1864.] Memorandum upon some ancient Tiles, 57 



Memorandum upon some ancient Tiles obtained at Pugan in Surma, — 

 By Lt.-Col. A. P. Phayke. 



I send herewith four tiles having Budhist figures and inscriptions 

 which were discovered at Pugan. They were given to me by the 

 principal Monk of a Budhist Monastery there. I only saw one of the 

 four kinds in the original site; viz. the tile marked No. 1. The 

 Monk assured me that all were found in different parts of the ruined 

 city, but he did not wish me to go to the several sites, being appar- 

 ently afraid that I should carry away too many, and that he might be 

 blamed for being instrumental in injuring ancient pagodas. As my 

 visit on this occasion was a hurried one, I had not time to discuss the 

 matter with the old Phoon-gyee, who was exceedingly obliging, but 

 he gave me one of his scholars to show me the place where the tile 

 No. 1 was discovered. 



It was the ruins of a small solid pagoda. In one corner the foun- 

 dation at the level of the ground was exposed. The tiles like that 

 marked No. 1, were laid on edge, and apparently formed the upper 

 layer of the arch of the relic chamber. The hollow portion of the 

 tiles was filled with sand partially mixed with lime to resist pressure. 

 Bearing in mind the fears of the Phoon-gyee I brought none of the 

 tiles away with me, but after inspecting a few, replaced them. 

 I now proceed to describe the tiles. 



No. 1 bears thirty figures of Budhas. Of these two which are 

 distinguished from the rest are evidently the figures of Grautama. The 

 remaining twenty-eight are apparently intended to represent the 

 Budhas of an antecedent period. At the bottom of the tile are two 

 lines in the Deva Nagri character. On the back are inscribad seven 

 lines in rude Burmese characters, and hi the Ma-ga-da, or Pali lan- 

 guage. I give them in the Roman character as follows ; 



Ata wisa ti me budha 



Ti gi thu me ka tsa tha ha 



Budhat ta ya Tat tat ta ya 



Thabbau matu pitu a ya 



Tsa ri ya putta ra ratsa 



Thabba that ta hita pitsa 



Budhau hithati naga teti. 



I 



