The Ancient Geography of India. I. The Buddhist Period, including the Campaigns of Alexander, and the Travels of Hwen-Thsang c8.s2.7

c8.s2.7

At 300 *li*, or 50 miles, to the south-west of the kingdom, there was a high mountain named *Po.lo.mo.lo.ki-li*, which is said to mean the "black peak." M. Julien identifies this name with "Baramula-giri of the present day;"* but I cannot find this place in any map or book to which I have access. The mountain is described as very lofty, and without either spurs or valleys, so that it resembled a mere mass of stone. In this mountain King *So-to-po-ho*, or *Sátaváhan*, hewed a pavilion of five storeys, which was accessible by a hollow road many dozens of *li*, that is many miles, in length. The place was not visited by Hwen Thsang, as the narrator of his journey uses the expression "on arrive," instead of "il arriva." But as the rock is said to have been excavated as a dwelling for the holy Buddhist sage *Nágárjuna*, the pilgrim would almost certainly have visited it, if it had been only 50 miles distant from the capital; and if the south-west bearing is correct, he must have passed quite close to the place on his subsequent journey to Andhra, wihch is said to be either in the same direction, or towards the south. I conclude, therefore, that the curious, “*au sud-ouest du royaume*,”* which the pilgrim uses to indicate the position of this excavated rock, may possibly refer to the boundary of the kingdom, and consequently that the place must be looked for at 300 *li*, or 50 miles, beyond its south-west frontier. This position would agree very well with that of the great rock fortress of Deogir, near Elura, and the name of Polomolokili, or *Varamula-giri*, might be accepted as the original of *Varula*, or Elura. Parts of the description, such as the long galleries hewn out of the rock, and the cascade of water falling from the top of the rock, agree better with the great Buddhist establishment at Elura than with Deogir. But as the place was not actually visited by Hwen Thsang, his description must have been made up from the varying accounts of different travellers, in which the contiguous sites of Elura and Devagiri were probably treated as one place.