natural cavern of Gidha Dwâr, which I have already described. Gidha Dwár, in Sanskrit Gridhra-dwára, means the Vulture's pass, or opening. By Hwen Thsang the cave is called Indra-sila-guha, or "the cave of Indra's stone," being thus named after the stone on which were delineated the 42 points on which Indra had questioned Buddha. Fa-Hian adds that Indra himself drew the marks upon the stone with his finger.

A second cave is described by Hwen Thsang as the Vulture's Cave in the hill called Gridhra-kuta-parvata "or Vulture's Cave hill."* This name was derived from the story of Ananda's adventure with the demon Mâra in the shape of a vulture. The demon suddenly stopped before the cave and terrified Ananda, when Buddha passing his hand through the rock laid hold of Ananda's arm, and at once removed his fear. The cleft in the rock said to have been made by Buddha's hand, was seen by Fa-Hian early in the 5th century.† Major Kittoe thought that the Gidha Dwar Cave was the Vulture's Cave of the Chinese pilgrims, but its distance of 43 miles from the old capital of Rajagriha is too great, as both Fa-Hian and IIwen Thsang place the Vulture's Cave at 15 li from old Râjagriha, that is, at only 2 miles from it. This cave besides answers exactly to that described by Hwen Thsang under the name of Indra-sila-guha, and the two caves were certainly distinct. I made every enquiry for another cave, but could only hear of one very close to that of Gidha Dwár, which was quite inaccessible. But taking the distance and direction from old Rajagriha, the Vulture's Cave must have been in the lofty precipitous hill now called Sila-giri, or the "Rocky Mountain. Gidha Dwâr is the name of a narrow pass where the two parallel ranges of hills before described close together within two miles of Giryek, and the Gidha Dwâr Cave is immediately above the pass.

VII. RAJGIR.

Whatever doubts may exist regarding the identification of Kurkihâr and Giryek, there can fortunately be none

* Julien's Hwen Thsang, III., 20.

+ Beal's Fa-Hian, c. 29.

respecting Rajgir, as the representative of the ancient Rájagriha. The name is still preserved in the modern Rajgir, and I found it repeated in numerous inscriptions in the temples on the Baibhâr and Vipula Mountains. The old city of Rajagriha is described by Fa-Hian as situated in a valley between five hills, at 4 li (or two-thirds of a mile) to the south of the new town of Râjagriha. The same position and about the same distance are given by Hwen Thsang, who likewise mentions the hot springs which exist to this day.*

The old city of Râjagriha is called Kuságarapura, or the city of the Kusa grass, by Hwen Thsang, who further describes it as the "town surrounded by mountains." This last is almost a translation of Giri-vraja, or the city of" many hills," which is the old name of the capital of Jarasandha, preserved both in the Rámáyana and the Mahabharata. FaHian states that the "five hills form a girdle like the walls of a town," which is an exact description of the site of old Rajgir. A similar description is given by Turnour from the Pali annals of Ceylon, where the five hills are named Gijjhakuto, Isigili, Webháro, Wepullo, and Pandawo. In the Mahabharata the five hills are named Vaihára, Varáha, Vrishabha, Rishigiri, and Ghaityaka; but at present they are called Baibhár-giri, Vipula-giri, Ratna-giri, Udaya-giri, and Sona-giri.

In the inscriptions of the Jain temples on Mount Baibhár the name is sometimes written Baibhâra, and sometimes Vyavahára. It is beyond all doubt the Webháro Mountain of the Pali annals, in which was situated the far-famed Sattapanni Cave in front of which was held the first Buddhist Synod in 543 B. C. The Baibhâr Hill lies to the west of the hot springs, and the Vipula Hill to the east. In Baibhâr there still exists a large cave called Son-bhándár, or the "Treasury of Gold." The situation corresponds exactly with that of the Pi-po-lo cave of the two Chinese pilgrims, in which Buddha used to meditate after his noon-day meal.‡ The famous Sattapanni Cave must be looked for in the

Beal's Fa-Hian, c. 28; and Julien's Hwen Thsang, I., 159, III., 23.
See Plate XIV. for the relative positions of these five hills.

Both M. Julien (in Hwen Thsang, III., 24) and Mr. Beal (in Fa-Hian, c. 30) read Pi-po-lo as the Pippal tree, but I would suggest that it may be only the Chinese transcript of Vaibhara. As, however, the great cave in which the First Synod was held was called the cave of the Nyagrodha tree (Banian, sce Asiat. Res. XX., 91), it is very probable that this other cave was called the Pippal tree cave.

northern face of the south-west end of the mountain, at above one mile from the Son-bhândâr Cave.

Mount Vipula is clearly identical with the Wepullo of the Pali annals, and as its summit is now crowned with the ruins of a lofty stupa or chaitya, which is noticed by Hwen Thsang, I would identify it with the Chaityaka of the Mahábharata. Regarding the other three mountains, I have nothing at present to offer, but I may mention that they are also crowned with small Jain temples.

The old city between the hills is described by Fa-Hian to be 5 or 6 li from east to west, and 7 or 8 li from north to south, that is, from 24 to 28 li or 43 miles in circuit. HwenThsang makes it 30 li or 5 miles in circuit, with its greatest length from east to west. My survey of the ancient ramparts gives a circuit of 24,500 feet, or 4ğth miles, which is between the two statements of the Chinese pilgrims. The greatest length is from north-west to south-east, so that there is no real discrepancy between the two statements as to the direction of the greatest length of the old city. Each of them must have taken his measurement from the Nekpai embankment on the east (which has been described by Major Kittoe) to some point on the north-west. If taken to the PânchPandu angle of the ramparts, the direction would be W. N. W., and the length upwards of 8,000 feet; but if taken to the temple of Torha Devi, the direction would be N. N. W., and the distance upwards of 9,000 feet.

I have already quoted Fa-Hian's statement that the "five hills form a girdle like the walls of a town." This agrees with Hwen Thsang's description, who says that " 'high mountains surround it on four sides, and from its exterior walls, which have a circuit of 150 li or 25 miles. For this number I propose to read 50 li or 83 miles, a correction which is absolutely necessary to make the statement tally with the measurements of my survey. The following are the direct distances between the hills:

This is somewhat less than eight miles; but if the ascents and descents are taken into account, the actual length will correspond very closely with the statement of Hwen Thsang when corrected to 50 li. The old walls forming this exterior line of rampart are still to be seen in many places. I traced them from Vipula-giri over Ratna-giri to the Nekpai embankment, and thence onwards over Udaya-giri, and across the southern outlet of the valley to Sona-giri. At this outlet, the walls, which are still in good order, are 13 feet thick. To obtain a circuit of 25 miles, as given in Hwen Thsang's text, it would be necessary to carry these ramparts as far as Giryek on the east. As similar ramparts exist on the Giryek Hill, it is perhaps possible that Hwen Thsang intended to in

clude it in the circuit of his outer walls. But this immense circuit would not at all agree with his statement that "high mountains surround the city on four sides," for the distant Hill of Giryek cannot in any way be said to form one of the sides of old Râjagriha.

The new town of Râjagriha is said to have been built by King Srenika, otherwise called Bimbisára, the father of Ajátasatru, the contemporary of Buddha. Its foundation cannot, therefore, be placed later than 560 B. C. according to Buddhist chronology. In Hwen Thsang's time (A. D. 629— 642), the outer walls had already become ruinous, but the inner walls were still standing, and occupied a circuit of 20 li, or 33 miles. This statement corresponds tolerably well with the measurements of my survey, which make the circuit of the ramparts somewhat less than 3 miles. Buchanan calls new Rajagriha an irregular pentagon of 12,000 yards in diameter. This is clearly a misprint for 1,200 yards, which would give a circuit of 11,303 feet, or 23 miles; but this was probably the interior measurement, which, according to my survey, is 13,000 feet. The plan of new Râjagriha I make out to be an irregular pentagon of one long side and four nearly equal sides, the whole circuit being 14,260 feet outside the ditches, or rather less than three miles.*

On the south side towards the hills a portion of the interior, 2,000 feet long and 1,500 feet broad, has been cut off to form a citadel. The stone walls retaining the earthen ramparts of this work are still in good order in many places.

* See Plate XIV.

It is possible that this work may be of later date, as suggested by Buchanan, but I am of opinion that it was simply the citadel of the new town, and that its walls have suffered less from the effects of time, owing partly to their having been more carefully and more massively built than the less important ramparts of the town, and partly to their having been occasionally repaired as a military position by the authorities, while the repairs of the town walls were neglected as being either unnecessary or too costly.

The existing remains at Râjagriha are not numerous. The place has been occupied at different times by Musalmâns and Brahmans, by whom the Buddhist stupas and vihârs were pulled down to furnish materials for tombs, masjids, and temples. All the eminences that must once have been crowned by objects of Buddhist worship are now covered with Muhammedan graves; and all the Brahmanical temples about the hot springs have been constructed with the large bricks of Buddhist stupas. One of these last monuments can still be traced outside the south-west corner of the town in a large circular hollow mound, which attracted the notice of both Buchanan and Kittoe. I examined this mound carefully, and I was satisfied that the hollow represented the original site of a stupa from which the bricks had been carried off, while the surrounding circular mound represented the mass of earth and broken brick rubbish left by the workmen. The excavated stupa at Sârnâth, near Banâras, now offers almost exactly the same appearance. According to Hwen Thsang's account, this circular hollow was the site of a stupa 60 feet in height, which was built by Asoka. Beside it there was a stone pillar 50 feet high, on which was inscribed the history of the foundation of the stupa. The pillar was surmounted by an elephant.*

On Mount Baibhâr there are five modern Jain temples, besides the ruins of an old Saiva temple, of which four granite pillars, 10 feet in height, are still standing, and 50 or 60 smaller pillars are lying confusedly about. At the southern foot of the mountain, the rock has a natural scarp for about 100 yards in length, which, at the western end, has been smoothed to a height of 19 feet, in front of which the rock has been cut away to form a level terrace 90 feet in length by

* Julien's Hwen Thsang, III., 38.