wells is a spring immediately under the north

ern face of the mountain.

It is surrounded

by a large enclosure, and its water is tepid. Passing through a courtyard, the visitor arrives at a small stone cell in the rock, and imme

diately above this a flight of some eighty steps leads up the side of the hill to a platform paved with brick.

107

GEOGRAPHY OF MAGADHA.

APRIL 5, 1872.]

This is the celebrated Makhdum

kund of the Muhammadans, and Sringgi-rikhi kund of the Hindus.

This well is held in ex

traordinary veneration alike by Hindus and Musalmans, and is thronged by pilgrims all the year round. The spot is celebrated as the residence of Makhdum Shah Shaikh Saraf

There is little difficulty in identifying this from the remarks of Hwen Thsang as well as by those of Fah-Hian. The former says,t “Au nord de l'endroit oti Che-li-tseu (S’āripouttra) avait obtenu le fruit du Saint (la dignité d’Arhat), tout prés il y a une fosse large et profonde à côté de laquelle on a élevé un

Stoºpa. . . . . . . Au nord-est de la fosse ard ente, à l'angle de la ville entourée de montagnes ily a un Stoºpa. En cet endroit, le grand mé dicin Chi-po-kia (Djivika) bâtit en faveur du Bouddha, une salle pour l’explication de la loi.” Fah-Hian writes: “To the north-east of the city in the middle of a crooked defile, Djivika

ud-din Ahmad, a saint, not only revered by the

erected a Vihāra. . . Its ruins still exist.” Ibe

Muhammadans of Bihār, but by the followers of

lieve these places to be identical with the remains

the Crescent all over India.

which I shall presently describe. Nearly a quarter of a mile to the east of the pagoda of Mahāvira one arrives at the summit of the hill, which is exactly above the centre of the “crooked defile.” At this place is an enorm ous platform 130 feet long by 30 wide, and about 6 feet above the surrounding rocks. It is

The date of his

sojourn at Rājgir was, as far as I can ascertain, about 715 A.H.

The stone cell is said to be

his “hujra,” i.e., the scene of a forty days' meditation and fast [ver: chillah], and the plat form above, the place of his morning and even ing prayers. General Cuningham has been led into a strange error about this spot, and states it to have been the dwelling of Saint Chillah, a converted Hindu.

I trust at a future time to

be able to give a complete history of the life and writings of Saraf-ud-din, in connection with the history of Muhammadan rule in Bihār. About two hundred feet from the foot of the

hill, almost immediately above the northern

gate of the ancient city, and nearly half a mile south-west of

the Makhdum-kund, are

constructed almost entirely of the materials of

Buddhist buildings [I counted more than 30 pillars in the floor alone], and this is easily ac counted for by a large pile of ruins at either end of the platform. The mound to the east is nearly 30 feet high, and its surface is bestrewn

with pillars and stone slabs. The ruins to the west are undoubtedly those of a temple or vihāra, and several gray stone columns are still erect.

the

The modern Jaina temples on the platform de

remains of an enormous brick Stupa or “tope,” now surmounted by a small temple of Mahā deva. There is a similar ruin opposite this at the foot of Baibhār, and the bed of the ravine is also strewn with débris. I clearly identify these ruins with the description of Hwen Thsang"; “En déhors de la porte septentionale de la ville,

serve some notice, as all of them abound, more

ily a un Stoàpa. . . . au nord-est de l' endroit

of Buddha under a canopy, and three parallel rows of exquisite geometrical pattern run

où fut dompté l'éléphant ivre il y a un Stoàpa.” Leaving this place, and going some few hundred yards to the north-east, one arrives at two small Jaina pagodas, built on a peak of the hill. The first is dedicated to Hemantu Sādhu, and the second to Mahāvira, the 24th Tirthan kara of the Jainas, who is said to have lived, and died at Pawapüri, eight miles north-east of

or less, in Buddhist ornamentation. The first of the series of four is only about 10 feet square, and is surmounted by a simple semi-circular cupola. It is dedicated to Chandraprabha, the 8th Tirthankara. The doorway is a fine speci men of Buddhist art.

round the sides.

In the centre is a figure

Above the door, a large orna

mental slab, about five feet long and eight inches wide, is inserted in the masonry. It is divided into seven compartments. The first of which,

on either side, contain figures of elephants, and the remainder—groups of figures in the attitude of the dance.

This is almost identical with the

Continuing to ascend the western face

ornamentation of a very beautiful doorway exca

of the hill, one looks down on a rocky defile

vated by me from the mound at Dapthu, and which is now in my collection of Buddhist sculp

Rājgir.

which separates Mount Vipula from Ratnagir.

• Mémoires, tom. II. p. 16.

f Mémoires, tom. II. p. 18-19.

† Beal's Translation, chapr. xxviii. p. 113.