The Ancient Geography of India. I. The Buddhist Period, including the Campaigns of Alexander, and the Travels of Hwen-Thsang c6.s3.t11.2

c6.s3.t11.2

In the seventh century the city was 20 *li*, or 3 1/3 miles, in circuit, which agrees with its size at the present day. But the position is not exactly the same, as the houses have been gradually moving to the north and west as the Jumna encroached on the east. The old city is said to have extended from the Nabi Masjid and Fort of Raja-kansa on the north to the mounds called *Tila Kans* and *Tila Sat Rikh* on the south; but the southern half of this space is now deserted, and an equal space has been gradually built upon outside the old city to the north and west of the Nabi Masjid. The city is surrounded by numbers of high mounds; several of which are no doubt old brick kilns; but many of them are the remains of extensive buildings, which, having been dug over for ages in search of bricks, are now mere heaps of brick-dust and broken brick. I refer more especially to the great mound near the jail, 3 miles to the south of the city, which from its appearance was always supposed to be the remains of a brick and tile kiln. But this unpromising-looking mound has since yielded numbers of statues and inscribed pillars, which prove that it is the remains of at least two large Buddhist monasteries of as early a date as the beginning of the Christian era.