876 Notes of a journey to Girndr, [Oct. 



tablet in the wall, in the interior of the fort, which contains an edict by 

 this raja Mundalik, dated S. 1507, A. D. 1451. It reminded me 

 much of the noted ones by king Asoka, since it contains an order that 

 every 11th day shall be considered sacred, coupled with injunctions 

 against the destruction of animal life. 



The excavations, of which there are several at the base of the Uparkot, 

 are made in the face of the same soft stone, and consist in some of 

 three or four low apartments ; in others there are as many as six, with 

 a large or principal one in the centre. These apartments are small, 'flat- 

 roofed, and supported by square pillars without ornament ; the en- 

 trances to many are through small and low door-ways, but the greater 

 number are quite open. These places are said by some to have been 

 the haunts of a tribe of robbers called Kaphrias, and it is a cu- 

 rious coincidence, that on inquiry respecting some similar excavations 

 in a sandstone hill, which I observed near Lukput at the western 

 extremity of Cutch, I was told exactly the same story. In the neigh- 

 bourhood of Buddhist records, any thing approaching to a vihara, 

 becomes of great interest ; but I fear the very soft nature of the stone 

 from which these are excavated, will not allow of their being considered 

 of any great antiquity. I may however be mistaken in this, and per- 

 haps my sketches of one or two of these caves* may assist in 

 determining, how far they are worthy of being considered ancient. In 

 one was the following inscription, " Shaikh Ali, the servant of the 

 servant of God ; took up his abode in this place, in the year H. 940." 



I procured some few coins at Junagarh ; one belonging to the 

 Saraushtra dynasties ; the others, the small, and generally illegible, cop- 

 that work, which I procured at Junagarh, is a description of the Girnar and Uparkot ; 

 this latter is the ancient Junagarh^ the modern city was styled Mustafabad ; but the 

 whole is now only known by the ancient title. — "The Girnar on three sides is en- 

 compassed by hills, those on the northern side are the nearest, those to the south 

 the most distant. The extent of these hills from N. to S. is 12 kos, the whole 

 covered with thick jungle, in which are many caverns inhabited by birds and beasts, 

 and a race of infidels called Khants : these castes when pursued by troops flee to the 

 fastnesses of the jungle. There are numerous extraordinary trees growing here 

 whose names are unknown, but besides these are many fruit trees, as the jambu, 

 tamarind, mango, kirnee, and awleh. From the foot of the hill of Girndr towards 

 the west, at the distance of three or four bow shots, is a rocky eminence, on which 

 is built the fort of Junagarh, whose walls are very strong ; there are two wells and 

 two bouries : the former are known by the names of Sri and Chiri, The king of 

 this place was raja Mundalik, mentioned in Indian histories, whose family ruled 

 here for 19 centuries. ' 



* The sketches sent by Lt. Postans appear to establish his theory, that the caves 

 were heretofore viharas of a Buddhist monastical establishment : but they exhibit 

 nothing curious or unusual, being similar in every respect to those found at Dhauli 

 in Kutak, and the number of other plates of this article compels us to omit them. 



