126 Inscription on the Radhia Column. [March, 



it bears a long inscription in the Allahabad character, No. 1, which, 

 upon a careful comparison with the plates of the 7th volume of Re- 

 searches, is also identical with that of Firoz's Lath : so that we are 

 now in possession of four copies of the same inscription, three of 

 them perfect, viz. the Delhi, the Mattiah, and the present one, and 

 that of Allahabad mutilated. The dimensions of the Radhia Lath, are 

 thus given by Mr. Hodgson's artist : (see PI. VII.) 



ft. in. 



Height from the ground to the top of the shaft, 39 



Circumference at the base, 11 2 



Ditto, at the summit, 8 



Its locality is described in the Persian memorandum as in the village 

 of Purnia, U|.*» near Arahrdj, «-!,»•! zillah Sdrun. I find in Arrow- 

 smith's map, a place called Puiuwnah, between Gorakhpur and Bet- 

 tiah, which may probably be the spot indicated ; for Mr. Hodgson 

 himself states it to be at Radhia, near Arahraj-Mahadeva, in the dis- 

 trict of Majhuah, in the zemindary of Bettiah, (Jocjr. Vol. III. p. 483.) 

 Mattiah, the site of the third pillar, is, by the map, a good way far- 

 ther to the north. 



In my notice on the latter pillar I mentioned that it wanted the last 

 eleven lines of the Delhi version. The same omission occurs in 

 the present copy ; which corresponds also in some other respects 

 with its neighbour, such as in having double letters, or letters super- 

 posed where they are single on Fi'roz's Lath : — in having the half- 

 moon letter in lieu of the triangle ; in the frequent omission of the 

 initial letter j{, and the addition of the final inflection Jf (See Vol. III. 

 p. 485). The suggested order of the reading, on Fi'roz's Lath, namely 

 North, West, South, East, is also confirmed. 



Being now in a condition to correct the few errors of the Delhi 

 version, by collation with two other, and in many parts with three, 

 authentic texts, I propose immediately to lithograph a revised copy 

 of it, to assist in the elucidation of this very curious monument of an- 

 tiquity ; while, in the meantime, I now annex a facsimile of the Sarun 

 version, (PI. VIII.) with interlineary notes of its chief variations from 

 the standard text, to be consulted in any case of disputed reading. 



With regard to the architecture of these columns, it has been point- 

 ed out to me, that Lieut. Burt's drawing of the Allahabad column did 

 not render justice to the ornamental work on its capital, which has a 

 decidedly Greek appearance. That officer proves also in error (as was 

 suspected by Mr. Hodgson) in supposing the mutilated figure on the 

 summit to have been a bull. I have been favored with the following 

 note on the subject from Lieut. Kittoe, whose architectural taste and 



