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

plateau near the south-western end of the mound. Several among them showed
the respectable dimensions of 15 × 10 × 3½ inches.

Numerous pieces picked up among the potsherds, which thickly cover the
mound, showed moulded decoration with small lozenges, rows of wave lines and
similar simple patterns (S.P. 5, 9, 15, 23; Pl. I). The pearl border ornament
with raised bosses is seen in S.P. 21. That occupation here dated well back into
Hindu times is proved by the moulded fragment of fine dark-grey ware (S.P.
20; Pl. I) found on the top. It shows below a band of raised circlets the figure
of a dancing female holding some object in her raised left hand. The heavy hair
dress is thrown back. The design suggests a style somewhat later than that of
the Gupta period. A silver coin of Sāmantadeva brought from this mound and
shown to me at Bhēra together with other indications suggested that the site
was occupied down to the period of the Hindu Shāhiyas. In consequence appar-
ently of a treasure trove made here some years ago, the Sabzpind mound has
been declared a 'Protected Monument'.

A large mound near the village of Hāthīpind, some 7 miles due south of
Bhēra, was visited on the following day, but proved less interesting. It stretches
for some 340 yards from east to west and throws out an arm of equal length to
the north-east, a portion of it being occupied by dwellings. What relief-
decorated potsherds could be picked up showed only coarse patterns of cable
scrolls, lozenge diapers, and the like. On the comparatively rare painted pieces
the designs, black on red, were of the simplest (for specimens see Hathi. 1, 4,
10, 13; Pl. I). The mound, which rises to about 23 feet where highest, may not
date back farther than medieval times.

On December 14th we moved our base from Bhēra to Shāhpur, the former
head-quarters of the district to which it has given its name. Two small mounds
were examined near the villages of Nabi Shāh and Dhal, both situated on the
main road about 6½ and 9 miles, respectively, from Bhēra. Among the potsherds
found in plenty on these mounds, painted and relief-decorated pieces (Nab. 6;
Dhal. 1, 8, 9, 13, 16, 19, 20; Pl. I, II) were numerous. They show a variety of
patterns closely resembling those seen on the corresponding ware from the 'Ālis'
of Rakh Chirāgha. On the other hand, pottery of this type or else bearing
stamped designs was conspicuously absent on the extensive mound, more than
350 yards in diameter, which we subsequently inspected in a scrub- and tree-
covered area known as Chak Mubāra, situated to the south-east of Nūrpur village,
off the main road some 12 miles to the south-west of Bhēra. The site is locally
known to have been sacked in the course of an Afghān invasion during the reign of
the Emperor Muhammad Shāh in the early part of the eighteenth century, and to
have since been abandoned to the jungle. Hence the rarity of relief-decorated