Indian Antiquary Vol 02

SR No.: 032494
Original Sutra Author: N/A
Author: Jas Burgess
Publisher: Swati Publications
Publication Year: 1984
Total Pages: 428
Language: English
Classification: Book_English
File Size: 20 MB

Page 312

278
THE INDIAN ANTIQUARY.
for though shikáris, coolies, and guides mustered a dozen men, it took them from tolerably early in the morning till much past midday before the centre of the cairn was cleared. In accomplishing this, one remarkable feature was observed in the middle of the well there was a long large stone nearly four feet in length, of considerable thickness and tapering upwards, placed upright, filled in, and covered with the stones which filled the well. Whether this had any lingam, or other significance, I cannot say. After the circular central opening was at last cleared, nothing was found to reward the toil but some pieces of a large urn; a miniature buffalo's-head of hard-baked clay; a human head the size of a lime, of the same-the hair being represented by little dotted rings; and a small sickle-shaped iron-knife: the whole cairn
MUSALMAN REMAINS IN THE SOUTH KONKAN.
BY A. K. NAIRNE, Esq., Bo. C.S., BANDORA I.-Dâbhol.
The Southern Konkan is a district which up to the time of the Marâthâs possessed little importance, and is but seldom mentioned in the earlier histories. The Musalmans, who spread so gradually over India, would perhaps never have thought so barren and uncivilized a country worth conquering at all, if it had not been that its seaports gave travellers from Persia and Arabia easier access to the great cities of the Dekhan than could be had by any landjourney, and it must have been necessary also to keep open certain routes from these ports to the Dekhan, without which the command of the coast would have been of little value. It is probable that these ports and routes were but few, and from the fact of nearly all the Konkan forts having been rebuilt and enlarged by Sivaji, the traces of the Musalmân occupation are even less than they otherwise would be. Yet it is possible, by searching books of old history and travel, and at the same time examining the few remaining ruins, to get some idea of what this district was in the days of Musalmân ascendancy, ard to make out a few of the routes by which merchants and travellers from Persia, Arabia, and Europe found their way to the capital cities of
[Остовив, 1873.
had been built on the rock, and there were only two or three inches of soil at the bottom of the well. Considering the number of objects frequently yielded by cairns, I was much disappointed at this result. The hill-top was the most commanding of the many around, on almost every one of which a cairn was visible, and there was a magnificent prospect from it over Kotagiri and the low country beyond, extending to the distant Salem and Trichinâpalli hills. Hence one was led to conclude the cairn must be the burial-place of a great chieftain; and the enor mous labour expended in carrying such multitudes of stones up a hill that was trying to ascend empty-handed, raised the expectation they would cover a rich and various funeral deposit.
9, Randolph Crescent, London, June 1873.
Sadik Isfahani, in his Takwim al Buldan (cir. 1635) has: 'Dábul (13) a seaport of the Dekkan, long. 83°0′,
Bidar, Gulbarga, Bijapur, and Golkonda. What I have collected I now give with tolerable confidence that, as far as it goes, it is correct, but it is no more than an outline which may perhaps help others to prepare a complete local history.
In his translation of Ferishtah, Briggs, speaking of the Muhammadan invasion of the Konkan in 1429, says: "It seems very doubtful if the whole of the Konkan had ever been attacked before this period, and this exploit seems to have been rather a marauding expedition than a conquest. The ports of Dâbul and Chaul are spoken of at a very early period as in the hands of the Muhammadans: but whether they occupied much of the interior of the country appears very doubtful." As I have no acquaintance with the district in which Chaul lies, I shall confine myself to that part of the Southern Konkan between Bankot and Goa-that is, the Ratnagiri collectorate and a small part of the Savantvidi State, and on all accounts it will be proper to begin with the history of Dábul, as it is always spelt by the Musalman and early English writers, though it is written in Marathi Dabhol.
This 'ancient port is situated above 85 miles
10
lat. 45°30' Chivel (J) or Chaul, he places in long. 88 and lat. 38°, and Bidar (J) in long. 100°, lat. 47°.-ED.