232 The Bonhara Temple. [No. 3, 



^JW — Luvunga scandens, Buch. 

 ■J^tT —Acacia suma, Buch. 

 f^rTT^T — Phcenix paludosa, Roxb. 

 ^•T^^tTr — Pterospermum acerifotuin, L. 

 ^FaT'sr— Mirobalans arguna, W. 



^Extracts from my Diary regarding the Bonhara Temple near Omerpore, 

 Behdr, and other Antiquities of the place. — By Babtt Pashbihabi 



BoSE, SuB-DlVISIONAL OFFICER, BANKA, BhAGALPUB. 



December 7th, 1869. — At 5 p. m., I went to Bonhara, which 

 is almost contiguous to Omerpore, to see the large dighi or tank 

 and the mosque on its bank, which are generally ascribed to Prince 

 Shah Shuja'. The tank is about 1300 feet in length and about 

 700 feet broad. It is gradually filling up, but is never dry ; and 

 in the centre, the water is said to be very deep. Traces may be 

 seen of the large masonry steps leading to it on the eastern bank, 

 on which the mosque stood. Old people still remember that there 

 was a covered passage leading from the mosque to the tank, by 

 which Muhammadan ladies could carry water to the former, without 

 exposing themselves to the gaze of the multitude bathing in the 

 latter. The mosque has entirely disappeared, several mounds of 

 bricks embedded in the earth being all that is left to mark the 

 spot where it stood. But a marble slab which was placed on it by 

 the founder, bearing inscriptions in Arabic, may still be seen by 

 the side of a tomb latterly erected near the place. The inscrip- 

 tions, I was told, had never before been deciphered,* though many 

 of the learned had attempted it. But as it grew dark, I was 

 obliged to return to camp. 



December 8th, 1869. — On enquiry, I learnt that the mosque, 

 which, in the language of the peasantry, had been as high as the 

 tallest of the palm trees, was pulled down by Zemindar Banee- 

 prasad Chowdry for the sake of some hidden treasure it contained, 



* The inscription was published in the Proceedings of the Society for 

 November, 1870. 



