Modi Ancient Pataliputra

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Ancient PataHputra. Dr. D. B. Spooner s RecentExcavations at ts site and the Qu estion of the

Influence o} Ancient Persia upon India.

Read on 3rd March 9 .

1.

During the la st year, our atte ntion ha s 'be en drawn to the great

Introduction.question of the Influ ence of Ancient Ir n uponIndi a, by two great archreologica l excavations .

The first excavation is that of the ruins of the ancient city of T axd ldby Sir John Mar shall, and the secon d that of the ruin s of the ancientcity of Pataliputra (mod ern Patna) by Dr. D. B. Spooner. Th eobject of this Paper is three-fold.-

I To give a brief account of the history of PAtaliputra and of itspast a nd pre se nt excavations from an IrAnian point of view.

11. To examine the general question of the influ ence of ancientIran upon ancient India .

I l l . To pr ese nt a few constructive observation s on Dr. Spooner' sliterary evidence about the influence of IrA.n from an Ir ni a n point ofview.

I want to speak on these subjects, not from any archreo logica l orarchitectural point of view, but from a lite rary point of view, and thatfrom an Ir n i an point of view. I l eave i t to archreologists to e x m i ~ eDr. Spooner's archreological evidences and to scholars of Indian lite rature to examine hi s evidences from Indi a n books.

Before speak in g of Dr. Spooner' s excava tions a t PA.taliputra, the' subject proper of my Paper, I will say a few words on Sir oh 11Marsh a ll's excavations a t TaxAI , where also the que st ion of theinfluence ef Iran on India is conJlected with th e disco ve ry of the ruinsof, what Sir John calls, a Zoro astrian temple .

14

Originalverffentlichung in: Modi, Jivanji Jamshedji: Asiatic Papers, Part II. Bombay: The TimesPress, 1917. S. 211-286.


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2 1 2 \: / c m l \ T PA-l 'ALlPUTRA.

11.

Th e ruins of a x U ~are si t uate d a t a place ca lled K a ia k; Sa r .i,

A Temple at T ax l I i supposed tobe a Zoroa s trian 'Fire-temple.

near the village of Shah Dh er i, a bout 2 4 mil esfrom R aw u pindi. I -ha d the pleasure of visitingt he ruin s on 16 th July 1915, on my return journ eyfr0111 K ash ni'ir. Thank s to th e l{jndness andcou rt esy of Sir John Mar sha l1 I was g iven a n /

opportunity to see the ruins, though the actua l excavatio n wo rk wassto pp ed owing to the hot weather. Wh a t I w as mo st int ere ste d in, as aPar see, in these ex cavat ions o f T ax . I ' was the excavat ion of, the

" Mound of Jh an di a l" , so called fr0111 an a djoining modern village ofthat name. Sir John Marshall h as excavated th ere a temple, whichhe ca lls Th e T emp le of Jhandiala," an d which he thinks to b e ana nci ent Pa rsee Fir e-t emp l e of the P a rthi a n times.

We gathe r the following brief acco unt of the te mpl e, from the de scr iption , as given by Sir John Ma r h a ll, in hi sLecture before the funjab Hi s tori ca l Soci ety 1 :

t is a templ e unlik e a ny yet known in India butresem blin g a Greek te mpl e. Th e Greek t ~ p l

wa s su rr ounde d by a) peristyle or a range of columns, b) a p r onaosor front porch, c ) a naos or cel l a or sa nctuar y a nd d) a n oPisthodo7 oS ora back porch at the rea r. As in the case of some Greek temples, e.g.,the P a rth e non ' a t Athens, e) " there is a n ex tra chamber ' betweenthe sa nctuary a nd ba ck porc h." Th e T axa l T e mpl e h as , a ) ins tead of a range of columns to support th e buildin g a wall pierced bylarg e windows a t fr equ en t int e rva.'is, with two Ionic columns between

pila s te rs a t the entrance." b) t h as a front porch; c) then comes the

The Accountthe TempleJhandi ala.

sanctuary; a nd then d) a bac k porch. In plac e of the e) extra ch a mber see n in a Gr eek temple, her e, there is a tower of solid masonrywith a foundation of about 30 feet. Th e temple is unlike any Buddhist,Br ahman ica l or J a in temple in Indi a . So, it mu st be long to a notherreligion : Th e tower was a sort of Chald re n Zik t r Ja t on the summitof which was a fire-altar. From all the se consider a t ion s, Sir- JohnMar shall thinks th e buildin 'g to be " a temple dedicated to the Zoroastrian Wor ship." " T h i s is the only plau sible hypothe sis", he adds," which seem s to m e to ex pl a in th e peculi a r structure of the s olid towerin the middle of the building a nd the entire a bse nc e of a ny images.The Per sia ns, as we know, set their fir e-a lt a rs in hi g h places, andrai se d on lofty substructures. W e know, moreover, that the idea of

, Lecture by Dr. J. H. lI1ar shall , C.I.E delivered before the P unja b Hi storical Society.Au g ust 29th. '9 '4. p. 7.

I bad the pleasure of seeing tbe Parthenon a t Athens on 23rd NOl'ember ~


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t he . Assy ri a nno thing m o rete mple s .

A KC IE NT P ATA LI PUTRA .

Z iku r rat w as fa mili a r t o t he P er sia n s, a nd ' t hkre islikely th a n th a t t hey bo rr o\ve d i ts e ~ g ~ for th e ir fir e;

- , _ ...

I will qu ote h ere , wh a t I h ave ' sa id e lse wh ere,l as my few ob se rv a -tio n s on SirJohn Marshall s acc oun t of th e T em ple : ,

Not be in g a s tud e nt, of a rch reol ogy , I d o n ot ve ntur e to s p ~ k with a ny a u t horit y , as to wh e th er Sir J oh n s opinion a bou t ' th a ttem pl e is corr ec t. But as ~ I hum ble st ud en t of Z oro as tri a ni sm, kno 'wing somethin g a bout it s fi re-t empl es a nd the c us tom s of th e fir ec ult, a nd h a ving ex a min ed ve ry ca r efully th e s tru ct ur e of th e Jh a ndi a la Templ e , I ve ntur e to say , that I ob se rve d no t hin g th a t couldbe sa id t o g o aga in s t Sir j ohn s v iew s a bou t the building be in g aZ oro as tri a n T empl e o f old . On th e ot h er h a nd , i n m a in pri ncipl es,the structur e eve n r es e m bled s ome of o ur mo d e rn fi re-te mpl es .

But ther e is one point, on w hi ch I h ave m y d ou bts . Th e lea rn edarc h reologi s t think s , th a t th e tow er is th e seat of a fi r e-a l t a r a t th e top,

an d t a k es, a s th e g round for thi s v iew , t h e fa ct th a t th e P ers ia ns ha dth e ir fire a lt a rs in hi g h pl aces . Of cour e , h e h as th e authority ofH erodotu s , (Book I, 131). But, I t hink, th a t th a t vie w would n o t a pplyto la te r P a rthi a n tim es b out 500 year s afte r H erodotu s - t o whichS i r John Ma r sh a ll a t t r ibut es t h e T e mp l e on a rc h reological g round s. fsom e furth er r esea rch es lea d him to a t t r ibut e t h e te mple to mor e a nci entt im es s a y th e tim e wh en D a riu s th e Gr eat in va d ed India with hi sla rg e a rmy of P ers ia n s a nd wh en h e passe d t hrou g h thi s pa rt of th e

P u n j ab - t h e n hi s v ie w of th e use ' of th e Tow er m ay po ss ibl y, t hou g hno t as suredly, be h e ld to b e s tr onge r. Wh a t I m ea n to sa y i s , th a t,a t one time, when a Zoro as tri a n T e mpl e s to od in th e mi d s t of Zoro ast ri a n surrounding s , it wa s po ss ibl e to le t th e sa cred fir e burn in anopen pl a ce lik e the top of a tow er, bu t no t , wh en it tood in surrounding s other th a n strictly Zoro as tr i a n, in s urroundin gs ass ocia te d withBuddhists, Brahmins, J a in s a nd oth ers , a s .w as th e ca se wh e n th eParthi a ns occupied thi s pa rt of th e countr y at t h e t im e a ttribut ed to it

by Sir John Mar sh a ll.So, I think, th e naos or sa nct ua ry was th e place of th e fire a l ta r

a nd the dias or platform in it w as th e pla ce of the ut en s ils a t th e fir ealtar, and the pla ce standing ove r ~v h i the pri es ts fed the sacr ed fire.The tower itself had of cour se a re lig ious purpos e , v i s . th a t of sayingprayers in praise of the Sun, Moon, W a ter, and the grand Naturewhich led a Zoroa s tri a n s thou g ht s from N a tur e to Nature s God.

, The T tm es o I d ia of , Ith Aug l t ' 9 ' 5.


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214 ANCIENT PATALIPUTRA.

O f all the modern fire-temples of India, the one a t present in the oldParsi centre of Naosari seems to suggest this view and seems to come

nearer to the Tax ill il tower. Th ere, near the place of thesanctuary wherein the sacred fire is burning, there is a small two-stori ed~ u i l d i n greminding on e of a tower, tt{ ough not exactly a tower, onwhich the worshippers went to have a look at the distant PumA.river and to say their Ardvisura Ny ish, and even the Khorshed and

e h e ~Nyaishes. t was a place which gave them a inore open look ofthe whole of the surrounding nature. The TaxiUa temple tower mayhave been intended for a similar purpose."

I l l .

I PATALI PUTRA- I TS HISTORY. T H E IDENTIFICATION OF IT S Srm.

ITS EXCAVATIONS.

t is the second group of excavations, vir: that a t P taliputra,.financed by Mr. R atan Tata, that has drawn more public attention.When the attention of us here in Bombay was first drawn to the subject,at the close of the year 19I4,by a letter, dated 16th October, of the London

correspondent of t h e Times of India," published in the issue of 9thNovember 1914, in a para ent i t led" Parsee Dominion in India", I hadthe pleasure of writing in that Paper, in its issue of 12th November.I then said : T h e Mahomedan Historian Firishta speaks of the conquest, by the old IrA.nian Kings, of even further east. 1 Even theVendidA.d speaks of the India of the Persians as extend ing to the East,and now the para in your Paper speaks of the modern excavations a tPA.taliputra (Patna), as pointing to an actual dominion of ancient

lr nians in the east, further than PunJab; but furtl1er details will enableus to see properly whetl1er the recent excavations point to an actuadominion extended up to there, or on ly to the influence of Persipolitanarchitecture on Indian a rchitecture which is se en in more than oneplace."

Further details, mostly from a literary point of view, have now beengiven to us by the learned excavator, Dr. D. B. Spooner. His excavations led him to some inquiries, the result of which he has embodied ina Paper, ent i t led" The Zoroastrian period of Indian History," published in two parts, in the Journ al ' of the Royal Asiatic Soci ety of England. This Paper of Dr. Spooner has, as it were, to use the words ofthe late Professor MaxJl1uller, used on a somewhat s imil ar occasion

1 i t . further than Punjab.

Issues of January and July 19153 , Pror. Maxmuller s article t Th-e d te o f the Zend Ave s ta in the Contemporary Review

of D e c ~ m b r18g3 Vol. XUV. p. 86g.


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-2l6 ANCIENT - PATALlPUTR A

Hiuen'Tsial}gl (a bout A.D. -62g) :- To the so uth of th e river Ga n gesl:h ere is an old .clty a bout 70 li round . Although it h as b ee n long

. d ese r t ed, it s foundation wa ll s st ill survi ve . 'Formerly, ' when m en'sli ves were in c< llcul ab ly long, i t was ca lled Ku s umapur a ' (K'u-su- mo -

. pu-I q,) ' so ' called, because t h e palace of the King had m a ny flo wers.Afterwa rd s, when n ~ sage reac h ed severa l thousands. of yea r s , thenits n ame was 'changed to P tal iputra ' (Po-ch'a -li- tsu-ch'ing).

At the beginning th ere was a Brahmin of hi g h ta lent and s ingul arlearning. Many thousan d s flocked to him to receive instruction . One

day a ll the .st ud ents went out on a tOUI of observation; one of thembetrayed a feeling of unquiet an d di s tr ess. Hi s fe llo w-stu d entsa ddr esse d him a nd sa id, 'W h at troubles yo u, f r iend? ' H e sa id, ' I amin my full maturity (beauty) with perfect st r eng th, a nd yet I go onwander in g abo u t h ere lik e a n ~ l y s h a d o till yea ts and months havepassed, a nd my duties (manly duti es ) not perfor m ed. Thinkin g of thi s ,m y words a re sad an d my h ea r t is affl icted.' On this, his companionsin spo rt replied, 'vVe mus t seek the n for yo ur good a brid e a nd h er

fri end s.' Th en they supp osed two persons to represent the fa ther andmother ot the bridegroom, an d two perso n s th e father and ' moth erof the bride, and as they were sitt in g und er a Patali (p o-ch'a -li)tree, they ca ll ed it the tree of the so n-in-l aw . Th e n they gat hered .seas on ab le Fruit s and pure water, a nd followed all the nupti a l customs,a nd requested a time to be- fixed. Th e n th e father of the s upp osedbrid e gat h ering a twig w ith flowers on it, gave it to the st ud ent andsa id, 'Th i s i:s yo ur exce llent partner; b e grac iou sly pleased 'to ac

ce pt h er. ' The st ud ent ' s h eart was rejoiced as he took h er t him self .And now, as the s un was sett in g, th ey propo se d to r e turn hom e ; butthe yo ung st ud ent, affecte d by lo ve, preferred to rem a in.

Th en th e other sa id : 'All this was fun; pr ay come back withu s ; th e re a re wi ld beasts in this forest; we a re afraid, they w ill killyou .' But the stu dent preferred to remain walking up a nd down byh e side of the t r ee .

After s un set, a st ra nge lig ht lit up the pl a in, th e sound of pipesa nd lute s with their soft mu sic (w as he a rd), and the ground was cov ered with a s umpt\1ou s carpet. Suddenly an old man of gentle mi en was

1 Si.yu-ki. Buddhist Records of the 'V estem World, tr anslated from tbe Cbinese ofHieun T sianlr (A. D . 629) by Samuel Beal (1884), Vol. n pp . 82.85.

E xp lained in a no t e to mean Hiang.hu.kong-sh'sing-the city o r roya l precinct of thesce nted flower (kusuma).: 3 . h e text seems to refer the foundation of thi s city to a remote period and in thisrespect is in agreement with Diodorus, who sa)'s (lib. 11, cap. 39) tha t thi s city wa s fOllnded

by .Heracles," That is they ma de the tree father-inlaw of the stude n t ; in ot her word s he ;vas to marry

daughter of the tree a atali flower Bt. g1l.o1lia s1eaveolens).


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ANCIENT PATALlPUTRA. 21 7

, see n comin g, s upp or t in g him se lf by hi s staff , an d there wa s a lso anold moth er le'a din g a young maid en . Th ey were acco mp ari ied by a

proce ss ion along the way , pr essed' in holiday attire and attended w ithmu s ic . Th e old man then poin te d to the m a iden and said: c T I 1 1 s yo ur worship s wife (la dy).' Seven days then passe d in ca rou s ing andmusic, when the companions of the student, in doubt w h ethe r he hadbeen d est ro ye d by ,wild beasts, we n t forth and came to th e p l a c~

ey found him a lon e in the sha de of the tr ee, s it t ing as if fac in g as up erior g u est . Th ey as ked him to return with them, but be respectfully d eclin ed.

cc After th i s he entered of hi s own accord the city, to pay res pec t to, his re la t ives , an d told tbem of this a d ve n tur e from beginning to -en d .

H a ving h ear d it wit h wonde r, he ret urn ed with a1l his rela tiv es a ndfriends to the middle -of the fore s t, and there th ey saw the flowering

tree bec om e a great mansion; se rvants of a ll kinds were hurrying toa nd fro on every sid e, and t he o ld m a n ca me forward and r ece ivedthem with PQlit eness , and ent e r t ained th em with a 1l kinds of d a intie sse rv ed up am id st the sound of music. After the usu a l comp lim ent s ,the guests ret urn ed to the cit y an d to ld to al l, fa r a nd near, what hadh appe ned.

cc Afte r th e year was accom plished, the wife gave birth to a son,w h en th e hu s ba nd sa id to hi s spo u se, C I wish now to return, bu t yetI ca nnot bea r to be sepa r a te\ from you (your brida l r esidence) ; but ifI r es t h e re I fe ar th e expos ur e to wind a nd weather. Th e w ife11aving heard this, told h er fath er. Th e old man then a ddre sse d thestudent a nd said, C Whil st living content ed and ha ppy why mu st you

, g o b ack ? I will build you a hou se ; l et there be no thought of deser, tion. On thi s, hi s serva. nt s applied themselves to the work, a nd inless than a da y it was finished.

cc When the old ca pit a l of Ku sum ap ur a was changed, this town, was chosen, a nd from the circumstance of t he ge nii buildin g the man' s ion of the youth t he name he ncefor th of the cou ntr y was Pataliputra-

, pura (the city of the son of h ~ PA.tali tr ee ). " '

t seems,l that, a t t he place, , w he e , late r on, there a ro se thecity of PA.t a liputr a, stood a v ill age of the name

, 2 . Bu ddha's visit of P ata li or P ata lig rama. I t was s itu ated on the,to the c ity and his confluence of the G anges an d the S on . Sakya, prophecy about it .. mouni, the Buddh a, in about the 4th or 5th'ce ntury B. C. , on hi s way from R ajg rih a, the old capita l of th e s t r ~ c t

I gi ve thi s early account o f the old city, as collected by P. Vivien de Saint Martin in hi s.. Etude su r la Ge ograp hic Grecque et L atine de n o d e" (,858), Tro isieme lI1 moire. Appendix

V pataliputra. I; P. 439 t g


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2 1 8 ANCIENT PATALiPUTRA.

to Vasali, on crossing the Ganges, passed by this town. On seeingthe village, he predicted that the village was destined to become a

great city. The words of the prophecy, as given by Col. WaddeIl, runthus :

, Among famous places, busy marts and emporiums, 'PltaIiputrawill be the greatest ; (but) three perils will threaten i t - f i re , waterand internal strife. 1 RA jA.AjA.tasatru, the son of BimbisA-ra, who hadbecome the king of the country, about 8 years before ' the death ofBuddha, had his capital a t that time at Rajgir (Rajgriha). He got

this village or town of PA.talignima duly fortified with an eye to thefuture, as i t was in the midst of several provinces and small republics .t stood a t a point of great commercial and strategical importance a t

or near the confluence of ali the five great rivers of Mid-India, namely,the Ganges, the Gogra, the Rapti, the Gandak and the Son.'

The VA-yu Puran a attributes the real foundation of Pataliputra toRaja Ajata Satru's grandson, Oudaya or OudayA-c;va. t was he

who first , emoved the capital there ' from Rajgriha . This happenedthen during the last part of the 6th century B C., because Oudayacame to throne in 519 B C., about 24 years after the NirvA.na ofBuddha. Aj ta Satru is said to have fortified the old city witha view to check " th e rigorous invading Aryans," who were theLichhavis of Mithila .

Both, Megasthenes (about B. C. 300-302), the ambassador of

3. Its History inthe time of Chandra'Gupta, as describedon the authority ofMegasthenes bya) Strabo and b)

Arrian,

Seleucus Necator at the Court of Chandra-Gupta,and , Chanakya, Chandra-Gupta's minister, haveleft us some accounts of the magnificence of theroyal court at this city in the time of ChandraGupta (the Sandrakottos of the Greeks, Sandrakoptu s of Athenreus, and ' Androkottos ofPlutarch's Life of Alexander the Great) . In the

same way as some supernatural or divine powers were associated with

the founding of this city, some divine powers were attributed to therise of Chandra-Gupta to ~ throne from an humble o r i i ~.

1 Buddba', prophecy, quoted by Col. 'Vaddell at the beginning of his R,eport on tbeExcavations at PoI.taliputra (1903) p.l . if Ruddha's way of describing tbe city, and itscurus or evils with the way in which Abura Mazda describe. the foundation of the 16Iranian cities in tbe first chapter of tbe Vendidad, wherein, witb each city, a mention is madeof the accompanying evil or curse,

, .. Report on the Excavation s at Putaliputra by Or, L. A. 'Waddell (1903), p, 2,

3 Col. Waddell's Report on the Excavations at PJitaliputra (1903), p. 3


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ANCIENT PATALIPUTRA.

St rabo, in one place, includes Megasthenes, from whom the Greek s

a) St r a bo.

knew mu ch of India, a m o n g " a se t of liars,lJ1

and says, that no faith can be placed in him.He coined" th e fables concerning m en . Str abo seems to h ave condemned Megasthen es and with him also D e im achus, the Gr ee kAmbassa dor in the Court of Altitrochades, the son of Sandrocottus,(C h a ndr ag upta), beca use they coined or d escr ibed many fab les . Inanother pl a ce, h e follows the accoun t of Megasthenes without showin ga ny doubt about that a ccount. H e thus speaks of Palibothra: I tis in the shape of a pa rall elo g ram , s urround ed b y a wooden wall

pierced with openings through which . a rrow s m ay be discharged .In front is a ditch, which serves the purpose of.defence an d of a sewerfor t he city. The people, in who se country the city is s ituated ar ethe most distinguished of a ll the trib es , an d are cal led Prasii. Th eKing, beside s his fa mily ' nam e, h as the s urn ame ofP a libothrus, asthe king to whom Megasth e n es was se nt on an embassy ha d thena me of Sandrocottus. HO

Ar ri a n s pe a k s thus of P talipu tra an d the Manners of th e Indians:

t is further said that the Indi ans do not rearb) Arrian.monum ent s to the de a d, but con sid er the virtues

which m e n h ave di splayed in li fe, a nd the song s in which th e irpraise,s are celebrated, sufficient to pres erve their memory afterd eat h. But of th e ir citi es it is sa id, that the numb er is so g reat,that it cannot be sta ted with precision, but that such cit i es as ares ituated on the banks of river s or on the sea-coast are built of woodinstead of brick, being meant to last only for a tim s o de st ruc-

t ive are theheavy rains which

pourdown,

a ndthe ri

vers

also whenthey overflow their banks and inundate the plains-whi le those citieswhich stand on commanding situations and lofty eminences are builtof brick and mud; that th e greatest city in India is that which iscalled Palimbothra, in the 'dominion s of the Prasi a n s, where thes treams of the Erannoboas and the G a ng es unite, the Ganges beingthe greatest of all rivers, and th e Erannoboas being perhap s the thirdla rgest of Indi a n rivers, though greater than the greatest river s else-where; but it is smaller than the Ga nge s where i t falls into it. Megas -thenes informs us that this city s t retched in the inhabited qu a rters toa n extreme length on each side of eighty stadia, ' and that its breadthwas fifteen stadia, and that a ditch encompassed t all round, which

, The Geography of Strabo, Bo ok n, Ch apte rs I , 9- Hamilton and Fal con er 's Tran slation,1 8 ~ . Vol. I, p. oB

IDid. Book. XV, Chap ter 36 Vol. In , P.97.3 i. q.a m ~ 4. i. e . 1 7 miles


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2 2 0 .-\ NC IENT PATALlPUTRA.

was s ix hundred feet in br ea d th and thirty cubits in depth, and thatthe wa ll was crow n ed with 5 7 0 towers a nd had four -a nd -sixty gates.Th e same writer tells us further thi s rem a rk a bl e fact about Indi a, thata ll the Indi a n s are free, an d not one of th em i s a s lave . Th e L akedremo ni a n s a nd the Indi a ns a l'e her e so far in ag r ee m en t. The L a k ed-remo ni a n s , h oweve r , hold the H e lots as s laves, a nd these H elot s dose rvi le labo Ul'; but the Indi a n s do not even u se a li ens as slaves, a(,dmuch iess a count ry-man of their own. , ,1

Pittaliputra seems to h ave ri sen to it s ze nith in the time of Chandra-

g upt a 's gra nd so n, the g re a t Asoka (a bout B. C.4 Pata liputr a in 2 5 0 ) , the g r eates t of Indi a n Emperors, theAsoka's ti me .con ternpor a ry a nd a lly of l Antiochu s I I of Syri a,

Ptolemy of Egypt, Antigon u s Gono t u s of Macedon, Magas of Cyrene,and Alexander of Epirus, as referred to in som e of hi s A sok a's) in-scr ip tio n s. Stone is not found in pl e nty in thi s part of Indi a . So,most of the r oya l buildings of the pr ece din g tim es were built of wood.It is Asoka , who introduced t h e u se of st on es . Col. W a ddeU thus

speaks on t h e s ubj ect : T h e buildin gs previous to hi s e poch, as wellas the wa ll s of the ci ty, see m a ll to hav e been of wood, lik e ,mo st ofthe palaces, temples a nd ' stoc k a d es of Burma a nd J a pa n in th e pr esentday. The ch a n ge w hi ch h e (Asoka) effecte d to h ew n sto ne was ' so ',su dd e n an d i r i ~ r e s s i v ea nd th e sto nes w ~ i hhe u se d were so colo ssa l,that h e came latte rly to be assoc ia ted in popul ar tales with ' the g iantsor ge nii yaksha) by whose s up e rhum a n agency it was alleged ' h e h adreared his monum e nt s ; and a fa bulou s rom a ntic origin was invent ed

for hi s m arve llous capital. It was pos s ibly owing to A sok a's gi g a nti csto ne buildings that th e Gr ee k s ascr ibed th e buildin g of the city toHercu\es, for th ey h a d seve ral acc ounts of it subsequent to the time ofMegasthenes. I.t is a lso possible th a t thi s lege nd of th e ' giants m ayhave partly ar isen throu g h Asoka h av in g m a d e u se of sc ulptur edfig ur es of the g iants to a dorn hi s buildin gs .'

Wi t h the downfall of the dyn as ty of. Asoka, the city also h a d it s

, downfall du e prob a bly to fir e , flood and int e rn a l5 Hi s to ry of quarrels, the three cur ses or ev il s said to have

~ S e O k a ~ i t \ ~ e .after bee n proph es ied by Budh a . Th e older wood enbuildings of the city m ay ha ve led to frequen t

fires,-and t h e peculiar position of th e city on, or nea r the place of, theco nflu ence of severa l ri ve r s m ay h ave led to frequent flood s . From the

he Indica of rri an X (Ancient India, as described by l\fegasthenes a nd ATrian,

Tran.lation by J. W. McCrindle ,877, pp. 204-8) . 'o Or , V,raddell's R ep o r t of the Excavations a t P oita liputr a, p, 6.o Ib id p 7.


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AN C I ENT PA T A Ll PU TR A . 2 2 1

t hird to th e fif th ce ntu ry A. D., it co n t in ue d, ho weve r fa lle n , to be theca pit a l of Gupt a k,in gs , some of wh om pat roni se d Buddh ism .

, Fa -Hi e n, w h o h a d vis ite d it (abo u t B. C 399 -414) , t hu s speaks of

he tow n of P ata lipu tra in t he Kin g d om ofF H i ~ ~ ~o in M aga d ha , t h e Ci ty whe re Asoka rul ed : " Th e

r oya l pa lace an d h a ll s , in the mid st of th e c i ty ,w hi ch ex is t n ow as of old , we re a ll made by s piri ts w hi ch h e e mpl oye d,a nd which pil ed up th e sto nes, reare d th e wa ll s an d gates, a nd exec ute d th e e lega nt ca r ving a nd inl aid sc ulp t ure -wo rk in a wa y w h ich nohum a n h a nd s o f thi s wo rld co uld ac c ompli sh. 1 Thou g h fa ll en ,

Pil ta lip u t ra w as s till a seat of lea rnin g, an d as s u ch, it was vis ited byhim . H e staye d a nd st ud ied t h ere fo r t hr ee yea r s .

W e h ave g ive n above the acco un t of H iu en T s ia ng (69 5 A . D. ) o nth e s u ppose d origin of P ata iipu t ra , w hi ch a lso

7 Histo ry i n g ives t h e mea ni ng of the n ame. Thi s C h ine eHiue n Tsian g's tim e.

t.-ave lle r saw t h e c ity i n ruin s . H e f u rt h er says :" To t he no rth of' t h e o ld p a la ce o f th e kin g is a stone pill a r seve ralte n s of fee t hi g h ; th i s is th e pl ace w h ere Aso k a (Wu -Ya u ) r ajA. ma d e, a h e ll '. In t h e hun dret h yea r afte r t h e i r v n a of T a th agata ,th e re w as a kin g ca ll ed As h uk a (O- s hu- k ia }2 w h o was th e g reat g r a nd-son of Bimb isa ra raja . H e c h a nge d hi s cap ita l fr om R ajagri ha toP ata li (pur a ) a nd buil t a n ou ts id e ra m pa rt to s urr ound th e -w h ole c ity.S in ce t h e n m a ny ge n era t ions h ave passe d, and n ow t h e re o nl y rema int h e old foundation w a ll s (of t h e c ity) _ T he S a n g h ram as ' , D cvate mpl es a nd st p a s w hi ch li e in ru in s m ay be co u nte d b y hundr ed s .Th ere a re only t wo or t hr ee rem a in ing (e riti r e; .' ' ' Hiu en T sia n g the n

d es crib es , how Aso k a, on asce ndi ng th e t hr one , was , at fir st, a cr uelty ra nt, a nd h ow h e con st it u te d h ere a h ell fo r t or t urin g peop le, h ow apiou s Sr a m a n a es ca ped d eat h at the h e ll , fee lin g t h e b oi lin g ca ld ro n ascold as a coo l la k e , h ow ki n g Aso k a him se lf, h av in g in a dve rt e n t lyco m e a t t h e pl ac e, n a rr owly escape d b e in g k illed a t th e 11ell in co nfo rmi ty t o hi s own ord er t h a t a ll w h o ca m e to t h e wa lls o f th e h e lls hou ld b e kill ed , a nd h ow h e a t leng t h d est roye d t he h ell. In Hiu e nT s ian g 's t im e, t h e c ity , thou g h i n r uin s ha d a ci rcui t of a bou t 1 2 to T4

mil es .x R eco rd 01 Buddhistic Ki ngdoms . being an account of the Chinese Monk .Fa -Hico.

t ra nsla ted b y Dr. J a m es L eggb ( . 886 ). p-". Chap . XXV II . D iodo ru s . the Si cili an (H is . I l l . 3 )al s o r efers to its supern a tural foun d ation thus: Hercules .. was the fo und e r of no smal lnu mb er of citi es . th e m ost renowned and g r eatest of which he called P alibothro."

. .. O-shu-ki a " is th e Sa nsk r it fo rm of \ Vu -yau; the latte r r the Chinese fo rm signifyingSOrro w less '."

: . e . the m o n s t e es

Si -yu-ki . Buddhi s t R eco rds of the \ Veste rn W orld. translated fro m the Chinese ofH iue n T siang (A. D . 629 ) by Samuel Bea l (.884). Vo . II . pp. 85 86


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222 ANCIENT P A T A L I P U T ~ A

Coming to Mahomedan times, we find that it continued to remaindeserted for a number of centuries. ' t was ' Shir

M ~ h o : ~ ~ ~ ? t i m e ~ ~SMh, who, in about 1541 A. D., occupied i t againas a royal city and built a fort there. I t then

came into importance under its modern name of Patna (Sans. qrr;r)i.e., the town or city. I t is even now the capital of Behar.

V.

B) AN ACCOUNT OF THE ATTEMPTS TO IDENTIFY THESITE OF PATALIPUTRA.

Pliny, among the ancients, was the first to point to a particular placeas the site of PiUibothra. He placed the city a t425 miles from the confluence of the river J omanes

J umna) and Ganges. 1 He thus speaks of the city: More famousand more powerful than any nation, not only in these regions, butthroughout almost the whole of India, are the Prasii, who dwell in acity of vast extent and of remarkable opulence, called Patibothra;

from which circumstance some writers have given to the people therbselves the name of Palibothri, and, indeed, to the whole tract of countrybetween Ganges and ' the Indus. These people keep on daily pay intheir king's service an army consisting of six hundred thousand foot,thirty thousand horse, and nine thousand elephants, from which wemay easily form a conjecture as to the vast extent of their resources.'"Thus we see, that Pliny placed Palibothra (Pltaliputra) somewhereabout 425 miles belowlhc confluence of the Ganges and the Jamna.

.

Pliny.

Europea.n scholars began to attempt tl]e identification of the site otPltaliputra in the latter half of the 18th century. '

The first European in the field of identification was the well-known

D'Anville. French Geographer D'Anville(1697-1782), whopublished in 1768, his Geographie Ancienne

Abregee. " This work was translated into English in two parts in1791, under the name of Compendium of Ancient Geography. D'An

viIle, who erroneously identifiedthe

riverErannoboas,

mentionedby

the Greek writers who referred to Palibothra (pataIiputra), with the J amna, instead of with the river Son, placed PAtaIiputra somewhere

near Helabas (Allahabad). He was misled to this mistaken identification also by the name Prasii, which, according to the Greek writers,

I Pliny's Natural History. Book vr, Chap. 2 1 . Bostock and Riley's Translation (1855),Vol. n, p. 4 '

Ibid, Chapter n p. 453 Col. WaddeU gives us a short accOllnt of thl se attempts in his .. Report of the E cava

Ilions at Pataliputra . . (1


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ANCIENT PATALlPUTRA. 223

was the n,ame of a great nation living there. He took this namePrasii to be the same as Praye (Prayag), which is another Indian name

of Allahabad. 1 D'Anville sa id : Palibothra, the most considerablecity of India. I t was situated on the Ganges, at the place where thisriver received a contributary stream, which appears the same as th e1 om a nes,' although called Er a nnobas. 3 To this position corre sponds that of Helabas, ' which by the ve s tiges of antiquity, a nd th etradition of having been the dwelling of the parent of mankind, is akind of sanctuary in the Indian pag a nism . The most powerful nationof India, the Prasii occupied the city under consideration; aq d th ena me of Praye,. which we find applied to Helaba s , s eem s to perp etuate that of the nation. B

R e nnell (1742-183), th e mo st ce lebr a ted of English Geographer s ,

Rennell.who ha s bee n h eld t o be toEn g la nd, wh a t D'Anvill ewas to Franc e a nd Rit te r to G e rm a ny , w as th e

fir s t to identify th e s ite of mod e rn P a tn a as th a t of th e a ncient P At a liputra, (P a libothr a) In hi s M emo ir of a M a p of Hindoo s tan, published in 1788, h e says, that, a t fir s t, he thou g ht th a t Canog e (Kanouj)was the a ncient Palibothra, but he gav e up soon th a t fir s t ' e rron e ou sidentification. He sa ys : L a te e nquiri es m a de on th e s pot, hav ehowev er, brought out t hi s ve ry in te rest in g di scove ry, th a t a veryla rge city, which a nci ent l y st ood on or ve ry nea r th e s ite of P a tna. wa snam ed Patelpoot-h er (or P Atali putr a acc ordin g t o Sir WilIi a m 10ne s )and that the riv er o n w ho se conflu ence wi th th e Ga ng es is now a tMon ealT 22 mil es a bo ve Pa tna, once joine d it und er the w all s of P a telpoot-her. This na m e a g ree s so nea rl y with PA lib o thr a , a nd the intelli g enc e a ltog eth er furni sh es such p os it ive k ind of pr oof , t hat my

form er conj ecture s r es pec tin g Ca n oge mu st a ll fa H to t he g round. ,, 7L a ter on, he confirm s thi s a nd s a y s Plin y's P a libotl 1ra , h oweve r, iscl ea rly Pa tn a . .

Thom as P e nn a nt (1726-17 98 ), a kno w n a n t iqu ary, bega n publi shin g

T homa s P ennan t.in 179 8 , a wo rk e ntitl ed Outlin es of the Glob e .He publi sh ed onl y tw o vo lum es . Th e ot her two

we r e publi sh ed b y hi s so n D av id Pe nn a n t in 18 00_ He, ag ree in g wi th

, .. Co m pe ndi um o f Ancie n t G eography by Monsieur D'Anville, translated from th e

F r enc h ( ' 79 ' ) ' P a rt I1, p - 543- J a a

Th e G reek fo r m of H ira myababa, i .e. , The Golden -a rmed, the ancient name o f S on.

Alla h a ba d,

Pr ay:lg., D An vill e, p . 543 .7 :\{em o ir of a M a p o f Hi n doostan by J am e s Rennell ( .888), p. 50 . ; -d. p 14.


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224 ANCIENT PATALlPUTRA.

R e nn ell, id entified the site nea r mo d ern P at na with the ancient P al ibb-th ra or P t a liputr a . He sa id: Mr. Rennell . . . .. . .. very justly pl acesit near Patn a , and supposes, not without reason, that the So a ne h a donce flowed n ea r its walls a nd that Pa.libothra was seated on the forksof both ' riv ers 1 ( the Gang es a nd the Son .

Col. \'Vilford, at first, in 179 8, thou g ht that P libothr a ' was the sa m e

Col. Wilford. -as R a j- g ri h a (lit. the royal man sion) which wasa t first the capital city. One Ba la -Rama r ebuilt

it n d assigned it as a residence for one of his sons, who a re called

in ge ner a l Baliputras or the chil


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2 2 8 ANCIENT PATALIPUTRA.

which also wer e IS ft. a pa rt. The building, as shown by the grollndplan, that was det e rmin ed by ' the excavations, ' : 4S . one unlike any

other ancient building in India . The superstructure was of sal wood .The building was in use for s e ~ e n i lcenturies. At some ;time, in on .eof h ~early centuries after Chri s t, t h~ buildif g m et with s O I ~ emishap.On e of the m a ny columns see m s to h a ve f a llen . Even after the mishap,the building was use d , thou g h r est rictedly. Latt erly, the b u i l ~ i n see m s to hav e bee n d es troy ed by fire at some tim e about the t l ~century A. D. The lower portion s of the columns were someJ;lOwsaved from the fire. Sub se qu e ntly, a tt empt s see m to h ave bee n

m a d e for some further u se of the floor, a nd for that use, th e stumpsor the unburnl portion s of so me of th e c,olumns seem to h ave beenforcibly brok en by the new occupants. Thes e broken p o r t ~ o n sWerefurther brok e n into smaller frag ments for pave ment and for otherbuilding purpos es by th e new build ers. Thu s, the s ite wa s built overin Gupt a tim es, at so m e time in the 8 th century after Christ. But , aswith th e advance of time and with th e upw a rd advance of the s ub- soilwater, some of t he stumps of the columns, which were 'saved, sa nkbelow, the walls of the Gupta buildings milt ove r th e 'site gave w ay,and the site aga in became deso late . Since th e fa ll of th e Guptahous es, which, in many cases, mu st have bee n sudden, a nd whi chmu st have looke d mysterious, the s it e ha s 'not bee n much built upon.

Such a buildin g was unp a ra lleled in a nci ent India. f so, th e n lj.tur alconclusion is, that it mu st h ave been ' modelled on some buildin g of aforeign co untry. What was that foreign country a nd which was t hatbuildin g ?

Now, i t h as lon g since been kn own, a) that Asoka's edic ts were onthe model of the e dict s of the Ach remen ia n D a riu s of P ersia 0) a ndthat the s tyl e of the sculptured capitals' of his buildin gs was mod elledon that of D ar iu s ' capitals at Persepolis. Cc Aga in, it has been, sinc esome t im e, inf erred, an d that especia lly by . Sir John Marshall fromthe Sarnath' capita l, that the sto newo rk of the Mauryan buildin gs wasworked y foreign masons. Th at bein'g th e knowl ed ge and exper ienceofIndian a rch reo log ists, from the facts, a) that-the pla n of th e excavate d

buildin g was a lto gethe r un-Indi a n or foreign a rid b) th at it s columnssh owed the peculiar P er s ia n polish," Dr. Spoon er thought, that, c)in its design a lso it mu st have been influ enced b y Persia.

1 Annual R eport of the Ai'chreological Survey of India, E a s tern Circle, for '9 '3"4 , p . 49.At fir s t, D'r. p o ~ n e r(Report of ' q u 3) thought, that this happened in the 5th or '6thcentury but after subsequent re..consideration in consu lt atio n with Sir J ohn 1\ofarsba lJhe has modified his fir st view.

From caput the head. The head s or the uppermost parts of co lum ns, pilasters, &c.3 I n the N , ' V. Province s. Benare s di s trict.


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ANCIEKT PATALIPUTRA . 2 2 9

Among the obligation s, which Dr. Spooner so gracefully acknowledges in his Reports aild pa pers, one that draws our special notic e

is that to his wife. I t show s, how a n educat ed wife, who participatesin th e noble aspirations of h er hu sba nd's life work and studies, can,besides being helpful to h e r hu sband individuall y, be also helpful tothe public generally . Her hu sba nd' s plan of the Mauryan building,which he excavated, remind ed Mrs. Spooner of what she h a d seen inthe plan of Persepoli s. H er suggestio n eas ily l ed Dr. Spooner "to a \ comparison of t)le plan of hi s building with t h e so-called hallof hundred columns at P ersepo li , the throne-room of D a riusHystaspe s. " He so on noti ce d several si mil a riti es, of which the followin g are the principal ones

1 Th "e re was a sq u are hall wi th 1 0 ro w s of 1 0 column s eve nlys paced in sq ua re bays i.e . with eq ua l spaces betwee n) .

2 . The Orientation or the proce ss or as pect of fronting to th e easta nd d ete rminin g the yarious point s of the co mp ass wass imil a r .

3 The m aso n's m a rk on the one col umn that h as bee n r ecove red

is s imi la r to the m ason's m a rk on P e rsepo lit a n colul1Jns ." 4 Th e di s ta nce b etwee n the columns was r eg ular.

columns w ere 1 0 Persian cubits apart. Th ecolumns a re 1 0 Indi an cub its apart.

Dariu s'sMauryan

5 Th e intercolumni at ion, i.e . , th e space betwee n two columns inthe Indian buildin g, though not identical , was one esse nti a ll yP erse polit a n.

6. Though no c a pita

lsor pedastals have

been recovere d a tPatna

for comparison, the stratification suggests (perhaps b ells ha ped) ped asta ls of P ersepol itan type, round in pla n a nda bout 3 ft . high.

The se a nd other ev id enc es of s im ilarity suggeste d to Dr. Spoon er fofhis ope rat ion s , a working hypothesis, vie. that the P t a liputra buildinghad n Persepolitan buildin g for its model.

7. Th e n ext thou g ht , that suggested itself to Dr. Spoon e r was, that,

if the Ind ian building was on the Per sepo litan plan, it mu s t not beis olated but mu st ha ve other building s near it, ju st as the P ersepo li t a npa lace of D a riu s h a d. Sp eaki ng in the known Rom an st y le of veni ,vedi , vici, we may sa y , h e conceiv ed, he meas ur ed and he conquered.With the pl a n of the P ersepo li tan palace, gi"en by L ord Curzon in hismonu ment a l work on Persia,1 in his hand, he measured, h e du g an d

Persia an d the Persian Qu estion. ," 01 n p. '5 0 , plan of Persepo is.


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2)0 A l'i CI E NT PATA Ll PUT R A.

he s oon fo und that th e Indi a n p a lace or Sa bh a ha d som e buildin gsequa lly d ista n t from the m a in buildin g as in th e case of th e pill a redpa la ce of D a riu s . H e d ete rmin ed thi s fac t from a ) th e di sc overy o fseve ra l m ound s w hich we re in position s e qu a lly di sta nt fr om th e s iteof t he pill a red h a ll , as we re t h e other buildin g s of D a riu s f rom hi sPe rse poli ta n H a ll. b) Aga in , t hese buildin gs s tood on a ra ised ar eaco rr es pond ing t o the a r t ificia l t e rr ace a t P erse polis. c) Th e whol eplatea u see m ed to have bee n surr ound ed a t on e tim e, b y a mo at.Th ese an d o ther m atte rs s how ed, tha t thi s Indi a n p a la ce a nd th es urr ound ing gr oup o f buildi ng s h a d seve ra l esse nti a ls th a t we recommo n to the P ersepo li ta n p a lace a nd i ts s urroundin g g roup.

O n the st re ngt h of so m e of t h ese a nd o ther s imil a riti es, Dr . Spoon ertho ug h t : En oug h was cl ea r ; how eve r, t o s how u s th a t not only w asour or ig in a l pilI a red h a ll s tron g ly remini scent of th e P ers ia n thron eroom eve n in m a t t ers of d eta il, but th a t it s s urroundin gs a lso sho we da pa ~ l e l m to th e Ach rem eni a n s ite 'which could not .po ss ibl y b e ex pla in ed exce p t by th e ass umpti on th at th e on e re flec ted th e oth er

uefin ite ly.1

8. Dr. S pooner says , th a t st on e no t bein g eas ily procur a bl e in th i s

Wood e n a r c hi t e clu r e. A ch a r acte ris ti c of P e r s ia.

pa rt of the countr y, w ood w as u se d. Ari a n ,a s sa id a bo ve , ass ig ns a noth er r easo n fo r th e use of 'wo od . Bu t acc ordin g t o F erg uss on, wood e na rchit eCtur e w as th e c ha rac t eri st ic of P ers ia . H e

says : W e kno w t ha t wood e n a rchit ectur e was th e ch a ra ct eri s ti cof Me di a , wh ere a ll t he con s tructi ve pa r ts w ere formed in th i s peri shab le m a teri a l ; a nd from t he i b l w e l e ~ n tha t Solomon s e dific eswere chi efly s o .::ons tru cte d. P er se poli s prese n ts u s with the ea rli estin sta nc e re m a ining in Asi a of th i s wood en a rchit ect ur e bein g petrifi ed ,as it we re a pp a re ntl y in con se qu e nc e of th e int erc our se it s build ersm a inta in ed with E gy pt a nd with Gr eece . In Burm a, th ese wood e ntypes s till ex is t in mor e c ompl e te ness th a n , pe rhap s, in a ny oth erco un try . Eve n i f th e st ud ent is not pr e pa red t o a dmi t th e dir ec te thn og rap hi c c on n ection b etwee n th e buildin gs of Burm a a nd B a bylon ,he w ill a t a ny r ate best lea rn in th i s c oun t ry (Burm a ) to a ppr ecia temuch in a nci ent a rchitectur e , which, without s uch a livin g illu s tration ,it is ha rd to und ersta nd. Solomon s hou se of th e for es t of Lebanon iswithout m ere differenc e of d et a il, r eprodu ced a t Ava o r Am a ra pur a ;a nd th e palaces of P erse poli s a re redu ce d infini te ly mor e int elli g ibl e byrhe st ud y of th ese e difi ces . ' I t a pp ea rs from thi s , th a t th e build er o f

Journa l R oyal Asiatic S oc ie ty. J an ua r v ' 9 ' s. p . (;g. Tb e di scove ry o f t h e line o f r a mp a r twa s made subseque nt t o the J a te o f t b e a rt i cle. i e th e A n nual R epo rt o f 9 4 -[ 5.

A Hi story of In dian a nd E aste rn A rchi t


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ANCIENT P ;\TALlPUTR A . 233

and to Egypt ; and if by the Grac e of Ahura Mazd a ', Darius had

crushed the liberty of Greec e, the pur er faith of Zoroaster might easilyhave superseded the Olympian fa ble s . l

Iran 's puritanic influence on Gr eece, and through Gre ece on other

Iran's Influenceupon Greece.

We s te rners, though checked by the defeat ofPersia, from spreading itself on a grand scale,had its limit ed effect. t seems to have continued

even after the down faIl of the Achremenians under Alexander the Great.Persia had two great libraries, (I) the D az -i-N a pi sht i.e., the Cas tle o f

Archives) at Persepolis, and (2) the Ganj-i-Shapigan or Sha spiglni.e., the tr eas ury of Shapigln) somewhere nea r Sqmarkand. Th e firstwas destroyed in the fire set to one of the royal palaces by Alexander.Ma ny of the books of the latte r were, acco rding to the traditionrecorded in P a rsee book s, translated into .Gr eek . The se tr a nsl a tion smay have exerted some puritani c influ ence up on the Gre ek mind andprepared the way for Christi a nity.

Before the time of Cyru s, it were the Semitic pecple who ruled the

Mr. Grundy onthe Influence ofPersia under Cyrusa nd bis Achreme

Ea st . Cyrus made the rul e Iranian or Aryan. Mr.G. B Grundy, while spea king of th e importanceof the M edian Ki n g dom of P ersia, thu s re fer s tothe change of rule in the E a s t : It s chief

nian Successors imp or ta nce in hi story is, ti la t it s kin gs are theover Gr ee ce. first of that ser ies of Ir an ian dynast ies w hich,wh e th er Median, P ersian or P a rthi an, were paramount in theeastern world for m a ny c e nturi es . From th is t im e forward, the Ir a niantook the place of th e S emi t ic as t he Su zerai n of the E ast . ' It wasKing Cyru s, the found er of th e Achreme nian dynasty, who, as itwer e, pav ed the way for the sub seque nt greate r influ ence of Persiao v ~ rIndi a . His policy, to a ce r t a in extent, a im ed at gathering togetherin unity mo st of the Aryan races against the Semiti c rac es . . Mr.Grund y thu s ref ers to this policy: .. Hi s (Cyrus's) campaign in theEast was a prolonged one. He seems to have exte nded the bord e rs ofhis empire to th e Thi a n- shan a nd Suleiman ra nges, if not into theplains of India i t se lf. Hi s a im ca n hardly have been the m ere acquis ition of these enormous areas of comparatively unproducti ve territory.The reaso n l ying beyond hi s poli cy was, in 'a ll probability, the fact thatthe race s of th i s reg ion were near ak in to his own, a nd that he wished

1 . . Chip s from a German work shop, .nd Ed. (.880). Vol. I, p. 1 62., Vide my Paper on tbe Cities of Ir an, as described in the old P a b l a ~treatiseofSbatroiha

i-Airan (Journal B. B. R. A. Societ y, Vol. XX, pp 6,.6. ). Vide my Asiatic Papers, PartI , pp. '53-'54'

3 . . Th , Great P ersian War and ils Prelimin aries. A stu dy of the E,ideo , li te r ary a nd

to p ogr ap h ica l b yG

B. Gr undy ('9')1), pp. '5 -,6.


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234 ANC I ENT PATALlPUTRA.

to a dv a nc e aga inst the Semitic p eo ples a t th e h ea d of Cl forced coalitionof the Ir a nian races . 1

On the subject of the influ enc e of P ers ia und er Cyru s and his successors upon Gre ece , Mr. Grundy says as follow s : T h e hardy races fromthe mountain s of Iran ha d many natur a l cu stoms which were in s t rongc o ~ t r s tto th e typical civiliz at ion of th e Euphrat es plain . Though farfrom ideal, there were certain grand elements in it, which struck theim agi nat ion of some of the finer mind s of Gr eece, a nd which, throughthem, mu s t h ave influ enc ed Gr eek life , thou g h in ways which it is notpossible now to trace. Had the Greek come much und er its influ ence,th at influ ence, though it would ha ve been di sastr ou s in m any r es pect swo uld not h ave tended wholly for evil. Th e civilization was, ind ee desse nt i a lly of an easte rn type. .. ... . . . .. Th e Medo-Persian was astra n ge produc t for a n As iatic so il. H e was an Asian apart. Hi sreligious beli ef was alone educ ate d to m ake him remarkable amonghi s co nt emporari es. Th e As iatic of this tim e had a na tur a l tendencytowar ds polytheism . Th e monotheism of even t he I srae li t es wasspasmodic. But with the P ers ian , monoth eism was the set religion ot

the race. I t ha d a leg e nd a ry o ri g in in the ~ e c h i n g sof Za rat hu shtr a.or Zor oaster, as h e appea rs in Western Hi story. A hura Mazda wasthe one God. Th ere were, ind ee d, other objects of worship , - the s tar s,the s un, th e moon, and fi re, bea utiful and in co mpr eh en sibl e works ofAh ur a Mazda; but he was G od a lon e. O ther s piritu a l beings ther ewere, too, r epre se nt ed as d eifi ed v irtu es and blessings-Good Thought,Perfect Holin ess , Go od Gove rnm ent , Meek Piety, H ea lth, and Immortality; a nd these stoo d nearest to Abura Mazda's throne. 0

Dr. Cushman on D r . H. E. Cu shm a n di vides t he time of Gr eekthe Influence of philosophy into thre e periods: I Th eIran upon Gre ece . Cosmological Period 625-480 B. C. 2. Th e

Ant hropolo g ica l Period 48 0 - 399 B. C. 3. Th e Systematic P e riod399-322 B C. Of thes e, i t is the sec ond, v i z . the Anthropo logicalperiod, that is very import a nt . As D r . Cushman says : I t sta r t s witha great socia l impul se just after th e victo ri es of the Persian wars (4 80B. C .) . . . . .. The period i s called Anthropolo g ic a l, b eca us e, it s intere s t isin the st udy of m a n a nd not of the physical uni verse ,,.

After the battle of Marathon, th ere s pran g up a distinct impul setoward s knowl edg e a ll over Gr eece . \Vh a t makes the P er s ian warspa rticularly import a nt is that they a re t he start ing point in the moth er-

1 he Gr eat Persian \V a r an d i ts Prel iminaries. by G. B. Grundy, p. 32 hi pp. 3.1 '34'

S A Beginn er ' s History of Philosophy, by Dr. Cu shman, Vol. 1 p. ' 3

I bid P . ' 3.


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ANCIENT PATALIPUTRA. 235

Jalid ofthe mo v ement in' the study of man and human re lations . Dr.Cushman, while giving an acco unt of the ancient philosophy of theea rly G reek, thus speaks of the hold the Persians had upon Gre ece inthe Achremenian times. T h e sixth century was a momentous onefor Greec e. I n both, the East and the West, there arose mightye mpires, that threatened to wipe out its civilization. The expansionof the Persian power (on the one hand) had suspended a stone ofTantalus over Hella s , and it seemed lik e ly that Greek civilizationmight be submerged in an Oriental Monalchy. 1 Cyrus had la id thefoundation of Per sia by tak in g Media in 550 B. C. , Lydia in 546B. C., Ba bylonia ' in 53 8 B C Egypt was added by Cambyses in 528

B. C., and D ar iu s organized the Great Persian possessions in his longreign from 528 to 486 B. C On the west, Carthage was threateningthe Gre ek cities of Sicily, and, a t the close of this period, was acting inco nj unc t ion with Persia to obtain po session of th e Mediterranean . 2

Count Gobineau, the ce lebrat ed French writer on the History of

Count Gobineauon the Influence ofa ncient Persia overGreece .

Persia, seems to regret that Greece triumphedover Persia a t the battle of Marathon, and says,that Persia und er the Achremenian Darius gaveto the Greeks much that was good. He says 3 :

Darius made g reat things. He instituted apowerful organization. The West had never seen anything likethat .. .. . . That, which it had only in the Augustan. century, is aninte llectu a l dev elopm ent of a value analogous to that which determinedthe formation of Mazdeism and animated the philosophy and the artsof antiquity. All that which the Greeks learnt, all the serious thingswhich Plato taught, all that which the archaic schools produced ofmasterpieces, had, a t the time of Dariu s, its home and its prototype inWestern Asia. But th at which the Rom ans did not know a nd neverpractised, not even in the most celebrated reign of Antony, was thesystematic kindness shown in governing the people, which became therule since (the time of) Cyrus, and to which Dariu s showe d himselffa ithful i.e., which h e followed faithfully). Not only w r ~the subjectstreated with particular care, but (even) the r ebels found exten ded tothem an indulgence whiqh circumstances permitted.

In the war with Alexander, though Persia was conquered, it was

Da r mesteter onthe influence ofPe r sia ove r Greece .

not hellenized, but, on the contrary, it iranized 'Greece. t continued its influence on Greece,which i t had begun in its previous wars with that

T . . A Beginner ' s History of Philosophy, by Dr. H. E. Cusbman, Vol. I , pp. '5 ' , 6

Bury , History of Greece, p. 3 .3 I Tran s late from his f Hi sto ire des Perses. 1 Vol. ]1 p 14 3.


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23 6 ANC IENT PATAL lPUT RA

country. Profe ss or D a rm estete r 1 co ns id ers t he victory of Gr eece overPer sia , Qot only the v ictory of Gre ece , but the victory of hum anity,

But s t ill, h e a dmi ts, that though Gr eece conquered, her victory wasonl y m ate ri a l, not int e ll ect ua l or s piritu a l. H e says : I n the war ofrev enge Gr eece did not w in sufficiently. Her victory over P ers ia hasbe en only a material victo ry, out of which sh e herse lf ha s s ufferedmor e than h er victim. Alexa nd er dre a m ed of unitin g the W est a ndthe East. He s ucc ee d ed only ha lf j he P ersia ni se d Gr eece j and h e didnot h e lleni se Persia. 3

Simil a rly, in Egy pt, Persia h a d pr epa red th e so il for Ptol em y t he

Fi r s t ' s N ew D e ity. The object of this EgyptPuritanic influ- ia n monarch, known as Ptol em y Sot er, i . e .

ence on Egypt.P to le my the S av iour, was to supplant the old

Egyptian d eiti es a nd to create a n ew d e ity, by m ,eans of whichhe could con solid ate hi s n ew rul e in the country. H e tried to d o inEgypt, what Ak ba r tried to do, severa l ce nturies late r, in India. H esucceeded where Akba r failed. In hi s a tt em pt, Akbar tried to assimilate dir ec tly in hi s new re lig ion so m e of the ele ment s of the Zor oas

trian faith. Ptolemy did not do a nyt hin g of the kind, but rested onthe si lent wo rk of the I r an ian M a z d a y a ~ m a n swho h a d preceded himas rul ers in Egypt . R e, '. Charles Kingsley thus speaks of hi s work :

H e effecte d with complete success a feat which ha s been attempted,before a nd sin ce, by very m'lny prin ces a nd pot entat es , but has a lwaysexcept in Ptolemy's case, proved so m ewh a t of a failure, namely, them ak in g a new d e ity. Mythology in ge nera l was in a rust y sta te. Th eold Egyptian Gods h ad g rown in hi s dominion s very unf as hion ab le ,und er the s umm a ry iconoclasm to which they ha d been subj ected bythe Monoth e ist Persi:lI1s,-the Purit a ns of the old world, as they .havebeen well called. ' "

Thou gh Gr eece, and, thr oug h it, Europe escaped from th e dir ect

Ir an's reI i g i o nprep a red the wayfor Chri stia nity in

Europe.

influence of wh a t Max Muller calls t h e purerfa ith of Zoro aste r, both had some indir ect influence exerte d upon lh em through th e Greek co lo n iesin t he East, with which the an ci en t Ir a ni ans cameinto more freq u ent co ntact. I t was this influ-

ence, h o w indir ect or sm a ll, that paved the way for Christianity. Chri s tia ni ty was a puritani c impro veme nt upon th e re li g ion of the

Gre ek s a nd Rom a ns, and the ea rl y Ir an ia n s h a d a ha nd in that improvement, in asmuc h as it prepared the so il for Christianity. Later

, Coup de reil sur L 'Histoire de la Perse, par Darmesteter (, 8851 p, .o .. a persi sC la Grece, i l n'a pas hellc nise la Perse Ibid p . 2 . ,3 Alexandria and her School s . by Rev. Charl es Ki ng s ley (.854), pp. ' 0 ' ,


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ANCIEN T PATA LlP UTR A . 237

on, P e rsian Mithr a ism, thou g h a ri va l of C hri s tia nity, furth er pr e-par ed the soil. A s sa id by Dr. Ad e ny, Mithr a ism brought a bout wh a t

h e ca lls th e aw a k e nin g a nd r e lig iou s rev iva l which m a d e th ewa y of Christi a ni ty a li t t le eas ier. 1 Thi s Mithr a ic influ e nce w asexe rted ev en up to th e s h ores of E n g la nd. Th e la te M. R e na n sa id :

If th e world h a d n o t b eco m e Chri s ti a n, it wo uld h ave becom eMithrai s ti c. 0

I X.

T H E S EC IA L Q UESTI O N O F T H E I N FL UENCE OF IR AN UP O N I N DIA.

Th e abov e s hort sur vey o f th e Influ en ce o f Ir1n upon Gr eece a ndE g yp t , prep a res u s for th e con sid era ti on of th e pr ese nt qu es tion of th eInflu e nc e of Ir1n up on fndi a . If, as sa i d by D a rm es tete r , Ir1n, thou g hconqu ered by Alexa nd er, w as in a pos iti on to ir a ni ze Gr eece in stea dof b eing heJl eni ze d, it is much ;n or e lik e ly, t h a t it sh ould ir a ni ze, tosom e e xtent, a c ountry lik e Indi a th a t w as co nqu ered b y it , a nd t hatwa s mor e n ea rl y a kin to it .

Ma ny writ e rs have refe rr ed t o t he in flu ence of Ir1n up on Indi a. Dr .

Dr. V. A. Smith onthe influence ofIran upon India.

Smi th, w ho is on e ' of th e best a uth oriti es o n th eHi s to r y of A ncien t Indi a , is of opini on , t ha t th eAc h rem enia n P ers ia n s h a d a g rea t influ ence uponM a ur ya n Indi a . ' T he Sassa ni a n s h a d also

exe rt ed g rea t influ e nce,4 but w e h ave n ot to d ea l w it h t h at late r influ-enc e in th e pr ese nt case . Dr. Smi th t h us speaks of the Ach rem e nia ninflu enc e in th e tim es of Ch a ndr ag up ta a nd hi s imm edi ate su ccess or s :

T h e Maur ya E mpir e :was n ot , as so m e r ecent w rit ers fa ncy t ha t i t

wa s, in a ny w ay th e res ult of Alex a nd er 's sp lend id , b u t t ra n sitory ra id.Th e nin etee n month s whi ch h e spe nt in Ind ia we re co n sum ed in d evas -ta tin g wa rfa re , a nd hi s d eat h r end ered frui tless a ll h is g ra nd co nst ru c tivepla ns. Ch a ndr ag up ta did not n eed Alexa nd e r 's exa mpl e t o t eac h himwh a t empir e m ea nt. He a nd hi s countr ym en h a d h a d b efore t h eir eyesfor ages th e sta tely fa bri c o f th e P ersia n m ona rch y, a nd it was th at,e mpir e which :impr esse d th eir im a g in at ion , an d serve d as t h e mod el fort he ir in s titu t ion s, in so fa r as th ey we re n ot in di ge n ous. Th e littl e tou-ches of fore ig n m a nn er s in th e co urt a nd in st itu t ion s of Ch a nd rag up t a ,whi ch ch a nc e to h ave bee n n ote d b y o ur frag m en tary a u th ori t ies , a re

1 .. Gr eek an d Ea s ter n C hu rch es by D r. Adeny . pp . ,p ,.o Ihid. p. 10.o .. Th e Earl y Hi stor y o f I ndia f rom 600 B. C. to the lIfuhammadan C o nque st nCluding

, the Inv as ion of Alex and er the Gr ea t by Vincent Smith . 2nd edition (.goB . pp . 13 > 3 7. '53. 225 .i d e a lso h is a rt icle e nti t l ed P ersian Influen ce on Maurya n I ndia n th e Indian Antiquary

l C ~ 5 ) , p. '01 Ih i . pp. ' 5 3 55


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ANCIENT PATALIPUTRA.

Per s ian , not Greek; and the Persi a n title of satrap co ntinued to beused by Indianprovinci a l governors for ages , down to th e clo se of th e

fourth centuryA.

D. Th e milit ary organization of Chundraguptashows no trace of Hell e ni c influenc e . -

E v i d e n c e s ofI ranian influence on\lauryan India.

Dr. Smith l1 as pointed out seve ral evi dencesto s how, th a t Achremenian I ran h a d a stronginflu e nc e on Mauryan Indi a . S.o m e of these areth e followin g

r Influ ence of Ir a ni a n architecture on Indi an archilecture.

2 Th e Ac h re m e nian pr act ic e of in sc ribing on pill a r s an d rocks andt he s tyl e of the in scription s, which w e re followed by ~ s o k in hiinscriptions. .

3 The Kharoshthi sc rip t ca m e to Indi a from th e Arma ic clerks ofthe Ac h re m en ia n s .

4 . Som e of th e features of th e Mauryan administration and politywere taken fr01TI the Achmmenians.

5 Som e of the l\1auryan courl customs were taken from th eAchremenian Ir a nian s .

t ha been long s in ce known, thal lh e Maury a n a rchit ectu re was,

r Influence of Irani-an Architecture on

Indian Architecture.

to a ce rtain ex tent, influ e nc ed by I r a ni a n a rchi-t ec tur e. Thi s is see n in several ways. a) Th esty le of o of the sculptured capitals of Asokah a d it s origin in the capitals of th e Per se politan

palace of D a riu s . b) Th e sty le of the huge monolithic sand-stone andothe; pill a r s of Asoka is also Per s ia n. c) The bas -relief scu lpture ofsome of the Maury a n building s , re se mble s that of th e PersepolitanPersian s .

F e rgu sso n sp ec ia lly points to the ca pital s in the caves a t Bed sa,

The Capitab of In-dian and P e r s i a nArchitecture.

abo ut 1 0 or I I mil es south of Karle, ne a r Lon av la, a n c:i sa y s : The i r ca pital s are morelike the Per se polit a ll type than almost anyothers in India, a nd are each surmounted by

hor ses and e leph a nts, bea rin g men a nd women. o The Hindu artists,from their n a tural a ptitud e .for modifying a nd adapting forms, very soonrepl ace d th e bic e ph a lu s .e . two h ea d ed) bull arid ram of P e rsiancolumn s by a great v a r ~ e t yof animals, sphinxes and even humanfigure s in the most grotesque a ttitude. 4

1 hi pp. 1 ~ G - .:: ide Fergusson s i st o r y o Indi a n and Eastern Architecture. revi se d and edited

by l a mes Burg ess and P. Sp ie (1910). V o l. I, p . ' 39' \Voodcut No. 64-

3 Ibid. p '38. Ibid. p. 138, n


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ANCIENT p ihALTPUTRA. . 39

Acco rdin g to Fergusson, the other caves pl a ces , wher e capita l 1the Persepolitan ty pe are see n, are th e following

I At B haja, ab out of miles so uth of the ~ r cave, n ear Lanovla.

2 . At Jam a lgarhi, about 36 miles, north-e ast of Pesh awar , wheresi de by s ide with columns having cl ass ica l c a pi t a ls and bases,there are forms of Perso-Indian pillar s. 1 H ere " the capitalof the old Perso-Indi a n type have new form s given to th e mthe animal figur es be ing changed, whilst the pillar s them-elves a re placed on th e back s of crouching figure with

win gs ." ,

3 Th e TM va-gum pha. cave n ea r the Kh a ndgiri hill in Ori s a ,where, " the door s a re fl a nk ed by pillaster with ca pital s ofthe P ersepo li tan type.' ' '

Mr. J. K ennedy , in hi int erest in g article on T h e Early Commerce of Ba bylon with Indi a, 700 - 3 00 B. C.," thus spea k on thes ubj ect of the st y le of the monolyth s and bas-reli ef : " f the elementa ry concepti om of the a rt a nd architecture (of Indi a ) w as pur ely in

digenou s, there was a bund a nt sc op e for the borrowin g of d etai l ; andas a matter of fact , mo st of the de tail s were borrow ed from Per ia .The pillar, indeed, was th e only lithic form P er sia ha d to "lend." I tsurvive s a t Bh ar hut a nd in Asoka's monolyths, and it re-appearsthe case of W este rn Indi a . Th e borrowings in sc ulpture a re much more num erous . Th e lotu s an d honeysuckle, thec re n e lla t ion s and mouldings, the conventional methods of rep res enti ngwater and rocks, are all taken from Persia. But the debtof India to Per so -Assyri a n art is most str ikin gly appare n t frem twoge neral observation s.

First. - he sc ulpture of India proper-the Indi a of the Gang et lcvalley-is mainly . bas -reli ef . Th e Indi a n apply theirbas-reli efs after th e Persian fa shion. Th ei r sc ulptur e is lav is hedchiefly on the door s and vestibules, and th e most impor ta n t si ngl efigures guard the e n t rance of the gateways in Indi a, as in Per sia ; thesc ulptur ed u ers of the Jamalg a rhi mona stery r ec a ll , th'e inclin edascents to th e palaces of Dariu s and Xe r xes . Even the in sc rib edbas-reliefs of Bh a rhut -uniqu e alas in Indi an a r t - h av e their co unt e rpa rt s a t P ersepo lis an d Nineveh.

1 Ul Vol. r p . ,8. Woodcut No. 97.

/ Imf. p. 2 1 5 l bid. Vol. n pp 1


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ANCIENT PATALlPUTRA.

S econ d . - T h e decoration of the late Vihlra caves.was Persi a n, and that not so much a fter the fa shion of the Sass;miansas of the Achemanids. 1

Asoka followed Darius in \ 'a rious ways in the m a tter of hi s'

2 . The Ach::emenian practice ofinscribing on pillarsand rocks and thestyle of language.

edicts. a) It wa s th e pr a ctice of Darius to erectstelre or pill a rs in th e different countries whichh e conquered or through which he passed. Forexample, we learn from Herodotus, . that in hi smarch aga inst the Scythians, he ~ s u r v e y e d

the Bosphorus, and erected ' upon it s s hores two pillars of white marbl e ,whereupon he inscrib ed the names of all th e nations which formed hi sarmy. Again, we know of Egypt, that while digging the modernSu ez Ca n a l, some stelre 01 pillar s of Dariu s have been discovered nearthe canal, the in sc ription on one of which has been pretty w elldeciph ered . ' Asoka in hi s pillar edict s has followed this practice ofDariu '.

b) D a riu s also in scrib ed on the sides of mountains. The bestknown in sta nce is that on the rock of th e Behistun mountain. Asokaalso h as some of his in criptions on rocks; for example, the one at

Jun agadh, a t the foot ofthe well-known hill of Girnar.c) Among the several points of similarity suggested between th e

form of the in sc ription s of D a riu s and the form of those of Asok a ,there is one which strikes u s most. I t is that of the introductorysentences. Dariu s commences eve ry part of his edict with the word s

T h at iy D a rayavaus h Kh shftyath iya, i.e., T h u s sayeth Darius th eKing. Comp a re with th ese, th e words of Asoka, introducing th ediff ere nt pa rts of hi s e di c t : Thus sa ith Hi s Sacr ed a nd Graciou s

Maj esty the King. Gd) Again, as pointed out by Dr. Smith, t h e idea of inscribing

ethical dissertations on the ro cks in the guise of royal proclamationseems to be of P ersi a n origin. In the matt er of the second mutilatedin script ion ofDarius a t Naksh-i-Rustam, Sir Henry Rawlin son thoughtthat it contained T h e last so lemn admonition of D a rius to hi scountrymen with resp ect to their futur e conduct in polity, morals and

Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society for 1 ~ pp. 283-86. Herodotus, Book, IV, 87. R awlillson's Herodotus, Vol. Ill , p. 80.3 V;de Le Stele de Chalouf by M. Menant. Vide my Paper ~ Th e Ancient Hi story

of Ihe Suez Ca n al , read hefore the B. B. R . A. Society on 15th April 19'5, Vol. XXIV, No. 2 ,pp. 1 6 ~ ' 1 8 4 .

1: bad the pleasure of seeing this rock inscription o n 27th Octob e r ' < 09 ,liThe sculptuIes and in scrip ti ons of Darius the Great on the Ro :k ofReb.istun in er si a

by the Tru stees of the Br itish Museum ('9 7), p. et seq The Edicts of Asoka, by Dr. VinCfnt Smith, p. ~ et seq.


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ANCIENT . PATALIPUTRA.

religio n." Th e la n g uage of the in sc r iption on the "stele d e Chalouf"on the Su ez Can a l is a ltog et her r eligiou s. t is in the ILne an d sp iritof th 'e prayer ~ f Grac e to be recited ~ m ~ s as give n in the - 37thChapter of the Ya


32/76

which in our language may be 'rendered ' perfect '- and this i the onlyday in all the year in which the King soaps his head, an u di strib ut esgifts to the Persians. ' rhe law of the feast requiredthat no one who asked a boon that d ay a t the King's .board sho uld bedenied his request." 1 This , passage of Herodotus on the subject ofthe King's birtMay requires some remarks.

Firstly, according to Herodotus, the observation of the birthday as agreat day was common among a ll Persians. He says: O f all thedays in the year, the one which they celebrate most is their birthday.

t is customary to have the board furn ished on that day with an amplersupply than common . The richer Persians cause an ox, a horse, a

camel, and a n ass to be baked whole and so served up to them: thepoorer classe s use instead the smaller kinds of cattle. They eat littl esolid food but abundance of d esert, which is set on table a few dishe sa t a time.'

Secondly, as to Tykta, the ' word for the King's birthday feast,George Rawlinson says: " N o satisfactory exp lanation h as been yetgiven of the word .' I think, that the word is some old Iranian form,

from which comes the modern Persian ,.w (takltta, a board), atable. This word takkta itself is a form that comes from Pahlavitakht, modern Persian takht , .e., a throne, a seat. The Pahlavitakht, Persian taklzt is derived from Avesta thwaklzskta 4 whichitself comes from the Avesta ro o t ' thwakhs/Z,' Sans. tva 'khslz (


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ANCIENT PATALIPUTRA

Thirdly, as to the importance of the day, on which the king has anunusu:;tl b l l : t ~and soaps his head, I think, i t is a reference to a sact:.edbat h. Upto a few years ago, many Parsees had, and even now, somein Bombay and many in the Mofussil have, a sacred ceremonial bathnan Sans . ~ r - r once a year. No w -a -days, it is generally taken on

the Parsee New Year's day or the preceding day of the New Year'seve, or taken by some during anyone of the la st Q days of the year.A few take i t on their own birthday. In this sacred ceremonial bath,they apply to th eir body consecrated nirang or urine and a little sand.Herodotus refers speciaHy to the head. Now, the Vendidad,1 wheni t refers to t l~ e sacred bat h for purifying the body, says that the

wa shing should begin from the head (bareshnu). A particular sacred -bath ' is, from tha t fact, st ill known as Bareshnum . The place, wheretha t bath is given, is known as B a r e s h l 1 l ~ m - g h .

I

This above -mentioned custom is believed' to have been the sourcefrom which the following Indian custom referred to by Strabo wasborrowed : H i storians also relate that the Indians wo rship JupiterOmbriu s (or the ra 'iny), the river Ganges, and the indigenous deities ofthe country; th at when the King washes his J1air, a great feast is

celebrated, 'l nd lar ge presents are sent, each person displaying hiswealth in competition with his neighbour.

Strabo thus speaks of the Indians of the time when Megastheneswas in India: T h e Indians wear white gar-

b) The custom of ments, wh ite linen and muslin, contrary to thekeeping long hair . accounts of those who say tha t they wear gar-

ments of a bright colour; all of them wear long hair and long beards,plait their hair and bind it with a fillet. This Indian custom ofkeeping long h a ir among the ) \1auryan Kings is believed by Dr. Smith .to have been taken from the Achremenian lraniads . The ancientIran,ians kept their ha ir lon g . They seldom cut them. Even now, thepriests are ' enjoined to keep beards which they are not to cut. ' OldIranian scu lptur es show thaj;.the Iranians kept long beards.

Ht::rodotu s thus refers to the Irani an custom of keeping the hairlong: F o r once upon a time, when the Argives had sent toDelphi to consult the God about the safety of their own city, a prophecy was given th 'em, in which others besides themselves were inter-

1 Chap, VIII, 4 0 ,

. Dr, Vincent Smith. Indian Antiquary of Sept em ber '9 5, Vol. XXXIV, p. 2 0 ' .3 Tbe Geography of Strabo Book, XV, Chap. r , ~ . Hamilton and Falconer's Tran sla

tion, Vol. Ill, p. 7 .~ Strabo Bk., XV, Chap . r 7' . Hamilton and Falconer's Tran slation, Vol. Ill , p. liS.5 ide for further particulars my .. Presidential Addrrss, J ournal .)f the Anthropological

Seciety of Bombay, Vol. X, No. 5 p. 343. ide my Anthropological Papers, Part H.16


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244 ANCIENT PATALIPUTRA.

ested ; for while it bore in part upon the fortun es of Argos, it touchedin a by-cl a us e, the fate of the men of Mil e tu s. I shall set down th eportion which concerned the Argives when I come to that part of myhisto ry , mentioning a t pr ese nt only the passage in which : the absentMilesians were spok en of. This passage wa s a s follows : -

, Th en shalt thou, Miletus, so oft the contriver of ev il ,Be to many, thyself, a feast a nd a n excellent booty :Th en shall thy matrons wash the feet of long-h a ir ed ma ste rs ;Oth ers sha ll then pos sess our lov'd Didymian templ e '

Such a fate now bef el th e Milesians; for the Pe rsia n s who woretheir ha ir lon g afte r killin g most of th e men , mad e the women a ndch ildr en slaves 1

W e find an a llu sion in the .Vendidad also to show that th e ancientPer sia ns kept their hair long. Th e re, whil e spea king of a ceremonialbath of purifi cat ion, it is mentioned that th e h a ir an d the body m ay becle anse d by i r ng . Th e fact, that th e h air an d body varefaoschat n t .ha) a re spoken of se parate ly, i s s ign ifica n t. W e generally takeit, t h a t hai r forms a pa rt an d parcel of b o d y and so when bodyis spoken of, hair is includ ed in it. But here, the washing of the hail '

and body is spoken of separately. Thu s, wc see th at the w as hing otthe hair h ad its own specia l sig nification.

xT H E LITERARY PART O F D R . S P O O N ER'S RESEARCHES ON THE SUBJECT

OF THE INFLUENCE O F IRA N UPON INDI A . TI-IE WAVE OF PERSIAN

ADVANCE I N INDI A, AS SHOWN BY INDIAN L IT ERATURE.I

The princip a l int ere st of Dr . Spoon e r's above-menLioned paper cons ists in it s li t era ry part, which see m s to hav e

. Dr . Spo one r' s thrown a bom b-she ll , as said above, in thenew theory.ca mp of Ori e ntali sts . ) n sup port of the di s-

covery , that the Mauryan buildin g a t P ata liputr a was copied froman I r an ian building, he advances a goo d d ea l of lit e rary ev idenc e.Th at ev id ence is in ten ded to show , t h a t upon the threshold ot th ehi sto ric a l period, a d yn asty of a lmo st pur ely Persian typ e' .rul ed ov el'Indi a . Th a t d ynasty was the Mauryan dyn asty , the founder of which,

Ch a ndr ag upt a, t h e first g reat Indi a n Emperor' was a PersianAryan , a Par si. 6 He h a d P e rse polis as hi s ancestra l hom e . Th e

Herodotu s Book VI, Chap. '9,Vendidad, Chap. VIII, H , S. B. E., Vo . IV

Jour nal . Ro ya l Asia t ic Society of J anuary '9 1 5 p . 7". Ihid, July Number, p. 4,6.

lo id , J uly, p. 4.q


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l\1auryan dynasty w ~ Zoroa s tri a n. 1 Not only that, but Dr.Spooner, further on, says , ' that Buddh a, the founder of Bud-

.dhism, was an Ir a nian sage a nd as such was Persian . Hea ffirms, tha t the palace s refe rr ed to in the Mah bh1lrata are theMaury a n structures at P ata liputr a , that th e Asura Maya, to whoses up ernatural power s the construction of the structures is attributed,i s the Ahura Mazda of the Zoro as trian s, whom Darius often invokes inhis P e rsepolitan inscription s. H e a t tem pts to s how, that the influenceof Ir a n upon India was much more than what is ordinarily

, believed in by scholars . I t was no t co nfin ed to architecture. I t wasa lso in m a tters of r eligion. Buddha, the founder of Buddhism a ndChandragupta, the founder of the Mauryan dyn asty of India, and evenhi s Mini ste r Ch a na ky a, were Persian, if not by birth a t least by desc e nt.

Dr . Sp oo ner t races in the Mah bh ra ta a refe re nc e to th e attempt

Supposed reter -e nces in the Rig -veda to early Persiaa nd Babylon.

influ e nceof

P ersi a .

of the Mauryans, to build a n Indi a n p a lace un d erth e s up erhum a n a us pic es of the Ir an ia n D eity,Ahura Mazda. Thi s re mind s us of other at t empt sto , trace . r efe rences to Persia in the Rigved aand eve n of atte mpt s to tr a ce therein, the

a) Acco rdin g to J. K e nn edy,4 Dr. Brunnhoff e r h as, in hi s " I r anund Tur a n ", turned the first three strophes of Ri gveda V, 13, into aso ng of triumph over capt ur ed Babylon by the Medes, who wereIr an ian Arya n s.

b) Ag a in, accor din g to Mr. A. B Keith, ' Dr. Carl Schirmeisenfinds in th e Ri gve da, the work of three peop le s " , the first of whom

were the Ir a ni a n s, " w h o se influ ence is see n in the second, fifth andseve nth book s. H e d ec id es tha t books 11 and I I I were first

co mp o se d by th e Ir a ni a n s a nd the mixed peoP.le ( the seco nd of thea bo ve thr ee peopl es . In support of this th eo ry, "Brunnhoffer ' s't heory, that th e do g is Ir a ni a n, is ~ e p t ed as proving that Grts a m a d aSa un aka , and th er efor e th e second book ot Ri gve d a are Ir a ni a n. ,,

In connection with Dr. Spooner's asse rti on, abo ut Buddh a being an

Buddh a's st orygoing to the West ,v i a Persia.

Irani a n sage, there is one fact which requires tobe noti ce d. I t is th is " T h e s tory of Buddha issaid to h ave passe d to the We st through Persia,in late r times. In so me of the various ver s ions

of th e transference of that s tory , Abenner, a king of the Indi a ns, is the

, lJid. p. 409. Ib id. p. 406 3 Ibid. p. 453. Journal. Royal Asiatic Society of 18c}8. p 6." Ibid Journal of '9 ' 0, p S.o Ih i d , p. "9.

I hid.


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' father of Jo s t:ph (Buddh a ). According to .JoseIJh J a cob s , in th eparticul a r form of th i s Abenner's beli e f "c l ear ref erenc e is to ' be

found to th e tenet s of M az d eism un d e r the lat er Sass anid es of Per s ia .The idolat ers ar e ~ p o k n of as Ch a lde a n s , a nd th e ir faith a s worshipof the element s . Th ere is a chief of the M a gi referr ed to, who ser e la tions with the kin g of the ' Indian s ' exactly corr es ponds to th eposit ion of th e s upr em e Mob ed in th e Sassanid e kin g dom."1

Wh a t ar e sa id to be th e t e ne ts of M a zd eism" in th e S assa ni a n ti m es ,may be ~h e te n e ts of old Z o r o as t r i ~ n is of th e Ach re m e ni a n tim es . \ ,Anyhow, th e fa th er of J ose ph (Buddha), an Indian Ki n g, is sa id to h aveso m e re la ti on with a Chi ef M ag i, a Mob a da n Mob a g. Thu s , w ese e , th a t, in th e la te r ve r s ion of th e s tor y of Buddh a on i t s w ayto th e W es t, w e find a r efe ren ce to hi s conn ec ti on with a n cie nt P ers ia.A Chi ef o f th e Mag i, a M ob a d a n Mob a d, a n Archim ag u s w as in hi sDurb r. P e rh a ps , h e w as t o Buddh a 's fa th er wh a t Ch na k ya (ta k ento b e P ers ia n b y Dr. Sp oo n er) w as to Ch a ndr ag u pta .

The P a r sees h av e , on t h e o n e h a nd, reaso n to be proud to know ,th at th e ir m othe rl a nd of I r n :had s u ch a n influ ence on th e ir countr yof Indi a, w hi ch th ei r fo refathe r s of th e 8t h ce n tur y a dopt ed as th e ir

ow n . On t h e ot h er h an d , if a ll t hat Dr. Sp oo ner a d va nc es as th er es ul t of his li te ra r y s t ud i es be t ru e , th ey h av e , as we ll, a reas on t o besorry th a t th e e arly fo ll owe rs of th e ir fa ith, I j k e Buddh a a nd Asok a orth eir fa th e rs , sece d ed from th e s tock of th e ir pa rent a l beli e f. W e knowg ood d ea l of th e t hr ee M ag is , w h o, f rom t h e ir li t e ra l b e li ef in th etr a diti on of t h e co mi n g a p ost le Saos h yos , we nt from P er s ia to see in fa n tChri s t a nd we r e co nve r t ed. Bu t , if a ll th e n ew th eory of Dr. Sp oo nerbe tru e , in Buddh a , Ch a ndr ag upt a a nd A so k ~ we h ave, includin gth e doubtful case o f Ch a ndr ag upt a , a n ea rl y secess ion, pr ev ious to t ha t

of th e thr ee Mag is of th e C hr i sti a n sc rip tur es . S ece der s t h ou g h th ey .we re, th ey exer ted a g reat I r anian in fl uence u po n Indi a , es pec ia ll y ast h ey we re in the compa ny of not a few but hund re d s a nd th o usa nd s ofP ers ia n s , w h o h a d, as i t we re , co loni es of th e ir own in India.

On e of Dr. Sp oo ne r ' s m a in point s, b as e d o n v a rious li tera ry ev id e nces ,is , t h a t b a nd s of P ersia n s had in old ti m es, eve n

Dr. Spoo n e r ' stheory about thewave of P ers ia n a d-vanc e in India .

in tim es a nt e rior to As ok a a nd Ch a lldr ag up ta,s pr ea d in Indi a and h a d g on e eve n up to Ori ssa

a nd Assa m . Th e te mpl e r eco rd s of J aga nn at h ,says : " Th a t th e Y a va n as in va d ed Ori ssa 2 be twee n

458 and 42 B. C a nd aga in in th e period b e tw ee n 42 I a nd 3 0 0 B. C. "Dr. Sp oo ne r t ri es t o sho w t ha t th ese Y a va nas "w e re Zoro as tri a n trib es

~L B a rl aam and J osapha t; by J oseph J acobs . (1 8g6 ). In t ro d uct io n. pp . XXI.n .o Jo urnal, Roya l Asiatic S oci e ty . J uly 19 15. p. 433 .


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ANCIE NT P AT A Ll P UT RA.

from so m e pa r t,of th e P ers ia n r ea lm. 1 In con nect ion w ith thi s m a tt er,i t is in te res tin g to n ote , tha t acco rdin g to F erg u sso n, th e ~ l

Gumph a caves nea r th e Kh a nd g iri hill i n O rissa , h ave do ors f l a nk edby pil aste rs with ca pi ta ls of th e P er se poli ta n type . '

Dr. Spoon er adds Assa m al so to th e list o f ea rly Mag ia n c entr es . 'In sh or t, th e the ory, d e pend ed up on b y Dr. S poo n er , on th e a uthority ofIlldi a n ev id e nce , e . ev id enc e from Indi a n li te ra tur e , is th i s , th a tth e a nci e nt P ersia ns h a d, l on g befo re t h e Ma u rya n d yn as ty , se tt l ed inva riou s pa r ts of Nor t h ern Indi a , from t h e f ront i e r s o f Punj a b in thew es t to A ssa m a nd Ori ssa in th e east , a nd from th e va lIey of ~-budda in th e s outh t o t he va lIey of K as hmir in th e Him a la yas to th enorth .

XI.

IR AN IA N EVID E KCE I N SUPP O RT O F T lI E I KDlAN EVIDENCE.

Now w e find, that th e re a re seve ra l, wh a t m ay b e ca lled, Ir a ni a n orP ers ia n e vid enc es whi ch te nd to s upp ort thi s th eo ry o f th e pr ese nceof Ir a ni a ns in India long befor e th e Ma ur ya d ynas ty . Th ese ev i-d e nces a re th y folIow ing

1. Th e Old Avesta Wri t in gs .

n. Th e Cun e iform in sc rip t ion of Kin g D a riu s th e Gr ea t.11 I Th e Hi s tory o f H e rodotu s.

IV . t h e Numi sm at ic ev iden ce of the Pun ch-m ar k e d coin s .

V. L a te r P a hl av i an d P ers ia n Wri ters .

XII.

In th i s co nn ection , I w ou ld lik e to r efe r my rea d ('r s to a pa pe r ofmi ne, e n t it led I n d i a in th e A vesta of the

I The Old Aves ta P a r sees , . rea d b efo re th e Be nga l As ia ticWritings. S ociety a t Ca lcu tta , on 2nd Jul y 1913 . I h a ves hown th ere, th a t Indi a is referr ed to in th e O'ld A ves ta writin gs in fourdifferent pl a ces - ( I ) t he Ve ndid a d, Ch a p te r I, 19 ; (2) a ~ a (S a roshY as ht) LVII, 29 ; (3) Me h er Y as h t , 1 0 4 ; a nd (4) Tir Y as ht, 32. Ofth es e four, the refere nce in th e V endid a d i s the old est a nd th e mo stimport a nt.

1 Ibid. p 4,14. H is to ry of Indi a n an d E a ste rn Ar chitngal Asiatic So ciet) K m 'ember 19;3. Vol. IX . K o, '0 ( T. S. ). pp , 4.5 ' 4:;6.

/


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To the Iranians of th e times of the Avesta, five countries of the

The countries ofthe World knownto the ancient Ira-niz.ns.

then world were known. They were roughlyspeaking I r n (Airyan m ' dakhyun m), Turln(Tuiryanllm dakhyunlm), Rum or Asia Minorand Eastern Europe (Sairimanllm dakhyun8.m),

China (Slinin am dakhyunitm), and the country of the .Dlhre, a peo-ple of Central Asia (Dahinlm Dakhyunam).1 Among thes e five, thefirst, Iran, the country of the .Airyas or .Aryas, included several pla cesor countries . Out of these, the principal ]6 are named, the first bein gAiryana- Vaeja or Iran Vej, the Iran prop er, and the ]5th, or the la st but

one, being Hapta Hindu or India.I

ow the question, why India is mentioned as the 15th in th e list,

The place ofIndia in the List ofthose coun tries .

depends upon the question, as to what the firstchapter of the Vendidad, wherein the 16 pl acesare mentioned, is intended for. Scholars differon this subject, and on the subject of th e order in

which the plac es are m e ntion ed. Rhode, Lassen, Haug, Baron Buns elland others thought, that the 16 plac es were the places to which, one

after another, members or sections of the great Aryan or the IndoIranian race migrated. Spi eg e l tho ught that this first ~ p te r of theVendidad was merely a li st of the countries known to the ancient Iranian s . Darmesteter took it as an en um eration of the countries belong- n ~to Iran (Ces seize contrees appartiennent toutes t l Iran). 2 Oth er slik e H ee ren, and Breal took it to be a li s t of the places of the m a rch ofIranian colonists, commencing from somewhere in Central Asia. Harlez said that the first chapter of the Vendidad, wherein the se plac esare mentioned one after .another, is merely an enumeration of inhabit edplaces (une s imple enumeration d' endroits habites)4 and the writeronly meant to establish the principl e of hi s doctrine, that AhuraMazda was so licitous for hi s people, but that Ahtiman meant h a rm forthem. Again, h e adds, the writer had the object in view of giving th elist of the countries in which Zoroastrianism had spread a t thi s time.(Tout en pour suivant ce ' but i no u s donne la liste des con tr e es dan slesquelles le Zoro ast ri s m e s ' eait propage a cette epoqu e O. I agreewith H arlez in this, that it may be an e num era tion of plac es, w h ere ,

one by one, Zoroastrianism s pread. I think, that this view may beheld eve n with that of the id ea of mi g ration. Th e very fact, that the

> Farvardin Yasht (Yt. XIII ), p. 144.2 L e Zend Avesta. Vol. II. p. 1

I

3 Ihid

Le Zend Avesta, p. 3.I6id


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A N CIENT PA T A LIPUTR A .

Th e g en eral con ce nsu s of opini on amon g Ir a nian schol a rs is; th a t

h Velldidad,

spoken of a s pr eAchremenian byDa rmesteter.

th e ex ta nt Aves ta is a fa ithful r emnant of theGr a nd A ves ta of th e Ach rem eni a n tim es . Asc hol a rs doubt ed it s antiquit y. Th e lat e Profess or Ja me s D a rm es te ter w as spok e n of byPro fe ss

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Modi Ancient Pataliputra