414 Notes on the Caves of Burabur. [May* 



I may here further digress and allude to the rude Budha sculptures 

 I found at Bodh Gyah and which I am about to lay* before the society. 

 In these, buildings are represented with arched entrances precisely of 

 the design of that of the great cave, which again (like those in 

 Cuttack) are miniatures of similar designs in the caves of Carli and 

 others in the west of India. Now it is common for Archaeologists 

 to found their arguments as to the age of ancient buildings, upon 

 comparing them with the paintings which illumine ancient manu- 

 scripts of known date, it being evident that such forms must have been 

 in existence at, or prior to, the representation being made, the same 

 rule must apply to sculptures such as those of Bodh Gyah, therefore if 

 they belonged to Asoka's great temple, the works they represented 

 existed before it, or at the same time at least ; but as these sculptures 

 represent buildings on rocks, we may incline to the first opinion. That 

 the sculptures belonged to the same period as the first pillars there 

 can be scarcely a doubt, for they are of precisely the same stone, and 

 one the quarries of which have not been discovered ; this is of itself a 

 remarkable circumstance ; besides, they bear inscriptions in the identical 

 character, and record* gifts in the same style as those on the posts of 

 Bhilsa. 



I now return to my inscriptions. Fig. 5 differs somewhat in the 

 reading, there being an adjective between the opening sentence, and 



the word -|-r^" or cave. This word after the most careful examination 

 appears to be j£"j\ [/'Nigop," the "gop" is clear enough, which is 



curious, for it is at the entrance of the very cave which I have described 

 as having a Dagop or Chaitya, the remaining obliterated letters amount- 

 ing in number to that required for such, together with parts of them 

 still visible, admit of our supposing the sentence to have been the same 

 as the others, i. e. " for the one of Budhist ascetics." 



No. 6 is too imperfect to be made out without the aid of a clever 

 pundit, and needs such a Pali scholar as Rutna Pala who assisted Prinsep. 

 I must content myself with inviting the attention of others possessing 



greater advantages. The mark *4J will not escape notice, it is found on 



coins, and in the inscriptions of the Saindharee caves and that of Kund- 



* See notes on Sculptures at Bodh Gyah, p. 334 ot the present Volume. 



