________________
JUNE, 1875.]
ARCHEOLOGICAL NOTES.
ARCHEOLOGICAL NOTES.
BY M. J. WALHOUSE, LATE M.C.S. (Continued from page 48.)
IV-Old Walls and Dykes. BR ESIDE cairns, dolmens, and stone-circles, there exist upon the Nilgiri Hills other structural antiquities of a different nature, namely, remains of fortifications and dwellings, the latter resembling the hut-circles and foundations so common on Dartmoor and elsewhere in England. At present the only notice of them known to me is in Major Congreve's paper on the Antiquities of the Nilgiri Hills in No. 32 of the Madras Journal of Literature and Science, where (at pages 97-98) he describes the vestiges of what he conjectures may have been an old capital of the Toda people situated in that locality so sacred to picnics, Fairlawn, near Uṭakamand. On the sides and at the bottom of that most picturesque and delightful valley Major Congreve discovered fortified mounds, long lines of ramparts, an altarrock encircled by stones, circular walls of uncemented stones enclosing spaces occupied by single and double rings of stones and heaps; and, by the stream that threads the valley, "long rows of ruined walls forming streets; and square foundations of buildings." I confess not having been able to trace out all the objects enumerated by Major Congreve, and the heaps and mounds by the stream seemed often hard to distinguish from fluviatile deposits; and his conclusion, that at this nearly central spot of the Nilgiris "stood the capital of the ancient Thankawar (Toda) people," appears as uucertain as the theory that links the cairns and dolmens with the Todas. The circular stone wall enclosing a space occupied by the stone-rings is noteworthy, as corresponding with traces of prehistoric fortified villages in England, such as Grimspound upon Dartmoor, where a massive wall surrounds a space filled with hut-circles. In all countries and ages similar conditions of life give rise to similar results, and in such fortified enclosures the ancient populations lived or took refuge on the approach of danger." In
"The whole surface of the Khanate is covered with homesteads, scattered at intervals along the canals. Towns in Khiva are consequently not numerous, and are inhabited solely by the servants of the State, by artizans, and by traders. The homesteads of the peasants approach the description given in the Vendidad of those of the ancient Iranians, and may be called small square mud forts, the sides of which vary in length from twenty to one hundred
several districts of the Madras Presidency the open plains are dotted with lofty square brick enclosures, into which less than a century ago the villagers used to fly with their families and herds on the approach of marauding Maisur or Marathi horsemen, and remain till the raid had swept by. Both in Telugu and Tâmil the word vălăsa (3) denotes "flying from home for fear of a hostile army," and in many tracts, especially in South Koimbatur, this ominous word enters into the names of the present villages, such as Papavalasu, Valasupalayam, &c., indicating where hurried fugitives had settled and built themselves new abodes.
But returning to the Nilgiris:-at the head of the Segur Pass immediately on entering the table-land, on the north side of the road a valley runs towards the well-known Malya mand;' it is enclosed between steep sides, and from its head a long narrow ridge or promontory runs along its middle towards the Segur road, ending abruptly in a steep dip, and both sides of the ridge descend in steep grassy slopes. Just before the terminal dip the saddle of this central ridge is crossed by a somewhat remarkable breastwork or fortification with walled enclosures at each end, thus :
O
B
161
D
From A to B there is a very massive wall, twenty-five yards long and two thick, of large stones and pieces of rock, including some natural
yards, according to the size of the family inhabiting them. The walls are about fifteen feet high, and within their enclosure are the different dwelling-houses-on the flat roofs of which the garnered crops are stored-and the various cattleyards and outhouses."-Correspondent of the Daily News. From such homesteads fortresses and walled towns doubt. less developed.
