coins of the Muhammadan kings of Delhi and Jonpur, I presume that it could not have been deserted for any very long time. The mound is covered with broken bricks of large size, which alone is a sure test of antiquity and as it is of the same height as that of Sankisa, the people are most probably right in their assertion that the two places are of the same age. In both mounds are found the same old coins without any inscriptions, the more ancient being square pieces of silver covered with various punch-marks, and the others, square pieces of copper that have been cast in a mould,—all of which are, in my opinion, anterior to the invasion of Alexander the Great.

In identifying Sankisa with the Sangasya of the Ramayana and the Seng-kia-she of the Chinese, we are supported, not only by its absolute identity of name, but likewise by its relative position with regard to three such well-known places as Mathura, Kanoj, and Ahichhatra. In size, also, it agrees very closely with the measurement given by Hwen Thsang; his circuit of 20 li, or 3 miles, being only a little less than my measurement of 18,900 feet, or 3 miles. There can be no doubt, therefore, that the place is actually the same. In his description of Sankisa, Hwen Thsang mentions a curious fact, that the Brahmans who dwelt near the great monastery were "many tens of thousands" in number. As an illustration of this statement I may mention that the people have a tradition that Sankisa was deserted from 1800 to 1900 years ago; and that 1300 years ago, or about A.D. 560, the site was given by the Kayath proprietor to a body of Brahmans. They add also that the population of the village of Paor-kheria is known to have been wholly Brahman until a very recent period.

Sankisa is said to have been 2000 li, or 333 miles, in circuit; but with reference to the surrounding districts, this estimate must be too high. Its actual limits, as determined by the Ganges and Jumna on the north and south, and by the districts of Atranji and Kanoj on the west and east, could not have been more than 220 miles in circuit.

10. MATHURA.

In the seventh century the famous city of Mathura was the capital of a large kingdom, which is said to have been 5000 li, or 833 miles, in circuit.* If this estimate is correct, the province must have included not only the whole of the country lying between the districts of Bairât and Atranji, but a still larger tract beyond Agra, as far as Narwar and Seopuri on the south, and the Sindh river on the east. Within these limits the circuit of the province is 650 miles measured direct, or upwards of 750 miles by road distance. It includes the present district of Mathura, with the small states of Bharatpur, Khiraoli, and Dholpur, and the northern half of the Gwalior territory. To the east it would have been bounded by the kingdom of Jijhaoti, and on the south by Malwa, both of which are described by Hwen Thsang as separate kingdoms.

In the seventh century the city was 20 li, or 3 miles, in circuit, which agrees with its size at the present day. But the position is not exactly the same, as the houses have been gradually moving to the north and west as the Jumna encroached on the east. The old city is said to have extended from the Nabi Masjid and Fort of Raja-kansa on the north to the mounds

* Julien's Hiouen Thsang,' ii. 207. See Map No. X.

called Tila Kans and Tila Sat Rikh on the south; but the southern half of this space is now deserted, and an equal space has been gradually built upon outside the old city to the north and west of the Nabi Masjid. The city is surrounded by numbers of high mounds; several of which are no doubt old brick kilns; but many of them are the remains of extensive buildings, which, having been dug over for ages in search of bricks, are now mere heaps of brick-dust and broken brick. I refer more especially to the great mound near the jail, 3 miles to the south of the city, which from its appearance was always supposed to be the remains of a brick and tile kiln. But this unpromisinglooking mound has since yielded numbers of statues and inscribed pillars, which prove that it is the remains of at least two large Buddhist monasteries of as early a date as the beginning of the Christian era.

The holy city of Mathura is one of the most ancient places in India. It is famous in the history of Krishna, as the stronghold of his enemy Raja Kansa; and it is noticed by Arrian,* on the authority of Megasthenes, as the capital of the Suraseni. Now Surasena was the grandfather of Krishna, and from him Krishna and his descendants, who held Mathura after the death of Kansa, were called Surasenas. According to Arrian the Suraseni possessed two great cities, Methoras and Klisoboras, and the navigable river Jobares flowed through their territories. Pliny names the river Jomanes, that is the Jumna, and says that it passed between the towns of Methora and Clisobora. Ptolemy mentions only Mathura, under the form of Modura, Μοδούρα, to which he adds ἡ τῶν θεῶν, that is “ the city of the gods," or holy city.

*Indica,' viii.

Nat. Hist., vi. 19.

Vrindavana.

The city of Klisoboras has not yet been identified, but I feel satisfied that it must be Vrindavana, 6 miles to the north of Mathura.* Vrindavana means the grove of basil-trees," which is famed over all India as the scene of Krishna's sports with the milkmaids. But the earlier name of the place was Kâlikávartta, or "Kalika's whirlpool," because the serpent Kálika was fabled to have taken up his abode just above the town, in a Kadamb tree, overhanging the Jumna. Here he was attacked by Krishna, and the rapid convolutions of his tail in his dying struggles are said to have caused the eddy, which is now known by his name. Now, the Latin name of Clisobora is also written Carisobora and Cyrisoborka in different MSS., from which I infer that the original spelling was Kalisoborka, or, by a slight change of two letters, Kalikoborta or Kálikábarta. In the Prem Sâgar this whirlpool of the Jumna is attributed to the poison that was vomited forth by the serpent Kâli against Krishna, when he was swimming in the river. Allusion is made to the natural increase of the serpent's poison by offerings of milk, which would seem to refer to a previous state of serpent-worship. Milk offerings are still made occasionally, but only to test the divine nature of the serpent, who is supposed to possess the most miraculous powers of drinking. In the last century, Raja Chet Singh, of Benares, is said to have poured all the milk of the two cities of Mathura and Vrindâvan down the hollow Kadamb tree, and as the waters of the Jumna were not even tinged, the serpent Kâlika's miraculous powers of milk-drinking were established more firmly than ever. *See Map No. X.

11. KANOJ.

From Sangkisa Hwen Thsang proceeded to Kanoj, a distance of 200 li, or 33 miles, in a north-west direction. As the positions of both places are well known, we must correct the bearing to south-east, and the distance to 300 li, or 50 miles. The latter correction is supported by Fa-Hian, who makes the distance 7 yojanas, or 49 miles.* In the seventh century the kingdom is said to have been 4000 li, or 667 miles, in circuit. This estimate, as I have already observed, must certainly have included some of the petty districts to the north of the Ganges, as well as those in the Lower Gangetic Doab, otherwise the actual boundary of Kanoj proper would scarcely exceed 200 miles. Taking Hwen Thsang's estimate of 667 miles as approximately correct, the probable limits of the province of Kanoj must have included all the country between Khairabad and Tanda, on the Ghâgra, and Etâwa and Allahabad, on the Jumna, which would give a circuit of about 600 miles.

Of the great city of Kanoj, which for many hundred years was the Hindu capital of northern India, the existing remains are few and unimportant. In A.D. 1016, when Mahmud of Ghazni approached Kanoj, the historian relates that "he there saw a city which raised its head to the skies, and which in strength and structure might justly boast to have no equal."+ Just one century earlier, or in A.D. 915, Kanoj is mentioned by Masudi as the capital of one of the kings of India; and about A.D. 900 Abu Zaid, on the authority of Ibn Wahab, calls "Kaduje a great city in the kingBeal's Fa-Hian,' xviii. + Briggs's 'Ferishta,' i. 57.