112 Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bengal. [March, 1912. 
fication can leave no doubt.! The relics of a fortress in the 
neighbourhood, to which Marco alludes, are those “of a 
very remarkable deserted fort which stands just half a mile 
to the south-west of Lauriya.’’* Some points to be discussed 
in connection with the second pillar will prove further the 
correctness of our argument. 
The second pillar Saad by Father Marco must be 
that of Lauriya-Araraj. It cannot be the lion-pillar recently 
Araraj. This contains six of Asoka’s edicts, like the pillar at 
Lauriya-Navandgarh, and its inscription, as noted by Marco, 
is less lengthy than at Navandgarh. At Lauriya-Araraj the 
south face contains 23 lines (edicts i—iv), the north face 18 lines 
(edicts v-vi); at Navandgarh, the inscription contains on one 
side 27 lines (edicts i—iv), on the other 21 (edicts v-vi).° Th 
Rampurva northern pillar contains an inscription in two 
columns, one facing the south, the other the north. The 
northern portion consists of 20 lines (edicts i—iv), the southern 
of 144 lines (edicts v-vi).4 The inscriptions in all three places 
correspond almost teiter for letter. 
The Araraj pillar is a single block of citing nae ae 
364 feet in height above the ground, with a er of | 
418 in nches. (circumference 10’ 11”) and a 5. diameter of 
37°6 inches.’ Compare this with Marco’s measure 
feet up to the capital, and circumference (at aa | %) 10 feet 
6 inches. The pillar, when seen by Cunningham during his 
tour of 1861-62, had no capital, ‘‘ although a can be little, 
if any, doubt that it must once have been crowned with a 
statue of some animal. 
capital and the lion may now lie embedded several feet under 
ground, as was the case at Rampurva. Whether it fell from 
the shaft accidentally or was torn off violently, should be 
determined by the nature of the fracture at the 

a Gabennsie Gadealioas that the two pillars Souuitiien by Marco 
stood both at Lauriya-Navandgath (Cf. Gli scritti, p. xxxvii) if 
3 Cf. Coxsiveman, Corpus Inscript. Indic., vol. 1, pp. 40—41, and 
_ Cr eho s 
; re col rats 4 India, Annual Report - 
oa a Se Fay eport of 1907-08, p. 185. 
