: : ees cs at sereie ect at set eatiit sd i= mendcecas Tian Bree ‘3 JOURNAL OF THE ASIATIC SOCIETY OF BENGAL. WOOL Sev IIT. PART I. (HisToRy, ANTIQUITIES, &c.) (Nos. I ro IV.—1879: with 19 Plates and 2 Maps.) EDITED BY JHE PHILOLOGICAL SECRETARY. ¢ 6 J. H. Rivett-Carnace—Prehistorie Remains [No. 1, Nos. 1, 2 are pieces of iron, thickly encrusted with lime and rust, found by Mr. Hanna in the group of barrows near the Junapani stream, to which allusion has already been made. The damp situation seriously affected these specimens, and they are not in such a good state of preservation as the other remains found in the vicinity. They offer hardly any attraction to the magnet. No. 2 was also found by Mr. Hanna in the same group. It has suffer- ed severely from rust, but the form is intact. It resembles a “spud,” but it is not improbably a “ palstave” of which many specimens have been found in similar tombs in Scandinavia and in Great Britain. It has no “eye’’ through which to loop the thong by which palstaves are supposed to have been attached to a wooden handle. But I find that, in some of the Trish specimens also, these eyes are wanting, (see figure 275, No. 510, page 384, Vol. I, of a Descriptive Catalogue of the Antiquities of the Museum of the Royal Irish Academy, by Sir W. Wilde, Dublin, 1863). The palstave found at Junapani exactly resembles this specimen. Similar implements have been found by Col. Glasfurd in tumuli in the Godavery district, and at page 358, Vol. XXIV, of the Transactions of the Royal Irish Academy, in a paper by Col. Meadows Taylor, c.s. 1, de- scribing ‘“ The Cairns, Cromlechs, Kistvaens and other Celtic, Druidical or Scythian monuments in the Dekhan,” will be found figured a similar imple- ment discovered in one of the tumuli of the Hyderabad country. I may mention here incidentally, that Col. Sladen, who made an expedition from Mandalay to the western borders of China, mentioned to me, that imple- ments similar to these, but having in addition the “eye” so well known in the palstaves of Europe, were discovered by him on his travels. Length of specimen 4 inches. No. 8 is a knife or dagger, much corroded, found by Mr. Hanna in the same group. The guard at the hilt is perfect on one side, on the other side the rust has flaked off, taking with it the iron of the guard. Length 5% inches. No. 4 is a smaller specimen of a hatchet or battle-axe, similar to the one found by Col. Pearse, and resembling Nos. 5, 11 described below. In these specimens the bands are wanting. It will be seen that the rust is coming off the hatchet in great flakes and the bands have most probably corroded. Length 6 inches ; breadth 2 inches. No. 5 is the best specimen of the battle-axe or hatchet that has yet been discovered. It was found by Mr. Henry Dangerfield in one of the out- lying groups of barrows near Junapani. The bands, with which the axe was fastened on to the wooden handle, are in perfect preservation. Length 10 inches. This iron axe bears a remarkable resemblance in shape to the copper 1879. ] in Central India. — 7 “celt,” figured at page 863 of Sir W. Wilde’s Catalogue of the Irish Anti- quities above referred to. At page 367, Sir W. Wilde shows how this class of celts is supposed to have been fixed on to the handle, and he writes : “Fig. 252 represents 2 simple, flat, wedge-shaped celts passed through a wooden handle and secured by a ligature, possibly of thong or gut.” And on the preceding page, he remarks— “Left without historic reference, and with but few pictorial illustra- tions, we are thrown back upon conjecture as to the mode of hafting and using the metal celt. As already stated, this weapon-tool is but the stone implement reproduced in another form, and having once obtained a better material, the people who acquired this knowledge repeated the form they were best acquainted with, but economized the metal and lessened the bulk by flattening the sides. In proof of this repetition in metal of the ancient form of stone celt may be adduced the fact of a copper celt of the precise outline, both in shape and thickness, of one of our ordinary stone imple- ments having been found in an Etruscan tomb, and now preserved in the Museum of Berlin.” In this specimen, however, as indeed in the case of nearly all the iron axes found in Central India, the bands are of iron. And it does not ap- pear unnatural, that, the tribes who used these weapons having discovered the use of iron, and the place of the stone hatchet having been supplied by an improved axe of iron, the ligatures of thong too, should, in like manner, have given way before the bands of iron shewn in the engraving. An axe, similar to this one in nearly every respect, was found by me in the main group of barrows at Junapani. One.of the bands, however, was missing. Jn another case the bands were found loose by the side of a small axe to which they evidently belonged. Col. Glasfurd found in the Godavery district an iron axe similar in other respects to these, but without the bands. I am inclined to think that the bands, being of thinner metal than the weapon itself, may have been eaten away by rust and have thus disappeared. The specimen found by Mr. Dangerfield is in excellent preservation, the spot on which it was found being dry and hard. This axe was shewn to Col. Maisey, some of whose beautiful drawings of the Bhilsa or Sanchi Topes are engraved in General Cunningham’s work. He immediately remarked, that the specimen exactly resembled the wea- pons carved on the ‘“‘ Topes’’ of which he had made sketches years before. A reference to Plate XXXIII, Fig. 8, Cunningham’s Bhilsa Topes,* will shew the hatchet with bands. In the carving on the Tope the bands are not placed well in the centre. But the accuracy of the native sculptor may have been at fault. A hatchet fastened on to the wood in the manner re- * See also “ Orissa” by Dr. Rajendralala Mitra, c. 1. 5. 8 J. H. Rivett-Carnac—Prehistoric Remains [No. 1, presented, would have been liable to fly out of the handle, an accident which the position of the bands of the specimens found in the barrow is better calculated to prevent. In Plate XXXII, Fig. 1, “ Fergusson’s Tree and Serpent Worship” will be found a representation of a bas-relief on the eastern gateway at Sanchi described by Mr. Fergusson as follows : “In itself it (the bas-relief) represents a family of Dasyus following their usual avocation. On the right hand, two men are splitting wood with hatchets, and what is more remarkable is, that the heads of their axes are tied on to the shafts as if they were of stone. Yet in the same bas-relief we have the tongs or ladles which certainly are of metal; and we can hard- ly understand a people who could make metal femurs using stone hatchets.”’ It is probable then, that the carving on the Sauchi Tope is intended to represent a metal hatchet such as that discovered in the barrow and marked No. 5. And it suggests itself that the tumuli at Junapani are the remains of an aboriginal tribe, whose presence on the Sanchi sculptures, in contradistinction to the followers of Buddha, is distinctly traced by Mr. Fergusson. The significance of this point will be noticed more in detail later. No. 6. A spear-head, much corroded, which was dug up by me from a Junapani barrow. The large axe, with one band, above alluded to, was found by its side; and, as in every instance, broken pottery in large quantities was dug up. Length 83 inches. No. 7. Six bangles or bracelets, found by Mr. Henry Dangerfield in a barrow adjacent to that in which the axe was discovered. They are gradu- ated in size, and weigh from 5% oz. to 3} oz., the whole set weighing 1 fb. 10 oz. The metal of which they are composed is apparently copper. A rough analysis that has already been made shows that copper is the principal in- gredient, but points to the presence of alloy which is neither zine nor tin, but which is believed to be gold or silver, possibly both. The bangles are thickly covered with a coating, in which the verdigris of the copper is ap- parent. But, with it, is a further substance which may be either an artifi- cial varnish, or one supplied by organic matter and the discolouration of the metal during the many years the bangles must have been buried. An interesting circumstance connected with these bangles is the pecu- liar ornamentation on one end of each of the specimens. The coating of verdigris and varnish, above alluded to, is so thick, that, at first, the mark- ings might escape notice. Buta more careful inspection and the removal of the coating of verdigris shew a series of notches or punched or filed lines, resembling exactly the “ herring-bone” ornamentation found on the Irish remains, which is described and figured at page 389 of Sir W. 1879. } in Central India. . 9 Wilde’s Catalogue before noticed. The number of the punched lines on each ornament varies from 14 to 16, and these are placed in three rows. I have not Mr. Fergusson’s paper at hand, but I think I remember reading in his description of the Amravati Tope, that in the carvings there two distinct races are traceable, the Aryans and a non-Aryan race, the latter wearing heavy bangles of the description shewn in the plate and which are similar to those still worn by the Brinjarah women and by some of the aboriginal tribes. No. 8 is a small circular clear pebble. It was found by me in bar- row No. 37, together with only one small piece of iron and a quantity of pottery. In its dirty state it did not appear very inviting, and I was at first inclined to throw it away together with the earth and stones dug out of the barrow. But as it seemed to be of a different substance from the other stones of the formation, it was preserved. Iam not prepared to say that it is really a curiosity. But one side of it bears a striking resemblance to the ‘“ Altar Stone”? No. 102, figured at page 132, of Sir W. Wilde’s Cata- logue. It has the four finger-marks on one side, on the other side a larger “ finger-mark” corresponding with the large central “ finger-mark” of the sketch. It may have been an ornament or amulet, and may have been set in a claw, fastened on to the two central “ finger-marks.”’ The following specimens were all dug out of the barrow at Junapani, No. 37 in the plan, in .the presence of Mr. Lyall, Mr. Blanford and myself, in January 1867. Our first impression on visiting the spot was, that as all the barrows were so much alike, it would be well to trust to chance and to open the tumulus nearest at hand, Further examination, however, brought to notice three barrows, rather more impos- ing-looking than those of the main group, situated at some little distance from it, in a quiet, pleasant spot near a small stream, onthe south side of the hill. The centre barrow was encircled by a double row of black boul- ders. The circles flanking the main tomb on either side consisted of single rows of stones somewhat smaller and less imposing in character. The ap- pearance of this small group suggested, that the centre tomb was, perhaps, that of some chieftain who had been buried with his wives or favourite chil- dren apart from his followers, in a quiet and specially selected spot. It was accordingly determined to open the centre and most imposing-looking tomb, which measured 58 feet in diameter and is the largest of the 54 barrows that form the main group at Junapani. After digging through about 3 feet of thick, caked soil nearly as hard as stone, we came upon broken pieces of pottery in which mica was preva- lent, and from amongst the fragments the iron implements, figured in B 10 J. H. Rivett-Carnac—Prehistoric Remains [No. 1, Plate IV, Nos. 9-14,were collected. The excavation had evidently been carried down to the rocky basis of the hill, and earth filled up over the remains. Though thickly encrusted with rust, some of which subsequently flaked off, the iron was in good preservation owing to the dryness of the soil in which it had been buried. The photographs shew the implements as they looked some six months after they were found, after they had undergone some rough handling. No traces of human remains were found, They had perhaps long since disappeared. No. 9. Small pieces of rusty iron, possibly arrow-heads, &c. ( ?) No. 10, Spear heads ( ?) No. 11, Axes, small specimens of No. 5. In one specimen the bands are perfect. They are wanting in the other. No, 12. A snaffle bit in excellent preservation. The form is quite that of the present day. But, after all, this is hardly very remarkable and cannot be held to militate against the antiquity of the remains, The dagger, the sword and the spear have not undergone any great change during many centuries, and the snaffle as the easiest bit for a horse’s mouth would have suggested itself at an early date to a race of horsemen, — No. 18, A small brooch, or buckle, or ornament, resembling in shape a bow andarrow. It will be noticed that both this and the axes are in miniature. I cannot find the passage in Herodotus, but, if I am not mistaken, it is mentioned either by him or one of the old writers, that a custom prevailed among the Scythians or nomadic tribes of that class, of burying with their dead their weapons and horse-trappings, or the miniatures of their weapons. No. 14. A pair of iron articles of exactly the same size and shape with loops at either end. At first it was thought they might be horse bits. It afterwards suggested itself that they must be stirrups. The sculpturings on the remains found in England are supposed by some, to be rough repre- sentations of the articles buried in the tumuli, Without pausing to enquire whether this view is correct, the somewhat singular resemblance between the remains, found in this. barrow, and the sculptures on the wall of the Deo Cave, Fife, may be noticed (see Plate XXXIV, Fig. 3, Sir J. Simpson’s Archaic Sculptures). The so-called “ spectacle marks’? may be the bit, and the form of the stirrups and spear-heads may be traced in Sir J. Simpson’s sketch, without the exercise of any very great stretch of the imagination. To the view, that these are indeed the stirrups of the rider, the bit of whose horse and whose spear and other weapons were buried by his side, I still adhere, believing that the foot of the horseman was placed on the piece of iron, which formed the base of a triangle, the two sides being perhaps com- posed of thongs passed through the loops at either end. This view receives further confirmation from the extract of Professor Stephen’s note to Frithiof’s Saga, extracted in a later paragraph. 1879.] in Central India. 14 Although the excavation has been extended to the solid rock, neither on this nor on any other occasion has any chamber, similar to that of other parts of India, been found beneath the mounds of the Junapani barrows. This I believe is to be accounted for by the fact, that, in the vicinity of these remains, no material like sandstone, which can be easily split and used for the walls of chambers, is to be found. In the basaltic formation of the Nagpur district, trap-boulders are the only stones available, as the contrac- tors who had to build the bridges on the Nagpore Branch of the G. I. P. Railway found to their cost. Although these boulders answer admirably for the boundaries of the circles, they are not equally well adapted to the interior ehambers. Moreover, the trap rock is here close to the surface, and a cavity for a chamber, even if the stone necessary for its construction were at hand, eould only be excavated with the greatest difficulty. Further West and South again, when we come on the sandstone formation, Kistvaens and Cromlechs of sandstone take the place of, or are found in connection with, the stone circles, suggesting the view, that the same class of people in differ- ent parts of the country built Kistvaens, where the easily worked sandstone was procurable, whilst, in the trap region, they contented themselves with the barrows, such as those found at Junapani. In addition to the iron implements figured in Plate IV and described - above, many other pieces of rusty iron, some of which have no character whatsoever, and the probable use of which it is not easy to conjecture, have been found in the tombs at Junapani, Takulghat, in the Godavary district and elsewhere. Sickles similar to those figured in Col. Meadows Taylor’s paper, page 357, Vol. XXIV, of the Transactions of the Royal Irish Academy, and found by that Officer in the Dekhan, have been dug up by Col. Glasfurd and the late Rev. Stephen Hislop. The barrow opened by Mr. Carey, again, was found to contain bells, the counterpart of those which had been dug up by Col. Meadows Taylor in the same class of tomb, some hundreds of miles further South. SIMILARITY BETWEEN THESE TUMULI AND THE Barrows OF EUROPE. The tumuli at Junapani and the remains found within the barrows having been described, the remarkable resemblance, borne by these tumuli and their contents to the sepulchral mounds and the remains. common in other and distant parts of India and in other countries of the world, has to be noticed. Tn the first place, the barrows and their contents near Nagpur are identical in nearly every single detail with those on the Godavery. In the southern parts of India, where trap boulders are not procurable, the tumuli, as noticed above, take the form of Kistvaens and Cromlechs, sometimes with and sometimes without the stone circles. The remains found within this elass of tombs and the position of tombs indicate that they are the burying- 12 J. H. Rivett-Carnac—Prehistoric Remains [No. l, places of the same class of people, who for very good reasons had, in different parts of the country, to make use of different materials, on the. same principle that an engineer adapts his class of work to the stone found in the locality in which he is engaged. Col. Meadows Taylor, in his paper already alluded to, has placed side by side, in his sketch, barrows, examined by him near Alnwick in Northum- berland, and the tumuli of the Dekhan of India, explored by him in 1851 ; and it will be seen that, in nearly every respect, these burial-places are counterparts of one another. What has been said regarding the Dekhan remains and those found in Great Britain, applies with equal force to the tumuli of Junapani and the European; and Mr. Kipling’s drawing, from my sketch, of a barrow near Nagpur, given in Plate III, and one near Alnwick in Northumberland, figured by the late Col. Meadows Taylor in the paper already referred to, will show, most distinctly, the striking resem- blance between the tombs in England and in India. This interesting circumstance was noticed some years ago by Major- General Cunningham, c. §. 1, 0. I. E., of the Royal Engineers, who in the preface to his description of the Bhilsa Topes thus refers to it— “To the Indian antiquary and historian, these discoveries will be, I am willing to think, of very high importance, while to the mere English reader they may not be uninteresting, as the massive mounds are surrounded by mysterious circles of stone pillars, recalling attention at every turn to the early earthworks or barrows, and the Druidical colonnades of Britain, “ In the Buddhistical worship of trees displayed in the Sanchi bas-reliefs, others, I hope, will see (as well as myself) the counterpart of the Druidical and adopted English reverence for the oak. In the horse-shoe temples of Ajanta and Sanchi many will recognise the form of the inner colonnade at Stonehenge. More, I suspect, will learn that there are Cromlechs in India as well as in Britain, that the Brahmans, Buddhists and Druids all believed in the transmigration of the soul, and the Celtic language was undoubtedly derived from the Sanserit &c.” The circumstance of the remarkable similarity in the shape of the tumuli being borne in the mind, the next point of resemblance is the posi- tion in which the barrows are found. Col. Meadows Taylor particularly notices, that, both in Europe and in India, these burying-places are situat- ed on the southern slope of the hill, the sunny side in fact, and this cir. cumstance has already been noticed in regard to the grouping of the Junapani barrows. SIMILARITY BETWEEN THE REMAINS FOUND IN THE INDIAN Barrows AND THE CONTENTS OF THE Barrows ty Europe. If these two points have been established, then the third point of re- semblance is in the remains buried in the tombs. Passing from the pot- 1879. ] in Central India. 13 tery urns to the metal articles found within the barrows, it is to be noticed, that, both in England and in India, the arms and ornaments of the deceased were buried with him. Further, if the list of weapons given above, sketches of some of which accompany this paper (Pl. IV), be examined, it will be seen, that to nearly every single implement or ornament, found in India, an exact counterpart can be traced among the specimens dug out of simi- lar tumuli in Ireland, which are now in the Museum of the Royal Irish Academy in Dublin. As further evidence on this point and in support of the view expressed in an earlier paragraph that we had indeed the good fortune at Junapani to come upon the remains of some chieftain who had been buried centuries ago with his arms and horse-trappings, I would refer to the account in Bishop Tegnier’s Frithiof’s Saga of the ceremonies of the burial of king Ring, and of the barrow in which the body of the old king was laid, together with his charger and his arms. Professor Stephens of Copenhagen, whose translation of the poem is well known, was good enough to send me a copy of his work some years ago when he heard of our success at the Junapani barrows. And in the note to the word “ barrow,” which accompanies the text, is the following description of a tumulus and its contents discovered by Russian officers in the steppes of Tartary. This description, so exact is the resemblance in detail, might have been written of the opening of the Junapani barrow, with the exception that, there being no stone other than trap rock available within many miles of Nagpur, the Junapani tumulus contained no stone vault. “ Barrow (perhaps derived from Berg, hill), grave, mound, sepulchral heap, was a vast mass of earth and stones raised over the remains of a chief or warrior of renown. Commonly one or more timbered or walled chambers. protected the corpse from contact with the soil itself. Such barrows or cairns are found in Scandinavia and in the British Isles, Poland and Russia, especially in the steppes of Tartary. The borderers upon these deserts (near Tromsky) have for many years continued to dig for treasure deposited in these tumuli, and the Russian Court, being informed of these depredations, despatched an officer to open such of the tumuli as were too large for the marauding parties to undertake. He selected the barrow of largest dimensions, and a deep covering of earth and stones having been removed, the workman came to vaults. The centre and largest, containing the bones of the chief, was easily distinguished by the sword, spear, bow, quiver and arrow, which lay beside him. In the vault beyond him, toward which his feet lay, were his horse and bridle and stirrups.” The implements figured in Plate IV have been made over by me to Mr. Franks, F. 8. §., F. S. A., of the British Museum. We have then three very striking points of resemblance. In both countries the class of tumuli is the same; the barrows are always placed 14 J. H. Rivett-Carnac—Prehistoric Remains [No. 1, on the same side of the hill, 2. e., on the southern slope ; and the remains found within these tumuli are almost identical in character. SIMILARITY BETWEEN THE MARKS FOUND ON THE STONES AND THE “Cur Marks” oF THE Barrows In EvRore. There is yet a fourth and most remarkable circumstance which goes far to establish the identity of the remains found in Central India with the well-known prehistoric tumuli of Europe. This is the form of the “ cup- marks’ on the stones surrounding the tumuli, the existence of which on the Indian remains I was fortunate enough to be the first to discover. These cup-marks on the Junapani tumuli and similar markings in the Kumaon hills have already been noticed in my paper in the Rock markings in Kumaon (see the Journal of the Society for January 1877), but the sub- ject requires a brief notice in this place also. On the stone circles of England and Scotland are found a variety of * Archaic Sculpturings’” of various types. The most common of these are the cup-marks which are thus described by Sir James Simpson at page 2 of his work. i “ First type, single cups. The simplest type of these ancient stone and rock cuttings consists of incised, hollowed out depressions or cups, varying from an inch to three inches and more in diameter. For the most part these cup-cuttings are shallow, consequently their depth is usually far less than their diameter ; it is often not more than half an inch, and rarely exceeds an inch or an inch anda half. On the same stone or each surface they are commonly carved out of many different sizes. These cup excavations are, on the whole, usually more smooth and polished over their cut surfaces than the ring cuttings are. Sometimes they form the only sculpturings on the stone or rock, as on many Scottish monoliths, but more frequently they are found mixed up and intermingled with ring cut- tings. Among the sculptured rock surfaces, for instance, in Argyleshire, there are in one group at Auchuabreach thirty-nine or forty cup cuttings, and the same number of ring cuttings, and at Camber there are twenty- nine figures, namely, nine single cups, seven cups surrounded by single rings, and thirteen cups encircled by a series of concentric rings.” Now, although I had paid several visits to the barrows of Junapani and the neighbourhood and had noticed on the boulders small holes placed in lines, I had paid no particular attention to their existence. From their regularity and arrangement and general position on the top of the stones (Pl. V, fig. 1, 2,3), I was led to suppose that they were perhaps the work of the cowherds, who grazed their cattle in the neighbourhood, and that they were, perhaps, used for some game similar to that which commended the tri-junction boundary marks of the village lands to the attention of the village children, who, when I was in the Settlement Department, used ~ 1879.) in Oentral India. 15 to be continually causing damage to our boundary platforms. Subsequent examination shewed these marks on the sides of the boulders also (Pl. V, fig. 4), suggesting that they could not be used for the game in question. About the same time I was fortunate enough to receive Sir James Simpson’s book, above alluded to, which established, without doubt, the exact similarity between the marks on the Indian barrows and on the monolithic remains which have been examined and described in England. Two classes of “ cup-marks’’ the one large, the other small, have been found, similar to those in the English barrows. Butas yet I have not traced on the barrows any of the concentric circles noticed by Sir James Simpson.* They may, however, be yet brought to light together with perhaps other and more striking particulars, linking these tumuli still more closely to the remains found at home. On Plate II, Fig. 1, a sketch taken from Sir J. Simpson’s book of a tumulus with the “ cup-marks” on one of the stones is given, and on Plate V will be found a sketch of a stone at Junapani with the markings as I saw them some years ago. It will be seen, that, with the exception of the stone chamber, the absence of which in the Nagpur tombs has already been accounted for, there would be no difficulty in mistaking the picture for a sketch of one of the Junapani barrows. The “cup-markings” are all shallow, the depth of the cup being about 2 of an inch at the most, age probably having told on the carvings. In the present paper, I will not stop to discuss at any length the significance of these marks. The chief point I am anxious here to esta- blish is their resemblance to the markings found in the same class of tumuli at home. It may, however, be noticed that the view generally adopted at home is, that the ‘cup marks” are arough sort of ornamenta- tion, and that they have no signification whatsoever. Without venturing an opinion regarding the object which the constructors of the barrows had in carving these marks on the stones, I would repeat what I have said in my paper on the Kumaon markings, that the arrangement of the cups is peculiar and would seem to indicate some design beyond mere ornamenta- tion. On no two stones are the marks similar. The combination of large and small cups is striking (Pl. V, fig. 4). The permutations of the cups on the stones already examined are very numerous.t The manner too, in which the large cups are introduced, would seem to suggest that the combina- tions of marks may have some meaning, which may, perhaps, yet be discovered and explained. Those who are acquainted with the system of printing by the electric telegraph, and the combination of long and short strokes in Morse * These have been found by me on the Kumaon Rocks, See Bengal Asiatic Society’s Journal, January, 1877. ‘ + These are shewn in the paper on the Kumaon markings, See Journal B, A, S., January, 1877. 16 J. HH. Rivett-Carnac—Prehistoric Remains in Central India. [No. 1, Code, and the recent arrangements for communicating signals to troops at night, by short and long flashes of lamps, specially adapted to the purpose, and by day by the sun-telegraph, will perhaps agree, that it is not altogether impossible, that these marks may have some, as yet hidden, signification. The Agham writing consists, I understand, of a combination of long and short strokes. This writing is found chiefly on sandstone, on which it would not be difficult to cut out long strokes with a chisel. On hard trap, however, it would be found much easier to make “cup-marks,” by working a chisel round and round, than to cut strokes; and is it impossi- ble, that, perhaps, on the trap boulders, the “cups,” large and small, took the place of the long and short strokes of the sandstone lettering, in the same way that the barrows took the place of Cromlechs in the localities in which sandstone was not procurable? Or that, if this theory is unte- nable, the marks denote the age of the deceased or the number of his children, or the number of the enemies slain by the warrior, whose remains are buried in the tomb encircled by the stone ? Whatever conclusion may be arrived at regarding the possible correct- ness of any of the above suggestions, I think it will be generally admitted, that the four points of resemblance noticed above as existing between the remains found in this country and in Europe are of more than common interest. The sketches will shew that (I) the shape of the tumuli in India and in Europe is the same, (11) The barrows in India and in Europe always face towards the south. (III) The remains found in the Indian barrows resemble almost exactly the remains dug out of similar burial-places in Europe. (IV) The cup-marks on the boulders which surround the Indian tombs are identical with the marks found on the stones placed around the same class of tumuli in Europe. The inferences to be drawn from these points will be noticed in a later paper. sn H. RIVETT - CARNAC.—Journal As. Soc. of Bengal, Vol. XLVIII, Part I, 1879 i PLATE I. Maint), © a5 Mg), De ' 2)! yy as J) § | Diameter 8 | Diameter i On VW j B| of a| of Zi} 1 E Circle. irole. 5 Circle. WF WW 1 44 feet 33 feet a| 55 “ 3 20 4 33 4 33 5 19 6 81 7 8 9 10 11} NY Resa ROUGH SURVEY- (wos SON \ (/ OF SAN BARROWS wean SJUNAPANT NAGPUR DISTRICT MY = OF THE We CENTRAL PROVINCES of INDIA Examined by H. Rrvert-Carnao. Scale 7 Tnch = 300 Feet. iW SY K QO =AN SA o 60 120 180 240 500 spo Meet \ — Zincogemphetl ay (he Stuvevos General's Oftice Caloutta H. RIVETT - CARNAC.—Journal As. Soc. of Bengal, Vol. XLVIII, Part I, 1879. PLATE II. graphed at fhe Surveyor General's Office Calcutta, BARROWS AND CUP MARKS IN EUROPE. To shew the similarity between the European and Indian Types. (Fsom Sir J. Simpson's ““ Archaic Sculpturings.” ) (‘peyonojzUN st momdea JeyqINZ ey} Jo punouwl sy, ‘pouado useq sey puNnossa10J 944 UI MOM OULL) ‘VIGNI ‘UNdOVN UVEN SMOBUVE FO SNIVINGY Td “H BOSS Es ‘IT @LVId “6LSL ‘I Wed ‘IIIATX ‘lOA ‘TeSteg Jo ‘oog ‘sy TeumMos—OVNUVO -LLTAIY "H - =e : 7 ve oe ees ee eee TRON IMPLEMENTS FOUND IN THE JUNAPANI BARROWS. (From Photographs.) Lithographed at the Surveyor General's Office, Calcutta, July 1979. ; H. RIVETT - CARNAC.—Journal As. Soc. of Bengal, Vol. XLVIII, Part I, 1879. PLATE V. Boulder showing cup-marks on top Fig. 3. Boulder with cup-marks on side. Boulder cup-marked on top. G. Rivett-Carnac, del. Zincofraphed at the Surveyor (renecal’s Office Calcutta, CUP - MARKED BOULDERS, Scale of Figures 2, 3, & 4, } Inch=1 Foot. 1879.] J. H. Rivett-Carnac—The Snake Symbol in India. 17 The Snake Symbol in India, especially in connection with the worship of Siva.— By J. H. Rivert-CaRnac, HsqQ., c. 1. E., F. 8. A., M. B.A. 8., &e. In his work on “ Tree and Serpent Worship” Mr. Fergusson has urged the desirability of workers in the rich field of Indian Antiquarian research collecting information regarding the worship of the snake, which is known to prevail in various forms in many parts of India. The accompanying instalment of rough jottings and sketches, made at various times, has been worked up by me into the present imperfect shape during the Christmas holidays. It is now submitted to the Society in the. hope that this paper, although doubtless full of faults, may at least induce discussion, and thereby assist in placing me on the right track, and in awakening further interest in this important subject amongst those who have better opportunity than I have of following it up. The snake as a personal ornament, or as a canopy surmounting the figure, is not, of course, confined to representations of Siva, and in the col- lection of the deities of the Hindu Pantheon that I have been able to make, the five-headed snake (Nag panchamukhi) is to be seen overshadowing Vishnu, Garuda and others. The Sesha or Ananta in the pictures of Vishnu is well known. Still, as Moor says at p. 86 of his Hindu Panthe- on, “ As emblems of immortality, serpents are common ornaments with many deities. But Mahadeo seems most abundantly bedecked with them ; bound in his hair, round his neck, wrist, waist, arms and legs, as well as for rings, snakes are his constant attendants.” The serpent appears on the prehistoric cromlechs and menhirs of Europe, on which, as stated in my paper on the Kamaon Rock-carvings published in the Society’s Journal for January 1877, I believe, the remains of phallic worship may also be traced. What little attention I have been able to give to the serpent-symbol, has been chiefly in its connection with the worship of Mahadeo or Siva, with a view to ascertain whether the wor- ship of the snake and that of Mahadeo or the phallus may be considered identical, and whether the presence of the serpent on the prehistoric remains of Europe can be shewn to support my theory that the markings on the eromlechs and menhirs are indeed the traces of this form of worship, carried to Hurope from the Kast by the tribes whose remains are buried beneath the tumuli. During my visits to Benares, the chief centre of Siva worship in India, I have always carefully searched for the presence of the snake-sym- bol. On the most ordinary class of “ Mahddeo,” a rough stone placed on end supposed to represent the phallus, the serpent is not generally seen. Cc 18 J. H. Rivett-Carnac—Zhe Snake Symbol in India. [No. 1, But in the temples and in the better class of shrines which abound in the city and the neighbourhood, the snake is generally found encircling the phallus in the manner shewn in Plate VI, fig. 8. The tail of the snake is sometimes carried down the yoni, and in one ease I found two snakes on a shrine in the manner figured in Plate VI, fig. 5, 6. In the Benares bazar I once came across a splendid metal cobra, the head erect and hood expanded, so made as to be placed around and above a stone or metal “ Mahddeo.” It is now in England. The attitude of the cobra when excited and the expansion of the head will suggest the reason for this snake representing Mahadeo and the phallus. In several instances in Benares, I have found the Nag surrounding and surmounting the hump of the “ Nandi” or Siva’s Bull. In such eases the hump is apparently recognised as a Mahadeo, as the remains of flowers, libations and other offerings were found thereon. I hardly venture to suggest that the existence of the hump is the reason for the Nandi being selected as the Vahan or “vehicle” of Siva. But the circumstance may be worth noticing, Iam of course aware that the Bull is a symbol of generation and reproduction, traceable to its position in the Zodiac at the Vernal Equinox. But it may have been recognised as Siva’s Vahan, long before the honor was assigned to it of introducing it into the Equinox. And its position with regard to Siva may have secured for it this important place in the signs of the Zodiac. The snake in conjunction with Mahddeo is further to be traced in several of the metal specimens of the collection now forwarded for the inspection of the Society. In two small shrines, containing “ Ganas” or assemblages of deities, of which the Mahadeo or Linga is the centre, the NAg or cobra can be seen to hold the chief position at the back of the shrine. In a remarkable bracelet purchased in Benares, consisting of a mass of Maha- deos and yonis, many of which are arranged in circles like cromlechs, the serpent can be traced encircling the phallus. It is again to be seen forming the handle of a spoon and surmounting the figure of Ganesha, Siva’s son, wherewith holy Ganges-water is taken from the cup, and sprinkled ever the Mahadeo by pilgrims and worshippers at the shrines of Benares and other Siva temples. It is seen again in the sacrificial lamp, used in the same worship. In the centre of the lamp is a space for a small “ Mahadeo,”’ an agate in the shape of an egg, brought, it is said, from Banda and the hilly country of the Nerbudda, rich in these pebbles, which are imported annually in large quantities into Benares. And the snake-canopy can be recognised again forming the back-ground of the shrine of the figure of Anna-Purna Devi, a form of Siva’s sakti Parvati. The snake is present 1879.] J. H. Rivett-Carnac—The Snake Symbol in India, 19 again in a specimen where Siva’s Bull or Nandi supports the Lotus, repre- senting the female or watery principle, and within which is enclosed an agate egg (the jewel of the lotus ?), representing Mahadeo or the male principle. Above this is a small pierced vessel which should contain Ganges water, to trickle through the aperture and keep anointed the sacred stone placed beneath it. The vessel or Jota is supported by a Nag or cobra, the head erect, the hood expanded, forming the conventional canopy of the shrines of Siva. The serpent with the tree is to be seen on the canopies of shrines. In one case the shrine with a cobra-canopy has the Linga and yoni or Maha- deo complete. Most of the other canopies, as I will call these backs of shrines, were purchased as old brass or old copper, and the deities belonging to them had perhaps long since been broken up and melted down. In some of them the tree, with the serpent twisted round the trunk, is very distinct. One of them has been figured by me in the annexed sketch, Plate VII, fig. 3. I was hardly prepared to find the tree and the serpent together in this form, in a shrine apparently used comparatively recently, if not in the present day, and T hope for some explanation of these interesting symbols from Dr. Rajendra- lala Mitra, or some other authority.* The Bell, sent with the collection on which a hooded snake overshadows the figures of Garuda and Hanuman, seems, from these figures, to be adaptable for use at a shrine of either Vishnu or Siva. Lastly, the brass models represent the cobra with head erect and hood expanded, the design somewhat elaborated and ornamented. Although, in one of them at least, there is no space for the Mahadeo, these Nags are, I am assured, considered symbolical of life or generation, and as such are worshipped as Siva or Mahadeo or the Linga or Phallus or whatever it may be called. All these specimens were picked up in the metal bazar in Benares, where the fashionable trays, “ specimen-vases,”’ and much Philistine work are now made and exposed for sale. In most cases the specimens were raked out with difficulty from among sacks containing old metal, collected to be broken up and melted down for the manufacture of the brass-ware now in vogue. Although the presence of the snake in these models cannot be said to prove much, and although from the easy adaptibility of its form, the snake must always have been a favourite subject in ornament, still it will be seen that the serpent is prominent in connection with the conventional shape under which Mahddeo is worshipped at Benares and elsewhere, that it sometimes even takes the place of the Linga, and that it is to be found entwined with almost every article connected with this worship. * See Appendix, p. 31. 20 J. H. Rivett-Carnac—The Snake Symbol in India. [No. 1, It might be expected that the Nag or Cobra would be seen at its best in the carvings or idols of Nageshwar, the Cobra or Snake Temple of Benares. But in this I was disappointed ; Nageshwar, as I saw it, consisted of two temples, or an inner and outer shrine, the one called Sideshwar, the other Nageshwar. In the outer or N&geshwar shrine was a large sized stone Mahadeo, of ordinary construction without the snake on it or round it. The old woman in charge of the temple, the priest being absent, assured me that a snake had once surmounted the Mahddeo, but .that the symbol had been worn away by much veneration. The story was most probably manufactured for the occasion in consequence of my manifest dis- appointment at the absence of the Nag. A Bull or Nandi and a Cobra faced the Mahddeo. The contents of the inner temple were peculiar. The Mahddeo consists of a broad black stone in shape something likea tumulus, It is sunk some little depth below the ground, and is surrounded by four stone slabs forming a small square tank. There was no yoni with this Mahddeo, the tank perhaps representing the yoni. On the top of the Mahadeo had been traced, with some sort of white pigment, a circle with a central dot or cup mark, exactly similar in shape to the circles with centres noticed in my paper on the Kumdon Rock-markings. These marks are common enough at Benares, and are to be seen painted on the bamboo umbrellas which line the ghats and are also dabbed about freely on the walls of buildings. Further enquiry has confirmed the opinion expressed by me and supported by Mr. Campbell of Islay in my paper on Kuméon rock markings, that, whatever it may have meant in Europe, in India the sign © means Mahadeo. There seems to be little doubt that at Nageshwar the snake god is Mahadeo himself, or that he is worshipped under that name, and that Nageshwar is a temple of Siva or Mahadeo in the form of a Nag or cobra. These same marks were to be seen on a Mahadeo in a small shrine under a tree close by. In front of Nageshwar were the graves of the Gosains of the temple. They resemble the graves of Chandeshwar in Kuméaon, noticed in my paper on the Kumdon Rock Markings. The Kumdaon graves were evidently the graves of Gosains of the Siva sect who I have since learnt are always buried, not burnt.* At Benares, as at Chandeshwar, * Vide Tod’s Rajasthan, Vol. I, p. 445. “The priests of Eklinga are termed “ Gosain or Goswami which signifies control over the senses. The distinguishing mark “of the faith of Siva is the crescent on the forehead. They bury their dead in a sit- “ting posture, and erect cairns over them which are generally conical in form. I “have seen a cemetery of these, each of yery small dimensions, which may be described 1879.] J. H. Rivett-Carnac—The Snake Symbol in India. 21 a platform had been raised above the grave, on the top of which were placed a Mahddeo and yoni. A representation of Siva’s Trident and the soles of two feet, not unlike those figured in Fergusson’s Eastern Archi- tecture, were also noticed on the grave. Our cicerone informed us that the feet were represented here in order that pilgrims might fall down and worship at the feet of the Gosain, who, dying, had become a saint and deserving of worship. A visit in search of the snake symbol to the Nag Kuan, or serpent well, was rewarded with better success. The well itself is described by the Rev. Mr. Sherring in his “Sacred City of the Hindus,” from which I may be per- mitted to quote the following passage : “The Nag Kuan or serpent’s well is situated in a ward of the city called after the name of the well Nag Kian Mahalla, which adjoins the Ausin Gang Mahalla. This well bears marks of considerable antiquity ; and from the circumstance of an extensive district of Benares being de- signated by its name, there is no doubt that it must be regarded as one of the oldest historical places the present city possesses. The construction of this well was, probably, nearly, if not quite coeval with the building of the Mahalla or ward itself, which, we may imagine, was described as that part of the city containing the well—the well being the most important and noticeable object there: and, so gradually, the inhabitants associated the Mahalla with the well, and called them by the same name. The ward is in the north-western part of the city, at some distance from the Ganges, The quarter lying to the east of this ward, that is, between it and the Ganges, is, as I have already remarked, in all likelihood, the oldest portion of the present city ; and, therefore, the Nag-Kvan ward would have been ori- ginally in its suburbs. It is even possible that one of the first places built in these suburbs, and frequented by the people, was this well, and that its existence was one of the reasons, perhaps the chief, for the settling of a population in its neighbourhood. No person in Benares can tell when the well was made ; but there is a reference to its existence in the Kasi- Khanda. “Steep stone stairs, in the form of a square, lead down to the well; and a broad wall of good masonry, six or seven feet thick, surrounds them at their summit, rising to the height of four or five feet above the ground. Hach of the four series of stairs has an entrance of its own. Their junc- tion below forms a small square, in the centre of which is the well. De- “as so many concentric rings of earth diminishing to the apex crowned with a “ cylindrical stone pillar.” Now may not the circular tomb have represented the womb or yoni of mother earth, the corpse, which is to be born again to a new life, being placed in the posi- tion as in the mother’s womb ? 22 J. H. Rivett-Carnac—TZhe Snake Symbol in India. [No. 1, scending twelve stone steps you reach the water which is stagnant and foul. Beneath the water is a sheet of iron, which constitutes the door leading to a still lower well, which perhaps may be the old well in its ori- ginal state. The stairs, I suspect, are not of great date. On the inside of those to the east is an inscription, to the effect that, in 1825 Samvat, or nearly one hundred years ago, a Raja extensively repaired the well. It is possible he may have built the stairs then. Many of the slabs of stone of which they are composed display carvings on their external surface, some of which bear unmistakeable marks of considerable antiquity. These slabs were doubtless taken from dilapidated buildings in the neighbour- hood. A thorough examination of them, especially of the more ancient among them, would, I am satisfied, be not unproductive of interesting results. The wall was also repaired by Mr. Prinsep about thirty years ago. “ At this well the Nag or serpent is worshipped. In a niche in the wall of one of the stairs is a figure representing three serpents; and, on the floor, is an emblem of Mahddeo in stone, with a snake crawling up it. The well is visited, for religious purposes, only once in the year, namely, on the 24th and 25th days of the month Sawan, when immense numbers of persons come to it, on pilgrimage, from all parts of the city. The women come on the first day, and the men on the second. They offer sacrifices both to the well and to Nageshwar, or the serpent-god”. (Sherring’s Sacred City of the Hindus.) The well does not seem to attract much attention during most months of the year. I have often passed it and seen but few people there. In the dry season, there is little or no water in it. But the “ Nag Punchami’— is a gala day at the well, and I believe at most Siva temples. ‘The Mahadeo from the neighbouring temple of “ Nageshwar” is brought to the third step of the stairs on the west side of the tank surmount- ing the well, and Hindus of all classes come in thousands to adore the Mahddeo and bathe in the well, which, as the “Nag Punchami” Fair is held in July, or during the rains, is filled with water at this season. On the fourth step of the stairs above mentioned, are six circular holes, each 4} inches in diameter and about 4 inches deep arranged in a row. Being always on the look out for “cup marks,” I immediately noticed these holes, but the Brahman in attendance explained that they were intended to collect the libations poured over the Mahadeo, and which trickled down from the gutter above. The same idea, Dr. Keller informed me at Zurich, exists in Switzerland, regarding these cup marks. And from a paper, recently received from the Society of Antiquaries of France, I learn that cup marks are frequently found on stones and slabs in the founda- en 1879.] J. H. Rivett-Carnac—The Snake Symbol in India, 23 tions and walls of old churches in the north of Europe. To the right of the spot where the Mahadeo is placed, three stone slabs or panels, appa- rently of great age, have been let into the wall. On one of these, two cobras standing on their tails (see Plate VI, fig. 7) have been roughly carved. On the next are two cobras intertwined in the attitude men- tioned by Mr. Fergusson in the Appendix to his work on “ Tree and Serpent worship.” The cobras are somewhat battered, but the spectacle marks on one is still traceable (see Plate VI, fig. 4). The third slab contains a head, also much battered and weather-worn, which has been at one time surmounted by an ornament of some kind, possibly a cobra, but the form of which is no longer distinguishable. The heads of the twin cobras and of the human figure are all freely daubed with red paint, shewing their sacredness in the eyes of the Hindu visitors. The slabs appear to be very old and to have been collected from the ruins of some old temple. To the left and some steps lower down, is a niche or shrine containing an ordinary Mahadeo and yoni with cobra twined round it as shewn in the sketch (Plate VI, fig. 8). Behind on a tablet or panel, let into the wall, is the head of a cobra, roughly carved, and of the same character and style as the cobras above noticed. On a smaller panel to the right, two snakes are again repre- sented intertwined, but shewing one twist less than in the pair previously noticed. Below the panel are the rough marks as shewn in the sketch (Plate VI, fig. 2) which may be either the remains of a rough inscription or perhaps of chisel or mason’s marks. In two other places also was the twin snake symbol found. In the one case, the snakes are intertwined with ap- parently an egg between the two heads (Plate VI, fig.3). In the other, the snakes are not intertwined and the egg appears to have been broken (Plate VI, fig. 7). These tablets or slabs appear to be of great antiquity. There seemed to be little doubt here, that the snakes were worshipped at the “Nig Kuin” as representing Mahddeo, and the act of congress, in which the snakes are represented as engaged, suggests the connection of these symbols with Siva worship. Whilst on the subject of the snake well or tank, I would notice that snake wells are frequently found attached to temples of Mahadeo. I saw such a well recently in Kumaon close to the temple of Mahadeo, below the monoliths worshipped as representing Mahadeo, on the road between Almorah and Dévi Dhoora. A snake was supposed to inhabit the tank or well. I venture to throw out the suggestion, that the snake in the well may represent the post, or Mahadeo, in the tank, the well representing the yoni or tank as explained by Moor in his “ Hindu Pantheon.” The mys- terious snake inhabiting the well is, of course, not confined to India; and 24 J. H. Rivett-Carnac—The Snake Symbol in India. [No. 1, Schwalbach, and other snake wells in Europe will suggest themselves to many. Later I visited the Benares Palace of the Rajahs of Nagpur situated on the Ganges and built in the palmy days of the Bhonslahs, and when a visit to Benares was frequently undertaken by some of the family or its chief dependents. Ina shrine within the buildings, I found the Mahadeo repre- sented by a cobra or Nag, the coils of which were so elaborately intertwined as to make an accurate sketch of the arrangement a matter of no small difficulty. Here the Nag is certainly worshipped as a Mahddeo or phallus, The much intertwined Nag is shewn in Plate VII, fig. 1. The Palace of the Bhonslahs at Benares brings me to Nagpur, where, many years ago, I commenced to make, with but small success, some rough notes on serpent worship. Looking up some old sketches, I find that the Mahadeo in the oldest temples at Nagpur is surmognted by the Nag as at Benares. And in the old temple near the palace of Nagpur, or city of the Nag or cobra, is a five-headed snake elaborately coiled as shewn in Fig. 2, Plate VII. The Bhonslahs apparently took the many-coiled Nag with them to Benares. A similar representation of the Nag is found in the temple near the Itwarah gate at Nagpir. Here again the Nag or cobra is certainly worshipped as Mahadeo or the phallus, and as already noticed, there are certain obvious points connected with the position assumed by the cobra when excited, and the expansion of the hood, which suggest the reason for this snake, in particular, being adopted as a representation of the phallus and an emblem of Siva. The worship of the snake is very common in the old Nagptr Province where, especially among the lower class, the votaries of Siva or Wdg bhu- shan, “he who wears snakes as his ornaments,” are numerous. It is likely enough that the City took its name from the Nag temple, still to be seen there, and that the river Nag perhaps took its name from the city or temple, and not the city from the river, as some think. Certain it is that many of the Kunbi or cultivating class worship the snake, and the snake only, and that this worship is something more than the ordinary supersti- tious awe, with which all Hindus regard the snake. I find from my notes that one Kunbi whom I questioned in old days, when I was a Settlement Officer in Camp in the Nagptr Division, stated that he worshipped the Nag and nothing else ; that he worshipped clay images of the snake, and when he could afford to pay snake-catchers for a look at a live one, he worshipped the living snake ; that if he saw a Nag on the road, he would worship it, and that he believed no Hindu would kill a Nag or cobra, if he knew it were a Nag. He then gave me the following list of articles he would use in wor- 1879.] J. H. Rivett-Carnae —The Snake Symbol in India. 25 shipping the snake, when he could afford it; and I take it, the list is similar to what would be used in ordinary Siva worship. Water. Gandh, pigment of sandalwood for the forehead or body. Cleaned rice. Flowers. Leaves of the Bail Tree. Milk. Curds. A thread or piece of cloth. Red powder. 10. Saffron. 11. Abir, a powder composed of fragrant substances (?) 12. Garlands of flowers. 13. Buttemah or gram soaked and parched. 14. Jowarri (holeus sorghum) do. 15. Five lights. 16. Sweetmeats, 17. Betel leaves. 18. Cocoanut, or nut. 19. A sum of money (according to means). 20. Flowers offered by the suppliant, the palms of the hands being joined. All these articles, my informant assured me, were offered to the snake in regular succession, one after the other, the worshipper repeating the while certain mantras or incantations. Having offered all these gifts, the worshipper prostrates himself before the snake, and begging for pardon if he has ever offended against him, craves that the snake will continue his favour upon him and protect him from every danger. The Deshpandia or chief Pandia (Putwari) of the parganah, who was in attendance with the Settlement Camp, also got for me the following mantra or verse to be used in the antidote for a snake-bite or to charm snakes, SH XIANRwONYE at aussi | azatagar acut atc eerwarerear GS ds vue Ber vast wat WaT Swat vat wyce wet azalar ssutae ssafeare qearai WAS WSAT Bre Are Star wasareasnaycac we went tie ii D 26 J. H. Rivett-Carnac—The Snake Symbol in India. [No. 1, The village where I was encamped was rich in Tandahs, mat-enclosures of betel leaf cultivation. The Baris who cultivate the betel-creeper or Nagballi or Cobra-creeper, as it is called, are, from their constant contact with the Nag-creeper, supposed to be on terms of friendship and to have influence with the snakes, and are often invoked to assist in curing persons who have offended, and who have consequently been bitten by the snake deota or deity. Besides the mantra given above, a remedy employed by the Baris is, I was told, to slap on the mouth the person who brings the news of the accident! These Baris are generally snake-worshippers, and as snakes are often found in the cool, well-watered and covered enclo- sures, in which the delicate creeper is grown, this desire to keep on good terms with the deity may readily be understood. I find too that I noted at the same time that those who worshipped snakes also worshipped the ant-hills or mounds of earth thrown up by ants. The holes of these ant-hills are held, correctly or incorrectly I cannut say, to be full of snakes. I should like further information on this point and would enquire whether the worship of ant-hills may not be on account of their pyramidical shape and hence connection with Siva worship P The “ Nag panchami” or 5th day of the moon in Sawan is a great féte in the city of Nagptr, and more than usual license is indulged in on that day. Rough pictures of snakes, in all sorts of shapes and positions, are sold and distributed, something after the manner of Valentines. I cannot find any copies of these queer sketches, and, if I could, they would hardly be fit to be reproduced. Mr. J. W. Neill, C. S., the present Commis- sioner of Nagpur, was good enough to send me some superior Valentines of this class, and I submit them now for the inspection of the Society. It will be seen that in these paintings, some of which are not without merit either as to design or execution, no human figures are introduced. In the ones I have seen, in days gone by, the positions of the women with the snakes were of the most indecent description and left no doubt that, so far as the idea represented in these sketches was concerned, the cobra was regarded as the phallus. In the pictures now sent the snakes will be seen represented in congress, in the well known form of the Caduceus or Esculapian rod. ‘Then the many-headed snake, drinking from the jewelled cup, takes one back to some of the symbols of the mysteries of bygone days? The snake twisted round the tree and the second snake approaching it are suggestive of the temptation and fall? But I am not unmindful of the pitfalls from which Wilford suffered, and I quite see that it is not impossible that this picture may be held to be not-strictly Hindu in its treatment. Still the tree and the serpent are on the brass models, which accompany this paper and which I have already shewn are to be purchased 1879.] J. H. Rivett-Carnac—The Snake Symbol in India. 27 in the Benares Brass Bazaar of to-day—many hundreds of miles away from Ndgptir where these Valentines were drawn. Iam in correspondence with Mr. J. W. Neill on the subject, and hope to send some further information regarding the meaning of what may certainly be said to be these curious pictures of the Cobra. I shall be interested to learn how far their character may be considered by those, who are competent to judge on this subject, to connect them with the worship of Mahadeo ? I have now to state briefly the direction in which I would desire that these imperfect notes should be considered to lead. As the Society know, T have for some time past been endeavouring to collect information on the points of resemblance between the tumuli of India and the well known types of Scandinavia, of Brittany and of the British Isles. In my paper on the Kumdéon Rock markings, besides noting the resemblance between the cup markings of India and of Europe, I hazarded the theory that the concentric circles and certain curious markings of what some have called the “jews-harp” type, so common in Hurope, are traces of Phallic worship, carried there by tribes whose hosts descended into India, pushed forward into the remotest corners of Europe and as their traces now seem to suggest, found their way on to the American Continent also, Whether these markings really ever were intended to represent the Phallus and the Yoni, must always remain a matter of opinion. But I have no reason to be dissatisfied with the reception with which this, to many somewhat unpleasant, theory has met in some of the Antiquarian Societies of Europe. ; No one who compares the stone Yonis of Benares, sent herewith, with the engravings on the first page of the work on the rock mark. ings of Northumberland and Argyleshire, published privately by the Duke of Northumberland, President of the Newcastle Society of Anti- quaries, which is also sent for the inspection of the Society, will deny that there is an extraordinary resemblance between the conventional sym- bol of Siva worship of to-day and the ancient markings on the rocks, men- hirs and cromlechs of Northumberland, of Scotland, of Ireland, of Brittany, of Scandinavia and other parts of Europe. And a further examination of the forms of the cromlechs and tumuli and menhirs will suggest that the tumuli themselves were intended to indicate the symbols of the Mahadeo and yoni, conceived in no obscene sense, but as representing regeneration, the new life, “life out of death, life everlasting,” which those buried in the tumuli, facing towards the sun in its meridian, were expected to enjoy in the hereafter. Professor Stephens, the well known Scandinavian Antiquary, writing to me recently, speaks of these symbols as follows: 28 J. H. Rivett-Carnac—TZhe Snake Symbol in India. [No. 1, “The pieces (papers) you were so good as to send me were very valu- able and welcome. There can be no doubt that it is to India we are to look for the solution of many-of our difficult archzological questions. “« But especially interesting is your paper on the Ancient Rock Sculp- turings. I believe that you are quite right in your views, Nay I go further. I think that the Northern Bulb-stones are explained by the same combination. I therefore send you by this post a copy of the part for 1874 of the Swedish Archzological Journal containing Baron Herculius’ excellent dissertation on these objects. Though in Swedish, you can easily understand it, at least the greater part, by reading it as a kind of broad north-English. At all events you can examine the many excellent wood- cuts. I look upon these things as late conventionalized abridgements of the Linga and Yoni, life out of death, life everlasting—thus a fitting ornament for the graves of the departed. “In the same way the. hitherto not understood small stones with 1 or 2 or 8 or 4 ete. distinct ewps cut in them (vulgarly called chipping-stones, which they never were or could be) I regard as the same thing for domestic worship, house altars, the family Penates.” I may note that this distinguished antiquary has adopted as a mono- gram for his writing paper a “menhir,” round which a serpent is coiled, evidently copied from old Scandinavian remains. Many who indignantly repudiate the idea of the prevalence of phallic worship among our remote ancestors, hold that these symbols represent the snake or the sun. But admitting this, may not the snake, after all, have been but a symbol of the phallus? And the sun,* the invigorating * Since writing this I have come across the following remarks by Tod in the Asiatic Researches: ‘ The Suroi were in fact the Sauras, inhabiting the peninsula of Sau- vashtra, the Saurastrene and Syrastrene already quoted from the Periplus, and the kingdom immediately adjoining, that of Tessarioustus, to the eastward. That the Svpo. of Saur’ashtra, and the Syrians of Asia Minor had the same origin, appears from the worship of Surya, or the Sun. I have little doubt, we have more than one “city of the sun’’* in this tract; indeed, the only temples of the Sun I have met with in India, are in Saur’ashtra. The temple raised to Bal in Tadmort in the Desert, by Solomon, where he worshipped ‘‘ Bal and Ashtoreth, the strange gods of the Sidonians,” was the Bal-nat’h, or Great God of the Hindus, the Vivifier, the Sun: and the Pillar erected to him ‘in every grove, and on every high hill ;”’ the Lingam, or Phallus, the emblem of Bal; Bal-nat’h, Bal-césari,{ or as Bal-Iswara, the Osiris of the Egyptians ; and as Nand-Iswara, their Serapis, or Lord of the Sacred Bull; Nanda, or Apis “the Calf of Egypt,” which the chosen people bowed to “ when their hearts were turned away from the Lord.” * Heliopolis (Suryaptira) was one capital of Syria. + aati its ane Part bee Séelian idol: so Ferishta derives it, the idol Bal. This, the capital in future times of the unfortunate Zenobia, was translated by the Greeks to Palmyra; for it is but a translation of Tad-tar, or Tal-mor, and can have an Indian derivation, from Tar, or Tal, the Date, or Palmyra-tree ; and Mor, the head, chief, or crown ; p : + Cesari, alion, Hence the royal appellation of the Ciesars; and Lion (Sin’ha) Lords of India, have the same meaning. 1879.] J. H. Rivett-Carnac—TZhe Snake Symbol in India. 29 power of nature, has ever, I believe, been considered to represent the same idea, not necessarily obscene, but the great mystery of nature, the life transmitted from generation to generation, or, as Professor Stephen puts it, “life out of death, life everlasting.” The same idea in fact which, apart from any obscene conception, causes the rude Mahadeo and yoni to be worshipped daily by hundreds of thousands of Hindus. In a most interesting paper recently read at the Society of Antiquaries of France, some extracts of which I am now preparing for the Society, the authors M. M. Edouard Piette and Julien Sacaze have actually dis- covered the remains of phallic worship still existing among the people of the Pyrennees, the existence of which in Scandinavia, in days gone by, has already been brought to the notice of the Society by Dr. Rajendralala Mitra. These Archzologists have established the fact that to this day the menhir is still reverenced in the Pyrennees as the phallus. And referring to certain cromlechs in the neighbourhood, M. M. Piette and Sacaze hold that the circle, and central stone represent the “Sun.” The sun, they suppose, was the sacred symbol of these tribes, and they suggest that the tumuli and sacred places of the race, were raised in this form, just as we now build our churches in the shape of a cross and place the sign of the cross on the graves of our dead. Whilst I was writing these very remarks on the Kumdon markings, M. M. Piette and Sacaze were noticing the same points in regard to the tumuli of the Pyrennees. There are not wanting other remarkable points of resemblance between their paper and the Indian remains, with which M. Bertrand, President of the Society of Antiquaries of France, was much struck, and which induced him to send me, in Septem- ber 1877, the proof sheets of the Proceedings of the Society. ‘But the cir- cumstance to which, in connection with the serpent worship of the above notes, I attach the greatest importance is, that I find that in many of these groups of tumuli, the circle is found with the serpent coiled round it. “Thus Bal was the type of productiveness, and Ashtoreth, as destruction, most probably that of the Hight (Ashta) armed mother. A’shta-Tara-Devi’, or the radiated Goddess of Destiny, is always depicted as trampling on the monster Bhainsdstir, aided by her lion (when she resembles Cybele, or the Phrygian Diana) and in each of her eight arms holding a weapon of destruction: but I have ventured to pursue the subject elsewhere. I shall merely remark on the Suroi of Menander, that amongst the thirty- six royal races of Hindus, especially pertaining to Saur’ashtra, is that of Sarweya, as written in the Bhakha, but classically Suryaswa. The historian of the Court of Anhul- warra* thus introduces it: ‘And thou, Sarweya, essence of the martial races.’”’ No doubt, it was, with many others, of Scythic origin, perhaps from Zariaspa, or Bactria, introduced at a period when the worship of Bal, or the Sun, alone was common to the nations east and west of the Indus; when, as Pinkerton says, a grand Scythic empire extended to the Ganges. Here I must drop Apollodotus and Menander, for the history of their exploits extends no further than the Suroi.””—Zod in Asiatic Researches., * Nehrwara of D’Anyille and Renaudot. 30 J. H. Rivett-Carnac—Zhe Snake Symbol in India. [No. 1, May not this represent the serpent encircling the Mahadeo as now seen in India and in the form which during many centuries has perhaps not undergone any great change P A further detailed consideration of this view must be deferred until I ean submit to the Society the result of the enquiries of M. M. Piette and Sacaze, many of the points of which, in connection with the remains dis- covered in India, cannot, I believe, be considered other than most remarkable. And I may add in conclusion that no one who has been in this country and who has noticed the monolith Mahadeos of the Western Ghats of the Himalayas and other parts of India, can fail to be struck with the resem- blance that the menhirs of Carnac* in Brittany and its neighbourhood bear to the Siva emblems of India. I visited these remarkable remains when at home last year, and was quite taken aback by their resemblance to well-known Indian types. The monoliths of Scotland covered with what I believe to be “ Mahddeo” symbols are of the same class. Added to this, in the recesses of the Pyrennees, the people whose language sug- gests their descent from the Tribes who. erected the tumuli and men- hirs, not only in this neighbourhood but also in other parts of Europe, still preserve traditions connected with these monoliths and have actually retained some traces of what I will call Siva worship. With this evidence, added to the points noticed in my paper on the Junapani Barrows and the Kumaon markings, the connection between the marks in India and Europe may then, I hope, be considered tolerably complete. APPENDIX. Note on the articles exhibited by Mr. Rivett-Carnae.—By Basu Pra- TAPA CHANDRA GHOSHA, B. A. It is interesting to observe how the ornamental and the artistic help in complicating the myths of the Hindu religion. The occurrence of the snake on several of the articles exhibited is ornamental in some and in- consistent with the Sastras ina few. ‘The snake on the spoon or ladle is for ornamental purposes, and that on the bell is altogether out of place. The Sastras make no mention of the necessity of any such figures on the handles of spoons, sacrificial ladles or water-pots. In the case of the bell the only figure directed to be represented on a religious bell is that of Garuda, the bird-god. The Padma Purana has the following—* He is not * T may be permitted to be egotistical enough to note, that Carnac, the surname which my grandfather added to his own, by sign-manual on succeeding to General Carnac’s property, is the Celtic ‘Carnej,” “ Cairn,” or collection of monoliths, for which the village whence General Carnac took his name is celebrated. The family crest, a crescent and dagger, bears an extraordinary resemblance to the markings on some of the menhirs. PLATE W. Journ. As. Soc. Bengal, Part i, 1879. A E Caddéy. del. H. Rivett-Carnac, fec. Photozincographed at the Surveyor General's Office Calcutta, ILLUSTRATIONS oF Mr, H. RIVETT-CARNAC’S PAPER ON THE SERPENT SYMBOL. - = aly saa 7 aot aa a Re oe " | * a1 e © \ , o a Sy +44 Ay a ad SEN 5% wh i ‘ tgs R tw eis : | Aen Sa ik Sey , Th ee hee Nar ¢ - 4 | \* ‘i » ee) ‘die alae 4 at vas er K ee - 7 » ry 7 <> _ - 7 - . ~ ed . aw ¥3 : os Gr ~ . : ey}. | P > "eed | ® ; 2 i aed ; it: : 7 dy he's F ‘ ~ ~~ i} as A ; : h ¢ - e i, > as Se ee mh pre 4 = i ‘ 7 PLATE VI. ren. 5 SSS SNS ASST SSA es Photozincographed at the Surveyor General's Office Calcutta, -Carnac, fec. H. Rivett Journ. As. Soc. Bengal, Part I, 1879. ILLUSTRATIONS oF MR, H. RIVETT-CARNAC’S PAPER ON THE SERPENT SYMBOL. 1879.] J. H. Rivett-Carnac—Appendiz. 31 a Bhagavat (worshipper of Bhagavan) in this iron age who has not in his house a conch-shell or a bell surmounted by a Garuda or the bird-god.” Such a bell as the above is used in the worship of Vasudeva (Vishnu). And although in the Sastras regarding the worship of Siva and Rama- chandra, it is nowhere provided that the bell used in such service should be adorned with figures of the snake and Hanuman (the monkey-god), the vahanas of the two gods respectively, yet the bell-maker in his devoutness has added these figures to the bell, thinking that such a bell would serve the threefold worship of Siva, Vishnu and Ramchandra, The white paint of sandal-wood paste on the lingam in the form of a circle or a semicircle and a dot, is intended to represent the sacerdotal thread (poitd) and the mark (phontd) and, in the case of the semicircle, the half moon which is said to adorn the forehead of Siva. In the paper on Tree and Serpent worship published in Part I, No. 3 J. A. S. B for 1870, Ananta the serpent king is said to have a thousand heads and four arms. In the Briddha Baudhayana quoted by Hemadri, a Naga is ordinarily described to have five heads. Guia Gates WUGEaded In the Visvakarma Sastra, Ananta is said to have a hundred thousand heads, and the other secondary eight Nagas to have seven heads each, HaVey aaa: Brahaasiyy: | ee ee ee ee oe fefaer area: saa afwaniaa: | A Naga is said to have hoods and the body of a man, the lower extremities being like those of a reptile. A sarpa or serpent is a reptile. The three-headed or the nine-headed snakes are imaginative figures ; they have no foundation in the Sastras. The figures of snakes forming backs of the shrines exhibited are evidently artistic and ornamental; they kave no direct connection with serpent worship. Cup-marks occurring in the vicinity of sepulchral monuments suggest their origin in the Smritis, in which it is stated that, after the cremation of the body, the son of the deceased is directed to offer water and milk, ait and Wit, to the manes of the departed, and the water and milk are generally presented in unburnt clay cups, and it is not unoften that they are poured in little hollows made with the finger on the soft ground of the river side where the funeral ceremony is generally performed. May not the cup-marks on stone slabs represent these water and milk cups offered to the spirits of the departed ? The ant-hill has been known to be a resort of snakes where these reptiles have been seen to coil themselves up for comfortable and warm lodging. ‘The eggs of ants and the queens of the same are well known favourite food of snakes. 32 G. A. Grierson—Some. Further Notes on Kalidasa. [No. 1, Some Further Notes on Kalidésa.— By Guonan A. Grierson, EsqQ., B.C. s. In the April number of the Indian Antiquary for 1878, there is an in- teresting account of the traditions concerning Kaliddsa current in Mysore. The tradition in Mithila, where I am at present, is somewhat different, and it may not be out of place to mention what I have gathered concerning Kalidasa in Bihar. It will be observed that the two legends coincide in describing Kalida- sa as being ignorant in his youth, and as acquiring his unrivalled power over the Sanskrit language by the special interposition of a deity. According to local tradition Kalidasa was born at Damodarpur, a village near the town of Uchait, and situated within the confines of the Madhubanf sub-division of the Darbhanga or Eastern Tirhit district. As narrated in the article above referred to, he was left an orphan at an early age, and being destitute of means of support, he was, although a Brahman, obliged to allow himself to be brought up amongst some low easte tribes, who tended cattle. He grew up so stupid, that even amongst his fellows he was considered little better than an idiot. Now, there was once on a time a Brahman, who lived in a certain city, who had a daughter (name unknown), who was the most learned woman of her age. She refused many advantageous offers of marriage, averring that she would only wed a man more learned than herself. At length her father, losing all patience, made a secret vow that he would marry her to the stupidest Bréhman he could find. So he went about searching for such a man; but could not find one, for ignorant Brahmans are rare in Mithila.* At length one day, he was passing through Damodarpur, when he saw a boy, dressed as a gowdld, sitting on the branch of a tree, and cutting the branch at a part between himself and the trunk. The Brahman looked, and the boy cut on and at last, when he had cut through the branch, fell to the ground along with it. The boy got up, much hurt, and expressed won- der at the result of his labour. The Brahman thought that if this boy were only of his caste, he would be just the husband for his daughter. He made enquiries and found that his name was Kalidasa, and that he was a Brahman, who, being left destitute, was supported by the charity of the Gowalas of Damodarpur. After inquiring as to his stupidity, and finding the result of his inquiries satisfactory, the Brahman took Kalidasa to his home * So says the legend. I only wish that, at the present day, there was some truth in the statement. The difficulty now is to find a Brahman, who can do anything but fight and bring false cases. Lxperto crede ; Tirhtttiyé Brahmans are the bane of a sub- divisional officer's life, 1879.] G. A. Grierson—Some Further Notes on Kalidasa. 83 and introduced him to his daughter, as her future husband. The daughter, in order to test Kalidasa’s knowledge, asked him if he was learned in Sanskrit. Kalidasa in his ignorance replied “ 3raT arf Ha,’ meaning, of course, “sta aife.” The daughter was highly offended at this ignorant answer and told her parent that he ought to have known better than to bring for- ward such a dolt as her future husband. But her father was not in the least taken aback and replied that, by saying as she had just said, she had shown her inferiority to Kélidasa in Sanskrit learning, in that she was not able to understand the excellence of the idiom with which he spoke,—“ For,” said he, “‘qt’ means ‘ knowledge,’ ‘#1’ means ‘of us,’ 7. e., ‘of me,’ ‘aif’ means ‘there is not’; ‘@a’ is compounded of ‘ar and ‘za,’ of which ‘ar’ means ‘ Lakshmi,’ and ‘