146 KHANUI AND ORDAM-PADSHAH [CHAP. Ix.
sembling in its dimensions and proportions the Buddhist monuments of this kind on the Afghan border and in the northern Panjab. It rises on a three-storied square base, with the hemispherical dome above almost intact, to a height of nearly forty feet. The position it occupies, on an isolated tongue of high ground sloping down from the foot of the mountains, makes the structure look still more conspicuous. Behind the Stupa, which still retains on the less exposed southern side portions of the original coating of plaster, I found a great oblong mound of far greater dimensions but much more dilapidated. Traces of niches or cells in a threefold row preserved on the side least exposed to the winds and the rain suggest that it may be the remains of a monastery attached to the Stupa. On the platform connecting the two structures I could trace low crumbling walls of several small buildings.
The old Aksakal of Beshkarim told me that the people know the site by the naine of Mauri Tim, and look upon the ` Gumbaz,' i.e., the Stupa, as the watch-tower of the fabulous " King of Chin and Machin " who resided in the ancient city before Harun Boghra Khan destroyed it. That the Stupa goes back to pre-Muhammadan times is quite certain, and judging from its shape and proportions I should be inclined to date it several centuries previous to the arrival of Islam. It has not escaped the ravages of man, for on the western side I found a deep cutting, in all probability made long ago by treasure-seekers. It has been carried to the centre of the hemispherical dome and reveals the interesting fact that this Stupa contained, like others examined by me in Swat and Buner, a small square chamber probably intended for the deposit of relics. This chamber was near the top of the dome, and below it a narrow square shaft can still be made out descending into the base.
It must be due to the dryness of the air and the absence of destructive climatic influences that the rows of sticks
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