Chapter LIX: Part II: sect. i., et passim (2)

[494] Gen. Cunningham found an inscription on the wall recording that twenty-seven temples of the Hindus had been pulled down to provide materials for this mosque (‘Archæological Reports,’ vol. i. p. 176). This, however, proves little, unless we know what the temples were like which were destroyed for this purpose. Twenty-seven temples like those at Khajurâho, excepting the Ganthai, would not provide pillars for one half the inner court. One temple like that at Sadri would supply a sufficiency for the whole mosque, and though the latter is more modern, we have no reason for supposing that similar temples may not have existed before Mahomedan times.

[495] This mode of construction is only feasible when much larger stones are used than were here employed. The consequence was that the arch had become seriously crippled when I saw and sketched it. It has since been carefully restored by Government under efficient superintendence, and is now as sound and complete as when first erected. The two great side arches either were never completed, or have fallen down in consequence of the false mode of construction.

[496] ‘Asiatic Researches,’ vol. iv. p. 313. Its present height, according to Gen. Cunningham, is (after the removal of the modern pavilion) 238 ft. 1 in. (‘Archæological Reports,’ vol i. p. 196).

[497] Translated by Walter Ewer, ‘Asiatic Researches,’ vol. xiv. p. 480. See also Cunningham, ‘Archæological Reports,’ vol. i. p. 132, _et seqq._

[498] It is a curious illustration how difficult it sometimes is to obtain correct information in India, that when Gen. Cunningham published his ‘Reports’ in 1871, he stated, apparently on the authority of Mr. Cooper, Deputy Commissioner, that an excavation had been carried down to a depth of 26 ft., but without reaching the bottom. “The man in charge, however”--_témoin oculaire_--“assured him that the actual depth reached was 35 ft.”--Vol. i. p. 169. He consequently estimated the whole length at 60 ft., but fortunately ordered a new excavation, determined to reach the bottom--_coûte qui coûte_--and found it at 20 inches below the surface.--Vol. iv. p. 28, pl. 5. At a distance of a few inches below the surface it expands in a bulbous form to a diameter of 2 ft. 4 in., and rests on a gridiron of iron bars, which are fastened with lead into the stone pavement.

[499] ‘Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bengal,’ vol. vii. p. 629.

[500] ‘Journal Bombay Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society,’ vol. x. p. 64. These two translations are painfully discrepant in detail, though agreeing sufficiently as to the main facts. On the whole, I am inclined to think Bhau Daji’s the most correct, though I agree with Prinsep in believing that the more archaic form of the letters is owing to their being punched with a cold chisel on the iron, instead of being engraved as those on stone always were.

[501] There is no mistake about the pillar being of pure iron. Gen. Cunningham had a bit of it analysed in India by Dr. Murray, and another portion was analysed in the School of Mines here by Dr. Percy. Both found it pure malleable iron without any alloy.

[502] Can these Balhikas be the dynasty we have hitherto known as the Sah kings of Saurastra? They certainly were settled on the lower Indus from about the year A.D. 79, and were expelled, according to their own dates, A.D. 264 or 371. (See ‘Journal Bombay Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society,’ vol. viii. p. 28.) My impression is, that this may ultimately prove to be the true solution of the riddle.

[503] The same form of pendentive is found at Serbistan (Woodcut No. 946, vol. ii.), nearly ten centuries before this time.

[504] Cunningham, ‘Archæological Reports,’ vol. ii. p. 261.

[505] I am sorry to differ from Gen. Cunningham on this matter. He has seen the mosque--I have not; but I have photographs and drawings of it, and directed Mr. Burgess’s attention especially to this point when he visited it, and the result is a conviction on my mind that the pillars now standing are unaltered in arrangement.

Tod, in his ‘Annals,’ treats it simply as a Jaina temple, without referring to any possible alterations, except additions made by Moslem architects, vol. i. p. 779, see also his plate, which is singularly correct.

[506] Owing to the Hindu part being undisturbed, and the Mahomedan part better built and with larger materials, the mosque is not in the same ruinous condition as that at the Kutub was before the late repairs. It is, however, in a filthy and neglected state, and might at a very slight outlay be preserved from further dilapidation, and its beauties very much enhanced. There is, so far as I can judge, no building in India more worthy of the attention of Government than this. The kind of care, however, that is bestowed upon it may be gathered from the following extract from a private letter from a gentleman high in the Government service in India, and one perfectly well informed as to what he was writing about: “Have you ever heard that some of the Hindu pillars of the great mosque at Ajmir were dragged from their places (I presume they were fallen pillars), and set up as a triumphal arch on the occasion of Lord Mayo’s visit? and have you heard that they were so insecurely converted that nobody dared to go under them, and that Lord Mayo and the inspired---- of architects went round it?” This is more than confirmed in a public letter by Sir John Strachey, Lieut.-Governor of the North-West Provinces, addressed to Lord Northbrook, on 25th August last. In this he speaks of “an over zealous district officer who, not long ago, actually pulled down the sculptured columns of a well-known temple of great antiquity”--the Arhai din ka Jhompra--“with the object of decorating a temporary triumphal arch through which the Viceroy was to pass.” He then proceeds to quote what Rousselet says regarding our neglect of such monuments, which is not one whit too severe.

[507] ‘Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bengal,’ vol. xxxiv. p. 1, _et seqq._, pls. 1-8. It is to me inconceivable that any one looking at these plates, especially the plans, pls. 7 and 8, can see anything in them but the usual tomb of a Mahomedan noble of the 15th century with its accompanying mosque.

[508] These dimensions are taken from the text and a plan of the building in Montgomery Martin’s edition of Buchanan Hamilton’s ‘Statistical Account of Shahabad,’ vol. i. p. 425. The plan is, however, so badly drawn that it can hardly be reproduced.

[509] The first to suggest this was the Baron Hügel, though his knowledge of the subject was so slight that his opinion would not have had much weight. The idea was, however, taken up afterwards and warmly advocated by the late Mr. Horne, B.C.S., and the Rev. Mr. Sherring, in a series of papers in the ‘Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bengal,’ vol. xxxiv. p. 1, _et seqq._, and by the latter in his work on ‘The sacred city of the Hindus,’ p. 283, and elsewhere. They have hitherto failed to adduce a single example of similar pillars existing in any authentic Buddhist or Jaina building--they mean Jaina, though they say Buddhist--or any historical or other evidence that will bear a moment’s examination. There may have been some Jaina or Hindu buildings at Jaunpore of the 13th or 14th centuries that may have been utilised by the Mahomedans, but certainly nine-tenths at least of the pillars in these mosques were made at the time they were required for the places they now occupy.

[510] A view of this mosque will be found in Kittoe’s ‘Indian Architecture,’ but, unfortunately, no plan or dimensions. That quoted in the text is from memory.

[511] A view of it, but not a good one, is given in Daniell’s plates. It is partially seen in Woodcut No. 291.

[512] If the buildings of the Bakaraya Kund had been found within twenty miles of Ahmedabad, where there are dozens exactly like them, they would hardly have deserved a passing remark. Any one familiar with the style would have assigned them a date--A.D. 1450, or thereabouts--and would hardly have troubled himself to inquire who built them, they are so like all others of the same age.

[513] General Cunningham’s ‘Reports’ for 1862-63, vol. i. p. 287. From this I learn that the pillars surrounding the court on three sides have been removed since I saw them in 1836--this time, however, not by the English.

[514] See plate in Forbes’ ‘Oriental Memoirs,’ vol. iii. ch. xxx.

[515] As it is impossible by a woodcut to convey an impression of the beauty of these mosques, the reader is referred to the photographs of ‘Architecture of Ahmedabad,’ &c.

[516] Described further on, p. 538, Woodcuts Nos. 306 and 307.

[517] I understand from Mr. Burgess that, during his recent visit to Ahmedabad, he copied a number of inscriptions from the mosques there which prove that some of the names given to the buildings are erroneous. When these are published new names and dates must in some instances be given to several of the buildings, but the alterations, as I understand it, are not very important.

[518] All the particulars above quoted regarding that mosque are derived from a work published in Bombay in 1868, entitled, ‘Surat, Baroach, and other old Cities of Goojerat.’ By T. C. Hope, B.C.S. Illustrated by photographs, plans, and with descriptive text.

[519] Plans of these are in Mr. Hope’s work.

[520] There is a very good view of the tomb in Mr. Grindlay’s ‘Views of the East’; but the plan and details here given are from Mr. Hope’s work, sup. cit.

[521] A view of this palace, but not from the best point of view, will be found in Elliot’s ‘Views in the East.’

[522] In this respect it is something like the curvilinear pediments which Roman and Italian architects employed as window heads. Though detestable in themselves, yet we use and admire them because we are accustomed to them.

[523] These particulars are taken principally from Buchanan Hamilton’s ‘Statistics of Dinajepore,’ published by Montgomery Martin in his ‘Eastern India,’ 1838, vol. ii. p. 649, _et seqq._

[524] Page 347, _et seqq._

[525] Initial coinage of Bengal, by Edward Thomas, B.C.S. 1866.

[526] In the woodcut, though not so clearly as in the photograph, will be observed the long pendent root of the tree which has been planted by some bird in the upper gallery. In another year or two it will reach the ground, and then down comes the minar. Any one with a pocket-knife might save it by five minutes’ work. But _Cui bono?_ says the Saxon.

[527] _Ante_, p. 393.

[528] Elphinstone’s ‘India,’ vol. ii. p. 57.

[529] For the plan and section of this mosque, and all indeed I know about it, I am indebted to my friend the Hon. Sir Arthur Gordon, at present governor of the Fiji Islands. He made the plans himself, and most liberally placed them at my disposal.

[530] I have photographs, but no measurements, of this street.

[531] Brigg’s translation of Ferishta, vol. ii. p. 510.

[532] There is a view of it from a sketch by Col. Meadows Taylor, in the ‘Oriental Annual’ for 1840.

[533] Bijapur has been singularly fortunate, not only in the extent, but in the mode in which it has been illustrated. A set of drawings--plans, elevations, and details--were made by a Mr. A. Cumming, C.E., under the superintendence of Capt. Hart, Bombay Engineers, which, for beauty of drawing and accuracy of detail, are unsurpassed by any architectural drawings yet made in India. These were reduced by photography, and published by me at the expense of the Government in 1859, in a folio volume with seventy-four plates, and afterwards in 1866 at the expense of the Committee for the Publication of the Antiquities of Western India, illustrated further by photographic views taken on the spot by Col. Biggs, R.A.

[534] _Ante_, vol. ii. p. 553.

[535] Adopting the numerical scale described in the introduction to the ‘True Principles of Beauty in Art,’ p. 140, I estimated the Parthenon as possessing 4 parts of technic value, 4 of æsthetic, and 4 phonetic, or 24 as its index number, being the highest known. The Taje I should on the contrary estimate as possessing 4 technic, 5 æsthetic, and 2 phonetic, not that it has any direct phonetic mode of utterance, but from the singular and pathetic distinctness with which every part of it gives utterance to the sorrow and affection it was erected to express. Its index number would consequently be 20, which is certainly as high as it can be brought, and near enough to the Parthenon for comparison at least.

[536] ‘Memoirs,’ translated by Erskine, p. 334.

[537] Loc. cit., pp. 341-2.

[538] Brigg’s translation, vol. ii. p. 71.

[539] Cunningham, ‘Reports,’ vol. i. p. 222.

[540] A description of this mosque is given in Mr. Carllyle’s ‘Report on the Buildings of Delhi,’ forming part of Cunningham’s fourth volume, but like everything else most unsatisfactory. Neither plan nor dimensions are given, mere verbiage conveying no distinct meaning.

[541] As I cannot find any trace of this building in Keene’s description of the fort in his third book on Agra, I presume it must have been utilised since my day. Unless it is the building he calls the Nobut Khana of Akbar’s palace (26). I have never seen it in any photograph of the place.

[542] It is not quite clear how much Rhotasgur owes its magnificence to Shere Shah, how much to Akbar; both certainly built there, and on the spot it might easily be ascertained how much belongs to each. Unfortunately, the part that belongs to the British is too easily ascertained. “They converted the beautiful Dewan Khand, of which Daniell published a drawing, into a stable for breeding horses.”--Hamilton’s ‘Gazetteer,’ _sub voce_.

[543] I have mislaid the measurements and plan I made of this building; and, as neither Gen. Cunningham nor his assistants give either plan or dimensions, I am unable to quote any figures in the text.

[544] The plan is taken from one by Gen. Cunningham (‘Reports,’ vol. ii., plate 91). He omits, however, these square projections. I have added them from the photographs.

[545] An attempt has lately been made by Gen. Cunningham and his assistants (‘Reports,’ vol. iv. p. 124), to ascribe this palace to Jehangir. On what authority is not stated; but unless it is very clear and distinct, I must decline to admit it. The whole evidence, so far as I can judge, is directly opposed to such an hypothesis. There is a plan of this palace, in his ‘Reports,’ vol. iv., plate 8.

[546] A cast of this throne is in the South Kensington Museum.

[547] Photographs of this palace are now common, and can be obtained anywhere; and recently Lieut. Cole’s ‘Report on Buildings in the Neighbourhood of Agra’ supplies some very interesting new ones with plans, from which the dimensions in the text are quoted.

[548] No plan or section of this tomb has ever, so far as I know, been published, though it has been in our possession for nearly a century. Those here given are from my own measurements, and, though they may be correct as far as they go, are not so detailed as those of such a monument ought to be, and would have been, had it been in the hands of any other European nation.

[549] The diagram is probably sufficient to explain the text, but must not be taken as pretending to be a correct architectural drawing. There were parts, such as the height of the lower dome and upper angle kiosks, I had no means of measuring, and after all, I was merely making memoranda for my own satisfaction.

[550] After the above was written, and the diagram drawn (Woodcut No. 334), I was not a little pleased to find the following entry in Mr. Finch’s journal. He resided in Agra for some years, and visited the tomb for the last time apparently in 1609, and after describing most faithfully all its peculiarities up to the upper floor, as it now stands, adds: “At my last sight thereof there was only overhead a rich tent with a Semaine over the tomb. But it is to be _inarched_ over with the most curious white and speckled marble, and to be seeled all within with pure sheet gold richly inwrought.”--‘Purchas, his Pilgrims,’ vol. i. p. 440.

[551] Although the fact seems hardly now to be doubted, no very direct evidence has yet been adduced to prove that it was to foreign--Florentine--artists that the Indians owe the art of inlaying in precious stones generally known as work in “pietro duro.” Austin or Augustin de Bordeaux, is the only European artist whose name can positively be identified with any works of the class. He certainly was employed by Shah Jehan at Delhi, and executed that mosaic of Orpheus or Apollo playing to the beasts, after Raphael’s picture, which once adorned the throne there, and is now in the Indian Museum at South Kensington.

It is, however, hardly to be expected that natives should record the names of those who surpassed them in their own arts; and needy Italian adventurers were even less likely to have an opportunity of recording the works they executed in a strange and foreign country. Had any Italian who lived at the courts of Jehangir or Shah Jehan written a book, he might have recorded the artistic prowess of his countrymen, but none such, so far as I am aware, has yet seen light.

The internal evidence, however, seems complete. Up to the erection of the gates to Akbar’s tomb at Secundra in the first ten years of Jehangir’s reign, A.D. 1605-1615, we have infinite mosaics of coloured marble, but no specimen of “inlay.” In Eti-mad-Doulah’s tomb, A.D. 1615-1628, we have both systems in great perfection. In the Taje and palaces at Agra and Delhi, built by Shah Jehan, A.D. 1628-1668, the mosaic has disappeared, being entirely supplanted by the “inlay.” It was just before that time that the system of inlaying called “pietro duro” was invented, and became the rage at Florence and, in fact, all throughout Europe; and we know that during the reign of the two last-named monarchs many Italian artists were in their service quite capable of giving instruction in the new art.

[552] Something of the same sort occurred when the Turks occupied Constantinople. They adapted the architecture of the Christians to their own purposes, but without copying. _Vide ante_, vol. ii. p. 528, _et seqq._

[553] The great bath was torn up by the Marquis of Hastings with the intention of presenting it to George IV., an intention apparently never carried out; but it is difficult to ascertain the facts now, as the whole of the marble flooring with what remained of the bath was sold by auction by Lord William Bentinck, and fetched probably 1 per cent. of its original cost; but it helped to eke out the revenues of India in a manner most congenial to the spirit of its governors.

[554] Since the appointment of Sir John Strachey, the present enlightened Governor of the North West Provinces, I understand that this state of affairs is entirely altered. Both care and money are now expended liberally for the protection and maintenance of such old buildings that remain in the province.

[555] Perfect plans of this palace exist in the War Department of India. It is a great pity the Government cannot afford the very few rupees it would require to lithograph and publish them. Without such plans it is very difficult to make any description intelligible. That in Keene’s ‘Handbook of Agra,’ though useful as far as it goes, is on too small a scale and not sufficiently detailed for purposes of architectural illustration.

[556] When we took possession of the palace every one seems to have looted after the most independent fashion. Among others, a Captain (afterwards Sir John) Jones tore up a great part of this platform, but had the happy idea to get his loot set in marble as table tops. Two of these he brought home and sold to the Government for £500, and they are now in the India Museum. No one can doubt that the one with the birds was executed by Florentine, or at least Italian artists; while the other, which was apparently at the back of the platform, is a bad copy from Raphael’s picture of Orpheus charming the beasts. As is well known, that again was a copy of a picture in the Catacombs. There Orpheus is playing on a lyre, in Raphael’s picture on a violin, and that is the instrument represented in the Delhi mosaic. Even if other evidence were wanting, this would be sufficient to set the question at rest. It certainly was not put there by the bigot Aurungzebe, nor by any of his successors.

[557] It ought in fairness to be added that, since they have been in our possession, considerable sums have been expended on the repair of these fragments.

[558] The excuse for this deliberate act of Vandalism was, of course, the military one, that it was necessary to place the garrison of Delhi in security in the event of any sudden emergency. Had it been correct it would have been a valid one, but this is not the case. Without touching a single building of Shah Jehan’s there was ample space within the walls for all the stores and matériel of the garrison of Delhi, and in the palace and Selim Ghur ample space for a garrison, more than doubly ample to man their walls in the event of an émeute. There was ample space for larger and better ventilated barracks just outside the palace walls, where the Sepoy lines now are, for the rest of the garrison, who could easily have gained the shelter of the palace walls in the event of any sudden rising of the citizens. It is, however, ridiculous to fancy that the diminished and unarmed population of the city could ever dream of such an attempt, while any foreign enemy with artillery strong enough to force the bastioned enceinte that surrounds the town would in a very few hours knock the palace walls about the ears of any garrison that might be caught in such a trap.

The truth of the matter appears to be this: the engineers perceived that by gutting the palace they could provide at no trouble or expense a wall round their barrack-yard, and one that no drunken soldier could scale without detection, and for this or some such wretched motive of economy the palace was sacrificed!

The only modern act to be compared with this is the destruction of the summer palace at Pekin. That, however, was an act of red-handed war, and may have been a political necessity. This was a deliberate act of unnecessary Vandalism--most discreditable to all concerned in it.

[559] A plan of this garden, with the Taje and all the surrounding buildings, will be found in the ‘Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society,’ vol. vii. p. 42.

[560] From its design I cannot help fancying that this screen was erected after Shah Jehan’s death. It certainly looks more modern.

[561] There are eight photographs of it in Capt. Lyon’s collection, and many also by others.

[562] Page 478, _et seqq._

[563] If Lieut. Cole, instead of repeating plans and details of buildings which had already been published by Gen. Cunningham, had given us a plan and details of this unknown building, he might have rendered a service all would have been grateful for. What I know of it is principally derived from verbal communication with Col. Montgomerie, R.E.

[564] ‘Embassy to Ava in 1795.’ London, 1800, 4to., 27 plates.

[565] ‘Journal of Embassy to Court of Ava,’ 1827. 4to., plates.

[566] ‘Mission to Court of Ava in 1855.’ 4to., numerous illustrations.

[567] If any of our 1001 idle young men who do not know what to do with themselves or their money would only qualify themselves for, and carry out such a mission, it is wonderful how easily and how pleasantly they might add to our stores of knowledge. I am afraid it is not in the nature of the Anglo-Saxon to think of such a thing. Fox-hunting and pheasant-shooting are more congenial pursuits.

[568] ‘Mahawanso,’ p. 71.

[569] R. F. St. John, in the ‘Phœnix,’ vol. ii. p. 204, _et seqq._ Sir Arthur Phayre, in ‘Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bengal,’ vol. xlii. p. 23, _et seqq._

[570] Sir A. Phayre, loc. cit.

[571] Crawfurd’s ‘Embassy to Ava,’ vol. ii. p. 277.

[572] It has recently become the fashion to doubt the holding of this convocation 100 years after the death of Buddha; but this very pointed allusion to it, in the early Burmese annals, so completely confirms what is said in the ‘Mahawanso,’ that the fact of its being held does not appear to me doubtful.

[573] Yule, ‘Mission to Ava,’ p. 30.

[574] Loc. cit., p. 32.

[575] Yule’s ‘Marco Polo,’ vol. ii. p. 84, _et seqq._

[576] Yule, ‘Mission to Ava,’ p. 36. As almost all the particulars here mentioned are taken from this work as the latest and best, it will not be necessary to repeat references on every page.

[577] I of course except the arches in the tower at Buddh Gaya, which, I believe, were introduced by these very Burmese in 1305. See _ante_, p. 69.

[578] ‘Mission to Ava,’ p. 65.

[579] Literally “Golden great god.” Madu is the Burmese for Maha Deva.

[580] See p. 58.

[581] See account of the Great Bell at Rangûn, by the Rev. G. H. Hough, ‘Asiatic Researches,’ vol. xiv. p. 270.

[582] The above particulars are abstracted from a paper by Col. Sladen in the ‘Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society,’ vol. iv. (N.S.) p. 406, with remarks by Col. Yule and others. It is curious that there is a discrepancy between the native and the European authorities as to the number of storeys--not mechanical, of course, but symbolical; whether, in fact, the basement should be counted as a storey, or not. The above I believe to be the correct enumeration. We shall presently meet with the same difficulty in describing Boro Buddor in Java.

[583] ‘Mission to the Court of Ava,’ p. 169.

[584] A view of this ruin will be found in Yule’s ‘Mission to Ava,’ plate 23.

[585] Yule’s ‘Mission to Ava,’ p. 163.

[586] The Siamese invariably change the Indian _d_ into _th_.

[587] For the particulars of this desiccation of the Valley of the Ganges, see the ‘Journal of the Geological Society,’ April, 1863.

[588] This form is interesting to us as it is that adopted for the Albert Memorial in Hyde Park, the style of decoration of which is also much more like that employed in Siam than anything yet attempted out of doors in Europe.

[589] “As for the Indian kings none of them ever led an army out of India to attempt the conquest of any other country, lest they should be deemed guilty of injustice.”--Arrian, ‘Indica,’ ch. ix.

[590] ‘Bataviaasch Genootschap van Kunsten en Wetenschappen.’ They have done me the honour of electing me an honorary member of their Society--an honour I feel all the more as it was quite unsolicited and unexpected.

[591] There are twelve plates illustrating the same monument in Sir Stamford Raffles’ ‘History of Java.’

[592] Sir S. Raffles’ ‘History of Java,’ pl. 24; text, vol. i. p. 465, 8vo. edition.

[593] ‘Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bengal,’ vol. xvii. pp. 86, 87.

[594] Bastian, ‘Die Völker der Oestlichen Asien,’ vol. i. p. 393.

[595] Sir S. Raffles, vol. ii. p. 73.

[596] ‘Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society’ (N.S.), vol. iii. p. 153.

[597] There is little doubt that if the South Sea Islanders had at some distant epoch become civilized without European assistance, Captain Cook and the early explorers would have figured in their annals as English or French princes.

[598] Sir S. Raffles’ ‘History of Java,’ vol. ii., 8vo. edition, p. 87, _et seqq._

[599] I am perfectly aware that this is not borne out by the translation of this inscription given by Dr. Friederich in vol. xxvi. of the ‘Verhandelingen;’ but being dissatisfied with its unmeaningness, I took it to my friend, Professor Eggeling, who is perhaps a better Sanscrit scholar than Friederich, and he fully confirms my view as above expressed.

[600] Yule’s ‘Marco Polo,’ vol. ii. p. 264, _et seqq._

[601] Beal’s translation, p. 169.

[602] Raffles, vol. ii. p. 77, _et seqq._

[603] About half of the photographs of the Batavian Society are filled with representations of these rude deities, which resemble more the images of Easter Island than anything Indian.

[604] Raffles, ‘History of Java,’ vol. ii. p. 93.

[605] The compilers of the catalogue of the photographs of the Batavian Society use 53 instead of 78 or 79 as the factor for converting Saka dates into those of the Christian Era. As, however, they give no reason for this, and Brumund, Leemans and all the best modern authors use the Indian index, it is here adhered to throughout.

[606] These latter dates are taken from Raffles and Crawfurd, but as they are perfectly well ascertained, no reference seems needful.

[607] ‘History of Java,’ vol. ii. p. 85.

[608] ‘Dictionary of Indian Archipelago,’ p. 66.

[609] ‘Boro Boudour,’ par Dr. C. Leemans. Leyden, 1874, p. 536. I quote from the French translation, having lent my original Dutch copy to Dr. Mayo of New College, Oxford. It was inadvertently packed among his baggage when he went to Fiji.

[610] _Ante_, p. 641. Also ‘Verhandelingen,’ &c., vol. xxvi. p. 31, _et seqq._ One of his inscriptions--the fourth--was found in Java proper.

[611] All these, or nearly all, have been identified by Dr. Leemans in the text that accompanies the plates.

[612] If Brian Hodgson would attempt it, he perhaps alone could explain all this vast and bewildering mythology. At present our means of identification is almost wholly confined to his representation in the second volume of the ‘Transactions’ of the Royal Asiatic Society, plates 1-4, and to the very inferior work of Schlagintweit, ‘Buddhismus in Thibet.’

[613] ‘Indische Alterthumskunde,’ vol. iv. p. 467.

[614] General Cunningham’s drawings, though nearly sufficient for anyone as familiar with all the styles as I have become, are not enough for anyone who is a stranger to the subject. I do not, indeed, know any Englishman who has the knowledge, combined with the powers of drawing, to be entrusted with this task. A Frenchman might be found who could do it, if he would be content to restrain his imagination.

[615] Col. Yule, from whose account most of these particulars are taken (‘Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bengal,’ 1862), calls it “nearly naked;” but a drawing by Wilsen (‘Verhandelingen,’ vol. xix. p. 166) I think settles the question, that he is intended to be represented as clothed.

[616] An imperfect representation of this sculpture will be found in the ‘Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bengal,’ vol. vi. plate 53.

[617] Sir S. Raffles’ ‘History of Java,’ vol. ii. plate 32.

[618] The information here given is taken from Sir Stamford Raffles’ ‘History of Java,’ second edition, vol. ii. p. 17, _et seqq._ His plans, however, do not quite agree with the measurements in the text, a mistake arising, I believe, from the scales in the original drawings--now before me--being in Rheinland roods, which are not always converted into English feet.

[619] ‘History of Java,’ vol. ii. p. 85. Crawfurd makes it 1266 to 1296; but no confidence can be placed on his dates for buildings.

[620] ‘Boro Boeddoer,’ p. 433.

[621] ‘Verhandelingen,’ &c., vol. xxxiii. p. 222.

[622] ‘Boro Boeddoer,’ p. 439. ‘Verhandelingen,’ vol. xxxiii. p. 222.

[623] ‘Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society,’ vol. xiii. p. 166.

[624] ‘Boro Boeddoer,’ pp. 433-439.

[625] This is by no means so certain; but till some one capable of observing visits the place, we must assume it.

[626] Not however, of the more modern class of temples, inasmuch as when John Crawfurd visited Ava in 1826, he describes (p. 162, 2nd ed.) his visit to a temple just finished by the reigning monarch, which was adorned with a series of paintings on plaster representing scenes from the life of Buddha. Each of these had a legend in the modern Burmese character written over it; and it is curious to observe how nearly identical the descriptions are with those which might be written over any Buddhist series. All the scenes there depicted are not perhaps to be found at Bharhut or Sanchi, but all are at Amravati, and in the Gandhara monasteries, or are to be found among the sculptures at Boro Buddor.

[627] ‘Boro Boeddoer,’ p. 433.

[628] Col. Yule’s visit to Java, ‘Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bengal,’ 1861-1862, p. 3.

[629] Sir S. Raffles’ ‘History of Java,’ plates 31 and 61, vol. ii. p. 49, _et seqq._

[630] Crawfurd, ‘Dict. Indian Archipelago,’ _sub voce_.

[631] Both Sir S. Raffles and Crawfurd seem to be mistaken in ascribing them to the Saivites; they seem to have been misled by the appearance of a Phallus, but there is no lingam.

[632] In the first three volumes of the photographs published by the Batavian Society are numerous examples of rude sculptures, which are indistinguishable from those of Easter Island. Crawfurd and other ethnologists do not seem to feel the least difficulty in extending the Malay race from Easter Island to Madagascar; and if this is so, it diminishes the improbabilities of another nearly allied family, extending through the Pacific Islands from Java to the American continent.

[633] ‘Travels in Indo-China, Cambodia, and Laos,’ by Henri Mouhot. 2 vols. 8vo. Murray, 1864.

[634] ‘Die Völker der Oestlichen Asien,’ von Dr. A. Bastian. Leipzig, 1866.

[635] ‘Voyage d’Exploration en Indo-Chine,’ 2 vols. quarto and folio, Atlas of plates. Paris, 1873.

[636] Few things are more humiliating to an Englishman than to compare the intelligent interest and liberality the French display in these researches, contrasted with the stolid indifference and parsimony of the English in like matters. Had we exercised a tithe of the energy and intelligence in the investigation of Indian antiquities or history, during the 100 years we have possessed the country, that the French displayed in Egypt during their short occupation of the valley of the Nile, or now in Cambodia, which they do not possess at all, we should long ago have known all that can be known regarding that country. Something, it is true, has been done of late years to make up for past neglect. General Cunningham’s appointment to the post of Archæological Surveyor of India, and that of Mr. Burgess to a similar office in the Bombay Presidency, are steps in the right direction, which, if persevered in, may lead to most satisfactory results. Many years must, however, elapse before the good work can be brought up to the position in which it ought to have been long ago, and meanwhile much that was most important for the purpose has perished, and no record of it now remains.

[637] The work is translated _in extenso_ in Abel Rémusat’s ‘Nouveaux Mélanges Asiatiques,’ vol. i. p. 78, _et seqq._

[638] Bastian, _loc cit._, vol. i. p. 393.

[639] Bastian, vol. i. p. 429.

[640] Nakhon is only the Siamese pronunciation of the Indian Nagara, Nuggur. Thom means “great.”

[641] The French have navigated the lake in a large steamer, and published detailed charts of the river. Maps are also found in Mouhot’s ‘Travels;’ but the best are those which are found in the Atlas of Lieut. Garnier’s work above referred to.

[642] Bastian, vol. i. p. 402.

[643] Mr. Thomson was informed that during the rains the whole was flooded, and the temple could be reached in boats.

[644] Outside the temple the sides of the causeways are in places ornamented with dwarf columns of circular form. They seem to simulate a bundle of eight reeds, and have tall capitals.

[645] Garnier, loc. cit., vol. i. p. 120. Bastian, vol. i. pp. 400, 415, 438, &c.

[646] In the extracts from the ‘Chinese Annals,’ translated by Abel Rémusat, in the first volume of the ‘Nouveaux Mélanges Asiatiques,’ he finds the earliest mention of the Cambodian kingdom in A.D. 616. From that period the accounts are tolerably consecutive to A.D. 1295, but before that nothing.

[647] ‘Nouveaux Mélanges Asiatiques,’ vol. i. p. 103.

[648] Bastian, vol. i. p. 404.

[649] Garnier, ‘Voyage,’ &c., vol. i. p. 74.

[650] ‘L’Art Khmer,’ p. 38.

[651] It would be interesting if among these we could identify that one of which the Chinese traveller gives the following description:--“A l’est de la ville est un autre temple de l’esprit nommé _Pho-to-li_, auquel on sacrifie des hommes. Chaque année le roi va dans ce temple faire lui-même un sacrifice humain pendant la nuit.”--‘Nouveaux Mélanges Asiatiques,’ vol. i. p. 83.

[652] At Buribun, on the other side of the lake, Dr. Bastian informs me there is a complete copy of the Nakhon Wat sculptures, carved in wood in the 16th century. The place was the residence of the kings of Cambodia after the fall of the capital, and as original art had then perished, they took this mode of adorning their palace. What a prize for any European museum!

[653] ‘Nouveaux Mélanges Asiatiques,’ vol. i. p. 103. Garnier, woodcuts pp. 61 and 62.

[654] ‘Journal of the Royal Geographical Society,’ vol. xxxv. p. 75.

[655] The population of China is generally estimated at 400 millions of souls. This I believe to be a gross exaggeration, and would feel very much more inclined to put it at 300 millions, and of that number to estimate the Buddhists at 100 millions of souls. This, however, in the present state of our knowledge, is, and must be, mere guess-work. If we put down 50 millions for the Buddhist population of Thibet, Manchuria, Burmah, Siam, Cambodia, and Ceylon, we shall probably not err on the side of underestimating them, making 150 millions the total number of followers of this religion in the whole world, or one-eighth or one-tenth of the human race--not one-third or one-fourth, at which they are usually estimated.

[656] The following description is abridged from that by Mr. A. Michie in his work entitled ‘The Siberian Overland Route,’ Murray, 1864. It is by far the most distinct I have met with. The larger woodcuts in this chapter are generally borrowed from his work. It must, however, be observed that his descriptions differ sometimes essentially from those hitherto current in European books, which were generally derived from the accounts of the Jesuits, who probably obtained their information from Chinese sources. It is generally safer to trust to the account of an educated gentleman describing what he saw, than to the essay of a mere scholar compiling from information conveyed in a foreign tongue.

[657] ‘Nouveaux Mélanges Asiatiques,’ vol. i. p. 110.

[658] The tower was destroyed in the recent Taeping rebellion.

[659] ‘Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society,’ vol. vii. p. 331 (N.S.), vol. v. p. 14, _et. seqq._

[660] In the year 1870 I published in the ‘Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society’ (N.S.), vol. iv. p. 81, _et seqq._, an article on Indian chronology, in which my views on the subject were stated at greater length and more detail than it is proposed to do here. Being addressed to those who were supposed to be more or less familiar with the subject, the paper took the form of an argument, rather than of a statement, and is, consequently, difficult to follow by those to whom the subject is new. The following is an abstract of that paper, with such corrections as have occurred to me in the meanwhile, and stated in a consecutive form, and with only those details that seem necessary to render it intelligible. For further particulars on special points the reader is referred to the article itself.

[661] The lists used for this statement of pre-Buddhist chronology are those compiled by James Prinsep, and published in his ‘Useful Tables’ in 1836. They were afterwards revised and republished by Ed. Thomas, in his edition of Prinsep’s works, in 1858. In a regular treatise on chronology it would be indispensable to refer to the Puranas themselves; in a mere statement of results these tables are amply sufficient.

[662] Crawfurd’s ‘Embassy to Ava,’ vol. ii. p. 274.

[663] Bigandet’s ‘Life of Gaudama,’ p. 323.

[664] ‘Embassy to Ava,’ loc. cit.

[665] ‘Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bengal,’ vol. vi. p. 715.

[666] Unfortunately the Chinese annals, to which we generally look for assistance in our difficulties, are not likely to afford us any in this. Confucius was born 551 B.C., and died 478; he was consequently only eight years old when Buddha died, and in order to give Buddha the necessary precedence in date, the Buddhists boldly added five centuries to this, placing him about 1000 B.C. This struggle between truth and falsehood led to such confusion that in the 7th century Hiouen Thsang wrote: “Depuis le Nirvana jusqu’aujourd’hui les uns comptent 1200 ans, les autres 1500 ans: il y en a qui affirment qu’il s’est écoulé plus de 900, mais que le nombre de 1000 n’est pas encore complet.” (‘Histoire,’ p. 131. ‘Vie et Voyages,’ i. 335.) The first is the nearest, according to our ideas. He was writing apparently in 1190 A.B. It may be 1200, if it was written after his return to China; but from this confusion it is evident no reliance can be placed on any dates he may quote from the Nirvana.

[667] ‘Embassy to Ava.’ Appendix.

[668] Vishnu Purana, p. 463.

[669] ‘Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society,’ vol. iv. (N.S.) p. 85.

[670] Crawfurd’s ‘Embassy to Ava,’ vol. ii. p. 277.

[671] ‘Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bengal,’ vol. vii. p. 261; ‘Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society,’ vol. xii. p. 232; Cunningham’s ‘Archæological Reports,’ vol. v. p. 20, &c., &c.

[672] ‘Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bengal,’ vol. vi. p. 714.

[673] Wilson’s ‘Vishnu Purana,’ Second Edition, vol. iv. p. 200; see also p. 232.

[674] ‘Journal Bombay Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society,’ vol. v. p. 42 and 47.

[675] As the commencement of this era is not coincident with the years we employ, but about half-way between 78 and 79, either of these figures may be employed in converting years of the Christian Era into those of the Saka or Ballabhi, or Gupta Samvats. Throughout this work I have used the latter figure as that more generally in use.

[676] This list is abstracted principally from one in vol. viii. p. 27, ‘Journal Bombay Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society,’ quoting only such dates as appear certain. The earlier names are taken from a paper by Bhau Daji, vol. ix. p. 243 of the same journal.

[677] ‘Journal Bombay Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society,’ vol. v. p. 49.

[678] ‘Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society,’ vol. iv. (N.S.) p. 129.

[679] ‘Journal Bombay Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society,’ vol. viii. p. 119.

[680] Ibid.

[681] Ibid., vol. ix. p. 238; see also Bhandarkar, MS. translation.

[682] ‘Journal Bombay Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society,’ vol. viii. p. 28.

[683] Essay on the Sah Kings of Saurastra, ‘Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society,’ vol. xii. p. 16; and ‘Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bengal,’ vol. xxiv. p. 503; see also Thomas’s ‘Prinsep,’ vol. ii. p. 95.

[684] Thomas’s edition of ‘Prinsep,’ vol. i. p. 242, _et seqq._; see also p. 365, _et seqq._

[685] ‘Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bengal,’ vol. vii. p. 634.

[686] The Vishnu Purana has Maunas, the Vayu and Matsya, Hunas. Wilson’s ‘Vishnu Purana,’ vol. iv. p. 209.

[687] Wilson’s ‘Vishnu Purana,’ vol. iv. pp. 201-218.

[688] I need hardly say that this is not universally admitted by Indian archæologists. Some indeed of the most eminent among them place the Guptas considerably earlier. My conviction, however, is that they never would have done so, had it not been that they place a mistaken confidence on a passage in a foreign author of the 11th century, translated by Rémusat to the following effect: “Quant au Goupta Kala (ère des Gouptas), on entend par le mot Goupta des gens qui, dit-on, étaient méchants et puissants, et l’ère qui porte leur nom est l’époque de leur extermination. Apparemment Ballabha suivit immédiatement les Gouptas, car l’ère des Gouptas commence aussi l’an 241 de l’ère de Saca.” (‘Journal Asiatique,’ 4me série, tom. iv. p. 286.)

Albiruni, from whom this passage is taken, lived at the court of Mahmúd of Ghazni, in the 11th century, and was learned beyond his compeers in the learning of the Hindus. He collected facts and dates with industry, and recorded them faithfully. But he would have been a magician if he could have unravelled the tangled meshes with which the Hindus had purposely obscured their chronology, and could have seen through all the falsifications invented six centuries earlier. We could not do so now without the aid of coins, dated inscriptions, and buildings. None of these were available in his day, and without their aid, the wonder is, not that he blundered in his inductions, but that he went so near the truth as he did. His facts and figures are valuable, and may generally be relied upon. His mode of putting them together and his inductions are, as generally, worthless--not from any fault of his, but because they had been purposely falsified by those who presented them to him.

[689] ‘Indian Antiquary,’ vol. ii. p. 312.

[690] ‘Journal Asiatique,’ series iv. vol. iv. p. 285.

[691] ‘Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bengal,’ vol. vii. p. 634.

[692] Thomas’s ‘Prinsep,’ i. p. 250.

[693] This date is from an unpublished copper-plate grant, in the possession of Gen. Cunningham, and is in addition to the three others of the same reign quoted in my previous paper, p. 112.

[694] ‘Indian Antiquary,’ vol. ii. p. 312; see also vol. iii. p. 344.

[695] ‘Topographia Christiana,’ lib. xi. p. 338, edit. Paris, 1707.

[696] ‘Journal Bombay Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society,’ vol. x. p. 60.

[697] ‘Histoire des Huns,’ vol. i. part ii. lib. iv. pp. 325, _et seqq._

[698] Malcolm’s ‘Persia,’ vol. i. p. 118. Briggs’s translation of Ferishta, introd. lxxvii. _et seqq._; Dow’s translation, p. 13.

[699] ‘Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bengal,’ vol. vi. 1837, p. 963; also Thomas’s ‘Prinsep,’ vol. i. p. 234.

[700] Ibid., vol. v. plates 36 and 37; also Thomas’s ‘Prinsep,’ vol. i. p. 277, plate 23.

[701] Thomas’s ‘Prinsep,’ vol. i. p. 407, _et passim_.

[702] ‘Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bengal,’ 1866, p. 273. See also Cunningham’s ‘Archæological Reports,’ vol. iii. p. 136.

[703] ‘Journal Asiatique,’ 4me série, tom. iv. p. 286.

[704] Tod’s ‘Annals of Rajputana,’ vol. i. p. 801.

[705] Lassen’s ‘Ind. Alt.’, vol. ii. p. 752, _et seqq._ to 987; Dowson, ‘Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society’ (N.S.), vol. i. p. 247, _et seqq._; Thomas’s ‘Prinsep,’ vol. i. p. 270-276; Cunningham’s ‘Archæological Reports,’ vol. iii. p. 56; Babu Rajendra Mittra, ‘Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bengal,’ vol. xliii. p. 372, &c., &c.

[706] ‘Annals,’ vol. i. p. 216, _et seqq._ At p. 230 he quotes another account, which places the destruction of the Ballabhi era at 305, instead of 205, as in the previous statement. These are evidently clerical errors. If he had found another 405, it would probably have been correct within a year or so--405+319=724.

[707] ‘Vie et Voyages,’ pp. 206, 254, 260; ‘Relations,’ &c., vol. ii. p. 163.

[708] ‘Journal Bombay Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society,’ vol. viii. p. 245.

[709] Ibid., vol. viii. p. 245.

[710] Forbes’ ‘Ras Mala,’ vol. i. p. 18; Tod, ‘Annals,’ vol. i. p. 230.

[711] Elliot, ‘Historians of India,’ vol. i. p. 417.

[712] Loc. cit., 432, _et seqq._

[713] Loc. cit., 441-42.

[714] ‘Ras Mala,’ vol. i. p. 24; Tod’s ‘Travels,’ p. 149.

[715] ‘Journal Bombay Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society,’ vol. x. p. 70.

[716] ‘Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bengal,’ vol. vii. p. 972.

[717] These lists were republished by Professor Dowson in the new series of the ‘Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society,’ vol. i. p. 253, _et seqq._, but with chronological additions that are by no means improvements.

[718] The advantage of their publication was to strongly felt by the Council of the Royal Asiatic Society that in 1873 they, backed by a letter from Sir Walter, appealed to Her Majesty’s Secretary of State for India in Council, to sanction an expenditure not exceeding £200 for the purpose. It seems, however, that the finances of India could not bear the strain, for in August last a reply was received to the effect that “His Lordship regrets that he cannot consent to charge the public revenues of India with the cost of such an undertaking.” As the Indian Council are responsible, and know best what should be done and what refused, there is no more to be said about the matter, though to outsiders this seems slightly inconsistent with their grant of £2000 to Max Müller for doing nothing that he had not been well paid for doing beforehand. As no other means are available in this country, it is to be hoped that either the French or German Governments will take it up. They have always abundance of funds for such purposes; and had these inscriptions been collected by one of their countrymen, they would have been published without a year’s delay after having been brought home, although they have no interest in India that can for one moment be compared with ours.

[719] ‘Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society,’ vol. iv. p. 12.

[720] ‘Report on Belgam and Kuladgi.’ p. 24.

[721] ‘Mémoires des Contrées,’ &c., vol. ii. p. 150.

[722] ‘Journal Bombay Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society,’ vol. iii. p. 206, _et seqq._

[723] ‘Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bengal,’ vol. vi. p. 68.

[724] ‘Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society,’ vol. iv. p. 9.

[725] ‘Vie et Voyages,’ p. 188.

[726] ‘Vie et Voyages,’ p. 215.

[727] ‘Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bengal,’ vol. vi. p. 69.

[728] ‘Vie et Voyages,’ p. 204.

[729] ‘Relations,’ &c., vol. ii. p. 156.

[730] Loc. cit., vol. ii. p. 42.

[731] When I wrote last on the subject (‘Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society,’ vol. iv. N.S.) I assumed the figures as they stand, as it did not then appear to me of much importance, and as this is the only arbitrary adjustment I have had occasion to make in the chronology, I have let this stand in the text, leaving the correction to be made when authority is found for it. The twenty years, more or less, do not affect any architectural question mooted in the preceding pages.

[732] ‘Asiatic Researches,’ vol. xv. p. 87.

[733] ‘Asiatic Researches,’ vol. ix. p. 150.

[734] Loc. cit. p. 161.

[735] General Cunningham hesitates between 17 and 24 A.D. for his death (‘Numis. Chron.,’ vol. viii. p. 175); Lassen brings him down to 40 A.D. (‘Ind. Alt.,’ vol. ii. p. xxiv).

[736] ‘Archæological Reports,’ vol. iii. p. 29, _et seqq._ Ed. Thomas’s Introduction to ‘Marsden,’ p. 46, _et seqq._

[737] ‘Journal Bombay Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society,’ vol. ix. p. 242.

[738] ‘Archæological Reports,’ vol. ii. p. 266.

[739] Loc. cit. p. 68.

[740] They are all given in Thomas’s edition of ‘Prinsep,’ vol. ii. p. 173, _et seqq._, to which the reader is referred.

[741] ‘Archæological Reports,’ vol. v. p. 59.

[742] ‘Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society,’ vol. vii. (N.S.) p. 376, _et seqq._

[743] Beal’s ‘Life of Fa Hian,’ Introduction, p. xx.

[744] ‘Relations des Contrées,’ &c., vol. i. p. 190, _et seqq._

[745] I am indebted for this to Cunningham’s ‘Geography of India,’ p. 91.

[746] Cunningham’s ‘Ancient Geography of India,’ p. 92.

[747] One of the most useful manuals ever published for the use of students of Indian history and chronology was Prinsep’s ‘Useful Tables of Indian Dynasties, &c.’ They were republished by Mr. Thomas in his edition of ‘Prinsep,’ with considerable additions and many improvements by himself, but the edition is exhausted. There could hardly be any better service done for the cause, than if he or some one would republish them in a separate form, so as to render them generally available. It is a pity Government has no funds available for such a purpose, for I am afraid it would hardly pay as a bookseller’s speculation.

[748] ‘Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society,’ vol. iv. (N.S.) p. 131, _et seqq._

[749] ‘Journal Asiatique,’ 4me série, tom. iv. p. 282.

[750] Troyer’s translation of the ‘Raja Tarangini,’ vol. ii. p. 43. In Wilson’s translation it is said, “A different monarch from the Saccari Vicramaditya, though sometimes erroneously identified with that prince.”--‘Asiatic Researches’, vol. xv. p. 32.

[751] Loc. cit. p. 76.

[752] From Introduction to Turnour’s ‘Mahawanso,’ p. xxxiii., where the names, places of birth, and Bo-trees of the whole twenty-four are given.