1887.] S. J. Cockburn— Sitas Window or Buddha s Shadow Gave. 31 
Sita’s Window or Buddha's Shadoiv Gave.—By S. J. Cockburn, Esq., 
M. A. S. Bengal. 
Sita’s window is an ancient Buddhist hermit’s cave, cut into the 
vertical face of a precipice 50 feet high. This precipice forms the scarp 
of the classic hill of Prabhasa, Allahabad District. 
On the 27th of March 1885 I paid a visit to the hill to examine its 
geological structure, suspecting the proximity of Lower Yindhian strata. 
In the course of my rambles on the hill I arrived at the modern Jain 
temple of Paras’nath, which is built on a platform immediately below the 
scarp, and has a stone staircase leading to it from the very foot of the 
hill, an ascent of possibly 200 feet. Observing a rock shelter on the 
brow of the precipice overhanging the temple, with indistinct traces 
of scroll writing in the shelter, I proceeded to carefully scan the 
face of the cliff with my telescope, and in the course of my search, 
alighted on a small, and seemingly well-preserved rock-cut inscription 
of seven lines immediately above the door of an artificial cave, hewn in 
the face of the precipice. This inscription I at once saw was in the Asoka 
character, my previous study of the Geology and Anthropology of 
the Bharhut railing having familiarized the form of the letters to my eye. 
The inscription is invisible to the naked eye, when its position has 
not been previously ascertained with the telescope. This accounts for 
its having escaped the searching ken of General Cunningham and his 
trained assistants and staff of chapprassis who were often located for 
months at the adjoining village of Kusam, the ancient Kausambi, searching 
for coins and inscriptions and paying large amounts for the same. In fact 
General Cunningham had been more than once within 150 feet of the 
inscription without noticing it, and it appears to me that his Dragon’s cave 
(see Archceological Survey Reports, Vol. XXI, Part I, p. 2), is merely a 
rock shelter, though the allusion to the windows renders it just possible 
that the cave seen by him is that described by me. 
I was not a little elated at my good fortune, but it has cost me ten 
days out of my privilege leave and half a month’s salary to make the 
eye-copy of the inscription which I now submit to the Society. 
I copied one line of the inscription on the occasion of my first visit 
and submitted it to Dr. Hoernle who very kindly obtained me the loan 
of an astronomical telescope from the Principal of the Hooghly College, 
by means of which I have been enabled to make the present copy. I 
have further promised that Dr. Hoernle shall have the first right to 
make the first reading of the inscription.* 
I revisited Prabhasa on the 26tli of November and devoted the 27th 
# [See Proceedings for March 1887. Ed.] 
