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



been planted in A. D. 1013, during the reign of Mahnxud of Grhazni. 

 This indeed is about the date of the temple itself, which is said to 

 have been built by Suhri-dal, Raja of Asokpur, and the antagonist 

 of Sayid Salar. The Raja is also called Suhal-dhar, Sohil-dal, and 

 Sohil Deo, and is variously said to have been a Tharu, a Bhar, a Kdla- 

 hansa, or a Bais Rajput. The majority, however, is in favour of his 

 having been a Thdru. The mound with the Mahwa tree is called 

 Baja Sohil-dal-ha-hhalanga or " Sohil-dal's seat." His city of Asok- 

 pur is said to have extended to Dumariya-Dih, 2 kos to the north, 

 and to Sareya-Dih, half a kos to the south of the temple. At both of 

 these places there are old brick-covered mounds, in which several 

 hundreds of coins have been lately found. Most of the coins belong 

 to the early Musalman Kings of Delhi, the Ghoris and Khiljis ; but 

 there were also a few Hindoo coins, in base silver and copper, with 

 the Boar incarnation of Vishnu on one side, and the legend oiSri-mad- 

 Adi-Vardha on the reverse in mediaeval characters. As these coins 

 are referred to by name, in an inscription of A. D. 920, as Sri-mad- 

 Adi-Varaha drammas, or " Boar incarnation drachmas," the mounds 

 in which they have been discovered must be of still earlier date. 

 Tradition gives the genealogy of the Tharu Rajas of Gauda as 

 follows : — 



A. D. 900 1 Mora-dhaj, or Mayura-dhwaja. 



Hans-dhaj, or Hansa-dhwaja. 



Makar-dhaj, or Makara-dhwaja. 



Sudhanwa-dhaj . 



Suhridal-dhaj, contemporary of Mahmud. 

 I give this genealogy with the probable dates, as it may per- 

 haps be of use hereafter in fixing the age of other Princes and their 

 works. 



XX.-SAHET-MAHET, OR SRAVASTI. 



327. The position of the famous city of Srdvasti, one of the most 

 celebrated places in the annals of Buddhism, has long puzzled our best 

 scholars. This was owing partly to the contradictory statements of 

 the Chinese pilgrims themselves, and partly to the want of a good 

 map of the Province of Oudh. In para. 304 of this report I have 

 compared the bearings and distances recorded by Fa Hian and Hwen 



900 



1 



925 



2 



950 



3 



975 



4 



1000 



5 



