Tribes in Ancient India c61.s2.54

c61.s2.54

The identification of Vaiśālī, the capital of the Licchavis, has been much discussed by scholars. General Cunningham identified the present village of Basārh in the Muzafferpur district in Tirhut as marking the spot where Vaiśālī stood in ancient days,⁷ and M. Vivien de Saint Martin agreed with him. Dr. W. Hoey sought, though on very insufficient evidence, to establish the identity of Vaiśālī with a place called Cherānd, situated on the northern bank of the Ganges about 7 miles south-east from Chāprā.⁸ This identification was proved to be untenable by V. A. Smith,⁹ who succeeded in confirming Cunningham’s identification. The identity of Vaiśālī and Basārh was proved still more decisively by the archæological explorations carried out on the site in 1903-4 by T. Bloch. Bloch excavated a mound called Rājā Viśāl kā garh. Three distinct strata were found, the uppermost belonging to the period of Mahomedan occupation of the place, the second, at a depth of about five feet from the surface, related to the epoch of the Imperial Guptas, and the third, at a still greater depth, belonging to an ancient period of which no definite date could be obtained.¹ The finds in the second stratum, however, were of great value, especially a hoard of 700 clay seals evidently used as attachment to letters or other literary documents.²