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Innermost Asia : vol.2 |
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windows; for thus alone could the passage round the circular interior wall have received its
lighting. This supposition is borne out by the presence in the circular wall of eight small arched
windows about 10 inches wide, at a height of about a foot from the floor of the passage, giving on
the interior, and each opposite to a corner formed by the octagonal facets of the outer wall. That
the interior once had a double vaulting, as found in other Stūpas of Kosh-gumbaz,⁸ is made probable
by another set of eight 'windows' which penetrate through the whole thickness of the base, 14
feet, into the inner chamber, at a height of about 3½ feet above the ground level and about as much
below the floor level of the passage. These windows were 2 feet 3 inches wide outside, reaching
a height of 3 feet with their arched points. At about a foot and a half from their inner end these
window passages appeared to have been partially blocked by brickwork, perhaps used in 'pinjory'
fashion.
Passage
round
circular
wall. In the course of clearing the passage a considerable number of fine fresco fragments were
recovered which evidently had belonged to a painted frieze higher up. None of them were found
less than 5 to 6 feet above the passage flooring, which suggests that the walls of the passage below
this level had been left without decoration. Some of the fresco fragments were found lying one
in front of the other, as if they had slid down successively, as had happened with the frescoes of
the Mīrān shrine M. iii.⁹ The entrance to the passage, if it had one, must have been from the south;
but there both the octagonal outer and the inner circular walls showed a big breach, made, no
doubt, by those who searched the sepulchral structure after it had become a ruin. Against the
south-eastern facet of the base was built a small annexe, originally double-storied, containing on
the ground floor two vaulted rooms, each 15 feet long. The one nearest to the sepulchral structure
was only 5 feet wide and may have once contained stairs leading to the upper rooms; but this
could not be determined. The fact that the enclosing wall of the quadrangular courtyard, against
which the annexe was built, stood on this side 18 feet away from the main structure and only
4 feet away on the opposite side suggests that the annexe was contemporary with the former. In
this case it may possibly have served as a convenient place for performing funeral rites or keeping
articles needed in connexion with these, &c.
Textile
remains,
etc., from
Kao. iii. That the sepulchral structure itself had at some later period been put to use as quarters or as
a storing-place appeared probable from a large layer of straw and brushwood that came to light
at the bottom of the western portion of the passage. We also found there a large but torn sheet
of paper with Chinese writing, apparently a commercial document; fragments of leaves with
Brāhmī and Uigur writing; and some small wooden slips, one bearing Uigur script. A leaf
with some fragments in Uigur was also recovered on the floor of the eastern side of the passage,
besides textile remains, including the pieces of printed silk, Kao. iii. e. 01. a, b (Pl. LXXXVI) and
the fragments of silk tapestry, Kao. iii. e. 02. a. Other objects found here were the wooden
weighting board of a small banner, Kao. iii. 061, and the black-lacquered inkpot Kao. iii. e. 03
(Pl. LXXI).
Fresco
remains
from
passage. Quite distinct from these remains is the large hoard of metal objects which was unearthed on
the north-eastern side of the passage, well above the floor. Before, however, turning to this cache,
brief reference may be made here to the remains of the original fresco decoration of the passage,
which are fully described in the List below but await illustration. The two largest pieces, Kao. iii.
019–20, each close on two feet in length and about one in height, show the figures of male donors
kneeling in front of altars or pedestals with sacred emblems (?) and accompanied by remains of
Uigur inscriptions. Some of the bearded heads preserved show interesting details of features and
head-dress which may help towards an approximate dating. Among the smaller fragments, Kao. iii.
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697
698
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