The Ancient Geography of India. I. The Buddhist Period, including the Campaigns of Alexander, and the Travels of Hwen-Thsang c6.s3.t4.15

c6.s3.t4.15

The present town of Bairât is situated in the midst of a circular valley surrounded by low bare red hills, which have long been famous for their copper mines. It is 105 miles to the south-west of Delhi, and 41 miles to the north of Jaypur. The main entrance to the valley is on the north-west along the bank of a small stream which drains the basin, and forms one of the principal feeders of the Bán Gangá. The valley is about 2½ miles in diameter, and from 7½ to 8 miles in circuit. The soil is generally good, and the trees, and more especially the tamarinds, are very fine and abundant. Bairât is situated on a mound of ruins, about one mile in length by half a mile in breadth, or upwards of 2½ miles in circuit, of which the present town does not occupy more than one-fourth. The surrounding fields are covered with broken pottery and fragments of slag from the ancient copper-works, and the general aspect of the valley is of a coppery red colour. The old city, called Bairâtnagar, is said to have been quite deserted for several centuries until it was repeopled about 300 years ago, most probably during the long and prosperous reign of Akbar. The town was certainly in existence in Akbar’s time, as it is mentioned by Abul Fazl in the ‘Ayin Akbari,’ as possessing very profitable copper mines. A number of large mounds about half a mile to the east, and immediately under the hill, are said to have formed part of the old city; but, both from their position and appearance, I am inclined to think that they must be the remains of some large religious establishment. At present the surface remains consist of rough stone foundations only, as the whole of the squared stones have been used in building the houses of the modern town.