67* Narnaul and its Buildings* 



Bj Ct. YAZDANr, M.A. 



As a field of archseological exploration Naniaul cannot com- 

 plain of entire neglect. It was visited in 1883 by Mr. Garrick, 

 4ind its architecf'Ural remains were examined and reported on by 

 him. I liave availed myself of the opportunity afforded to me 

 during a short sojourn here to add my fuimble quota of informa- 

 tion to the already accessible stock on the subject. 



Narnaul lies to the south-west of Delhi at a distance of 48 



cos or about 84 miles. It is situated 



aXSl tweets* ;" 28° 2' N, latitude a„a 77» 4'E long! 



tude, and now contains a population of 

 21,159. In tlie time of the Mnghal Emperors it was a town in 

 the province of Mewar, but since the mutiny of 1857 it has been 

 made over to the Patiala State. The climate is bad, and un- 

 wholesome. It becomes intolerably hot during summer and 

 equally cold In winter. The soil is unproductive, and when cul- 

 tivated yields but meagre crops. 



I^arnaul has always been celebrated for its mehndt. This 

 is a vegetable dye, which the Indian women are fond of using to 

 redden the palms and fingers of their hands. There are no min- 

 eral productions of any soit in tlie place, nor any natural pheno- 

 mena to attract one's attention. 



The etymology of this name is still 



Nomenclature. % ve^ata qumstio. Mr. Garrick explains 



it in three ways* : — 

 (1) Its name was Ndhar Natd, "the forest of tigers,'' 

 because numerous tigers weie fo he found thei'e. 



Nd 



1 



patois^ and naitl, ' beautiful, ' because it is said that it contained 



beautiful women. 



Naul^ ^.e,, when the city was founded 



monsoose 



Ndga a * snake ' and neival a * mongoose/ 



In addition to the above there are some more theories, but 

 they are all equally absurd and have no historical basis. 'My 

 surmise is that tlie present name Narnaul is a shortened form 

 of the original name, which was most probably derived from 

 Naravahana, the name of the founder, and aval, a popular suffix 

 meaning * range * or ' series, ' such as at the end of Chandraval, 

 Bhusaval, etc. My guess is based upon a tradition which says 

 that Narnaul is the historical name of the place^ By the mode 

 of computation called. afe/atZ, the word gives the number 337 



^ See Archaeological Sarvey Boporf, Vol, XXTTT, p, t;7. 



