Name of individual Silk Roads component properties: Kaushambi

　　Brief description of the component property:

　　Kaushambi, the capital of Vatsa, with Udayana as the king, was one of the six important cities of northern India in the time of Buddha. It was mainly through the efforts of the three leading bankers of the city- Ghoshita, Kukkuta and Pavarika- that the religion found a strong footing here. On one occasion when Buddha was staying at Jetavana, these three merchants went in a body to invite Buddha to their place. When Buddha agreed, each of them built a retreat to receive him with his following. Thus came into existence Ghoshitarama, Kukkutarama and Pavarikambavana (Pavarika's mango grove). A fourth lodging in or in the vicinity of Kaushambi was the Badarikarama, while a fifth, a vihara, was erected by Uttara, a wood-carver of Udayana.

　　The king, at first hostile towards the new religion, became later friendly towards Buddha at the instance of one of his queens, Samavati, a foster-daughter of Ghoshita and a lay devotee of Buddha. His son Bodhi was a firm believer in the faith.

　　Asoka is credited by Hiuen Tsang with the construction of a stūpa inside the Ghoshitarama and a second near the Dragon's cave in the neighbourhood of Kaushambi.

　　In the third year of the reign of Kanishka, Buddhamitrā, a nun and a disciple of the monk Bala, installed images of Bodhisattva of the Mathura workshop at this place.

　　The establishment continued to flourish under the aegis of the Maghas and later on the Guptas, till it suffered serious reverses at the hands of the Hunas under their anti Buddhist chief Toramana (circa A.D. 500-515). Fa-Hien found the Ghoshitarama tenanted by monks, mostly of the Hinayana tenets. At the time of Hiuen Tsang's visit there were more than ten Buddhist monasteries, but all in utter ruin; and the Brethren, who were above 300 in number, were adherents of the Hinayana system.'

　　He saw in the south-east corner of the city the ruins of the residence of Ghoshita, a Buddhist temple, a hair-and-nail relic stupa and Buddha's bath-house. Not far from this were situated the Ghoshitarama with an Asokan stupa, above 200 ft. high. By its side was a place with traces of the sitting and walking up and down of the Four Past Buddhas, and there was another Buddha Hair-and-nail relic tope. He also recorded the location of a two-storeyed structure, where Vasubandhu was believed to have resided and composed the Wei-shih-lun (Vidyamatra-siddhi), to the south-east of the Ghoshitarama. To the east of the latter he saw in a mango-grove the foundations only of the structure, which one housed Asanga. The pilgrim also recorded the curious tradition of a sandal-wood image of Buddha carved for Udayana and installed in a large temple within the old royal enclosure.

　　The name of Kaushambi survives in Kosam which together with the adjoining villages are sited on the extensive ruins of the ancient fortified town of Kaushambi. Located on the left bank of the Yamuna, the site is 32 miles west-south-west of Allahabad. The hill in which the Dragon's cave was located has been identified with the neighbouring Pabhosa hill. The excavations being conducted in four main areas: (1) the pillar area adjacent to the ASI excavation, (2) the defence complex, (3) the Ghositarama area and (4) the palace complex. In the pillar area, the first to be excavated, three Pds were distinguished. Pd I pre-dated the advent of the NBPW and Pds II and III respectively saw its appearance and disappearance, Pd II being separated from Pd I, marked by the presence of only a few sherds of the PGW by a thick sterile layer. There were no brick structures in the early levels of pd II, the NBPW appearing from its very start. Uninscribed cast coins made their appearance with the earliest brick structures and a road, assigned to c. 300 B.C., and shortly after that were coins of the lanky bull type typical of Kaushambi. In pd III, C. 175 B.C., to A.D. 325, were coins of the Mitra rulers such as Brahaspatimitra, Suramitra, Prajapatimitra and Rajanimitra, followed by those of the Kushans and the Maghas, the latter continuing to c. A.D. 250. In c. 350 A.D. appeared coins of Ganendra, indentified with Ganapatinaga, who was ousted by Samudragupta. The road which had its origin in Pd II continued up to C. 300. Habitation in this area ceased in C. 400.

　　Subsequent excavation, particularly in the defence area, has materially altered the picture, and the excavator has identified four Pds, respectively dated 1165 to 885 B.C., 885 to 605 B.C., 605 to 45 B.C., and 45 B.C to A.D. 580. In other words his former Pds I to III have to be regarded as Pds II to IV: Pd I pre-dated the PGW.

　　The ceramics of Pd I coming mainly from the earliest levels of the defences are extremely diminutive and fragmentary. The pottery of Pd II, from the later strata of the defences and the lowest levels of the palace area, consists of red, grey-to-buff, and black-and-red wares. The red ware is wheel-made, sturdy and of well-levigated clay. The shapes are the bowl, dish, bowl-cum-basin and dish-on-stand. Typological analysis of the pottery of this Pd shows, according to the excavator, similarity with that of a motley of sites like Navadatoli III, Rangpur II C, Lothal II, Mehgaon, Somnath, Motama Chiala, etc., and several sites in the Ganga valley. The excavator however significantly notes that whereas these are pre-Iron Age sites, at Kaushambi the corresponding pottery is associated with Iron, but the analogies show the early origin of Kaushambi and its contacts with the Chalcolithic cultures of central and west India and Harappa tradition.

　　The PGW is represented in Pds II and III, associated with which is the Black-slipped ware. The painted designs on the former comprise horizontal bands, groups of vertical and slanting strokes, loops, circles, dots and circles of dots, in some cases in deep chocolate or yellow on brownish-red surface. Though comparable with the PGW of Hastinapur and Ropar, it admittedly belongs to a late stage. The NBPW appears in profusion in Pd III and has several shades- steel-grey, black, chocolate, orange and golden. The bowl and dish are the common shapes.