Report of a Tour through the Bengal Provinces/Preface
PREFACE.
MR. BEGLAR began the tour described in the present volume at Patna on the Ganges, where he was led to examine the question of the ancient course of the Son river. This question he has discussed at considerable length, and with much acuteness. I have myself lately gone over all the country to the south of Patna, when I made a searching enquiry into the subject, and the result of my investigation most amply confirms all that Mr. Beglar has advanced. He has clearly established the fact that a large river bed is traceable from Tarârh (near Dâu̇dnagar) on the Son, viá Râmpur-chai and Kyal to Siddhrâmpur and Sonbhadr on the Pûnpûn river. Now there can be no doubt that Siddhrâmpur is the same place as Siddhâsrampur, which was certainly on the Son; and the name of Sonbhadr speaks for itself, as Sonabhadra is one of the well-known names of the river at the present day. The lower course of the present Pûnpûn river was therefore the ancient course of the Son, the junction taking place at Sonbhadr. The Murhar river then joined the Son 4 miles to the west of Jahânâbâd. Both sand and boulder stones were found at Nima, on the present course of the Murhar, when digging for the foundations of a bridge between Bânkipur and Jahânâbâd. I made numerous diggings still further to the east, and at Pakaoli, Pathariya Jhil, and Kasba Patna, all to the south of the present city, I found coarse red sand and boulder stones. Similar sand is also said to be found at Chilbil, 4 miles to the south of Phulwâri, and near Maholi on the lower course of the Pûnpûn. Putting all these facts together, it would appear that the Son must formerly have flowed from a point close to Dâu̇dnagar to Siddhrâmpur, and thence to Sonbhadr on the Pûnpûn, from which it followed the present course of the Pûnpûn and Murhar rivers to Chilbil, south of Phulwâri, where it turned first to the east as far as Panch-Pahâri, and then to the south-east, finally joining the Ganges at Fatuha. The long tract of low ground in this direction is noticed by Buchanan. It is almost destitute of trees, and the inundation waters of the Son, Pûnpûn, and Murhar still find their way down this old bed to the Ganges. This is the old channel to which Buchanan gives the name of Mar-son, the "dead or deserted Son." The courses of the Ganges and Son would thus have been nearly parallel for many miles, and in this narrow tract, lying between the two rivers, was situated the famous city of Pâtaliputra or Palibothra, the capital of the Gangetic Provinces. The site was exactly similar to that of Hamirpur in the long narrow strip of land between the Jumna and Betwa rivers.
Connected with Palibothra Mr. Beglar has broached a theory that the Erannoboas of the Greeks was not identical with the Son, because "both Pliny and Arrian mention the Son and Erannoboas as distinct rivers" [p. 4]. But the very same objection holds good as to the Gandak being the other large river, as Pliny mentions the Condochates as well as the Erannoboas. There is another fatal objection to the identification of the Gandak with the Erannoboas, as the Ganḍak is a female river, while the Hiranyabáha (or Erannaboas) is a male river like the Sona, whose wooing of the Narbada river is a well-known legend. I may add that, according to Patanjali, the city of Pâṭaliputra was actually situated on the Son (Anu Gangam Pâṭaliputram); and as Mr. Beglar himself has shown in the previous discussion that the old course of the Son flowed, past the southern side of the city, then the Son, on which Pâṭaliputra stood, must be the same river as the Erannoboas, on which Palibothra stood.
To the south of Patna Mr. Beglar visited Telâdha or Telâṛa, a place which Mr. Broadley has described, and which I have identified with the Ti-lo-tse-kia of Hwen Thsang. Mr. Fergusson has objected to this identification that I “persist” in calling the monastery Tilaḍaka, “though M. Julien calls it Tilaçakya.[1] It is true that M. Julien so names it in two places (I, 139, and II, 439); but in a third place (I, 211) he calls it Tilaṭaka, and in his index, at the end of volume III, he gives both readings, Ti-lo-tse-kia or Tiladhaka, and Ti-lo-shi-kia or Ti-la-ça-kia. But with regard to this latter reading he adds: “mais peut-etre que dans ce mot, ou chi (ça) a le même groupe phonetique que tse (dha), it faut reconnaître la transcription fautive de Tiladhaka.” Here it will be seen that M. Julien himself gives the preference to the reading of Tiladaka which 1 have adopted, and as the Chinese syllable tse is the usual representative of the Sanskrit cerebral d or t (just as we say nashion for nation), I thought it very probable that it was the same place as the Tillâra of our maps. The proper name of this place is Telâḍha, the Tillaṛa of Mr. Broadley. Here Mr. Beglar found the short inscription which Mr. Broadley describes as illegible, but in which he read the word Samvat. The inscription is on the architrave of the entrance to an old Masjid which is built of Hindu materials. It opens with tho words Sri Telâḍhaka; and there is no trace whatever of the word Samvat. During the past cold season I paid a visit to Telâḍha where I obtained a small Buddhist figure, with an inscription round the head opening with the words—
Telâḍhaka vâstavyam.
With these two ancient evidences of the old name of Telâḍhaka, and with the modern spelling of the name as Telâḍha, I believe that my identification of it with Hwen Thsang's monastery of Tilaḍhaka is now placed beyond all doubt.
In his account of Râjgir Mr. Beglar has broached a theory regarding the Sattapanni cave, which, in my opinion, is quite untenable. I believe that the only cave in these hills which has any claim to be identified with the famous Sattapani cave is the artificial cave now called Son-bhândâr. This is the only one that has been regularly cut and formed with chisel, like those at Barâbar. It bears also on the outside a row of socket holes, for the ends of the wooden beams of an outer apartment, which agrees with the description of the hall prepared by Ajâtasatru for the reception of the 500 monks who formed the first Buddhist Synod. Lastly, this cave is situated in the south face of the Baibhâr mountain, exactly as described in the Pali annals of Burma.
- ↑ Royal Asiatic Society Journal N.S. VI,–222.