


























236 Report of the Archeological Survey. [No. 4, 
ings are in perfect accordance, and as the names of the two places 
agree almost exactly, I think that there can be little hesitation in 
accepting the identification of Sultanpur or Kusapwra, with the Kasa- 
pura of Hwen Thsang. 
299. Kusapwra or Kusa-bhavana-pura, is said to have been named 
after Rama’s son, Kusa. Shortly after the Muhammadan invasion it 
belonged to a Bhar Raja Nand Kunwar, who was expelled by Sultan 
Alauddin Ghori (read Khilji). The defences of the town were strength- 
ened by the conqueror, who built a mosque and changed the name of 
the place to Sulténpur. The site of Kusapura was, no doubt, selected 
by its founder as a good military position, on account of its being sur- 
rounded on three sides by the River Gomati or Gumti. The place is 
now utterly desolate ; the whole population having been removed to 
the new civil station on the opposite or south bank of the river. The 
ruined fort of Sulténpur now forms a large mound, 750 feet square, 
with brick towers at the four corners. On all sides it is surrounded by 
the huts of the ruined town, the whole together covering a space of 
about half a mile square, or about two miles in circuit. This estimate 
of the size of Sultanpur agrees vey closely with that of Kusapura given 
by Hwen Thsang, who describes the place as being 10 Wz, or 13 miles, 
in circuit. 
XVI.—DHOPAPAPURA. 
300. Before accompanying the pilgrim to the ancient city of Sdketa 
or Ayodhya, I will take the opportunity of describing the famous place © 
of Hindu pilgrimage called Dhopdpapura, which is situated on the 
right or west bank of the Gomati River, 18 miles to the south-east of 
Sultanpur, and immediately under the walls of the fort of Garhd, or 
Shirka-Garhi. The legend of the place is as follows :—After Ram 
Chandra had killed the giant Ravana, he wandered about trying to 
obtain purification for his guilt in having thus extinguished a portion of 
the spirit of Brahma (Brahma-ka-ans) ; but all his efforts were ineffec-_ 
tual, until he met with a white crow, when he was informed by the 
Muni Vasishtha that the crow had become white from having bathed in 
the Gomati River at a particular spot. Rama proceeded to bathe at the 
- same spot, and was immediately purified or ‘‘ cleansed’’ from his sin. 
The place was accordingly named Dho-pdpa, or “ cleanser of sins,” and 
the town which soon sprang up beside it was called Dhopdpapura. In — 
Sanskrit the form is Dhtitapdpa, which is given in the list of the Vishnu 
