1865.] Report of the ArchceoJogical Survey. 179 



207. The account of Ahi-chhatra given by Hwen Thsang is 

 unfortunately very meagre, otherwise we might most probably have 

 identified many of the existing ruins with the Buddhist works of an 

 early age. The Capital was 17 or 18 li, or just three miles> in 

 circuit, and was defended by natural obstacles. It possessed 12 

 monasteries, containing about 1,000 monks, and nine Brahmanicai 

 temples, with about 300 worshippers of Iswaru Deva (Siva), who 

 smeared their bodies with ashes. The Stupa near the serpent tank, 

 outside the town, has already been mentioned. Close beside it there were 

 four small Stupas built on the spots where the four previous Bucldhas 

 had either sat or walked. Both the size and the peculiar position of 

 the ruined fortress of Ahi-chhatra agree so exactly with Hwen 

 Thsang's description of the ancient Ahi-chhatra, that there can be no 

 doubt whatever of their identity. The circuit of the walls, as they 

 stand at present, is 19,400 feet, or upwards of 3J miles. The 

 shape may be described as an irregular right-angled triangle, the 

 west side being 5,600 feet in length, the north side 6,400 feet, 

 and the long side to the south-east 7,400 feet. The fort is 

 situated between the Bam Ganga and Gdnghan Rivers, which are 

 both difficult to cross ; the former on account of its broad sands, the 

 latter on account of its extensive ravines. Both on the north and 

 east the place is rendered almost inaccessible by the Piria Nala, 

 a difficult ravine with steep broken banks, and numerous deep pools 

 of water quite impassable by wheeled vehicles. For this reason the 

 cart road to Bareli, distant only 18 miles due east, is not less than 23 

 miles. Indeed the only accessible side of the position is the north- 

 west, from the direction of Lakhnor, the ancient capital of the Katehria 

 Rajputs. It therefore fully merits the description of Hwen Thsang 

 as being defended by " natural obstacles." Ahi-chhatra is only seven 

 miles to the north of Aonla, but the latter half of the road is rendered 

 difficult by the ravines of the Gdnghan River. It was in this very 

 position, in the jungles to the north of Aonla, that the Katehria 

 Rajputs withstood the Muhammadans under Firuz Tughlak. 



208. The ruins of Ahi-chhatra were first visited by Captain 

 Hodgson, the Surveyor, who describes the place as " the ruins of an 

 ancient fortress several miles in circumference, which appears to 

 have had 34 bastions, and is known in the neighbourhood by the 



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