1871. | Proceedings of the Asiatic Society. 273 
the middle of alarge tank. From the north side of the tank a bridge 
leads to the island, on which the tomb stands ; it has partially fal- 
len down, and is replaced by a mud embankment. The island is 
raised by steps from the level of the water. Above this is a wall 
80 feet high, surmounted by battlements six feet high. ‘The ter- 
race is placed obliquely on the island, for what reason it is diffi- 
cult to say. The four corners of the battlements are formed into 
octagonal buildings, forming inside airy apartments. There are 
two balconies projecting on either side supported by stone brackets 
covered by cupolas supported by four stone pillars. The tomb it- 
self consists of a great hall surrounded by an arcade forming a gal- 
lery. In the centre of the great hall is the grave of the king op- 
posite the niche for prayer: the other graves are said to be those 
of favourite officers. 
Wo. 135.—Sher Shah also erected a large monument to the 
memory of his father Husain Khan Stir, in the middle of the 
town ; it is enclosed in alarge area by a high wall of cut stone; 
the tomb is not so large as that of his son, but like it consists of a 
large hall surrounded by an arcade and covered with a handsome 
dome. . 
_Rohtasgarh.—This fortress is situated on the banks of the river 
Sone, at a distance of some thirty miles south of the grand trunk 
road, and occupies the whole of the crest of a nearly isolated spur 
of the great table-land. Buchanan Hamilton, in Martin’s India, 
states that this important fortress derives its name from the young 
prince Rohitasiva, the son Harishchandra, a king of the family of 
the sun, in the most remote period of Hindu legend. His image, 
he further says, was worshipped at this place, until the time of 
Aurungzeb. From the time of Harishchandra until the 12th 
century of the Christian era, it is not known in whose possession 
the fortress remained, but at this time it belonged to Pratapa 
Devala, father of the last Hindu emperor, and it continued for 
some time subject to his descendants. The tradition is, that it 
came under the Mussulman rule in the time of Sher Shah, A. D. 
1539, and that on its capture he immediately set to work on streng- 
thening its defences, but that the works projected were never com- 
pleted owing to his having discovered amore favourable situation at 
