The Ancient Geography of India. I. The Buddhist Period, including the Campaigns of Alexander, and the Travels of Hwen-Thsang c6.s3.t3.4

c6.s3.t3.4

The town of *Sthâneswara*, or Thânesar, consists of an old ruined fort, about 1200 feet square at top, with the modern town on a mound to the east, and a suburb called *Bûhari*, or “without,” on another mound to the west. Altogether, the three old mounds occupy a space nearly one mile in length from east to west, and about 2000 feet in average breadth. These dimensions give a circuit of 14,000 feet, or less than 2¾ miles, which is somewhat under the 20 *li*, or 3⅓ miles, of Hwen Thsang. But before the inroads of the Muhammadans, it is certain, from the number of brick ruins still existing, as well as from the statements of the people themselves, that the whole of the intervening space between the present town and the lake, which is now called *Darrâ*, must have formed part of the old city. Taking in this space, the original city would have been, as nearly as possible, an exact square of one mile on each side, which would give a circuit of 4 miles, or a little more than the measurement of the Chinese pilgrim. According to tradition, the fort was built by Raja Dilipa, a descendant of Kuru, five generations anterior to the Pândus. It is said to have had 52 towers or bastions, of which some remains still exist. On the west side the earthen ramparts rise to a height of 60 feet above the road; but the mass of the interior is not more than 40 feet high. The whole mound is thickly covered with large broken bricks, but with the exception of three old wells, there are no remains of any antiquity.