1865.] Report of the Archeological Survey. 199 
ed as standing still with his trunk hanging down. The stone is a fine- 
grained sandstone of reddish hue, and has been very highly polished. 
The bell-capital is low, its breadth being greater than its height, in 
which particular it resembles the Asoka Pillar of Navandgarh Lauriya, 
to the north of Bettiah. Taking all these circumstances into consider- 
ation along with tlie superior execution of the work, I feel satisfied 
that this capital is of the same age as the well known Asoka Pillars of 
Allahabad and Navandgarh. 
242. Due south from the temple of Bisari Devi, at a distance of 
200 feet, there is a small mound of ruins which appears to be the re- 
mains of a Stupa. Due east from the temple 600 feet, there is an 
oblong mound 600 feet in length by 500 feet in breadth, which is 
known by the name of Nivi-ka-kot. Nivi would appear to have been 
the name of the man who formerly brought this piece of ground into 
cultivation; and Kot, in the phraseology of Saniisa, means simply 
any mound of ruins, and is applied to all the isolated portions of the 
ramparts. Nivi-ka-kot would, however, appear to be the remains of 
some large enclosed building, such as a Buddhist monastery. It is 
covered with broken bricks of large size, and a few fragments of stone ; 
but I could not trace any remains of walls on the surface. At the 
south-east and north-east angles of Nivi-ka-kot there are large circular 
mounds which are probably the remains of Stwpas from which all the 
available bricks have been removed ; and at a short distance to the north 
there is a third mound of the same character. 
243. The Kilah and the different mounds of allsizes around the 
temple form a mass of ruin 3,000 feet in length by 2,000 feet in 
breadth, or nearly 2 miles in circuit. But this was only the central por- 
tion of the ancient city of Sankisa, comprising the citadel and the 
religious buildings that were clustered around the three holy staircases. 
The city itself, which would appear to have surrounded this central 
mound on all sides, was enclosed with an earthen rampart, 18,900 feet, 
or upwards of 34 miles, in circuit. The greater part of this rampart still 
remains, the shape being a tolerably regular duodecagon. On threesides, 
_ to the east,the north-east and the south-east, there are breaks or openings 
in the line of rampart which are traditionally said to be the positions of 
the three gates of the city. In proof of the tradition, the people refer to 
the village of Paor-Kheria, or “ Gate-village,” which is just outside 

