Mediaeval Temples of the Dakhan c7.s3.1

c7.s3.1

Sopārā, situated about six miles north of Bassein and a mile and a quarter in from the sea face, is one of the oldest sites in western India. It was the Suppāraka or Sūrpāraka of early Buddhist writers, the Sorpāraga, Sopāraya and Sopāraka of the Kārli, Nāsik, Nānāghāt and Kanheri cave inscriptions, the Soupara of Ptolemy, the Ouppara of the *Periplus*, and the Subara of the early Arab traveller Ma'sūdi. More interesting still, it has been identified with the Ophir of King Solomon. In 1882 a Buddhist *stupa* was opened up here which yielded