350 Notice of Inscriptions in Behar. [May, 



The fort is supposed by Buchanan* to have been built by the Maga 

 Rajas, who during the first three centuries after Christ ruled over this 

 part of the country, then called Magadha, and indeed still called 

 Magad by the lower orders of natives to this day. The shaft of the 

 column is about eleven feet high, being a fragment only of the original 

 pillar. It is situated on the high ground, a little to the west of the 

 northern gate of the fort. Its original position is said to have been 

 in front of the gate ; on removing it to its present site, the pillar was 

 erected in a reversed position, with its base in the air, and its summit 

 in the ground. 



Various expedients were tried, in order to take off the inscription ; 

 but wax, sealing wax, and the ordinary method of inking the pillar, 

 and taking the impression on damp paper, alike failed. At last I had 

 recourse to sized paper, which being pressed while damp carefully into 

 the letters, retained the form of them when dry. In No. 1, the cavi- 

 ties of the letters have been filled with ink. In No. 2, which is 

 another copy of the same inscription, the reverse or embossed side has 

 been inked. The latter appears the best copy, and if the paper be 

 held up to the light the characters can be as distinctly traced as on the 

 other. No. 3, is a copy of an inscription on the upper (really lower) 

 part of the column. 



As I have never seen any characters which resemble those on the 

 Behar column, I shall be glad to learn from your Society by what 

 name they are designated, and to what era they belong. It is singular 

 that Buchanan should not have alluded to this pillar in his descrip- 

 tion of the fort of the Magas while giving an account of the numer- 

 ous Boodhist images, &c. scattered among the ruins. 



There are several ancient Mahomedan buildings in the town 

 and its vicinity, which are likewise unnoticed by Buchanan. The 

 principal one is the tomb or Durgah of a holy saint, styled Huzrat 

 Mukdoom Ool Moolk Shah Shureef Oodeen. There is an inscription 

 in the Cufic character over the entrances to the Durgah, which, how- 

 ever, time has rendered illegible, with the exception of the date of the 

 death of the saint, 782 Hijree, (1380 a. d.) and of the erection of the 

 tomb, 977 Hijree (1569 a. d.) The Durgah is held in great venera- 

 tion by the Mahomedans, who at the Oors, or anniversary of the death 

 of the saint assemble from all parts of the country, it is said to the 

 number sometimes of 50,000. This ceremony takes place in Decem- 

 ber. The tomb, the adjoining mosque, and other buildings, are 

 illuminated, and prayers are offered up for the dead and the living. 



* Page 89, in Martin's Eastern India. 



