1899.] 
ANCIENT SITES OP R'RINAGARA. 
153 
very heart of the city. It is just here that Zainu-l-‘abidin subse¬ 
quently constructed the first permanent bridge over the Vitas ta named 
after him Zaina Kad a l (Jainakadali), l 
Another old boat-bridge had been established by Harsa just oppo¬ 
site to his palace. 2 The latter as we shall see was situated on the left 
bank somewhere near the present Second Bridge (Haba Kad a l). The 
bridge proved fatal to Harsa’s fortunes, because it enabled the rebels 
to make their final and successful assault on the palace. 
There can be little doubt that the first permanent bridge across the 
Vitasta was of wood and showed the same peculiar cantilever con¬ 
struction which the Kasmlr bridges have preserved to this day. The 
latter have attracted the attention of all modern travellers and have 
often been described. 8 But it is curious that none of them can be traced 
back beyond the time of Zainu-l-‘abidin. The explanation may lie in 
the fact that that stone-architecture in which the engineers of the 
Hindu period were so proficient, did not permit of the construction of 
bridges with a sufficient span. For their Muhammadan successors 
working chiefly in wood it was easier to overcome this difficulty. 
Among the most characteristic features of the river-scene as it 
now presents itself within S'rinagar, are the numerous wooden bathing 
cells moored before all city Ghats. They have been there already in 
Hindu times. For Kalhana mentions more than once the sndna- 
kosthas of the river. 4 From a humorous sketch of city-life which 
Kalhana draws for us, we can see that they formed, then as now, the 
favourite meeting-place of the idle and curious. 6 
99. Resuming our walk up the river-bank we pass the remains of 
more than one old temple near the present 
St |rInagara erS Ziarats of B ^ ^ ah (Zainu-l-‘abidin), .Shall 
Hamadan and elsewhere. But we have no 
data for their identification. An old site is marked by the present 
Ghat S5m a yar, below the Second Bridge, which represents the 
Somatirtha of the Rajatarahgim. 6 The place is still visited as a 
Tirfcha, and some old Lingas are found by the river-side. The quarter 
in which the Somatirtha lies, is known as Sud a rmar. It owes its name 
to the Samudramatha built by Samudra, the queen of Ramadeva, in 
1 See S'rlv. i. 231 sq., 296. 
2 Rajat. vii. 1549. 
3 See, e.g., Vigne, Travels , ii. 23; Lawrence, Valley, p. 37. 
4 Compare Rajat. viii. 706, 1182, 2423. Also Ksemendra, Samay. ii. 38, know 
the term sndnahosthaJca which lives in the present Ks. iran&kuth. 
6 See Rajat. viii. 706-710. 
6 See Rajat, viii. 3360 note. 
J. r. 20 
