1865.] Report of the Archaeological Survey . 223 



swelling capital is in harmony with the stout and massive column. 

 But the new capital designed by Captain Smith, is, in my opinion, a 

 signal failure. The capital lessens towards the top, and is surmounted 

 by an abacus of less diameter than that of the pillar itself. The animal 

 on the top is small and recumbent, and altogether the design is insig- 

 nificant. Indeed it looks to me not unlike a stuffed poodle stuck on 

 the top of an inverted flower pot. 



280. According to the common tradition of the people, the name of 

 Prayaga was derived from a Brahman, who lived during the reign of 

 Akbar. The story is that when the Emperor was building the fort, 

 the walls on the river face repeatedly fell down in spite of all the pre- 

 cautions taken by the architect. On consulting some wise men, Akbar 

 was informed that the foundations could only be secured by being laid 

 in human blood. A proclamation was then made, when a Brahman, 

 called Prayaga, voluntarily offered his life, on the condition that the 

 fort should bear his name. This idle story, which is diligently related 

 to the pilgrims who visit the Ahshay Bat, may at least serve one useful 

 purpose, in warning us not to place too much faith in these local tra- 

 ditions. The name of Prayaga is recorded by Hwen Thsang in the 

 7th century, and is in all probability as old as the reign of Asoka, who 

 set up the stone pillar about B. C. 240, while the fort was not built 

 until the end of the 16th century. 



XIV.— KOSAM, OR KOSAMBI. 



281. The city of Kosdmhi was one of the most celebrated places in 

 ancient India, and its name was famous amongst Brahmans as well as 

 Buddhists. The city is said to have been founded by Kusamba, the tenth 

 in descent from Pururavas ; but its fame begins only with the reign of 

 Chakra, the eighth in descent iromArjun Pandu, who made Kosambi 

 his capital after Hastinapura had been swept away by the Ganges. If 

 the date of the great war (Mahdbhdrata) be fixed at 1426 B. C, which, 

 as I have already shoAvn in my account of Dilli, is the most probable 

 period, then the date of Chakra will be about 1200 or 1150 B. C. 

 Twenty- two of his descendants are said to have reigned in the Kosambi 

 down to Kshemaka, the last of the dynasty, but it seems almost certain 

 that some names must have been omitted, as the very longest period 

 of 30 years which can be assigned to a generation of eastern Kings 

 will place the close of the dynasty about B. C, 500, and make the 



