Ancient Khotan : vol.1 / Page 571 (Grayscale High Resolution Image)

0571	Ancient Khotan : vol.1

average 20 by 14 in., with a thickness of 3½ to 4 in., showing a size practically identical with
that of the Āk-sipil bricks. As seen in the plan, the enclosing wall along the whole of the
longer sides of the quadrangle, except for a portion near the south corner, was covered by
high sand rising to over 20 ft. above the original ground-level, and was thus inaccessible to
examination. On the shorter south-east face, however, the top of the wall rose for the greatest
part above the sand (as seen in Fig. 60). Here, too, the position of a gate was indicated by
a gap in the centre; subsequent excavation proved it to have been 8½ ft. wide. That the
opposite side of the enclosure, to the north-west, had no corresponding gate could easily be
ascertained without excavation, as in the central part of that face the top of the wall forming
a continuous line was just visible above the sand. The latter was here fully 10 ft. high, and
no excavation could be attempted. It thus seems probable that the gate in the south-east face
was the only entrance to the court.
The centre of the quadrangle is occupied by the imposing Stūpa base which, as shown by Base of
the section in Plate XXXIX, rises in three stories to a height of 22½ ft. above the floor of Stūpa.
the court. The photograph (Fig. 59) shows the upper portion of this base with the extant
part of the dome as seen from the south after some clearing had been effected. Parts of the
base are visible also in the background of the photographs reproduced in Plate XVI. a–c.
The lowest story, 78 ft. square and 7½ ft. high, rests on a plinth of four steps showing an
aggregate elevation of 3 ft. The second story is 45½ ft. square, with a height of 9 ft. It is
surmounted by a circular drum, 3 ft. high and receding on the top, which serves as a plinth
for another circular drum forming part of the Stūpa dome. The masonry of the latter has
remained intact only to a height of about 8½ ft. (see Fig. 59), and it is thus impossible to
determine at what elevation the dome proper sprang from this drum. Nor could anything
definite be ascertained as to the original shape of the cupola.
Judging from the little débris found on the topmost portions of the base, I doubt whether Stūpa dome.
the dome could have been very high. As the above measurements show, the top of its extant
masonry was found to rise to about 31 ft. above the level of the court. The diameter of the
circular drum forming part of the dome proved to be a little over 32 ft. It seems to have
had an inner chamber about 7½ ft. in diameter; but this could not be exactly determined, as
a large cutting had been made, apparently long before my visit, into the dome from the west.
Treasure-seeking operations, no doubt, account also to a large extent for the broken state of
the top of the dome. The cutting showed clearly that the dome, like the rest of the structure,
had been solidly constructed of sun-dried bricks of the same size as those measured in the
quadrangle wall. Also the base had been exposed to repeated attacks of treasure-seekers, as was
proved by the short galleries which were found to have been tunnelled into both the upper
and lower square story on the south-east face (see the plan and Fig. 59, Pl. XVI. a–c).
I have referred so far only to those main features in the base in which the typical and Flights of
orthodox arrangement in three stories found expression. But a look at Plate XL will show steps on
that considerable variation and originality was introduced into the ground-plan by a series of Stūpa base.
bold projections on each face of the base supporting well-proportioned flights of steps. Through
these projections the ground-plan of the base has assumed the shape of a symmetrically developed
cross, each of the four arms of which extend about 52 ft. on the lowest level, as measured from the
centre line of the Stūpa. The broad flights of steps which occupied the centre of each of the four
faces of the base, and, carried by the projecting portions, led up without a break from the level of
the court to the very foot of the dome (see section on line AB in Plate XXXIX; also Fig. 59,
Plate XVI. b, c), must have been an imposing architectural feature. The one on the south-east

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Digital Archive of Toyo Bunko Rare Books

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National Institute of Informatics - Digital Silk Road Project Digital Archive of Toyo Bunko Rare Books

Citation Information

OCR Text

National Institute of Informatics - Digital Silk Road Project
Digital Archive of Toyo Bunko Rare Books