Page:The Indian Antiquary, Vol. 4-1875.djvu/333

 THE DTDIAir ANTIQUARY. [Octo»uj», I8F5. kbfll country. Oi' Lbcoc the most prominent is tlmt nindu by Gen oral Cunningham o£ the hutf- l nil fir the tope at Bh&ruhut, ivhieh ho thinks belongs to a period not long anhscqiicm to jo of Asnka. These remains appear to ho covered with the most ftfabi «ttto I ^-reliefs, which nlmrd a wmidsrfully complete illn f the art* of the period, a* well as an authentic ptcturu of the earl)' fornis of the Buddhist, faith* Some years ago, when Air. Fergusson first published Ids work on Tm aw? Scrpant Warship, ms soarcaJy .suspected that the JttfttAoSi or legendary live* of Buddha, were of any prist antiquity. Bcf"re, hoffevtfi Mi" second edition appeared, Mr. Fergusson hud boon enn'iilnl. with Mr, Ikrtfn assistance, to identify among die sculp* turcs Of tbo Jrtniii Topo some scenes from the rVMaafrira mud other Jutukm*, the tiOWOfOlOn " f the Kayyapas, rind other incident;* in the hiis of Buddha. There word then drear I > indications to make It prohahts— though they wore not strung enough to prove it— rln. | it least u groat part of the Buddhist literature of Ceylon and Kcp&l was as old nu bbo Chriutiun Or*. Tho grenj. merit of General Cunningham's discovery consequently consists in tbo BhAndiut rail being older than anything hitherto known; in the scenes represented being more nntn. varied than thuao at Saucbi and Amarnvatt, and in their being all inscribed with the same oaincs which the Jatakas bear in Buddhist literature. Tin.- buoideni I depleted are sometimes not in them- selves easily recognised ; but the mimes of the being written alongside of them, there can. bo no possible mistake as to the persons present. Mr. Burgess's JBcporr on his Ant season'* work us Arehroologicnl Surveyor* fa ^ t, districts of ftalgaum auil Kulodgi, is replete with Information on tbo antiquities of those districts, which were only imperfectly known before. Tho volume is i ely Illustrated by phntngraphu and plana, ss well us drawings of details : but the point nf most permanent interest is probably the discovery in the Bad&nii caves of inscriptions bearing ilnten from a wnU-asetirr-niried epoch, and in the reign of a king whose name wan previously familiar to wa from otbor document*. JTo inscriptions with either n date or a recognizable name had hitherto been found in any Bnlhrnntueul re was tbuit no eluu to their ago exempt the oa» tuned progression of style. Now, however, that Cave No. 111. at Badumi in known to have been dedicated in tbo twelfth yean.: JU i ar a. MO years after the Innugura- non of the king of the aakaf, or a.i». f,7K, wu have a fixed poiutto ttttt from. The trot inference we shall probuiilv bs¥H DO draw ft nm tbii discovery seems to be tiniT Tlui Hruhiiiar.ir.nl caves at Hlora and elsewhere were not always of a later duto than, hot were, In some Lnstancas at least, onRteni- porary with, tbo Latest Buddhist caves ; whi also uppiunt that it tnft| be nooeAiwry to eany back tho present form of the Hindu FanlltOOtt to cois' -irlier period tlian was lutharto assigned to it. Lieutenant Colo litis also published his report on the buildings in the neighbourhood of Agra ; and, though couUiiuiug little T.lmt is new, its UlustniliouK are a valuable contribution to our knowledge of For several years past a, party of Sappers have been em ployed i n exploring t he renm I dhist btuidingsin the district of Peshawar,' Plans of the buried monasteries at Takht-i-Babi. JamAlgarhl, and H a r k a i, which they have unto vi red, have been pnhlLditd in the Lakor Qitsdta t but unfortunately on so «mnll a scale nnd so imperfectly us linnlly to be intelligible. Tliu ires found in these esearatimiH have all been sent to tho Labor Museum, but, again unfor- i nnftl i ■]■,. v.-irl.fnir. any steps being taken to bidicato from what placo the specimens came; so thuL General Cunningham was only able to a*> origi nnl nk of aa. NoLwithsUmding all this, they form a group of sculptures noarly as inter aii ihoau from Bhurahut; and though, unfor- "... nun f iIm in ure inscribed^ tbero will probably bo little difficulty in identtfyiiig most Of lli'' BO) are intended to represent. igb we havo at present no means or ascertain - Eng the dsjtei ufth-so sculptures with nnythmg like precision, it uppcara probable that they extend {rem I to tbo U i jiruh. But the most interesting point is thftt thoj KMU to oxbibil ft marked classical, vt at least Western Intlnence. toina, however, to he ascertained whether this aroao frum the seed planted thpre by tho Bsiktrinu Greeks, or whether it waa the result id eontmunrl oonimnTdcotiou between the went ami ilp rii'rth-wost corner of India during the period indir.ii od, Tt is t-> Ije hoped that ft seJeettori from those in the Labor ftCtuonta will be brought home, as they are entirely thrown away wttora tln-y ore* Cetjtim.— Thanks lo the etUightoned interest taken by Mr. Gregprj', the present Qovoruor of Ceylon, inarchn>oIogim] rescu> hare been token by sue Colonial Offiee to bnvonll liihrriptiona in the inland copied and ptddished. Tliis impor- tnnt work has been undertaken by a Gorman scholar. Dr. Pan! GoliUcbrnidt, who has hitherto given much attention to the study nl" tin? Indian 1 Prakrits. According to the latest report-. Dr.
 * Goluecbmidt hns already examiued nearly all tho