1865.] Report of tlie Archceoloyical Survey. 247 



century before Christ. I base this belief on the known fact that all 

 the monuments of Asoka's age, whether described by Hwen Thsang, 

 or actually opened by myself near Bhilsa, are either of stone or brick. 

 The earthen barrows are therefore of an earlier age ; but such as are 

 Buddhist cannot possibly be earlier than the beginning of the fifth 

 century before Christ. In the case of the Mani-Parbat at Ajudhya I 

 infer that the earthen barrow, or lower portion, may belong to the 

 earlier ages of Buddhism, and that the masonry or upper portion was 

 added by Asoka. At the foot of the mound I picked up a broken 

 brick with the letter sh : of the oldest form, stamped upon it ; but as 

 this is almost certainly of later date than Asoka, it most probably did 

 not belong to the Mani-Parbat building. 



321. Hwen Thsang next describes the sites of the tooth-brush tree 

 and of the monument where the four previous Buddhas used to sit and 

 to take exercise, as being close to the great stupa. These places I 

 would identify with the court-yard containing the tombs of Seth and 

 Job, which touches the south side of the Mani-Parbat. The two 

 tombs I take to be the remains of the seats of the four previous Bud- 

 dhas, and the paved court-yard to be the scene of their daily walks, 

 although I was unable to trace their foot-marks, which were seen by 

 the Chinese pilgrim. 



322. The last monument described by Hwen Thsang is a stupa 

 containing the hair and nails of Buddha. This was surrounded by a 

 number of smaller monuments which seemed to touch one another, 

 and by several tanks which reflected the sacred buildings in their 

 limpid waters. The stupa I would identify with the Kicber-Parbat } 

 which touches the south side of the enclosure round the tombs of Seth 

 and Job, and is close to the west side of the ruined monastery. One 

 of the tanks described by the pilgrim may be the Ganes-Kund, which 

 has already been noticed ; but all the smaller monuments have dis- 

 appeared long ago, as they afforded cheap and ready materials for the 

 construction of the numerous Muhammadan tombs, as well as of the 

 neighbouring bridge and mosque. If I am right in my identification 

 of this mound as the remains of the stupa containing the hair and nails 

 of Buddha, I think that an excavation in the centre of the mound 

 might perhaps verify the accuracy of my conclusions. 



323. The people are unanimous in their assertion that the old city 



