210 A. M. Broadley — The Buddhistic Remains of Bihar. [No. 3, 
jurisdiction of Zil’ah Patna. Sub all Bihar, for more than a century, has 
ceased to exist except in name. Zil’ah Bihar has now disappeared from the 
map of India, and the name can now only as a matter of fact be properly 
applied to the ancient Muhammadan capital, founded by Bakhtyar Khilji, 
and the five surrounding parganahs of which it is still the chief town. 
The tract of country about which I shall have to speak, extends for 
about thirty-five miles from north to south, and forty from east to west. 
With the exception of the solitary mountain rock of Bihar, the country 
presents an almost unbroken plain, sloping gradually from the foot of the 
Eajagrilia Hills (which form the southern boundary of the sub-division) down 
to the hanks of the Ganges. The greater part of this tract of country is 
singularly fertile, being watered by various streams which descend from 
the southern hills to join the Ganges below Patna. The Panchani .River 
enters Bihar almost under the shade of the Indra-Sailapeak at Giryak, 
and flows south-west till it reaches the ancient city. At this point several 
branches of it intersect the various ‘ mahallahs’ of the town, while the 
main course of the river still flows to the north, and enters the Ganges 
near Barb, the chief station of a Sub-Division bearing that name, which lies 
between Bihar and the banks of “ the sacred stream.” The Panchani was 
once an important river. Vast sandy wastes, on either side of it, now only 
serve to indicate the extent of its original channel. In the summer months, 
the bed of the river is almost wholly dry. Not only has the current itself 
almost ceased to flow, but what remains of it, is almost entirely carried away 
into a large hollow, or “ pyne” four miles south of Bihar, in conse- 
quence of a large sand bed having formed a few miles below the town. The 
silting-up of this sand-bank has altered the whole appearance of the city. In 
exploring its outskirts, the eye often lights on a spacious bridge now spanning 
a rice field or a piece of waste-land, and on ruined ghats, which now only 
serve to bound a scorching expanse of arid sand. 
The archaeological and historical interest of this narrow tract of country 
may be almost said to be unrivalled. It was in the midst of the rugged 
range of hills, which forms its southern boundary, that once flourished the 
mighty Kusfig&rapura, the metropolis of Magadha ; outside its western 
walls, in the dark “ Valley of the Five Hills,” [the BanbhiSm of to-day] was 
fought a great battle mentioned in theMahabharata. Here also Sakhya Muni — 
still the “ Adorable Lord” of three hundred millions of men — spent a great 
portion of his life. Almost within a stone’s throw of the northern foot of the 
hills are still to be seen the Btately remains of New Bajagriha — Bajagri- 
harapura — the capital of Ajata Satru, son of Bimbisara, the contemporary 
of Buddha. In the plain itself lie the ruins of “ our holy mother Nalanda,” 
the gorgeous Queen of Buddhistic convents, and of the less important 
monasteries ot Tillarali, Titrawan, Ghosrawan, and Hurugawan. Still further 
