INDIAN ARCHAEOLOGICAL SURVEYS. 357 



Archaeological Survey of Southern India. Delays, however, inter- 

 vened, and it "was not till the Governorship of Mr. Adam (1881) 

 that it was deckled to organise a survey. The Madras Go- 

 vernment then deputed Mr. R. Sewell to prepare lists of 

 all the known monumental antiquities and inscriptions in the 

 Southern Presidency in order to prepare the way for a detailed 

 survey. Mr. Sewell commenced by issuing a circular asking for 

 the co-operation of a large number of officials and private gentlemen 

 both European and Native. Of these circulars 7,500 were issued. 

 Much correspondence resulted, and Mr. Sewell consulted all the 

 available literature on the subject. His object was not only to 

 produce lists of antiquities for each district for the archaeological 

 surveyor, but also to furnish general information for the guidance of 

 residents in Southern India who might care to join in the work of 

 historical research. The Madras lists were published in 1 882. * They 

 were drawn up according to districts, and to each district list was 

 prefixed a short outline of the history and antiquarian interest 

 attaching thereto, the whole forming a volume of over 300 pages. 



In 1875, Mr. Sewell, when stationed at Bejwada in the Kistna 

 District, had been entrusted by Government with a grant 

 of Rs. 1,000, to enable him to explore at Amaravati, Bejwada, 

 Undavilli, and other places. Bejwada is a place of considerable 

 antiquity, once the capital city of the small Kingdom of Vengi, 

 and afterwards one of the chief towns of the eastern Chalukyas. 

 The town is surrounded with granite hills honeycombed with 

 the rock-cut memorials of ancient religious fervour, and stands 

 on alluvial soil under which, whenever disturbed, appear the 

 vestiges of past greatness, statues, and walls, and sculptures 

 of old temples long since fallen, and now lying buried under 

 many feet of river silt. Opposite, across the river, is the large 

 four-storied temple of Undavilli, hewn in the solid rock, while 

 almost every village has its especial relics of the past, Buddhist or 

 Brahmanical. Here and there are the remains of the circular stupas, 

 which the followers of the great Reformer erected over relics, 

 either of himself or of his principal disciples; and 17 miles west- 

 ward on the south bank of the river, lie the remains of the most 



* Archaeological Survey of Southern India. Lists of antiquarian remains in the 

 Presidency of Madras. Compiled under the order of Government by Robert Sewell. 

 Madras (E. Keys), 1882. 



