Page:History of India Vol 2.djvu/296

 258 THE GUPTA EMPIRE mission to found a monastery on Indian soil. Samu- dragupta, flattered at receiving such attentions from a distant power, was pleased to consider the gifts as tribute, and gave the required permission. The envoy returned home, and, after due delibera- tion, King Meghavarna decided to build his monaster}^ near the holy tree. His purpose was solemnly recorded on a copper plate and carried out by the erection of a splendid convent to the north of the tree. This build- ing, which was three stories in height, included six halls, was adorned with three towers, and surrounded by a strong wall thirty or forty feet high. The decorations were executed in the richest colours with the highest artistic skill, and the statue of Buddha, cast in gold and silver, was studded with gems. The subsidiary stupas, enshrining relics of Buddha himself, were worthy of the principal edifice. In the seventh century, when Hiuen Tsang visited it, this magnificent estab- lishment was occupied by a thousand monks of the Sthavira school of the Mahayana, and afforded ample hospitality to pilgrims from Ceylon. The site is now marked by an extensive mound. It was presumably after his return from the south that Samudragupta determined to celebrate his mani- fold victories and proclaim the universality of his dominion by reviving the ancient rite of the horse- sacrifice (asvamedha), which had remained long in abeyance and probably had not been performed in Northern India since the days of Pushyamitra. The ceremony was duly carried out with appropriate splen-