158 R. Mitra —Donative Inscription from Bajaurgarh. [Mat, 
sible hill at a distance of forty miles south-west of Alwar. The hill abounds 
with tigers and wolves, which have been for a long time so little molested 
that they do not hesitate to attack men even in day-light. On the upper 
part of the hill some relics of an ancient city are still traceable, but it is now 
the site of a small village called Bajaurgarh. There are many wells in the 
land, which are not circular as those of the present day are, but generally 
of a square form, and water rests in them at the depth of eight or ten feet 
below the surface. Several large Buddh idols (which are unimportable) and 
many Siva lingas still exist there. There is ‘ a house still existing called 
the (Busi Iiihiika Mahal), or ‘ the Palace of an incensed 
Princess’ (or Russian Princess ?), but there tigers whelp now. Similarly 
remains of other old buildings are also traceable. A fortification made of 
stones runs over the hill for many miles. It has a gate known as Asavari 
gate, with . shutters in comparative good order. The gate is named 
after the goddess Asavari whose temple stands in its vicinity. Just close 
to it stands the temple to which this dana-patra belongs. There, by the 
order and at the expense of the Maharaja of Alwar, five Brahmans are en¬ 
gaged to offer their continual prayers. The Mahadeva in it is known by 
the name of Nilakantha, because both the Linga and the Jaladhari are made 
of blue stone. The temple is built in the old style, and the very first view 
of it shows its antiquity. A cowherd by chance got the inscription stone, 
and, thinking it to be a lijalc of some money hidden under ground, because 
persons happened to get some old coins there, made it over to the Tahsildar 
of Rajgarh, which is a railway station twenty-four miles to the south 
from Alwar. The Tahsildar, imagining it to be a new thing, presented it 
to Thomas Cadell, Esq., V. C., the political agent at Alwar, who, with a 
view to get it read, sent it to Pandit Rupanarayana, a member of the 
Raj Council. The Pandit, seeing the characters written with anusvaras and 
visargas, took it to be a Sanskrita Inscription; but he could not make 
it out, and returned it back, saying it was written in Maithila characters, and 
none but a Maithil could read it. 
“ By chance my friends, Pandits Bhavanand, Sridhar, Udayanand and 
Ramchandra, four brothers, had been to visit the agent, who asked them 
whether they had seen the inscription stone ? They replied that they had 
seen Pandit Chanchal Jha and Jagannath Daftari sitting outside the bun¬ 
galow, and trying to make out the inscription ; but that they had not examined 
the inscription with a view to read it. The agent told them that as yet no¬ 
body had been able to read it, but he hoped that they would succeed. 
When they came outside, and saw the inscription stone, they found the 
matras similar to those of other Sanskrit writings ; but the mode of writing 
was quite different to that of the present day. The inscription being writ- 
