114 Note on Inscription of the Allahabad Column. [March, 



II.— iVofe on Inscription No. 1 of the Allahabad Column. By James 



Prinsep, Sec. %c. 

 When I requested the author of the preceding description to under- 

 take the task, which he has so faithfully and carefully executed, I had 

 but little anticipation of the valuable historical information that would 

 reward the labour of transcribing the almost illegible inscriptions covering 

 the surface of the Allahabad lath. Aware indeed that the only accu- 

 rate data we possessed for adjusting the chronology of Indian princes 

 were those derived from ancient monuments of stone ; inscriptions 

 on rocks and caves ; or grants of land engraven on copper-plates, 

 discovered accidentally in various parts of the country ; — I could not 

 see the highly curious column lying at Allahabad, falling to rapid 

 decay, without wishing to preserve a complete copy of its several 

 inscriptions: for the specimen of them, published in the seventh volume of 

 the Researches, comprised but two or three lines ; and was professedly 

 intended to give only an idea of the different characters of the three (or, 

 with the Persian, four) inscriptions. It is indeed greatly to be regretted 

 that the task was not accomplished twenty or thirty years ago ; for the 

 ravages of time, or rather climate, have probably in that short period 

 committed greater injuries on its surface, than during an equal number 

 of centuries antecedent : — " The line in the printed specimen, near the 

 Persian name Abdullah, is no longer to be seen on the stone," says Lieut. 

 Burt. The horizontal position of the pillar allows the rain to settle in 

 the cavities of the letters, and soak into the stone itself, and this action 

 alternating with the fierce heat to which it is exposed from the sun's 

 rays,has caused the outer surface of the stone to split and peel off in many 

 places. Lying half buried in the ground also, the saltpetre, or other salt 

 with which the soil is impregnated, must have had its share in the ruin 

 of the prostrate monument. Many of the sandstone buildings in Benares, 

 and indeed all over the country, exhibit the influence of this destructive 

 agent; at the height of a few feet from the ground their surface is seen to 

 peel off in thin flakes*, while the higher parts remain sharp and uninjured 

 for ages. The Moghul emperor J ehangir was contented to engrave his 

 name and proud descent in a belt through the middle of the most ancient 

 inscription ; — the English would rightly deprecate such profanation, but 

 their own passive neglect has proved in a few short years even more 

 destructive than the barbarous act of the Muhammedan despot. 



* The effect may be produced by the crystallization of the deliquescent salt lodged 

 on the stone at that height, and marked by a zone of damp ; the heat of the day would 

 evaporate the moisture, and cause tbe salt to crystallize, -which would split the stone 

 just as the freezing of water in cold climates produces the same injury to buildings. 



