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The Geographical Dictionary of Ancient and Mediaeval India c5.s7: I

The Geographical Dictionary of Ancient and Mediaeval India c5.s7

Language
English

Contents

I

c5.s7.1

Ikshu—1. The river Oxus; it flowed through Sākadvīpa (*Vishnu P.*, II, ch. 4; *JASB.*, (1902), p. 154]. 2. An affluent of the Nerbuda (*Kūrma P.*, pt. II, ch. 39).

c5.s7.2

Ikshumatī—The river Kālinadī (East) which flows through Kumaun, Rohilkhand, and the district of Kanauj (*Rāmāyana*, Ayodhyā, ch. 68).

c5.s7.3

Ilvalapura—Ellora, seven miles from Daulatabad in the Nizam's Dominions and 44 miles from Nandgaon on the G. I. P. Railway. It is said to have been the residence of the Daitya Ilvala whose brother Bātāpi was killed by Rishi Agastya at Bātāpipura while on his way to the south. It is the same as Elapura, which is evidently a corruption of Ilvalapura. See Elapura. The Visvakarmā Cave (Chaitya) at Ellora, and the vihāras attached to it are supposed by Fergusson to belong to a period from 600 to 750 A. D. when the last trace of Buddhism disappeared from Western India. The Kailāsa temple which is the "chief glory" of Ellora, was caused to be carved by Krishna I, king of Bādāmi, on the model of the Virūpāksha temple at Pattadakal to celebrate his conquests in the 8th century A D. (*Havell's Ancient and Medieval Architecture*, p. 193). It is the same as Deva-Parvata (or giri), and Sivālaya of the Siva P. (I, ch. 58). For its sanctity, see Sivālaya.

c5.s7.4

Indrāni—Near Katwa, district Burdwan, Bengal, on the river Ajaya (*K. ch.* 195).

c5.s7.5.1

Indraprastha—Old Delhi. It is also called Brihasthala in the *Mahābhārata*. The city of Indraprastha was built on the banks of the Jamuna, between the more modern Kotila of Firoz Shah, and Humayun's tomb, about two miles south of modern Delhi. The river has now shifted its course more than a mile eastwards. The Nigambod Ghat on the banks of the Jamuna near the Nigambod gate of Shah-jahan's Delhi, just outside the fort close to Selimgad, and the temple of Nilachatri said to have been erected by Yudhishthira on the occasion of performing a homa, are believed to have formed part of the ancient capital. It was also called Khāndava-prastha, and formed part of Khāndava-vana (*see Khāndava-vana*). The name Indraprastha is preserved in that of Indrapat, one of the popular names of the fort Purāna. Kilā, which is still pointed out as the fort of Yudhishthira and his brothers. The fort was repaired or built on the original Hindu foundations by Humayun and was called Dīnpanā (*Arch. S. Rep.*, vol, IV). It now contains the Keelā Koni mosque the building of which was commenced by Humayun and completed by Sher Shah, and also the Sher Manjil or the palace of Sher Shah, which was used as a library by Humayun on his re-accession to the throne, and in which he met with his death by an accidental fall. Indraprastha was the capital of Yudhishṭhira, who became king in the year 653 of the Kali era, called also the Yudhishṭhira era.

c5.s7.5.2

According to Āryabhaṭṭa and Varāhamihira, the Kali age began in 3101 B.C. A large extent of land between the Delhi and Ajmer gates of modern or Shahjahan’s Delhi and about sixteen miles in length contained at different periods the site of old Delhi which was shifted from time to time according to the whims and caprices of different monarchs. Just after leaving the Delhi gate, there is Firoz Shah’s Kotila containing a pillar of Aśoka [for the inscription on the pillar see *JASB.* (1837), p. 577], which is one of the few remnants of Firoz Shah’s capital Firuzabad. Another Aśoka pillar is on the ridge in a broken condition. The next place is Indrapat or Yudhishṭhira’s Indraprastha. Just outside the fort is a gate called Lal Darwâzâ, the ancient Kâbuli Darwâzâ of Sher Shah’s Delhi, which now gives entrance to an ancient mosque. At some distance is Humayun’s tomb built by Akbar, containing also the tomb of Hamida Banu Begum, and also those of Jahandar Shah, Farrukhsiyar, Alamgir II, Raffi-ud-Daula, Raffi-ud-Dijarat, and Dara. Beyond it is a village called Nizamuddin Aulia after the name of a saint who flourished at the time of Ghiasuddin Tughlak. The village contains a baoli (well); the beautiful marble tombs of Nizamuddin Aulia, Mahomed Shah, Jahanara Begum, the poet Khusru and Prince Mirza Jahangir, son of Akbar II. These tombs are enclosed with beautiful marble fret-work screens, one of which is provided with a marble door.

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There is also a mosque called Jumat Khana built by the Emperor Alauddin. Beyond Nizamuddin Aulia is Chausaṭh Khamba containing the tomb of Akbar’s foster brother and General Mobarak called Aziz Khan. The Mausoleum of Safdar Jung, the son of Sadat Khan, Nawab of Oudh and Vizir of Ahmad Shah, was erected by his son Shuja-ud-Daula. Tughlakabad contains the ruins of a big fort built by Ghiasuddin Tughlak whose tomb was raised by his crazy son Muhammad Tugulak just outside the southern wall of the city. Besides, there is the Kutub Minar, the tower of victory, with Pṛithvī-Râjâ’s Yajñâśâlâ in the neighbourhood converted into a mosque, in the courtyard of which stands the celebrated Iron Pillar. This and the Lâlkoṭ with Yogamâyâ’s temple, the Butkhana and Altamash’s tomb are within the Delhi of Pṛithvī-Râj. Close to the Kutub Minar is the Alai Darwâzâ or the gateway of Allauddin, perhaps, of his capital, and near it is the marble tomb of Imam Zemin, the spiritual guide of Humayun. Near the Ajmer gate is the Yantar-Mantar or the Observatory of Jai Singh of Jaipur. Within Shahjahanabad or modern Delhi is the fort with its celebrated Dewan-i-Am Rang-Mahal, Mamtaz-Mahal, Shahpur palace, and the Pearl Mosque. The Jumma Masjid was constructed by Shajahan. The Sonari Mosque (Mosque of Raushan-ud-Daula) is situated immediately to the west of the Kotwali from which Nadir Shah ordered the massacre of Delhi. For further particulars, see Delhi in Pt. II, of this work.

c5.s7.6

Indrapura—Indore, five miles to the north-west of Dibhai in the Anupashahar sub-division of the Bulandshahr district, United Provinces. It is mentioned in an inscription of the time of Skandagupta, the date being 465 A.D. (*Corp. Ins. Ind.*, III, p. 70). Perhaps this Indrapura is mentioned in the *Śankaravijaya* of Ānanda Giri by the name of Indraprasthapura.

c5.s7.7

Indrasilā-guhā—Mr. Laidlay has identified it with the Giriyek hill, six miles from Rājgir, which is evidently a corruption of Gairik-giri, a large portion of the stones of this hill being of red (gairik) colour. It is a spur of the Bipula range. It is the most easterly of the range of hills in which Rājgir was situated (JASB., XVII, p. 500). The Panchān or Pañchānan river flows by its side, and just across the river is situated the ancient Buddhist village called Giriyek. It has two peaks; on the lower peak on the east is situated the celebrated brick-tower called Jarāsandha-kā-Baiṭhak which was the Haṃsa-stūpa of the Buddhists. In some portions the moulding of sand and plaster in niches are well preserved. It is said to be the only building in India that has any pretention to be dated before Asoka's reign (Fergusson's Cave Temples of India, p. 33). In front of it there are the remains of a monastery (Saṅghārāma), a dry well, two tanks and a garden. The western peak which is connected with the Haṃsa-stūpa by a pavement is the higher of two; to this peak the name of Giriyek properly belongs; it contains the remains of a vihāra. It is the "Hill of the isolated rock" of Fa Hian. It was on this hill that Indra brought the heavenly musician Pañcha Sikhā to play on his lute before Buddha, and questioned the latter on forty-two points, which questions he traced with his finger on the ground (Legge's Fa Hian, p. 80). According to the Buddhist account, the cave was situated in the rock Vedi, at the north side of the Brāhman village Amasanda, on the east of Rājagṛiha (Spence Hardy's Manual of Buddhism, p. 298).

c5.s7.8

Iran—Persia, which was so-called from its colonisation by the ancient Aryans, the ancestors of the modern Parsis, who settled there after they left the Punjab; see Ariana (JASB., 1838, p. 420).

c5.s7.9

Irana—The Runn of Cutch, the word Runn or Ran is evidently a corruption of Irana, which means a salt land (Amara-kosha). It is the Eirinon of the Periplus of the Erythraean Sea.

c5.s7.10

Iravatī—1. The Ravi (Hydraotes of the Greeks). 2. The Rapti in Oudh (Garuḍa P., ch. 81). Rapti is also said to be a corruption of Revatī.

c5.s7.11

Isalla—Kesariya, in the district of Champāraṇ, where Buddha in a former birth appeared as a Chakravartti monarch. A stūpa was raised at this place to commemorate the gift of the alms-bowl by Buddha to the Lichchhavis when he parted with them (Fa Hian, and Arch. S. Rep., XVI, p. 16). The ruins of this stūpa are known to the people by the name of Rājā Ben-kā-deorā, Rājā Bena being one of the Chakravartti kings of ancient time.

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