Page:Annual Report of the Archaeological Survey of India Vol 19.pdf/7



URING the cold season of 1881-82, Mr. Garrick made a tour through the district of Shahabad, for the purpose of photographing and exploring the old temples at Markandi, Mahadeopur, and Barnarak. He then visited the old sites of Bhojpur and Darowli in Western Shahabad, where he found numerous square monoliths, which Dr. Buchanan thought must have been the work of the aborigines. He next crossed the Ganges to explore the remains of an old Buddhist monastery at Barmayan, which I had proposed to identify with the monastery built by Maharaja Sri Gupta for the use of the Chinese pilgrims who visited India.

He then visited the territory of Rewa, for the purpose of exploring the ruins of the ancient city of Gurgi. In the northern hills he found an inscription of Maharaja Ganggeya Deva, the Kalachuri chief of Tripura, contemporary with Mahmud of Ghazni.

As the Punjab Government just at this time had sanc­tioned the employment of a Company of Sappers for explora­tions in the Yusufzai district, I took the opportunity to depute Mr. Garrick to see the excavations, and to explore certain sites which had hitherto remained unvisited. He was particularly instructed to examine the old mounds about Hashtnagar and Charsada, which are the remains of the famous old city of Peukelaotis, or Pushkalavati. He was also instruct­ed to obtain photographs of the great rock inscription of Asoka at Shahbazgarhi.

The present report gives the result of Mr. Garrick’s first complete tour as an assistant of the Archaeological Survey, and I think that it promises well for his future success. Some