108 Inscription from MadliipiiraJi, Bhagalpur. [June, 



sketch with it to show you on what part of the stone the inscription was 

 found. I will now describe the village, and tell you what little I can 

 gather about its history. 



' The village is called Srinagar and is situated about 10 miles north- 

 west by west of Madhipurah. 



' The centre of the village is on a raised piece of ground, and immediate- 

 ly at the bottom of the western slope of this high ground is situated a fort 

 about 400 yards square with an entrance on one side only facing east. On 

 the northern extremity of the ground is a high mound, said to be a " bai- 

 thak" or sitting-place ; due west of this baithak, north of the fort, and 

 about equidistant from both, is the ruined temple from which I got the 

 inscription. This temple seems to have been made of Rajmahal stone, clam- 

 ped, or rather rivetted, together with iron ; the room (only one, as usual in 

 modern temples) is about 8 feet square with stone walls still visible, about 

 2 feet high. At the doorway stand three slabs, two carved as shewn in my 

 sketch, and one simply cut in steps longitudinally. The piece (marked 

 B in sketch) seems to have been the piece which went over the doorway, 

 but evidently the loioer portion was not the lowest stone above the door — 

 this is clearly missing. A few pieces were lying here and there but formed 

 only steps or portions of the walls, two pillars stood opposite the doorway 

 about 20 feet from it. The door faces west. Having told you this much, 

 I must tell you what the natives say about the place. " Srinagar was 

 one of the chief towns in the raj of Sebai Singh, a Bhor Raja. On his 

 death he left three sons, Bijol Deb, Kop Deb, and Siri Deb. Siri Deb 

 built a fort in this village and called the village, from that time Srina- 

 gar. He alone, or with his brothers' help also, dug two high tanks, one 

 near Parmanpur south west of Srinagar, and one west of his Srinagar 

 fort, the former called Kopo or Ghopa, the latter Harsar, both still distin- 

 guishable, the former clearly so. Bijal and Kop " garhs" are, too, still 

 visible. These stones are Buddhist stones." This is the story as related, but 

 from the good state of preservation in which I find the fort, and wretchedly 

 dilapidated state of the temple, and from other stories about the Bhors, I 

 should say the temple is by far the older building, and the Bhors had noth- 

 ing to do with its erection, though they evidently used the building and 

 bricked up the tottering walls to keep them standing. In a Gosain's hut, 

 now on the spot, there are two Rajmahal stone " Ganeshes" and two 

 " lings" with their stone basins. 



The President announced that the late Assistant Secretary, Babu 

 Pratapachandra Ghosha having resigned, Mr. G. S. Leonard had been 

 appointed Assistant Secretary with an agreement for two years, after proba- 

 tion for three months, at a salary of Rs. 200 per mensem. 



