Indian Antiquary Vol 32

Author(s): Richard Carnac Temple
Publisher: Swati Publications

Page 85

FXBRUARY, 1903.)
PROGRESS OF EXCAVATIONS AT PATNA.
79
the ground afresh to build the wikára, the foundation walls of which I exhumed. When Hiuen Tsiang visited Pataliputra, the restored monuments were again in decay. And during the period of Muhammadan supremacy, the work of vandalism was completed; so that above the black soil * thick stratum of rubble-bricks, about 10 feet in depth, was formed.
It is rather surprising that though several hundreds of fragments of the Abóka pillar have been found, no inseribed piece has yet been discovered. And since the Chinese travellers mention only one edict pillar at Nilt, the birthplace of Asöke, about 3 li, more than half a mile, south of the old city (the two others being simply noted, and not describod as inscribed), a doubt arises in my mind whether the pillar, of which I exhumed fragments, ever had any inscription. Where was this N11 P If Patna be the old city, on which Shør Shah constructed his town, then the site of Nili must be somowhere near Rapipor, south of the railway station.
CHAMAN TALAO
Arous
TUNAELA
EXCAVATIONS OF JANUARY 1897
The high monnd just west of the Chaman TALAO
claimed my attention ; for 16.6.
Dr. Waddell had directed me to go down as far as I could, this site being the likely one to yield important results as to the monuments of Nanda and Chandraguta. So I dug deep both on the north and on the south, about 10 feet down, and, going down about 3 feet further, sprung two tunne's, so as to meet each other at the midmost point (Fig. 6). In excavating I found, in the middle pit on the south side, some walls, drains, and holes (Fig. 6). The holes appear to have been made by some vandals of old, who, springing wells and tracing the then existing walls, took out all the bricks they could lay hands on, just as they are now doing at Bihar, Bakra, Besad (ancient Vaisäll) and
other places. The walls do not exactly run parallel to one another. There is a drain, 6 inches wide, just on the north side of the southern wall. The third
K. -------22-6 ----- → wall appeared to be circular, on the north of
FIG. 7.
TIC which there was a niche. The circular wall had also a drain on its outer face. Beyond the niche I drove a tunnel towards the north, to meet the other coming from the north. At. first terrace was found, about 10 feet below ! the level of the mound; I then went 3 feet farther down, bat beyond the usual rubble and some unimportant terra-cotta work, nothing was discovered. In the northern pit I went down about 12 feet, and then commenced the
DETAIL SKETCH tunnelling. Here also a terrace and a wall
# SHOWING WALLS. were traced (Fig. 6, and for details, Fig. 7).