1902.] Dr. T. Bloch. — Three neiv inscriptions from Gay a, 67 



Tlie second inscription, with whidi I am dealing in this paper, is 

 near tlie Aksaya-vata or the eternal banyan tree. It mentions the 

 erection by the same V^isvarupa of a number of shrines, the names of 

 which partly still survive around this locality. Among tliem is a shrine 

 or image of the Lord of the banyan tree {vatesa) at the eternal banyan 

 tree {aJcsayavate). The inscription is of importance for the local history 

 of Gay a, as it proves the existence of several of the sacred tirthas at 

 Gaya at a period, which is far anterior to the date of the present temples 

 at those places. 



The third inscription is close to the eternal banyan tree, at the 

 shrine of Prapitamahesvara. It is a small recoid, written in bad 

 Sanskrit prose, but it is interesting both on account of its date, as 

 also for one other reason. The date is recorded as the Vikrama year 

 1299, the new-moon tithi of Jyaistha, a Thursday, when the Suratrana 

 Maujadina was reigning. Suratrana is the well-known Sanskrit corrup- 

 tion of Sultan, and Maujadina stands for MuHzzu-d-din, and can only 

 refer to the Delhi Sultan Mu'izznddin Bahram Shah, who was taken 

 prisoner on the 10th May, 1272 A.D., and killed on the 19th following. 

 Calculating all the six possible European equivalents of the Sanskrit 

 date, 1 find that both the 1st May, 1242 A.D., and the 18th June, 

 1273 A.D., correspond, both being a Thursday, coupled with the new- 

 moon tithi of Jyaistha. But, as Mu'izzuddin is still referred to as the 

 reigning king, only the first date is admissible, and the inscription thus 

 was engraved only a few days before the death of Mu'izzuddin. 



The inscription may be technically called a saksi-srdvana, or in- 

 vocation of witnesses. It is incumbent upon every pilgrim to Gaya, 

 either at the end of each station or at the completion of the Avhole 

 pilgrimage, to call several deities as witnesses that, by going through 

 the prescribed rites, he has freed himself of the debts which he owes 

 to his ancestors. In a similar manner, in this inscription, Kamadeva, 

 who seems to have come from the North-West, says: I have done 

 Gaya. "Witness tliereof is Prapitamaha. The temple of Prapita- 

 mahesvara, where the inscription is found, is at present the last stage 

 to which the pilgrims go, and, as Kamadeva has selected this particular 

 spot for an invocation of this kind, which is incumbent upon the 

 pilgrims at the completion of their tour, we may conclude, that in one 

 important point at least the present ritual existed already some 650 

 years ago. 



2. On some variations in Snipe {ivith exhibition of specimens), 

 — By F. Finn, B.A., F.Z.S., Deputy Superintendent of the Indian 

 Museum. 



