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THE INDIAN ANTIQUARY.
That it was equally in use by Hindu princes appears by the following passage from the 19th book of Chând's Prithiraj Rásau, where the poet describes Padam Sin, the father of the fair Padmavati, as translated by Mr. Beames:"With many standards very splendid,
Song, and music playing five times a day,t Mounting ten thousand horses
With golden hoofs and jewelled trappings, &c. &c.
But, whether originating in India or Persia, it seems to have been an ancient Aryan institution, and is probably referred to in the 3rd chapter of the Book of Daniel, where the people were commanded to fall down and worship the golden image at the time when they heard the "sound of the cornet, flute, harp, sackbut, psaltery, dulcimer, and all kinds of music." In the course of investigating the titles of observed in cases of calamity."
[AUGUST, 1876.
inám lands on the first occupation of the Southern Maratha Country, instances occurred of grants, sometimes of whole villages, originally made in behalf of favoured individuals to support the dignity of the noubat. It is still enjoyed by several Sardârs in the Dakhan, and is now usually played only twice or thrice a day in a chamber called the noubatkhand, over the outer gateway of the mahal, or palace-court.
A touching incident connected with the noubat occurred during the Cabul disaster. When the news of Sir William Macnaghten's assassination reached Madras, the Nawab of the Karnâtak wrote to Lord Elphinstone, on the 30th January 1844, to say that "His Highness had ordered the Sirkar Noubat to cease for the usual period, according to the Musalmân custom,
NOTES ON SOME LITTLE-KNOWN BAUDDHA EXCAVATIONS IN THE PUNA COLLECTORATE.
BY G. H. JOHNS, Bo. C.S. Nánoli-Shelárwadi-Bhimchandra.
A short time ago I visited the groups of caves at Nanoli, Shelârwâdî, and Bhâmchandra, in the Punâ collectorate; and, though the excavations of the last named are alone of special merit, it may not be uninteresting to give a short account of all the three sets.
The two first mentioned are in the Mâwal tâlukâ to the north and south of the town of Talegâm, and the Bhâmchandra hill is in the tálukâ of Khed, a few miles to the north-east of Nanoli.
The village of Nanoli lies three miles to the north of Talegâṁ on the left bank of the Indrayani, and the caves are in the escarpment of the hill a mile north of the village. A steep climb three-fourths up the hill brought me to the base of a high scarp facing south-west, skirting which I passed first a cistern and cell, and then reached a high flight of steps rudely out;
believe that it betokened his death and the accession of his successor. The ruse succeeded. So he continued the practice during the remainder of his reign, and it was adopted by his successors. But this narrative rests on no good authority, and is evidently apocryphal. Noubat also signifies time, period, change, and is applied, inter alia, to the change of a sentry, or the relief of a post. Among the examples given by Meninski is the Turkish noubat chalmak the flourish of military music at mounting or relieving guard.
At his palace gate, as is the custom with Indian
ascending them I entered a flat-roofed cave about eighteen feet square, with a height of upwards of seven feet; this excavation is now used as a temple to Feringabâi; a small cell is caverned out of the south wall or side. Further on, the escarpment is hollowed out into two small cells.
The Shelârwadi excavations are high up in the hill about two miles to the south-east of Talegâm, and are most of them in the village limits of Gahunje, and facing south-west.
The north-west caves are in Shelârwâḍi, which is a hamlet of Talegâm, and consist of two or three cells only; they are nearly inacceзsible, and have some fine champaka trees (Michelia Champaca) at the entrance. The southwest excavations possess more merit; at the base of the scarp out of which they are hollowed is a narrow footpath, pursuing which a two
princes: Jour. As. Soc. Beng. vol. XXXVIII. p. 145. An. other phrase, turiya nirghoshanam, frequently occurs in connection with mahasabda, clearly referring to instrumental music.
When a prisoner in Kitûr in 1824, my companion and myself were confined in a house close to the Noubatkhand, which resounded with the clang of the instruments three times a day, the performers not producing the slightest approach to a tune, but merely making,as much noise as possible.
