1865.] Report of the Archceological Survey . 199 



ed as standing still with his trunk hanging down. The stone is a fine- 

 grained sandstone of reddish hue, and has been very highly polished. 

 The bell-capital is low, its breadth being greater than its height, in 

 which particular it resembles the Asoka Pillar of Navandgarh Lauriya, 

 to the north of Bettiah. Taking all these circumstances into consider- 

 ation along with the superior execution of the work, I feel satisfied 

 that this capital is of the same age as the well known Asoka Pillars of 

 Allahabad and Navandgarh. 



242. Due south from the temple of Bisari Devi, at a distance of 

 200 feet, there is a small mound of ruins which appears to be the re- 

 mains of a Slupa. Due east from the temple 600 feet, there is an 

 oblong mound 600 feet in length by 500 feet in breadth, which is 

 known by the name of Nivi-Jca-kot. Nivi would appear to have been 

 the name of the man who formerly brought this piece of ground ihto 

 cultivation ; and Kot, in the phraseology of Sankisa, means simply 

 any mound of ruins, and is applied to all the isolated portions of the 

 ramparts. Nivi-ka-kot would, however, appear to be the remains of 

 some large enclosed building, such as a Buddhist monastery. It is 

 covered with broken bricks of large size, and a few fragments of stone ; 

 but I could not trace any remains of walls on the surface. At the 

 south-east and north-east angles of Nivi-ka-kot there are large circular 

 mounds which are probably the remains of Stupas from which all the 

 available bricks have been removed ; and at a short distance to the north 

 there is a third mound of the same character. 



243. The Kilah and the different mounds of all sizes around the 

 temple form a mass of ruin 3,000 feet in length by 2,000 feet in 

 breadth, or nearly 2 miles in circuit. But this was only the central por- 

 tion of the ancient city of Sankisa, comprising the citadel and the 

 religious buildings that were clustered around the three holy staircases. 

 The city itself, which would appear to have surrounded this central 

 mound on all sides, was enclosed with an earthen rampart, 18,800 feet, 

 or upwards of 3J miles, in circuit. The greater part of this rampart still 

 remains, the shape being a tolerably regular duodecagon. On three sides, 

 to the east,the north-east and the south-east, there are breaks or openings 

 in the line of rampart which are traditionally said to be the positions.of 

 the three gates of the city. In proof of the tradition, the people refer to 

 the village of I'aor-Kheria, or t: Gale- village" which is just outside 



