________________ 444 Homage to Vaisali place say that the "bawan pokhar" or 52 tanks mark the scene of this occurrence. General Cunningham however points out that the abundance of tanks is a common feature of Buddhist sites. Excavations were carried out in the fort by Doctor Bloch, Archaeological Surveyor, Bengal Circle, in 1904, and remains of (141) masonry buildings were found in every place explored. Some of them were just below the surface and did not go further than a few feet; these buildings cannot have been very old, and afford some evidence of the place having been inhabited only a few centuries ago. Others, which were found at a depth of about 5 feet, reaching generally as far as 9 or 10 feet down, probably represent the remains of the ruined buildings seen by Hiuen Tsiang in the 7th century A. D. There is evidence that they go back to at least 300 A. D., but they may have been still older. The foundations of the old buildings only have remained, and they show that as a rule the rooms and chambers were remarkably small. The floors were of concrete with a layer of bricks; the houses themselves were tiled; and the top of the roof must have been crowned by small pinnacles. All the buildings discovered were secular, and no remains of temples were found. Asbes and small fragments of burnt wood. were found on all sides, and there is every probability that the place was sacked and plundered. The most interesting discovery was a large quantity of inscribed seals, over 700 in number. Nearly all were discovered in a room which was in all probability used for the deposit of refuse, as they were found mixed up with broken pottery, bones, burnt rice, ashes and other rubbish. These seals were orginally attached to letters or other literary documents, which must have decayed quickly in the damp soil. They belonged partly to officials, partly to private persons, generally bankers and merchants, many of whom belonged to mercantile guilds; and they were entirely secular with the exception of one bearing the mark of a linga with a trisul on each side, which is clearly the seal of a temple. Probably this seal bears the oldest figure of a linga which has as yet been found in India. Like the rest of the seals, it dates back to the 4th or Sth century A. D. It is a matter of some local interest that the ancient name of Tirhut, Tirabbukti, occurs on two of the seals. Kolhua At Kolbua, 3 miles to the north-west of Basarb, there are more remains, all situated on a low mound one mile to the south-east of the village of Bakbra. These consist of a stone pillar surmounted by a lion, a ruined
