The Ancient Geography of India/Ahichhatra
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7. Ahichhatra
[p.359]: From Govisana Hwen Thsang proceeded to the south-east 400 li, or 66 miles, to Ahi-chi-ta-lo, or Ahichhatra.[1] This once famous place still preserves its ancient name as Ahichhatr, although it has been
- ↑ Julien's ' Hiouen Thsang' ii. 231. See Map No. X.
[p.360]: deserted for many centuries. Its history readies back to B.C. 1430, at which time it was the capital of northern Panchala. The name is written Ahi-kshetra, as well as Ahi-chhatra, but the local legend of Adi Raja and the Naga, who formed a canopy over his head when asleep, shows that the latter is the correct form. This grand old fort is said to have been built by Raja Adi, an Ahir, whose future elevation to sovereignty was foretold by Drona, when he found him sleeping under the guardianship of a serpent with expanded hood. The place is mentioned by Ptolemy as Aδισάδρα which proves that the legend attached to the name of Adi is at least as old as the beginning of the Christian era. The fort is also called Adikot, but the more common name is Ahichhatr.
According to the ' Mahabharata,' the great kingdom of Panchala extended from the Himalaya mountains to the Chambal river. The capital of north Panchala, or Rohilkhand, was Ahi-chhatra, and that of south Panchala, or the Central Gangetic Doab, was Kampilya, now Kampil, on the old Ganges between Budaon and Farrukhabad. Just before the great war, or about 1430BC, the king of Panchala, named Drupada, was conquered by Drona, the preceptor of the five Pandus. Drona retained north Panchala for himself, but restored the southern half of the kingdom to Drupada. According to this account, the name of Ahi-chhatra, and consequently also the legend of Adi Raja and the serpent, are many centuries anterior to the rise of Buddhism.
It would appear, however, that the Buddhists must have adopted and altered the legend to do honour to their great teacher, for Hwen Thsang records that out-
[p.361]: side the town there was a Naga-hrada, or " serpent tank," near which Buddha had preached the law for seven days in favour of the serpent king, and that the spot was marked by a stupa of King Asoka[1] Now, as the only existing stupa at this place is called Chattr, I infer that the Buddhist legend represented the Naga king after his conversion as forming a canopy over Buddha with his expanded hood. I think, also, that the stupa erected on the spot where the conversion took place would naturally have been called Ahi Chhatra, or the " serpent canopy." A similar story is told at Buddha Gaya of the Naga King Muchalinda, who, with his expanded hood, sheltered Buddha from the shower of rain produced by the malignant demon Mara.
The account of Ahi Chhatra given by Hwen Thsang is unfortunately very meagre, otherwise we might most probably have identified many of the existing ruins with the Buddhist works of an early age. The capital was 17 or 18 li, or just three miles in circuit, and was defended by natural obstacles. It possessed 12 monasteries, containing about 1000 monks, and 9 Brahmanical temples, with about 300 worshippers of Ishwara Deva (Siva), who smeared their bodies with ashes. The stupa near the serpent tank, outside the town, has already been mentioned. Close beside it, there were four small stupas built on the spots where the four- previous Buddhas had either sat or walked. Both the size and the peculiar position of the ruined fortress of Ahi-chhatra agree so exactly with Hwen Thsang's description of the ancient Ahi Chhatra, that there can be no doubt whatever of their identity. The circuit of the walls, as they stand at present, is 19,400
- ↑ Julien's 'Hiouen Thsang,' ii, 235.
[p.362]: feet, or upwards of 3½ miles. The shape may be described as an irregular right-angled triangle, the west side being 5600 feet in length, the north side 6400 feet, and the long side to the south-east 7400 feet. The fort is situated between the Ram Ganga and Ganghan rivers, which are both difficult to cross ; the former on account of its broad sands, the latter on account of its extensive ravines. Both on the north and east the place is rendered almost inaccessible by the Piria Nala, a difficult ravine, with steep broken banks and numerous deep pools of water, quite impassable by wheeled vehicles. For this reason the cart road to Bareli, distant only 18 miles due cast, is not less than 3 miles. Indeed the only accessible side of the position is the north-west, from the direction of Lakhnor, the ancient capital of the Katehria Rajputs. It there-fore fully merits the description of Hwen Thsang as being defended by " natural obstacles." Ahi Chhatra is only seven miles to the north of Aonla, but the latter half of the road is rendered difficult by the ravines of the Ganghana river. It was in this very position, in the jangals to the north of Aonla, that the Katchria Rajputs withstood the Muhammadans under Firuz Tughlak.[1]
Ahi Chhatra was first visited by Captain Hodgson, the surveyor, who describes the place as " the ruins of an ancient fortress several miles in circumference, which appears to have had 34 bastions, and is known in the neighbourhood by the name of the "Pandus Fort." According to my survey, there are only 32 towers, but it is quite possible that one or two may have escaped my notice, as I found many parts so
[p.363]: overgrown with thorny jungal as to be inaccessible. The towers are generally from 28 to 30 feet in height, excepting on the west side, where they rise to 35 feet. A single tower near the south-west corner is 47 feet in height above the road outside. The average height of the interior mass is from 10 to 20 feet. Many of the present towers, however, are not ancient, as an attempt was made by Ali Muhammad Khan, about 200 years ago, to restore the fort with a view of making it his stronghold in case he should be pushed to extremities by the King of Delhi. The new walls are said to have been 1-1/4 gaz thick, which agrees with my measurements of the parapets on the south-eastern side, which vary from 2 feet 9 inches to 3 feet 3 inches in thickness at top. According to popular tradition, Ali Muhammad expended about a karor of rupees, or one million pounds sterling, in this attempt, which he was finally obliged to abandon on account of its costliness. I estimate that he may perhaps have spent about one lakh of rupees, or £10,000, in repairing the ramparts and in rebuilding the parapets. There is an arched gateway on the south-east side, which must have been built by the Musalmans, but as no new bricks were made by them, the cost of their work would have been limited to the labour alone. The ramparts are 18 feet thick at the base in some places, and between 14 and 15 feet in others.
The district of Ahi Chhatra was about 3000 li, or 500 miles, in circuit. With these large dimensions I believe that it must have comprised the eastern half of Rohilkhand, lying betwcen the northern hills and the Ganges, from Pilibhit on the west to Khairabad near the Ghagra on the east. This tract has a boundary of 450 miles measured direct, or about 500 miles by road distance.