184 Report of the Archceological Survey. [No. 3, 



217. If I am right in my identification of this Stupa with 

 that which was hnilt near the Serpent Tank, its original construc- 

 tion must he referred to the reign of Asoka, or about 250 B. C. 

 A strong argument in favour of this date is the similarity of its 

 shape to that of the Bhilsa Topes, which are undoudtedly of Asoka's 

 age. The date of the enlargement of the Stupa can only be 

 fixed approximately by inferring from Hwen Thsang's silence that 

 it must have been in good order at the time of his visit. Admitting 

 this to have been the case, the date of the enlargement cannot 

 be placed earlier than about A. D. 400 to 500. 



218. The great Stupa attracted the attention of some British 

 Officer, about 30 years ago, who dug a gallery into it, 21 feet in 

 length, and then sunk a well for some unknown depth, which I found 

 filled with rubbish. I made use of this old gallery, and continued it 

 to the centre of the Stupa, where it met a shaft which I had sunk 

 from the top. From this point I carried the shaft downwards, making 

 use of the gallery for the removal of the bricks. At a depth of 27 

 feet from the present top, or at 7 feet below the centre of the older 

 hemisphere, I found a low pyramidal topped vessel of common red un- 

 glazed earthenware, 8 inches in diameter. Inside this vessel there was a 

 small steatite box, containing many minute fragments of seed pearls, 

 several pieces of blue glass, one large bead of red amber, and about a tea 

 spoonful of little bits of rock crystal. Mixed with these were ten small 

 cylindrical pierced beads of a dirty white colour like old chalk. They 

 consist chiefly of carbonate of lime with a trace of some other sub- 

 stance, and are most probably only the remains of some artificial beads. 

 The little steatite box is a sphere of 2 niches diameter, but rather 

 pointed at the top and bottom. Its general colour is white with a few 

 purple blotches. The whole is rudely ornamented, the top with flowers, 

 and the bottom with animals of school-boy design. The inside also 

 is rudely ornamented, but with simple lines only. There is no trace 

 of any inscription. 



219. At 6f feet below the deposit just described, or at 13f feet 

 below the centre of the hemisphere, a second deposit was found 

 imbedded in the ground immediately under the last course of a globular 

 shaped mottled steatite vase, 8| inches in diameter and 6 inches in 

 height. This vase has a neck 3 inches in diameter inside and 2f 



