332 



INDIAN AU< IU-OL0GI0AL SUUVKVS. 



and Turfcuria, of which some views are given in Mr. Beglar's Report.* 

 When these temples "were built, the arts of architecture and 

 sculpture in the Central Provinces must have been quite as 

 flourishing as in any other part of India. The temples at Markandi 

 on the Wain-Ganga River, and of Boram Deo in the Kawarda State 

 of Chattisgarh, also bear witness to the same fact. General Cunning- 

 ham concludes, therefore, that the whole of this part of the country 

 must then have belonged to the powerful Kulachuri Rajas of Chedi, 

 and not to the aboriginal Gonds, whose power was confined to the 

 hills. 



Mr. Carlleyle continued, during the seasons 1875-77, his task of 

 endeavouring to identify sites in the Gorakhpur district connected 

 with the early history of the great teacher, Buddha Sakyamum. He 

 made a complete exploration of the ruins at Kasia, which General 

 Cunningham had already identified with the ancient city of Kusi- 

 nagara, where Buddha died.f This view is, however, questioned by 

 Professor Oldenburg and others. The ensuing seasons! were devoted 

 by Mr. Carlleyle towards following up the further route pursued by 

 Hwen Thsang, who after terminating his visit to Kapilavastu and 

 its sacred neighbourhood, nest proceeded in a south-easterly 

 direction to pay his adorations at the various spots where Buddha 

 had passed, after he had left his native place to enter upon the life 

 of an ascetic. The districts, parts of which -were traversed by 

 Mr. Carlleyle during the three seasons 1877-80, were Gorakhpur, 

 Saran, and Ghazipur, and in the course of his survey he discovered 

 another inscribed pillar of Asoka at Rampurwa in the Terai, at the 

 foot of the Nepal hills. The inscription is letter for letter the same 

 as that on the two pillars near Betiya. The pillar is lying 

 prostrate, and in its fall the capital was broken, and the lower part 

 of the bell was found attached to the shaft by a massive copper 

 bolt, proving that the Hindus were probably aware of the 

 destructive properties of iron when used as a fastening for stones. 

 General Cunningham believes that the art of stone-cutting was 

 known to the Hindus before the time of Alexander. 



In 1878-79 General Cunningham turned his attention to the 

 Punjab, with the object of seeing several of the rather out-of-the- 



* Vol. XIII. of the Archaeological Survey of India (Cunningham), Calcutta, 1882. 



| Vol. XVIII. 



X Detailed in Vol. XXII. 



