268 Report of the Archaeological Survey. [No, 4 



which properly means the whole venture of goods belonging to a party 

 of Banjaras, but which is also applied to the places at which they halt. 

 I think therefore that the name of Tadioa may possibly refer to the old 

 name of Tu-wei as it is written by Fa Hian. There can, however, be no 

 doubt as to the identity of the two places, as Tadwa is a very old site, 

 which is still covered with brick ruins. According to tradition, the town 

 belonged to Raja Suhir dal, after whose death it was destroyed by the 

 Muhammadans, and remained uninhabited until about one hundred 

 years ago, when a Bairagi, named Ajudhya Das, established himself 

 under the banyan tree, and discovered the female figure which is now 

 worshipped as Sita Mai. The present village is situated amongst brick 

 ruins one quarter of a mile to the north of the road leading from 

 Akaona to Bahraich. All the fields around are strewn with broken bricks 

 and within 1,000 feet of the village to the north-west there is a mound 

 of brick ruins 800 feet long from east to west, and 300 feet broad. 

 Beyond the mound, and to the north of the village, there is a large 

 irregular shaped sheet of water, nearly half a mile in length, called 

 Sita-Deva Tal. But this name cannot be older than the discovery of 

 the statue which is attributed to Sita. 



354. The west end of the mass of ruins is very low, but it is 

 covered with broken walls and fine trees, and was therefore most pro- 

 bably the site of the monastic establishment. The general height of the 

 east end is 16 feet above the fields, but rises to 20 feet at the south- 

 west corner. At this point the mound is formed of solid brick-work, 

 which after close examination I discovered to be the remains of a large 

 Stupa. As two different measurements gave a diameter of not less 

 than 70 feet, this Stupa must have been one of the largest and most 

 important in the famous province of Uttara Kosala. Hwen Thsang 

 mentions only two Sticpas at this place, one to the south of the town, 

 being built on the spot where Kasyapa Buddha had performed his 

 meditations under a banyan tree, and the other to the north of the 

 town, containing the complete body of Kasyapa. This is also con- 

 firmed by its size, as Fa Hian calls this Stupa a great one. The Stupa 

 on the mound must certainly represent the latter monument, because 

 the tank precludes the possibility of any other having existed to the 

 northward of it. I wished very much to have made an excavation in 

 this mound, but the presence of a lingam of Mahadeo on the top of it, 



