82 



Accotmt of Ancienl Subterranean 



[No. S3, 



'* stones. ]M. Honigberger forbore to penetrate farther, kc. — — 



*' \>ithiii three feet of the centre — they found iu the masonry a new 



construction, of a round shape, of very small stones, cemented toge- 

 " ther, enclosing a small cell, a foot square, formed by six slabs of 

 " black stone, very regularly cut. In this chamber situated in the 

 *' centre of the monument, and two or three feet from the ground, M. 

 *' Honigberger found a box of soft, compact pot-stone {ollaris) yellow 

 *' with grey and black veins, which is found in large masses in Jian- 

 " (iahar ; it has evidently been turned, and bears traces of the ope- 

 *' ration. A description follows ; with an enumeration of the con- 

 ** tents of the 3d compartment of the vessel — these appear to be si- 



milar to the vases, described by Dr. Malcolmson, as found at Hy- 

 ** derabad.*' 



** In the centre of this inner tope (the Boorji-Kenri) was made a 

 " cavity formed by six stones, of regular shape, about a foot square, 

 *' which contained a bronze basin gilt, of a round shape, not high, 



about 8 inches in diameter, much oxydized ; the bottom being almost 

 *' entirely gone. This basin was covered with a fine cloth, which fell 

 *' into powder when touched." 



[_Asiatic Journal for January, 1837,/?. 52 — 54. 



Tbansljltion I. 



Accoujit of Ancient Subterranean Dwellings , from verbal ac- 

 counts , obtained in the Jaghire and Arcot district. 



They say that th«re is no account of the Pantu Kurzicdl (or an- 

 cient suhterranea) in any written record. In consequence there is no 

 obtaining, from any one, any thing like a regular or well connected, 

 statement concerning them. In what follows, there will be offered 

 an account according to the oral traditions, given by various persons. 

 That is say, 



In the~first place, these ancient excavations^are^not'spoken of by 

 one uniform term : but are variously named by various persons. 

 For instance, by only a few, they are called Pantu-curii ; while 

 some persons term them Padu-curti^ and some Padai-cudi ; others 

 Pantu-Samathi, others again Pdndavdl-curzi^ and Pantavdl-kovil ; 

 and others Vedar-cudi, or Curumbar-cudi ; others Vali-cudi, or 

 else Curungu-bara. The places where these are found, so far as I 

 have seen with my own eyes, are in the Company's Jaghire the fol- 

 lowing — Padavur, Valiant, Mammai, the vicinage of Chinglepuif 



