The Ancient Geography of India. I. The Buddhist Period, including the Campaigns of Alexander, and the Travels of Hwen-Thsang c6.s3.t9.7

c6.s3.t9.7

*Ahi-chhatra* was first visited by Captain Hodgson, the surveyor, who describes the place as "the ruins of an ancient fortress several miles in circumference, which appears to have had 34 bastions, and is known in the neighbourhood by the name of the "Pândus Fort." According to my survey, there are only 32 towers, but it is quite possible that one or two may have escaped my notice, as I found many parts so overgrown with thorny jangal as to be inaccessible. The towers are generally from 28 to 30 feet in height, excepting on the west side, where they rise to 35 feet. A single tower near the south-west corner is 47 feet in height above the road outside. The average height of the interior mass is from 15 to 20 feet. Many of the present towers, however, are not ancient, as an attempt was made by Ali Muhammad Khan, about 200 years ago, to restore the fort with a view of making it his stronghold in case he should be pushed to extremities by the King of Delhi. The new walls are said to have been 1¼ *gaz* thick, which agrees with my measurements of the parapets on the south-eastern side, which vary from 2 feet 9 inches to 3 feet 3 inches in thickness at top. According to popular tradition, Ali Muhammad expended about a *karor* of rupees, or one million pounds sterling, in this attempt, which he was finally obliged to abandon on account of its costliness. I estimate that he may perhaps have spent about one lakh of rupees, or £10,000, in repairing the ramparts and in rebuilding the parapets. There is an arched gateway on the south-east side, which must have been built by the Musalmans, but as no new bricks were made by them, the cost of their work would have been limited to the labour alone. The ramparts are 18 feet thick at the base in some places, and between 14 and 15 feet in others.