The Ancient Geography of India. I. The Buddhist Period, including the Campaigns of Alexander, and the Travels of Hwen-Thsang c6.s3.t36.1

c6.s3.t36.1

Due north from Râjgîr and 7 miles distant lies the village of Baragaon, which is quite surrounded by ancient tanks and ruined mounds, and which possesses finer and more numerous specimens of sculpture than any other place that I visited. The ruins of Baragaon are so immense, that Dr. Buchanan was convinced it must have been the usual residence of the king; and he was informed by a Jain priest at Bihâr, that it was the residence of Raja Srenika and his ancestors. By the Brahmans these ruins are said to be the remains of *Kundilpur*, a city famed as the birthplace of Rûkmini, one of the wives of Krishna. But as Rûkmini was the daughter of Raja Bhishma, of Vidarbha, or Berâr, it seems probable that the Brahmans have mistaken Berâr for Bihâr, which is only 7 miles distant from Baragaon. I therefore doubt the truth of this Brahmanical tradition, more especially as I can show beyond all doubt that the remains at Baragaon are the ruins of Nâlanda, the most famous seat of Buddhist learning in all India.