Cunningham's Ancient Geography of India c8.s3.t3: Nikæa, or Mong.
Cunningham's Ancient Geography of India c8.s3.t3
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Nikæa, or Mong.
c8.s3.t3.1
The position of Mong has already been described, but I may repeat that it is 6 miles to the east of Jalâlpur, and the same distance to the south of Dilâwar. The name is usually pronounced Mong, or Mung, but it is written without the nasal, and is said to have been founded by Raja Moga or Muga. He is also called Raja Sankhâr, which I take to mean king of the Sakas, or Sacæ. His brother Râma founded Râmpur, or Râmnagar, the modern Rasul, which is 6 miles to the north-east of Mong, and exactly opposite Dilâwar. His sister's son, named Kâmkamârath, was Raja of Girjâk or Jalâlpur. The old ruined mound on which Mong is situated, is 600 feet long by 400 feet broad and 50 feet high, and is visible for many miles on all sides. It contains 975 houses built of large old bricks and 5000 inhabitants, who are chiefly Jâts. The old wells are very numerous, their exact number, according to my informant, being 175.
c8.s3.t3.2
I have already stated that I take Mong to be the site of Nikæa, the city which Alexander built on the scene of his battle with Porus. The evidence on this point is, I think, as complete as could be wished; but I have still to explain how the name of Nikæa could have been changed to Mong. The tradition that the town was founded by Raja Moga is strongly corroborated by the fact that *Maharaja Moga* is mentioned in Mr. Roberts's Taxila inscription. Now, *Moga* is the same name as *Moa*, and the coins of *Moa*, or Mauas are still found in Mong. But the commonest Greek monogram on these coins forms the letters NIK, which I take to be the abbreviation of *Nikæa*, the place of mintage. If this inference be correct, as I believe it is, then *Nikæa* must have been the principal mint-city of the great king *Moga*, and therefore a place of considerable importance. As the town of Mong is traditionally attributed to Raja Moga as the founder, we may reasonably conclude that he must have rebuilt or increased the place under the new name of *Moga-grama*, which in the spoken dialects, would be shortened to *Mogaon* and *Mong*. Coins of all the Indo-Scythian princes are found at Mong in considerable numbers, and I see no reason to doubt that the place is as old as the time of Alexander. The copper coins of the Nameless Indo-Scythian king especially are found in such numbers at Mong that they are now commonly known in the neighbourhood as *Monga-sâhis*.