Archaeological Survey of India Reports, Volume 1

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Office of the Superintendent of Government Printing, 1871 - Excavations (Archaeology)

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Page 173 - While stands the Coliseum, Rome shall stand; 'When falls the Coliseum, Rome shall fall; 'And when Rome falls — the World.
Page 172 - Pilgrims, on the authority of English travellers who visited India during the reigns of Jahangir and Shahjahan. Purchas states that the Mase (Raja) who founded Delhi, " by advice of his magicians, tried the ground by driving an iron stake, which came up bloody, having wounded a snake. This the Ponde (Pande or Pandit), or magician, said was a fortunate sign...
Page 297 - Banian tree," which is still an object of worship at Allahabad. This tree is now situated underground, at one side of a pillared court, which would appear to have been open formerly, and which is, I believe, the remains of the temple described by Hwen Thsang. The temple is situated inside the fort of Allahabad, to the east of the Ellenborough Barracks, and due north from the Stone Pillar of Asoka and Samudra Gupta.
Page 163 - Golden Pillar.' This gilt pinnacle was still in its place in AD 1611, when William Finch entered Delhi, as he describes the Stone Pillar of Bimsa, which, after passing through three several stories, rising 24 feet above them all, having on the top a globe surmounted by a crescent.
Page 171 - But the Raja, doubting the truth of the Brahman's statement, ordered the pillar to be dug up, when the foot of it was found wet with the blood of the serpent king, whose head it had pierced. Regretting his unbelief the Iron Pillar was again raised ; but owing to the king's former incredulity, every plan now failed in fixing it firmly, and, in spite of all his efforts, it still remained loose...
Page 102 - Varand is a considerable rivulet, which rises to the north of Allahabad, and has a course of about 100 miles. The Asi is a mere brook of no length, and owing to its insignificant size, it does not appear in any of our most detailed maps. It is not entered in the Indian Atlas, Sheet No. 88, which is on the scale of...
Page ii - It will not be to our credit, as an enlightened ruling power, if we continue to allow such fields of investigation, as the remains of the old Buddhist capital in Behar, the vast ruins of Kanouj, the plains round Delhi, studded with ruins more thickly than even the Campagna of Rome, and many others, to remain without more examination than they have hitherto received.
Page xxxvi - ... successors of the Greeks on the north of India. Hitherto these classes of rude coins, though very numerous, have been much disregarded, and on that account I now invite attention to them, and promise to return to the task myself when I have fresh materials collected and arranged ; my text being, ' those coins on which the native and Greek legends differ, or record different names.
Page 166 - ... the pillar. The last ten lines of the eastern face, as well as the whole of the continuous inscription round the shaft, are peculiar to the Delhi pillar. There is a marked difference also in the appearance of this part of the inscription. The characters are all thinner and less boldly cut; the vowel marks are generally sloping, instead of being horizontal or perpendicular, and the letters/, t, s, and h, are differently formed from those of the preceding part of the inscription.
Page 246 - ... is 10 feet long and 10 feet high, and about 8 feet thick at bottom. The south-eastern face has been smoothed, but rather unevenly, as it follows the undulations of the original surface. The main inscription is engraved on this smoothed surface, which measures 5 feet in height with a breadth of 5 1.

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