The Ancient Geography of India. I. The Buddhist Period, including the Campaigns of Alexander, and the Travels of Hwen-Thsang c8.s4.55

c8.s4.55

The age of the stupa can only be determined approximately, as the twenty inscriptions on the sculptures in London give no dates, and make no certain mention of any kings or persons whose age is known. But from the style of the alphabetical characters, I am satisfied that the inscriptions belong to the same period as those of the famous caves of Kânhari, Nâsik, and Kârle, which record the gifts of Gotamiputra—Sâtakarni, Pudumâyi, and Yâdyna Sri, of the Andhra dynasty. They agree also with those of the Sâtakarni inscription on the gateway of the Bhilsa tope,[*] as well as with those of Rudra Dama’s inscription on the rock of Girnar. I have already noted that one of the Kânhari inscriptions is dated in the year 30 of the Sakâditya Kâl, or era of Sake, equivalent to A.D. 108; and I may now add that Rudra Dama’s inscription is dated in the year 72, which, if referred to the Vikramâditya era, will be A.D. 15, or if to the Sake era, A.D. 150, both dates being within the period of the first two centuries of the Christian era, to which I refer the Amaravati inscriptions. Colonel Mackenzie also obtained some leaden coins of Gotamiputra[†] and of other princes of the Sâtakarni dynasty of Andhras, when excavating the ruins at Dharanikotta—a discovery which alone is sufficient to establish the exist-