to the king, who decided that both of the claimants were mothers of the child,-the one by maternity, the other by purchase. The child was accordingly named Bakula, that is, of "two kulas, or races." He reached the age of 90 years without once having been ill, when he was converted by the preaching of Buddha, who declared him to be "the chief of that class of his disciples who were free from disease." After this he is said to have lived 90 years more, when he became an arhat, or Buddhist saint.

As this legend of Bakula is sufficient to prove that the famous city of Kausâmbi was situated on the Jumna, it now only remains to show that the distance of Kosam from Allahabad corresponds with that between Prayâg and Kosâmbi, as recorded by Hwen Thsang. Unfortunately this distance is differently stated in the life and in the travels of the Chinese pilgrim. In the former, the distance is given as 50 li, and in the latter as 500 li, whilst in the return journey to China, the pilgrim states that between Prayâg and Kosâmbi he travelled for seven days through a vast forest and over bare plains.* Now, as the village of Kosam is only 31 miles from the fort of Allahabad, the last statement would seem to preclude all possibility of its identification with the ancient Kosâmbi. But strange to say, it affords the most satisfactory proof of their identity; for the subsequent route of the pilgrim to Sankissa is said to have occupied one month, and as the whole distance from Prayâg to Sankissa is only 200 miles, the average length of the pilgrim's daily march was not more than 5 miles. This slow progress is most satisfactorily accounted for, by

* Julien's Hiouen Thsang,' i. 121; ii. 283; and i. 260.

of the name of Kosámbi mandala, or "Kingdom of Kosâmbi," in an inscription over the gateway of the fort of Khara, seem to confirm the general belief, although the south-west bearing from Prayâga, or Allahabad, as recorded by Hwen Thsang, points unmistakably to the line of the Jumna. In January, 1861, Mr. Bayley informed me that he believed the ancient Kosâmbi would be found in the old village of Kosam, on the Jumna, about 30 miles above Allahabad. In the following month I met Babu Siva Prasâd, of the educational department, who takes a deep and intelligent interest in all archæological subjects, and from him I learned that Kosam is still known as Kosámbi-nagar, that it is even now a great resort of the Jains, and that only one century ago it was a large and flourishing town. This information was quite sufficient to satisfy me that Kosam was the actual site of the once famous Kosâmbi. Still, however, there was no direct evidence to show that the city was situated on the Jumna; but this missing link in the chain of evidence I shortly afterwards found in the curious legend of Bakkula, which is related at length by Hardy.* The infant Bakkula was born at Kosâmbi, and while his mother was bathing in the Jumna, he accidentally fell into the river, and being swallowed by a fish, was carried to Benares. There the fish was caught and sold to the wife of a nobleman, who on opening it found the young child still alive inside, and at once adopted it as her own. The true mother hearing of this wonderful escape of the infant, proceeded to Benares, and demanded the return of the child, which was of course refused. The matter was then referred Manual of Buddhism,' p. 501.

to the king, who decided that both of the claimants were mothers of the child,-the one by maternity, the other by purchase. The child was accordingly named Bakula, that is, of "two kulas, or races." He reached the age of 90 years without once having been ill, when he was converted by the preaching of Buddha, who declared him to be "the chief of that class of his disciples who were free from disease." After this he is said to have lived 90 years more, when he became an arhat, or Buddhist saint.

As this legend of Bakula is sufficient to prove that the famous city of Kausâmbi was situated on the Jumna, it now only remains to show that the distance of Kosam from Allahabad corresponds with that between Prayâg and Kosâmbi, as recorded by Hwen Thsang. Unfortunately this distance is differently stated in the life and in the travels of the Chinese pilgrim. In the former, the distance is given as 50 li, and in the latter as 500 li, whilst in the return journey to China, the pilgrim states that between Prayâg and Kosâmbi he travelled for seven days through a vast forest and over bare plains.* Now, as the village of Kosam is only 31 miles from the fort of Allahabad, the last statement would seem to preclude all possibility of its identification with the ancient Kosâmbi. But strange to say, it affords the most satisfactory proof of their identity; for the subsequent route of the pilgrim to Sankissa is said to have occupied one month, and as the whole distance from Prayâg to Sankissa is only 200 miles, the average length of the pilgrim's daily march was not more than 5 miles. This slow progress is most satisfactorily accounted for, by * Julien's Hiouen Thsang,' i. 121; ii. 283; and i. 260.

the fact that the march from Prayâg to Sankissa was a religious procession, headed by the great king Harsha Vardhana of Kanoj, with a train of no less than 18 tributary kings, besides many thousands of Buddhist monks, and all the crowd of an Indian camp. According to this reckoning, the distance from Prayâg to Kosâmbi would be 38 miles, which corresponds very closely with the actual road distance as I found it. By one route on going to Kosam, I made the distance 37 miles, and by the return route 35 miles. The only probable explanation of Hwen Thsang's varying distances of 50 li and 500 li that occurs to me is, that as he converted the Indian yojanas into Chinese li at the rate of 40 li per yojana, or of 10 li per kos, he must have written 150 li, the equivalent of 15 kos, which is the actual distance across the fields for foot passengers from Kosam to the fort of Allahabad, according to the reckoning of the people of Kosam itself. But whether this explanation be correct or not, it is quite certain that the present Kosam stands on the actual site of the ancient Kosámbi; for not only do the people themselves put forward this claim, but it is also distinctly stated in an inscription of the time of Akbar, which is recorded on the great stone pillar, still standing in the midst of the ruins, that this is Kausámbi-pura.

The present ruins of Kosâmbi consist of an immense fortress formed of earthen ramparts and bastions, with a circuit of 23,100 feet, or exactly 4 miles and 3 furlongs. The ramparts have a general height of from 30 to 35 feet above the fields; but the bastions are considerably higher, those on the north face rising to upwards of 50 feet, while those at the south-west and south-east angles are more than 60 feet. Originally

pitched my tent on one side of the now utterly desolate city, and searched the whole place through most carefully, but all in vain: I could neither find the trace of any tope, nor could I even hear of ancient remains of any kind. On the following day, however, after I had left Sultanpur, I heard that the village of Mahmudpur, about 5 miles to the north-west, was situated on an ancient mound of somewhat larger size than that of Sultanpur, and on my arrival at Faizabad, I learned from Lieutenant Swetenham, of the Royal Engineers, that there is an old tope to the north-west of Sultanpur, not far from this village. I conclude, therefore, that Sultânpur, the ancient Kusapura, is the same place as the Kasapura of Hwen Thsang, and this identification will be made even more certain on examination of the recorded distances.

On leaving Kosâmbi, the pilgrim proceeded first in a north-east direction to the Ganges, after crossing which he turned to the north to Kasapura, the whole distance being 117 miles. Now, the two great ghâts on the Ganges to the north-east of Kosam are at MauSaraya and Pápa-mau, the former being 40 miles, and the latter 43 miles distant. But as these two ghâts are close together, and almost immediately to the north of Allahabad, the total distance to Kasapura will be the same whichever place of crossing be taken. From Pâpamau to Sultanpur the direction is due north, and the distance 66 miles; the whole line from Kosam to Sultanpur being 109 miles, which is within 8 miles of the round number of 700 li, or 1163 miles, as given by Hwen Thsang; while both of the bearings are in exact accordance with his statements. From Kasapura to Visakha the direction followed by the pil