70
THE INDIAN ANTIQUARY.
[MARCH 1, 1872.
The north side of the valley is bounded by
grass, broken only by some protruding escarp
Mount Baibhār-a rocky hill running three or four miles north-west, and terminating at its eastern side in the hot wells of Rajgir. Here
ment or the white cupola of a Jaina pagoda in the one case, and in the other, by heaps of bricks— the ruins of temples and topes, and the huge piles
the valley is entered by a narrow ravine through the midst of which the Sarasvati rivulet forces its way into the low country to the north
of stones which still mark the ancient ramparts
of the hills.
On the eastern side of the stream
rises the lofty ascent of Mount Vipula, a branch of which runs as far as Giryak, a dis tance of six miles. Hardly a quarter of a mile
from the western side of the hill it is joined at right angles by a third mountain running from the north called Ratnagir. This hill is of in considerable length and terminates in a narrow ravine branching away to the east. On the op
of the city. The form of the walls can, with a little difficulty, be traced with tolerable accuracy. Strictly speaking, these ramparts formed an irre gular pentagon about four miles in circumference. One side faced the west, and was about a mile in
length, extending along the western branch of the Sarasvati; a second ran south to the foot of the Sonargir; a third east to the entrance of the ravine between Udayagir and Ratnagir ; a fourth north, towards the junction of the streams; and the fifth and smallest joins the first and
posite side of this ravine rises Mount Udayagir,
fourth.
a less important hill, running due south and terminating in the ancient wall and fort of Bångangă-the southern gate of the ancient capital of Magadha. To the west of the torrent is the fifth and largest hill—Mount S on ar. It first takes a course to the west, then turns north wards, and finally, exactly opposite the narrow
valley between Mounts Ratnagir and Udayagir,
city from the new town to Bângangå. The northern side of the city, facing the ravine, ap pears to have been protected by a lofty tower composed of stones of irregular shape, placed one upon the other (not squared and arranged in courses as in the walls of new Rajgir). Near the stream appears to have been another tower of great height and of similar appearance, and
A road seems to have run through the
stretches away to the west, and forms the south
close under it an outer gate towards the north.
ern boundary of this natural fortress, being only
From this place an enormous wall, 18 or 20 feet
separated at its western extremity by a narrow ravine from an offshoot of Mount Baibhār, commonly called the “Chhata'. These five hills
thick and 15 or 16 feet high, stretched itself to the summit of Mount Vipula, and protected the
city from attacks on the mountain side. There
are called in the Mahābhārata”—Vaihāra, Varāha,Vrishābha, Rishigiri, and Chaityaka ; and
of Mount Baibhār, but their traces are very
in the Pali annals of Ceylon–Gijhakuta,
were doubtless similar fortifications on the side
faint, whereas those on the western slope of Mount Vipula are remarkably perfect and dis
Isigili, Webhāro,f Wepulo, and Pandawof Speaking of the valley, Fah-Hians goes on to
tinct.
say : “From east to west it is about five or six li, from north to south seven or eight li.” It is
the city is spread amass of débriscovered by brush wood and shrubs, and here and there are piles
Over the whole surface of the interior of
evident Fah-Hian excluded from his computation
of bricks and stones, denoting the site of some
the eastern and western bifurcations of the valley,
and even then its dimensions are slightly under
house or temple. Near the south-west corner of the city is a lofty tumulus, somewhat higher
stated.
than the ruins of the eastern entrance.
The north side of the valley is watered by two streams, both bearing the name of Saraswati, which rise, the one at the foot of Ratnagir, and
the other at the western extremity of Mount Sonár. These rivulets join a short distance to
This
is covered by a small Jaina cupola of brick and plaster. The sides of the tumulus are strewn with bricks and fragments of granite pillars. I also discovered some pieces of cornice covered
with representations of Buddhas and Nāgas.
the south of the ravine which forms the entrance
I made an excavation on the north side of the
to the valley.
plain at their feet are covered mostly by a
tumulus, and uncovered a considerable portion of the northern side of a Buddhist building, of
tangled mass of flowering shrubs and wild tulsi
which
The sides of the hills and the
- Mahābhārata, II. 20 v. 7:19,800.
+ Lassen suspects the reading Vaihhára by Turnour to be incorrect and proposes to read aihira in accordance with the Mahabharata. “It is surprising, he adds,
that
the first and last names are Buddhistic, and we may, there
the entrance seems to have faced the
fore, suspect they were given to these mountains only after the time of Buddha-Alterth. vol. II. p. 79.-Ed.
I Turnour, in Jour. Beng. As. Soc. vol. VI. p. 996. § Beal's Fah Hian, ut sup. Chapter xxviii. p. 112.
