Indian Antiquary Vol 53

Author(s): Richard Carnac Temple, Stephen Meredyth Edwardes, Krishnaswami Aiyangar
Publisher: Swati Publications

Page 93

APRIL, 1924)
BOOK NOTICES
zine."
BOOK-NOTICES. Tun ReligioU9 CEREMONIES AND CUSTOMS OF Sikandarah has lilcowise boon improved by the res
THE PARSEES, by JIVANJI JAMSHEDJI MODI, toration of the eastern one of the four great cause. B.A., Pa.D., C.I.E., British India Press, Maza- ways, and Sir John Marshall expresses his regret, gon, Bombay, 1922.
which will be shared by many, that owing to extenThis is a valuablo work on Zoroastrian ceremo. sive dilapidation and lack of funds the northern nies and customs, which will serve as an autho- Causeway cannot be similarly treated. Important ritative work of reference, not only to the Parsis work was also carried out on the tomb of Asaf Khan, themselves, but also to European scholars engaged Jahangir's Prime Minister, and on the domed ceiling in the study of Avesta and Pahlavi texts. The of the crypt of Jahangir's tomb, and on several other author states that the book is the outcome of important historical relics in the Panjab, United the work on Parsi ceremonies and customs, which Provinces, and Bengal. In the Rajgir valley in he undertook for Dr. Hastings' monumental Bihar an effort was made "to preserve certain Dictionary of Religion and Ethics, and that, in curious and as yet undecipherablo inscriptions in the consideration of the numerous points which arise 80-called Shell Character, which occur on a rocky from time to time for decision both in the sphere pathway running through the vale," while in the of historical research and in the domain of the Southern Circle special attention was paid to the law, he has omitted no detail of value and has Krishnagiri Fort in Salem District, which, situated made the book 89 exhaustive as possible. The on & bare and lofty mass of gneiss, twice repulsed whole subject has been divided into five principle British attempts to take it by storm. It was only heads, viz., Socio-religious ceremonies, Purification on the ratification of the treaty of Seringa patam
nies. Initiation, Consecration, and Liturgi. that tho fort passed into British hands, and a garri. cal ceremonies. It is needless to romark that the son was established, which was maintained "until book is a mine of information, based upon the its final abandonment, owing to an accident, in 1801, eareful researches of a lifetime and presented when Captain Henry Smith and many of the garri. with all the authority attaching to one who is & son were destroyed by the blowing up of the magapast master of Iranian lore. It is furnished with an ample index.
The repair of the famous Ajanta frescoes was an S. M. EDWARDES. achievement of more than common interest. Under
the auspices and at the expense of H. E. H. the ANNUAL REPORT OF THE DIRECTOR-GENERAL OF
Nizam's Government, two Italian experts, Professor ABOHNOLOGY IN INDIA, 1920-21, by SIB JOHN
Oooooni and Count Orsini, were engaged to executo MARSHALL, Superintendent, Government Printing,
the necessary repairs and despite the difficulties Oaloutte, 1923.
of the problem, the patience and skill of the restau. This annual review of the work of the Archæo.
rateurs have succeeded in re-affixing the paintings logical Survey of India marles the commencement of
to the rock in a manner likely to endure for some A new opoch in the history of the Department. For
centuries to come. Another useful achievement under the constitutional reforms inaugurated in
was the restoration of the ancient staircase leading 1920-21, the entire cost of the Department and of
up to the main stupa at Jamalgarhi in the Frontier all its activities is to be borne by the Central Gov.
Circle. ornment, and, although the Local Governments
Exploration was carried out at Harappa in the still remain in executive control of the provincial
Panjab and resulted in the discovery, inter alia, of staffs, they act in this respect as the agents of the
two seals, which, like the soul originally published Imperial Government. Moreover, the officers of the
by Cunningham, exhibit the device of a bull without department are now to confine their attention to
the hump and "legends in the same inscrutable those monuments only which have been declared
script, to which we have as yet no manner of clue." “protected", and which have been accepted as a
Further excavation, together with other relics thus central charge by the Government of India. As
brought to light, indicate that the Harappa Seals those monuments number in all 2,500, the average
and their pictographic legends belong to the prenumber in charge of each of the eight Superinten.
Mauryan epooh. At Taxila, which under Sir John dents of Archeology will be coughly 812,- by Marshall's guidance has already yielded so many no means inconsiderable burden.
important date, exploration was resumed at the city Under the main head of Conservation, the Direc.
of Sirkap and at the earlier oity on the Bhir Mound. tor-General reports that the restoration of the dalana Previous excavations at the latter site had already or cloisters which originally bounded the enclosure revealed three distinot strata of buildings, to which of the Taj Mahal is rapidly nearing completion, and must now be added a fourth and still later stratum, the photographs in Plate I at the end of the Report containing a few scattered remains, which Sir John show how greatly the appearance of the enclosure Marshall assigne to the 3rd has thereby been improved. The tomb of Akbar at
or 4th century B.C. The stratum next below it, which contains the