Location and Topography (of ancient Kaushambi)

32 miles south-west of the holy city of Praysga, modern Allahabad, is situated, on the left bank of the Yamuna, a mass of mounds with extensive traces of ancient habitation. Enclosed by villages now known as Kosam-khiraj, Garhwa, Kosam-inam and Anwan-kunwan, these mounds have been identified with the remains of ancient Kaushambi. While ‘Kosam’ is a corruption of Kaushambi-Koshambi, the word Garhwa signifies a fort. Thus, the names of the two villages together indicate that the ancient Kaugambi, over the ruins of which they are situated, was a fortified town. From a distance the ruins give the impression of an imposing hillock, which, when approached nearer, reveals itself as a chain of rolling mounds, standing high above the surrounding plains (pis. II-III), girdled on the south by the Yamuna-The background to the entire scene in the 'southern direction is provided by the Vmdhyan range peeping through the horizon at not a great distance beyond the river.

These mounds are the remnants of the derelict ancient rampart that once protected the capital of the Vatsas. The entire chain has a peripheral ciruit of 21,170 it, approximating to 4 miles. The rampart proper has an average height of 30 to 35* ft. from the surrounding field-level. The towers or the bastions, however, are considerably higher, some of them, particularly those on the north-western and the north-eastern comer, being as high as 70 ft.

The lengths of the different faces of the fortress are as follows^[1] :—

North	=	5,200 ft,
South	=	5,980 ft.
East	=	5,890 ft.
West	=	4,100 ft.

On plan the fortress forms an irregular oblong, the irregularity being the out-come of a deliberate planning which conformed to the ideas of strategy and defence prevalent in ancient India. The entire periphery of the rampart is marked by a series of salients or bastions, with the space in between filled with rammed mud. Such a course must have been suggested not only by considerations-of economy of labour but also by the idea that the multiplication of bastions would add to the defensive and structural strength of the rampart.

The situation of gates on all the four sides of the rampart calls for particular attention. They are invariably situated between the converging heels of two salients.

Away from the fort-wall, at a short distance from each gate, are situated two mounds which evidently flanked the road leading to the gate. These mounds were, it seems, intended to be outposts, the entire chain of which served as another part of the defence-system of Kaushambi.

Between the outer face of the rampart and the mounds there are clear traces of a deep moat^[2] which encircled -the entire rampart. Though erosion from the mounds through rain-gullies, together with the annual inundation of the Yamuna, has almost silted the moat on the eastern and western aides of the city, traces of it are clearly discernible on the northern side. Not only is the present level of the moat lower than the base of the rampart but also it is clearly demarcated by the composition and colour of the soil. The rampart is a huge mass of mud having a brownish brick colour and littered with brickbats, sherds and ashes, while the moat is distinguished by alluvial clayey silt.

About a mile away from the outposts described above, there is another ring of detached and fast-vanishing mounds that once encircled the city. Obviously they formed the outermost line of the defence-complex at Kaushambi.

The defences, as a whole, give evidence of an advanced knowledge of the principles of fortification. This is nowhere better illustrated than at the eastern gate^[3] which is so situated that the two salients enclosing it served the purpose of curtains, while a bund in front completely screened it from outside view. The passage through this curtained gate was not direct and straight but was through the salient, south of the gate and the bund in front (pi. Ill B).

On the outer face, the rampart, even in its abandoned condition, is fairly steep, often difficult to scale, overgrown as it is with weeds, shrubs, bushes and even small trees Q (p1. II B).

Within the fortress, however, successive occupations, spread over several centuries, raised the habitation-level to such an extent that the last occupation inside the fort was practically on the extant top of the rampart. This phenomenon implies a phase m the life of the city when, though it was fully inhabited, there was no necessity of maintaining the defences, which gradually became impaired. The rise in the occupation-level must have been considerably accelerated when the numerous temples, sangharamas, palaces and houses of common people were razed to the ground, partly through neglect and partly by the inroads of the invaders.

A stone pillar, generally ascribed to Ashoka, is the only noteworthy relic available on the present surface. It stands on what appears to denote an ancient thoroughfare and was also noticed by Cunningham in 1861.^[4] In spite of repeated efforts since then, its capital, if any existed at all, has not been discovered.

The entire surface of the enclosed fortress is covered with brickbats of varying sizes. The cultivator in this area has to wage a relentless struggle against bricks and ruined wall-tops, partly revealed but mostly concealed beneath the surface, covered only by a thin layer of earth about 6 in. in depth. The wheels of the bullock-cart sometimes bring an entire wall to the surface. The ploughshare often furrows accross old structures.

Looking from an elevation within the fortress, one is immediately struck by the regular depressions starting from the gates and converging inside towards a central mound that seems to dominate the entire scene. Without doubt, one has before oneself in these depressions the ancient road-system of the town. In addition, there are a few shallow pond-like hollows, with collapsed sides and flat bottoms. Whereas their sides show a reddish appearance on account of the bricks that might have once lined them, the earth at the bottom is clayish, indicating their use as tanks. Near some of them also stand a few isolated and peaked mounds. What can they represent but the relics of old temples which were once so numerous in the city?^[5]

That the ancient city extended even beyond the fortification is evidenced by traces of habitation, brickbats and pottery outside the fortified area. The entire city, comprising the portion within the rampart and outside it, must have been about 3 miles square and thus nearly as large as modern Allahabad or Varanasi.

Footnotes and references:

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[1]:

Cunningham, gives the following measurements:—North front 4,500 ft., South front. 6.000 ft.. East front, 7,500 ft. and Wv* front. 5,100 it, (Arch. Ind.. I, Simla. 1871. p. 306)

[2]:

G.R. Sharma, The Excavations at Kaushambi 1957-59, pp. 38 f.

[3]:

I. A., 1954-55: pl. XXXI; Sharma, G.R., op. cit.

[4]:

Cunningham, op. cit., p. 309.

[5]:

T. Watters, On Yuan Ghwang's Travels in India, I (London, 1904). p. 366,