278 THE INDIAN ANTIQUARY. [October, 1873. for though shikdrisy coolies, and guides mus¬ tered a dozen men, it took them from tolerably early in the morning till much past midday be¬ fore the centre of the cairn was cleared. In accomplishing this, one remarkable feature was observed : in the middle of the well there was a long large stone nearly four feet in length, of considerable thickness and tapering upwards, placed upright, filled in, and covered with the stones which filled the well. Whether this had any lingam, or other significance, I cannot say. After the circular central opening was at last cleared, nothing was found to reward the toil but some pieces of a large urn ; a miniature buffalo’s-head of hard-baked clay; a human head the size of a lime, of the same—the hair being represented by little dotted rings; and a small sickle-shaped iron-knife : the whole cairn had been built on the rock, and there were only two or three inches of soil at the bottom of the well. Considering the number of objects fre¬ quently yielded by cairns, I was much disappoint¬ ed at this result. The hill-top was the most commanding of the many around, on almost every one of which a cairn was visible, and there was a magnificent prospect from it over Kotagiri and tho low country beyond, extending to the distant Salem and Trichinapalli hills. Hence one was led to conclude the cairn must be the burial-place of a great chieftain ; and the enor¬ mous labour expended in carrying such mul¬ titudes of stones up a hill that was trying to ascend empty-handed, raised the expectation they would cover a rich and various funeral deposit. 9, Randolph Crescent, London, June 1873. MUSALMAN REMAINS IN THE SOUTH KONKAN. BY A. K. NAIRNE, Esq., Bo. C.S., BAN DORA. J.—Dahhol. The Southern Konkan is a district which up to the time of the Marathas possessed little importance, and is but seldom mentioned in the earlier histories. The Musalmans, who spread so gradually over India, would perhaps never have thought so barren and uncivilized a coun¬ try worth conquering at all, if it had not been tliat its seaports gave travellers from Persia and Arabia easier access to the great cities of the Dekhan than could be had by any land- journey, and it must have been necessary also to koep open certain routes from these ports to the Dekhan, without which the command of the coast would have been of little value. It is pro¬ bable that these ports and routes were but few, and from the fact of nearly all the Konkan forts having been rebuilt and enlarged by Sivaji, the traces of the Musalman occupation are even less than they otherwise would bo. Yet it is possi¬ ble, by searching books of old history and travel, and at tho same time examining the few remain¬ ing ruins, to got some idea of what this dis¬ trict was in tho days of Musalman ascendancy, and to make out a few of the routes by which merchants and travellers from Persia, Arabia, and Europe found their way to the capital cities of Sadik Isfahimi, in liis Takwim al Buldbn (cir. 1635) has: ‘ Dabul lo) a seaport of the Dekkan, long. 8530', Bidar, Gulbarga, Bijapur, and Golkonda. What I have collected I now give with tolerable con¬ fidence that, as far as it goes, it is correct, but it is no more than an outline which may per¬ haps help others to prepare a complete local his¬ tory. In his translation of Ferishtah, Briggs, speak¬ ing of the Muhammadan invasion of tho Konkan in 1429, says : “ It seems very doubtful if tho whole of the Konkan had ever been attacked before this period* and this exploit seems to have been rather a marauding expedition than a conquest. The ports of Dabul and Chaul are spoken of at a very early period as in the hands of the Muhammadans : but whether they occu¬ pied much of the interior of the country appears very doubtful.” As I have no acquaintance with the district in which Chaul lies, I shall confine my¬ self to that part of the Southern Konkan between Bankot and Goa—that is, the Rutnagiri collect- orate and a small part of the Savantvadi State, and on all accounts it will be proper to begin with tho history of Dabul, as it is always spelt by the Musalman and early English writers, though it is written in Marathi Dabhol.* This ancient port is situated above 85 miles _ — - lat. 45° 30'.’ ChSvel (Jjor Chaul, he placea in long. 88 and lat 36°, and Bidar (j*#) in long. 109°, lat 47°.—Ed.
