266 • ANCIENT SITE OF YOTKAN [CHAP. xvr.
hallowed spot not to be touched by the plough-share. Some unknown saint is supposed to have sat at the spot, and evil would befall those who should touch the ground. The name of the saint is forgotten, and the villagers would not assert whether he rests under the mound or not. But the people of Somiya never pass without saying a prayer, and according to the testimony of Shami
OLD VILLAGERS OF SOMIYA.
Sope and his forebears, they have clung to this custom for the last two centuries.
I take it as a sign of the antiquity of the tradition that no name is assigned to the saint whose memory lingers about the ` Döbe,' whereas the names of the three Mullahs who are supposed to sanctify the Mazar of the village are currently known to young and old. Nobody seemed to know of any other spot similarly surrounded with superstitious awe in the neighbourhood. Considering the concordant evidence of the naine and position of Somiya, I think it highly probable that the worship of this nameless mound is the last trace left of the ' Sa-mo joh ' Stupa of Buddhist days. And if
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