[116] ‘Archæological Reports,’ vol. i. plates 8 to 11.

[117] For this last determination, see ‘Tree and Serpent Worship,’ p. 99, et seqq.

[118] It is to be hoped that when Gen. Cunningham publishes the volume he is preparing on the Bharhut Tope, he will add photographs of the pillars of this rail. It would add immensely to the value of his work if it afforded the means of comparing the two. Some illustrations of the sculpture from Major Kittoe’s drawings will be found in ‘Tree and Serpent Worship,’ woodcuts 7, 20, 24. Two of them are reproduced here, the first representing a man on his knees before an altar worshipping a tree, while a flying figure brings a garland to adorn it. The other represents a relic casket, over which a seven-headed Naga spreads his hood, and over him an umbrella of state. There are, besides, two trees in a sacred enclosure, and another casket with three umbrellas (Woodcuts Nos. 25, 26). They are from drawings by Major Kittoe.

[119] ‘Tree and Serpent Worship,’ p. 99, et seqq.

[120] When I wrote my work on ‘Tree and Serpent Worship’ nothing was practically known as to the age of the jatakas, or the early form in which they were represented; much, therefore, that was then advanced was, or at least appeared to others to be, mere guess work, or daring speculation. It is, consequently, no small satisfaction to me to find that this subsequent discovery of a monument 200 years earlier does not force me to unsay a single word I then said. On the contrary, everything I then advanced is confirmed, and these inscriptions render certain what before their discovery was necessarily sometimes deficient in proof.

[121] The following outline (Woodcut No. 28, on the next page) of one of the bas-reliefs on a pillar at Bharhut may serve to convey an idea of the style of art and of the quaint way in which the stories are there told. On the left, a king with a five-headed snake-hood is represented, kneeling before an altar strewn with flowers, behind which is a tree (Sirisa Accasia?) hung with garlands. Behind him is an inscription to this effect, “Erapatra the Naga Raja worships the Divinity (Bhagavat).” Above him is the great five-headed Naga himself, rising from a lake. To its right a man in the robes of a priest standing up to his middle in the water, and above the Naga a female genius, apparently floating in the air. Below is another Naga Raja, with his quintuple snake-hood, and behind him two females with a single snake at the back of their heads—an arrangement which is universal in all Naga sculpture. They are standing up to their waists in water. If we may depend on the inscription below him, this is Erapatra twice over, and the females his two wives. I should, however, rather be inclined to fancy there were two Naga Rajas represented with their two wives.

This bas-relief is further interesting as being an epitome of my work on ‘Tree and Serpent Worship.’ As expressing in the shortest possible compass nearly all that is said there at length, it will also serve to explain much that is advanced in the following pages. As it is 200 years older than anything that was known when that book was written, it is a confirmation of its theories, as satisfactory as it is complete.

[122] ‘Mahawanso,’ Introduction, p. 32.

[123] Outlines of these sculptures are given in General Cunningham’s third volume of his ‘Reports,’ plate 6. I have photographs of the whole, which represent what is omitted in the lithographs.

[124] General Cunningham collected and translated 196 inscriptions from this tope, which will be found in his work on the Bhilsa Topes, p. 235, et seqq., plates 16-19.

[125] The details from which these determinations are arrived at will be found in ‘Tree and Serpent Worship,’ p. 98, et seqq. It is consequently not necessary to repeat them here.

[126] It is very much to be regretted that when Lieut. Cole had the opportunity he did not take a cast of this one instead of the eastern. It is far more complete, and its sculptures more interesting.

[127] For details of these sculptures and references, I must refer the reader to my work on ‘Tree and Serpent Worship,’ where they are all represented and described in great detail. Sculptures do not, strictly speaking, belong to this work, and, except for historical purposes, are not generally alluded to.

[128] They must certainly have been very common in India, for, though only one representation of them has been detected among the sculptures at Sanchi (‘Tree and Serpent Worship,’ plate 27, fig. 2), at least ten representations of them are found at Amravati, plates 59 (fig. 2), 60 (fig. 1), 63 (fig. 3), 64 (fig. 1), 69, 83 (fig. 2), 85 (figs. 1 and 2), 96 (fig. 3), 98 (fig. 2), and no doubt many more may yet be found.

[129] ‘Tree and Serpent Worship,’ Appendix I. p. 270.

[130] In Burmah at the present day a roll precisely similar to this, formed of coloured muslin, distended by light bamboo hoops, is borne on men’s shoulders in the same manner as shown here, on each side of the procession that accompanies a high priest or other ecclesiastical dignitary to the grave.

[131] For the reasons of the following determination and other particulars, the reader is referred to my work on ‘Tree and Serpent Worship,’ where the whole are set out at length. A short account of the tope will also be found in the ‘Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society,’ vol. iii. (N. S.) p. 132, et seqq.

[132] ‘Histoire de Hiouen Thsang,’ traduite par Julien, vol. i. p. 188.

[133] It is probable that a tolerably correct idea of the general exterior appearance of the buildings from which these caves were copied may be obtained from the Raths (as they are called) of Mahavellipore (described further on, p. 328). These are monuments of a later date, and belonging to a different religion, but they correspond so nearly in all their parts with the temples and monasteries now under consideration, that we cannot doubt their being, in most respects, close copies of them. Curiously enough, the best illustrations of some of them are to be found among the unpublished sculptures of the Bharhut Tope.

[134] The only buildings in India I know of that gave the least hint of the external forms or construction of these halls are the huts of the Todas on the Nilgiri Hills. In a work recently published by the late Mr. Breeks, of the Madras Civil Service, he gives two photographs of these dwellings, plates 8 and 9. Their roofs have precisely the same elliptical forms as the chaitya with the ridge, giving the ogee form externally, and altogether, whether by accident or design, they are miniature chaitya halls. Externally they are covered with short thatch, neatly laid on. Such forms may have existed in India two thousand years ago, and may have given rise to the peculiarities of the chaitya halls, but it is, of course, impossible to prove it.

[135] ‘Illustrations of the Rock-cut Temples of India,’ 1 vol., text 8vo., with folio plates. Weale, London, 1845.

[136] ‘Journal Bombay Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society,’ vol. iii. pt. ii. p. 36, et seqq., and vol. iv. p. 340, et seqq.

[137] Cunningham, ‘Archæological Reports,’ vol. i. p. 45.

[138] At Kondooty, near Bombay, there is a chaitya cave of much more modern date, which possesses a circular chamber like this. In the older examples it is probable a relic or some sacred symbol occupied the cell; in the later it may have been an image of Buddha. No plans or details of the Kondooty temple have, so far as I know, been published. I speak from information derived from MS. drawings.

[139] General Cunningham (‘Archæological Reports,’ vol. i. p. 45) and others are in the habit of calling this an Egyptian form. This it certainly is not, as no Egyptian doorway had sloping jambs. Nor can it properly be called Pelasgic. The Pelasgi did use that form, but derived it from stone constructions. The Indians only obtained it from wood.

[140] A very detailed account of all these caves will be found in Gen. Cunningham’s ‘Archæological Report’ for 1861-62.

[141] From a photograph and an unpublished paper by Professor Bhandarkur, read before the Oriental Congress.

[142] From Bhandarkur’s paper, ubi supra.

[143] ‘Journal Bombay Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society,’ vol. v. p. 55.

[144] ‘Journal Bombay Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society,’ vol. v. pp. 152-3.

[145] A few years ago it was reported that this screen was in danger of falling outwards, and I wrote repeatedly to India begging that something might be done to preserve it; but I have never been able to learn if this has been attended to. Only a small portion of the original ribbing of the Bhaja cave now remains. That of the Bedsa cave has been destroyed within the last ten or twelve years (‘Journal Bombay Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society,’ vol. ix. p. 223); and it would be a thousand pities if this, which is the only original screen in India, were allowed to perish when a very small outlay would save it. Like the Iron pillar at Delhi which never rusts, teak wood that does not decay though exposed to the atmosphere for 2000 years, is a phenomenon worth the attention not only of antiquaries, but of natural philosophers.

[146] For further particulars regarding the Ajunta caves, the reader is referred to a paper I wrote in the ‘Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society,’ 1842, and republished afterwards with a folio volume of plates to illustrate it.

[147] These inscriptions are translated in Bhau Dajis’ paper on the Ajunta inscriptions, ‘Journal Bombay Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society,’ vol. viii. p. 63, as if found in cave 2. On the accompanying plate they are described as one on cave 10, the other on cave 12.

[148] Kittoe in ‘Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bengal,’ March, 1847, plate 6.

[149] Sir Charles Mallet, in the second volume of the ‘Bombay Literary Transactions,’ quotes a tradition that the Ellora caves were excavated by a Raja Eelu, 1000 years before his day. This might be true if applied to the Brahmanical Kailas, but hardly to any Buddhist cave in the series.

[150] ‘Journal Bombay Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society,’ vol. v. p. 14.

[151] Loc. cit. p. 25.

[152] Introduction to ‘Mahawanso,’ p. 30.

[153] See Appendix.

[154] A tolerably correct representation of these sculptures is engraved in Langle’s ‘Hindostan,’ vol. ii. p. 81, after Niebuhr. The curious part of the thing is, that the Buddhist figures of the Karli façade are not copied here also, from which I would infer, as well as from their own intrinsic evidence, that they were more modern than even this cave.

[155] For further particulars regarding this cave, the reader is referred to my work on the ‘Rock-cut Temples of India,’ p. 36, plates 11 and 12.

[156] The plates in Gen. Cunningham’s ‘Archæological Reports,’ vol. ii. pl. 70 and 74, are on too small a scale to be of much use. I have not myself visited these caves.

[157] The particulars of the architecture of these caves are taken from Gen. Cunningham’s report above alluded to. I entirely agree with him as to their age, and am surprised Dr. Impey could be so mistaken regarding them. ‘Journal Bombay Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society,’ vol. v. p. 336, et seqq.

[158] Throughout this work the term “Vihara” is applied only to monasteries, the abodes of monks or hermits. It was not, however, used in that restricted sense only, in former times, though it has been so by all modern writers. Hiouen Thsang, for instance, calls the Great Tower at Buddh Gaya a vihara, and describes similar towers at Nalanda, 200 and 300 feet high, as viharas. The ‘Mahawanso’ also applies the term indiscriminately to temples of a certain class, and to residences. My impression is that all buildings designed in storeys were called viharas, whether used for the abode of priests or to enshrine relics or images. The name was used to distinguish them from stupas or towers, which were always relic shrines, or erected as memorials of places or events, and never were residences or simulated to be such, or contained images, till the last gasp of the style, as at Kholvi. At present this is only a theory; it may, before long, become a certainty. Strictly speaking, the residences ought probably to be called Sangharamas, but, to avoid multiplication of terms, vihara is used in this work as the synonym of monastery, which is the sense in which it is usually understood by modern authors.

[159] Vol. iv., Woodcuts Nos. 89, 90.

[160] Beal’s ‘Fa Hian,’ p. 139, ‘Hiouen Thsang,’ vol. iii. p. 102.

[161] ‘Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society,’ vol. vi. (N.S.) p. 257, et seqq.

[162] ‘Archæological Reports,’ vol. i. p. 28, plate 16.

[163] ‘Hiouen Thsang,’ vol. i. p. 151.

[164] ‘Archæological Reports,’ vol. i. pp. 28-36, plate 16.

[165] Now in private hands in Birmingham.

[166] ‘Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bengal,’ vol. xxxiii. p. 360, et seqq.

[167] Ibid., vol. xxiii. p. 469, et seqq.

[168] For this and the other Sarnath remains see Cunningham’s ‘Archæological Reports,’ vol. i. p. 114, et seqq., plates 32-34.

[169] These dimensions are from plate 42, ‘Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bengal,’ for 1847, by the late Capt. Kittoe.

[170] This inscription first attracted the attention of Stirling, and a plate representing it very imperfectly is given in the 15th volume of the ‘Asiatic Researches.’ It was afterwards copied by Kittoe, and a translation, as far as its imperfection admitted, made by Prinsep, with the assistance of his pundits, and published. ‘Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bengal,’ vol. vi. p. 1080, et seqq.

[171] ‘Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bengal,’ vol. vi. p. 1073, plate 54.

[172] ‘Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bengal,’ vol. vi. p. 1075.

[173] There is a very faithful drawing of this bas-relief by Kittoe in the ‘Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bengal,’ vol. vii. plate 44. But casts of all these sculptures were taken some three years ago by Mr. Locke, of the School of Design, Calcutta, and photographs of these casts, with others of the caves, are now before me. Reduced copies of some of these were published on plate 100, ‘Tree and Serpent Worship,’ 2nd edition, 1873.

[174] That there were Yavanas in Orissa about this time is abundantly evident, from the native authorities quoted by Stirling—‘Asiatic Researches,’ vol. xv. p. 258, et seqq. These represent them as coming from Kashmir, and Babul Des, or Persia, and one account names the invader as Hangsha Deo, which looks very like Hushka, or Huvishka (the brother of Kanishka), whose inscriptions are found at Muttra.—Cunningham, ‘Archæological Reports,’ vol. ii. p. 32, et seqq.

[175] ‘Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bengal,’ vol. vii. plate 42. ‘Tree and Serpent Worship,’ plate 100.

[176] ‘Tree and Serpent Worship,’ plate 100, p. 105.

[177] There may have been a structural dagoba attached to the series, which may have disappeared.

[178] Wilson, ‘Ariana Antiqua,’ plate 10.

[179] These inscriptions were first published by Lieut. Brett, with translations by Dr. Stevenson, in the fifth volume of the ‘Journal Bombay Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society,’ p. 39, et seqq., plates 1 to 16. They were afterwards revised by Messrs. E. W. and A. A. West in the eighth volume of the same journal, p. 37, et seqq., and translated by Professor Bhandarkar in a paper not yet published, but to which I have had access. I have also been assisted by manuscript plans and notes by Mr. Burgess; and, though I have not seen the caves myself, I fancy that I can realise all their main features without difficulty.

[180] Professor Bhandarkar, in his paper on these inscriptions, passes over the inscriptions in the interior of the chaitya, without alluding to them in any way. Is it that there is any mistake about them? and that the cave is a century more modern than they would lead us to suppose? The answer is probably to be obtained on the spot, and there only.

[181] ‘Journal Bombay Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society,’ vol. viii. p. 40.

[182] Ante, p. 129. See also plate 11 of my folio work on the ‘Rock-cut Temples,’ where the pillars of the two caves are contrasted as here.

[183] ‘Journal Bombay Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society,’ vol. ix. p. 16.

[184] ‘Journal Bombay Branch Royal Asiatic Society,’ vol. viii. p. 42.

[185] Ib., vol. v. p. 49.

[186] ‘Tree and Serpent Worship,’ woodcut 12, p. 92.

[187] Ibid., plates 81, 91, 97, et passim.

[188] ‘Journal Bombay Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society,’ vol. v. p. 55.

[189] ‘Journal Bombay Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society,’ vol. viii. p. 56.

[190] The caves, it may be explained, were numbered consecutively, like houses in a street, beginning at the north end, the first cave there being No. 1, the last accessible cave at the southern end being No. 26.

[191] ‘Journal Bombay Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society,’ vol. viii. p. 56. See also, ‘Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bengal,’ vol. v. p. 726.

[192] Curiously enough, on the roof of this cave there are four square compartments representing the same scene, in different manners—a king, or very important personage, drinking out of a cup with male and female attendants. What the story is, is not known, but the persons represented are not Indians, but Persians, and the costumes those of the Sassanian period. Copies of these pictures by Mr. Griffith are now exhibited in the India Museum at Kensington.

[193] ‘Rock cut Temples,’ pl. 8.

[194] Eight large lithographic plates illustrating these caves will be found in my work on the ‘Rock-cut Temples of India,’ 1843. In 1864 I published a small volume containing fifty-eight photographic illustrations of the same series. Reductions of some of the more important frescoes, copied by Major Gill, were fortunately published by Mrs. Speir in her ‘Life in Ancient India,’ in 1856; and since then Mr. Griffith, of the School of Arts at Bombay, has been employed to recover, as far as it can now be done, the frescoes destroyed in the Crystal Palace fire. If he is successful, these curious paintings may still be made available for the history of art in India. It is feared, however, that the means taken by Major Gill to heighten their colour before copying them, and the destructive tendencies of British tourists, have rendered the task to a great extent a hopeless one.

[195] Ante, p. 59.

[196] I possess a large collection of MS. drawings of these caves, made for Daniell by his assistants in 1795-6.

[197] ‘Voyage en Arabie et d’autres pays circonvoisins,’ 1776-80. Most of the plates referring to these caves were reproduced by Langles in his ‘Monuments d’Hindostan,’ vol. ii., plates 77, et seqq.

[198] Schlagintweit, ‘Buddhismus in Thibet,’ plate 3.

[199] Plans of these caves, with descriptions and some architectural details, will be found in Gen. Cunningham’s ‘Archæological Reports,’ vol. ii. pp. 270-288, plates 77-84. Those of Dhumnar I have seen myself, but till those of Kholvi are photographed we shall not be able to speak positively regarding them; the General’s drawings are on too small a scale for that purpose.

[200] The Kholvi group is situated more than sixty miles north of Ujjain, that of Dhumnar about twenty-five further north, and deeper into the Central Indian jungles.

[201] ‘Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society,’ vol. iv. pp. 287-291.

[202] There is a representation of this cave in Dr. Bird’s book, plate 16, but so badly done that it requires being told what is intended in order to find it out.

[203] I have for some time possessed photographs of about one hundred objects obtained in these excavations, principally those in the Lahore Museum; and latterly I have received from Gen. Cunningham twenty large photographic plates, representing 165 separate objects recently obtained in a more methodical manner by himself, principally from Jamalgiri. These plates are, as I understand, to form part of the illustrations of a work he intends publishing on the subject. When it is in the hands of the public there will be some data to reason upon. At present there is scarcely anything to which a reference can be made.

[204] When Gen. Cunningham was selecting specimens in the Lahore Museum, to be photographed for the Vienna Exhibition, he complains that he could only ascertain the “find spot” of five or six out of the whole number—500 or 600. It is therefore to be regretted that, when publishing a list with descriptions of the 165 objects discovered by himself (‘Archæological Reports,’ vol. v. pp. 197-202), he does not mention where they came from, and gives the dimensions of a few only.

[205] The mode in which the excavations have recently been conducted by Government has been to send out a party of sappers in the cold weather to dig, but the officer in charge of the party has been the subaltern who happened to be in command of the company at the time. A new officer is consequently appointed every year, and no one has ever been selected because he had any experience in such matters or any taste for such pursuits. What has been done has been done wonderfully well, considering the circumstances under which it was undertaken; but the result on the whole is, as might be expected, painfully disappointing. Quite recently, however, it is understood that Gen. Cunningham has taken charge of the excavations, and we may consequently hope that in future these defects of arrangement will be remedied.

[206] In the fifth volume of his ‘Archæological Reports’ just received, Gen. Cunningham assumes that both these were stupas of the ordinary character. They may have been so, but both having steps up to them would seem to militate against that assumption. The circular one is only 22 ft., the square one 15 ft. in diameter, and there is consequently no room on either for a procession-path round the dome, if it existed; and, if this is so, of what use could the steps be? Lieut. Crompton, who excavated the Jamalgiri monastery, is clearly of opinion that it was a platform—see page 2 of his report, published in the ‘Lahore Gazette,’ 30th August, 1873. To prevent misunderstanding, I may mention that Gen. Cunningham, in his plate No. 14, by mistake, ascribes the plan to Sergt. Wilcher, instead of to Lieut. Crompton.

[207] ‘Embassy to Thibet,’ p. 317.

[208] ‘Journal Bombay Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society,’ vol. vii., No. 21, p. 116, et seqq.

[209] These have been removed, and are now in Gen. Cunningham’s possession at Simla, I believe. He has sent me photographs of twelve of them.

[210] ‘Tree and Serpent Worship,’ plates 24 (fig. 3) and 36 (fig. 1).

[211] The modillion cornice, though placed on the capital in the photograph, belongs in reality to another part of the building.

[212] ‘Archæological Reports,’ vol. v. pp. 49 and 196.

[213] ‘The Palaces of Nineveh and Persepolis Restored.’ By the Author. Part II. sect. i., et passim.

[214] One curious peculiarity of these Gandhara sculptures is that they generally retain the sloping jamb on each side of their openings. In India and in a structural building this peculiarity would certainly fix their age as anterior to the Christian Era. In Gandhara it is only found in decorative sculpture, and retained apparently from association. It does not, at all events, appear as if any argument could be based on its use as there employed.

[215] Assuming that his age has been correctly ascertained, which I am beginning, however, to doubt exceedingly.

[216] I possess photographs of about 300 objects from the Lahore and other museums, and have had access to about as many actual examples—of an inferior class, however—in collections in this country, but even they barely suffice for the purpose.

[217] ‘Archæological Reports,’ vol. v., Introduction, p. vi. See also Appendix to the same volume, pp. 193-4.

[218] Texier and Pullan, ‘Byzantine Architecture,’ London, 1864, pls. 22-25 and pl. 44.

[219] De Voguë, ‘Syrie Centrale,’ passim.

[220] By a curious slip of the pen General Cunningham (‘Archæological Reports,’ vol. v. p. 193) places “These Roman examples in the baths of Caracalla in the beginning of the first century of the Christian Era, almost contemporary,” he adds, “with that which I assign to the finest Indo-Corinthian examples just described, namely, the latter half of the first century B.C.” This is so evidently a mere slip that I would not allude to it were it not that much of his argument for the early age of these sculptures is based upon this coincidence.

[221] There is a capital at Siah, in Syria, on which a bust is introduced, which may be as early as the Christian Era, but it is a solitary example not repeated afterwards, so far as I know. See ‘Syrie Centrale,’ by De Voguë, plate 3.