Caves XVI., XVII., and XIX. are about the same age, but cave XVI. is the earliest, and in some respects the most elegant. Its verandah, 65 feet by 10 feet 8 inches, was supported by two pilasters and six plain octagonal columns with bracket capitals; but all except one are gone. The cave has a central and two side doors, with windows between them. The pilasters on either side of the principal door, are surmounted by female figures standing on the heads of makaras. The front aisle is 74 feet long; and the dimensions of the ball, which is supported by twenty octagonal columns, are 66 feet 3 inches by 65 feet 3 inches by 15 feet 3 inches. The middle pair of pillars in the front and back rows have square bases, with shafts changing first to octagons, then to 16 sides, and then to square heads with bracket capitals. The roof of the front aisles is cut in imitation of beams and rafters. The ends of the beams are supported by small fat figures as brackets,-the central beams having one figure, others having two, and others again having male and female figures of kinnaras, &c. [This curiously wooden construction of root may be still observed in native floors and roofs throughout India; and what is here carved in rock, is painted in Caves XII., II, and I. with flowers and other ornaments to fill the interspaces. See Fergusson and Burgess. Cave Temples of India.]

There are six cells in each side, two in the back wall, and one at either end of the verandah. The shrine is entered direct from the hall. A gigantic statue of Buddha, with his feet down, is in the teaching position ; and a passage runs round the image. On each side of the shrine are two octagonal pillars and two pilasters, screening off side aisles, which are entered by doors from the hall, and are lighted by small square windows near the roof. On the left end wall, outside the verandah, is a mutilated inscription of about 27 lines. [The following translation is by Pandit Bhagwanlal Indraji, as given in the Archaeological Survey Report of Western India, Vol. IV.:-

" Having adored (Buddha who taught)............... the extinction of the high rising flames of the three, worlds' sins, I will declare the ancient succession of kings.

" There was a famous twice-born man on earth (named) Vindhyasakti, whose strength grew in great battles-whose valor, when he was angered, could not be overcome even by the Gods............ mighty in gifts.

" He whose majesty was equal to Indra and Upendra (Vishnu), who by the valor of his arm gained (the whole world), became the banner of the Vakataka race.

" He, covering in battle the sun with the dust clouds raised by his horses' hoofs making his enemies.............caused them to become prone to salute.

" Having conquered his enemies, living like the king of gods, he strenuously exerted himself to (gain) spiritual merit.

" His son was Pravarasena, whose lotus-feet were kissed by the rays from the gems on the heads of (hostile) princes, and whose eyes resembled fresh opening lotuses.

"The rays of the sun............. Pravarasena's son was (Sudrasena), who conquered all armies.

" (The son) of (that) king (Pri) thivi (sena)............ (having conquered) the lord of Kuntala, righteously ruled the earth.

" His excellent son was Pravarasena, who gained exalted rule................

" His son............ (was).............. who, having obtained the kingdom when eight years of age, ruled well.

"His son was............. king........... on earth Devasena, through whose lovely enjoyments............. of the king of gods.

"Through the greatness of the spiritual merit of (that) king Hastibhoja............ the abode of.............. virtues, a treasury of.............. on earth, (became his minister).

" ............ Broad and stout of chest, lotus-eyed............ he resembled a acent elephant (guarding) a point of the horizon.

" Good, modest............... agreeable, obedient...........

" Likewise, as owing to his desire for the good of the world (?) he well and happily protected it, he was........... always dear and accessible like.......... a mother, like a friend.

" ............The king being at ease, and having installed (him), there attached himself to enjoyments according to his heart's desire.

" Then his son became (king).............. Harishena, who in beauty resembled Hari, Rama, Hara, Cupid, and Indra, who was brave like a lion.

" He (conquered) Kuntala, Avanti, Kalinga, Kosala, Trikuta, Lata, Andhra..........

" The son of Hastibhoja famous on earth, became the minister of that king. The whole earth..............

" Beloved by............... of staid and tranquil mind, endowed with the virtues of liberality, patience, and generosity, intent on justice, he ruled righteously (excelling by) glory, spiritual merit, and great qualities.

" For............... he laid up a very great store of merit, after which he, to whom the sacred law is a helper to gain the other world, made a prison (?) all around for the teacher of the world.

" Life, age, wealth.............. For the sake of his parents he built a splendid house to be inhabited by the best of ascetics.

" On the best of mountains, the top of which (is covered) with water-bearing clouds, and which is inhabited by serpent-lords................

" Adorned with windows, spires, beautiful terraces, ledges, statues of the nymphs of Indra and the like (supported) by lovely pillars and stairs.......... a lofty chaitya building.

" ...............placed on the ground.............. lovely........... a storehouse of............. with dwellings of Nagas and the like...............

" ................and warmed by the heat of the rays of the summer sun, affording the enjoyment of comfort at all seasons.

" ..............of the palaces of Lords of the gods, (standing in the) ravines of the beautiful mount Mandara..............

" On the exceedingly brilliant.............. of the............ mountain...........

"That cave clothed in the brilliance of Indra's crown, which the joyous and pleased people affectionately called..............

" Having presented (the cave) to the community of monks............... that Varahadeva, together with the crowd of his relatives, having enjoyed the happiness of a king............. a ruler praised by Sugata.

"As long as (the earth rests) on the............... folds on the serpent, (and) the sun shines with rays yellow like red arsenic, so long may this pure (cave) which internally contains a gem-like hall, and which was made for the sake of the three gems (Buddha, Dharma, Sangha) he enjoyed..............

" (May) this mountain which possesses various caves and summits, which is inhabited by great................. may also the world by renouncing all its manifold sins, enter that state which is free from sorrow and pain, that is tranquil and worthy."

This is the most important inscription at Ajanta, and contained the names of seven or eight kings of the Vakataka dynasty. A grant of the Vakataka king Pravarasena II., was discovered about 1868 in a ploughed field at Chammak, 7 or 8 miles south of Ellichpur in Berar. The Seoni copperplate grant relates to the same dynasty. Vakataka is both the name of a country and of the Rajput tribe governing it. The position of the kingdom of the Vakatakas may be partly fixed by the sites where the two grants have been found, and partly by the geographical names mentioned in the inscriptions. General Cunningham has thus fixed it approximately, between the Mahadeva hills on the north, the Godavari on the south, the Ajanta hills on the west, and the sources of the Mahanadi on the east. A combination of the genealogies in the copperplate grants and in this inscription, gives the following pedigree:-

1, Vindhyasakti probably A.D. 285-310; 2, Pravarasena I. (son?) 310 345; Gautamiputra, son, married the daughter of the great king Bhavanaga, the Bhadrasiva; 3, Rudrasena I. son, 345-355; 4, Prithivisena, son, married Prabhavatigupta, the daughter of the great king of kings, Devagupta, and conquered Kuntala, 355-400; 5, Rudrasena II., son, 400-410; 6, Pravarasena II., son, 410-440,; 7, son, (name lost), 440-470; 8, Devasena, son, 470-500; 9, Harisena, son, conquered Kuntala, Avanti, Kalinga, Kosala, Trikuta, Lata, Andhra, 500-520.

Dr. Buhler and Pandit Bhagvanlal Indraji agree in fixing, on' palaeographic grounds, the date of the inscription about the beginning of the 6th century, and that of the copperplates about eight years earlier; and these conclusions coincide with the date assigned to the vihara on architectural grounds. The cave however, was not excavated by the king, but by his minister, Varahadeva, the son of Hastibhoja, who presents it in the inscription to the community of monks.

A painted inscription is as follows:-" The charitable assignation......... "

"The charitable assignation of the Sakya mendicant Bhadanta Dharmadatta. May the merit of this be the cause of attainment of supreme knowledge to mother and father, and to all beings."

There are two other inscriptions similar to the above.] The date of the cave, as indicated, by the style of its architecture, and the character of the alphabet used in the inscription, may be fixed about the sixth century.

A stair leads from the front of the cave into a chamber, which contains the figure of a Naga raja on the back wall, seated upon the coils of a snake, with its head overshadowing his high tiara. A door leads out from the front of the room towards a nalla, and is flanked outside by two elephants in relief. [Can this be the two elephants referred to by Hiouen Thsang?] All the walls were covered with frescoes representing scenes from the life of Buddha, or from the legends of saints; and the roofs and pillars had arabesques and ornaments of great beauty of outline, heightened by the most harmonious coloring. The roof of the verandah was painted in square and circular compartments; and in the hall, the sides of the columns were decorated with flowers and scrolls, much of which has been destroyed, but some noteworthy pieces are still left. [A fragment of the ceiling decoration in the verandah is pretty entire; and on the architrave over the bracket of one of the front pillars is a sbeggar sleeping and a wild beast licking his feet, while a horse stands behind him. To the right, another beggar is seated with two men before him, and a wild beast comes in from the right. Over another bracket are two begging friars, a woman, &c. On the left end of the back wall is Buddha in a blue robe seated on a throne. On his left were three figures wearing crowns; and the other side contains some great person, and a number of women bearing gifts. Below is a Buddha facing a green niche, with an umbrella over him. To the left are four figures wearing crowns; and behind them are eighteen others, all richly jewelled. To the right are six attendants with top-knots, one has a nimbus, and another a fly-flap. Five smaller figures are further to the right, with a green man, and Garuda holding a snake in his hand. The lower portion seems to have a background of clouds. Above the side door is a figure like Buddha in the clouds.

To the left end of the front aisle is a child held by a man and woman, and a third person seems about to cut it in two with a sword. Two ranges of hills are represented above, with a river between them. Below is a country cart drawn by men; above, on the hill, is a man wearing a Persian cap; and a green man stands near carrying a man up the hill. Still higher, the man with the Persian cap sits with two others, and pays respect to a small red figure on a rock, who addresses them. To the left of them stands a green man with long streaming hair; and behind him is a figure with a sword. The background is of plantain trees.

To the right of the pilaster is a representation of " the dying princess." According to Mr. Griffiths, this painting cannot be surpassed in the history of art, for its pathos and sentiment, and the unmistakeable way of telling its story. " The Florentines could have put better drawing, and the Venetians better colour, but neither could have thrown greater expression into it. The dying woman, with drooping head, half-closed eyes, and languid limbs, reclines on a bed, the like of which may be found in any native house of the present day. She is tenderly supported by a female attendant; while another, with eager gaze, is looking into her face, and holds the sick woman's arm, as if in the act of feeling her pulse. The expression on her face is one of deep anxiety, as she seems to realise how soon life will be extinct in the one she loves. Another female behind is in attendance with a pankha; while two men on the left are looking on with the expression of profound grief depicted in their faces. Below are seated on the floor other relations, who appear to have given up all hope, and to have begun their days of mourning; for one woman has buried her face in her hand, and, apparently, is weeping bitterly."

Above the " dying princess," Buddha. is seen in a vihara, dressed in white' with a begging bowl in his hand; and he appears again at the doorway. A number of begging friars look out at the doors; and Buddha stands below, with a begging dish in his hand, and a raja with rich diadem kneels and pays him reverence. Behind are other sitting figures; and above, a figure with a Persian cap enters a gate on horseback. One with a similar cap, and one without it, are beyond. The horseman reappears further on, with the horse neighing. He is dressed in a striped waistcloth; three figures in caps appear outside, and a fourth holds another horse. Below is a man with a crooked sword, and one with a Persian cap follows him, A chief is seen lower still, as well as two or three figures, one of which has a long straight sword. There was a Buddha between the first and second cell-doors; and a Buddha was in the centre, with women in the side divisions. Near the roof are angels; and to the right is a hill on which are two monks talking, and a third sitting by. To the right is a monastery; to the left sits Buddha; and in the foreground is another Buddha. A man in grief stands in front, and another is behind him. In the monastery are a begging friar and monk sitting in distress, with two more persons to the right and two behind them. Two jugs are shown in a niche in the wall above.

Over the third cell-door are four Buddhas, each with three umbrellas; and three painted inscriptions are beneath them. Above are seven more Buddhas, with a short painted inscription.

Above the fourth cell-door, a Buddha sits on a throne upheld by lions which bear a strong resemblance to Assyrian bulls. His feet are on a lotus, the stalk of which is supported by Naga chiefs; and his attendants stand on lotuses. On the left end of the back wall is a similar figure of Buddha, with Lokesvara on the left, and a begging friar with a garland on the right. Near the cell-door are a number of sitting figures. On the back wall is a large scene of elephants ridden by rajas, attendants bearing musical instruments, and soldiers with long curved swords. One figure on horseback has a state umbrella; and several women follow, bearing fans and vessels. In another scene, Buddha sits enthroned, teaching a great assembly of crowned princes. A number of interesting scenes were on the right-wall, such as Asita with the infant Buddha in his arms, and the child's father, mother, and a disciple before him. Siddhartha at school is a scene in a palace, where a Brahman is seated, and a boy sits on a stool in front, with a board in his hands; above the boy's head are a cage of birds and a guitar, and around him sit three boys with boards. Below is Sakyamuni shooting, with his teacher close by, and several others sitting behind and to the left of him. Above, to the right, is the scene in the bedroom, when Sakyamuni left his wife and infant son to become a monk. See Kandesh Gazetteer.]