98 Mr. Lincke — Excavation of Jowhri Di. [Mat, 



3. An account of the excavation of a mound called Jowhri Di, near the 



village of Imadpur, in the Muzafferjpore District. — 



By J. E. Lincke, C. E. 



(Abstract.) 



The mound is some 100 feet square and some 10 feet high with a few 

 very ancient peepul trees growing on it. A drift which was run from the 

 east at the level of the natural ground into the mound brought to light a 

 wall, 4 feet deep and 4 feet broad, and beyond it a flooring of bricks on a 

 thin layer of sand. Similar drifts were made from other sides, with a 

 similar result. Thus the three sides of a square fort were laid bare, with 

 a sort of solid bastion at the south-west corner and a porch in the centre 

 of the east wall. On the fourth side of the fort, no remains of a wall 

 were discovered. Part of the brick flooring in the middle of the fort was 

 removed and a well dug 4 feet deep, disclosing evidences in the shape of 

 broken brick and pottery of the mound having been artificially made. Of 

 the superstructure nothing certain is known. There is said to have been 

 once a tower, three stories high. Tradition says that there was a fort and 

 town of the Cheru Raja at this spot, long anterior to the Muhammadan 

 conquest, and that the last Cheru Raja having been defeated in battle de- 

 stroyed himself and his family and treasure with the castle which was 

 burnt. Specimens of the antiquities found during the excavations were sent 

 with the paper and exhibited to the meeting. They consisted of highly 

 glazed pieces of broken pottery, remains of clay-toys or votive figures, 

 clay spindle whorls (such as noticed by Mr. Rivett-Carnac, in the Journal 

 of 1880), pieces of bone, etc. The last were identified as those of a tur- 

 tle. Two brass figures of Vishnu and Ganesa were also sent to be exhibit- 

 ed. They had been obtained by Mr. Lincke from a villager, who said he 

 had dug them up in a field near the mound. The figures bear, at the foot, 

 short inscriptions, the form of the letters of which shows that they are 

 comparatively modern. The inscription on the figure of Krishna reads 

 ^frfsrt* %* ^ abbreviated for ^f^R^T f*T WJ i. e., " a religious gift 

 dedicated to Hari". That on the figure of Ganesa is too badly cut to 

 be clearly read, but the first word appears to be Kanha the name of the 

 donor ; the last two are deya dharmma " a religious gift". 



Specimens of the antiquities found in or near the mound were exhibit- 

 ed at the meeting. 



This paper will be published in the Journal, Part I. 



