He next described the hill in possession of the Muslims, with the “monument of a saint called Baiskaran” (interpreted as ‘Vyasa karna’ by Dr R C P Singh). He also conjectured that since the Hindus had no native appellation for the place, but universally called it Sultanganj, which was a Persian, or rather an Arabic word (indicating a marketplace named after some Sultan), the celebrity of the place may have arisen from some old religion, which had diminished, but was found celebrated on the rocks covered with figures totally unconnected with the religious entities in current possession, one being sacred to Shiva and the other to Mohammed. He further mentioned that the hill in possession of the Mohammedans, had also earlier belonged to the Hindu worship, as indicated by the numerous figures carved on its granite, exactly in the same style as those on the rocks of the island. Among the various sculptures he encountered, the ones representing “a priapus (Lingga) supported by nymphs (Nayikas) and a female in a reclining posture surrounded by human heads, and said to represent a female devil (Rakshasi) surrounded by the heads of her daughters”, were noted as being the most remarkable and were attributed to the era of the Karna Rajas.

To be continued....