The Early History of India, from 600 B.C. to the Muhammadan Conquest, including the Invasion of Alexander the Great c28.77

c28.77

he erected a great relic tower, which seems to have deserved to rank among the wonders of the world. The superstructure of carved wood rose in thirteen stories to a height of at least 400 feet, surmounted by a mighty iron pinnacle. When Song-yun, a Chinese pilgrim, visited the spot at the beginning of the sixth century, this structure had been thrice destroyed by fire, and as often rebuilt by pious kings. A monastery of exceptional magnificence which stood by its side,¹ was still flourishing as a place of Buddhist education as late as the ninth century when it was visited by Vīradeva, an eminent Buddhist scholar, who subsequently was appointed abbot of Nālandā in the reign of king Devapāla of Magadha (*c.* A. D. 844–92).²