Annals and Antiquities of Rajasthan, or the Central and Western Rajput States of India v1.c17.s1.21

v1.c17.s1.21

¹ [“ In the Tūmān of Zohāk and Bāmiān, the fortress of Zohāk is a monument of great antiquity, and in good preservation, but the fort of Bāmiān is in ruins. In the mountain-side caves have been excavated and ornamented with plaster and paintings. Of these there are 12,000 which are called Sumaj, and in former times were used by the people as winter retreats. Three colossal figures are here: one is the statue of a man, 80 yards in height; another that of a woman, 50 yards high, and the third that of a child measuring 15 yards. Strange to relate, in one of the caves is placed a coffin containing the body of one who reposes in his last sleep. The oldest and most learned of antiquarians can give no account of its origin, but suppose it to be of great antiquity. In days of old the ancients prepared a medicament with which they anointed corpses and consigned them to earth in a hard soil. The simple, deceived by this art, attribute their preservation to a miracle ” (Āīn, ii. 409 f., with Jarrett’s notes). For Bāmiān see EB, iii. 304 f.]