190 Report of the Archceological Swrvey. [No. 3, 



inscription, dated in A. D. 1375, in the reign of Firuz. Now, as nearly 

 one-half of this period was occupied by the reigns of the cruel despot 

 Ala-ud-din Khilji and the ferocious madman Muhammad Tughlak, it 

 seems only reasonable to conclude that the people were deterred from 

 making their usual pilgrimages by the persecution of their Muham- 

 madan rulers. The next record is dated in A. D. 1429, and from that 

 time down to 1511 there are 16 dated inscriptions ; but as no less 

 than 13 of this number belong to the reign of Bahlol Lodi, I infer that 

 the rule of the Syad dynasty was not favourable to Hindu pilgrimages. 

 I infer also that the temple must have been destroyed during the reign 

 of the intolerant Sikandar Lodi, because the series of inscriptions closes 

 with A. D. 1511, or just six years before the end of his reign. Had 

 the temple existed during the happy century when the sceptre of India 

 was swayed by the tolerant Akbar, the indifferent Jehangir, and the 

 politic Shah Jahan, it is almost certain that some records of the pilgrims' 

 visits would have been inscribed on the pillars of the temple. For 

 this reason I feel satisfied that the destruction of the great temple of 

 Soron must be assigned to an earlier period than that of the bigoted 

 Aurang Shah. 



VIIL— ATRA.NJI-KHERA, OR PI-LO-SHAN-NA. 



230. The great mound of ruins called Atranji- Khera is situated on 

 the right, or west, bank of the Kali Nadi, four miles to the south of 

 Karsdna, and eight miles to the north of Eyta, on the Grand Trunk 

 Road. It is also 15 miles to the south of Soron, and 43 miles to the 

 north-west of Sankisa in a direct line, the road distance being not less 

 than 48 or 50 miles. In the Ayin Akbari Atranji is recorded as one 

 of the Parganahs of Kanoj, under the name of Sikandar-pur Atreji. 

 iSikandarpitr, which is now called Sikandrabad, is a village on the left 

 bank of the Kali Nadi opposite Atranji. From this it would appear 

 that Atranji was still occupied in the reign of Akbar. The Parganah 

 was afterwards called Karsdna, but it is known by the name of Sahd- 

 war Karsdna, or of Sahdwar only. The name given by the Chinese 

 pilgrim is Pi-lo-shan-na, for which M. Julien proposes to read Virasa- 

 na. So far back as 1848 I pointed out that, as both pil and kar are 

 Sanskrit names for an elephant, it was probable that Pilosana might 

 be the same as Karsdna, the large village which I have already men- 



