Report of a Tour through the Bengal Provinces/Tiládaka
TILÁDAKA.
From Patna the Chinese pilgrim travelled south-west to the village of Tiládaka. The distances given in the life and in the travels of Hwen Thsang differ considerably; the former making it 7 yojans, the latter 100 li. The actual distance to Tillâra, however, is 25 miles from the south-east end of modern Patna, and 28 miles from what I would consider the south-east end of Pâṭaliputra, and it lies due south instead of south-west of Patna. From Hwen Thsang’s itineraries, therefore, it is clear that Tillâra can lay no claim to being the modern representative of Tiládaka, but in this instance there is proof of the most conclusive nature that Tillâra is Tiládaka. An inscription cut on the jamb of the doorway to the present Sangin Masjid at Tillâra distinctly mentions the name Telâḍaka. On submitting the inscription to General Cunningham, he at once read the name as Telaḍaka, and communicated the important discovery to me. Tillâra had been previously identified with Tiládaka by General Cunningham, Geog. Anc. India, page 455; see also J. A. S. for 1872, page 250 et seq.
The identification of Telâḍaka is thus established beyond dispute. The modern Tillâra, however, is a small straggling village situated between two branches of the Phalgu river, the Soná and the Katár. The principal objects of interest here are the Sangin Masjid, the dargah of Syad Yusuf, and a high mound near the north-west end of the village. The masjid is a plain hail with flat dabbed roof supported by Hindu pillars. The pillars are of many kinds, and set up without the slightest regard to symmetry or beauty. Most of them are of a coarse kind of granite, but a few are of sandstone. The hall is quite open in front; no arched or front wall appears to have ever existed. It, in short, resembles the masjids built of Hindu materials at Mahobá.
In front of the masjid is a court-yard paved with Hindu pillars, architraves, and other Hindu remains, presenting an appearance of such utter disregard to regularity or arrangement of any kind as is unrivalled in the history even of Muhammadan vandalism.
The side walls of the masjid are prolonged to enclose this court-yard, and a small narrow entrance in the east face of this wall leads through a small chamber to a still narrower and smaller entrance which gives access to the court-yard and masjid. The entrances are so small, especially the inner one, that one has almost to creep in on all-fours.
Close to and outside the masjid is the dargah, remarkable only for its general ugliness. An inscribed stone is in this dargah.
At the north-west end of the village are a few Hindu temples; one contains a fine image of an eighteen-armed female in black basalt. Close to these is an old ruined brick tomb, a square surmounted by a dome; it is very picturesque.
Close to these is a great mound nearly 45 feet high, and another longish one 30 or 35 feet high; the high one is clearly the ruins of a temple, as I traced a portion of the straight walls of the temple; both are crowned by Muliammadan tombs. The path leading from the Sangin Masjid to the Hindu shrines passes over undulating ground; the undulations are not natural, lint are the remains of buildings; these undulations cover a space of nearly half a mile in length by about 500 feet in width.
There can be no doubt that Tillâra was at one time a great place, and excavations carried on here would, I doubt not, yield rich results, judging from such remains as can now be seen above ground. See also J. A. S. for 1872, paper by Mr. Broadley.