Report of a Tour through the Bengal Provinces/Lát
A few miles south-west of Islâmpur is a small village named Lát, from a huge monolithic pillar now lying there half buried. This had been noticed by Dr. Buchanan, but he does not give any traditional account of it. The traditions of the place assert that it was being floated down to some place, when by some accident it was stranded here; and all subsequent attempts to float it down have proved abortive. Accounts differ as to where it was being carried, and tradition is totally silent as to where it came from; some say it was being carried to Telâda, others say Hilsa, and some even say it was being carried to Bihâr by the Subah. Wherever it may have been going, it is certain that it came from the south, and is not a remnant of the ancient grandeur of either the village of Lát, or of Islâmpur. Possibly it is part of the pillar at Bakror, of which another part is now in Gaya set up as a central mark in the city.[1] It may possibly be even the Râjgir pillar which once stood near the tope (long since excavated), but of which hitherto no traces have been discovered; this, however, is very unlikely. (See J. A. S. for 1872, paper by Mr. Broadley.)
- ↑ Archæological Survey of India, Vol. I, p. 12.