The Ancient Geography of India. I. The Buddhist Period, including the Campaigns of Alexander, and the Travels of Hwen-Thsang c5.s4.t6.8

c5.s4.t6.8

In comparing this account with the description of the Chinese pilgrim, I only find two places that can be identified. The first is the site of the modern town, which was about a mile in circuit, and was situated in the midst of the ruins. This I take to be the hill itself, which accords exactly with the description, and which would certainly have been occupied in preference to any part of the open plain below, on account of its security. The second is the stupa of Asoka, which was situated at rather less than 1 mile to the north-west of the monastery inside the town. This I would identify with the low ridge of rock on the north-west called *Mundapapura*, of which the highest point at the north-western end is 4000 feet, or more than three-quarters of a mile distant from the central point of the triangular area of the town. The plain on the north and west sides of the hill is strewn with broken pottery and fragments of brick for a considerable distance, showing that the town must once have extended in both of those directions. But the whole circuit of these remains did not appear to be more than 1½ or 1¼ miles, or about one-half of Hwen Thsang’s measurement.