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THE INDIAN ANTIQUARY.
[AUGUST, 1910.
Saivas, they were at any rate indifferent to Buddhism. The final blow to the faith was given by the Guptas, who were most orthodox Hindus, even to the extent of reviving the ancient royal afvamedhu ceremony. The Buddhist pilgrim from China, Hiuen Tsiang, who visited Central India in the seventh century (640-644 A.D.), remarks on this decay of Buddhism, on the emptiness of the religious houses and the absence of Buddhist princes'.
Buddhism, inherently unsuited to everyday life, continued to decay and was finally relegated to such secure retreats as were afforded by these caves situated in the heart of the forest; and these dwellings, far from large settlements, may possibly have been the very last refuges of the faith in all India.
The importance of Buddhism in this part of India is also shewn by the names of several local scholars of the faith which have come down to us. Between the fifth and seventh century A.D. Dharmaraksha, Guna-bhadra, Paramārtha (of Ujjain) and Atigupta (also of Ujjaia) all visited China to study Buddhist lore), while a Chinese scholar Hsuan-tai came to Central India.
THE BAGH GROUP.
Village of the Bāgh. The village of Bagh, from which the caves near by take their name, lies about 800 feet above sea-level on the southern slope of the Vindhya hills, in 22° 22' N. and 74° 48 E, and belongs to the Gwalior Stato. It is situated on the prolongation of the metalled road from Mhow to Sardārpurs. The situation is picturesque, as the village stands on the Bägh river with thick forest round it. The Bāgh river, which only flows for eight months of the year, takes a very sinuous course and its sandy boulder-strewn bed is traversed four times by the road leading to the caves, three and a half miles from the village.
of the history of this place nothing is really known, though tradition, as is usual in the case of such caves, assigns it great importance. Lying on a route from Gujarāt, it may possibly have had some prominence, but was certainly never a very large place. The signs of early settlement which remain are situated on and round a bill to the north of the present village. A rough stone wall runs along the western and part of the northern edge of this hill, and traces of old foundations are also visible upon it. Below the hill stands the Baghēbvari tomple. It is a reconstructed building made up of portions of a twelfth century temple. Two records of St, 1900 and 1919 refer to the rebuilding. Between this temple and the hill side are many traces of foundations. The site has been used as a quarry, and a small fd-gâh near the river is built of old bricks from these remains. The bricks appear to be of some age, being of the large size found near Ujjain and on other ancient sites. The destruction of the original temple is accounted for by the existence, hard by, of a small Muhammadan fort with a square tower at its southern end. A pointed gateway with an aronaded top leads into it.
1 Beal-Buddhist Records of the Western World and Si-yu-ke, Ounningham--Ancient Geography. * Catalogue of the Chinese Translation of the Buddhist Tripittaka by Bunigu Nanjio, pp. 411, 416, 423, 437.
Chavannes.-Mémord composé à l'époque de la grande dynastid Tang, oto., p. 34. * The portion beyond Tanda is not yet metalled, although it is laid out up to 10 miles north of Bagh.
