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



ings are in perfect accordance, and as the names of the two places 

 agree almost exactly, I think that there can be little hesitation in 

 accepting the identification of Sultdnpur or Kusapura, with the Kasa- 

 pura of Hwen Thsang. 



299. Kusapura or Kusa-bhavana-pura, is said to have been named 

 after Rama's son, Kusa. Shortly after the Muhammaclan invasion it 

 belonged to a Bhar Raja Nand Kunwar, who was expelled by Sultan 

 Alauddin Gliori (read Khilji). The defences of the town were strength- 

 ened by the conqueror, who built a mosque and changed the name of 

 the place to Sultanpur. The site of Kusapura was, no doubt, selected 

 by its founder as a good military position, on account of its being sur- 

 rounded on three sides by the River Gromati or G-umti. The place is 

 now utterly desolate ; the whole population having been removed to 

 the new civil station on the opposite or south bank of the river. The 

 ruined fort of Sultanpur now forms a large mound, 750 feet square, 

 with brick towers at the four corners. On all sides it is surrounded by 

 the huts of the ruined town, the whole together covering a space of 

 about half a mile square, or about two miles in circuit. This estimate 

 of the size of Sultanpur agrees vey closely with that of Kusapura given 

 by Hwen Thsang, who describes the place as being 10 li } or If miles, 

 in circuit. 



XVI.— DHOPAPAPURA. 



300. Before accompanying the pilgrim to the ancient city of Sdheta 

 or Ayodhya, I will take the opportunity of describing the famous place 

 of Hindu pilgrimage called Dhopdpapura, which is situated on the 

 right or west bank of the G-omati River, 18 miles to the south-east of 

 Sultanpur, and immediately under the walls of the fort of Garha, or 

 Shirka-Garlii. The legend of the place is as follows : — After Rama 

 Chandra had killed the giant Ravana, he wandered about trying to 

 obtain purification for his guilt in having thus extinguished a portion of 

 the spirit of Brahma (Brahma-ka-ans) ; but all his efforts were ineffec- 

 tual, until he met with a white crow, when he was informed by the 

 Muni Vasishtha that the crow had become white from having bathed in 

 the Gromati River at a particular spot. Rama proceeded to bathe at the 

 same spot, and was immediately purified or " cleansed" from his sin. 

 The place was accordingly named Dlio-pdpa, or " cleanser of sins," and 

 the town which soon sprang up beside it was called Dhopdpapura. In 

 Sanskrit the form is Dhutapdpa, which is given in the list of the Vishnu 



