FOUR SETTLEMENTS SOUTH-EAST OF THE DHARMRĀJIKĀ

Among the many ancient Buddhist ruins that may be seen crowning the small bare knolls with which most of the southern valley is dotted, four are specially conspicuous. They are situated a little to the south-east of the Dharmarājikā, where they form, roughly, a square of 400-500 yards along each side. On the Map they are distinguished by the letters A, B, C and D, the last, which is known locally as Khāder Mohṛā, being at the north-west corner of the square, A at the south-west, B at the south-east, and C at the north-east. The site B is known also as Akhauri, but this name is not entered on the map.

The excavation of these four settlements has been on a limited scale, its purpose being, not to clear each site completely, but to lay bare the plans of the buildings by driving trenches alongside their walls while leaving the rest of the ground undisturbed. Hence the finds of minor antiquities have been meagre and even the plans themselves are not to be regarded as complete, since there may still be a few features, particularly the remains of small isolated structures, which have not yet been disclosed. Add to this that the remains themselves were found in the last stages of ruin, their walls having for the most part been reduced to bare foundations or preserved for no more than a foot or two above floor-level, and it will readily be understood that conditions here are altogether less favourable to the archaeologist than at the better preserved and more thoroughly excavated saṅghārāmas, like those at Kālawān, Mohṛā Morādu or Jauliāñ.

In spite of this, however, these four Buddhist settlements are of unusual interest, because they date from the period (C. A.D. 40-150) when the diaper type of masonry was in vogue, and show us how the quadrangular monastery was then being evolved(Fig. 8).They also furnish examples of several varieties of masonry not met with on other sites. The buildings on site A consist of a single court of cells with a stūpa outside on the west. The court, which is rectangular, measures 103 ft. north and south by about 135 ft. east and west, but its eastern side and parts of its northern and southern sides have been destroyed.