of the Third Synod, during the reign of Asoka in B. C. 241. He died at eighty years of age, in

B. C. 233.

7. The discovery in this Tope consisted of the relics of no less than ten of the leading men of the Buddhist Church, during the reign of Asoka. One of them conducted the proceedings of the Third Synod, in 241 B. C., and two others were deputed to the Hemawanta country as missionaries, after the meeting of the Synod. From this we may conclude that the date of the Tope cannot be earlier than about 220 B. C., by which time the last of Asoka's contemporaries would have passed away. The railing is most probably of the same period, for the use of the term Bhikhu instead of Bhichhu (of which latter there are only five instances amongst the numerous inscriptions on the colonnade of the great Tope), might readily be supposed to have extended in fifty years to that proportion in which we find it used in the inscriptions of No. 2 Tope at Sánchi. The general forms of the alphabetical characters agree too closely with those of Asoka's own age, to permit the assignment of a later date than 200 B. C., for the erection of this Tope.

8. The Tope itself would seem at first to have been intended only for the relics of Kásyapa Gotra, and of Vácchi Suvijayata, whose names alone are found on the outside of the stone box. But I suppose that during the several years of its erection the Sánchi community gradually became possessed of the relics

of other distinguished men who had worked long and well for the extension and glory of the Buddhist religion, during the long and prosperous reign of Asoka.

9. A comparison of all these different inscriptions establishes the intimate connection which existed between many of the principal leaders of the Buddhist faith during the reign of Asoka. The family of Kodini, in two generations alone, would appear to have furnished no less than six leading members of the Buddhist priesthood. His son Majhima was the missionary sent to the Hemawanta country in 241 B.C.; and his grandson, Gotiputra, was so eminent a member of the Bauddha community as to have merited the title of dayúdo, or, "brother" of the faith; which proves that he must have dedicated some of his own children to the service of his religion. This family, also, would appear to have been equally celebrated as successful propounders of Buddhism, for Goti is recorded to have been the teacher of Váchhi Suvijayata, and his son Gotiputra, to have been the teacher of the famous Mogaliputra, who was the head of the Buddhist Church at the Assembly of the Third Synod in B.C. 241. The connection between the different members of this family and their pupils is shown in the following table :

10. This genealogy, obtained from the inscriptions of the Bhilsa Topes, shows what we might reasonably expect to get from the numerous Topes which still exist in the ancient Kapila and Magadha, the scene of Sákya Sinha's birth, teaching, and death. A few more genealogies, similar to the above, would probably give us a complete succession from the time of Sakya Sinha down to the age of Asoka, and so establish the accuracy of the date now assigned to the great founder of the Buddhist religion. As we have already discovered relics of his contemporaries, Sáriputra and Mogalána, who date from the middle of

the 6th century B.C., and of Mogaliputra and others who assisted at the Third Synod in B.C. 241, there is every reasonable expectation that a complete examination of the still existing monuments would yield us the names of many of the principal leaders of Buddhism during the 4th, 5th, and 6th centuries before Christ. We should thus, perhaps, obtain one or more complete genealogical successions during the most eventful period of Indian history.

*

CHAPTER XXI.

NO. 3 TOPE.-SÁNCHI.

1. AT first sight this Tope presented a mere mass of ruins; but a closer inspection showed the lower courses of the hemisphere and the terrace of the basement tolerably perfect, although hidden amongst a heap of fallen stones. The diameter of the hemisphere is 40 feet; the breadth of the terrace, which was formed of single slabs, and is still quite perfect on the western side, is 6 feet, and its height above the original level of the soil is 7 feet; but only 6 feet above the floor of the entrance door-way which is still standing to the south. The dome was crowned by a pedestal 4 feet square, which supported a chatta about 3 feet in diameter. A square slab, which once formed part of the pedestal, is now lying to the south of the Tope, and a fragment of the chatta to the north-east.

2. The Tope was surrounded by a Buddhist railing, of which the only remains are a few of the curved

See Plate XXII.