238 Beport of the Archaeological Swrvey. [No. 4, 



as the fort is stated to have heen repaired by Salim Shah, whilst a very 

 old ruinous masjid stands on the west mound. The fort itself is a 

 small place, its northern face being only 550 feet long, its eastern and 

 western faces 550 feet each, whilst its south face is but 250 feet. The 

 greater part of the stone work of the south-east tower has fallen into 

 the river, where many of the stones are now lying, and much of the 

 eastern wall has also disappeared, the stones being very valuable, in a 

 stoneless country, for the sharpening of tools of all kinds. The en- 

 trance gate was on the south side, near the river bastion just mention- 

 ed. I obtained coins of many of the eaidy Muhammadan Kings, from 

 Nasir-uddin Mahmud G-hori down to Akbar, but not a single specimen 

 of any Hindu coinage, although I was informed that coins bearing 

 figures are found every year during the rainy season. 



303. I may here mention that I heard of another place of Hindu 

 pilgrimage on the north bank of the G-omati River, at a spot called 

 Set-Bardh that is Siveta-Vardha, or " the white Boar," 15 kos, or 30 

 miles, from Sultanpur towards Lucknow. Two annual fairs are held 

 there — the first on the 9th day of the waxing moon of Chaitra, and 

 the second on the 15th day of the waxing moon of Kartik, when it is 

 said that about fifty thousand people assemble to bathe. The former 

 period is connected with the history of Rama Chandra, as it is com- 

 monly known as the Rdm-navami Tirath or " Rama's ninth (day) 

 place of pilgrimage." I could not learn anything regarding the origin 

 of the name of Set Bardh. 



XVIII.— SAKE T A, OR AJUDHYA. 



304. Much difficulty has been felt regarding the position of Fa 

 Hian's " great kingdom of Sha-chi, and of Hwen Thsang's Visdkhd, 

 with its enormous number of heretics," or Brahmanists ; but I hope 

 to show in the most satisfactory manner that these two places are 

 identical, and that they are also the same as the Sdheta and Ajudhya 

 of the Hindus. The difficulty has arisen chiefly from an erroneous 

 bearing recorded by Fa Hian, who places Shewei, or Srdvasti, to the 

 south of Sha-chi, while Hwen Thsang locates it to the north-east, and 

 partly from his erroneous distance of 7 -f- 3 -|~ 10 = 20 Yojans, instead 

 of 30, from the well-known city of Sankisa. The bearing is shown 

 to be erroneous by the route of a Hindu pilgrim from the banks of 



