of the wealthiest merchants.

It is not exactly known when the Dutch first came to Orissa,

their settlement at Balasore, however, is less advantageously situated than

that of the English. The latter commands the river and a convenient

careening creek, and has also better means of access to the native town,

while the Dutch Settlement, still called “ Hollandais Sahi”, is behind that

of the English and cut off from the river and the town by Barabati. I

conclude therefore that the English came here first, as if the Dutch had

been first in the field, it is not likely that they -would have taken the worse

site of the two. We do not find any mention of them before 1664 when

they had a dispute with the English about their mutual boundaries, which

was settled by the Nawab Shaista Khan. The boundaries are, however, very

vague and refer to certain trees, roads and ditches which are of course not

now in existence. The present boundary is very irregular and overlaps the

land of Barobati in several places.

From the Cuttack records it appears that they acquired a plot of land

at Balasore from the Nawab Mataqid Khan ; this officer was naib for Shah

Shuja son of the Emperor Shah Jahan and was appointed in A. H. 1055=

A. D 1645 (Padshahnamah, II, 473.) This would make them at least 5

years 'later than the English, even if we suppose them to have got the

grant in the very beginning of Mataqid’s tenure of office.*

The Danish Settlement, now called “ Danemar Dinga” is worse

situated than the Dutch, being further up the creek and further from the

town, and it is stated by Stewart that they and the French did not arrive

in Balasore till 1676. There is a Dutch tomb still standing in the com-

pound of the old factory, on which is the following inscription :

“ Michael Jans Burggraaf van Sevenhuisen obiit [ ] Novemb. 1696.”

The day of the month has unfortunately been broken off in the cyclone of

July 1871 by a tree falling against it. Stirling is in error in saying (Orissa,

page 30) that this tomb is dated 1660. It is a huge triangular obelisk of

brick plastered, about 50 feet high, and the inscription is so high up that a

mistake might easily be made in copying it from the ground. To make

sure I climbed a mango tree standing close in front and copied it from a

distance of a few inches only. The oldest tomb in the English cemetery

at Barabati is dated 1684 and the inscription runs thus —

C coat J

16 \ of >84

* It’ is probably from this governor that the Parganahs of Matkatabad and

Matkatnagar take their names.

250 J. Beames — Notes on the History of Orissa. [No. 3,

Here lyeth the body of Ann late wife of Captain Francis Wishaw

who died ye pm°- 9 her aged 26 years.

Also the body of Edward his son who deceased the 27th of the same

month aged 4 years Anno Dni. 1684.

There were minor settlements at Soroh and Bhadrakh, and the chief arti¬

cle of trade was that in “ Sanahs” a peculiar kind of fine cloth which is

still occasionally brought for sale to Balasore. This will explain the fre¬

quent allusions to the weavers in the early records.

Balramgarhi is situated at the mouth of the Balasore river, and

was formerly a large and flourishing place. The native village was

washed away in the storm of 1831 and since then the place has been

desolate. The old house, however, has lately been repaired and is

inhabited.

We have only scattered notices of Balasore from time to time in the

various histories. These I proceed to put together into as continuous a

narrative as possible, aided by the few vague local traditions which still

remain.

In 16S5 Balasore was near being abandoned by the English alto¬

gether. Shaista Khan the Nawab of Bengal was accused by them, of

oppressing their servants and injuring their trade. Apparently the

English were not free from blame themselves. However, as usual they

carried matters with a high hand, and the Company at borne with per¬

mission of James II sent out a fleet of 10 ships under Admiral Nicholson

with orders to proceed first to Balasore, and remove the Company’s ser¬

vants and break up the factory. He was then to go to Chittagong,

fortify it and make it a base of operations and asylum for the English,

from which to commence the war, by first attacking Dacca and gradually

over-running Bengal.* Nicholson’s fleet, however, met with bad weather

and eventually arrived at Hughli, and a war ensued which was not brought

to a close till 1687 ; a peace was made in that year but did not last many

months. The Company annoyed at the failure of Nicholson’s expedition,

sent a second under Captain Heath, whose first proceeding was to carry off

Mr. Charnock and the Company’s servants from “ Chuttanutty” (now

Calcutta) and taking them on board his ships sail for Balasore. The

Governor of that place, whose name is not mentioned, offered to treat

with him, but as Heath would not consent to do so, the Governor seized

the Company’s two factors and imprisoned them. “ Heath landed with a

party of soldiers and seamen on the 29th November 1688 attacked and

took a redoubt of 30 guns and plundered the town of Balasore. ”f The

* Stewart, p. 312.

f Stewart, p. 321.

1883.]

J. Beames — Notes on the History of Orissa.

251

fort could only have been at Muhamadnagar near the present Customs

Wharf, as there is no other place near the town where a fort could have

been of any use. At that place there are still some curious mounds and

ridges which closely resemble fortifications, and the position is one which

would command the approach to the town by water as well as the shipping

in the port. The two unfortunate factors were sent into the interior

and never heard of again. After this senseless and purposeless outrage,

Captain Heath sailed away to Chittagong, and the native governor very

naturally demolished the Company’s factory.

Balasore now remained unoccupied by the English till 1691, when

a firman was granted by Aurangzeb for the re-establishment of the

factories in Bengal. Mrs. Wishaw’s tombstone mentioned above has a

great hole in it, which looks as if it had been torn up from its original

position and probably thrown away, till restored on the re-occupation of

the factory by our countrymen. It is the only tombstone of so early a

date. The nest is to the memory of Mrs. Kelsall, wife of the factor

already mentioned, and is dated 1751. Calcutta was not founded till 1690

and it is curious that we hear nothing of Pipli in all these events. It

would seem that Balasore had become the more important place of the

t.wo.

Nothing more is known of the condition or circumstances of Balasore

Factory till 1748. It is said by some writers that on the capture of

Calcutta by Surajuddaulah in 1756 the English fugitives took refuge at

Balramgarhi. I find no mention of this in the Records, and it would on the

contrary appear that Drake and his garrison were on board their ships at

Fulta till the arrival of Clive. In 1763 the French fleet was cruising in

Balasore roads and captured some English ships (Long, p. 295), which caused

a great panic in Calcutta. Two years previous to this, the following curious

and interesting entry is to be found in the Government records (Long, p.

250.) “ From Latful Neheman ( ? Rahman) Thanadar of Balasore, January

1761. Some time ago the merchants were wont to send iron, stone-plates,

rice and other things from hence to Calcutta, and they brought tobacco and

other things from thence to sell here, and therefore the merchants reaped

a profit on both. Two years ago Mr. Burdett came here and Jaggernauth

was his Mutsooddy and brought a sloop for his own use and intercepted

the trade from Balasore to Calcutta. The merchants were so much dis¬

tressed that they relinquished trade, and many of them left the place and

transacted their business at Kunka, where they remain and those that are

here are greatly distressed and are always making complaints. I have re¬

presented it to him but he will not listen to it. He has left the factory

and embarked on board a sloop, and has intercepted the merchant boats

and will not permit them to pass.”

252 J. Beames — Notes on the TIistory of Orissa. [No. 3,

It will be observed that the trade in stone-plates and rice constituted

then as now, the principal export of Balasore.

The only other notice of this period is a petty squabble in 1766 with

the Dutch about a rope walk which was made by the English on land

claimed by the Dutch. The land was given up by the former.

Commencement of English rule.

When the war broke out with the Marathas, as a part of the

general operations, it was resolved to drive them out of Orissa, and while

General Wellesley attacked them from the south, and General Lake from

the north, and were victorious respectively in the celebrated battles of

Assave and Laswaree, the 1st Madras Fusileers, with two native Madras

Regiments all under Lieutenant-Colonel George Harcourt marched from

Ganjam and took the town of Cuttack on the 10th October 1803.

At the same time a detachment of troops, European and native,

about 1000 strong under Captain Morgan, and Lieutenant Broughton

sailed for Balasore. I cannot find where they came from, but it was most

probably from Calcutta, as the native troops belonged to the Bengal army

and a detachment of the same troops was sent under Col. Fergusson* to

Jellasore to protect the Bengal Frontier. They arrived in three ships,

and landed at Jampada near Gabgaoti a village adjoining old Balasore

on the east, and about three miles below the present town. They were in

want of provisions, which were supplied to them by Prahlad Nayak, za-

mindar of old Balasore. They then advanced along the bank of the river,

and owing probably to the difficult nature of the ground, were not opposed

by the Marathas till they got close to Balighat just below Barabati. Here

a band of horsemen bore down on them, and in the skirmish which ensued,

one European soldier was killed. The English then rushed forward and

attacked the Maratha fort, which stood on the the site of the salt gola,

and soon took possession of it. The Marathas appear to have made but a

faint resistance, and quickly disappeared. Immediately after this, a

drum was beaten in all the bazars announcing that the English had taken

possession of the province and would protect all who behaved themselves

peaceably.

Finding the old factory in ruins Captain Morgan took up his

quarters in a new house built by Mr. Wilkinson the last resident and at

once set to work to pacify the district and restore order. The date of the

capture of Balasore is 21st September 1803. f

* They were the 1st batt. 5th Bengal N. I. and 2nd batt. 7th N. I. — (Balasore

Collectorate records 1801).

t (Morgan to Post Master General 26-9-1804 and Grant Duff History of Mara¬

thas.)

1883.]

J. Beames — Notes on the History of Orissa.

253

The news of this success reached Colonel Harcourt before he

arrived at Cuttack. The earliest letter in the records of the Balasore

Collectorate is one from Colonel Harcourt to Captain Morgan congratula¬

ting him. I give it a portion of it.

“ In Camp at Burpoorshuttumpore, 25 miles south of Cuttack, 3rd

October 1803.

“ SlE,

“ I have great satisfaction in acknowledging the receipt of jours of

the 22nd ultimo and am happy to hear of your successes in Balasore.

# # * #

“ I have &c.

“ Gr. Haecottrt,

“ Lieutenant Colonel

“ Coming, in Cuttack

This shews that Morgan had taken Balasore before the British force

had even reached Cuttack.

Captain Morgan, who appears to have been a rough and ready, but

able officer, pushed on a small detachment and occupied Soroh, which for

some reason he miscalls Soorrung, on the 3rd October. The first book of

copies of letters sent is unfortunately not to be found, and the earliest

letter of Captain Morgan’s is dated 12th June 1804, but from a large col¬

lection of letters in Colonel Harcourt’s own hand still in the office, his and

Morgan’s movements may be clearly traced.

Their first efforts were to learn the geography of the Moliarbhanj

and Nilgiri Hills, especially the passes, and to open communications

with the Rajas of those two States. Spies were sent into “ Mohurbundge

and Lilliagerhy” as Harcourt writes them, to keep a watch on the chiefs,

and Passports were to be granted to their vakeels or representatives

should they desire to visit Cuttack.

Soroh was abandoned and the detachment under Lieutenant

Slye marched to Jajpore in November. Morgan was at once entrusted

with Revenue duties, in that month he is instructed to make it known

that “ as it is the intention of the Commissioners for the settlement of the

Province of Cuttack to give a general acquittal of all arrears of Revenue

due to the Sircar, previous to the arrival of the British Troops in the

Province, we mean on the other hand not to attend to any complaints

which the zamindars, kandytes, mokuddums or r3rots may wish to prefer

against their former masters” (Colonel Harcourt to Morgan 3-11-1803.)

The Moliarbhanj Rani was at this time apparently half afraid to come in,

and half disposed to be turbulent. Harcourt writes frequent letters to

him, and enjoins on Morgan the necessity of extremely conciliatory conduct

to him. A certain Mr. Possinan appears to have been up in Moliarbhanj

L L

254

J. Beames — Notes on the History of Orissa.

[No. 3,

meddling, he is warned that if he does not return at once to Balasore

“ immediate steps will be taken against him.” Moharbhanj, however, does

not appear to have quieted down, and two Companies of Infantry one from

Balasore and one from Jellasore were sent to Ilariharpur (spelt Hurispore

and Huriorpoor) “ to promote the peace and tranquillity of the Mohur-

bundge district.” Further instructions are to the effect following :

“ Having cause to believe that the Rani of Mohurbundge and her

adopted son Te-koit* are both desirous of the protection of the British

Government being extended to them you will direct the officer proceeding

to Huriorpore in command of a detachment, to conduct himself towards

the Rannee and Te-koit, or their vakeels with every mark of friendly

attention. He may open any necessary communication with them, but

you will be pleased to enjoin him to avoid committing himself by any pro¬

mises or agreements that may be constructed by them as binding on the

British Authorities in Cuttack.” (Harcourt, 16-11-1803.)

Cuttack now begins to be noticeable as it is at frequent intervals

throughout the early years of British rule as a place in constant want of

supplies and always on the verge of famine. On 1st December 1803 an

urgent call is made for fifteen thousand maunds of rice from Balasore.

Again on the 1st June 1804 Captain Morgan is ordered to warn all pil¬

grims of the great scarcity of rice and cowries at Cuttack, and to endeavour

to induce them to supply themselves with provisions before entering the

province.

On the 1st September 1804 a third call is made on Balasore for 20,000

maunds of rice which were accordingly despatched in boats from Dhamra

and Churaman. A long correspondence follows in the course of which

occurs an important letter of Captain Morgan’s, dated 27th September and

marched “ Private” in which he explains the cause of the continual scarcity

at Cuttack.

He begins by pointing out that twenty miles north of the Mahanadi

there was no scarcity at all, that Balasore had rice in store enough for

three year’s consumption, and it was selling at 65 seers (of 80

tolas) for the rupee : there were immense stocks at Dhamra and Churaman

intended for export to Madras, and consequently he concludes that the

scarcity of rice at Cuttack is not natural, but must have been artificially

produced. In examining the causes for this state of things he arrives at

the following conclusions :

1. The large number of Marathas still resident at Cuttack are bitter¬

ly hostile to the English and do their best to stop the import of rice in

* Te-Koit is Tikait one bearing the tika (tilaka) or mark of sovereignty, and is

the usual title of the heir-apparent to a throne.

J. Beames — Notes on the History of Orissa.

256

1883.]

the hope of starving us out. They have ceased to import from Sambhal-

pore as they used to, for the same reason, and having long had relations

with the ryots many of whom still hold their advances for grain unliqui¬

dated they are able to prevent them from bringing in grain to Cuttack.

2. The ryots have hitherto always been accustomed to give up

nothing until they were compelled. The Marathas took what they wanted

by force, and the ryots did not understand our mild method of asking for

and paying for what we wanted, they took it for weakness, and were so

elated at their release from oppression, that they thought themselves quite

independent and would do nothing to oblige any one.

3. The Amils were in league against us, as they had for a long time

taken advantage of their position to hold the lion’s share of the profitable

export trade to Madras,' and did not wish to sell in Cuttack.

4. The Commissariat officers were shamefully inert and incompetent,

and notwithstanding all the above drawbacks could, if they would only

exert themselves, collect a much larger supply than they did. Colonel

H arcourt appears to have taken some effective steps to remedy this state

of things, for no further rice was required from Balasore during the rest

of 1804 or in 1805.

Raja Tripati Raj was at this time sent from Cuttack to Balasore

to act as Amil or Collector of the Revenue, and was put under Captain

Morgan’s orders ; and Amils were appointed at Soroh, Bhadrakh and Dol-

gram. who also were directed to send in their accounts to that officer.

They all appear to have been thoroughly untrustworthy ; making use of

every conceivable pretext to avoid doing what was required of them, and

carrying that exasperating policy of passive resistance at which the Oriyas

are such adepts to the highest pitch. The correspondence teems with

complaints against them. They would not collect the revenue punctually,

they never knew anything that they were asked about, they could not be

found when wanted, denied having received this or that order, sent in their

accounts imperfectly drawn up, long after time, and sometimes not at

all, and on the whole behaved as badly as any set of men in their position

well could. This indeed appears to have been the general tone of every

one in the Province. Well aware of our ignorance of the country, they

all with one accord abstained from helping us in any way, no open resis¬

tance was ventured upon, but all stolidly sat aloof — papers were hidden,

information withheld, boats, bullocks and carts sent out of the way, the

zamindars who were ordered to go into Cuttack to settle for their estates

did not go, and on searching for them at their homes could not be found,

were reported as absent, on a journey, no one knew where. But if from

ignorance the English officers committed any mistake, then life suddenly

returned to the dull inert mass, and complaints were loud and incessant.

25G J. Beames — Notes on the History of Orissa. [No. 3,

The Amil of Bhadrakh was one Mohan Lai, the name of the Amil of

Soroh is not given, and during' this year it would seem that Sorok and

Balasore were incorporated into one Amilship under Tripati Raj.

From the circumstance of our not having Captain Morgan’s letters

of this period, I am unable to give more than a fragmentary history of the

transactions that took place. Notices from time to time occur of parties of

Marathas having been seen or heard of here and there, and there is a great

search to find the “ Ongole or Ungool Pass nobody seems to have known

where it was.

Sambhalpur capitulated to Major Broughton on the 12th Janu¬

ary 1804, and all further fear from the Marathas was thus at an end. On

the 9th of the same month came also the news of a peace having been

concluded with the Raja of Berar.

The light thrown upon the events of the following sixty-eight

years by the tolerably complete series of English letters in the Balasore

office will be duly made use of in the succeeding chapters, but I conceive

it unnecessary to do more in this chapter than to record the few events of

importance that have occurred in the period in question. Captain Morgan

remained at Balasore till 19th November 1804 when he made over charge

to Mr. Ker, Collector and Magistrate, Northern Division of Cuttack. Dnr-

ing his tenure of office he had been first simply “ Commanding at Balasore ”

but during 1804 he had gradually grown into Collector, Magistrate, Salt

and Customs Agent and general factotum.

Mr. Ker made the first settlement, which was very summary and

simple. It included all the country now lying within the Jajpore Sub¬

division of Cuttack, and the statements referring to it are, in part at least,

still extant. To the north this settlement did not go beyond Bastah, as

Jellasore was under Midnapore, and the country east of that place came

under a separate arrangement. This tract of country between Jellasore

and the sea was called the “ Mahratta Mehals ” and consisted of the Par-

ganas of Pattaspur, Kamardachaur and Bhograi, together with the smaller

mehals of Shahbandar, Napochaur and Kismat Katsahi.

There is one volume of letters sent and one of letters received

for the year of Mr. Ker’s incumbency 1804-5 but they contain very little

of historical importance. In the early part of the year the Raja of Kani-

ka, always a turbulent and refractory person, made an attack with, it is

said, GOO armed paiks on the outpost of “Rigagurh,” the place where his

principal fort and residence was situated, on the lower Brahmini just above

the point where it unites with the Baitarni, which was held by a native

officer and a few sepoys. Captain McCarthy in command of the Honorable

Company’s brig “ Scourge” who was at the time lying off Dhamrah sent

an express to the Commissioners of Cuttack, who deputed a force of 400

J. Beames — Notes on the History of Orissa.

257

1883.]

paiks to keep order. The Baja and his family were seized and taken to

Balasore where they were suitably lodged in a house prepared for them,

and guarded by barkandazes. Ivanika was brought under the management

of Mr. Ker (Secretary to Commissioners 27-2-05 McCarthy to Commis¬

sioners 3-3-05.)

In this year also the question was raised of the expediency of remov¬

ing the Calcutta Road into British Territory. It previously passed

through the Moharbhanj and Nilgiri States, and the Rajas of those places

under pretence of securing the safety of travellers, were in the habit of

levying heavy and vexatious tolls at certain ghats or passes on the road.

As they demurred about relinquishing this source of revenue, the road was

removed and carried through Rajghat and Bastah to Balasore. The old

road was very soon deserted by travellers as the new route through British

Territory was found to be much safer and cheaper.

Major Morgan was allowed a salary of 500 Rs. a month for the

period he had been in charge of Balasore (Accountant 30-9-05). The Amils

who were in charge of Balasore, Soroh and Bhadrakh appear still to have

been very troublesome ; the correspondence of 1801 and 1805 is full of

complaints of their remissness and refusal to obey orders.

Having completed his settlement Mr. Ker on the 29th August 1805

made over charge of his office to Mr. G. Webb who was appointed Collec¬

tor of all Orissa, or as they persisted in calling it, the zillah of Cuttack.

From this date down to 1815 there was no resident British officer in Bala¬

sore, or in fact anywhere north of the Mahanadi, and as the Collector

lived at Puri in the extreme south of the province, his hold over the zamin-

dars of the north could have been little more than nominal.

It is perhaps to the relaxation of control for many years in Bala¬

sore that we may attribute that special characteristic of the inhabitants of

the district which leads them to carry on their affairs without any reference

whatever to the law or to the officials of the Government. They never

take the trouble to enquire what the law is on any point, but if a question

arises, settle it in any way that may seem best to them. To the same

cause may be ascribed the excessive prevalence of the practice of levying

illegal cesses, the existence of many kinds of singular and pernicious cus¬

toms, and the general muddle of conflicting interests observable in connec¬

tion with landed property.

As the early years of our rule in Orissa were fertile in changes,

and worked a complete revolution in the position of the classes connected

with the land, it would have been interesting to trace the progress of our

laws and rules and their effect upon the province. I am, however, pre¬

cluded from doing this by the fact that from 1806 to 1828 there was no

[The abrupt conclusion of the foregoing article is due to the most unfortunate loss

of the concluding pages of Mr. Beames’ Manuscript while it was passing through the

press. This mischance is the more to be regretted, as the lost MS. was the only copy

in the author’s possession ; which precludes any restoration of the concluding portion.

Fortunately the lost portion was very small ; and the article is practically complete, and

contains everything of interest and value. — Ed.]

258

A. Cunningham — Relics from Ancient Persia.

[No. 3,

Relics from Ancient Persia in Gold, Silver and Copper ly

Major General A. Cunningham, C. S. I., C. I. E.

With one Plate.

[Third Notice.]

Since writing my Second Notice of the very curious and interesting

discoveries of Ancient Persian Belies on the northern bank of the Oxus,

I have obtained three more gold ornaments, and about twenty more coins

in all metals.

The coins consist of a gold Daric and a silver Siglos, of the old

Persian mint ; a tetradrachm and four drachmas of Antiochus Soter ; a gold

stater and three copper coins of Diodotus of two different types ; a tetra¬

drachm, a silver obolus, and a copper coin of Euthydemus ; three tetra-

drachms of Antimachus Theos, with a drachma and a nickel coin of

Agathokles. The silver obolus of Euthydemus is of the standing Hera-

kles type, and is I believe unique. I have again to remark on the continued

absence of any Parthian coins, which, as 1 said before, goes far to prove

that the deposit must have been made before the time of Mithridates I,

(Arsakes YI). The absence of the coins of Eukratides, the contemporary

of Mithridates I, points to the same conclusion ; and I now feel pretty

confident that the deposit must have been made before their time, and not

later than 200 to ISO 13. C.

The principal ornament is a gold cylinder of fine workmanship, much

superior to that of any Persian gems that I have seen. I have given a

photograph of it in the accompanying Plate NX I, marked A, in which it

will be seen at once that the cylinder is certainly of Persian origin, — as

the conventional figure of Ormazd is represented over each of the doomed

prisoners. See Figs. B and C from sculptures at Persepolis.

There are two distinct scenes represented on the cylinder, both

illustrating the same subject, of a Persian soldier or chief putting a

prisoner to death with his own hand.

In the larger scene there are five figures, two being prostrate dead

enemies, on which the other figures stand. The prisoner who is kneeling

on one knee, has been wounded in the right knee by an arrow. He holds

a short sword in his right hand, and a bow in his left hand, and his head

is turned away from the Persian soldier who is piercing him with a spear

from above, while he grasps his right wrist. The third figure holds the

prisoner’s left shoulder with his left hand, while he raises his right hand

towards the symbol of Ormazd. The Persian soldier is dressed in the

same costume as is seen in the sculptures of Persepolis. He wears a long

259

1883.] A. Cunningham — Relics from Ancient Persia in Gold.

robe, and has his bow and quiver attached to his left shoulder behind.

From the quiver depend three cords, each finished with a tassel at the end,

exactly the same as is seen in the figure of the Persian soldiers at Perse-

polis. See Fig. E of the Plate from a sculpture.

The smaller scene represents the same subject, but there is only one

prostrate enemy, and the Persian soldier who is putting the prisoner to

death has no assistant. In this scene the prisoner does not kneel but

simply bends forward, while the spear is being thrust into him from above.

Here also the symbol of Ormazd is placed over the doomed man. For

comparison I have given in the Plate two of these symbols of Ormazd

from sculptures at Persepolis.

I have also given a copy of a stone cylinder as an illustration of the

art of seal engraving in Persia. See Fig. D. of Plate XXI. The subject

is similar to that of the gold cylinder ; but the style of workmanship is

very much inferior. My chief object, however, in giving it a place in the

Plate is to draw attention to the two enemies on the right, who are known

to be Scythians from their trowsers and peaked head dresses. One of them

has already been captured by the Persian soldier who, while he holds him

by the peak of his cap with the left hand, is stabbing him with his right

hand. Herodotus, YII — 64, describes the Sacse or Scythians in the army of

Xerxes as wearing trowsers and tall stiff caps rising to a point. Over the

captive there is a symbol of Ormazd exactly the same as is seen on the o'old

cylinder.

Now just as these two figures are known to be Scythians by their

dress, so the two captives as well as the three slain figures on the gold

cylinder may be recognized as Indians by their dress. This dress I take

to be the well-known Indian dhoti, which is gathered round the waist, and

covers the thighs down to the knees. The legs are covered with buskins,

such as are still worn by the people of North-Western India and the

Panjab as well as by the bordering Afghans. As it was with these peoples

that the Persians came into contact, the Indians would of course be

represented as dressed in dhotis and buskins.

If this identification of the dress be correct, then the gold cylinder

must be as old as the time of Darius Hystaspes, who was the only Persian

king who had been engaged in war with the Indians.

The cylinder is 13 inch in height, and 0*54 inch in diameter. It is

very thick and heavy, its weight being 1,520 grains, and its intrinsic value

175 Rupees. It is given full size in the Plate.

The second gold object is a circular disc four inches and three quarters

in diameter, 1,500 grains in weight, and 175 Rupees in intrinsic value.

See Fig. F, of Plate XXI. It has a border one quarter inch in diameter,

ornamented with the conventional Greek representation of water. In the

2G0 A. Cunnningham — Belies from Ancient Persia in Gold. [No. 3,

middle in very hold relief is represented a man riding a Sea Lion, or Lion

with a Fish’s tail. The photograph is only one half of the original size.

On Greek and Phoenician coins the Hippocamps or Sea-Horses, are

usually represented with wings,* unless when attached to the Car of

Poseidon. But I can find no examples of Sea Lions. These animals,

however, are found in the old Indian sculptures of the Asolta Buddhist

Railing at Mahabodhi, or Buddha Gaya.f There are no holes or loops of

any kind on the back to suggest what may have been the possible use of

this large plaque. The other plaque with the representation of a hunting

scene (already published with my second notice, p. 64) has four holes near

its middle boss, as if for the purpose of fastening it by nails to some plain

back ground. The Sea-Lion plaque might perhaps have formed the breast

ornament of a king’s or noble’s dress, such as is seen on an Assyrian royal

robe in the sculptures of Nimrud. [See Rawlinson’s Ancient Monarchies,

Vol. I, p. 399.] But there are no holes round the edge by which it could

have been sewn on.

The third gold ornament is an Antelope represented in the act of

leaping, with its forelegs doubled up, and its hind legs outstretched. See

Fig. G of Plate XXI. It weighs 3,020 grains, and its intrinsic value is

about 350 Rupees. The photograph is only one half of the original size.

The hind legs rest upon an upright flat tablet, one inch and a half in height

and one inch broad, with a highly ornamented border on each face. There

is an oblong hole under the stomach, half an inch by one quarter, which

looks as if it had been intended for the insertion of some slight staff or

handle. In this case it might have been carried in the hand as the symbol

of some order, just as the Fish (or Main Maratib) is carried at the

present day.

After the above had gone to press, I met a man at Simla who has

several times visited the spot where these Oxus relics were found. The

place is one stage to the North of the Oxus, and is called Kaivadian, a large

ancient town on the high road to Samarkand. The guess that I made in

my first paper on these relics that the find-spot was the old town of

Kobadian of the Arab Geographers turns out to be correct. I have heard

also that the owner of the land has now sold the right of exploration to a

single speculator.

* Due de Luynes, Satrapies, PL XV, figs. 44 — 45 and XV, 46.

t Archaeological Survey of India, Yol. Ill, PI. 29.

1883.] Rajendralala Mitra — On GoniJcaputra and Gonardiya.

261

On GoniJcaputra and Gonardiya as Navies of Patanjali. — By Rajen¬

dralala MlTRA, LL. D., C. I. E.

[Received Oct. 4; Read Nov. 7, 1883.]

In the Preface to my edition of the Yoga Aphorisms of Patanjali I

have quoted, without demur, from Goldstiicker’s learned essay on Panini,

a passage in which Patanjali is described to have been the son of one

Gonika, and the country of his nativity to have been Gonarda. These

facts are indicated by the epithets GoniJcaputra and Gonardiya which

occur in the Mahabhashya, and have been so explained by the distinguished

exegetists Ivaiyata and Nagoji Bhatta. Nor are other authorities wanting

to support this view of the case. Heinachandra, in his well known glossary,

the AbJiidJidna-chintamani, gives Gonardiya as a name of Patanjali.*

Following him Professor Taranatha Tarkavachaspati. in his dictionary, the

Ydchaspatya, makes Gonardiya a synonym of Patanjali. f The identifica¬

tion, however, notwithstanding these authorities, seems to be still open to

discussion, and it is one which is worthy of enquiry.

The only passage cited by Goldstucker from the Mahabhashya in

which GoniJcaputra is named, is the commentary on Panini’s Sutra, I, 4, 61.

The subject under consideration being the use of the accusative case

under certain circumstances, Patanjali, after quoting several karikas,

and discussing all the pros and cons with appropriate examples, asks,

with reference to the last example adduced, “ What should be the correct

form ? ( atJieJia Jcatham bJiavitavyam ) the leader of the horse to Srughna,”

(netasvasya sruyJinamiti) (accusative), “ or the leader of the horse of

Srughna” ( ahosvinnetdscasya srugJmasyeti) (genitive), and then concludes

by saying, “ both according to Gonikaputra” ( ubhayathd goniJcap atrajj)\.

Who this Gonikaputra is, is not pointed out by him, nor by Kaiyata ;

but Nagoji Bhatta explains that he is the same with the great com¬

mentator himself, ( GoniJcdputro bhdsJiyaJcdra ityahii), and Dr. Goldstucker

takes this to be conclusive. Apart from this gloss of Nagoji, no European

scholar, however, reading this passage, can for a moment suppose that the

author is here giving his own opinion. No European author would do so in

such a way, and it is rarely that Indian authors indulge in such egotisms.

There are a few doubtful instances, but, those apart, the practice is quite

* *rra^n?%T i

+ I

' Vj

J Kielhorn’s edition, p. 336. All the quotations from the Mahabhashya, except

when otherwise specified, have been taksn from tho same edition, and the page re¬

ferences refer to it.

M M

262

R&jendral&la Mitra — On Gonilc&puira and Oonardiya. [No. 3,

different. Certain it is that Patanjali has to give his opinion at an average

once in every tenth line in the course of his elaborate exegesis of over 22,000

lines of 32 letters each, and he always does so by the use of participles,

such as jneyam “ it should be known,” kartavyam “ it should be done,”

vaktavyam “ it should be said,” and by other devices, and not by naming

himself in the third person. Sometimes, but not often, he appears under

the £egis of the modern editorial dignity of the first person plural “ we,”

( vayantu brumah, p. 15,) but never under the third person, nor under the

name of Patanjali. The question therefore is not easily solved why he

should have preferred the derivative and not-very-honorific Gonikaputra

to his own personal name. I have not had an opportunity of lately reading

the whole of the Mahabhashya with the special object of finding out how

many times the word Gonikaputra has been used in it ; but in the first

volume of the work as edited by Dr. Kielhorn and comprising about one-

third of the entire text, this is the only instance, and its evidence leans

heavily on the other side : at any rate it is certainly not conclusive.

Of Gonardiya the internal evidence is even more unsatisfactory. It

occurs twice in the volume above referred to, and in both places in such a

dubious, misleading way as not to justify the conclusion arrived at. The

first time I meet with it is in Sutra I, 1, 21. The question at issue there

is, how should the rules referring to initial and final hitters apply to cases

where there is an only letter in a word, and the Sutra lays down that the case

is the same “ in solitaries as in initials and finals.”* This gives rise to a

long discussion on the necessity, purport, and use of the rule, and Patanjali,

after citing a number of vartikas, comes to the conclusion that the rule is not

necessary. f He then cites a v&rtika which says, “ Initiality arid finality are

effected in a solitary letter from the characteristics of its having nothing

preceding and nothing following.” J Commenting on this, he continues, “ the

character of having nothing preceding is initiality, and the character of

having nothing following is finality ; this occurs also in solitarity, i. e., from

the circumstance of the character of nothing preceding and nothing following

(in a word of a single letter) the operations enjoined for initials and finals

must take place in solitary letters, and there is no use in saying (as is done in

the Sutra) “ in the same way as in initials and finals, ”§ i. e., the solitary is

by its very nature both initial and final, and there is no necessity in saying

that the solitary is governed in the same way &c., and the aphorism is redun-

* I

^ I VrT^f^fq- V^frT I ^^TTJWWTi:-

* 'i ^ ^ Os^ j

263

1883.] Rajendralala Mitra — On Gonikdputra and Gonardiya.

dant. He then adds, “ but Gonardiya says, ‘ it is true when there are others,' *

( Gonardiyas tvaha satyam etat sati tvanyasminnit i) , i. <?., the rule is necessary

because the terms initial and final are not applicable without the presence

of other letters. Kaiyata paraphrases the first part of this passage by the

words bhashyakaras tvaha — “ but the Bhashyakara says.”

Nagoji Bhatta, who comments on the gloss of Kaiyata, says on this

passage, “ he (Kaiyata) now explains the word Gonardiya ; it is the Bha-

sli3rakara,” ( Gonardiyapadam vyachashte, bhashyakara iti ). These expla¬

nations, however, do not meet the requirements of the case. The saying

of Gonardiya is so brief and obscure that I cannot flatter myself with the

idea that I have understood it correctly ; but as it stands following the

disjunctive particle tu “ but,” it means something distinct from what the

vartika quoted lays down, and Gonardiya to all appearance seems to be dis¬

tinct from Patanjali. Patanjali quotes a vartika in support of his opinion,

and cannot be expected to set it aside by appearing himself under the name

of Gonardiya, though he may well cite the opinion of a predecessor who

differed from him and that without any remark.

The second citation occurs in the comment on Sutra I, 1, 29. The

rule lays down that the words included in the class sarva &c., should not

be 1‘eckoned as sarvanamas if they form a part of a bahuvrihi compound.

Commenting on this, Patanjali shows that the rule is necessary, and its

object cannot be subserved by reference to those rules by which the sarva-

namas are made to be the first member of a compound. Besides, there

is a rule which enjoins the use of the affix akacli after sarvanamas ; and if the

present rule be reckoned redundant, the use of that affix would be justified

in the case of bahuvrihi compounds with sarvanamas instead of ka, and the

result would be that in the case of the words asmat and yushmat followed

by pitri, the use of the affix akach would be justified, and the words produced

would be makatpitrika and tvakatpitrika, whereas the forms desiderated

(ishyate and proper) are matkapitrika and tvatkapitrilca. Discussing then a

question about the effect of rules regarding subsidiaries on those regarding

essentials (of Kielhorn’s Paribhashendu-sekhara, pp. 221f.) the commentator

decides that the rule is necessary. He then adds — “ But Gonardiya says,

the affix akach and the accent on the first vowel* should be adopted

without any hesitation in either member of the compounds, and the forms

should certainly be tvakatpitrika and makatpitrika." f

* The TJddtta change in the vowel is enjoined in the Phit sutras, Svangasitamadan -

tamam &c., and S'it sarvanama.

f *T ^35 ttf T 11 ^ I \ I 11

264 Rajendralala Mitra — On Gonikdputra and Gonardiya. [No. 3,

The question now is, whether the half s'loka quoted is really a quota¬

tion, or a summing up of the argument ? The argument led to the conclu¬

sion that the logical form should be matkapitrika and not makatpitrika,

and the last is pronounced to be the right form on the authority of Gonar¬

diya without any argument in support of it. This is not the way in

which Patanjali advances his opinion. He is invariably very careful in

fortifying his position by the citation of all the rules that bear upon

it. Nor does he break out into a half verse in giving his conclusion.

"Whenever he cites his own karikds or ishtis he invariably immediately

after paraphrases them in different and, what comes to be, easier language.

Nothing of the kind has been done here. Further, the question at issue

is the use of the affix akach, and nothing in the prose remarks has been

said about the initial vowel becoming a udatta, but the verse quoted refers

to it, and that shows that the verse is a quotation, and that, in order to

preserve the integrity of his quotation, Patanjali had to take it as it stood.

The particle tu “ but ” also suggests that the opinion about to be quoted was

opposed to the conclusion arrived at before. Had Patanjali improvised the

verse for the occasion, he could have easily written it without reference to

the accent on the vowel. It is true that the word Gonardiya here in Dr.

Goldstucker’s photolithographs is not followed by that conjunction ; but in

Dr. Ballantyne’s edition from which the passage has been quoted below, as

II ?rfT I I «T«T

^ si Cs

■qT?r,*r i i i

*rif^Pn%T II | I «T?T

fst^rr^rffT i i II

l I %T *T I 3J-

fqgBff: yfcT I WH ^fc^eTTfr W*TT Sffaw.fTSrKift

vj

M*f: vr^jr I ^nPCSPFTfq fafVwt JIFTfm yfH I

r|^ [ O. \ VO ] Tfft I ^TfT

Vi <5 •«.

i ^^T5j"»nT i fanr i i

?r<r ii ^ i

^ t i T^Tf^r i «remT^-

■QtFir^TSj fpiK II JfT*r<f^^T^ I

7T tot i

s vi

Ballantyni t Edition, pp. 469 /.

265

1883.] Rajendralala Mitra — On OoniJcdputra and Gonardiya.

also in the Benares lithograph of Professor Bala S'astri (p. 117), it is put in

and it seems to be required and appropriate. Dr. Kielhorn has not noticed

it even in his table of variants, owing, apparently, not to his having had

those editions before him.

This view of the case, however, is opposed to that of the exegetes.

Having alread}' expounded the meaning of Gonardiya in the comment in the

first Sutra where it occurs, of course neither Kaiyata nor Nagoji takes note

of it here. But Bhattoji Dikshita, in his Siddhanta Kaumudi, when explaining

the sutra under notice, alludes to the passage attributed to Gonardiya as that

of the Bhashyakara, i. e., Patanjali. His words are : BhashyaJcarastu tvakat-

pitriko makatpitrika iti rape ishtapattim Jcritvaitatsutram pratyacha-

Tchyau. There is nothing to show how the commentators would explain

the difficulties I have pointed out above. No question was raised in their

time, and therefore nothing was said. It is, however, easy to suppose

that had the inconsistencies and contradictions been called to their notice,

they would have urged that what I take to he the opinion of Patanjali were

anticipatory adverse opinions (purvapaksha ), and that the final conclusion

occurs in what I take to be a quotation. To my mind the logical sequences

and the expressions used would not be consistent with such an interpreta¬

tion.

Following my view of the case, it may be urged that there is nothing

improbable in Patanjali’s quoting the opinions of those who bad preceded

him. It is not at all unusual for him to cite the authority of his prede¬

cessors. Apart from the fact of his work being in a manner a running

commentary on the vartikas of Katyayana, we find him repeatedly naming

others, sometimes in support of his own opinions, and sometimes to refute

adverse principles.

S'akala is an ancient author, and his name occurs several times in the

Mahabhashya as an authority.* Vajapyayana is an author whose name

occurs nowhere in connexion with any Sanskrit work, but Patanjali cites

him as an authority with the highly honorific title of Acharya.f Yyadhi

is honoured in the same way.J Another, Varshyayani, is honoured with

the higher title of Bhagavan, and the verb put by his name is the same

(aha) which occurs against Gonardiya, § and his name is perfectly unknown

in our days as an author. Dakshayana is cited only as a compiler, jj Men

* wu wt 1 p- 72.

Again, I P- 72.

\ ^r^rssrr i p- 242.

I I P- 244.

§ refill: I p- 2-58.

|j %H«TT W Sift: I P- 468.

266

Rajendralala Mitra — On Gonikaputra and Gonardiya. [No. 3,

of less repute are cited as belonging to the school of Bharadvaja,* or simply

as “ other grammarians. ”f And if Patanjali thought proper to cite these

authorities, there is no & priori reason that he should not name Gonardiya

or Gonikaputra.

It might he said that we have nowhere seen Gonardiya and Gonikapu¬

tra cited as authors, and we assume the existence of authors who proba¬

bly never existed. Such a line of argument, however, is not admissible.

When a trustworthy author quotes from an unknown author, we are bound

to take for granted that the unknown author did exist, though his work

ma}r have long since died out. We follow this principle in the case of

S'akala and Vajapyayana, and there is no reason why we should not do so

in that of Gonardiya.

Nor is it necessary to depend on this logical principle in the present

instance. In the Kama-sutra of Vatsyayana, there are the most incontesta¬

ble proofs in support of the assumption. A learned correspondent, Pandit

Kamachandra, of Alwar, has lately drawn my attention to that work, and

I find in it both Gonardiya and Gonikaputra cited several times as authori¬

ties whose opinions were worthy of the respect from the author of that

work. Thus, I find in Chap. I, sec. 4 on the subject of wives :

And further on, *T ^

Ao-ain, I

O' Cv ’

Acrain, rf^HTq[ ifft JTT«T^fsp I

° V» J . _

In section V, on unchaste women, cT^IT

Sfrfw Tnmfl vfw i

Again, in Chapter VI, on zenana women, ^ T% *f3"*TP9*T 2jrr5nr*T-

frliT wr?r i

Again, #f?T JTTfvnfTP?^-’ I

Again, ^^FcffrWWIfiT JTTr^rT^: I

^ vj

None will, I venture to think, question, in the face of these quota¬

tions, the existence of Gonikaputra and Gonardiya as authors of repute ;

hut it might he said that the quotations do not suffice to prove that the

two were separate authors. It might he supposed that the one and the same

* 1 P- 136-

Ditto, p. 201.

Again, THUT vfarRT 1 V- 291-

t ^ I P. 87.

267

1883.] Rajendralala Mitra — On Oonikaputra and Gonardiya.

person bad two names, and those names belonged, as stated by Goldstucker

on the authority of Kaiyata and Nagoji Bhatta, to Patanjali. Such, how¬

ever, was not the case. In the very first section of the work there occur

the words I l

Again, in describing Nayikas or amatory females, in section V, of

Chapter I, Vatsyayana begins by saying, “ Nayikas are of three kinds :

virgins, twice married, and prostitutes.” He then adds, “ on the other hand,

for special reasons a (married) woman taken by a stranger is the fourth

kind ; so says Gonikaputra. The fifth class is the widow, according

to Charayana ; the sixth is the female ascetic according to Suvarnanabha ;

the seventh is the daughter of a prostitute, a maid-servant, one who has

not been taken by any one before, according to Ghotakamukha ; the

eighth is the woman who, having surpassed her youth, is in the full bloom

of her beauty and womanhood, according to Gonardiya.”* Here we have

two different authors entertaining two different sets of opinion — Gonikapu¬

tra adopting the fourfold division, and Gonardiya the eightfold, — and it is

impossible to take them to be aliases of Patanjali. Whoever they were,

and whatever the names of their respective works, it is unquestionable that

they were authors of sufficient eminence and authority to be worthy of

citation by Vatsyayana.

The fact of the two authors having been distinctly separate being thus

established, the question suggests itself, when did they live ? To this no

direct categorical answer can be given ; but it is obvious they lived before

Vatsyayana who lived long before the author of the Mahabhashya. Patanjali

gives the rule for the derivation of the name Vatsyayana, f but does not

say who this worthy was. Grammatically the word implies a descendant of

the sage Vatsa by his son Vatsya, but it is generally used as an individual

personal name, a proper noun, and not as a generic term. Hemachandra, in

his glossary, says it was a name of Chanakya, who also bore the names of

Vishnugupta, Mallanaga, Kautilya, Pakshila Svamx, Dramila and Angula.j;

* ^TTfwfw issr i

Os ^ ^

^rrprf i ^nsjgwnf^t

frsprT i %‘*r srsiferfiT i Jifkr^n^T ^f^«TT

f sismw ^T81T«n': ^fn3T«f I

xr^JITJgT^-qr: II P- 88.

3ITJJJTW TTrW^-‘

268

Rajendralala Mitra — On Gonikdputra and Gonardiya. [No. 3,

It would appear that the original personal name of the individual was Yishnu-

gupta, “the protected of Vishnu,” which is a fair index to the religion which

his father professed. In the Pur vapith ilea of the Mudra-rakshasa there is

a story which says that Vishnugupta and his parents were, by order of the

Nanda king, confined in a dungeon where they had nothing to eat but gram

(chanaka) , hence the name Chanakya, but the work is of modern date and

its attempt at derivation is obviously fanciful. (Notices of Sanskrit MSS.

IV, 227.) Hemachandra’s Ghanakatmaja shows that he was the son of one

Chanaka, whence the name Chanakya, a very appropriate patronymic. He

was a descendant of the Vatsya clan, whence Vatsyayana. He was the Ma-

chiavelli of his age, and the many complicated schemes by which he dethroned

the Nandas and gave the kingdom of Pataliputra to Chandragupta, got him

the nickname of Kautilya, the “ tortuous,” or “ wicked,” or “ crafty one.”

The epithet Mallanaga means “ the serpent among heroes,” and perhaps

bears relation to the insiduous tactics by which he overcame the army of

the Nandas. As a student of Nyaya his memory was so strong that he

could remember for a fortnight a thesis once told him, and hence the name

Pakshila Svami.* The epithet Svatni shows that he had at the last stage

of his life become an ascetic preceptor. As Dramila he is known as a poet.

I have not heard the name Angula associated with any Sanskrit work,

ancient or modern. Now, this Vatsyayana lived at the time of Alexander’s

invasion of India, and, bearing in mind the fact of the extreme reluctance

displayed by Indian authors to cite the authority of their contemporaries,

the inference would be almost inevitable that Gonardiya and Gonikaputra

must have lived long before that time. On the other hand Patanjali lived

considerably more than a century after the time of Alexander, and it would

have been b}' no means inconsistent for him to quote from authors who had

acquired the halo of at least three, and probably four or five, centuries,

antiquity before him, and who had two centuries before been quoted by

Vatsyayana.

Respect for the dictum of Kaiyata might induce some to urge —

though it would be more a cavilling than an argument — that there may

have been a Gonardiya and a Gonikaputra before the time of Vatsyayana

and necessarily long before that of Patanjali, and yet there was nothing

to prevent Patanjali from bearing those epithets as his aliases. The man¬

ner, however, in which those names have been cited leaves no room for the

entertainment of such an opinion ; and after all it would amount to a

mere ipse dixit without a scintilla of proof.

The last issue in the case is a purely personal one, and it is just what an

Indian like me cannot approach without the greatest diffidence. Kaiyata,

Hemachandra, Bhattoji Dikshita, and Nagoji Bhatta are the most renown-

* This is, however, said of Pakshadhara Misra, a much later author.

1883.] Eajendralala Mifcra — On Gonilcdputra and Gonardiya. 260

ed among medieval Sanskrit grammarians, and their dicta in regard to

the special subject of their study are received throughout India with the

highest consideration, and without a single demur. It is extremely

hazardous, therefore, for people in the present day to call their opinions into

question, even when a very strong array of arguments may be brought forth

against them. The question at issue, however, is not a grammatical, but

an historical, one, and, however great they may have been as gramma¬

rians, they certainly were not very careful and critical in historical matters,

and an error on their part in the identification of ancient authors is not

such as would be impossible, or calculated to detract from their renown as

grammarians. It is obvious, too, that the error in the case of Nagoji Bhatta

who lived about 250 years ago, was one of mere copying. He was en¬

grossed with the grammatical questions he had to deal with, and never

thought of enquiring into the authority of his predecessors regarding the

identification of obscure names, a branch of study which seldom engaged

their attention, and gross anachronisms in that respect were easily passed

over. Certain it is that he has given us no clue to the identification of

any one of the old names which occur in the Mahabhashya. The same may

be said of Bhattoji Dikshita who preceded him by about two or three

hundred years. He had Hemachandra’s Glossary before him and probably

by heart, and that told him Gonardiya was another name for Patanjali, and

straightway he adopted it, as for his purposes that was sufficient. Hema-

chandra flourished in the eleventh century, and to him the authority of

Ivaiyata was evidently quite sufficient. The original error rests, therefore,

with Kaiyata, and Ivaiyata alone. If this error be not admitted, we have to

fall on the second branch of the alternative and to believe that the Gonika-

putra and the Gonardiya of Vatsyayana were different, and Patanjali had

these two names as his aliases, which he used in his work in a very incon¬

sistent and absurd manner to indicate himself in the third person, though

he never even for once used his individual personal name for such a

purpose. Put in this form the first branch of the alternative is one which

impartial criticism will accept as the right one. In support of this view

I find a remarkable sentence in a paper published in the August number

of the Indian Antiquary, p. 227, in which Hr. Kielhorn says, “ I hope

elsewhere to show by the help of Bhartrihari’s commentary that later

grammarians are wrong in identifying Gonardiya with Patanjali.” I re¬

gret I have not a copy of that commentary at hand to work out the

problem for myself. Anyhow, for the present, I give up the inference

drawn from the passages above quoted that Patanjali was the son of

Gonika and a native of Gonarda.

N N

270

F. S. Growse — The town of Bulandshuhr.

[No. 3,

The town of Bulandshuhr. — By F. S. Ghowse, C. I. F.

(With two Plates.)

In 1821, when the present district of Eulandshahr was first formed,

the town bearing that name was selected for its capital, chiefly on ac¬

count of its very convenient and central situation.

Though a place of immemorial antiquity, it had fallen into decay

centuries ago and had ultimately dwindled down into a miserably mean and

half-deserted village. A ragged and precipitous hill, on the western bank

of the narrow winding stream of the Kalindi, was all that remained of the

old Fort, or rather of the succession of Forts, that in the course of 3000

years had been built, each on the accumulated debris of its predecessor.

On its summit was an unfinished mosque, commenced by Sabit Khan, the

Governor of Kol, in 1730, and huddled about it were some fairly large,

but mostly ruinous, brick houses, occupied by the impoverished descendants

of the old proprietory community and of local Muhammadan officials, such

as the Kazi and the lvanungo. The rest of the population consisted of a

small colony of agricultural labourers, scavengers and other menial tribes,

who had squatted in their mud huts at the foot and to the west of the hill,

where low mounds and ridges of broken bricks and pot-sherds, the vestiges

of former habitation, alternated with swamps and ravines that collected the

drainage of all the surrounding country and passed it on to the river.

Only sixty years have since elapsed and out of such unpromising-

materials there has now been developed as bright, cleanly and thriving a

little town as can be found anywhere in the Province. The population has

increased to upwards of 17,000, but it is still of much less commercial im¬

portance than the flourishing mart of Khurja, which is only ten miles to

the south and has the further advantage of possessing a station of its

own on the main line of the East Indian Railway. It is, however, a matter

for congratulation that in determining the site for the head quarters of the

district the larger town was not given the preference ; for in point of

sanitation there is no comparison between the two places, Eulandshahr by

reason of its well-raised site and facilities for drainage being as healthy as

Khurja is notoriously the reverse.

The only ground for regret is that when the old historical site

was adopted, the old historical name of Baran was not also restored.

Eulandshahr, which — in English characters especially — has a most cumbrous

and barbaric appearance, has no literary authority. Apparently it was

imposed by the Muhammadans during the reign of Aurangzeb, when the

ruling power was possessed with a mania — like the modern French — for the

abolition of every name that suggested recollections of an earlier dynasty.

In large towns, such as Mathura and Brindaban, where also the experiment

18S3 ]

F. S. Grows? — The town of Bulandshahr.

27 L

was tried, the popular appellation was too strongly rooted in the affections of

the people to admit of suppression by imperial edict ; hut in a little place

like Baran, where too the majority of the inhabitants happened to be Muham¬

madans, there was no difficulty in giving effect to the official innovation.

The most favourable opportunity for reviving the older and shorter name has

unfortunately been lost, but even now the change might be effected without

causing more than a very slight and merely temporary inconvenience ; for

the name Baran is still perfectly familiar to the people and even officially

is used as the designation both of the Pargana (or Hundred) and also of

the parish, which is a very extensive one ; the title Bulandshahr being ap¬

plied exclusively to the town, and originally only to the Upper Town, or

Fort. In meaning, it corresponds precisely with the English ‘ Higham,’

and was suggested by the great elevation of the Castle Hill, which far over¬

tops any other ground for many miles away. It is said by some to have

been merely an Urdu rendering of the Hindi Uncha-nagar, a form that had

already come into use and would bear the same signification ; but, in the

absence of any documentary proof of this assertion, I very strongly doubt

whether the Hindus under the Delhi Emperoi's ever knew the place by any

other name than that of Baran. There would seem to be no reason why

they should substitute one indigenous name for another ; while the object

that the Muhammadans had, in introducing a name from their own vocabu-

lary, is easily intelligible.

Tradition goes that in prehistoric times the town was called Ban-

chhati — which would mean ‘ a forest-clearing ’ — and that it was founded by

a Tomai’, or Pandava chief from Ahai’, named Parmal. The site of this

original settlement is the high ground now occupied by the Collector’s House

and the new Town Hall, and lies immediately to the west of the modern

town. It used to be known as the ‘ Moti Chauk,’ or ‘ Moti Bazar,’ mean¬

ing of coui’se not a market where ‘ pearls ’ ( moti ) wei'e sold, but simply a

‘handsome’ bazar, as we might say in English, ‘ a gem of a place.’ The

large original mound has for many years been intersected by the high road,

and was also cut up by a broad and deep ravine. This latter ran down

through the town to the river and was a gi’eat nuisance. I have now tuimed

back the drainage into a tank called the ‘ Lai Diggi,’ further to the west,

near the Magistrate’s Court, the overflow from which is carried by a cutting

thi'ough the fields into the river higher up in its course.

In order to fill up the ravine I levelled the ridge on its bank and having

enclosed the entii’e area as an adjunct to the Town Hall, am now convert¬

ing it into a public garden, which — to perpetuate the old tradition — I

have designated the ‘ Moti Bagh.’ There is much vague talk of coins and

solid bars of silver discovered there in former years, but in the course of my

excavations I came upon nothing of much intrinsic value. Abundant proofs

272

F. S. Growse — The town of Bulan d&liahr.

[N o. 3,

were, however, afforded of the interesting fact that in old times it had been

occupied by Buddhists. Among my discoveries were several specimens of

the curious plain stone stools, such as are figured in Plate III of Yol. XV of

the Archaeological Survey. General Cunningham says they are found of the

same general pattern from Taxila to Palibothra and only at Buddhist sites.

They were all about 6 inches high, and a foot long ; but not one was unbro¬

ken. The ground had been so often disturbed before, that it was not possi¬

ble to trace any definite line of building, but the fragments of walls and

pavements yielded an enormous number of large and well-burnt bricks, each

measuring as much as a cubit in length by half a cubit in breadth and three

inches in thickness. They were mostly marked on one side by two parallel

lines drawn by the workman’s finger in the damp clay. Many were broken

in digging them out, but many also had been laid in a broken state, as was

evident from the appearance of the fracture.

Of more exceptional interest were the remains of what would seem to

have been a special local manufacture, being some scores of strange earthen¬

ware flask or vase-like objects (Plates XXII and XXIII, figs. 2, 3, 4<).

They are all alike in general shape, being pointed at one end like a Roman

amphora and with a very small orifice at the other for a mouth ; but they

vary very much in the patterns with which they have been ornamented,

and are of different size, weight and thickness. Some apparently had been

squeezed out of shape, before the material of which they were made had

had time to dry. The spot where they were found is evidently that where

they were baked ; for, besides the failures, there was also a large accumula¬

tion of broken pieces, all mixed in a deep deposit of ashes and the other

refuse of a potter’s kiln. I sent one to the British Museum, where it was

considered so curious that I have been asked to supply some more ; and

others were exhibited at a meeting of the Asiatic Society of Bengal ; but

from neither quarter have I received any suggestion as to the purpose for

which they were intended.

Most natives who have seen them think they were meant to hold

either gunpowder or oil, which is what the shape suggests ; but the

material, on account of its weight, seems unsuitable for such a purpose,

if the flask was to be carried about on the person ; while the pointed

bottom makes it awkward for storing. The idea has also been hazarded

that they were meant to be filled with gunpowder and then exploded as

a kind of fire-work ; but, if this were their object, there would scarcely

have been so much trouble spent on their ornamentation. A third theory,

which has found much favour on the spot, but which at the time I was

inclined to reject as altogether untenable, is that they were intended to

form a balustrade for a balcony or the roof of a house. At first my own

impression was that they were not at all likely to be of the same age

1883.]

F. S. Growse — The town of Bui and shah r.

273

as the bricks. The site might have been originally occupied by a fort

or a monastery and then deserted for centuries before the potters came

and set up their kilns on it, making use — for their houses and workshops —

of any old building-materials they happened to light upon. But finally

I came to the conclusion that the balustrade theory was not so very far

wrong, and that these curious objects were manufactured in such numbers

in order to serve as finials for miniature Buddhist stupas. The dedication

of such votive memorials was a recognized duty on a pilgrimage, and it

would obviously be a convenience for worshippers to have an establishment

for their manufacture and sale in immediate connection with the shrine.

This view is strongly confirmed by the discovery on the same spot of what

is unmistakeably a finial (PL XXIII, figs. 3, 4, in J size). It is of similar

configuration and has a similar orifice at one end, which in this case is

clearly intended for the admission of a supporting rod. But later again I

found a circular flask (Plate XXII, fig. 2, in -J size), which is of the

same material and of equal weight and is ornamented in exactly7 the

same style. It is, however, easy to grasp in the hand, and apparently7

was intended to hold oil or some similar fluid, for pouring out drop by

drop. Thus the only definite conclusion at which it is safe to arrive

is that various articles for different uses were turned out at the same

factory, all being characterized by ornamentation of a peculiar local

pattern.

Most fortunately the presiding genius of the shrine has also been

revealed. The sculpture was dug up some twenty7 yrears ago and since then

had been kept in an adjoining garden ; but several people distinctly

remember its being found on the same spot where the recent excavations

have been made. The stone is a square block measuring in its mutilated

state 1 foot 4^ inches either way, the material being a black trap, not

the sang-musa, or black marble, of Jaypur. The principal figure repre¬

sents the Buddha, enveloped in a thin robe reaching to the wrists and

ankles and falling over the body in a succession of narrow folds. His

arms are slightly raised in front of his breast, and the thumb and fore¬

finger of his left hand are joined at the tips, while with his right hand

he touches its middle finger, as if summing up the points of an argument.

On either side of his throne is a rampant hippogriff, with its back to the

sage and rearing its head over a devotee seated in an attitude of prayer.

The throne is supported on two recumbent lions, flanked by Hindu

caryatides with impossibly distorted limbs as usual ; and at the base again

are other devotees kneeling on either side of the footstool, the front of

which is carved with the mystic wheel between two couchant deer. The

upper part of the stone has been broken off, carrying with it the head of

the principal figure, but what remains is in good preservation and has

274 F. S. Grmvse — The town of Bulandshdhr. [No. 3,

been well executed. On a ledge in a line with the feet is an inscription

in characters apparently of tho 9th or 10th century, which reads as

follows :

Ye dharmma hetu-prakhavd hetus teshdn tathagato hyavadat tesham

cha yo nirodha, evam-vadi mahasramanah.

This would be in English “ All things that proceed from a cause,

their cause as well as their destruction the Tathagata has declared : such

is the dictum of the great philosopher.” It is curious that a popular

symbol of faith should have been framed with so much tautology in so

short a compass, and also with such inadequacy of expression. For the

cardinal feature of the doctrine, viz., that effects can only be destroyed

by destroying their causes, is not stated at all but merely implied.

Another very curious find was a terra cotta seal (PI. XXIII, fig. 5,

in full size), probably some 1400 years old, but as fresh and clear as if it

had been baked only yesterday, and still showing the pressure of the

workman’s fingers who had handled the clay while it was yet damp. It was

inside a closed earthen jar, which accounts for its excellent preservation.

It is oval in shape, with a dotted rim, and is divided by two parallel lines

across the centre into two equal compartments. In the upper are two

devices, one of which is a conch shell, the other — which is raised on a little

stand — looks like a wing, and may possibly be intended to represent the

chajcioa, or Brahmani duck, so frequently introduced in old Indian painting

and sculpture. In the lower compartment is tho name ‘ Mattila,’ in charac¬

ters of about the 5th century A. D.

It is quite possible that the Fort on the river-bank may also have

been founded by Parmal, for the protection of his infant town of Ban-

chhati. Tradition, however, ascribes it to one of his successors, who is

made to bear the name of Ahi-baran, interpreted to mean ‘ cobra-coloured.’

But this appears to me to be absolutely untenable. Baran is certainly

not the Sanskrit word varna, ‘ colour,’ but varana, ‘ a hill-fort or enclo¬

sure ;’ and Ahi-baran would thus mean ‘ snake-fort ’ or ‘ Naga fort,’

in the same way as Ahi-kshetra means ‘ Snake-land.’ No Iiaja Ahi-baran, I

should conjecture, ever existed, though there may well have been an Ahibaran

Raja, the town being so called because it was a stronghold of the Naga

tribe. Nor is it impossible that the epithet ‘ Naga,’ like the English

« reptile,’ may have been attached to a Buddhist community by their

Brahmanical neighbours by way of reproach. Another explanation may,

however, be suggested. Some twenty-one miles to the north-east of Bu-

landshahr, on the right bank of the Ganges, is the small town of Ahar,

which (according to local tradition) is the spot where, after Parikshit,

the successor of Raja Yudhishthir on the throne of Hastinapur, had met

his death by snake-bite, his son Janamejaya, to avenge his father’s death,

1883.]

F. S. Growse— The toim of Bulandshahr .

performed a sacrifice for the destruction of the whole serpent race. Though

still accounted the capital of a Pargana, it is a miserably poor and decayed

place with a population, according to the last census, of only 2,414. It

is evidently, however, a site of great antiquity. Part of it has been

washed away by the river, but heaps of brick and other traces of ruin

still extend over a large area, and I found lying about in the streets

several fragments of stone sculpture of early date. These I brought away

with me to Bulandshahr, as also a once fine but now terribly mutilated

round pillar, which I dug up on the very verge of the high cliff overlook¬

ing the river. This is specially noticeable as having its base encircled

with a coil of serpents, which would seem to corroborate the connection

of the local name with the word ahi, ‘ a snake.’ The principal residents

of the town are Nagar Brahmans by descent, though — since the time of

Aurangzeb — Muhammadans by religion, who believe that their ancestors

were the priests employed bv Janamejaya to conduct his sacrifice, and

that in return for their services they had a grant of the township and the

surrounding villages. Immediately after this event it is said that the

Pandavas transferred their seat of local government from Ahar to Baran,

and it may be that they then first attached the prefix alii to the name of

the town — so making it Ahibaran — in order to commemorate the circum¬

stances of the migration. This would imply that the town was already in

existence ; and it might with much plausibility be identified with the

Yaranavata,* mentioned in the 143rd chapter of the first Book of the

Mahabharat.

All this, however, is conjectural and refers to a period so remote,

nearly 1400 years before Christ, that no tangible record of it could be

expected to survive to the present day. To come down to somewhat later

times : the Bactrian dynasty, which flourished in the centuries immediate¬

ly preceding our era, and the Gupta dynasty that succeeded it, have both

left traces behind them. In the rains, copper and gold coins with Greek

and Pali inscriptions, used so frequently to be washed down in the debris

from the high ground of the old town, at a particular point, now called

4 the Manihars ’ or bangle-makers’ quarter,’ that after any heavy storm

people made it a regular business to search for them. To prevent further

cutting away, the slope was built up with masonry in 1876 ; but even

since then two copper coins of Su-Hermmus, styled Basileus Soter, a gold

coin of Chandra Gupta II, and another of an intermediate dynasty, have

been picked up, which I presented to the coin cabinet of the Asiatic Society

of Bengal.

* General Cunningham proposes to identify with the Yaranavata of the Maha-

bharata a village, now called Barnawa, in the Merath district. It has not yet been

explored, and it is therefore uncertain whether it is really an ancient site or not.

276

F. S. Growse — The town of Bulan dshahr.

[No. 8,

It may thus be concluded that the town of Baran at the commence¬

ment of the Christian era was a place of some wealth and importance ;

while the discovery of the antiquities above described clearly establishes

the interesting fact that a little later, from about 400 to 800 A. D., there

was a Buddhist community outside the Fort walls, occupying the site now

known as the Moti Bagh. The only ancient inscriptions that have been

found in the district are distinctly Brahmanical. The oldest is dated in

the reign of Skanda Gupta, in the year 146, which — if the Saka era is

intended — would correspond with 224 A. D. But this dynasty had an

era of its own, which seems more likely to have been the one used, and

an element of considerable uncertainty is thus introduced. For the com¬

mencement of the Gupta era is a very vexata qiuestio among archaeologists,

being put by some so late as 319 A. D., by others at 190, and now by

Gen. Cunningham at 167. A complete transcript and translation of the

inscription, by Dr. Rajendralala Mitra, C. I. E. are given in Yol. XLIII

of this Journal. It is not in itself of great importance, being simply a

provision on the part of a Brahman, named Deva-vishnu, for the mainte¬

nance of an oil lamp, to burn in a temple of the Sun at Indra-pura. The

copper-plate on which it is engraved was dug up at Indor, an artificial

mound of great elevation and extent, a little off the high road from

Anupshahr to Aligarh, opposite the eighth mile-stone from the former

town. As I have shewn at length in my “ Mathura,” by an application

of the rules laid down by the Prakrit grammarian Vararuchi, the Sanskrit

Indra-pura, in the natural course of phonetic decay, must become Indor

in the modern vernacular.

The next inscribed memorial is some centuries later in date, but from

exposure to rough usage is in a far less perfect state of preservation and

is for the most part illegible. It is an oblong block of stone, measuring

29 inches by 10 by 10, which I brought into the station from a well

adjoining the tomb of Khwaja Lai Barani, which lies across the Kalindi,

about half a mile to the east of the town of Bulandshahr. There are two

inscriptions, one opposite the other, in characters of different size, but of

the same period, probably about 1200 A. D. Both are records of grants

for religious purposes, and the stone must have been intended for deposit

among the archives of the temple for which the endowments were pro¬

vided. But it can never have been actually set up, as it is difficult to

imagine a position in which both sides could be conveniently read ; it is

also evident that preparations had been made for splitting it up into two

separate slabs of equal thickness. One of the two inscriptions opens with

an invocation of Krishna, in the words Om Namo Bhagavate Vdsudcvdya.

The stone has been sent to Dr. Mitra for inspection, and eventually for

deposit in the Indian Museum.

1883.]

F. S. G rowse — The town of Bulan dshahr.

277

Of far greater significance is a copper-plate inscription, which was

dug up in 1867 at the village of Manpur, in the Agota Pargana, about

eight miles to the north of the town of Bulandshahr. Natives, even of

the higher and more educated classes, have a childish notion, of which

it is quite impossible to disabuse them, that these old copper-plate in¬

scriptions always refer to some buried treasure. Thus the Council of the

Maharaja of Jaypur, on hearing of the Manpur find, at once put in a

claim for anything of value that might be discovered ; on the plea that

Manpur had been founded by Raja Man Sinh of the Jaypur line. The

absurdity of the claim was in this case enhanced by the confusion of

chronological ideas ; for Man Sinh was a contemporary of Akbar’s, while

the plate is anterior to the reign of Prithi Raj. It was sent to the Asiatic

Society in Calcutta, and a translation of it into Nagari and English by

Pandit Pratapa Chandra Ghosh, appeared in Vol. XXXVIII of this Journal*

By a strange fatality, the three most important words in the whole record,

viz., those which give the name of the reigning family, the name of the

country, and the century of the date, are the most doubtful and illegible.

The year — which is written at full length, in words — ends with ‘ thirty-

three,’ but the initial letters have been obliterated by rust. The century,

however, must be either the eleventh or twelfth, for the characters belong

to the period immediately succeeding that of the Kutila inscriptions. The

date may thus be confidently accepted as either 1133 or 1233 Samvat, i. e.,

either 1076 or 1176 of the Christian era. The earlier of the two seems

the more probable.

The grant — which confers a village named Gandava on a certain Gaur

Brahman — was made by a Raja Ananga, in whose description a word occurs

which the Calcutta Pandit first took to be * Kalinga.’ But the only

country so-called is an extensive tract far away on the sea-coast, south

of Bengal. It was never owned by a single sovereign — which in itself

creates a difficulty — and it is further inconceivable how a plate relating to

so distant a region could have found its way into the Doab. The word is

very indistinct and ambiguous and (as the Pandit has remarked) may with

equal probability be read kanishtha, which will also give an intelligible

sense to the passage. The suggestion of ‘ Kalinga ’ seems therefore to

have been an unnecessary importation of a somewhat gratuitous difficulty.

It might perhaps be Kolansa. This is given in Mother Williams’s Diction¬

ary as the name of a district, placed by some in Gangetic Hindustan, with

Kanauj for its capital, but which it would seem more natural to identify

with the country round about Kol, the modern Aligarh.

The name of the family was read by the Pandit as ‘ Rodra ’; but

only with great hesitation, and with the admission that it seemed to be

something different, though he could not exactly say what. It is really

o o

278

F. S. Growso — The tmrv of Bulandshahr.

[No. 8,

Dor, tlie name of an almost extinct Rajput tribe, who once were very

notable people in these parts, though a Sanskrit scholar in Bengal may

well he pardoned for not remembering them. They claim to be a branch

of the great Pramar clan, which in ancient times was the most powerful

of all the Rajput tribes ; “ The world is the Pramar’s ” being quoted by

Col. Tod as a proverbial saying to illustrate their extensive sway. They

represent their ancestor to have been a Pramar Raja of Mainpuri, who

cut off his own head for a sacrifice to the divinity ; whence his descend¬

ants were styled Dund, ‘the headless’, afterwards corrupted into Dor.

But this is obviously a mere etymological fable. Chand in the Prithiraj-

Ra sa celebrates a Dor chief of Kasondi, a locality which cannot now be

identified with certainty, though probably it was a place that still bears

the same name near Ajmir. The Dors are also mentioned in a Sanskrit

inscription of the time of Prithiraj, which was found by Colonel Skinner

at Hansi. This forms the basis for a rhapsody by Col. Tod in his usual

enthusiastic vein, which is published in Vol. I of the Transactions of the

Royal Asiatic Society. In the body of the article the tablet is described as

commemorating a victory obtained over the Dors ; but what purports to be

a more or less literal summary of the inscription is given at the end of

the narrative, and all that can be gathered from this is, that in the course

of the concluding stanzas the Dors are mentioned, but in what character,

whether as foes or allies, does not appear. The summary unfortunately

is most inadequate ; but the main object of the inscription would seem

to have been to record the date not of any victory, but of the extension of a

fort at Asi, which presumably was the older name of Hansi. This work is

6aid to have been executed by a General named Hammira in conjunction with

the Gahlot chief Kilhana, who is described — in Tod’s translation — as Prithi-

raj’s maternal uncle. But here lies a difficulty ; for Prithiraj’s mother

was Kamala-Devi, one of the daughters of King Anangpal, who was a

Tomar not a Gahlot, and who had no male issue. The date of this Hansi

inscription is Sambat 1224 (1168 A. D.). It was found in 1818 and

presented to Lord Hastings ; but in 1824, the date of Tod’s article, it was

not known what had become of it. In fact, a singular fatality seems to

attend all the records of this ancient Hindu clan — once so considerable,

now virtually extinct — for I find, on enquiry in Calcutta, that the Manpur

inscription also has disappeared and cannot be traced.

This grant enumerates fourteen successive Rajas, beginning with

Chandraka, the founder of the particular family. The seventh in descent

was Haradatta, who was succeeded first by his brother, secondly by a nephew,

and only in the third place by his son, who was subsequently deposed by

a Brahman minister, who both secured the throne for himself and be¬

queathed it to his son. The parentage of the thirteenth Raja is not

1883.]

F. S Grows? — The tenon of BuhtnJshakr.

279

distinctly stated, as it is in every other ease, and hence it may be surmised

that he was not related to his immediate predecessor, but belonged to the ori¬

ginal Dor stock. This is the more probable, because if he and his son Ananga

had been descendants of the Brahman usurper, the introduction of the Dor

pedigree would be altogether out of place.

The names stand as follows :

1. Chandraka.

7.

10.

I

Hara-datta.

I, .

Vikramaditya.

11.

2. Dhai ani-varaha.

i ;

3. Prabhasa.

4. Bhairava.

5. Rudra

6. Govinda-raja (surnamed Yasopara).

8. Bhogaditya -

I

9. Srikuladity a.

Bhupati, surnamed Padmaditya,

Brahman Minister.

12. Bhojadeva.

13. Sahajaditya.

I

14. Ananga.

The above genealogy is of very exceptional interest, because it is

known from other sources that at the time of the invasion of India by

Mahmud of Ghazni in 1017 A. D , Merath, Baran and Kol were all held

by the Dors and that Hara-datta was the name of their Raja, who had his

principal residence at Baran. Unable to meet the Muhammadans in the

field, he saved his towns from pillage by a nominal submission to the faith

of Islam— as is stated in the Tarikh-i-Yamiui of Al Utbi, MahmmPs Chro.

nographer — and by the tender of a heavy ransom in treasure and elephants.

The disgrace that he thus incurred may very probably be the expla¬

nation of the fact briefly stated in the Manpur inscription that his son

was twice passed over in the succession to the throne and was eventually

deposed.

Before these events there is reason to conclude that Hara-datta was

the most important chief in all this part of the country between Kanauj

and Thanesar. For Delhi, though refounded by the Raja Dhava of the

Iron Pillar about 319 A. D. and again rebuilt in 731 by Anang Pal, the

first Tomar Raja of that name, is not once mentioned either by the Chinese

Pilgrims or by Al Utbi, and was probably at this period a small, unfortified

and quite unimportant village, the capital of the Tomars being at Kanauj.

2 SO

F. S. Growse — The town of Bul/mduhahr.

[No 3,

When that city was taken by Chandra Deva, the founder of the Rahtor

dynasty, about 1050 A. D., Anang Pal II retired to Delhi and there

established himself. But at the beginning of the eleventh century,

Hara-datta, the Raja of Baran, though nominally a feudatory of Kanauj,

appears to have been the virtual sovereign of all the country now included

in the districts of Aligarh, Bulandshahr, Meratk and Delhi, with parts

of Muradabad, Mathura and Eta.

His name is still perpetuated by Hapur, a corruption of Hara-pur,

now the head-quarters of the Stud Depot, of which town he is the tradi¬

tional founder, and all the fragments of stone sculpture that have been

discovered at Bulandshahr may be assigned to bis time. As might have been

expected from its nearness to Delhi, the Muhammadans have made a clean

sweep of the district and razed to the ground every building, secular or

religious, that had been erected by its former Hindu rulers. I have been

over every part of it, but the sum total of all the antiquities I have been able

to collect may be very briefly enumerated. An unusually lofty column

is one of a pair that were dug up in some low ground at the entrance to

the town from the Chola Railway Station. Though long since brought

under cultivation, the field is still called ‘ the Sarovar, ’ and is the tradi¬

tional site of a large masonry tank which Hara-datta is said to have

constructed. The companion column is at Mirath, where it was sent

by the Sardar Bahadur, into whose hands it had come, and has been

worked up into a house he has built there. The one now in my pos¬

session I rescued from his stables, where it had been thrown on the

ground and was used by his grass-cutters to sharpen their tools on. Six

short pillars of the same period were found buried under the steps of a

small mosque on the highest part of the old town. In digging the

foundations of a house on the opposite side of the same street I recovered

a curious stone, sculptured with a representation of three miniature tem¬

ples. These are of such different design that, if they had been found

separately, I might have been inclined to refer them to different archi¬

tectural epochs. But the excessively archaic type of one must be attri¬

buted to the influence of religious conservatism ; similar forms may be

seen in conjunction on the front of the temples of Khajuraho, which are

known to be of the tenth century A. D. A circular pillar, with a coil

of human-headed snakes at the base, is, as already xuentioned, from Ahar,

as also a mediaeval door-jamb and a block carved with rows of temple

fafades in the style of the Nasik caves. This last is probably the oldest

of the group. Another door-jamb, found in the court-yard of the mosque

at Bulandshahr, is comparatively modern.

The Sarovar, or Tank, field, of which I have spoken above, is bounded

on the north by an extensive mound, on which now stands the stable for

1883.]

F. S. Growse — The town of Bulan dshahr.

281

Government stallions, and in levelling part of it I came upon two curious

terra cotta figures, (Plate XXII, fig. 1,) both alike, 5i inches high, repre¬

senting a woman with a parrot, which she is about to feed with a fruit she

holds in one hand. She has enormous ornaments in her ears and a variety

of chains and bracelets about her. Another fragment — a head only — shows

a chignon of most prodigious dimensions. In the absence of stone, the

potter’s art seems to have been largely developed for decoration and religious

purposes, as is further indicated by a clay statue of the four- armed Krishna,

which I discovered in breaking down an old well in the upper town. The

exact date of these figures cannot he determined.

The Manpur inscription gives Yikram-aditya as the name of Hara-

datta’s son, and he is probably the same person as a Raja Yikram Sen of

Baran, who figures in an Aligarh pedigree. The capital of that branch

of the Dor family is said to have been transferred from Jalali to Kol by

Buddh Sen, who was the son of Bijay Ram (brother of Dasarath Sinh,

who built the fort at Jalesar) the son of Nahar Sinh, (founder of the Sam-

blial Fort) the son of Gobind Sinh, who was the son of Mukund Sen, the

son of Raja Vikram Sen of Baran. Mangal Sen, who succeeded his father,

the above-mentioned Buddh Sen, at Kol, is said to have given his daughter

Padmavati in marriage to the heir of Raja Blum of Mahrara and Etawa,

who soon after his accession was murdered by his younger brothers. The

widow then returned to Kol, where her father built for her the tower,

which was wantonly destroyed by the local authorities in 1860. It is,

however, more commonly believed that the tower was erected by the Muham¬

madans in 1271 on the site of the principal Hindu temple, to commemorate

the final reduction of the town in the reign of Nasir-ud-din Mahmud.

Possibly it had been built by the Raja and was only enlarged or otherwise

altered by the conquerors.

Eighty years before the fall of Kol, viz., in 1193, the Dor line of

Rajas at Baran had come to an end in the person of Chandra Sen, who

was killed while defending: his fort against the army of Shahab-ud-dm

Muhammad Ghori. Before he fell, an arrow from his bow had slain one

of the leaders of the invading force, a certain Khwaja Lai Ali, whose tomb

across the Kalindi is still reverenced as that of a martyr. The gate was

opened to the enemy by two traitors, one a Brahman named Hira Sinh, the

other Ajaypal, himself a Dor, who probably hoped by this act of perfidy

to secure recognition as the future head of the family and the most fitting

person to continue its hereditary honours. All, however, that he actually

obtained from the conqueror was the subordinate post of Chaudhari, with the

sonorous title of Malik Muhammad Daraz Kadd ; the latter being the reward

for his profession of Islam ; while the administration of the new province

was conferred upon a fellow-countryman of the victorious General, Kazi

282

F. S. Growse — The town of Bulan dshahr.

[tfo. 3,

Nur-ud-din of Ghazni. The descendants of this, the first Muhammadan

Governor of Baran, still occupy a respectable position in the town and

retain their ancestor’s title of Kazi. Similarly, Ajaypal’s descendants still

style themselves Chaudharis ; though the name by which they are more

commonly designated is Tantas, or Mischief-makers. These unworthy

representatives of a long line of independent princes form a fairly numerous

section of the community but are badly off and of ill-reputation. They

are one and all Muhammadans. During the raid of the Sikhs in 1780

they opened the gate of the town to them, in imitation of their recreant

forefather ; and again in the Mutiny of 1857 they were the first to plunder

the bazar. The social distinction of the old family has been better trans¬

mitted in the female line by a daughter of the house, who was given in

marriage to the Bargujar chief Pratap Sinh, who came up from Rajaur,

now in the Jaypur State, to join Prithi Raj of Delhi in his attack on

Mahoba. After the conquest he returned no more to his own country,

but settled down at Pahasu, where he is now represented by his direct

descendant Nawab Sir Faiz Ali Ivhan, Iv. C. S. I.

To sum up the Hindu Annals of Baran. It was founded about a

thousand years before Christ by Tomar chiefs from Delhi : under the

Indo-Scythian and Gupta dynasties, at the commencement of our era, it

was a place of some wealth and importance ; and for a considerable period^

iip to the ninth or tenth century it included in its population a community

of Buddhists. About the year 800 A. D. the Dor Rajputs rose to power,

and their leader Chandraka, having established himself as a Raja, made

Baran his capital. His descendant in the sixth degree, Hara-datta, founded

the town of Hapur and ruled an extensive tract of country including

Mirath and Kol ; but, in 1017, being hard-pressed by Mahmud’s invading

force, he submitted to terms, which lost him the confidence of his people.

On the withdrawal of the conqueror, domestic disturbances ensued, but — -

after a temporary usurpation — the old dynasty was eventually restored

and occupied the throne till the year 1193, when Raja Chandra Sen, the

last of the line, was defeated and killed by the army of Kutb-ud-din, and

the Fort then passed into the hands of the Muhammadans.

Under the new administration it would seem to have been still considered

a place of military importance. On the accession of Kai Kubad in 1286 A. D.

Malik Tuzaki, a man of high rank and importance in Balban’s reign and

Muster-master General ( A'riz-i-mamdlih ) held the fief of Baran, and after

be had been got rid of by the favourite Nizam-ud-din, his appointments

were conferred upon Jalal-ud-din, who in 1290 became Emperor. His

murderer and successor Ala-ud-din, also made it for some days his head¬

quarters before he marched upon Delhi, and it was here that he received

the submission of all the principal nobles, whom he bought over from

1883.]

F. S. Growse — The town of Bulandshahr.

2S3

the cause of the rightful heir by a lavish distribution of the treasure that

he had captured at Deogiri ; the leaders receiving twenty, thirty, and

some even fifty mans of gold, and all their soldiers 300 tankas each.* He

is described as holding his levy in the open space before the town mosque.

The present Jama Masjid was not built till 440 years later, but an earlier

structure probably preceded it on the same site. This is on the verge of

the hill, but in front of the main gate there is an area of considerable ex¬

tent, which is fairly level, though now completely covered by a labyrinth

of narrow lanes, with mud hovels reaching up to the very walls of the

Mosque enclosure and even built on to the staircase, which is its only ap¬

proach. As the claim for compensation cannot involve any very large

outlay, I now propose to pull down some of these miserable tenements,

and again open out a small square in front of what is the principal

religious building in the place. That such encroachments should have been

allowed, or rather committed by the Muhammadan guardians of the Mosque

is an illustration of the carelessness with which the citizens of an Indian

town ordinarily administer their own public institutions.

The new Governor, Mayid-ul-Mulk, whom Ala-ud-din put in charge

of Baran, — though of no celebrity himself — is noteworthy as the father

of the only distinguished literary character that the town has produced.

This was Zia-ud-din, called Barani from the place of his birth, who wrote

the history entitled ‘ the Chronicles of Firoz Shah. ’ It is brought down

to the year 1356, at which time the author was 74 years of age. His

grave, according to local tradition, is at the spot called the Kala Am —

from an old mangoe tree that once stood there— at the junction of the six

roads near the District Courts. Every Thursday evening a cloth is

spread over it and lamps are lit at its head, but there is no monument nor

inscription. Indeed, it is asserted by some authorities that he was not

buried at Bulandshahr at all, but at Delhi, in the Nizam-ud-din cemetery,

near his friend, the poet Amir Khusro, who died in 1325. Prof. Bloch-

mann, a thoroughly competent critic, speaks of him as a most mise¬

rable writer, so far as style is concerned ; his language being Hindi lite¬

rally translated into Persian. As regards matter, however, which in an

historical authority is the point of most importance, he is by no means

devoid of merit. Despite his literary defects, Prof. Dowson describes him

as a vigorous, plain-spoken writer, who may unhesitatingly be indicated

as the one most acceptable to a general reader, and whose pages may be

read without that feeling of weariness and oppression which the writings

of his fellows too commonly produce. His work was intended as a con-

* The tanka is the name for the current coinage of the time, the exact value of

which is uncertain. Fifty mans of gold would he more than 35 cwt. !

284

F. S. Growse — The town of Bulandshahr.

[No. 3,

tinuation of the Tabakat-i-Nasiri of Minhaj-ud-din Jurjani. It con¬

tains the history of eight kings, Balban, Kai-Kubad, the three Ivhiljis, the

two Tughlaks and Firoz Shah. The history of the last reign, though the

one which gives its title to the book, is incomplete and of less interest

than the other portions, the value of the narrative being affected by a

strain of excessive adulation. He is said to have died in such poverty

that even a proper shroud could not be provided for his body, which had

to be wrapt up in a piece of coarse matting. But the truth of this tradi¬

tion mav be questioned ; the continuer of his history expressly states that

his death was greatly regretted by the Emperor, and both his father and

uncle had occupied important positions at Court, the latter, Ala-ul-Mulk

having been the Kotwal, or Police Magistrate, of Delhi.

In the reign of Firoz’s predecessor, Muhammad Tughlak, (1325 to

135 L A. D.) the town of Baran suffered dearly for its proximity to Delhi,

being one of the first places where that sanguinary tyrant diverted him¬

self with his favourite spectacle of an unprovoked massacre. In the great

famine of 1344, after the removal of the Capital to Deogiri, the country

of the Doab — to use the language of the local historian — “ was brought

to great distress by heavy taxation and numerous cesses. The Hindus

burnt their corn-stacks and turned their cattle out to roam at large. Under

the orders of the Sultan the Collectors and Magistrates laid waste the

country, killing some of the land-owners and village chiefs and blinding

others. Such of the unhappy inhabitants as escaped formed themselves

into bands and took refuge in the jungles. So the country was ruined.

The Sultan then proceeded on a hunting excursion to Baran, where —

under his directions — the whole of that neighbourhood was plundered

and laid waste and the heads of the Hindus were brought in and hung

upon the ramparts of the Baran Fort. ” Though it was a matter of

impossibility to collect the revenue, the Hindu Governor was put to death

for his failure to do so, and a vast number of his kinsmen, a Baniya clan

called Baran-walas, whose ancestors had been settled in the town by its

first founders, were driven into exile Some of them emigrated to Mura-

dabad, while others fled as far as Azamgarh and Ghazipur, in both which

districts they are now more numerously represented than in their original

home.

Of those who remained at Baran, one family in the reign of Akbar

acquired for themselves the post of hereditary Kanungo ; and one of their

descendants, Shaikh Roshan, who was converted to Islam by the persuasive

arguments of Aurangzeb, founded the suburb — as it then was — called

Shaikh Sarae, which now by the increase of population has become a very

central locality. Of the same stock are Munshi Shahab-ud-din, the build¬

er of the large mosque, which from its lofty situation is the -most con-

1883.]

F. S. Growse — The town of Bulandshahr.

285

spicuous feature in any general view of the town, and the late Masum

Ali Khan of Muradabad, whose son Munawar Ali Khan, being of weak

intellect, is under the charge of the Court of Wards. The handsome range

of shops in the market-place, built in 1882, is part of his estate.

Of the Baranwalas, who adhered to the old faith, the most conspicuous

person in the present century was Sital Das, who about the year 1830,

built that portion of lower Bulandshahr which is known as Sital Ganj, and

is now the property of his son Prem-sukh Das.

In spite of the massacre and famine and wholesale expulsion of the

inhabitants that took place in 1341, Zia-ud-din relates that his native

town rapidly revived under the more benign sway of Firoz Shah. At some

time during his reign, which lasted from 1351 to 1388, that Emperor founded

Khurja, which has become the largest commercial mart in the neighbourhood;

a part of it is still called Firoz Ganj. More than a century later, Sikandar

Lodi, about the year 1500, founded what are now the two considerable

towns of Sikandarabad and Shikarpur, at which latter place — as the name

indicates — he had a small hunting-box for occasional residence. The only

two other towns of any size in the district, Anupshahr and Jahangirabad,

were founded later still, in the reign of Jahangir ; which shows, how

essentially modern the present centres of population are, excepting only

Bulandshahr itself and Dibhai : the latter is occasionally mentioned by

the early Muhammadan historians as a muster-place for troops.

The prosperity which the country had enjoyed during the long and set¬

tled reign of Firoz was followed by a series of fratricidal struggles between

his sons and grandsons for the possession of the throne, and then by the ruin

and rapine of foreign invasion. On the capture of Delhi by the Mughals

in 1398, the puppet Emperor Mahmud fled away to Gujarat, while the

Regent, Ikbal Khan, took refuge in the fort of Baran. Timur soon

returned home with his plunder to Samarkand, and on his departure

Nusrat Shah — also one of Firoz’s grandsons — marched up from Merath

and re-occupied the ruins of the capital, whence he sent a large force

“ under Shahab Khan to Baran to overpower Ikbal.* On the way, a band

of Hindu foot-soldiers fell upon him in the night and killed him and

dispersed his followers. As soon as Ikbal heard of this, and that the ele¬

phants also had been abandoned, he hastened to the spot and secured them.

From that time his power and renown increased daily, and forces gathered

round him, while Nusrat Khan grew weaker and weaker, so that after a

stay of ten months he was able to leave Baran and recover possession of

Delhi.” He also got into his hands the person of the Sultan Mahmud,

whom he afterwards took to Kanauj and left there, while he himself

*

P P

Tarikh i Mubarak Shah of Yuhya bin Ahmad.

286 F. S. Growse — The town of Bulandshahr. [No. 3,

reigned as the real sovereign of the country, till 1405, when he fell in

battle at Multan.

Two years later, viz., in 1407, Ibrahim Shah, the king of Jaunpur,

marched up against Delhi, where Mahmud was then enthroned ; but hear¬

ing of disturbances at home he hastened back, leaving Marhaba Khan,

a protegfi of Ikbal’s, with a small force, at Baran. After six months

Mahmud marched from Delhi against Baran, and Marhaba Khan came

out to meet him ; but in the battle that ensued he was beaten and driven

back into the fort, where the Imperial troops followed and killed him.

The next mention of Baran is in 1421, during the reign of Khizr

Khan, the first of the Saiyid dynasty, when the Vazxr, Taj-ul-Mulk, march¬

ed through it on his way to suppress a rebellion in Kol and Etawa. Again,

in 1434, after the assassination of Khizr’s successor, Mubarak Shah,

an army of the Hindu Vazir’s, Sarwar-ul-Mulk, under the command of

Kamal-ud-din, proceeding against Allah Dad, the chief of the insurgents,

halted at Baran, the half-way station between the Jamuna and the Ganges.

Allah Dad withdrew to Ahar, where the two generals came to an under¬

standing and turned their combined forces against the Yazir, whom they

besieged in the fort of Delhi, where shortly afterwards he was slain in an

attempt on the life of the Emperor Muhammad Shah.

The earliest Persian inscription in Bulandshahr is a tablet let into

the wall of the Id-gab, which records the construction of a mosque by

Nek-bakht Khan, in the year 943 Uijri (1536 A. D.) in the reign of the

Emperor Humayun and during the governorship “ of the chaste Bano

Begam.” The fact of a female Governor is somewhat curious. At Til

Begampur, fifteen miles north-west of Bulandshahr, is a bathing-well (or

hdoli) with an inscription dated only two years later, viz., 1538, in which

the local Governor’s name is given as Amir Fakir Ali Beg. As an I'd-gali

would not be styled a mosque, the stone must have been brought from

elsewhere, but probably from the immediate neighbourhood. Fragments

of an Arabic inscription in Cufie characters have also been inserted in the same

wall at regular distances, to serve as decorative panels, and the later Persian

inscription seems to have been utilized with simply the same object. The

appearance of this building, with its blackened and crumbling masonry,

is scarcely creditable to the Muhammadan community, who should take

some steps to clean and repair it.

About 100 yards to the east of the Id-gah and the adjoining English

cemetery, is a square-domed tomb of substantial brick masonry and some

size, but no particular architectural merit, with a Persian inscription. This

records its completion during the reign of the Emperor Akbar, in the year

1006 Uijri (1597 A. D.) as a monument to the memory of Miyan Bahlol

Khan Bahadur. He belonged to the Bahlim clan of Shaikhs, and his

1883.]

F. S. Growse — The town of Bulandshahr.

287

descendants continued in possession of an extensive tract of freehold land

in the suburbs, till 1857, when they forfeited it by their complicity with

the mutineers. One of the outlying hamlets, included in the straggling

parish of Baran, still bears the name of Bahlxmpura.

At the beginning of the seventeenth century, and probably for some

years later, Baran continued to be the capital of a dastur, or district, in the

Home Sarkar, or Division, of the Delhi Suba, or Province. But the town

must have rapidly sunk into insignificance, and eventually it became a

dependency of Kol. It receives no further mention in any historical

record after the Ain-i-Akbari, and the only event of even local interest,

that forms a landmark in the later Muhammadan period, is the founda¬

tion of the Jama Masjid in 1730. This was built by Sabit Ivhan, who

achieved special distinction as Governor of Ivol. There he is commemorat¬

ed by his restoration of the old Fort, which he called Sabit- garb ; by a

dargah , bearing date 1707 ; and still more by the great mosque in the

centre of the town, which he completed in 1728. His tomb is in the

garden now known as Kinloch-ganj. The Bulandshahr mosque is of much

less pretension and, being unfinished at the time of his death, remained so

till more than a hundred years later. His lineal descendants at Aligarh,

however poor their circumstances, and most of them are mere labourers,

are distinguished by the personal title of Nawab, in remembrance of their

ancestor. In Bulandshahr his success as a proselytizer is evidenced by

several families — originally Thakurs of the Bargujar clan — who were led

by him to adopt Muhammadanism and who have ever since borne the

name of Sabit-khani.

Fifty years later, viz., in 1780, Baran had its final fall, being then

abandoned even by the Amil, or subordinate revenue official, who had

hitherto made it his head-quarters. The spot that he selected in pre¬

ference was on the opposite side of the river, some six miles to the north.

The village had previously been known as Rathora ; but the new Fort was

placed by its founder, the Amil Hak-dad Khan, under the patronage of a

saint, popularly styled Malamal, who had a shrine close by, and it received

the name of Malagarh. In 1857 Hak-dad’s grandson, Walidad Khan,

put himself at the head of the revolt and proved a formidable opponent.

He was connected with the royal family of Delhi — his sister’s daughter

having been married to one of the king’s sons — and he had thus obtained

from Muhammad Bahadur a formal grant appointing him Subadar of this

part of the Doab. Malagarh became the resort of all the disaffected from

far and near ; his troops overran the whole neighbourhood, fought several

sharp engagements, and for a few days occupied the town of Bulandshahr.

On the '28th of September they were driven out, and their leader escaped

across the Ganges. The demolition of his fort at Malagarh, which took

288 F. S. Growse- — The toivn of Bulandshahr. [No. 3,

place a few days later, was accompanied by a deplorable accident. The

officer who fired the mine was Lieut. Home of the Engineers, one of the

heroes of the Kashmir Gate, and he was killed by the explosion. His

body was interred in the Station Cemetery, where a handsome stone

monument forms a conspicuous object and records the untimely death of

the first Y. C. in India.

INDEX

,

TO

JOURNAL, ASIATIC SOCIETY OF BENGAL, Vol. LII,

Part I, for 1883.

^BUL MUJAHID, a kunyat, p. 212.

Abul MuzafEar, a kunyat, p. 212.

Achyuta Sagar, inscription from, p. 234.

Adoni pagoda coins, p. 52.

Akbar, rupees of the Months of the

Ilahi years of, p. 97.

Annals, Hindu, of Baran, p. 282.

Antiquities of Bulandshahr, p. 272.

5 ARAN, a name of Bulandshahr, p. 271.

- , Hindu Annals of, p. 282.

Bayne, R. Roskell, notes ou the remains

of Old Port William, p. 105.

Beames, John, notes on the History of

Orissa, p. 231.

Bengal, Muhammadan Coins of, p. 211.

Bidie, Surgeon Major G., the pagoda or

Varaha coins of Southern India, p. 33.

Bihari Declension and Conjugation, es¬

says on, No. I, p. 119.

- , Note on, p. 159.

Bijayanagar Pagoda coins, see Vijaya-

nagar.

Buddhist Coins of South India, p. 36.

Bulandshahr, the town of, p. 270.

- antiquities of, p. 272.

CaRNAC, J. H. RIVETT-, on stone

implements from the N, W. P., p. 221.

Cash, a species of coin, pp. 33, 35.

Celts, p. 228.

Chalukyan pagodas, p. 33.

- coins, p. 37.

Childbirth, superstitions of, in the Pan¬

jab, p. 205.

Chiteldroog pagoda coins, p. 47.

Coins, Pagoda or Varaha, of Southern

India, p. 33.

Coins, supplementary to Thomas’ “Chro¬

nicles of the Pathan Kings of Delhi”,

No. Ill, p. 55.

- , of the Ilahi years of Akbar, p. 97.

- , Muhammadan, of Bengal, p. 211.

- , of Mahmud Shah, of Delhi, p. 213.

Conjugation, essays on Bihari, p. 119.

- , note on, p. 159.

Cunningham, Major Gen. A., Relics from

Ancient Persia, No. II, p. 64.

- , do., No. Ill, p. 258.

J^ECLENSION, essays on Bihari, p. 119.

- — — - — note on, p. 159.

Deoghar, on the Temples of, p. 164.

- , Sanskrit Inscriptions in tem¬

ples of, is. 186.

Dor Rajas, of Bulandshahr, p. 277.

- , genealogy of, p. 279.

East INDIA COMPANY’S pagodas,

p. 48.

F ANAMS, a species of coin, pp. 33, 35.

Fisher, F. H., on folklore from Eastern

Gorakhpur, p. 1.

Folklore from Eastern Gorakhpur, p. 1.

Folktales from the Upper Panjab, p. 81.

Fort William, notes on remains of old,

p. 105.

Fraser, Hugh, folklore from Eastern Go¬

rakhpur, p. 1.

(jA-JAPATI pagodas, p. 33.

- coins, p. 40.

Gandikata pagoda coins, p. 46.

Gonardiya, a name of Patanjali, p. 261.

290

Index.

Gonikaputra, a name of Patanjali, p. 261.

Gorakhpur, folklore from Eastern, p. 1.

Grierson, G. A., notes on dialectic pecu¬

liarities in folklore from Eastern Go¬

rakhpur, p. 20.

- , essays on Bihari Declen¬

sion and Conjugation, No. I, p. 119.

Growse, P. S., the town of Bulandshahr,

p. 270.

Hammer stones, p. 224.

Hindu Annals of Baran, p. 282.

History of Orissa, Notes on, p. 231.

Hoernle, Dr. A. F. Rudolf, note on

Bihari Declension, p. 159.

- — — - ■, on Mu¬

hammadan Coins of Bengal, p. 211.

Hoshiyarpur, in the Panjab, supersti¬

tions at, p. 205.

Hhn, a species of coin, p. 35.

IlahL years, rupees of the months of,

p. 97.

Implements of Stone, from the N. W.

Provinces of India, p. 221.

Inscription, Sanskrit, form Lalitpur,

note on, p. 67.

- , on Temples of

Deoghar, p. 186.

- , from Achyuta

Sagar, p. 234.

J ATS of the Panjab, superstitions of,

p. 205.

KuNYAT, on the use of, p. 212.

LaLITPUR, note on a Sanskrit inscrip¬

tion from, p. 67.

Lingayat Pagoda coins, p. 40.

Mahmud SHAH of Delhi, coin of,

p. 213.

Memorandum on the superstitions con¬

nected with childbirth, &c., in the

Panjab, p. 205.

Mitra, Dr. R., notes on a Sanskrit In¬

scription from Lalitpur, p. 67.

- , on the Temples of Deo¬

ghar, p. 164.

- , on Gonikaputra and Go-

nardiya, as names of Patanjali, p. 261.

Muhammadan Coins of Bengal, p. 211.

Mysoro pagoda coins, p. 53.

N ASIRU-D-DfN MAHMUD SHAH I,

Coins of, p. 211.

Nonambavadi Pagodas, p. 33. j

- coins, p. 38.

Old PORT WILLIAM, notes on Re¬

mains of, p. 105.

Orissa, notes on the History of, p. 231.

P AGODA or Varaha Coins of Southern

India, p. 33.

Panjab, folktales from the Upper, p. 81.

- , superstitions connected with

Childbirth, etc., p. 205.

Patanjali, on his names Gonikaputra and

Gonardiya, p. 261.

Pathan coins, supplementary to Thomas’

work, No. Ill, p. 55.

Persia, relics from, pp. 64, 258.

f\.ELICS from Ancient Persia, in Gold,

Silver and Copper, No. II, p. 64.

- , No. Ill, p. 258.

Remains of the Old Fort William, notes

on, p. 105.

Rodgers, Chas. J., coins supplementary

to Thomas’ “ Chronicles of the Pathan

Kings of Delhi ” ; No. Ill, p. 55.

— - , rupees of the Months

of the Ilahi years of Akbar, p. 97.

Rultnu-d-din Barbak Shah, coins of,

p. 211.

Rupees of the Months of the Ilahi years

of Akbar, p. 97.

SaNSKRIT Inscription from Lalitpur,

note on, p. 67.

- , on Temples of

Deoghar, p. 186.

Sculptures from Bulandshahr, p. 273.

Southern India, Pagoda or Varaha coins

of, p. 33.

Stone implements from the N. W. Pro¬

vinces, p, 221.

Superstitions, connected with Childbirth,

etc., in the Panjab, p. 205.

Swynnerton, Rev. C., folktales from the

Upper Panjab, p. 81.

Tankas, a species of coins, p. 33.

Temples, of Deoghar, p. 164.

Varaha or Pagoda coins of Southern

India, p. 33.

Vijayauagar pagoda coins, p. 41.

Journal As. Soc. Bengal. V'ol, XjII., Pt. I. 1£S3.

PL,m.

LAtb. Sc Printed by W. Newman Sc Co., Ld., Calcutta.

rupees oe mahmud shah i of Bengal.

Journal As. Soo. Bengal. Vol, L>II., Pt. I. 1863

PLXW .

Intb. Sc Printed by W. Newman & Co., X,d., Calcutta.

RUPEES OE BARBA.K SHAH OF BSNGAE.

Jo-urn. As. Soc. Benge.. Vol LTI, PK 1.1833.

PLATE XVTTT.

From a Photograph.

STONE IMPLEMENTS FROM THE N. W. PROVINCES OF INDIA.--J. H. RIVETT-CARNAC.

I XVH in photo :)

•i. • „

-9 size

photo: L-MaL- XX.)

< Xl id photo. 1

(IX m photo A

Lithographed at the Survey of India Offices, Calcutta, September 1883.

section

(VII in photo:)

( XVI in photo:)

section

From a Photograph.

Journ. As. Soc. Beng., Vol. LII. Pt. 1, 1833.

PLATE XIX.

STONE IMPLEMENTS PROM THE N. W. PROVINCES OP INDIA.--J. H. RI VETT-CARNAC.

Lithographed at the Survey of India Offices, Calcutta, September 1833.

Journ. As. Soc. Beng., Vol. LII, Pt. 1, 1833.

PLATE XX

From Photograph.

STONE IMPLEMENTS PROM THE N. W. PROVINCES OP INDIA.— J. H. RIVETT-CARNAC.

(Specimens are all to scale. See measure in inches).

Journal, As. Soc., Bengal, Vol. X J 1 1 , Pt. X., 1883.

Pijoa.

GOLD CYLINDER. SYMBOLS OF ORMAZD.

Lith. & Printed by W. Newman & Co., Ld.. Calcutta.

RELICS FROM ANCIENT PERSIA.