ART. XI.-Result of Excavations in Cave No. 13 at Kanheri.* By E. W. WEST, Esq. [With a Plan and five Plates.]

Presented 10th October 1861.

SOME interesting discoveries were made in 1853, by digging in Cave No. 13 at Kanheri. This Cave and No. 12 form the group of excavations shown in the accompanying detailed plan (Plan III.), raised a few feet above the bed of the nulla at Kanheri, on its southern side, and near the middle of its length, where its width is increased by its junction with a small branch nulla, as may be seen in the general plan of the cavest. No. 13 originally consisted of three caves, but the walls indicated by dotted lines have been destroyed, merely leaving traces of their existence upon the ceiling. The two side caves contained inner chambers, provided with the usual benches; while the centre cave was a single chamber with two benches in recesses, at the back and right-hand side; but, owing to the destruction of the walls, this chamber is thrown open to the others and to the outer air. The floor of this central cave was covered with earth, from which protruded the foundation of the circular erection c, which appears to have been a small tope, or dagob, built of unburnt bricks. This tope was found to be empty, but excavations were made in the earth around early in October 1853, which resulted in the discovery of the three other circular foundations A, B, and D.

The circle A, appeared to have been undisturbed since the destruction of its super-structure, in whose ruins it was buried, and was nearly emptied without anything unusual being noticed, when some pieces of dried clay attracted attention among the dust thrown aside, and proved upon examination, to be fragments of impressions of a seal representing a sitting figure of Buddha surrounded by ornaments (Plate V.). Further search in the dust resulted in the discovery of many similar impressions in dried clay, also several impressions of circular seals of various sizes, bearing inscriptions. Some larger fragments of dried clay were also noticed, which had been moulded into peculiar forms, and were subsequently discovered to have been the receptacles in which the impressions of inscription-seals had been imbedded; these had been broken up by See page 5 ante.

+ Plan I.

the diggers while clearing out the circular foundation; a few other fragments of moulded clay were also found.

The other circles в and D, were afterwards examined, but only a few more impressions of the sitting figure were found in them, as they had probably been opened before. Two circular stone-pots with covers were also found buried between the topes at E, and F.

The accompanying drawings represent the whole of these discoveries in detail.

The larger fragments of dried clay were found to be portions of six varieties of seal-receptacles, which have been figured in a restored form as far as possible, (Pl. VI. a, b, c, d,) but only one specimen of each of the forms Nos. 3, 4, and 6 having been found, those figures are less complete than the rest; fragments of four specimens of No. 1, three of No. 2, and sixteen of No. 5 were discovered. No. 7 shows the position occupied by the impressions of inscription-seals in the body of the receptacle, though sometimes imbedded in the cupola; they were laid face to face in pairs, and one pair imbedded in each receptacle.

The impressions of inscription-seals are small circular pieces of dried clay, with a flat face, bearing an inscription in relief, evidently the impression of a seal, and a rounded back, which bears the impression of the skin-markings of the palm of a human hand; showing that the clay was laid upon one hand, while the seal was impressed with the other. Of these seal-impressions 68 have been found, of various sizes; being the impressions of 22 different seals, of which 21 have been figured, (Pl. VII. a, b, c, d). The number of impressions of each seal respectively, are as follows:

Among the seal-impressions first found, No. 1 was the most distinct, and a very cursory examination of the letters detected some words of the Buddhist formula, and this led to the deciphering of the whole inscrip

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tion on this and other seal-impressions. Excepting Nos. 3, 9, 10, 15, and 17, the inscriptions are precisely alike (though differently divided into lines), and represent, in letters of about the tenth century, the following well-known words, "ye dharmá hetu prabhava hetun tesbán Tathágato hyavadat-teshán cha yo nirodha evamvádí Mahá Shramana." In addition to these words, No. 9 has 1 line more of illegible letters, with an ornament at the bottom; No. 10 has an ornament below; No. 15 has the syllable "há," or "hí," with an ornament; and No. 17 has a large central ornament. The inscription on No. 3 seal, in 16 lines, was long considered illegible, the letters being exceedingly small; but the accidental discovery that the last letters were Shramana," led to the deciphering of the last three lines, forming the same inscription as on the other seals. This inscription, however, accounts for only 35 letters out of about 270; and though some attempts have been made to deci. pher the preceding part of the inscription, by a comparison of specimens, still the result is very doubtful without some clue to the words, or a thorough knowledge of the language. The seal which is not figured bears probably the same inscriptions as No. 3, the number of lines being apparently the same, and the letters are larger, but less distinct.

All the impressions representing the sitting figure of Buddha, (Pl. V.) have been made with the same seal, as the same defects occur in all; they do not appear to have been imbedded in receptacles. The figure is represented seated cross-legged under a canopy, surrounded by ornaments, and with three lines of inscription beneath it. Some letters in this inscription are imperfect, and difficult to decipher as all the impressions are equally defective; but it is very nearly the same as on the inscription-seals, with some variation after the word "Tathágato." Portions of 70 distinct impressions of this seal were found in Cave No. 13, of which 2 were unbroken, 55 were pieces containing the whole sitting figure, and the remainder were in smaller fragments. The flat faces of these impressions have been painted red, while the rounded backs bear distinct. impressions of the skin-markings of a human hand, showing that the seal was impressed in the same manner as the inscription-seals. Similar impressions in dried clay exist in a museum in Edinburgh, where they are labelled as coming from Ceylon; and similar impressions in lac are figured in Moor's Hindu Pantheon, and stated to exist in the Museum of the East India Company.*

*The Honorable the President (W. E. Frere, Esq.) exhibited some which he had obtained at Ceylon, and stated that they were not uncommon there; also that they were found attached to, and under little cupolas, which thus formed their bases respectively.-Ed.

Could this practice have been continued down from the Assyrians whose period

A variety of Fragments of moulded clay, found with the seal-impressions, have been figured in different positions (Pl. VIII. a, b, c). It is doubtful what they represent; but it may be observed that, if any of Nos. 1 to 11 be placed upon any of Nos. 12 to 16, they will form mushroom-shaped ornaments, which will fit on to the broken tops of the seal-receptacles.

No. 17 may be a fragment of a larger umbrella-shaped canopy. No. 18 appears to be one-half of a mould for casting coins, and bears the impression of a coin, which may possibly be a very rude representation of a man on horse-back.

The brass or copper earring, No. 19, is one of a pair, found imbedded

in a small ball of ashes,

The Stone-pots here figured (Pl. IX. a) are now in the Museum of the Bombay Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society. They were found buried in the earth between the topes, No. 1 at E and No. 2 at F. (Plan III.) They are cut out of laterite, or some similar stone, and have covers fitting down upon a sunken ledge on the top of the pots. In each of these pots, about a table-spoonful of ashes was found, also the three copper coins, Nos. 3, 4, and 5 in one pot, and two other copper coins, Nos. 6 and 7, in the other pot (Pl. IX. b). The coins Nos. 3, 4, and 5 appear to have been little worn, and are covered on both sides with well-defined Arabic inscriptions, which differ in each coin, though all three bear the date 844, which probably coincides with A.D. 1440-41. The coins Nos. 6 and 7 are much worn, and the inscriptions are difficult to read and contain no date.

In Cave No. 23 (Plan I.) there are traces of a somewhat similar group of small topes, which has been only partially examined. Seven broken impressions of the seal with the sitting figure were found; also two or three thin earthen cooking-pots buried in ashes and dust, and full of earth; and it seemed probable that the tope had been opened and the seals scattered about, before the earthen pots had been buried.

extended to the capture of Nineveh, about 625 B. C. and therefore to about the beginning of the Buddhist era? Sir H. Rawlinson exhibited before the Society in July 1855, some cylinders and little pillow-shaped masses of baked clay similarly impressed to those of Kanheri and Ceylon, but with cuneiform inscriptions, and stated that, "the number of these tablets already exhumed [from the ruins of Nineveh] could not be less than 10,000, and they appeared to embrace every branch of science known to the Assyrians; (this Journ. Vol. V. p. 483.) The two sculptured lions at Elephanta taken from the escutcheon of Budh, and constantly introduced into the religious ornaments of the Sivites, are, with the exception of being in a sitting, instead of a standing position, nearly fac-similes of the Assyrian Lion figured in Layard's 'Monuments of Nineveh' (Pl. II.), and not like the existing lion."-Ed.