The Ancient Geography of India. I. The Buddhist Period, including the Campaigns of Alexander, and the Travels of Hwen-Thsang c6.s3.t8.5

c6.s3.t8.5

The old fort of Ujain is very peculiar in its form, which may be best compared to the body of a guitar. It is 3000 feet, in length from east to west, and 1500 feet in breadth, the whole circuit being upwards of 9000 feet, or rather less than 2 miles. Hwen Thsang describes the circuit of Govisana as about 12,000 feet, or nearly 2½ miles, but in this measurement he must have included the long mound of ruins on the southside, which is evidently the remains of an ancient suburb. By including this mound as an undoubted part of the old city, the circuit of the ruins is upwards of 11,000 feet, or very nearly the same as that given by Hwen Thsang. Numerous groves, tanks, and fish-ponds still surround the place. Indeed the trees are particularly luxuriant, owing to the high level of the water, which is within 5 or 6 feet of the surface. For the same reason the tanks are numerous and always full of water. The largest of these is the *Dron-sâgar*, which, as well as the fort, is said to have been constructed by the five Pandu brothers for the use of their teacher Drona. The tank is only 600 feet square, but it is esteemed very holy, and is much frequented by pilgrims on their way to the source of the Ganges. Its high banks are covered with Sati monuments of recent date. The walls of the fort are built of large massive bricks, 15 by 10 by 2½ inches, which are always a sure sign of antiquity. The general height of the walls is 30 feet above the fields; but the whole is now in complete ruin, and covered with dense jangal. Shallow ditches still exist on all sides except the east. The interior is very uneven, but the mass has a mean height of about 20 feet above the country. There are two low openings in the ramparts, one to the north-west and the other to the south-west, which now serve as entrances to the jangal, and which the people say were the old gates of the fort.