xa Archeological Survey Report. 
Siddheswara Hill. Its very name of Barabar, that is, bara and awara 
2 ? 3 
or Bardwara, the “ great enclosure,’ points to the same conclusion, 
although this may have been orginally applied to the much larger 
enclosure between the Barabar and Nagarjuni Hills, and the western 
branch of the Phalgu river, where, according to Buchanan’s infor- 
mation, the original Ram Gaya was situated. The numerous heaps 
of brick and stone that lie scattered over the plain would seem to 
show that this had once been the site of alarge town. ‘The situation 
is similar to that of old Raja Griha, namely, that of a small valley 
or basin almost surrounded by hills; but in size it is very much less 
than the famous Guirivraja, or hill-encircled city of Jarasandha. 
This enclosure had the Barabar Hill on the west, the Sangar branch 
of the Phalgu river on the east, and the two parallel ridges of the 
- Nagarjuni Hills to the north and south. It was upwards of one 
mile in length, with a mean width of half a mile, and a circuit of 
rather more than three miles. The circuit of the hills surrounding 
old Raja Griha was about 8 miles. 
109. The caves in the Barabar Hills are usually known as the 
Sat-ghara or “seven houses.” Major Kittoe proposed sapt garbha, or 
the “seven caves ” 
as the true name; but I think that sapta-griha, 
or as it is pronounced in the vernacular of the present day, Sat-ghara, 
is a preferable etymology, as it is the very same name by which this 
collection of caves is now known. 
110. The Nagarjuni Hills consist of two very narrow ridges of 
granite running nearly parallel, and about half a mile distant from 
each other, between the Barabar peak and the Phalgu river. The 
northern ridge would appear to be the same as that which Buchanan 
calls Murali (Hastern India, Vol. I. p. 100), but my informants 
applied this name to another peak in the Barabar group. The sou- 
thern ridge contains the famous old caves, of which the largest one, 
called the Gopi cave, is on the southern side, with its entrance to the 
south. The two other caves are situated on the southern face of a 
small spur, or off-shoot, on the northern side of the hill. 
111. There are therefore altogether seven caves in these hills, four 
of which belong to the Bardbar or Siddheswara group, and three to 
the Ndgdrjuni group. I incline therefore to believe that the name 
of Sat-ghara, or the “ seven houses,” belonged originally to the whole 
of these seven caves, and not to the four caves with seven chambers 
