________________
NOVEMBER, 1902.)
PROGRESS OF EXCAVATIONS AT PATNA.
487
REPORTS MADE DURING THE PROGRESS OF EXCAVATIONS AT PATNA.
BY BABU P. O. MUKHARJI.
REPORT No. I. - DECEMBER, 1898. Y REACHED Patna on the 7th December, 1896, under orders from Government, with general 1 instructions to consult Mr. Mills, P.W.D. Engineer, from time to time. Making a prelimiDary inspection and studying Dr. Waddell's Report and other papers on the subject, I commenced work on the 11th, on the south bank of the Kallu Pokhra, Kumrahar, where I traced vestiges of old brick-walls; and on the 13th, excavation was commenced on the north-west corner of the Chaman Talao, Kumrahar, where some brick-walling, which appeared to be rotten, being as soft as the surrounding earth, was exhumed before long. On the 15th, I began excavating the mound known as Laskari Bibi; so called, because her grave crowns it; where, on the second day, I came down upon some walls. Being successful so far, I made bold to break ground on a fourth mound, about a mile south of the Bankipore Railway Station, where, on a preliminary visit on the 17th, I saw two large stones (sandstone of the Chunâr type), which appeared to be rough-hewn architraves, belonging to some baildings, most probably of the Asoka period. A letter from Dr. Waddell directed my attention to Buland Bagh, Sandalpur, where, in 1895, a colossal capital, carved with ornaments of the Asôka period, was found. Here I commenced excavations, as also at the field and garden on the south of the Chaman Talâo, where, under a big tamarind tree, I saw a carved coping stone (Fig. 1) that originally belonged to a Buddhistic rail.
FIG.
COPING STONE
The excavations at these places fully occupied my attention all the month; for keeping in view my intention to produce the best results at the least cost, I gaided the workmen daily, and did not allow them to dig unnecessarily, for which reason the contractors grumbled. The contract system did not satisfy me, the coolies breaking bricks and small relics now and then, and the contractors being careless, my strict injunctions notwithstanding; so I soon had recourse to daily labour. I had no time to explore other ancient sitos, except the Dargah and the Jamuna Dhih, west of the Bankipore Railway Station.
The extensive Dargâh, which stands on the high ground, on the north side of the large and rather sacred tank, called Gunsar or Sagar, appoars to contain several relics of the Mauryan period. In the passage of the inner entrance I saw the carved side of severi rails placed opside down. I secured two relics here une a rail post, with a husband and wife in an amatory attitude under a tree carved, and the other a winged but headless lion, whose tail, now gone, was that of a makara (crocodile). On a mound west of the Dargah, which is crowned with some Muhammadan graves, is a tall pillar of stone, nicely carved with ornaments, which is inscribed with shell characters, that are known to have always marked the Aska and Gupta monuments.
The results of the excavations.
The stúpa-like mound, which contains the grave of Luskart Bibi, showed walls on its north-eastern face on the second day of excavation, which, however, yielded pure earth above
