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A. M. Broadley — The Buddhistic Remains of Bihdr. [No. 3, 
size. Besides the figures, I dug out a cliarana almost like these of Efiia- 
griha. 
Islampur is about four miles to the south-west of Biswak and is still 
a very flourishing town, doing a good trade in rice and tobacco, and affording 
a resting-place for the pilgrims who pass down in great numbers from the 
north of Bengal en route for Gaya. To the extreme west of the village I 
lighted on the remains of a large vihara, many of the granite columns of which 
still exist intact, but I regret to say that the bulk of the building was pulled 
down somo years ago by the zamindar of the place, one Chaudhri Zuhurul 
Haq, to construct the platform of his now masjid, and I am told cart-loads of 
figures, &c., were used for the same purpose. The old men of the place remember 
the time when the building was intact, and say it resembled very much the 
‘ Sangi Masjid’ of Tillarah and contained a Nagari inscription, and a great 
deal of sculpture. About a mile south-west of Islampur, is a small village called 
Icchos, which was doubtless the site of a great Buddhist temple and vihara. 
I found the remains ol a tope close to the old mud fort, and saw in a garden a 
great figure of the ascetic Buddha, nearly six feet high. A short distance 
off, I found the remains of two very fine basalt columns, the largest piece 
being still six feet long. The base is 2 feet high and H feet broad. Next to 
it comes a circular band or ornament one foot four inches wide, each corner 
being decorated by a sprig of very elaborate scroll work, the stone behind 
which is hollowed out leaving the inner circle unbroken. This is a constant 
feature in Buddhist pillars, and I found a miniature reproduction of this 
column at Bogam, a mile to the north ol Bihar. Above the ornament in 
question, the shaft becomes octagon and there is a lion-rampant at each of 
the four corners. This portion of the pillar is two feet in height, and is de- 
corated with small arched canopies and pillars about a foot high, surmounted 
by fork-shaped pieces of scroll work. Above this is second line of niches. 
The quality of the stone is very fine and holes have been rubbed in its base 
by persons who imagine its touch a sovereign remedy for swollen necks and 
throats ! One mile south-west of Icchos is a large village called Mubarak- 
pur. To the south is a large tank and at its north-west corner a huge mound 
marking the site of a temple or vihara of great importance. I moved away 
a great portion of the rubbish and succeeded in recovering a large quantity of 
very beautiful figures. Notably I may mention a basalt arch, with a gurgoyle 
face for its (supposed) keystone and long lines of rich carving right and left, a 
figure of Jama, with a background of flames, and a large mixture of Hindu 
and Buddhist idols, more than forty in number. Several of there were un- 
finished, and others scarcely begun. For this reason, I suppose Mubarakpur 
to have been the site of a the sculptor’s studio. 
About 300 yards to the south of the Mubarakpiir ruins is a village 
known as Afzalpur Sarunda. Here again are the remains of a tope now 
