Page:History of Indian and Eastern Architecture Vol 1.djvu/134

 BUDDHIST ARCHITECTURE. BOOK I. consequently, are entitled to a longer notice in a work wholly devoted to architecture. Over all India there must have been large numbers of stupas in Buddhist times, though now so very few remain above ground. There is, however, near Daulatpur in the Haidarabad district of Sind, a large tope, known as Thai Rukhan, fully 50 ft. in diameter, and about the same in height. The inner core is of sun-dried brick cased outside with good burnt bricks moulded for the cornices and capitals of pilasters. It has been surrounded by a platform about 6 yards wide, now ruined and covered with debris. 1 The lower portion of the stupa is much peeled and injured ; but above are two belts of pilasters about twenty in each with moulded bases and quasi-Corinthian capitals. Over the lower belt a cornice ran, above which the diameter of the tower is contracted by perhaps 5 ft. In the upper section the pilasters are better preserved, and though the top is much ruined, the dome probably began at about 8 ft. above this. 2 The bricks are very large, measuring 16 in. in length by n in breadth and 3 in. thick. The stupa probably belongs to an early age, and, as M. Foucher remarks, in style, it appears to have descended directly from those of the Swat valleys and Kabul. In 1877 a stone box containing a crystal reliquary was found embedded in brick when excavating a small mound at Kolhapur ; the casket was broken, but the lid of the box bore a short inscription in early letters, of the maker's name and of the person for whom it was made. 3 In 1882 Mr J. M. Campbell of the Civil Service excavated the remains of a stupa at Sopara, 5 miles north of Basein. The dimensions of it, given by Pandit Bhagwanlal Indraji are unfortunately not consistent. 4 If the diameter of the stupa was, as stated, 67 ft, and the circular platform on which it stood was 268 ft. in circumference and 18 ft. high, the ramp round the dome would be just 9 ft. wide (not 18 ft). But possibly the 1 Among the debris were found some 27 bricks, about 7 inches square, each bearing a small figure of Buddha, seated with the legs down : these may have formed part of a string course. Others bore representations of the birth of Buddha and of the bedroom scene before his leaving home. 2 Burgess, ' Ancient Monts. of India,' plate 62. Other stupas, more ruined, have been noted in Sindh. At Kahu near Mirpur Khas, one was excavated for bricks when making the Haidarabad Umarkot railway, and figures of Buddhas moulded in brick and other ornamental forms were found and appropriated by officials. At Depar, 4 miles from Brahmanabad, and atTando near Tando- Muhammad - Khan, are brick mounds which are remains of stupas. ' Jour. Bombay B. R. Asiatic Soc.' vol. xix. P- 45- 3 'Jour. Bombay B. R. Asiat. Soc.' vol. xiv. pp. 147-151. xv. pp. 292-311. It is twice stated (pp. 293 and 295) that the terrace was ' 18 ft. wide.' The plan and section on plate 3 are evidently not drawn to any scale, and afford no help.
 * 'Jour. Bombay B. R. Asiat. Soc.' vol.