1S75.] E. V. Westmacott — On Traces of Buddhism in Dincijpur. 191 



I have mentioned the frequent existence of brick remains in the jungle 

 in this neighhourhoocl. I cannot nearly enumerate all, hut I may instance 

 the traces of a large town nine miles south of the Paharpur stupa, through 

 which the Northern Bengal Railway, now in course of construction, will 

 run for some distance. The only clue to its origin with which I am 

 acquainted, is the dimension of the bricks, ten inches square by two and a 

 half thick. I believe these large bricks are assigned to the Buddhist 

 period. The only piece of sculpture I saw was a brick carved in relief, in a 

 style which I consider not earlier than the last half of the seventeenth 

 century, but the town is certainly much older than that. 



There are remains at Nayanagar on the Karatoya, twenty miles north 

 of the stupa, called a Rajbari. I have not seen them, but at Bagjona I 

 saw a handsomely carved stone lintel, six feet by ten and a half inches, and 

 seven inches thick, said to have been brought from Nayanagar. It bore no 

 figures or inscriptions. 



Close to Jogighopa are extensive brick remains, said to have been the 

 palace of Dev Pal ; whether the Dev Pal of the Munger plate or not 

 I will not say, but certainly he of the Amgaehhi plate. Bhimla Devi, 

 daughter of Dev Pal, is said by the ignorant pujdris to be represented by 

 one of the Jogighopa carvings. A mile to the south-west, at Amari, are 

 more brick remains, which Dr. Buchanan heard called the palace of Mahi 

 Pal. Across the bil, two miles north-east, at Chondira, are remains, 

 which he was told were those of Chandra Pal's palace ; there are more bricks 

 at Katak and Dhorol, and indeed in all the country round are innumerable 

 brick ruins. Seven miles north of the great stupa is the celebrated Buddal 

 pillar, set up by a minister of Narayan Pal, and bearing an inscription, in 

 which Dev Pal and Sura Pal are mentioned as having preceded Narayan 

 Pal. A dozen miles north of that again was found the Amgaehhi plate, 

 containing a grant by Vigraha Pal, and enumerating his ancestors, Naya 

 Pal his father, Mahi Pal, Dharmma Pal, and others. 



I think it likely that much might be added to our knowledge of 

 the Buddhist kings of Bengal, by properly organised research in this 

 neighbourhood. The Paharpur stupa might be excavated, and perhaps 

 that at the shrine of Nimay Shah, unless it appeared on examination that 

 the river had really cut away the central portion of it. I should like also 

 to endeavour to trace the old towns, especially those occupied by Muham- 

 madan shrines, as at Mahi Santosh ; for I consider the selection of a site 

 for a mosque by the early Muhammadans to be an indication that on the spot 

 they found plenty of material in Hindu buildings, or in other words that 

 the site had been occupied by extensive masonry buildings before the Mu- 

 hammadan conquest. 



The sanctity of Jogighopa, and the Buddhist carvings preserved 



