________________
228
THE INDIAN ANTIQUARY.
and on the south side I came upon what I take to have been the grand approach to the shrine. The remains of this extend to some distance beyond the outer enclosure, and at the entrance to the quadrangular court the remains of colossal figures were come upon. Their size may be estimated from the feet of one which were in good preservation, each foot measured about 23 inches in length. I regret that time. did not permit of a more extended examination of this part of the remains. Neither was I able to explore the mounds on the west which I supposed to have been the monastery attached to the tope.
This tope, like all those in Afghanistan, had a thick coating of plaster all over it. The Corinthian capital, fragments only of which were found in the earth where they had fallen, had been all moulded in plaster, and the probability is that the whole had been decorated with colour.
[AUGUST, 1879.
perfect condition. Some of the Indo-Skythian coins bore the name of Ooerki. So far as these coins go to prove a date, they show that the tope could not be older than the second century. My own impression would be that it is some centuries later.
The dust I very carefully collected, and it was placed in a bottle, which, with the Reliquary and coins, were all sent to Lord Lytton. They have since been handed over to General Cunningham, whose knowledge connected with these subjects will enable him to determine their ultimate destination. Carefully measured plans and sections were made of the explorations for the Archeological Survey Department by Lientenant Mayne, R.E.
The tunnel was at last driven into the centre. It was about 45 feet long and about 6 or 7 feet high. The mass of the building was composed of large water worn boulders embedded in mud, and it was hard work to dig them out. Fortunately the tunnel came direct upon the central cell, the inner shrine, over which the whole of this vast mass of building had been constructed. Its form was a cube, about 16 inches on each side, and formed by layers of slate about half an inch thick, two larger and thinner slates with mud between formed the covering.
This cell contained about a couple of handfuls of dust, perhaps ashes, but I noticed no bones. Prominent on the top of the dust was an object which turned out to be a Tuwis, or Reliquary, about four inches long, of gold, and set with stones. In this were two gold coins, and a small dark object, which I naturally presumed to be a relic. Among the ashes were eighteen more gold coins, making twenty altogether. Most of these coins were Baktrian or Indo-Skythian, but there were two or three belonging to the Roman Emperors. One belonged to the reign of Domitian, with the words Domitianvs Avgvstvs, and on the reverse Germanicus Cos xv. Another had a very perfect portrait of Trajan, and bore the words Imp.Caesar. Traianoptim. Avg. Germ.D.ac. And on the reverse, Regna Adsignata. Another seemed to belong to the wife of Hadrian, for it had on it the words Sabina Avgvsta. These coins were all in very
At the village of Gunda Chismeh, about a mile to the west of Ahin Posh, there was a mound which had not been touched. It seemed a tempting object to attack, and I got a small working party detached, who commenced operations. The tunnel into the centre in this case came upon no deposit, thus confirming Masson's experience, but the outside explorations gave some important details as to Archi. tecture. The square base was about 65 feet on the side, each divided by 10 pilasters. This being a much smaller tope than the other, it had only one stair of approach on the north side. A terrace was brought. to light which went round the whole of the square base, and each side of the stair. This terrace is 3 feet 6 inches high, and 4 feet wide, and is ornamented with small pilasters over its whole extent. On finding this peculiar feature in the Gunda Chismeh tope, I caused excavations to be made at Ahin Posh to see if it existed there, and although two trenches were made at different places, I was not fortunate; no trace could be found. Luckily Dr. Amesbury, attached to the Sappers and Miners, inade some excavations after I went on with the advance to Gandamak, and he came upon the terrace, hence I presume that this was one of the characteristics of the Afghanistan topes. In the case of Ahin Posh it was 6 feet wide, and 6 feet 6 inches high. None of the masonry of the circular part of the tope was come upon, but I should guess that the diameter may have been about 50 feet. On the south of this tope is a quadrangular mound which is no doubt the remains of the Vihâra, which was connected
