216 Report of the Archaeological Survey. [No. 4, 



mound of Makhdum Jahdniya, in the Sikhdna Mahalla, which is about 

 700 feet to the south of the last mentioned mound in the Bhatpuri 

 Mahalla. That this mound was the site of one or more Brahmanical 

 temples seems almost certain from my discovery of a figure of SJiasti, 

 the goddess of fecundity, and of a pedestal bearing the date of Samvat 

 1193, or A. D. 1136, which is posterior to the extinction of Buddhism 

 in Kanoj. I think it probable that excavations in this mound would be 

 attended with success, as the two temples are said to have been built of 

 stone, which no doubt furnished the whole of the materials for the 

 Masjid and tomb of Makhdum Jahdniya. 



XI.— A-YU-TO, OR AYODHYA. 



271. From Kanoj the two Chinese pilgrims followed different 

 routes, Fa Hian having proceeded direct to Sha-chi (the modern 

 Ajudhya, near Fyzabad on the Grhaghra^), while Hwen Thsang follow- 

 ed the course of the Granges to Prayag, or Allahabad. The first stage 

 of both pilgrims would, however, appear to be the same. Fa Hian 

 states that he crossed the Granges and proceeded 3 yojans, or 21 miles, 

 to the forest of Holi, where there were several Stupas erected on spots 

 where Buddda had " passed, or walked, or sat." Hwen Thsang re- 

 cords that he marched 100 U, nearly 17 miles, to the town of Nava- 

 deva-Jcula, which was on the eastern bank of the Granges, and that at 

 5 li, or nearly 1 mile, to the south-east of the town there was a Stupa 

 of Asoka, which was still 100 feet in height, besides some other 

 monuments dedicated to the four previous Buddhas. I think it pro- 

 bable that the two places are the same, and that the site wss some- 

 where near Nobatganj, just above the junction of the Isan River and 

 opposite Nanamoio Grhat. But as there are no existing remains any- 

 where in that neighbourhood, the place has been most likely swept 

 away by the river. This is rendered almost certain by an examination 

 of the Granges below the junction of the Isan. Formerly the river 

 continued its course almost due south from Nanamow for many miles, 

 but some centuries ago it changed its course first to the south-east for 

 4 or 5 miles, and then to the south-west for about the same distance, 

 where it rejoined its old bed, leaving an island, some 6 miles in length 

 by 4 in breadth, between the two channels. As Hwen Thsang's ac- 

 count places Nava-deva-hula on the very site of this island, I conclude 



