4 H. H. Godwin-Austen —On the Ruins of Dimdpur. [No. 1, 
sharply cut into angles and edges for the cornice work. All the moulded 
bricks were of very fine clay and well burnt. The clay in the neighbourhood 
is of a superior kind. 
Turning sharp to the left from the gateway, we followed the wall on 
the outside for about 200 yards, and then turning in through a gap in it, 
came at about 80 yards on the site of the ruins at their northern end. It is 
a peculiarly striking place, unlike anything I have seen in India, nor have 
I ever seen mention elsewhere of ruins like these. When perfect, it must 
have been an imposing looking place ; even now buried as it lies, in the dense 
gloomy forest, it excites wonder and admiration for the labour expended in 
transporting such massive blocks of sandstone so far. The nearest point, 
at which the tertiary sandstone could have been quarried, would be upon 
the first line of hills, some 10 miles distant, while up the Dunsiri valley it 
would be much farther : and if they were brought from this side, it is not im¬ 
probable that rafts might have been employed to bring the stone a part of the 
distance. It is not easy at first to make out the plan of the place owing to 
the underwood, but our Khasi coolies soon cleared paths about the place and 
opened it up. 
The carved pillars, the most distinguishing feature of the ruins, are 
arranged in two rows in front of what must have been a long sort of corridor. 
Whether this was enclosed in any way, or divided into compartments by mat- 
walls, is impossible to say, neither is it quite easy to understand the manner in 
which it was roofed, though in my drawing it is shewn how I imagine this was 
done. The highest pillars and highest portion of the covered part or corridor 
are in the centre and diminish on either side ; the pillars at the south¬ 
ern end are certainly older, ruder, and of coarser make than those in 
the centre or north, and the distance between the two rows of pillars 
is narrower at the south end. The pillars are all of one general pat¬ 
tern, and remind one much of gigantic chessmen. What they are intended 
to represent is difficult to say ; some would perhaps set them down as a 
form of lingas ; but may not their origin be sought for in the very widely 
spread custom in this quarter of India of erecting rough stone monuments, 
and may not the custom have taken the form of these carved pillars, brought 
into their present position with such enormous expenditure of labour by a 
population, lowlanders, richer and more civilized than their mountain neigh¬ 
bours, but with whose customs and superstitions they assimilated. The 
tallest pillar is about 15 feet ; the smallest at the south end, 8 feet 5 inches; 
a great number, 12 to 13 feet. The diameter of one of the largest was 6 feet. 
No two are precisely alike in the minor ornamentation, but all are of one ge¬ 
neral form, large semi-circular tops with concentric foliated carving below on 
the shaft. There is seen (vide PI. V, bottom) what may possibly be intended 
for a spear head ; if it be such, it is the only object represented. However 
