1891.] W. Hocy — 8oh(janra Copjjer-riate. 85 



Gurmlii, Malauli, and fiually Salivia, oi^ Salieriya, on the South. I 

 have visited all these places, and I believe there was at one time a 

 very large town or city here. The mound, viewing it as a continuous 

 remain ratlicr than a series, is highest at Tikar and SohgauvJi. 

 Buddhist coins are picked up in great numbers at these places, and some 

 old terra-cotta heads are occasionally found. Tikar obvioufily means 

 only what the place reveals, a mound of ' potsherds ; ' but down several 

 feet inside I have found large bricks of the Buddhist age. 



1 have seen the spot where this copper-plate was found, and it 

 is in Sohgaura, the middle of the long mound of remains. The man 

 who fouud it is old now. He was digging for a foiindation for his 

 house, and he nnearthed this plate, thirty or more years ago. He 

 gave it to the zemindar who laid it np in his house. About fifteen 

 months ago, I visited this ancient spot and heard of this plate. The 

 zemindar had died, but his son promised to hunt for the plate, and 

 after a couple of months he produced it and gave it to me. I have 

 reason to think that another plate may have been found in tliis locality. 



Gurmhi is the name of the tappd in which these villages lie, but the 

 plate was found at Sohgaura, and as the first name given to any find 

 must be descriptively accurate, I beg that the plate may be described 

 as ' the Sohgaura plate,' and on no account as the Gurmhi plate. We 

 must not mislead. Gurmhi has the remains of a ^'aivic temple, and a 

 lingam stands shewing that that place is not Buddhist. The end of 

 the high ground at Salieriya contained remains a few years ago, but the 

 river has cut away what was most interesting. Gold coins of the 

 later Guptas have been found at Salieriya. It was a modern place com- 

 pared to Sohgaura. 



Sohgaura is not without significance ; for the first com]-)onent Soh 

 enters into the names of other very ancient places in this district, 

 such as Sohntig. We may need to note this, because I have found 

 curious things at Sohnag which I propose to submit. 



I have visited the locality of this find twice, and intend to repeat 

 my visit. Should I discover anything more, I shall communicate it to 

 the Society. This ' Sohgaura plate ' I present to the Society. 



Note oil the same — By VincEx\t A. Smith, I.C.S. 



Dr. William Hoey, I.C.S., Magistrate and Collector of the 

 Gorakhpur District, has been fortunate enough to pi^ocure a small in- 

 scribed copper-plate of great interest, which he has kindly placed 

 in my hands with permission to publish a preliminary notice of it. 



The plate is rectangular, 2| inches long, and If inch broad, and 

 about |th of an inch thick at the edges. A circular hole has been pierced 



