carved slabs built into the chief Ziarat of the place attest its antiquity. A short distance above Sangas we come to another old place. It is the present village of Vuterus which on the authority of the same glossator and the name itself we can safely identify with Kalhana's Utrāsa. 1 Uccala and Sussala in their flight from Harga's court found a temporary refuge with the Damara who resided there.

Turning back to the west we find in the middle of the valley the village of Khondur. An old gloss enables us to identify it with the ancient SKANDAPURA mentioned by Kalhana as an Agrahāra of King Gopaditya. More important is Ach bal, a large village at the west foot of the ridge which lines the Kutahār Pargana from the south. It is mentioned in the Chronicle under the name of AKṢAVĀLA. The beautiful springs of the place have often been described since Abu-l-Fazl's time, also by Bernier. The park around them was a favourite camping ground of the Mughal court. The Nilamata calls the spring Aksipālanāga.

113. The Kuṭhār Pargaṇa is adjoined on the south by the district of Bring which coincides with the valley Pargana of Bring. of the Bring stream. Its old name cannot be traced; the Lokaprakasa transcribes the modern designation by Bhriga.

At the western end of the Pargana and about 5 miles to the southwest of Achabal is the village of Lōkabavan which an old gloss identifies with the LOKAPUNYA of the Rājatarangiņi. The numerous passages which mention the place agree with this location. The name Lōkabavan applies also to the fine Nāga adjoining the village, and this explains the second part of the present name -bavan (Skr. bhavana). King Lalitaditya is said to have built a town here. A small garden-palace erected in Mughal times near the spring is partly constructed of old materials.

Ascending the Bring valley we come again to an old site at the large village of Bidar. It is certainly the BHEDARA of Kalbaṇa who notices here a wealthy Agrahara of King Bālāditya. A ruined mound in the village and some old sculptures at the neighbouring Brahman village of Hangalgund are the only ancient remains now above ground.

Compare vii. 1254.

See Rajat. i. 340.

8 Compare Rājat. i. 338. In the translation of the Ãïn-i-Akb, the name appears as 'Acch Dal', ii. p. 358; see BERNIER, Travels, p. 413.

See Rajat. iv. 193 note.

See above, § 111.

Rajat. iii. 481,

Tīrtha of Ardhanāriśvara.

From Bidar we may pay a passing visit to a small Tirtha which though I cannot find it mentioned in any old text, may yet claim some antiquity. About 14 miles to the south-east of Bidar lies the village of Naru in the low hills flanking the valley. It contains a small temple of ancient date which was restored forty years ago by a pious Dogrā official. It stands by the side of a small Nāga at which, according to the local Mahatmya I acquired from the resident Purohita, Siva is worshipped as ARDHANĀRISVARA, that is, in conjunction with his consort Parvati. Inside the temple is an ancient image of Visņu with a short Sanskrit inscription said to have been found in a miraculous way at the restoration of the temple. About half a mile to the south-west is a sacred spring known as Svedanāga which seems to have risen originally within a large temple. The remains of the latter lie in shapeless heaps around the spring. The latter is still visited by pilgrims.

It appears to me likely that it is this spot which Abu-l-Fazl wishes to describe in the following notice. After mentioning the Kuk3r Nāg and Sund brar (see below) among the sacred places of Bring, he says: "At a little distance in the midst of a beautiful temple, seven fountains excite the wonderment of the beholder. In the summer-time selfimmolating ascetics here heap up a large fire around themselves and with the utmost fortitude suffer themselves to be burned to death." He then mentions a lofty hill containing an iron mine to the north of this spot. This can only be the hill above Sōp, on the northern side of the Valley and nearly opposite Naru, from which iron is still extracted at the present time. There is no other Naga within Bring to which Abu-1-Fazl's description would apply so closely as to the Svedanaga.

The Kukar Nag, mentioned by Abu-l-Fazl for its good water inciting a healthy appetite, lies about a mile above Biḍar. It is a spring of very great volume, referred to in the Trisaṁdhyāmāhātmya as Kukkuţeśvara.

Bring contains one of the holiest of Kaśmir Tirthas in the sacred spring of the goddess SAMDHYA, also called Tirtha of Trisaṁdhyā. Trisamdhya, the modern Sundabrar. It is situated in a side valley opening to the south of the village of Devalgōm, circ. 75° 22′ long. 33° 32′ lat. The spring of Samdhyā derives its fame as well as its appellation from the fact that during uncertain periods in the early summer it flows, or is supposed to flow, intermittently, three times in the day and three times in the night. Owing to the analogy thus presented to the three-fold recitation of the Gayatri 1 See Ain-i-Akb., ii. p. 356.

2 See Rajat, i. 33 note.

(Samdhya), it is held sacred to the goddess Saṁdhya. At the season indicated it is visited by a considerable concourse of people.

The small spring, which is usually dry for the greater part of the year, has owing to the curious phenomenon above indicated always enjoyed great fame as one of the wonders' of the valley. Kalhaṇa duly mentions it immediately after Kapatesvara. The Nilamata too knows it. Abu-l-Fazl describes it in detail, and Dr. Bernier made it a special point to visit this merveille de Cachemire.' He has observed the phenomenon with his usual accuracy. The ingenious explanation he has recorded of it, shows how closely he had examined the topographical features of the little valley.

Close to the Trisaṁdhyā spring there is another Nāga, sacred to the Seven Ṛsis, but not sharing the former's peculiar nature. There are no ancient remains in the neighbourhood deserving special notice. 114. To the south of Bring lies the valley of the Sandran River which forms the Pargana of Shāhābād. This Nilanaga. name is of comparatively modern origin, as Abu-1-Fazl still knows the tract as Vēr. This designation still survives in the designation Vērnāg, i.e., ' the Nāga of Vēr,' popularly given to the fine spring which we have already noticed as the habitation of the NILANAGA and the traditional source of the Vitastā. Abū-l-Fazl saw still to the east of it 'temples of stone.' These have now disappeared, their materials having been used probably for the construction of the fine stone-enclosure which Jahangir built round the spring. The deep blue colour of the water which collects in the spring-basin, may possibly account for the location of the Nilanaga in this particular fountain. Kalhaṇa's reference to the "circular pond" from which the Vitastā rises, shows that the spring had also in ancient times an artificial enclosure similar to the present one.3

Vitastātra.

Reference has already been made to the sacred spring of Vithavutur only about one mile to the north-west of Vērnāg. The small village near by is mentioned by Kalhana as a town under the name of VITASTĀTRA. Aśoka is said to have erected there numerous Stūpas. Within the Dharmaranya Vihara there stood a lofty Caitya built by him, but of these structures no remains can now be traced above ground. Vitastātra could never have been a large town as the ground is too confined. But some importance is assured to the site by the Bānahāl route which leads past

1 Compare Ain-i-Akb., ii. pp. 355 sq.; BERNIER, Travels, pp. 410 sqq.

2 See Ain-i-Akb., ii. pp. 361, 370.

8 See Rajat. i. 28.

See Rajat. i. 102 note.

it. This pass and its ancient name Banaśālā we have already spoken of.1

Of other old localities PANCAHASTA, the present Panzath, has already been referred to as the site of one of the traditional sources of the Vitastā. Kalhana mentions it in connection with a Matha which Suravarman, Avantivarman's minister, built here. A pretty valley which opens to the south of Panzath, is now known by the name of its chief village Ruzul. The latter is mentioned by Jonarāja as RĀJOLAKA.3 About three miles higher up this valley is the Naga of VĀSUKI. It is mentioned in the Nilamata and other old texts, but does not appear to have ever been an important Tirtha.

District of
Devasarasa.

115. The Pargana of Divasar which adjoins Shāhābād-Vēr on the west, may be roughly described as comprising the tract of alluvial plain drained by the Veśau (Viśokā). By its ancient name of DEVASARASA it is often mentioned in the Rājatarangiņi and other Chronicles. Being extensively irrigated by canals drawn from the Visokā it is very fertile. This accounts for the great part which the ņāmaras or feudal landholders of Devasarasa played during the weak reigns of the latter kings. No certain reference to a specific locality within this tract can be traced in our old texts. But it seems probable that Pārevisoka, repeatedly named in Kalhana's Chronicle, must be looked for within Devasarasa; the name means literally beyond the Viśokā.'6

The fertile valleys descending to the right bank of the Viśokā from that portion of the Pir Pantsal Range which lies between the Kōnsar Nāg Peak and the Mohi Pass, form a small district of their own, known in recent times by the double name Khur-Nāravāv. The first part of this name is taken from the large village of Khur situated about two miles from the Viśokā, circ. 74° 56′ 45′′ long. 33° 37′ lat. It is marked as 'Koori' on the larger Survey map. The name KHERI which we find used by Kalhana and Srivara for the designation of the tract, is in all probability the older form of Khur.7 It seems that in later Hindu times the administration of Kheri, perhaps as a royal allodial domain, formed a special charge. Kalhana often refers to the Kherikarya as a high state-office. The Sikhs and Dogrās who established Jāgirs for members

1 Compare above, § 41.

2 See Rajat. v. 24.

8 See Jonar. (Bo. ed.), 90.

See Nilamata, 901.

5 Compare Rājat. viii. 504 note.

6 Compare Rajat. iv. 5 note.

7 Compare regarding the identification of Kherī, Rājat, i. 335 note,

of the reigning family in Khur-Nar vāv, may thus have followed an earlier arrangement.

Godhara-Hastiśālā.

The only localities in this little district that are known to us by their old names, are GODHARA and HASTIģĀLĀ, the present Gudar and Astihēl. These two villages are situated close together, on a branch of the Viśokā near the eastern limits of Khur-Nara vāv. Kalhana mentions the 'Agrahara of Godhara-Hastiśālā' as a foundation of King Godhara. The old gloss which transcribes these local names by Godhar-Astihil enabled me to identify the places intended.

A small stream which falls into the Visoka at Gudar is known by the name of Godavari and forms a Tirtha of some repute among the Brahmans of the neighbouring districts. In the Mahatmya of the Tirtha the site of the village is called Godara, and its name connected with the legend of the appearance of the Godavari. The local tradition heard by me on the spot tells of a town which King Gudar is supposed to have founded here. It is possible that the name of King Godhara, which we know Kalhana took indirectly from Helārāja's List of Kings,' rests on no better foundation than this long-surviving local tradition. There are no ancient remains traceable above ground at Gudar, and the locality is far too confined for a larger settlement.

The Naubandhana Tirtha and the Kramasaras or Kōnsar Nag south of this district have already been previously noticed.

116. To the north of Divasar lies the considerable district of

District of Karāla (Ardhavana).

Aḍ vin extending from the western end of Khur-Nara vāv to the lower course of the Visoka. Its present name is derived from that of the large village of Āḍ¶vin, which lies on the left bank of the Viśokā, about three miles south-west of Vijabrōr. In the form of Ardhavana this name is found already in a passage of Jonarāja's Chronicle, supplied by the new edition. The ancient designation of the district, however, was KARĀLA. This is used by Kalhaṇa when speaking of the Suvarnamaṇikulyā, the present Sun mani Kul, which has already been referred to as irrigating part of Ad vin.*

In the lower portion of the district and on the left bank of the Visoka, we have the ancient Katimușa, the present village of Kaimuh.

1 For details compare Rajat. i. 96 note.

2 Regarding the unhistorical character of the royal names which Kalhaṇa inserted on Helārāja's authority, see Rajat. i. 86 note. They seem to be all of an eponymic character.

8 See Jonar. (Bo. ed.) 1330.

See Rajat. i. 97 note, and above, § 78.