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INTRODUCTION.

LTHOUGH the caves at Ellora do not possess that unity and completeness which characterises those of Ajunta, their variety, and the exceptional magnificence of some of them, renders them perhaps even more interesting: but it must be confessed they are in consequence far more difficult to understand. It is only, indeed, after having become familiar with all the other forms of Cave architecture, that their history becomes at all intelligible.

It is not, therefore, to be wondered at that such strange theories were announced with regard to their age and uses when they were first made known to Europeans; for, beside their complexity, it also happened that the Ellora Caves were the earliest series of which any trustworthy illustrations were published, and they consequently attracted attention at a time when very few materials existed for forming a judgment regarding their peculiarities. Very correct views of them were published by the Daniels, from drawings made by Wales, in the first years of this century; and the writings of Seely, of Colonel Sykes, and Sir Charles Mallet, have all contributed to make them known; but unfortunately none of these gentlemen were familiar—at the time they wrote—with the other forms of Cave architecture, and they were consequently unable to classify them correctly as to either age or style. 61