CHARLES WILLIAM WASON
COLLECTION
CHINA AND THE CHINESE
THE GIFT OF CHARLES WILLIAM WASON CLASS OF 1876 1918
Cornell University Library DS 409.C97
The ancient geqgraphv.of India
3 1924 023 029 485
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THE
ANCIENT GEOGRAPHY
ov
INDIA.
A ■".'i.inMngVwLn-j inl^
THE
ANCIENT GEOGRAPHY
INDIA.
THE BUDDHIST PERIOD,
INCLUDING
THE CAMPAIGNS OP ALEXANDER, AND THE TRAVELS OF HWEN-THSANG.
ALEXANDER CUNNINGHAM,
Ui.JOB-GBirBBALj BOYAL ENGINEEBS (BENGAL BETIBBD).
" Venun et terrena demoDstratio intelligatar, Alezandri Magni vestigiiB insistamns." — PHnii Hist. Nat. vi. 17.
WITS TSIRTBBN MAPS.
LONDON : TEUBNER AND CO., 60, PATERNOSTER ROW.
1871.
[All Sights reserved.']
■■{%
A\^^
TATLOB AND CO., PEIKTEES, LITTLE QUEEN STKEET, LINCOLN'S INN EIELDS.
MAJOR-Q-ENEEAL
SIR H. C. RAWLINSON, K.G.B.
ETC. ETC., WHO HAS HIMSELF DONE SO MUCH ■^ TO THROW LIGHT ON
THE ANCIENT GEOGRAPHY OP ASIA,
THIS ATTEMPT TO ELUCIDATE A PARTIODLAR PORTION OF THE SUBJKcr
IS DEDICATED
BY HIS FRIEND,
THE AUTHOR.
PEEFACE.
The Geography of India may be conveniently divided into a few distinct sections, each broadly named after the prevailing religious and political character of the period which it embraces, as the Brahnanical, the Buddhist^ and the Muhammadan.
The Brahmanical period would trace the gradual extension of the Aryan race over Northern India, from their first occupation of the Panjab to the rise of Buddhism, and would comprise the whole of the Pre- historic, or earliest section of their history, duiing which time the religion of the Vedas was the pre- vailing belief of the country.
The Buddhist period, or Ancient Geography of India, would embrace the rise, extension, and decline of the Buddhist faith, from the era of Buddha, to the conquests of Mahmud of Ghazni, during the greater part of which time Buddhism was the dominant reli- gion of the country.
The Muhammadan period, or Modern Geography of India, would embrace the rise and extension of the Muhammadan power, from the time of Mahmud of Ghazni to the battle of Plassey, or about 750 years, during which time the Musalm§,ns were the paramount sovereigns of India.
VI PREFACE.
The illustration of the Yedic period has already been made the subject of a separate work by M. Vivien de Saint-Martin, whose valuable essay* on this early section of Indian Geography shows how much interest- ing information may be elicited from the Hymns of the Yedas, by an able and careful investigator.
The second, or Ancient period, has been partially illustrated by H. H. Wilson, in his ' Ariana Antiqua,' and by Professor Lassen, in his ' Pentapotamia Indica.' These works, however, refer only to North-west India ; but the Geography of the whole country has been ably discussed by Professor Lassen, in his large work on Ancient India, f and still more fully by M. de Saint- Martin, in two special essays, — the one on the Geo- graphy of India, as derived from Greek and Latin sources, and the other in an Appendix to M. Julien's translation of the Life and Travels of the Chinese pilgrim Hwen Thsang.J His researches have been conducted with so much care and success that few places have escaped identification. But so keen is his critical sagacity, that in some cases where the imperfection of our maps rendered actual identi- fication quite impossible, he has indicated the true positions within a few miles.
For the illustration of the third, or Modern period, ample materials exist in the numerous histories of the Muhammadan States of India. No attempt, so far as I am aware, has yet been made to mark the limits of the several independent kingdoms that were established
* ' Etude sur la Geograpbie et Ics populations primitives du Nord- Ouest de I'lude, d'apres les Hymnes Vediques.' Paris, 1859.
t 'Indische Altertluimskiinde." 4 vols. Bonn.
X Etude sur la Geographie Grecque et Latine de I'lnde,' 1858. M. Julien's ' Hiouen Thsang,' vol. iii. p. 251 ; "Mcmoire Analytique," etc.
PREFACE. Vll
in the fifteenth century, during the troubles which followed the invasion of Timur. The history of this period is very confused, owing to the want of a special map, showing the boundaries of the different Muham- madan kingdoms of Delhi, Jonpur, Bengal, Malwa, Gujarat, Sindh, Multan, and Kulbarga, as well as the different Hindu States, such as Gwalior and others, which became independent about the same time.
I have selected the Buddhist period, or Ancient Geography of India, as the subject of the present inquiry, as I believe that the peculiarly favourable opportunities of local investigation which I enjoyed during a long career in India, will enable me to de- termine with absolute certainty the sites of many of the most important places in India.
My chief guides for the period which I have under- taken to illustrate, are the campaigns of Alexander in the fourth century before Christ, and the travels of the Chinese pilgrim, Ilwen Thsang, in the seventh century after Christ. The pilgrimage of tnis Chinese priest forms an epoch of as much interest and import- ance for the Ancient History and Geography of India, as the expedition of Alexander the Great. The actual campaigns of the Macedonian conqueror were confined to the valley of the Indus and its tributaries ; but the information collected by himself and his companions, and by the subsequent embassies and expeditions of the Seleukide kings of Syria, embraced the whole valley of the Ganges on the north, the eastern and western coasts of the peninsula, and some scattered notices of the interior of the country. This infor- mation was considerably extended by the systematic inquiries of Ptolemy, whose account is the more valu-
VUl PREFACE.
able, as it belongs to a period just midway* between tbe date of Alexander and that of Hwen Thsang, at which time the greater part of North-west India had been subjected by the Indo-Scythians.
With Ptolemy, we lose the last of our great classi- cal authorities ; and, until lately, we were left almost entirely to our own judgment in connecting and arranging the various geographical fragments that lie buried in ancient inscriptions, or half hidden in the vague obscurity of the Puranas. But the fortunate discovery of the travels of several Chinese pilgrims in the fifth, sixth, and seventh centuries of the Chris- tian era, has thrown such a flood of light upon this hitherto dark period, that we are now able to see our way clearly to the general arrangement of most of the scattered fragments of the Ancient Geography of India.
The Chinese pilgrim Fa-Hian was a Buddhist priest, who travelled through India from the banks of the Upper Indus to the mouth of the Ganges, between the years 399 and 413 a.d. Unfortunately his journal is very concise, and is chiefly taken up with the de- scription of the sacred spots and objects of his reli- gion, but as he usually gives the bearings and dis- tances of the chief places in his route, his short notices are very valuable. The travels of the second Chinese pilgrim, Sung-Tun, belong to the year 502 a.d., but as they were confined to the Kabul valley and North- west Panjab, they are of much less importance, more
* Campaign of Alexander, b.c.3.30, and Ptolemy's ' Geography,' a.d. 150, or 480 years laler. Beginning of Hwen Thsang's travels in India, A.D. 03O, or just 480 years after Ptolemy.
PREFACE. IX
especially as his journal is particularly meagre in geographical notices.*
The third Chinese pilgrim, Hwen Thsang, was also a Buddhist priest, who spent nearly fifteen years of his life in India in studying the famous Vooks of his religion, and in visiting all the holy places of Buddhism. For the translation of his travels we are wholly in- debted to M. Stanislas Julien, who with unwearied resolution devoted his great abilities for no less than twenty years to the acquirement of the Sanskrit and Chinese languages for this special purpose, f The period of Hwen Thsang's travels extended from a.d. 629 to 645. During that time he visited most of the great cities throughout the country, from Kabul and Kashmir to the mouths of the Ganges and Indus, and from NepM to Kanchipura near Madras. The pilgrim entered Kabul from the north-west, via Bamian, about the end of May, a.d. 630, and after many wanderings and several long halts, crossed the Indus at Ohind in April of the following year. He spent several months in Taxila for the purpose of visiting the holy places of Buddhism, and then proceeded to Kashmir, where he stayed for two whole years to study some of the more learned works of his religion. On his journey east- ward he visited the ruins of Sarigala^ so famous in the history of Alexander, and after a stay of fourteen months in Chinapati^ and of four months in Jdland/tara, for the further study of his religion he crossed the Satlej in the autumn of a.d. 635. From thence his onward course was more devious, as several times he
* The travels of both of these pilgrims have been most carefully and ably translated by the Eev. S. Beal. t Max Miiller's ' Buddhism and Buddhist Pilgrims,' p. 30.
X PEEFACE.
retraced his steps to visit places which had heen left behind in his direct easterly route. Thus, after having reached Mathura he returned to the north-west, a dis- tance of 200 miles to Thdnesar, from whence he re- sumed his easterly route via Srughna on the Jumna, and Gangadwdra on the Ganges to AhicJthatra, the capital of Northern Panchdla, or Eohilkhand. He next recrossed the Ganges to visit the celebrated cities of SanMsa, Kanoj, and Kosdmbi in the Do^b, and then turning northward into Oudh he paid his devotions at the holy places of Ayodhya and Srdvasti. From thence he resumed his easterly route to visit the scenes of Buddha's birth and death at Kapilavasfu and Kasina- gara ; and then once more returned to the westward to the holy city of Bandras^ where Buddha first began to teach his religion. Again resuming his easterly route he visited the famous city of Vaisdli in Tirhdt, from whence he made an excursion to Nei>al, and then re- tracing his steps to Vaisali he crossed the Ganges to the ancient city of PdtaVqmira, or Palibothra. From thence he proceeded to pay his devotions at the mi- merous holy places around Gaya, from the sacred fig- tree at Bodh Gaga, under which Buddha sat for five years in mental abstraction, to the craggy hill of Girigek, where Buddha explained his religious views to the god Indra. He next visited the ancient cities of Kusdgarapura and liajagriha, the early capitals of Magadha, and the great monastery of Ndlanda, the most famous seat of Buddhist learning throughout India, where he halted for fifteen months to study the Sanskrit language. Towards the end of a.d. 638 he resumed his easterly route, following the course of the Ganges to Modagivi and Cham2)a, and then crossing the
PREFACE. XI
river to the north he visited Paundra Varddhana, or Pubna, and Kdmarupa, or Assam.
Having now reached the most easterly district of India he turned towards the south, and passing through Samatafa^ or Jessore, and TdmralipH, or Tamluk, he reached Odra, or Orissa, early in a.d. 639. Continuing his southerly route he visited Ganjam and Kalinga^ and then turning to the north-west he reached Ko^ala^ or Berar, in the very heart of the peninsula. Then re- suming his southerly course he passed through Andhra^ or Teling^na to Bhanakakata, or Amaravati on the Kistna river, where he spent many months in the study of Buddhist literature. Leaving this place early in a.d. 640 he pursued his southerly course to KdncJiipura, or Conjeveram, the capital of Dravida, where his further progress in that direction was stopped by the intelligence that Ceylon was then in a very troubled state consequent on the recent death of the king. This statement is specially valuable for the purpose of verifying the dates of the pilgrim's arrival at different places, which I have calculated according to the actual distances travelled and the stated duration of his halts.* Now the troubled state of Ceylon fol- lowed immediately after the death of Eaja Buna-Mu- galdn, who was defeated and killed in a.d. 639 ; and it is only reasonable to infer that the Ceylonese monks, whom the pilgrim met at K^nchipura, must have left their country at once, and have reached that place early in a.d. 640, which accords exactly with my calculation of the traveller's movements.
From Dravida Hwen Thsang turned his steps to the north, and passing through Konkana and Ma-
* See Appendix A for the Chronology of Hwen Thsang's Travels.
XU PEEFACE.
lidrdshtra arrived at B/idroch on the Narbada, from whence, after visiting Ujain and Balabhi and several smaller states, he reached Sindh and Multan towards the end of a.d. 641. He then suddenly returned to Maffadha, to the great monasteries of Ndlanda and Tiladhaka^ where he remained for two months for the solution of some religious doubts by a famous Bud- dhist teacher named Prajnabhadra. He next paid a second visit to Kdmrup, or Assam, where he halted for a month. Early in a.d. 643 he was once more at Pdtalipufra, where he joined the camp of the great king Harsha Varddhana, or Siladitya, the paramount sovereign of northern India, who was then attended by eighteen tributary princes, for the purpose of add- ing dignity to the solemn performance of the rites of the Quinquennial Assembly. The pilgrim marched in the train of this great king from Pdtaliputra through Praydya and Kosuinbi to Kanoj. He gives a minute description of the religious festivals that were held at these places, which is specially interesting for the light which it throws on the public performance of the Buddhist religion at that particular period. At Kanoj he took leave of Harsha Varddhana, and re- sumed his route to the north-west in company with Eaja Udhita of Jalandhara, at whose capital he halted for one month. In this part of his journey his pro- gress was necessarily slow, as he had collected many statues and a large number of religious books, which he carried with him on baggage elephants.* Fifty of his manuscripts were lost on crossing over the Indus at Utaldianda, or Ohind. The pilgrim himself forded the river on an elephant, a feat which can only
* M. Julien's ' Hiouen Tlisang,' i. 262, 263.
PREFACE. XUl
be performed during the months ' of December, Janu- ary and February, before the stream begins to rise from the melted snows. According to my calcula- tions, he crossed the Indus towards the end of A..D. 643. At Utakhanda he halted for fifty days to obtain fresh copies of the manuscripts which had been lost in the Indus, and then proceeded to Lamghan in com- pany with the King of Kapisa. As one month was occupied in this journey, he could not have reached Lamghflm until the middle of March, a.d. 644, or about three months before the usual period, when the passes of the Hindu Kush become practicable. This fact is sufficient to account for his sudden journey of fifteen days to the south to the district of Falana^ or Banu, from whence he reached Kapisa via Kabul and Ghazni about the beginning of July. Here he again halted to take part in a religious assembly, so that he could not have left Kapisa until about the middle of July A.D. 644, or just fourteen years after his first entry into India from Bamian. From Kapisa he passed up the Panjshir valley and over the Khawak Pass to Anderab, where he must have arrived about the end of July. It was still early for the easy cross- ing of this snowy pass, and the pilgrim accordingly notices the frozen streams and beds of ice which he encountered on his passage over the mountain. To- wards the end of the year he passed through Kash- gar, Yarkand, and Kotan, and at last, in the spring of A.D. 645, he arrived in safety in the western capital of China.
This rapid survey of Hwen Thsang's route is suffi- cient to show the great extent and completeness of his Indian travels, which, as far as I am aware, have
XIV PEEFAOE.
never been surpassed. Buchanan Hamilton's survey of the country was much more minute, but it was limited to the lower provinces of the Ganges in northern India and to the district of Mysore in southern India. Jacquemont's travels were much less restricted ; but as that sagacious Frenchman's observations were chiefly confined to geology and botany and other scientific subjects, his journeyings in India have added but little to our knowledge of its geography. My own travels also have been very ex- tensive throughout the length and breadth of northern India, from Peshawar and Multan near the Indus, to Eangoon and Prome on the Irawadi, and from Kash- mir and Ladak to the mouth of the Indus and the banks of the Narbada. Of southern India I have seen nothing, and of western India I have seen only Bombay, with the celebrated caves of Elephanta and Kanhari. But during a long service of more than thirty years in India, its early history and geography have formed the chief study of my leisure hours; while for the last four years of my residence these subjects were my sole occupation, as I was then em- ployed by the Government of India as Archaeological Surveyor, to examine and report upon the antiquities of the country. The favourable opportunity which I thus enjoyed for studying its geography was used to the best of my ability ; and although much still re- mains to be discovered I am glad to be able to say that my researches were signally successful in fixing the sites of many of the most famous cities of ancient India. As all of these will be described in the fol- lowing account, I will notice here only a few of the more prominent of my discoveries, for the purpose of
PEEFAC'E. XV
showing that I have not undertaken the present work without much previous preparation.
1. Aornos^ the famous rock fort captured by Alex- ander the Great.
2. Taxila, the capital of the north-western Panjab.
3. Sangala^ the hill fortress in the central Panjab, captured by Alexander.
4. Sruglma^ a famous city on the Jumna.
5. Ahiclihatra, the capital of northern Panchala.
6. Bairdtj the capital of Matsya, to the south of Delhi.
7. Sankisa, near Kanoj, famous as the place of Buddha's descent from heaven.
8. Srdoasti, on the Eapti, famous for Buddha's preaching.
9. Kosdmbi^ on the Jumna, near Allahabad.
10. Padmavati, of the poet Bhavabhuti.
11. Vaisdli, to the north of Patna.
12. Ndlanda, the most famous Buddhist monastery in all India.
CONTENTS,
Preface
General Description 1
NOETHEEN INDIA 15
I. Kaofu, or Afghanistan 17
1. Kapisene, or Opian 18
Karsana, or Tetragonis, or Begram .... 26
Other cities of Kapisene . .... 31
2. Kophene, or Kabul 32
3. Arachosia, or Ghazni 39
4. Lamghan 42
5. Nagarahara, or Jalalabad . . ... 43
6. Gandhara, or Parasbavrar 47
Ptishkaldvati, or Peukelaotis ..... 49
Varwsha, or Paladheri ...... 51
Utakhanda, or JSmbolim {Ohind') .... 52
Sdldtura, or Lalior ....... 57
Aornos^ or Sdnigat ....... 58
Parashdwara, or Peshawar ..... 78
7. TJdyana, or Swat 81
8. Bolor, or Balti 83
9. Palana, or Banu 84
10. Opokien, or Afghanistan (Loi, or Eob) ... 87
II. Kashmir 89
1. Kashmir (province) 90
2. Urasa 103
3. Tasila, or Takehasila . 104
Mdnilcy&la 121
4. Singhapura, or Ketas 124
5. Punacba, or Punach 128
6. Eajapuri, or Eajaori 129
Hill-states of the Panjdh ...... 130
Jdlandhara ........ 136
Cham/pa, or Chamha ...... 141
Kullu 142
Mandi and SuJchet ....... 143
Nwrpwr., or Pathdniya .... . 143
Satadru 144
III. Taki, oe Panjab 148
1. Taki, or Kortbern Panjab 154
Jobndthnagar, or Bhira ...... 155
Bukephala, or Jaldlpur 159
Nikcea, or Mong 177
Qujar&t 179
Sdkala, or Sangala 179
b
XVlll
CONTENTS.
|
Page |
|
|
Taki, or Asarur ...... |
191 |
|
San-si, or Nara-Sinha ...... |
193 |
|
Ambalcapi, or Amakatis ..... |
195 |
|
Loh&toar, or Lahor ...... |
197 |
|
Kusdwar, or Kasur |
199 |
|
Chinapati, or Fati ...... |
200 |
|
2. Sliorkot, or Middle Panjab . |
203 |
|
Shorkot ........ |
205 |
|
Kot Kam&lia ....... |
208 |
|
Sarapa . ■ ... |
210 |
|
Akbar . . . ... |
212 |
|
Satgarha ........ |
212 |
|
Bep&lpur |
213 |
|
Ajudhan, or Pakpatan . ... |
214 |
|
3. Multan, or Southern Panjiib . |
219 |
|
Tttlamba ... . . |
224 |
|
Atari ... . . . |
228 |
|
lilultan . . . . |
230 |
|
jLa/tror .... |
241 |
|
Uchh ... ... |
242 |
|
WESTERN INDIA . . . . . |
248 |
|
I. SiNDH . .... |
248 |
|
1. Upper Sindi. |
|
|
MassancB and SodrcB, or Sogdi |
253 |
|
Musikani. A lor ... . |
257 |
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Prasti, Portikanus , or Oxykanus |
259 |
|
2. Middle Sindh. |
|
|
Sindomana, or Sehwdn ..... |
263 |
|
Brahmana, or Prahmanahad . |
267 |
|
.8. Lower Sindh, or Lar |
277 |
|
Patala, or Nirankot . ... |
279 |
|
Jarak ... . . |
287 |
|
Minnagar, Manh&bari, or Tliatha . |
288 |
|
Barbarike Emporium |
294 |
|
Debal Sindh, or Debal |
297 |
|
4. Xachh |
302 |
|
Bisiricts to the west of the Indus |
304 |
|
Arabii, or Arabitce . ... |
305 |
|
Oritce, or Korita: .... |
307 |
|
TI. GUIIJJAKA . . |
312 |
|
III. Valabhadea, or Balabhi |
316 |
|
1. Balabhi |
323 |
|
2. Surashtra |
324 |
|
3. Bharoch, or Barygaza . |
326 |
|
CENTEAL INDIA |
327 |
|
1. Sthaneswara ...... |
328 |
|
Pehoa, or Pnthudaha |
336 |
|
Amin ... |
337 |
|
2. Bairat ... |
337 |
|
3. Srughna . . ... |
345 |
|
4. Madawar .... |
348 |
|
Mdi/dpura, or Earidwar |
351 |
|
5. Brahmapura . ... |
355 |
|
CONTENTS |
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6. |
Govisana, or Kasliipur . |
|||
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7. |
Ahiclihatra |
|||
|
8. |
Piloshana |
|||
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9. |
Sankisa . |
|||
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10. |
Mathura Vrind&vana |
|||
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11. |
Kanoj |
|||
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12. |
Ayuto Hayamukha . |
|||
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13. |
||||
|
U. |
Prayaga . |
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15. |
Kosambi |
|||
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16. |
Kusapura |
|||
|
17. |
Visakha, Saketa, or |
Aj udhy a |
||
|
18. |
Sravasti . |
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19. |
Eapila . |
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Mdmagrama . |
||||
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River Anoma |
||||
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Pippalatana |
||||
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20. |
Kusinagara . |
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Khukhundo, Kahaon |
||||
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PAwA, or Padraona . |
||||
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21. |
Varanasi, or Banaras |
|||
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22 |
Garjjapatipura |
|||
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23. |
Vaisali . |
|||
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24. |
Vriji . |
|||
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25 |
Nepala . |
|||
|
26 |
Magadha BauddJia Oaya Zuhkutapadu Kus&g&rapura Rajagriha NAlanda . |
|||
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Indra-sila Guha |
||||
|
BihAr |
||||
|
28 |
Ctampa |
|||
|
29 |
Kankjol |
|||
|
30 |
Panndra Varddhan |
1, or Pubn |
a |
|
|
31 |
JajLoti Mahoha |
|||
|
32 |
Maheswarapura |
|||
|
33 |
TJjain . . • Malwa . |
|||
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34 |
, |
|||
|
35 |
Kheda . |
|||
|
36 |
Anandapura . |
|||
|
37 |
. Vadari, or Eder |
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|
EAS |
TERN INDIA |
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1. |
Eamarupa |
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2. |
Samatata . |
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3. |
Tamralipti |
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4. |
Eirana-Suvama |
|||
|
5. |
Odra, or Orissa |
|||
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6. |
GanrSm . rTHEEN INDIA |
|||
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sot |
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1. |
Ealinga . |
XIX
XX
CONTENTS.
2. Kosala 519
3. Andhra 527
4. Donakakotta 530
5. Choliya, or Jorya ......•■ 545
6. Dravida 548
7. Malakuta, or Madura 549
8. Konkana 552
9. Maharashtra . . 553
CEYLON 557
APPENDIX.
A. Approximate Chronology of Hwen Thsang's Travels . . 563
B. Measures of Distance, Yojana, Li, Krosa .... 571
C. Correction of Error in Ptolemy's Eastern Longitudes . 577
LIST OF MAPS.
No.
I. Map of India, showing the Political Divisions in a.d.
629-642 To face Title.
II. Ancient Maps of India, according to the Greeks and
Indians 1
III. Map of ELapisene and Kophene, or Upper Kabul
Valley 17
IV. Map of Gandhaka, or Lower Kabul Valley — Map
showing the position of Taxila ..... 47
V. Campaign of Alexander in the Panjab, B.C. 327-326 . 104
VI. Travels of Hwen Thsang in the Panjab, a.d. 631-633 , 104 VII. Alexander's Passage of the Hydaspes, and Battle with
Porus, B.C. 327 ....*... 159
VIII. Hill of Sangala between the Bivers Chenab and Ravi . 179
IX. Campaign of Alexander in Sindh 248
X. Travels of Hwen Thsang in N.W. India, b.c. 635-637 . 327
XI. Travels of Hwen Thsang in the Gangetic Provinces . 388 XII. Map of Gaya and Bihar, a.d. 650, showing Hwen
Thsang's route 452
XIII. Map of the Eastern Coast between the Eivers Godavari
and Krishna 527
INDIA.
JL
ACCORDINO TO
ERATO STHEHES mALEXANDEr'S...!-
"B.C . 326.
MAHABHARATA
B.C.IOO(?)
\ OANOJj /--
in
ACCORDING TO
VARAHA- MIHIRA
A D 6&0
. D -1
THE
ANCIENT GEOGRAPHY OF INDIA.
From the accounts of the Greeks it would appear that the ancient Indians had a very accurate knowledge of the true shape and size of their country. According to Strabo,* Alexander " caused the whole country to be described by men well acquainted with it ;" and this account was afterwards lent to Patrokles by Xenokles, the treasurer of the Syrian kings. Patrokles himself held the government of the north-east satrapies of the Syrian empire under Seleukus Nikator and Antiochus Soter, and the information which he collected regard- ing India and the Eastern provinces, has received the approbation of Eratosthenes and Strabo for its ac- curacy. Another account of India was derived from the register of the 8tatlimi,'\ or "Marches" from place to place, which was prepared by the Macedonian
* Geographia, ii. 1, 6.
t Strabo, x. 1, 11. The name of the author of the ' Stathmi ' is preserved by Athenseus, i. 103. The original measurements were most probably made by Diognetus and Baiton, whose duty it was to ascer- tain the distances and lengths of Alexander's expeditions. See Plin. Hist. Nat., vi. 21.
1! THE ANCIENT GEOGEAPHY OF INDIA.
Amyntas, and which was confirmed by the testimony of Megasthenes, who had actually visited Palibotlira as the ambassador of Seleukus Nikator. On the authority of these documents, Eratosthenes and other writers have described India as a rhomhoid, or unequal quadrilateral, in shape, with the Indus on the west, the mountains on the north, and the sea on the east and south.* The shortest side was on the west, which Patroldcs estimated at 12,000 stadia, and Eratosthenes at 13,000 stadia. I All the accounts agree that the course of the Indus from Alexander's Bridge to the sea was 10,000 stadia, or 1149 British miles ; and they differ only as to the estimated distance of the snowy mountains of Caucasus or Paropamisus above the bridge. The length of the country was reckoned from west to east, of which the part extending from the Indus to Palibothra had been measured by schoeni along the royal road, and was 10,000 stadia, or 1149 British miles in length. From Palibothra to the sea the distance was estimated at 6000 stadia, or 689 British miles ; thus making the whole distance from the Indus to the mouth of the Ganges 16,000 stadia,^ or 1838 British miles. According to Pliny, ^ the distance of Palibothra from the mouth of the Ganges was only 637''5 Eoman miles; but his numbers are so corrupt that very little dependence can be placed upon them. I would, therefore, increase his distance to 737'5
* Strabo, ii. 1, 31, and xv. 1, 11. See, also, Diodorus, Hist., ii. 3, and Dion Perieg. v. 1131. Compare fig. 1 in the accompanying plate of small maps.
f Strabo, XV. 2, 8. Arrian, ' Indica,' iii.
X Artcmidorus makes it 16,800 stadia, or 2100 Roman miles. See Pliny, vi. 22.
§ Plin. Hist. Nat., vi. 21.
THE ANCIENT GEOGRAPHY OF INDIA. 3
Eoman miles, which are equal to 678 British miles. The eastern coast from the mouth of the Ganges to Cape Comorin was reckoned at 16,000 stadia, or 1838 British miles ; and the southern (or south-western) coast, from Cape Comorin to the mouth of the Indus at 3000 stadia more* than the northern side, or 19,000 stadia, equivalent to 2183 British miles.
The close agreement of these dimensions, given by Alexander's informants, with the actual size of the country is very remarkable, and shows that the Indians, even at that early date in their history, had a very ac- curate knowledge of the form and extent of their native land.
On the west, the course of the Indus from Ohind, above Attok, to the sea is 950 miles by land, or about 1200 miles by water. On the north, the distance from the banks of the Indus to Patna, by our military route books, is 1143 miles, or only 6 miles less than the measurement of the royal road from the Indus to Pali- bothra, as given by Strabo on the authority of Mega- sthenes. Beyond this, the distance was estimated by the voyages of vessels on the Ganges at 6000 stadia, or 689 British miles, which is only 9 miles in excess of the actual length of the river route. From the mouth of the Ganges to Cape Comorin the distance, measured on the map, is 1600 miles, but taking into account the numerous indentations of the coast-line, the length should probably be increased in the same proportion as road distance by one -sixth. This would make the actual length 1866 miles. From Cape Comorin to the mouth of the Indus there is a consi-
* Strabo, XT. 1, 11. " Each of the greater sides exceeding the oppo- site by 3000 stadia." (Falconer's translation.)]
B 2
4 THE ANCIENT GEOGEAPHY OF INDIA.
derable discrepancy of about 3000 stadia, or nearly 350 miles, between the stated distance and the actual measurement on the map. It is probable that the difference was caused by including in the estimate the deep indentations of the two great gulfs of Khambay and Kachh, which alone would be sufficient to account for the whole, or at least the greater part, of the dis- crepancy.
This explanation would seem to be confirmed by the computations of Megasthenes, who " estimated the distance from the southern sea to the Caucasus at 20,000 stadia,"* or 2298 British miles. By direct measurement on the map the distance from Cape Co- morin to the Hindu Kush is about 1950 miles,t which, converted into road distance by the addition of one- sixth, is equal to 2275 miles, or within a few miles of the computation of Megasthenes. But as this distance is only 1000 stadia greater than the length of the coast-line from Cape Comorin to the mouth of the Indus, as stated by Strabo, it seems certain that there must be some mistake in the length assigned to the southern (or south-western) coast. The error would be fully corrected by making the two coast-lines of equal length, as the mouths of the Ganges and Indus are about equidistant from Cape Comorin. According to this view, the whole circuit of India would be 61,000 stadia; and this is, perhaps, what is intended by Diodorus,:}: who says that "the whole extent of
* Strabo, xv. 1, 12.
t Elphinstone, Hist, of India, Introd. p. 1, estimates tlie distance from Kashmir to Cape Comorin at about 1900 miles. The Caucasus is at least 50 miles to the north of Kashmir.
J Diodorus, Hist., ii. 3.
THE ANCIENT GEOGEAPHY OP INDIA. 5
India from east to west is 28,000 stadia, and from north to south 32,000 stadia," or 60,000 stadia alto- gether.
At a somewhat later date the shape of India is de- scribed in the 'Mahabharata' as an equilateral triangle, which was divided into four smaller equal triangles.* The apex of the triangle is Cape Comorin, and the base is formed by the line of the Himalaya mountains. No dimensions are given, and no places are mentioned ; but, in fig. 2 of the small maps of India in the accom- panying plate, I have drawn a small equilateral triangle on the line between Dwaraka, in Gujarat, and Ganjam on the eastern coast. By repeating this small triangle on each of its three sides, to the north-west, to the north-east, and to the south, we obtain the four divi- sions of India in one large equilateral triangle. The shape corresponds very well with the general form of the country, if we extend the limits of India to Ghazni on the north-west, and fix the other two points of the triangle at Cape Comorin, and Sadiya in Assam. At the presumed date of the composition of the ' Mahabharata,' in the first century a.d., the countries immediately to the west of the Indus belonged to the Indo-Scythians, and therefore may be included very properly within the actual boundaries of India.
Another description of India is that of the Nava- Khanda, or Nine-Divisions, which is first described by the astronomers Parasara and Varaha-Mihira, although it was probably older than their time, I and was after-
* Joum. Asiat. Soc. Bengal, xx. Wilford, quoting the Bliishma Parva of the ' Mahabharata," as communicated to him by Colebrooke.
t Dr. Kern, in preface to the ' Brihat-Sanhita ' of Varaha-Mihira, p. 32, states that Varaha's chapter on Geography is taken almost intact, but changed in form, from the 'Parasaratantra,' and must, therefore, be
6 THE ANCIENT GEOGRAPHY OE INDIA.
wards adopted by the authors of several of the Puranas. According to this arrangement, Pdnchdla was the chief district of the central division, Magadha of the east, Kalinga of the south-east, Avanta of the south, Anarta of the south-west, Sindhu-Sauvira of the west, Hdra- haura of the north-west, Madra of the north, and Kauninda of the north-east.* But there is a discrepancy between this epitome of Varaha and his details, as Sindhu-Sauvira is there assigned to the south-west, along with Anarta. + This mistake is certainly as old as the eleventh century, as Abu Eiham has preserved the names of Varaha's abstract in the same order as they now stand in the ' Brihat-Sanhita.'| These details are also supported by the ' Markandeya Purana,' which assigns both Sindhu-Sauvira and Anarta to the south- west.§
I have compared the detailed lists of the ' Brihat- Sanhita ' with those of the Brahmanda, Markandeya, Vishnu, Vayu, and Matsya Puranas ; and I find that, although there are sundry repetitions and displace- ments of names, as well as many various readings, yet
considered as representing the geography of Parasara, or perhaps yet more ancient works, " and not as the actual map of India in Varaha- Mihira's time."
* ' Brihat-Sanhita,' ch. xiv. 32, 3.3.
f IhUL, xiv. 17,—
Nairviti/Cim ch'si desd Palilava K&mhoja Sindhu-Sauvira — Wilford has given Varaha's list in vol. viii. p. 341, of Bengal Asiat. Eesearches ; but he has made two divisions of Sindhu-Sauvira, and omitted Kauninda. His details, however, agree with the ' Brihat- Sanhita,' in assigning Sindhu-Sauvira as well as Anarta to the south- west.
X The Nine Divisions of Abu Eihati are given in Eeinaud's ' Memoire sur rinde,' pp. 116, 117. Compare No. II. Map, fig. 3.
§ Ward's ' Hindus,' iii. 10.
THE ANCIENT GEOGRAPHY OP INDIA. 7
all the lists are substantially the same.* Some of them, however, are differently arranged. All of the Puranas, for instance, mention the Nine Divisions and give their names, but only the Brahmanda and Markandeya state the names of the districts in each of the Nine Divi- sions ; as the Vishnu, Vayu, and Matsya- Puranas agree with the ' Mahabharata ' in describing only five Divisions in detail, namely, the middle Province and those of the four cardinal points.
The names of the Nine Divisions given in the ' Mahabharata ' and the Puranas differ entirely from those of Yaraha-Mihira ; but they agree with those of the famous astronomer Bhaskaracharya.f They follow the same order in all ; namely, Indra, Kaserumat, Tmnraparna, Gabhastimat, Kumdrika, Naga, Saumya Vdruna, Gdndharva. No clue is given to the identifi- cation of these names, but they certainly follow a dif- ferent order from that of Yaraha's Nine Divisions, as Indra is the east, Vdruna the west, and Kumdrika the middle, while Kdseru must be the north, as the name is found in the detailed lists of the Yayu and Brahmanda Puranas.
The division of India into five great provinces would appear to have been the most popular one during the early centuries of the Christian era, as it was adopted by the Chinese pilgrims, and from them by all Chinese writers. According to the Yishnu Purana,| the centre
* The list of the Brahmanda is given by Wilford in Bengal Asiat. Kesearches, viii. 334, — that of the Vishnu Parana in Wilson's transla- tion, where, also, will be found the list of the ' Mahabharata ;' that of the Markandeya Purana is in Ward's ' Hindus,' iii. 9.
f ' Siddhanta Siromani,' chap. iii. 41.
X Wilson's ' Vishnu Purana,' edited by Hall, vol. ii. b. iii. c. 3. p. 132. The north Division is not mentioned in the text ; but as the Hunas
8 THE ANCIENT GEOGRAPHY OF INDIA.
was occupied by the Kurus and PdncMlas ; in tlie east was Kdmarupa, or Assam ; in the sonth were the Pundras, Kalingas^ and Magadhas ; in the west were the Surdshtras, Suras, Abhiras, Arhudas, Kdrushas, Mdlavas, Sauviras, and Saindhavas ; and in the north the Hunas, Sdlwas, Sdkalas, Edmas, AmbasJdas, and Pardsikas.
In the Geography of Ptolemy the true shape of India is completely distorted, and its most striking feature, the acute angle formed by the meetiag of the two coasts of the Peninsula at Cape Comorin is changed to a single coast-line, running almost straight from the mouth of the Indus to the mouth of the Ganges. The cause of this mistake is partly due to the erroneous value of 500, instead of 600, Olympic stadia, which Ptolemy assigned to an equatorial degree, partly to an over-estimate in converting road-distance into map- measurement, but chiefly to the excess which he allowed for the distances of land journeys over those of sea voyages.*
If the measures of distance by sea had been in- creased in the same proportion, or had been estimated at the same value, as the measures of distance by land, all the places would have retained the same relative positions. But the consequence of Ptolemy's unequal estimate of the value of land and sea distances was to
and S&Tcalas certainly belonged to the north, I presume that the north has been accidentally omitted. There is a similar omission of the name of Kumdrika in this Purana, which has only eight names for the Nine Divisions.
* The question of Ptolemy's erroneous longitudes is treated at length in Appendix 0, where I have given all the data on which Sir Henry Eawlinson has founded his correction of three-tenths of the geogra- plier's distances in easting.
THE ANCIENT GEOGEAPHY OF INDIA. 9
throw all the places determined by land measurement too far to the east ; and as this error went on increas- ing the further he advanced, his eastern geography is completely vitiated by it. Thus Taxila, which is almost due north of Barygaza, is placed 11° to the east of it ; and the mouth of the Ganges, which was fixed by land- measurement from Taxila and Palibothra, is placed 38° to the east of the mouth of the Indus, the true difference being only 20°. In fig. 4 of the accom- panying plate of small maps I have given an outline of Ptolemy's ' Geography of India.' By referring to this it will be seen at a glance that, if the distance be- tween the mouths of the Indus and Ganges were re- duced from 38° to 20°, the point of Cape Comorin would be thrown far to the south, and woixld form an acute angle very nearly in its true position. The amount of error in Ptolemy's value of land distances is well shown in the difference of longitude between Taxila and Palibothra. The former he places in 125° and the latter in 143°, the difference being 18°, which is nearly one-third too much, as the actual difference between Shah-Dheri in 72° 53' and Patna in 85° 17' is only 12° 24'. By applying the correction of three- tenths, as proposed by Sir Hemy Pawlinson, Ptolemy's 18° will be reduced to 12° 36', which is within 12' of the true difference of longitude.
India was first known to the Chinese in the time of the Emperor Wuti, of the later Han dynasty, in the second century before Christ.* It was then called Yuan-tu or Yin-tu, that is Hindu, and Shin-tu, or Sindhu. At a later date it was named Thian-tu ; ■\
* See M. Pauthier's translations from Chinese in the ' Journal Asia- tique,' Oct. 1839, p. 257. t Ibid., Nov. 1839, p. 384.
10
THE iNCIENT GEOGRAPHY OP INDIA.
and this is the form which the historian Matwanlin has adopted. In the official records of the Thang dynasty in the seventh century, India is described as consisting of " Five Divisions," called the East, West, North, South, and Central, which are usually styled the " Five Indies." I have not been able to discover when this system of the " Five Divisions " was first adopted ; but the earliest notice of it that I can find is in the year 477 a.d.,* when the king of Western India sent an ambassador to China, and again only a few years later, in a.d. 503 and 504, when the kings of Northern and Southern India are mentioned as having followed his example, f No divisions are alluded to in any of the earlier Chinese notices of India; but the different provinces are described by name, and not by position. Thus we have mention of Yue-ffai, king of Kapila, in a.d. 428, and of the king of Gandhara in a.d. 455. J It would appear also that previous to this time India was sometimes called Ma- ffadha, after the name of its best known and richest province ; and sometimes the " kingdom of Brahmans," after the name of its principal inhabitants. § The fii'st of these names I would refer to the second and third centuries after Christ, when the jjowerful Guptas of Magadha ruled over the greater part of India.
The same division of five great provinces was adopted by the Chinese pilgrim Hwen Thsang in the seventh century, who names them in the same manner,
* Pauthier, in Journ. Asiatique, Nov. IS.OO, p. 291.
t Ih!d.. Nor. 1839, pp. 290-292.
I Ibid., Oct. 1839, p. 273, and Journ. Asiat. See. Bengal, 1837, p. 65.
§ M. Julien's ' Hiouen Thsang,' ii. 58 ; and Pautliier, in Journ.' Asia- tique, Deo. 1839, p. 417.
THE AXCIENT GEOGRAPHY OF INDIA. 11
as North, South, East, "West, and Central, according to their relative positions.* He compares the shape of the country to a half-moon, with the diameter or broad side to the north, and the narrow end to the south. This is not unlike the configuration of India in Ptolemy's Geography ; but a much more accurate description is given by the Chinese author of the Fah-kai-lih-io, who says, "this country in shape is narrow towards the south and broad towards the north;" to which he humorously adds, that "the people's faces are the same shape as the country.''^
Hwen Thsang makes the circumference of India 90,000 //,:{: which is more than double the truth. But in the Chinese official records, § the circuit of India is said to be only 30,000 li ; which is too small, if we reckon 6 li to the British mile, according to the usual road distance of the Chinese pilgrims. But if, as was probably the case, the measurement was made on a map, the li may be reckoned at the full value of 1079'12 feet which it possessed in the eighth century ; then the 30,000 li will be equal to 6130 British miles, which is only 764 miles short of the dimensions re- corded by Strabo on the authority of Alexander's papers, and the published works of Megasthenes and Patrokles.
The Five Divisions of India, or the " Five Indies," as they are usually called by the Chinese, are as follows (see No. I. Map) : —
* M. Julien's ' Hiouen Thsang,' ii. 162, 163 ; see also Pauthier, in Journ. Asiatique, 1839, p. 384. t ' Fah-Hian's Travels,' translated by the Eev. S.Beal, p. 36, note. J M. Julien's ' Hiouen Thsang,' ii. 58. § Pauthier, in Journ. Asiatique, Nov. 1839, p. 384.
12
THE ANCIENT aEOGRAPHY OF INDIA.
I. Northern India comprised the Panjab proper, in- cluding Kashmir and the adjoining hill states, with the whole of eastern Afghanistan beyond the Indus, and the present Cis-Satlej States to the west of the Saraswati river.
II. Western India comprised Sindh and "Western Eajputana, with Kachh and Gujarat, and a portion of the adjoining coast on the lower course of the Nar- bada river.
III. Central India comprised the whole of the Gan- getic provinces from Thanesar to the head of the Delta, and from the Himalaya mountains to the banks of the Narbada.
IV. Eastern India comprised Assam and Bengal proper, including the whole of the Delta of the Ganges, together with Sambhalpur, Orissa, and Gan- jam.
V. Southern India comprised the whole of the pe- ninsula from Nasik on the west and Ganjam on the east, to Cape Kumari (Comorin) on the south, in- cluding the modern districts of Berar and Telingana, Maharashtra and the Ivonkan, with the separate states of Haidarabad, Mysore, and Travancore, or very nearly the whole of the peninsula to the south of the Nar- bada and Mahanadi rivers.
Although the Chinese division of India into five great provinces is simpler than the well-known native arrangement of nine divisions, as described by Yaraha- Mihira and the Puranas, yet there can be little doubt that they borrowed their system from the Hindus, who likened their native country to the lotus-flower, the middle being Central India, and the eight sur- rounding petals being the other divisions, which were
THE ANCIENT GEOGRAPHY OF INMA. 13
named after tlie eight chief points of the compass.* In the Chinese arrangement, the middle and the four primary divisions only are retained ; and as this divi- sion is much simpler, and also more easily remem- bered, I -will adopt it in the present description.
At the time of Hwen Thsang's visit, in the seventh century, India was divided into eighty^ kingdoms, each of which would appear to have had its separate ruler, although most of them were tributary to a few of the greater states. Thus, in Northern India, the districts of Kabul, JalMabad, Peshawar, Ghazni, and Banu were all subject to the ruler of Kapisa, whose capital was most probably at Charik^r, or Alexandria ad Caucasum. In the Panj§,b proper the hilly dis- tricts of Taxila, Singhapura, Urasa, Punach, and Ea- jaori, were subject to the Eaja of Kashmir ; while the whole of the plains, including Multan and Shorkot, were dependent on the ruler of TciJci, or Sangala, near Lahor. In Western India the provinces were divided between the kings of Sindh, Balabhi^ and Gurjjara. In Central and Eastern India, the whole of the diffe- rent states, from the famous city of Sthaneswara to the mouth of the Ganges, and from the Himalaya mountains to the banks of the Narbada and Mahanadi rivers, were subject to Harsha Yarddhana, the great Xing of Kanoj. Jalandhara, the most easterly dis- trict of the Panjab, was also subject to him ; and it is highly probable that the ruler of Tdki, or the plains of the Panjab, must likewise have been a dependant of
* Wilson's ' Vishnu Purana,' edited by Hall, vol. ii. b. ii. o. 12, p. 309; "the lotus-shaped earth." Ward's ' Hindus," i. 9, and ii. 449.
t ' Hiouen Thsang,' ii. 59. The text has " seventy ;" but the number actually described is eighty-two, from which, deducting Persia and Ceylon, the true number of kingdoms is eighty.
14 THE ANCIENT GEOGRAPHY OF INDIA.
Kanoj, as we are informed by the Chinese pilgrim that Harsha Varddhana advanced through his territory to the foot of the Kashmir hills, for the purpose of coer- cing the ruler of that country to deliver up to him a much-venerated tooth of Buddha. The Eajput king of Maharashtra, in Southern India, was the only sove- reign who had successfully resisted the armies of Kanoj. This statement of the Chinese pilgrim is cor- roborated by several inscriptions of the Chalukya princes of Maharashtra, who make a proud boast of their ancestor's discomfiture of the great King Harsha Yarddhana.* This powerful prince was the para- mount sovereign of thirty-six different States, com- prising nearly one-half of India in extent, and includ- ing all its richest and most fertile provinces. The substantial reality of his power may be gathered from the fact that no less than eighteen, or just one -half, of these tributary princes attended on their suzerain lord during his great religious procession from Patali- putra to Kanoj, in a.d. G43. The extent of his do- minions is clearly indicated by the names of the coun- tries against which he directed his latest campaigns, namely, Kashmir in the north-west, Maharashtra in the south-west, and Ganjam in the south-east.f Within these boundaries he was the paramount ruler of the continent of India during the first half of the seventh century of the Christian era.
The dominion of Southern India was nearly equally divided between the nine rulers of the following
* See copper-plate inscriptions in Journ. Bombay Asiat. Soc. ii. 5, and iii. p. 207.
f Julien's ' HioucaThsang,' Eashmir, i. 251 ; Mah&iashlra, iii. 150; Ganjam, i. 220, 236.
NORTHERN INDIA. 15
states : — Maharashtra and Kosala, in the north ; Ka- linga, Andhra, Konkana, and Dhanakakata, in the centre ; and Jorya, Dravida, and Malakuta, in the south. These complete the round number of eighty Idngdoms into which India was divided in the seventh century of our era.
I. NORTHERN INDIA.
The natural boundaries of India are the Himalaya mountains, the river Indus, and the sea. But on the west, these limits have been so frequently overstepped by powerful kings that most authors, from the time of Alexander down to a very late period, have consi- dered Eastern Ariana, or the greater part of Afghani- stan, as forming a portion of the Indian continent. Thus Pliny* says that " most writers do not fix the Indus as the western boundary (of India), but add to it the four satrapies of the Gedrosi, Arachotse, Arii, and Paropamisadse, — thus making the river Cophes its extreme boundary." Strabof also says that " the Indians occupy (in part) some of the countries situated along the Indus, which formerly belonged to the Per- sians. Alexander deprived the Ariani of them, and established there settlements of his own. But Seleu- kus Nikator gave them to Sandrokottus, in consequence of a marriage contract, and received in return five
* Plin. Hist. Nat., vi. 23. " Etenim plerique ab occidente non Indo amne determinant, sed adjiciunt quatuor satrapias, Gedrosos, Aracho- tas, Arios, Paropamisadas, ultimo fine Copbete iluvio."
t Geogr., XV. 2, 9. In another place, xv. 1, 11, he states that at the time of the invasion of Alexander " the Indus was the boundary of In- dia and of Ariana, situated towards the west, and in the possession of the Persians, for afterwards the Indians occupied a larger portion of Ariana, which they had received from the Macedonians."
16
THE ANCIENT GEOGRAPHY OP INDIA.
hundred elephants." The prince here mentioned is the well-known Chandra Gupta Maurya, whose grand- son Asoka dispatched missionaries to the most distant parts of his empire for the propagation of Buddhism. Jlasadda, or Alexandria ad Caucasum, the capital of the Yona, or Greek country, is recorded as one of these distant places ; and as the Chinese pilgrim Hwen Thsang notices several stupas in that neighbourhood as the work of Asoka, we have the most satisfactory proofs of the Indian occupation of the Kabul valley in the third and fourth centuries before Christ. The completeness of this occupation is well shown by the use of the Indian language on the coins of the Bac- trian Greeks and Indo-Seythians, down to a.d. 100, or perhaps even later ; and although it is lost for the next two or three centuries, it again makes its appearance on the coins of the Abtelites, or "White Huns, of the sixth century. In the following century, as we learn from the Chinese pilgrim, the king of Kapisa was a Kslia- triya, or pure Hindu. During the whole of the tenth century the Kabul valley was held by a dynasty of Bralimans, whose power was not finally extinguished until towards the close of the reign of Malimud Ghaz- navi. Down to this time, therefore, it would appear that a great part of the population of eastern Afghani- stan, including the whole of the Kabul valley, must have been of Indian descent, while the religion was pure Buddhism. During the rule of the Ghaznavis, whose late conversion to Muhammadanisin had only added bigotry to their native ferocity, the persecution of idol-loving Buddhists was a pleasure as well as a duty. The idolaters were soon driven out, and with them the Indian element, Avhich had subsisted for
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NORTHERN INDIA. 17
SO many centuries in Eastern Ariana, finally disap- peared.
NORTHERN INDIA.
I. Kaofu, or Afghanistan.
For several centuries, both, before and after the Christian era, the provinces of Northern India beyond the Indus, in which, the Indian language and religion were predominant, included the whole of Afghanistan from Bamian and Kandahar on the west to the Bholan Pass on the south. This large tract was then divided into ten* separate states or districts, of which. Eapisa was th,e chief. The tributary states were Kabul and Ghazni in the west, Lamghdn and Jalalabad in the north, Swat and Peshawar in the east, Bolor in the north-east, and Banu and Opokien in the south. The general name for the whole would appear to have been Kao-fu, which in the second century before Christ is described as being divided between the Parthians, the Indians, and the Su or Sacse of Kipin. According to this statement, the south-west district of Kandahar would have belonged to the Parthians, the eastern districts of Swat, Peshawar, and Banu, to the Indians, and the north-western districts of Kabul and Ghazni with Lamghan and Jalalabad to the Sacse Scythians. Kaofu has usually been identified with Kabul on account of its similarity of name and corre- spondence of position ; but this can only be accepted as politically correct, by extending the boundaries of Kabul into Parthiaf on the west, and into India on
* M. Julien'B ' Hiouen Thsang,' i. 71.
t That Kandahar then belonged to Persia is proved by the fact, that the begging-pot of Buddha, which Hwen Thsang (ii. 106) mentions as
C
18 THE ANCIENT GEOGRAPHY OF INDIA.
the east. The Kaofu of the Chinese would, therefore, have embraced the whole of modern Afghanistan. Etymologically, however, it seems quite possible that the two names may be the same, as Kaofu was the appellation of one of the five tribes of the Yuchi or Tochari, who are said to have given their own name to the town which they occupied, towards the end of the second century before Christ. This statement of the Chinese writers is confirmed by the historians of Alexander, who notice the city of Ortospana, without making any mention of Kabul. The latter name is first given by Ptolemy, who describes Kahura or Orto- spana as the capital of the Paropamisadae. I con- clude, therefore, that Ortospana was most probably the original metropolis of the country, which was sup- planted by Alexandria during the Greek domination, and restored by the earlier Indo-Scythian priuces. But it would appear to have been again abandoned before the seventh centurj^, when the capital of Kapi- sene was at Opian.
1. KAPISENE, OE OPIAN.
According to the Chinese pilgrim Kiapislie, or Ka- pisene, was 4000 A', or about 666 miles in circuit. If this measurement be even approximately correct, the district must have included the whole of Eaflristan, as well as the two large valleys of Ghorband and Panjshir, as these last are together not more than 300 miles in circuit. Kiapishe is further described as being entirely surrounded by mountains ; to the north
having been removed from Gitudhara to Persia, still exists at Kandahar, where it "was seen by Sir H. Rawlinson. The removal must have taken place during the sixth century, after the conquest of Gandhara by the king of Kii^in.
NORTHERN INDIA. 19
by snowy mountains, named Po-Io-si-na, and by black hills on the other three sides. The name of Polosina corresponds exactly with that of Mount Paresh or Aparasin of the 'Zend Avesta,'* and with the Paropa- misus of the Greeks, which included the Indian Cau- casus, or Hindu Kush. Ilwen Thsang further states, that to the north-west of the capital there was a great snowy mountain, with a lake on its summit, distant only 200 U, or about 33 miles. This is the Hindu Kush itself, which is about 35 miles to the north-west of Charikar and Opian ; but I have not been able to trace any mention of the lake in the few imperfect notices that exist of this part of Afghanistan.
The district of Capisene is first mentioned by Pliny, who states that its ancient capital, named Capisa, was destroyed by Cyrus. His copyist, Solinus, mentions the same story, but calls the city Caphusa^ which the Delphine editors have altered to Capissa. Somewhat later, Ptolemy places the town of Kapisa amongst the Paropamisadse, 2J degrees to the north of Kabura or Kabul, which is nearly 2 degrees in excess of the truth. On leaving Bamian, in a.d. 630, the Chinese pilgrim travelled 600 li, or about 100 miles, in an easterly direction over snowy mountains and black hills (or the Koh-i-Baba and Paghman ranges) to the capital of Kiapishe or Kapisene. On his return from India, fourteen years later, he reached Kiapishe through Ghazni and Kabul, and left it in a north-east direction by the Panjshir valley towards Anderab. These statements fix the position of the capital at or near Opian, which is just 100 miles to the east of Bamian
* ' Zend A-vesta,' iii. 365, Boundeliesh. " It is said tliat Aparasin ia a great mountain, distinct from Elburj. It is called Mount Paresh."
c 2
20
THE AXCIENT GEOGRAPHY OF INDIA.
by the route of the Hajiyak Pass and Ghorband Talley, and on the direct route from Ghazni and Kabul to Anderab. The same locality is, perhaps, even more decidedly indicated by the fact, that the Chinese pil- grim, on finally leaving the capital of Kapisene, was accompanied by the king as far as the town of Kiu-h- sa-pang^ a distance of one yojana^ or about 7 miles to the north-east, from whence the road turned towards the north. This description agrees exactly with the direction of the route from Opian to the northern edge of the plain of Begram, which lies about 6 or 7 miles to the E.N.E. of Charikar and Opian. Begram itself I would identify with the Kiu-lu-sa-pmig or Kar- sawana of the Chinese pilgrim, the Karsana of Ptolemy, and the Cartana of Pliny. If the capital had then been at Begram itself, the king's journey of seven miles to the north-east would have taken him over the united stream of the Panjshir and Ghorband rivers, and as this stream is difficult to cross, on account of its depth and rapidity, it is not likely that the king would have undertaken such a journey for the mere purpose of leave-taking. But by fixing the capital at Opian, and by identifying Begram with the Kiii-lu-sa-pavg of the Chinese pilgrim, all difficulties disappear. The king accompanied his honom-ed guest to the bank of the Panjshir river, where he took leave of him, and the pilgrim then crossed the stream, and proceeded on his journey to the north, as described in the account of his life.
From all the evidence above noted it would appear certain that the capital of Kiapishe, or Kapisene, in the seventh century, must have been situated either at or near Ojjidn. This place was visited byMasson,*
* • Travels,' iii. 126.
NORTHERN INBXA. 21
•who describes it as "distinguished by its huge artifi- cial mounds, from which, at various times, copious antique treasures have been extracted." In another place * he notes that " it possesses many vestiges of antiquity ; yet, as they are exclusively of a sepulchral or religious character, the site of the city, to which they refer, may rather be looked for at the actual village of Malik Hupian on the plain below, and near Charikar." Masson writes the name Hupian, follow- ing the emperor Baber ; but as it is entered in "Walker's large map as Opiydn^ after Lieutenant Leach, and is spelt Opidn by Lieutenant Sturt, both of whom made regular surveys of the Koh-daman, I adopt the unaspirated reading, as it agrees better with the Greek forms of Opiai and Opiane of Hekatseus and Stephanus, and with the Latin form of Opiamcm of Pliny. As these names are intimately connected with that of the Paropamisan Alexandria, it will clear the way to further investigation, if we first determine the most probable site of this famous city.
The position of the city founded by Alexander at the foot of the Indian Caucasus has long engaged the attention of scholars ; but the want of a good map of the Kabul valley has been a serious obstacle to their success, which was rendered almost insurmountable by their injudicious alterations of the only ancient texts that preserved the distinctive name of the Cau- casian Alexandria. Thus Stephanusf describes it as being ev rrj 'OTTiavji KaTci rTjv 'IvBiKrjv, " in Opiane, near India," for which Salmasius proposed to read 'Apiavrj. Again, PlinyJ describes it as Alexandriam Opianes,
* ' Travels,' iii. 161. t In voce Alexandria.
X Hist. Wat., vi. o. 17. Philemon Holland calls it "the city of Alexandria, in Opianum."
22 THE ANCIEMT GEOGRAPHY OF INDIA.
which in the Leipsio and other editions is altered to Alexandri oppidum. I believe, also, that the same distinctive name may be restored to a corrupt passage of Pliny, where he is speaking of this very part of the country. His words, as given by the Leipsio editor, and as quoted by Cellarius,* are " Cartana oppidum sub Caucaso, quod postea Tetragonis dictum. Hsec regie est ex adverse. Bactrianorum deinde cujus op- pidum Alexandria, a conditore dictum." Both of the translators whose works I possess, namely Philemon Holland, a.d. 1601, and W. T. Eiley, a.d. 1855, agree in reading ex adverso Bactrianorum. This makes sense of the words as they stand, but it makes nonsense of the passage, as it refers the city of Alexandria to Bactria, a district which Pliny had fully described in a previous chapter. He is speaking of the country at the foot of the Caucasus or Paropamisus ; and as he had already described the Bactrians as being " aversa mentis Paropamisi," he now uses almost the same terms to describe the position of the district in which Cartana was situated ; I would, therefore, propose to read " hsec regio est ex adverso Bactrise;" and as cujus cannot possibly refer to the Bactrians, I would begin the next sentence by changing the latter half of Bactrianorum in the text to Opiiorum ; the passage would then stand thus, " Opiorum (regio) deinde, cujus oppidum Alexandria a conditore dictum," — " Next the Opii, whose city, Alexandria, was named after its founder." But whether this emendation be accepted or not, it is quite clear from the other two passages, above quoted, that the city foimded by 7\.lexander at the foot of the Indian Caucasus was also
* Hist. Nat., vi. 23.
NORTHERN INDIA. 23
named Opiane. This fact being established, I will now proceed to show that the position of Alexandria Opiane agrees as nearly as possible with the site of the present Opian, near Charikar.
According to Pliny, the city of Alexandria, in Opia- mim, was situated at 50 Eoman miles, or 45-96 English miles, fromOrtospana, and at 237 Eoman miles, or 217'8 English miles, from Peucolaitis, or Pukkalaoti, which was a few miles to the north of Peshawar. As the position of Ortospana will be discussed in my account of the next province, I will here only state that I have identified it with the ancient city of Kabul and its citadel, the Bala Hisar. Now Charikar is 27 miles* to the north of Kabul, which differs by 19 miles from the measurement recorded by Pliny. But as immediately after the mention of this distance he adds that " in some copies different numbers are found, "•!• I am inclined to read " trigintamillia," or 30 miles, instead of " quinquaginta millia," which is found in the text. This would reduce the distance to 27^ English miles, which exactly accords with the measurement between Kabul and Opian. The dis- tance between these places is not given by the Chinese pilgrim Hwen Thsang ; but that between the capital of Kiapishe and Pu-lii-sha-pu-lo, or Purushapura, the modern Peshawar, is stated at 600 + 100 + 500 = 1200 li, or just 200 miles accoi'ding to my estimate of 6 li to the English mile. The last distance of 500 li, between Nagarahara and Purushawar, is certainly too short, as the earlier pilgrim. Pa Hian, in the begin-
* Measured by Lieutenant Sturtwitli a perambulator. Masson gives tlie same distance for Begram. See No. III. Map from Sturt's Survey.
t Hist. Nat., vi. 21. "In quibusdam exemplaribus diversi numeri reperiuntur."
24 THE ANCIENT GEOGRAPHY OF INDIA.
ning of the fifth century, makes it 16 yojanas, or not less than 640 /?', at 40 It to the yojana. This would increase the total distance to 1340 /i, or 223 miles, which differs only by 5 miles from the statement of the Eoman author. The actual road distance between Charikar and Jalalabad has not been ascertained, but as it measures in a direct line on Walker's map about 10 miles more than the distance between Kabul and Jalalabad, which is 115 miles, it may be estimated at 125 miles. This sum added to 103 miles, the length of road between Jalalabad and Peshawar, makes the whole distance from Charikar to Peshawar not less than 228 miles, which agrees very closely with the measurements recorded by the Eoman and Chinese authors.
Pliny further describes Alexandria as being situated mh ipso Caucaso* at the very foot of Caucasus," which agrees exactly with the position of Opian, at the northern end of the plain oi Koh-ddman, or "hill-foot." The same position is noted by Curtius, who places Alexandria in radicibus montis,'\ at the very base of the mountain. The place was chosen by Alexander on account of its favourable site at the rpLohov,X or parting of the " three roads " leading to Bactria. These roads, which still remain unchanged, all separate at Opian, near Begram.
1. The north-east road, by the Panjshir valley,
and over the Khawak Pass to Anderab.
2. The west road, by the Kushan valley, and
over the Hindu Zush Pass to Ghori.
3. The south-west road, up the Ghorband valley,
and over the Hajiyak Pass to Bamian.
* Hist. Nat., vi. B. 21. t Vit. Alex., vii. 3. J Strabo, xv. 2, 8.
NOETHEEN INDIA. 25
The first of tliese roads was followed by Alexander on Ms march into Bactriana from the territory of the Paropamisadse. It was also taken by Timur on his invasion of India ; and it was crossed by Lieutenant "Wood on his return from the sources of the Oxus. The second road must have been followed by Alexander on his return from Bactriana, as Strabo* specially mentions that he took " over the same mountains another and shorter road" than that by which he had advanced. It is certain that his return could not have been by the Bamian route, as that is the longest route of all ; besides which, it turns the Huidu Kush, and does not cross it, as Alexander is stated to have done. This route was attempted by Dr. Lord and Lieutenant Wood late in the year, but they were driven back by the snow. The third road is the easiest and most frequented. It was taken by Janghez Khan after his capture of Bamian ; it was followed by Moorcroft and Burnes on their adventurous journeys to Balkh and Bokhara ; it was traversed by Lord and Wood after their failure at the Kushan Pass ; and it was surveyed by Sturt in a.d. 1840, after it had been successfully crossed by a troop of horse artillery.
Alexandria is not found in Ptolemy's list of the towns of the Paropamisadse ; but as his Niphanda, which is placed close to Kapisa, may with a very little alteration be read as OpJiianda, I think that we may perhaps recognize the Greek capital under this slightly altered form. The name of Opidn is certainly as old as the fifth century B.C., as Hekatseus places a people called Opiai to the west of the upper course of the Indus. There is, however, no trace of this name in
* Geogr., XV. 1, 26.
26 THE ANCIENT GEOGRAPHY OF INBIA.
the inscriptions of Darius, but we have instead a na- tion called Tliatagusli^ who are the Sattagudai of He- rodotus, and perhaps also the people of Si-pi-to-fa-la-sse of the Chinese pilgrim Hwen Thsang.* This place was only 40 /«', or about 7 miles, distant from the capital of Kiapishe, but unfortunately the direction is not stated. As, however, it is noted that there was a mountain named Jruna at a distance of 5 miles to the south, it is almost certain that this city must have been on the famous site of Begram, from which the north end of the Siah-koh, or Black Mountain, called Chehel DuIcJdardn, or the " Forty Daughters," lies al- most due south at a distance of 5 or 6 miles. It is possible, also, that the name of Tdtarangzdr, which Masson gives to the south-west corner of the ruins of Begram, may be an altered form of the ancient 'Thdta- ffush, or Sattagudai. But whether this be so or not, it is quite certain that the people dwelling on the upper branches of the Kabul river must be the Th6.ta- giisli of Darius, and the Sattagudai of Herodotus, as all the other surrounding nations are mentioned in both authorities.
KarKfinn, Kartana or Tetragonis.
Tiic passage of Pliny describing the position of Alexandria is prefaced by a few words regarding the town of Cartana, which, while they assign it a similar position at the foot of the Caucasus, seem also to refer it to the immediate vicinity of Alexander's city. I quote the whole passage, with the correction which I
* Sipitofalasse is probably the Sanskrit Saptavarslia or Sattavasa, whicli might easily be changed to Thatagush.
NORTHERN INDIA. 27
have already proposed:* — " Cartana oppidum sub Caucaso, quod postea Tetragonis dictum. Hsec regio est ex adverse Bactrise. Opiorum (regio) deinde cujiis oppidum Alexandria a conditore dictum." " At the foot of the Caucasus stands the town of Cartana, which was afterwards called Tetragonis (or the Square). This district is opposite to Bactria. Next (to it) are the Opii, whose city of Alexandria was named after its founder." Solinus makes no mention of Cartana, but Ptolemy has a town named Karsana, or Karnasa, which he places on the right bank of a nameless river that comes from the vicinity of Kapisa and Niphanda (or Opian), and joins the river of Locharna, or Loh- garh, nearly opposite Nagara. This stream I take to be the united Panjshir and Ghorband river, which joins the Lohgarh river about halfway between Kabul and Jalalabad. This identification is rendered nearly cer- tain by the position assigned to the Lambata, or people of Lampaka or Lamghan, who are placed to the east of the nameless river, which cannot therefore be the Ku- nar river, as might otherwise have been inferred from its junction with the Lohgarh river opposite ITagara.
This being the case, the Karsana of Ptolemy may at once be identified with the Cartana of Pliny ; and the few facts related by both authors may be combined to aid us in discovering its true position. According to Pliny, it was situated at the foot of the Caucasus, and not far from Alexandria ; whilst, according to Ptolemy, it was on the right bank of the Panjshir river. These data point to Begram, which is situated on the right bank of the united Panjshir and Ghor- band rivers, immediately at the foot of the Kohistan
* Hist. Nat., vi. 23.
28
THE ANCIENT GEOGRAPHY OE INDIA.
liills, and within 6 miles of Opian, or Alexandria Opiane. As I know of no other place that answers all these requirements, it seems most probable that Begram must be the true locality. Parwan and Kushan are ancient places of some consequence in the neighbourhood of Opian ; but they are both on the left bank of the Ghorband river, while the first is pro- bably the Baborana of Ptolemy, and the other his Kapisa. Begram also answers the description which Pliny gives of Cartana, as Tetragonis, or the " Square;" for Masson, in his account of the ruins, specially no- tices " some mounds of great magnitude, and accu- rately describing a square of considerable dimensions."* If I am right in identifying Begram with the Kiu- lu-sa-pang of the Chinese pilgrim, the true name of the place must have been Karsana, as written by Pto- lemy, and not Cartana^ as noted by Pliny. The same form of the name is also found on a rare coin of Eu- kratides, with the legend Karisiye nagara, or " city of Karisi" which I have identified with the Kalasi of the Buddhist chronicles, as the birthplace of Eaja Milindu. In another passage of the same chronicle, j" Milindu is said to have been born at Alasanda, or Alexandria, the capital of the Yona, or Greek country. Kalasi must therefore have been either Alexandria itself or some place close to it. The latter conclusion agrees exactly with the position of Begram, which is only a few miles to the east of Opian. Originally two distinct places, like Delhi and Shah Jahanabad, or London and Westminster, I suppose Opidn and Kar-
* 'Travels,' iii. 155. For the position of Begram see No. III. Map. \ Milindu-prasna, quoted by Hardy, in ' Manual of Buddhism,' pp. 440, 516.
NORTHERN INDIA. 29
Sana to have gradually approaclied each other as they increased in size, until at last they virtually became one large city. On the coins of the earlier Greek kings of Ariana, — Euthydemus, Demetrius, and Eu- kratides, — we find the monograms of both cities ; but after the time of Eukratides, that of Opiana disap- pears altogether, while that of Karsana is common to most of the later princes. The contemporary occur- rence of these mint monograms proves that the two cities were existing at the same time ; while the sud- den disuse of the name of Opian may serve to show that, during the latter period of Greek occupation, the city of Alexandria had been temporarily supplanted by Karsana.
The appellation of Begram means, I believe, no- thing more than " the city" par excellence, as it is also applied to three other ancient sites in the immediate vicinity of great capitals, namely, Kabul, Jalalabad, and Peshawar. Masson derives the appellation from the Turki be or bi^ " chief," and the Hindi grainy or city, — that is, the capital.* But a more simple deriva- tion would be from the Sanskrit wz, implying " cer- tainty," " ascertainment," as in vijaya, victory, which is only an emphatic form of. jay a with the prefix vi. Vigrdma would therefore mean emphatically " the city " — that is, the capital ; and Big ram would be the Hindi form of the name, just as Bijay is the spoken form of Vijaya.
The plain of Begram is bounded by the Panjshir and the Koh-daman rivers on the north and south; by the Mahighir canal on the west ; and on the east by the lands of Julgha, in the fork of the two rivers.
* ' Travels,' iii. 165.
30
THE ANCIENT GEOGRAPHY OF INDIA.
Its length, from Bay an, on the Muhigliir canal, to Julgha, is about 8 miles ; and its breadth, from Kilah Bnland to Yuz Bashi, is 4 miles. Over the whole of this space vast numbers of relics have been discovered, consisting of small images, coins, seals, beads, rings, arrow-heads, fragments of pottery, and other remains, which prove that this plain was once the site of a great city. According to the traditions of the people, Begram was a Greek city, which was overwhelmed by some natural catastrophe.* Masson doubts the tradition, and infers from the vast number of Kufic coins found there, that the city must have existed for some centuries after the Muhammadan invasion. I am inclined to think that Masson is right, and that the decline of the city was caused by the gradual desertion of the people, consequent on the transfer of the seat of government to Ghazni, after the conquest of the country by the Muhammadans. Coins of the last Hindu Eajas of Kabul and of the first Muhammadan kings of Ghazni are found in great numbers ; but the money of the later Ghaznavi princes is less plentiful, whilst of the succeeding Ghori dynasty only a few specimens of some of the earlier sovereigns have yet been discovered. From these plain facts, I infer that the city began gradually to decay after the Muham- madan conquest of Kabul by Sabuktugin, towards the end of the tenth century, and that it was finally deserted about the beginning of the thirteenth century. As the latter period corresponds with the date of Jan- ghez Khan's invasion of these provinces, it is very pos- sible, as Masson has already supposed, that Begram may have been finally destroyed by that merciless barbarian.
* Masson, ' Travels,' iii. 159.
NOETHERN INDIA. 31
Other Cities of Kapisene.
I will close tills account of Kapisene with some re- marks on the few other cities of the same district that are mentioned hy ancient authors. Pliny descrihes one city as "ad Caucasum Cadrusi, oppidum ab Alex- andre conditum," which is slightly altered by Solinus to " Cadrusia oppidum ab Alexandre Magno ad Cau- casum constitutum est, ubi et Alexandria."* Bota authors place the city close to the Caucasus, to which Solinus adds, that it was §,lso near Alexandria. Fol- lowing these two distinct indications, I am disposed to identify the city of Cadrusi with the old site of Koratds, which Masson discovered under the hills of Kohistan, 6 miles to the north-east of Begram, and on the north bank of the Panjshir river, t There are the usual remains of an old city, consisting of mounds covered with fragments of pottery, amongst which old coins are frequently found. There are also remains of masonry works about the hills, which the people call Kafir-kot, or the Kafir's fort. The com- mentators have accused Solinus of misunderstanding Pliny, whose Cadrusi, they say, was the name of a people, and whose "oppidum ab Alexandre conditum " was the city of Alexandria.^ But the passage was differently understood by Philemon Holland, who renders it thus ; — " Upon the hill Caucasus stand eth the town Cadrusi, built likewise by the said Alexan- der." As a general rule, the Greeks would seem to have designated the various peoples whom they en- countered by the names of their principal towns.
* Plin. Hist. Nat., vi. 25. Solin. Ivii. f ' Travels,' iii. 166.
X Cellarius, iii. 22, p. 514, " quod Solinus pervertit."
31i THE ANCIENT GEOGEAPHY OF INDIA.
Thus we have Kabura and the Kabolitse, Drepsa and the Diepsiani, Taxila and the Taxili, Kaspeira and the Kaspeirsei, from which I would infer, that there was most probably also a town named Cadrusia, whose inhabitants were called Cadi'usi. This inference is strengthened by the correspondence, both in name and in position of the ruined mound of Koratas, with the Cadrusi of Pliny.
The names of other peoples and towns are recorded by Ptolemy ; but few of them can now be identified, as we have nothing to guide us but the bare names. The Farsii^ with their to^vns Parsia and Parsiana, I take to be the Pashais, or people of the Panjhir or Panjshir valley. The true name is probably Panchir, as the Arabs always write ^' for the Indian ch. The mo- dern spelling of Panjshir adopted by Bumes, Leech, and others, appears to be only an attempt to give the Afghan pronunciation of ch as ts in Panfsir. A town named Panjhir is mentioned by the early Arab geo- graphers, and a mountain named Pashdi was crossed by Ibn Batuta, on his way from Kunduz to Parwan.*
Other tribes are the Aristophyli, a pure Greek name, and the Jmbautis, of whom nothing is known. The towns not akeady noticed are Arloarta and Barzaura in the north, and Drastoka and Naulibis in the south. The second of these may be Bazarak, a large town in the Panjshii- valley, and the last may be Nilah of Ghorband. The third was most probably a town in one of the darch or valleys of the Koh-daman.
2. KOPHENE, OR KABUL.
The district of Eabul is first mentioned by Ptolemy, who calls the people KuboUfa, and their capital Kabura,
* ' Travels/ p. 98.
NORTHERN INDIA. 33
which was also named Ortospana. The latter name alone is found in Strabo and Pliny, with a record of its distance from the capital of Arachosia, as measured by Alexander's surveyors, Diognetes and Baiton. In some copies of Pliny the name is written OHliospanum, which, with a slight alteration to Orthostana, as sug- gested by H. H. Wilson,* is most probably the Sanskrit Urddhasthdna, that is, the " high place," or lofty city. The same name is also given to the Kabul district by the Chinese pilgrim Hwen Thsang. But I strongly suspect that there has been some accidental inter- change of names between the province and its capi- tal. On leaving Ghazni, the pilgrim travelled to the north for 600 li, or 83 miles, to Fo-li-sld-sa-tang-na^ of which the capital was Hu-phi-na. I^ow by two dif- ferent measured routes the distance between Ghazni and Kabul was found to be 81 and 88|^ miles.f There can be no doubt, therefore, that Kabul must be the place that was visited by the pilgrim. In another place the capital is said to be 700 /«', or 116 miles, from Bamian, which agrees very well with the mea- sured distance of 104 miles:]: between Bamian and Kabul, along the shortest route.
The name of the capital, as given by the Chinese pilgrim, has been rendered by M. Vivien de St. Martin as Vardasthdna, and identified with the dis- trict of the Wardak tribe, while the name of the province has been identified with Hupian or Opian. But the Wardak valley, which receives its name from the "Wardak tribe, lies on the upper course of the
* ' Ariana Antiqua,' p. 176. t Thornton's ' Gazetteer,' Appendix. J Lieutenant Sturt, Engineers, by perambulator.
D
34 THE ANCIENT GEOGRAPHY OP INDIA.
Logarli river, at some distance to the south, of Kabul, and only 40 miles to the north of Ghazni, while Hupian or Opian lies 27 miles to the north of Kabul, or more than 70 miles distant from Wardak. My own researches lead me to conclude that both names refer to the immediate neighbourhood of Kabul itself.
Professor Lassen has already remarked that the name of Kipin, which is so frequently mentioned by other Chinese authors, is not once noticed by Hwen Thsang. Eemusat first suggested that Kipin was the country on the Kophes or Kabul river ; and this sug- gestion has ever since been accepted by the unani- mous consent of all writers on ancient India, by whom the district is now generally called Kophene. It is this form of the name of Kipin that I propose to identify with the Hu-phi-na of Hwen Thsang, as it seems to me scarcely possible that this once famous province can have remained altogether unnoticed by him, when we know that he must have passed through it, and that the name was still in use for more than a century after his time.* I have already stated my suspicion that there has been some interchange of names between the province and its capital. This suspicion is strengthened when it is found that all difficulties are removed, and the most complete iden- tification obtained, by the simple interchange of the two names. Thus Hu-phi-na will represent Kophene, or Kipin, the country on the Kabul river, and Fo-li- sJd-sa-tan^'na, or Urddhasthdna, will represent Orto- stana, which, as we know from several classical authorities, was the actual capital of this province.
* Lassen, ' Points in the History of the Greek Eings of Kabul,' p. 102.
NORTHERN INDIA. 35
I may remark that Huphina is a very exact Chinese transcript of KopJien, whereas it would be a very im- perfect transcript of Hiipidn, as one syllable would be altogether unrepresented, and the simple p would be replaced by an aspirate. The correct transcript of Hupian would be Hu-pi-yan-na.
M. Vivien de St. Martin has objected* to the name of UrddhastMna that it is a " conjectural etymology without object." I am, however, quite satisfied that this reading is the correct one, for the following reasons : — 1st. The name of Ortospana is not confined to the Paropamisadse ; but is found also in Karmania and in Persis. It could not, therefore, have had any reference to the Wardak tribe, but must be a generic name descriptive of its situation, a requirement that is most satisfactorily fulfilled by Urddhasfhdna, which means literally the "high place," and was most pro- bably employed to designate any hill fortress. 2nd. The variation in the reading of the name to Porto- spana confirms the descriptive meaning which I have given to it, a^ porta signifies "high " in Pushtu, and was, no doubt, generally adopted by the common people instead of the Sanskrit urddha.
The position of Ortospana I would identify with Kabul itself, with its Bala Hisdr^ or "high fort," which I take to be only a Persian translation of Orto- spana, or Urddhasfhdna. It was the old capital of the country before the Macedonian conquest, and so late as the tenth century it was still believed " that a king was not properly qualified to govern until he had been inaugurated at Kabul."t Hekatseus also describes
* • Hiouen Thsang,' iii. 416.
I Ouseley, ' Oriental Geography,' p. 226.
D 2
36 THE ANCIENT GEOGRAPHY OF INDIA.
a " royal town " amongst the Opiai,* but we have no data for determining either its name or its position. It seems most probable, however, that Kabul must he intended, as we know of no other place that could have held this position after the destruction of Kapisa by C'jTus ; but in this case Kabul must have been ui- cluded within the territories of the Opiai.
It is strange that there is no mention of Kabul in the histories of Alexander, as he must certainly have passed through the town on his way from Ara- chosia to the site of Alexandria. I think, however, that it is most probably the town of Nikaia, which was Alexander's first march from his new city on his return from Bactria. Nikaia is described by Nonnus as a stone city, situated near a lake. It was also called Astakia, after a nymph whom Bacchus had abused. •]■ The lake is a remarkable feature, which is peculiar in Northern India to Kabul and Kashmir. The city is also said to have been called Indophdn, or "Indian-killer," on account of the victory which Bacchus had gained over the Indians on this spot. From this name I infer, that ISTonnus had most proba- bly heard of the popular meaning which is attributed to the name of Hindu-lush^ or "Hindu-killer," and that he adopted it at once as corroborative of the Indian conquests of Dionysius.
* Steph. Byz. in v. 'flTriai. 'Ei/ St rfixor BairiXijl'oj/ /xf'xp' romov 'Qmm, awa TOvTav ipr}jxir] fJ-^XP'- "li'Sw.
t ■ Dionysiaca,' xvi., last three lines : —
Kai nroXiv evXaiyya ^iXaxpijra), napa Xi/ii/i;, Teij|f 6eus Ni'/caiaj/ eVrnTO/ioc, ^v ano Nu/i(^j;s 'Ao-TaKlrjs cKoXfcrcri, Kai 'Iv8o(l>6vov fi€Ta vUtjv. The meaning of which appears to be, that " Bacchus built a stone city, named K/kaia, near a lake, which he also called Astakia, after the nymph, and Indoph6n,,\n remembrance of his victory."
NORTHERN INDIA. 37
The province is described as being 2000 li^ or 333 miles, in length, from east to west, and 1000 /«', or 166 miles, in breadth from north to south. It is probable that this statement may refer to the former extent of the province, when its king was the paramount ruler of Western Afghanistan, including Ghazni and Kan- dahar, as the actual dimensions of the Kabul district are not more than one-haK of the numbers here stated. Its extreme length, from the sources of the Helmand river to the Jagdalak Pass, is about 150 miles, and its extreme breadth, from Istalif to the sources of the Logarh river, is not more than 70 miles.
The name of Kophes is as old as the time of the Vedas, in which the Kubhd river is mentioned as an aflBuent of the Indus ; and as it is not an Arian word, I infer that the name must have been applied to the Kabul river before the Arian occupation, or, at least, as early as e.g. 2500. In the classical writers we find the Khoes, Kophes, and Khoaspes livers, to the west of the Indus, and at the present day we have the Kunar, the Kuram, and the Gomal rivers to the west, and the Kunihar river to the east of the Indus, all of which are derived from the Scythian ku, " water." It is the guttural form of the Assyrian hu in Euphrates and Euleeus, and of the Turki su and the Tibetan chu^ all of which mean water or river. The district of Kophene must, therefore, have received its name from the river which flowed through it, like as Sindh from the Sindhu or Indus, Margiana from the Margus, Aria from the Arius, Arachosia from the Arachotus, and others. It is not mentioned by Alexander's historians, although the river Kophes is noticed by aU of them.
38
THE ANCIENT GEOGRAPHY OP INDIA.
In Ptolemy's ' Geography ' tlie city of Kabura and the KaboUtm, with the towns of Arguda, or Argandi, and Locharna^ or Logarh, are all located in the terri- tories of the Paropamisadse along the Kabul river. Higher np the stream he places the town of Bagarda^ which corresponds exactly in position, and very closely in name with the valley of Wardah. AH the letters of the two names are the same; and as the mere transposition of the guttural to the end of the Greek name will make it absolutely identical with the modern name, there is strong evidence in favour of the reading of Bardaga instead of Bagarda. Accord- ing to Elphinstone,* the War dak tribe of Afghans occupy the greater part of the Logarh valley. This is confirmed by Masson,f who twice visited the dis- trict of "Wardak ; and by Vigne,:j: who crossed it on his way from Ghazni to Kabul. The only objection to this identification that occurs to me is, the possi- bility that Bagarda may be the Greek form of Vaehe- reta, which is the name given in the ' Zend Avesta ' to the seventh country that was successively occupied by the Arian race. From its position between Bactria, Aria, and Arachosia, on one side, and India on the other, Vaekereta has usually been identified with the province of Kabul. This, also, is the opinion of the Parsis themselves. Vaekereta is further said to be the seat or home of Duzlatk, which further tends to confirm its identification with Kabul, as the acknow- ledged country of Zohak. If the Wardaks had ever been a ruling tribe, I should be disposed to infer that the name of Vaekereta might, probably, have been de- rived from them. But in our present total ignorance
* = Kabul; i. 160. f ' Travels,' ii. 223. % ' Ghazni,' p. 140.
NOBTHEEN INDIA. 39
of their history, I think that it is sufficient to note the very great similarity of the two names.
In the seventh century the king of Kophene was a Turk, and the language of the country was different from that of the people of Ghazni. Hwen Thsang mentions that the alphabet of Kapisene was that of the Turks, hut that the language was not Turki. As the king, however, was an Indian, it may reasonably be inferred that the language was Indian. For a similar reason it may be conjectured that the language of Kophene was some dialect of Turki, because the king of the district was a Turk.
3. ARACHOSIA, OR GHAZNI.
The Chinese pilgrim places the country of Tsau-ku-ta at 500 /«, or 83 miles, to the south of Hupliina^ or Kophene, and to the north-wept of Falana, or Banu. The valley of the Lo-mo-in-tu river, which is men- tioned as producing assafoetida, is readily identified with the Helmand by prefixing the syllable Ho to the Chinese transcript. The kingdom is said to have been 7000 /?', or 1166 miles, in circuit, which cannot be far from the truth, as it most probably included the whole of south-western Afghanistan with the exception of Kandahar, which at that time, from the story of the begging-pot of Buddha already noted, would appear to have belonged to Persia.
This district possessed two capitals, called Ho-si-na and Ho-sa-lo. The first has been identified by M. de St. Martin with Ghazni^ which is quite satisfactory ; but his suggestion that the other may be connected with Hazdra is, I think, very doubtful. Hazara is the name of a district, and not of a town ; and its applica-
40 THE ANCIENT GEOGEAPHY OP INDIA.
tion to this part of the country is said by the people themselyes not to be older than the time of Janghez Khan.* I would, therefore, identify it with Guzar or Guzaristan^ which is the chief town on the Helmand at the present day ; and with the Ozola of Ptolemy, which he places in the north-west of Arachosia, or in the Yery same position as Guzaristan.
The name of Tsaukuta still remains to be explained. The identifications just made show that it corresponds exactly "ftdth the Arachosia of classical writers, which is the Arokhaj and Bokhaj of the Arab geographers. The latter form is also found in Arrian's ' Periplus of the Erythi-a^an Sea ' as 'Pa-xpvaoi. It was, therefore, not unusual both before and after the time of Hwen Thsang to drop the initial syllable of the name. The original form was the Sanskrit Saraswati, which in Zend became Haraqditi, and in Greek 'Apaxcords, all of which agree in the last two syllables with the Chinese TmiiTiuta. The first Chinese syllable Tsau must, there- lore, con-espond with the Ra of the other forms. This change may, perhaps, be explained by a peculiarity of the Turki language, which frequently changes the letter r into a soft s or sli^ as the Turki words dengiz^ '•' sea,"' and o/v/.-, " ox,'' are the same as the Hungarian ietiijer and okur.\ On the Indo-Scythian coins, also, we find the Turki names of Kanishka, Huvishka^ and KHsIidiia changed to Kanerke, Hoverke, and Korano in Greek. It seems possible, therefore, that the initial syllable Tsau of the Chinese transcript may be only the peculiar Tui'ki pronunciation of the Indian Ra, which would naturally have come into use with the
* ' Ayin Akbari,' ii. 163.
t Prichard, ' Physical History of Mankind,' iv. 403.
NORTHERN INDIA. 41
occupation of the country by the Turki tribe of Tochari, about the beginniag of the Christian era.
In the seventh century the king of Ghazni, who was a Buddhist, was descended from a long line of ancestors. Both the alphabet and the language of the "people are said to have been different from those of other countries ; and as Hwen Thsang was ac- quainted with both the Indian and Turki languages, I infer that the speech of the people of Ghazni was most probably Pushtu. If so, the people must have been Afghans ; but, unfortunately, we have no other clue to guide us in settling this very interesting point, unless, indeed, the name of 0-po-kien, a place to the south-east of Ghazni, may be identified with Afyhdn, a point which will be discussed hereafter.
Of Guzaristan, on the Helmand, I am not able to give any further information, as that part of the country has not yet been visited by any European. Ghazni itself is too well known to require any parti- cular description, but I may note that it must have been in a very flourishing condition in the seventh century, as Hwen Thsang estimates its circuit at 30 /«', or 5 miles. At the present day the circuit of the walled town is not more than one mile and a quarter. Yigne calls it an irregular pentagon, with sides vary- ing from 200 to 400 yards in length, strengthened by numerous towers. He adds,* that "the Afghans boast much of the strength of the walls and fortifications of Ghazni." But Ghazni has always been famous in the East as a place of strength and security ; and for this very reason it received its name of Gaza^ an old Persian term for a " treasury." It is described in some
* ' Ghazni,' p. 122.
42 THE ANCIENT GEOGRAPHY OF INDIA.
crabbed lines of the ' Dionysiaca' of Nonnus, wlio lived about A.D. 500, and also in tbe ' Bassarica' of Dionysius, who lived not later than a.d. 300. Both of them refer pointedly to its impregnability. Dionysius calls it, —
'Aa-Tv(piKov hfjOKTi, Kai el nayxoKKeov ^ei*, " As stern in war as if 'twas made of brass,"
and Noiinns says,* " They fortified, with a net-like enclosure of interlacing works, Gazos, an immoveable bulwark of Ares, and never has any armed enemy breached its compact foundations." These early notices of this famous place suggest the possibility that the Gazaha of Ptolemy may have been misplaced amongst the Paropamisadse to the north of Kabul, instead of to the south of it. But as Stephanus of Byzantium, who quotes the ' Bassarica ' of Dionysius as his authority for this Indian town, tto'Xis 'IvBikti, takes no notice of the Indian Gazaka, 1 conclude that he must have looked upon it as a different place.
4. LAMGHAN.
The district of Lan-po, or Lamghan, is noted by Hwen Thsang as being 600 li, or just 100 miles, to the east of Kapisene. He describes the road as a succes- sion of hills and valleys, some of the hills being of great height. This description agrees with all the re- cent accounts of the route along the northern bank of the river from Opian to Lamghan. The bearing and distance also coincide so exactly with the position of Lamghan that there can be no doubt of the identity of
* ' Dionysiaca,' xxvi. 30: —
KOL Ot \iVO€p-)(i'i KVKXta
TAZON impyaxravTO XtraTrX/ftToio-i hojiaiois, "Apeos aKXives eppa, Kat ovirore drj'ios avrjp XoKkov e^coi/ €pprj^i ivKkaXTTOKTl 6€fi€u\ois.
NORTHEKN INDIA. 43
the two districts. Ptolemy, also, places a people called Lamhatce in the very same position. From a com- parison of this term with the modern appellation of Lamgh§,n, it seems probable that the original form of the name was the Sanskrit Lampaka. I would, there- fore, correct Ptolemy's Lambatm to Lambaffce, by the slight change of r for T. The modern name is only an abbreviation of Lampaka, formed by the elision of the labial. It is also called Laghmdn by the simple transposition of the middle consonants, which is a common practice in the East. The credulous Muham- madans derive the name from the patriarch Lamech, whose tomb they affirm still exists in Lamghan. It is noticed by Baber and by Abul Fazl.
The district is described by Hwen Thsang as being only 1000 li, or 166 miles, in circuit, with snowy mountains on the north, and black hills on the other three sides. Prom this account it is clear that Lan-po corresponds exactly with the present Lamghan, which is only a small tract of country, lying along the northern bank of the Kabul river, bounded on the west and east by the Alingar and Kunar rivers, and on the north by the snowy mountains. This small tract is very nearly a square of 40 miles on each side, or 160 miles in circuit. It had formerly been a separate kingdom ; but in the seventh century the royal family was extinct, and the district was a dependency of Kapisene.
5. NAGAEAHAEA, OE JALALABAD.
Prom Lamghan the Chinese pilgrim proceeded for 100 li, or nearly 17 miles, to the south-east, and, after crossing a large river, reached the district of Nagara-
44
THE ANCIENT GEOGEAPHY OP INDIA.
lidra. Both the bearing and distance point to the Nagara of Ptolemy, which was to the south of the Kabul river, and in the immediate Yicinity of Jalala- bad. Hwen Thsang writes the name Na-ki-lo-ho ; but M. Julien* has found the full transcript of the Sanskrit name in the annals of the Song dynasty, in which it is written Nang-go-lo-lio-lo. The Sanskrit name occurs in an inscription which was discovered by Major Kittoe in the ruined mound of Ghosrdwd, in the dis- trict of Bihar.f Nagarahara is said to be 600 li, or 100 miles, in length from east to west, and upwards of 250 //, or 42 miles, in breadth fi-om north to south. The natural boundaries of the district are the Jag- dalak Pass on the west, and the Khaibar Pass on the east, with the Kabul river to the north, and the Safed Koh^ or snowy mountains, to the south. Within these limits the direct measurements on the map are about 75 by 30 miles, which in actual road distance would be about the same as the numbers stated by Hwen Thsang.
The position of the capital would appear to have been at Begram, about 2 miles to the west of Jala- labad, and 5 or 6 miles to the W.N.W. of Hidda, which by the general consent of every inquirer has been identified Avith the Hi-lo of the Chinese pilgrims. The town of Hilo was only 4 or 5 //, or about three- quarters of a mile, in circuit; but it was celebrated for its possession of the skull-bone of Buddha, which was deposited in a stupa, or solid round tower, and Avas only exhibited to pilgrims on payment of a piece of gold. Hidda is a small village, 5 miles to the
* ' Hiouen Tlisang,' ii. 96, note.
t Journ. Asiat. Soo. Bengal, 1848, pp. 490, 491.
NORTHEKN INDIA. 45
south of Jalal^b^d ; but it is well known for its large collection of Buddhist stupas, tumuli, and caves, which were so successfully explored by Masson. The presence of these important Buddhist remains, in the Tery position indicated by the Chinese pilgrims, af- fords the most satisfactory proof of the identity of Hidda with their Hilo. This is further confirmed by the absolute agreement of name, as Hi-lo is the closest approximation that could be made in Chinese syllables to the original Him or Hida. The capital must, therefore, have been situated on the plain of Begram, which is described by Masson* as " literally covered with tumuli and mounds." "These," he adds, "are truly sepulchral monuments ; but, with the topes, sanction the inference that a very considerable city existed here, or that it was a place of renown for sanc- tity. It may have been both." I think it is just possible that Hidda may be only a transposition of Haddi, a bone, as the stupa of the skull-bone of Buddha is said in one passagef to have been in the town of Hilo, while in another passage it is located in the town of Fo-tinff-ko-chinff, which is only a Chinese translation of " Buddha's skull-bone town." During the course of this disquisition I shall have to notice the frequent occurrence of short descriptive names of places which were famous in the history of Buddha. I am, there- fore, led to think that the place which contained the skull-bone of Buddha would most probably have been known by the familiar name of Asthipura amongst the learned, and of Haddipura, or " Bone-town " amongst the common people. Similarly the skull-necklace of Siva is called simply the astliimdld, or ' bone-necklace.'
* ' Travels,* ii. 164. f ' Hiouen Thsang,' i. 77.
40
THE ANCIENT GEOGRAPHY OP INDIA.
Nar/arahdra was long ago identified by Professor Lassen with the 'Nagara or Dionysopolis of Ptolemy, which was situated midway between Kabura and the Indus. The second name suggests the probability that it may be the same place as the Nysa of Arrian and Curtius. This name is perhaps also preserved ia the Dinus or Dinuz of Abu Eihan,* as he places it about midway between Kabul and Parasbawar. Ac- cording to the tradition of the people, the old city was called ^JJ/n/a,\ in which I think it possible to recog- nize the Greek Jiov, as the river Yamuna or Jumna is rendered Diamuna by Ptolemy, and the Sanskrit yamas OT jamas, tho south, is rendered i)/a?»asffl byPliny.;}: It is, however, much more likely that Aj'Ana, by transpo- sition of the vowels may be only a corrupt form of the Pali Ujjdna, and Sanskrit Udydna, " a garden," as M. Vivien de St. Martin states that Udydnapura was an old name of Nagarahara.§ If this identification be correct the position of the capital must certainly have been at Begram, as I have already suggested. The name of Dionysopolis was no doubt the most usual appellation during the whole period of Greek dominion, as one of the commonest mint-monograms on the coins of the Greek kings of Ariana forms the letters AlON, which will n()t suit the name of any Indian city re- corded by ancient authors, save that of DionysopoHs. In the beginning of the fifth century it is called simply Na-kie or Narjara, by Fa Hian, who adds that it was then an independent State governed by its own king. In A.D. 630, at the time of Hwen Thsang's visit, it was without a king, and subject to Kapisene. After this
* Eeiuaud'3 ' Fragraeiif s,' p. 114. % Hist. JSat., vi. e. 22
t Masson's ' Travels," ii. 164. § ' Hiouen Thsang,' iii. 305.
R
MAP
of GANDHARA op
Lo^-er KABUT. Valley
16 Miles to 1 Inch.
„ I I ^■"'■■xandcr'.s Uor*^
ii>*S?^5^'^' *
'%..
NORTHERN INBIA. 47
it most probably followed the fortunes of the sovereign State, and became successively a part of the Brahman kingdom of Kabul and of the Mahommedan empire of Ghazni.
6. GANDHAEA, OR PARASHAWAR.
The district of Gandhara is not mentioned by Alex- ander's professed historians ; but it is correctly described by Strabo, under the name of Gandaritis, as lying along the river Kophes, between the Choaspes and the Indus. In the same position Ptolemy places the Gandarcs, whose country included both banks of the Kophes im- mediately above its junction with the Indus. This is the Kien-to-lo, or Gandhara of all the Chinese pilgrims, who are unanimous in placing it to the west of the Indus. The capital, which they call Pu-lu-sha-pulo or Parashapura is stated to be three or four days' journey from the Indus, and near the south bank of a large river. This is an exact description of the posi- tion of Peshawar, which down to the time of Akbar still bore its old name of Parashdwar, under which form it is mentioned by Abul Fazl and Baber, and still earlier by Abu Eihan and the Arab geographers of the tenth century. According to Fa Hian, who calls it simply Fo-lu-shd or Parashd, the capital was 16 yojans, or about 112 miles, distant from Nagaraliara. Hwen Thsang, however, makes the distance only 500 li, or 83 miles, which is certainly a mistake, as the measurement by perambulator between JalaMbid and Peshawar is 103 miles, to which must be added 2 miles more for the position of Begram to the west of JaM- labad.
The actual boundaries of the district are not de-
48
THE ANCIENT GEOGEAPHT OF INBIA.
scribed, but its size is given as 1000 /«, or 166 miles, from east to west, and 800 /«, or 133 miles, from north to south. This is, perhaps, nearly correct, as the ex- treme length, whether taken from the source of the Bara river to Torbela, or from the Kunar river to Torbela, is 120 miles, measured on the map direct, or about 150 miles by road. The extreme breadth, measured in the same way, from Bazar, on the border of the Bunir hills, to the southern boundary of Kohat, is 100 miles direct, or about 125 miles by road. The boundaries of Gandhara, as deduced from these measurements, may be described as Lamghaa and Jalalabad on the west, the hills of Swat and Bunir on the north, the Indus on the east, and the hills of Kalabagh on the south. Within these limits stood several of the most renowned places of ancient India; some celebrated in the stirring history of Alexander's exploits, and others famous in the mira- culous legends of Buddha, and in the subsequent history of Buddhism under the Indo-Scythian prince Kanishka.
The only towns of the Gandarse named by Ptolemy are Naulibe, Embolima, and the capital called Pro- klais. All of these were to the north of the Kophes ; and so also were Ora, Bazaria, and Aornos, which are mentioned by Alexander's historians. Parashawar alone Avas to the south of the Kophes. Of Naulibe and Ora I am not able to offer any account, as they have not yet been identified. It is probable, how- ever, that Naulihe is Hildh^ an important town, which gave its name to the Indus river; but if so, it is Avrongly placed by Ptolemy, as Nildh is to the south of the Kophes. The positions of the other towns I
NORTHERN INDIA. 49
will now proceed to investigate, including with them some minor places visited by the Chinese pilgrims.
Pushkalavati^ or Peukelaotis.
The ancient capital of Gandhara was Pushkalavati, which is said to have been founded by Pushkara, the son of Bharata, and the nephew of Eama.* Its anti- quity is undoubted, as it was the capital of the pro- vince at the time of Alexander's expedition. The Greek name of Peukelaotis, or Peucolditis, was imme- diately derived from PukJcalaoti, which is the Pali, or spoken form of the Sanskrit Pushkalavati. It is also called Peukelas by Arrian, and the people are named Peukalei by Dionysius Periegetes, which are both close transcripts of the Pali Pukkala. The form of Prokla'is, which is found in Arrian's ' Periplus of the Erythraean Sea,' and also in Ptolemy's ' Geography,' is perhaps only an attempt to give the Hindi name of Pokhar instead of the Sanskrit Pushkara.
According to Arrian, Peukelas was a very large and populous city, seated not far from the river Indus. f It was the capital of a chief named Astes,J perhaps Hasti, who was killed in the defence of one of his strongholds, after a siege of thirty days, by Hephsestion. Upon the death of Astes the city of Peukelaotis was delivered up to Alexander -on his march towards the Indus. Its position is vaguely described by Strabo and Arrian as "near the Indus." But the geographer Ptolemy is more exact, as he fixes it on the eastern bank of the river of Suastene, that is, the Panjkora or Swat river, which is the very
* Wilson's ' Vishnu Purina,' edited by Hall, b. iv. c. 4. t Arrian, - Indica,' i. X Arrian, ' Anabasis,' It. 22.
E
50 THE ANCIENT GEOGRAPHY OF INDIA.
locality indicated by Hwen Thsang. On leaving Parashawar tlie Chinese pilgrim travelled towards the north-east for 100 li, or nearly 17 miles; and, cross- ing a great river, reached Pu-se-Jcia-lo-fa-ti, or Push- kalavati. The river here mentioned is the Kophes, or river of Kabul; and the bearing and distance from Peshawar point to the two large towns of Parang and Charsada, which form part of the well-known Eas/it- naffar, or "Eight Cities," that are seated close to- gether on the eastern bank of the lower Swat river. These towns are Tangi, Shirpao, Umrzai, Turangzai, Usman^ai, Eajur, Charsada, and Parang. They ex- tend over a distance of fifteen miles ; bnt the last two are seated close together in a bend of the river, and might originally have been portions of one large town. The fort of Hisar stands on a mound above the ruins of the old town of Hashtnagar, which General Court places on an island, nearly opposite Eajm-.* "All the suburbs," he says, " are scattered over with vast ruins. "t The eight cities are shown in No. lY. Map. It seems to me not improbable that the modem name of Hashtnagar may be only a slight alteration of the old name of Ilastinagara^ or " city of Hasti," which might have been applied to the capital of Astes, the Prince of Peukelaotis. It was a common practice of the Greeks to call the Indian rulers by the names of their cities, as Taxiles, Assakanus, and others. It was also a prevailing custom amongst Indian princes to designate any additions or altera- tions made to their capitals by their own names. Of this last custom we have a notable instance in the famous city of Delhi ; which, besides its ancient ap-
* Journ. Asiat. Soc. Bengal, 1836, p. 479. t m^-> 1836, p. 394.
NORTHERN INDIA. 51
pellations of Indraprastha and DiUi, was also known by the names of its successive aggrandizers as Kot- Pithora, Kila-Alai, Tughlakab&d, Firuzfi,bad, and Shabjahanabad. It is true that the people them- selves refer the name of Hashtnagar to the " eight towns " which are now seated close together along the lower course of the Swat river ; but it seems to me very probable that in this case the wish was father to the thought, and that the original name of Hastinagar, or whatever it may have been, was slightly twisted to Hashtnagar, to give it a plausible meaning amongst a Persianized Muhammadan popu- lation, to whom the Sanskrit Hastinagara was unia- telligible. To the same cause I would attribute the slight change made in the name of Nagarahdra^ which the people now call jNang-nihdr,* or the "Nine Streams."
In later times Pushkalavati was famous for a large stupa, or solid tower, which was erected on the spot where Buddha was said to have made an alms-offering of his eyes. In the period of Hwen Thsang's visit, it was asserted that the " eyes gift " had been made one thousand different times, in as many previous ex- istences : but only a single gift is mentioned by the two earlier pilgrims, Fa-Hian in the fifth century, and Sung-Yun in the sixth century.
Varusha^ or Palodheri. Hwen Thsang next visited a town called Po-lu-sha, which, I think, may be identified with Falo-dheri, or
* Baber's ' Memoirs,' p. 141. — Wood's ' Journey to the Source of tke Oxus,' p. 167. — Macgregor's'Greography of Jalalabad,' inJourn. Asiat. Soc. Bengal, xi. 117, and xiii. 867.
e2
52 THE ANCIENT GEOQKAPHY OP INDIA.
the village of Pali^ whicli is situated on a dheri^ or "mound of ruins," the remains of some early town. To the north-east of the town, at 20 li^ or 3^ miles, rose the hill of Dantaloka^ with a cave, in which Prince Sudana and his wife had taken refuge. The position of Palodheri, which is the Velley of General Court, agrees with Hwen Thsang's distance of ahout 40 miles from Pushkalavati ;* and this identification is supported by the existence of the great cave of Kash- viiri-Ghdr, in the hill to the east -north-east, and with- in 3 or 4 miles of Palodheri. Mount Dantalok I take to be the Monies Dcedali of Justin, f as in the spoken dialects the nasal of the word danta is assimilated with the following letter, which thus becomes doubled, as in the well-known datlon, a " tooth-brush," or twig used for cleaning the teeth.
UfalcJianda, or Ohind, or Embolima.
From PolusJia Hwen Thsang travelled 200 li, or 33 miles, to the south-east to U-to-kia-han-cha, which M. Julien transcribes as UdakhaJida, and M. Yivien de St. Martin identifies with Ohind on the Indus. The pilgrim describes Udakhanda as having its south side resting on the river, which tallies exactly with the position of Ohind, on the north bank of the Indus, about 15 miles above Attok. General Court and Burncs call this place Hund, and so does Mr. Loewen- thal, who styles Ohind a mistaken pronunciation. But the name was written sj^^^ Waihand or Oaihand, by Abu Eihan in a.d. 1030, and Ohind by Mirza Mogal Beg in 1790. To my ear the name sounded something like IFahand, and this would appear to have been the
* See No. IV. Map. t ' Historiaj,' xii. 7.
NOETHERN INDIA. 53
proimnciation wHch. Eashid-ud-din obtained in a.d. 1310, as lie names the place Weliand* According to all these authors F«^7^(2?^c?was the capital of Gandhara, and Eashid-ud-din adds that the Mogals called it Kdrajdng. The only native writer who uses the abbre- viated form of the name is Nizam-ud-din, who in his ' Tabakat-i-Akbari ' says that Mahmud besieged Jaipal in the fort of Hind in a.d. 1002. But this place is differently named by Ferishta, who calls it the fort of BUhanda, jsjJyu In this last name we have a very near approach to the old form of Utalchanda, which is given by Hwen Thsang. From all these examples, I infer that the original name of Utakhanda, or Ut-khand^ was first softened to UtJiand or Bithanda, and then shortened to Ultandox Oliind. The other form of Wehand I look upon as a simple misreading of TJthand^ as the two words only differ in the position of the diacritical points of the second letter. General James Abbott, in his ' Gradus ad Aornon,' calls the place Oond^ and says that it was formerly called Oora^ from which he thinks it probable that it may be identified with the Ora, "flpa^ of Alexander's historians.
I have entered into this long detail out of respect for the acknowledged learning of the late lamented Isidor Loewenthal. His opinion as to the name of Ohind was most probably, although quite unconsci- ously, biassed by his belief that Utakhanda was to be found in the modem Attak. But this place is unfor- tunately on the wrong side of the Indus, besides which its name, as far as I am aware, is not to be found in any author prior to the reign of Akbar. Abul Fazl
* There is a place of the same name on the Jhelam, which Moor- croft spells Oin.
54
THE ANCIENT GEOGEAPHY OF INDIA.
calls the fort AtaJc-Bandras^ and states that it was built m the reign of his Majesty. Baber never mentions the place, although he frequently speaks of Nilab. Eashid-ud-din, however, states that the Parashawar river joins the Indus near Tavkur, which most probably refers to the strong position of Khairabad. I have a suspicion that the name of Attak, the "forbidden," may have been derived by Akbar from a mistaken reading of Tanhur^ with the Arabic article prefixed, as Et-tankur. The name of Bandras was undoubtedly de- rived from Bandr, the old name of the district in which the fort is situated. The name of Banar sug- gested Banaras, and as Kdai-Badjiras was the city which all Hindus would wish to visit, so we may guess that this fact suggested to the playful mind of Akbar the exactly opposite idea of Attah Bandras or the " for- bidden " Banaras, which all good Hindus should avoid. Or the existence of Katalc Bandras* (or Cuttack) in Orissa, on the extreme eastern limit of his kingdom, may have suggested an alteration of the existing names of Attak and Banar to Attak-Bandras as an antithesis for the extreme west.
TFehand, or TJhand as I believe it should be written, was the capital of the Brahman kings of Kabul, whose dynasty was extinguished by Mahmud of Ghazni in A.D. 1026. Masudi, who visited India in a.d. 915, states that " the king of El-kandahar (or Gandhara), who is one of the kings of Es-Sind ruling over this country, is called Jahaj ; this name is common to all sovereigns of that country."! Now, C/iack is the name
* ' Ayin Akbari," ii. 194, and Stirling's ' Orissa,' in Bengal Asiat Researches, xv. 189. f Sir Henry Elliot's ' Muhammadan Historians of India,' i. 57. In
NOETHERN INDIA. 55
of the great plain to the east of the Indus, im- mediately opposite to Ohind; and as the plain of Bandr is said to have been named after Eaja Bandr, it seems probable that the plain of Chach may have been named after the Brahman dynasty of Ohind. It is curious that the Brahman dynasty of Sindh was also established by a Chach in a.d. 641 ; but it is still more remarkable that this date corresponds ■with the period of the expulsion of the Brahman dynasty from Chichito, or Jajhoti, by the Chandels of Khajura. I think, therefore, that there may have been some connection between these events, and that the expelled Jajhotiya Brahmans of Ehajura may have found their way to the Indus, where they succeeded in establishing themselves at first in Sindh and afterwards in Ohind and Kabul.
In the time of Hwen Thsang the city was 20 //, or upwards of 3 miles, in circuit, and we may reasonably suppose that it must have increased in size during the sway of the Brahman dynasty. It would seem also to have been still a place of importance under the suc- cessors of Changiz Xhan, as the Mogals had changed its name to Karajang. But the building of Attak, and the permanent diversion of the high-road, must seriously have affected its prosperity, and its gradual decay since then has been hastened by the constant en- croachments of the Indus, which has now carried away at least one-half of the old town.* In the sands at the foot of the cliff, which are mixed with the debris of the ruined houses, the gold-washers find numerous coins and trinkets, which offer the best evidence of the
the new edition by Professor Dowson, i. 22, the name is altered to Hahaj. * See No. IV. Map for its position.
56 THE ANCIENT GEOGKAPHY OF INDIA.
former prosperity of the city. In a few hours' wash- ing I obtained a bronze buckle, apparently belonging to a bridle, a female neck ornament, several flat needles for applying antimony to the eyes, and a considerable number of coins of the Indo-Scythian and Brahman princes of Kabul. The continual discovery of Indo- Scythian coins is a sufiicient proof that the city was already in existence at the beginning of the Christian era, which may perhaps induce us to put some faith in the tradition, mentioned by Abul Peda, that Wehand, or OJiind, was one of the cities founded by Alexander the Great.
After the surrender of Peukelaotis, Arrian* relates that Alexander captured other small towns on the river Kophenes, and " arrived at last at Embolima, a city seated not far from the rock Aornos," where he left Kraterus to collect provisions, in case the siege should be protracted. Before he left Bazaria, Alex- ander, with his usual foresight, had despatched Hephsestion and Perdikkas straight to the Indus with orders to "prepare everything for throwing a bridge over the river." Unfortunately, not one of the his- torians has mentioned the name of the place where the bridge was made ; but as the great depot of provisions and other necessaries was formed at Embolima, I con- clude that the bridge must have been at the same place. General Abbott has fixed Embolima at Amb- Balima on the Indus, 8 miles to the east of Mahaban ; and certainly if Mahaban was Aornos the identity of the other places would be incontestable. But as the identification of Mahaban seems to me to be altogether untenable, I would suggest that Ohind or Ambar- Ohind
* 'Anabasis,' it. 28.
NORTHERN INDIA. 57
is tlie most probable site of Emboliina. Ambar is a village two miles to the nortb of Ohind, and it is in accordance with Indian custom to join the names of two neighbouring places together, as in the case of Attak-Bandras, for the sake of distinction, as there is another OJiin on the Jhelam. It must be remembered, however, that Emboliina or Ekholima may be only a pure Greek name, descriptive of the position of the place, at the junction of the Kabul river with the Indus, where it is placed by Ptolemy. In this case the claim of Ohind would be even stronger than before. That the bridge over the Indus was at, or near, Em- bolima, seems almost certain from the statement of Curtius, that when Alexander had finished his cam- paign to the west of the Indus by the capture of Aornos, "he proceeded towards Ecbolima;^^* that is, as I conclude, to the place where his bridge had been prepared by Hephsestion and Perdikkas, and where his provisions had been stored by Kraterus. I infer that the depot of provisions must have been close to the bridge, because one guard would have sufficed for the security of both bridge and stores.
Sdldtura, or Lahor.
Hwen Thsang next visited So-lo-tu-lo, or S^l^tura, the birthplace of the celebrated grammarian Panini, which he says was 20 /«, or %\ miles, to the north- west of Ohind. In January, 1848, during a day's halt at the village of Lahor, which is exactly four miles to the north-east of Ohind, I procured several Greek and Indo-Scythian coins, from which it may be
' Vit. Alex., viii. 12, — "inde processit Ecbolima. "
58 THE ANCIENT GEOGEAPHT OF INDIA.
inferred, with some certainty, that the place is at least as old as the time of Panini himself, or about B.C. 350. I have, therefore, no hesitation in identify- ing Salatura with LaJior. The loss of the first syllable of the name is satisfactorily accounted for by the change of the palatal sibilant to the aspirate, according to the well-known usage of the people of western India, by whom the Sindlm river was called Hendhu and Indus, and the people on its banks Hindus or Indians ; Salatura would, therefore, have become Hdld- tura and Aldlur^ which might easily have been cor- rupted to Lahor; or, as General Court writes the name, to Lavor.
Aornos. In describing the countries to the west of the Indus I must say a few words on the much vexed question of the position of Aornos. In 1836 General Court wrote as follows : — " As relates to Aornos, it is probably the castle which was opposite Attak, and the vestiges of which we see upon the summit of the mountain. Its foundation is attributed to Eaja JlodV* In 1848 I suggested that the "vast hill fortress of Bdni-gat, situated immediately above the small village of Nogram, about 16 miles north by west from Ohind, corresponded in all essential par- ticulars with the description of Aornos, as given by Arrian, Strabo, and Diodorus ; excepting in its ele- vation, the height of Rdni-gat not being more than 1000 feet, which is, however, a very great elevation for so large a fortress."! In 1864 General James Abbott
* Journ. Asiat. Soc. Bengal, 1836, p. 395. t Ibid., 1848, p. 103.
NOETHERN INDIA. 59
took up the subject in a very full and elaborate article, in wMch the various authorities are ably and criti- cally discussed. His conclusion is that the Mahaban hill is the most probable site of Aomos.* This opinion was combated early in 1863 by Mr. Loewenthal, who again brought forward the claims of Eaja Hodi's fort, opposite Attak, which had first been suggested by General Court.-f Towards the end of the year General Abbott replied to Mr. Loewenthal's objections, and reiterated his conviction that " the Mahaban is the Aornos of history," although he thinks that the question is still " open to discussion. "J
In reopeniag this discussion, I believe that I am able to clear away some df the diflBculties with which the subject has confessedly been obstructed by the vague and contradictory accounts of Alexander's his- torians ; but I can scarcely venture to hope that my identification of Aornos wUl be received as satisfac- tory, when I am constrained to own that I am not perfectly satisfied with it myself. But if I do not succeed in convincing others, I feel that my failure will be shared in common with two such able writers as General James Abbott and the lamented missionary, Loewenthal.
I will begin with the name Aornos, which, though a Greek word, can hardly, as Mr. Loewenthal observes, be an invention of the Greeks. It must, therefore, be the transcription, either more or less altered, of some native name. Mr. Loewenthal thinks that it was derived from Banaras in its Sanskrit form of Va- rdnasi, which a Greek of Alexander's time could only
* Journ. Asiat. Soo. Bengal, 1854, p. 309.
t Ibid., 1863, p. 14. % Ibid., 1863, p. 409.
60 THE ANCIENT GEOGEAPHY OF INDIA.
have pronounced by prefixing a vowel. He would thus have got Avaranas or Aornos. But this is, per- haps, proving too much, as the final letter in Aornos is almost certainly the Greek termination, which need not, therefore, have formed part of the original native name. It is also suspicious that the literal transcrip- tion of the native name should form a pure Greek word. If Bandras or Vardnasi was the original form of the name, then we ought to find another Banaras to the north of the Caucasus, as Arrian relates that after passing Drwpsaka, or Andarab, Alexander " moved against Aornos and Badra, the two chief cities of the Bactrians, which being immediately sur- rendered to him, he placed a garrison in the castle of Aornos."* On comparing Arrian's names with Pto- lemy's map, it seems evident that his Badra and Aornos are the same as Ptolemy's Zariaspa and Badra reffia, and as the latter is placed in the country of the Varni, or Ovapvoi, I conclude that the name Aornos, "Aopvos, is only a natural and slight alteration of Ovapvos or Varnos, made by the followers of Alexander for the sake of obtaining a significant name in Greek. Similarly I would refer the second Aornos to Baja Vara, whose name is still attached to all the ruined strongholds between Hashtnagar and Ohind. Thus the old hill fort and city of TakJd-i-Bahai, 15 miles to the north-east of Hashtnagar, is said to have been the residence of Eaja Vara. But his name is more particularly attached to the grand hill- fort of Edni- gat above Nogram. Bdni-gat, or the (Queens rock, is a huge upright block on the north edge of the fort, on which Eaja Vara's Bani is said to have seated her-
* ' Anabasis,' iii. 29.
NORTHERN INDIA. 61
self daily. The fort itself is attributed to Eaja Vara, and some ruins at the foot of the hill are called Eaja Faro's stables. Some people call him Eaja Virdt, but as they connect him with the story of the five Pandus,
I conclude that the name has been altered to suit the story. The position of the true Virdt was in Matsya or Mdcheri, to the south of Delhi : all others are spurious. I think, therefore, that the hill fort of Jornos most probably derived its name from Eaja Vara, and that the ruined fortress of Bdni-gat has a better claim to be identified with the Aornos of Alex- ander than either the Malidban hill of Greneral Abbott, or the castle of Raja liodi proposed by General Court and Mr. Loewenthal.
My chief objections to the Mahaban hill as the re- presentative of Aornos are the following : — 1. It is a vast mountain of comparatively easy access, and of which no spur presents a very steep face towards the Indus. 2. The Mahaban hill is not less than 50 miles in circuit, whereas Aornos was not more than 200 stadia, or about 22 miles, according to Arrian, or 100 stadia or
II miles, according to Diodorus. 3. The Mahdvana hill was visited by Hwen Thsang in a.d. 630, and he describes it simply as a great mountain, which derived its name from the Mahdvana monastery, in which Buddha had dwelt in a former existence under the name of Sarvvada Eaja.* That the monastery was on the top of the mountain we know from the subsequent statement, that he descended the mountain towards the north-west for about 30 or 40 li to the Masura Monastery. This place may, I believe, be identified with the large village of Sura in the Chumla valley,
* Julien's ' Hiouen Thsang,' ii. 136.
62 THE ANCIENT GEOGEA.PHT OF INDIA.
whicli is just 10 miles to the north-west of the highest peak of Mahdban. If any fort had then ex- isted on the top of the mountain, it is almost certain that the pilgrim would have mentioned its name, with his usual statement of its size, and of any special point of noteworthiness, such as its inaccessibility, etc. His total silence I look upon as decisive against the existence of any fort on the top of Mahaban, whether occupied or in ruins.
Mr. Loewenthal's objection, based on the opinion of a high military authority, that the Mahaban hill " commands nothing," only shows how readily even a very learned man will accept an utterly false argu- ment when it tells in his own favour. General Abbott has noticed this subject in his reply to Mr. Loewenthal; but some months previous to the publication of his reply, I had already given a similar refutation to this objection, both in conversation with different friends and in writing to Mr. Loewenthal himself. It is ob- jected that Mahaban "commands nothiug;" I reply that it commands the very thing that the people of an invaded country wanted, it commands safety for those who seek its shelter. It is said to be " so much out of the way " that none would have sought it as a place of refuge, and that Alexander would not have wasted time in its reduction, as it did not impede his passage to the Indus.* This objection supposes that Alexander's chief object was the passage of the Indus, whereas it is clear, both from his previous and subse- quent career, that his invariable plan was never to leave an enemy behind him. For this he had given up the pursuit of Bessus, to conquer Aria, Drangiana,
* Journ. Asiat. Soc. Bengal, 1863, p. 17.
NORTHERN INDIA. 63
and Araohosia; for this lie liad spent two years in Sogdiana and Baotriana, until the death of Spitamenes left no enemy remaining ; for this he now turned aside from the passage of the Indus to subdue the people who had refused their submission by taking refuge in Aornos ; and for this he afterwards re- crossed the Hydraotes to attack Sangala, an isolated rock, which commanded nothing but the jangal around it.
Mr. Loewenthal rests his arguments ia favour of the castle of Eaja Hodi being the Aornos of Alex- ander, chiefly on the great similarity of the name of Bandras, and partly on Sir Neville Chamberlain's opinion " that the hill above Khairabad is not only a most conspicuous point for friend and foe, but also one that must be taken before a passage of the Indus at Attok would be attempted by an invading force." The first argument has already been disposed of in my discussion on the name of Aornos. The second argument takes two things for granted; first, that Alexander crossed the Indus at Attak, and, therefore, that he must have reduced the castle of Eaja Hodi before he attempted the passage of the river ; and next, that the people of the country had thrown themselves into Aornos to oppose his passage. The latter was certainly not the case, as we are told by Arrian that the people of Bazaria, " distrusting then- strength, fled out of the city in the dead of night, and betook themselves to a rock, called Aornos, for safety.* Here we see clearly that the people of Bazaria were desirous of avoiding instead of opposing Alexander ; from which we may infer that Aornos did not com-
* ' Anabasis,' iv. 28.
64 THE ANCIENT GEOGRAPHY OF INDIA.
mand that passage of the Indus which Alexander had chosen for his bridge of boats. But as all the ac- counts agree in placing the scene of Alexander's cam- paign before crossing the Indus in the country to the north of the KopJies, or Kabul river, it appears quite certain that neither Aornos itself nor the bridge of boats could have been in the neighbourhood of Attak. For these reasons I conclude that the ruined castle of Eaja Hodi cannot possibly be identified with the Aornos of Alexander. Indeed, its name alone seems sufficient to forbid the identification, as the people are unanimous in calling it Eaja Hodi-da-garld, or Hodi- garlu^ an appellation which has not even one syllable in common with Aornos.
After a careful consideration of all the points that have been just discussed, I am satisfied that we must look for Aornos in the direction of the hills some- where in the north-east comer of the Tusufzai plaia. It is there that the people still seek for refuge on the approach of an invader ; it is there only that we can expect to find a hill fort that will tally even approxi- mately with the exaggerated descriptions of Alex- ander's historians, and it is there also that we ought to look for Aornos, according to the almost unanimous opinion of all those who have studied the subject.
The accounts of Alexander's historians are often vague and sometimes conflicting, but we are generally able to correct or explain the statements of one by those of the others. Where they agree, we can follow them with confidence, as it may be presumed that the original authors from whom they copied were not at variance. The last is fortunately the case with their accounts of Alexander's movements shortly before his
NORTHERN INDIA. 65
approach, to Aornos. According to Arrian, imme- diately after crossing the Gurseus river Alexander marched straight to Massaffa, the capital of the Assa- keni, and after its capture he dispatched Koinos against Bazaria. Curtins calls the river Choes, and makes Koinos proceed straight to Bazaria, whilst Alexander advanced against MasagcB. Arrian then states that as Bazaria still held out, the king deter- mined to march thither, but hearing that many Indian soldiers had thrown themselves into Ora, he changed his plan, and moved against that city, which was captured at the first assault. According to Curtius, the siege of Ora was entrusted to Polysperchon, while the king himself took many small towns, whose inha- bitants had sought refuge in Aornos. Arrian makes the people of Bazaria fly to Aornos for safety, but he agrees with Curtius in stating that the inhabitants of many of the neighbouring villages followed their ex- ample. From these accounts it is evident that Aornos was beyond Bazaria, and from the subsequent narra- tives of Arrian and Curtius, it is equally clear that Em- holima was beyond Aornos, and on the Indus, where Ptolemy has placed it. Taking all these points into consideration, I believe that Bazaria, Aornos and Em- bolima may be best identified with Bazar, Bdni-gat and Oldnd.*
Bazar is a large village situated on the bank of the Kalpan, or Kdli-pdni river, and quite close to the town of Rustam, which is built on a very extensive old mound attributed to the time of the Kafirs or Hindus.
* It would appear also from Arrian, iv. 28, that Aornos was only one day's march from Bmbolima, which agrees with the distance of Kanigat from Ohind of 16 miles. See No. IV. Map.
F
GO THE ANCIENT GEOGRAPHY OF INDIA.
According to tradition, this was tlie site of tlie original town of Bazar. The position is an important one, as it stands just midway between the Swat and Indus rivers, and has, therefore, been from time immemorial the entrepot of trade between the rich valley of Sw^t and the large towns on the Indus and Kabul rivers. Indeed, its name of Bazar ^ or "Mart," is sufficient to show that it has always been a place of consequence. Judging, therefore, by the importance of the place alone, I should be induced to select Bazar as the most probable representative of Bazaria ; but this proba- bility is turned almost to certainty by its exact corre- spondence, both in name and in position, with the ancient town that was besieged by Alexander. This identification is much strengthened by the proximity of Mount Dantalok, which is most probably the same range of hills as the Monies Bcedali of the Greeks. In the spoken dialects of the present day, as well as in the ancient Pali, the nasal of the word danta is assimi- lated with the following letter, which thus becomes doubled, as in datton, a "tooth brush," or twig used for cleaning the teeth. Hence the Greek Daidalos is a very fair rendering of the Pali Dattalok. The Ba- dalian mountains are mentioned by Justin* as adjoin- ing the kingdom of Queen Cleofis, or Cleophes, who, according to Curtius, was the mother (a mistake for wife) of Assacanus, king of Massaga. I have already identified the cave of Prince Suddna in Mount Ban- taloJi, as described by Hwen Thsang, with the great cave of Kashmiri-Ghdr, which is just eight miles to the nortli-west of Bazftr. The Bantalok range would, therefore, have been on the right-hand of the Greeks
* Hist., xii. 7. " Inde montes Dtedalos, regnaque Cleofidis regina; petit."
NORTHERN INDIA. 67
on their marcli over the hills from Massaga in the Sw§,t valley to Bazaria. From all these concurring circumstances, I conclude that B^z^r is almost cer- tainly the same place as Alexander's Bazaria, and that Ohind was Embolima, as I have previously en- deavoured to show.
In proposing the ruined fortress of Bdni-gat as the most probable representative of the famous Aornos, I must confess that the identification is incomplete. In 1848, I estimated the perpendicular height of Eanigat as about one thousand feet above the plain, and Mr. Loewenthal has since confirmed my estimate. But this height is so insignificant when compared with the 11 stadia, or 6674 feet of Arrian,* that I should hesitate to attempt the identification, did I not believe that the height has been very much exaggerated. Philostratusf calls it 15 stadia; and Diodorus]: makes it even greater, or 16 stadia, equivalent to 9708 feet; but as he gives the circuit of the base at only 100 stadia, or just one-half of that of Arrian, I think it probable that his height may have been originally in the same proportion which we may obtain by simply reading 6 stadia instead of 16, or 3640 feet instead of 9708 feet. It is certain at least that one of the num- bers of Diodorus must be erroneous, for as a circuit of 100 stadia, or 60,675 feet, would give a base diameter of 19,200 feet, or just twice the recorded height of 9708 feet, the slope would have been exactly 45°, and the hill would have terminated in a mere point, instead of a large platform with arable land, as described by Arrian. Where the difference between the two au- thorities is so great, and the exaggeration so apparent,
* ' Anabasis," iy. 28. f Vit. ApoUonii, ii. 10. % Hist., xvii. 44.
f2
68 THE ANCIENT GEOGRAPHY OP INDIA.
it is difficult to suggest any possible alteration that \yould reconcile tlie discrepant measurements, and at the same time bring tbem within the range of proba- bility. I believe, however, that we are quite safe not only in preferring the lesser numbers, but also in applying the altitude to the slant height instead of to the perpendicular height. But even with these lesser measurements, the Indian Aornos would still be twice the size, and more than twice the height of the famous rock of Gibraltar, which is 7 miles in circuit at base, and only 1600 feet in height.
In the similar case of the great fortress of Gwalior, we find the usually accurate English traveller, WilUam Finch, describing it as a castle situated on a steep craggy cliff, " 6 Jcos in circuit, or, as some say, 11 feo*." As Finch generally adopts the short imperial kos of 1| mile, his estimate of the circuit of Gwalior will be 9 miles, or nearly twice the actual measurement of 5 miles, while the popular estimate will be nearly four times greater than the truth. It is possible, however, to reconcile these different numbers by supposing that the larger refers to the imperial kos, and the smaller to the greater kos of Akbar, which is just double the former. But in this case the estimate of the circuit of the fort of Gwalior would be from 14 to 15 miles, or just three times too great. Finch does not mention the height of Gwalior, but he notes that the "steep ascent " to the castle of Nanrar was " rather more than a mile " in length, which is just double the truth. Here the traveller was led to exaggerate the height by the mere steepness of the ascent. But in the case of Aornos, the Greeks had an additional mo- tive for exaggeration in the natural wish to enhance
NORTHERN INDIA. 69
their own glory. For this reason I would suggest, as a possible explanation of the discrepancy between the 16 stadia of Diodorus and the 11 stadia of Arrian, that the original authority of the former may have quadrupled or trebled the true measurement, while that of the latter only trebled or doubled it. Under this explanation the two numbers would become either 4 and 3^ stadia, or 5^ and 5^ stadia, or from 2300 to 3400 feet, which might be accepted as a very pro- bable measure of the slant height; similarly the circuit might be reduced to 50 stadia, which are equi- valent to 5f miles or 30,300 feet, or rather more than the circuit of the road around the base of the Gwalior hill. A slant height of 2300 feet, with a base of 1900 feet, would give a perpendicular height of 1250 feet, or an ascent of 2 feet in every 3 feet. I do not propose this mode of reduction as a probable explana- tion of the discrepancies in the recorded measure- ments, but I venture to suggest it only as a possible means of accounting for the evident exaggeration of the numbers in both of the authorities.
All the accounts of Aornos agree in describing it as a rocky hill of great height and steepness. Justin calls it saxum mircB asperitaiis et altitudinis, " an ex- ceedingly rugged and lofty rock."* Diodorus, Strabo, Arrian, Curtius, and Philostratus, all call it petra, or a " rock fort." Its rocky ruggedness was, therefore, a special feature of Aornos. According to Arrian, it was " only accessible by one difficult path, cut out by hand, and it possessed a fine spring of pure water on the very summit, besides wood and sufficient arable soU for the cultivation of one thousand men." The * Hist., xii. 7.
70 THE ANCIENT GEOGEAPHY OF INDIA.
last expression is still in common use in India, under tlie form of ploughs of land, and means simply as much land as one man can plough in a day. The same thing was expressed by the Greeks and Eomans by yokes^ each being as much as one yoke of oxen could plough in a single day. Now the smallest plough of land would not be less than 100 feet square, or 10,000 square feet, which would give 10,000,000 square feet for 1000 men. This would show an area of 4000 feet in length by 2500 feet in breadth, or, making allow- ance for buildings, of one mile in length by half a mile in breadth, or 2 miles in length by a quarter of a mile in breadth, which is just the size of Gwalior. But if such a vast fortress as Gwalior had ever existed on the western frontier of India, it would certainly not have escaped the notice of the early Muhammadan conquerors, and it could scarcely have eluded the searching inquiries of General Court and General Abbott. I, therefore, look upon the thousand ploughs of land as another gross exaggeration of Alexander's followers for the sake of ministering to their master's vanity. I accept the one difficult path of access and the spring of pure water, as two of the necessary pos- sessions of a strong military post, but I unhesitatingly reject the 100 ploughs of arable land, for if such an extensive tract as half a square mile of irrigable land had ever existed on the top of a hill in this arid dis- trict, I cannot believe that such an important and valuable site ever would have been abandoned.
In searching for a position that will answer the general description of Aornos, it is unfortunate that our range is limited to the few points which have been visited by Europeans. The claims of the Mah^ban
NORTHERN INDIA. 71
hill have already been discussed ; and the only other possible positions that I know of are the following : —
1. The ruined city of Takht-i-Bahai.
2. The lofty isolated hill of Kdramdr.
3. The hill of Panjpir.
4. The ruined fortress of Hdnigat.
The first of these places stands on an isolated hill, about halfway between B&z^r and Hashtnagar; Mr. Loewenthal describes it as a barren hill of no great height, which forms three sides of a square, with the open side towards the north-west.* By the trigonome- trical survey maps, Takht-i-Bahai is only 1859 feet above the sea, or 650 feet above the Tusufzai plain. Mr, Loewenthal also describes the ascent as easy; and as the place is situated not less than 35 miles from the nearest point of the Indus, I think it may be re- jected at once as not answering the description of lofty and difficult access, and as being too far from the pro- bable position of Embolima. The position of the lofty isolated hill of Kdramdr^ which is situated 6 miles to the south of Bizar, and only 18 miles to the north-north- west of Ohind, added to its height, which is 3480 feet above the sea, or 2280 feet above the Yusufeai plain, would give it a most prominent claim to notice if it possessed any remains of former occupation. But the Kdramdr hill is a mere bluflf ridge, without ruins and without a name in the traditions of the people. The Panjpir hill is a similar but smaller ridge, which rises to the height of 2140 feet above the sea, or 940 feet above the Yusufzai plain. It is a mere sharp ridge crowned with a single building, which is now dedi- cated to the Panjpir, or five Great Saints of the Mu-
* Journ. Asiat. Soo. Bengal, 1863, p. 2.
72 THE ANCIENT GEOGRAPHY OE INDIA.
hammadans, of wliom tlie earliest is Baha-ud-din Zakariya of Multan, commonly called Balidwal Hakk. But the Hindus affirm tliat the place was originally- dedicated to the Panch-Pandu^ or Five Pandu brothers of the ' Mahahharata.'
The last probable position that I know of is the ruined fortress of Rdnigat. I visited this place in January, 1848, and I had intended revisiting it during my tour in 1863, but the war on the Buner frontier most un- fortunately prevented me from carrying out my inten- tions. I can,, therefore, add but little to the information which I collected in 1848; but as that has not been made public, and as no one but Mr. Loewenthal would appear to have visited the place since then, my account will still possess all the advantage of novelty.
Pdniffnt is situated on a lofty hill above the vUlage of Nogram, which is just 12 miles to the south-east of Bazar, and 16 miles to the north of Ohind. Its posi- tion, therefore, is strongly in favour of its identifica- tion with Aornos. The hill itself is the last point of one of the long spurs of the Mahaban range. Its base is rather more than two miles in length from north to south by about half a mile in width, but the top of the hill is not more than 1200 feet in length by 800 feet in breadth. In 1848, I estimated its height at 1000 feet ; but from the unanimous assertions of the people that it is higher than Panjpir, I think that it is pro- bably not less than 1200 feet. The sides of the hill are covered with massive blocks of stone, which make it exceedingly rugged and inaccessible. There is only one road, cut in the rock, leading to the top, although there are two, if not more, rather difficult pathways. This, wo know, was also the case with Aornos, as
NOETHEEN INDIA. 73
Ptolemy succeeded in reaching tlie top by a "rugged and dangerous path,* whilst Alexander himself at- tacked the place by one regular path which was cut out by the hand.t Hdnigai may be described as con- sisting of a castle, 500 feet long by 400 feet broad, surrounded on aU sides except the east, where it springs up from the low spur of Mah&ban, by a rocky ridge, which on the north side rises to an equal height. On all sides the castle rock is scarped ; and on two sides it is separated from the surrounding ridge by deep ravines, that to the north being 100 feet deep, and that to the west from 50 to 150 feet. At the north-west angle of the castle two dykes have been thrown across the ravine, which would appear to have been intended to arrest the flow of water, and thus to form a great reservoir in the west hollow. In the north ravine, between the castle and the great isolated block called 'Rdnigat^ there are three square wells ; and to the north-east lower down, I thought that I could trace another dyke, which was most probably only the remains of part of the outer line of defences. The entire circuit of this outer line is about 4500 feet, or somewhat less than a mile.
The castle itself is thus described by Mr. Loewen- thalj : — " The summit of the hill oflPers a flat plateau of some size, which had been very strongly fortified by buildings all round the brow. These buildings are constructed of large blocks of stone (conglomerate found on the spot) neatly hewn, and carefully fitted, disposed with very great regularity, and laid in a cement of extraordinary excellence. Unavoidable in-
* Arrian, 'Anabasis,' iv. 29. f Ibid., iv. 28.
% Joura. Asiat. Soo. Bengal, 1863, p. 5.
74 THE ANCIENT GEOGRAPHY OF INBIA.
terstices between the large blocks are filled up by layers of thin small stone tablets, this latter practice being an invariable feature in all the so-called Kafir buildings which I have seen in the Trans-Indus country." To this description I may add that all the stone blocks are laid most carefully as headers and stretchers, that is alternately lengthwise and breadth- wise, which gives a very pleasing and varied appear- ance to the massive walls. All the buildings are now much ruined, but the external walls are traceable nearly all round, and on the south and west sides are still standing to a considerable height, and in very good order. The main entrance, which is at the south-west corner, is formed in the usual ancient man- ner by overlapping stones. The passage is not per- pendicular to the face of the wall, but considerably inclined to the right for a short distance. It then turns to the left to a small chamber, and then again to the right till it reaches what must have been an open courtyard. The whole of this passage was ori- ginally roofed in by courses of stone with chamfered ends overlapping each other so as to form the two sides of a pointed arch, but the ends of the upper course of stones being left straight, the apex of the arch has the appearance of a rectangular cusp. This peculiarity was also noticed by Mr. Loewenthal, who says that "the arch would be pointed, but the centre line is taken up by a narrow rectangular groove." On the west face I observed a smaller passage of a similar kind, but it was so blocked up with rubbish that I was quite unable to trace its course.
This central castle or citadel, with its open court- yard surrounded by costly buildings, I take to have
NORTHERN INDIA. 75
been the palace of the king, with the usual temples for private worship. At the north end I traced a wide flight of steps leading down to a second plateau, which I presume to have been the outer court of the palace or citadel. The upper courtyard is 270 feet long and 100 feet broad; and the lower courtyard, including the steps, is just half the size, or 130 feet by 100 feet. These open areas were covered with broken statues of all sizes, and in all positions. Many of them were figures of Buddha the Teacher, either seated or standing ; some were of Buddha the Ascetic, sitting under the holy Pipal tree ; and a few repre- sented May^, the mother of Buddha, standing under the stl tree. But there were fragments of other figures, which apparently were not connected with religion, such as a life-size male figure in chain armour, a naked body of a man with the Macedonian chlami/s, or short cloak, thrown over the shoulders and .fastened in front in the usual manner, and a human breast partly covered with the Mamys and adorned with a necklace of which the clasps are formed by two human-headed, winged, and four-footed animals, some- thing like centaurs. All these figures are carved in a soft, dark-blue clay slate, which is easily worked with a knife. It is exceedingly brittle, and was there- fore easily broken by the idol-hating Musalmans. But as the surface was capable of receiving a good polish, many of the fragments are still in very fine preserva- tion. The best piece that I have seen was a head of Buddha, with the hair massed on the top of the head, and worked in a peculiar manner in wavy lines, in- stead of the usual formal curls. It was found at Jamal Garhi, and is by far the best piece of Indian sciilp-
76 THE ANCIENT GEOGRAPHY OP INDIA.
ture that I have seen. The calm repose of the finely- chiselled features is not unworthy of Grecian art, but the striking beauty of the face is somewhat marred by the round projecting Indian chin.
I have already noticed that the ES.nigat hill is covered on all sides with massive blocks of stone, which make the approach very rugged and difficult. Numbers of these stones are of very large size, and some of those on the top of the hill have been hol- lowed out to form cells. Mr. Loewenthal notices this as "one of the most marked features" amongst these remains. Many of the cells are quite plain inside, whilst others have the simple ornament of a niche or two. The most notable of these excavated blocks is on the ridge to the south of the castle. It is called Kairi-kor, or the " Grain Merchant's house," by the people ; but I observed nothing about the rock that would give any clue to its original purpose, save the smallness of the entrance, which was certainly better suited for the cell of a monk than for the shop of a dealer. Mr. Loewenthal notices that "the vegetation on the hill is principally olive and myrtle ; " but in 1848 there was a considerable number of good-sized trees scattered over the summit.
I do not insist upon the identification, but if we admit that the accounts of the historians are very much exaggerated, I think that the ruins of E^ni- gat tally much better with the vague descriptions of Aornos that have come down to us, than any other position with which I am acquainted. In all essen- tial points, save that of size, the agreement is won- derfully close. Its position between Bazar and Ohind, or Bazaria and Embolima, is quite unobjectionable.
NORTHERN INDIA. 77
Its attribution to Eaja Vara renders it probable that the place may have been named after him, which would give a very near approach to the Aor- nos of the Greeks. Its great height, its ruggedness, and difliculty of access, its one path cut in the rock, its spring of water and level ground, and its deep ravine separating the outer works from the castle, are so many close and striking points of resemblance, that, were it not for the great difference in si^e, I should be very much disposed to accept the iden- tification as complete. But though in this point it does not come up to the boastful descriptions of the Greeks, yet we must not forget the opinion of Strabo that the capture of Aornos was exaggerated by Alex- ander's flatterers. It must also be remembered that as the campaign against Assakanus took place " during the winter,"* and the Macedonians entered Taxila "at the beginning of spring," the siege of Aornos must have been carried on during the very depth of winter, when the Mahg,ban hill, 7471 feet above the sea, and e'very other hill of the same height, is usually covered with snow. It is almost certain, therefore, that even the lesser height of 11 stadia, or 6674 feet above the Yusufzai plain, equivalent to 7874 feet above the sea, must be grossly exaggerated. In this part of the country the snow falls annually as low as 4000 feet above the sea, or 2800 above the Yusufzai plain, and as no snow is said to have fallen on Aornos, although the Greeks mention that they saw snow during the winter, I think that their silence on this point is ab- solutely conclusive against the recorded height of Aornos, and therefore also against the claims of Ma- * Strabo, Geogr., xv. 1, 17.
78 THE ANCIENT GEOGRAPHY OF INDIA.
haban, and of any other hill exceeding 4000 feet in height. All the ancient authorities agree in describ- ing Aornos as a Trerpa, or ' rock,' with rugged and pre- cipitous sides, and with only a single path cut by hand. The Mah^ban hill does not, therefore, fulfil any one condition of the ancient description. It is a huge mountain of comparatively easy access, and is more than twice the size of the most exaggerated estimate of Alexander's flatterers. Its name also has no resemblance to Aornos ; whilst the traditions of Eaja Va7-a, attached to Ranigat, would seem to con- nect that place directly with Aornos.
ParasZ/mvara, or Peskdwar.
The great city now called Peshawar is first men- tioned by Fa-Hian, in a.d. 400, under the name of Fo-leu-sha.* It is next noticed by Sung-Yun in a.d. 502, at which time the king of Gandhara was at war with the king of Kipin, or Kophene, that is Kabul and Ghazni, and the sun-ounding districts. Sung-Yun does not name the city, but he calls it the capital, and his description of its great stupa of king Kia-ni-sse-Jcia, or Kanishka, is quite sufiicient to establish its iden- tity.f At the period of Hwen Thsang's visit, in a.d. 630, the royal family had become extinct, and the kingdom of Gandhara was a dependency of Kapisa or Kabul. But the capital which Hwen Thsang calls Pu-hi-.'iha-pii-h, or ParasJimmra, was still a great city of 40 li, or 6f miles, in extent.j It is next mentioned by Masudi and Abu Eihan, in the tenth and eleventh
* Deal's translation of ' Fah-Hian,' p. 34. t Beal's translation of ' Sung-Yun,' p. 202. X Julien's ' Hiouen Thsang,' ii. 104.
NORTHERN INDIA. 79
centuries, under the name of Parashdwar, and again by Baber, in the sixteenth century, it is always called by the same name throughout his commentaries. Its present name we owe to Akbar, whose fondness for innovation led him to change the ancient Parashdwar^ of which he did not know the meaning, to Peshdwar^ or the " frontier town." Abul Fazl gives both names.* The great object of veneration at Parash^war, in the first centuries of the Christian era, was the beg- ging pot of "Buddha, which has already been noticed. Another famous site was the holy Pipal tree, at 8 or 9 /f, or \\ mile, to the south-east of the city. The tree was about 100 feet in height, with wide spread- ing branches, which, according to the tradition, had formerly given shade to Sakya Buddha when he pre- dicted the future appearance of the great king Ka- nishka. The tree is not noticed by Fa-Hian, but it is mentioned by Sun- Yung as the Vho-tJd, or Bodhi tree, whose " branches spread out on all sides, and whose foliage shuts out the sight of the sky." Beneath it there were four seated statues of the four previous Buddhas. Sung-Yun further states that the tree was planted by Kanishka over the spot where he had buried a copper vase containing the pearl tissue lattice of the great stupa, which he was afraid might be ab- stracted from the tope after his death. This same tree would appear to have been seen by the Emperor Baber in a.d. 1505, who describes it as the "stu- pendous tree " of Begr^m, which he " immediately rode out to see."f It must then have been not less than 1500 years old, and as it is not mentioned in
* ' Ayin Akbari,' ii. 341.
t ' Memoirs, translated by Leyden and Erskine,' p. 157.
80
THE ANCIENT GEOGRAPHY OE INDIA.
A.D. 1594 by Abul Fazl,* in Ms account of the Gor- Katri at Peshawar, I conclude that it had previously disappeared through simple old age and decay.
The enormous stupa of Kanishka, which stood close to the holy tree on its south side, is described by all the pilgrims. In a.d. 500 Fa-Hian says that it was about 400 feet high, and " adorned with all manner of precious things," and that fame reported it as supe- rior to all other topes in India. One hundred years later, Sung-Yun declares that "amongst the topes of western countries this is the first." Lastly, in a.d. 630, Hwen Thsang describes it as upwards of 400 feet in height and 1\ li, or just one quarter of a mile, in circumference. It contained a large quantity of the relics of Buddha. No remains of this great stupa now exist.
To the west of the dupa there was an old monastery, also built by Kanishka, which had become celebrated amongst the Buddhists through the fame of Arya- Pdrsioika, Manorhita, and Vasu-bandhu^ three of the great leaders and teachers of Buddhism about the be- ginning of the Christian era. The towers and pavi- lions of the monastery were two stories in height, but the building was already much ruined at the time of Ilwen Thsang's visit. It was, however, inhabited by a small number of monks, who professed the " Lesser Yehicle " or exoteric doctrines of Buddhism. It was still flourishing as a place of Buddhist education in the ninth or tenth centuryj- when Vira Deva of Ma- gadha was sent to the " great Vihara of Kanishka where the best of teachers were to be found, and which was famous for the quietism of its frequenters," I be-
* ' Ayin Akbari,' ii. 165. t Jour. As. Soc. Bengal, 1849, i. 494.
NOETHERN INDIA. 81
lieve that this great monastery was still existing in the times of Baber and Akbar under the name of Gor- Katri^ or the Baniya's house.
The former says, " I had heard of the fame of Gurh-Katri, which is one of the holy places of the Jogis of the Hindus, who come from great distances to cut off their hair and shave their beards at this Gurh-Katri.^'' Abul Fazl's account is still more brief. Speaking of Peshawur he says, "here is a temple, called Gor-Katri, a place of religious resort, particu- larly for Jogis." According to Erskine, the grand caravansara of Peshawur was built on the site of the Gor-Katri.
7. UDYANA, OE SWAT.
On leaving Utakhanda Hwen Thsang travelled about 600 //, or iOO miles, towards the north, to U-chanff-na^ or Udydna, which was situated on the river 8u-po-fa- su-tu, the Subhavastu and Suvastu of Sanskrit, the Suastus of Arrian, and the Swdi or 8udt river of the present day. It is called U-chang by the earlier pil- grims Fa-Hian and Sung-yun, which is a close tran- script of Ujjdna, the Pali form of Udyana. The country is described as highly irrigated, and very fertile. This agrees with all the native accounts, ac- cording to which Swat is second only to the far-famed valley of Kashmir. Hwen Thsang makes it 5000 li, or 833 miles, in circuit, which must be very near the truth, if, as was most probably the case, it included all the tributaries of the Sw^t river. TJdydna would thus have embraced the four modern districts of Panj- kora, Bij^war, Sw§,t, and Bunir, which have a circuit of only 500 miles, if measured on the map direct, but
G
82 THE ANCIENT GEOGEAPHY OF INDIA.
of not less than 800 miles by road measurement. Fa- Hian mentions Su-Jio-to as a small district to the south of Udy^na. This has generally been identified with the name of Sw^t ; but from its position to the south of TJdyana, and to the north of Parashawar, it cannot have been the large valley of the Swat river itself, but must have been limited to the smaller valley of Bunir. This is confirmed by the legend told by Fa- Hian of the hawk and pigeon ; in which Buddha, to save the pigeon, tears his own flesh and ofi'ers it to the hawk. The very same legend is related by Hwen Thsang, but he places the scene at the north-west foot of the Mahdban mountain, that is, in the actual valley of Bunir. He adds that Buddha was then a king, named 8hi-pi-kia, or Sivika, which may, perhaps, be the true form of Fa-Hian's Suhoto.
The capital of TJdyana was called Mung-Me-li^ or Mangala^ which is probably the Mangora of Wilford's surveyor, Mogal Beg, and the Manglora of General Court's map. It was 16 or 17 //, about 2f miles, in circuit, and very populous. At 250 or 260 li, about 42 miles, to the north-east of the capital the pilgrim reached the source of the Suhhavastu river, in the fountain of the Naga king Apaldla ; and at 750 li, or 125 miles, further in the same direction, after crossing a mountain range and ascending the Indus, he arrived at Tha-li-lo, or Bdrel, which had been the ancient capital of Udyana. Ddrel is a valley on the right or western bank of the Indus, now occupied by Bdrdiis, or Ddrdx, from whom it received its name. It is called To-li by Fa-Hian, who makes it a separate kingdom. The Dards are now usually divided into three separate tribes, according to the dialects which
NORTHERN INDIA. 83
they speak. Those who use the Arniya dialect occxipy the north-western districts of Yasan and Chitrdl ; those who speak the Khajunah dialect occupy the north-east districts of Hunza and Nager ; and those who speak the Shina dialect occupy the valleys of Gilgit, ChilS,s, Darel, Kohli, and Palas, along the banks of the Indus. In this district there was a celebrated wooden statue of the future Buddha Maitreya, which is mentioned by both of the pilgrims. According to Fa-Hian it was erected 300 years after the Nirvana of Buddha, or about B.C. 243, that is, in the reign of Asoka, when the Buddhist religion was actively disseminated over India by missionaries. Hwen Thsang describes the statue as 100 feet in height, and states that it was erected by Madliydntiha.* The name and the date mutually support each other, as Madhydntika, or Maj- jhima in Pali, was the name of the Buddhist teacher, who, after the assembly of the Third Synod in Asoka's reign, was sent to spread the Buddhist jEaith iu Kash- mir and the whole Himavanta country.-)- This is most probably the period alluded to by Hwen Thsang when Ddrel was the capital of UdyS,na.
8. BOLOR, OR BALTI.
From Darel Hwen Thsang travelled 500 A', or 83 mil«s, over a mountain range, and up the valley of the Indus to Po-lu-lo, or Bolor. This district was 4000 li, or 666 miles, in circuit; its greatest length being from east to west. It was surrounded by snowy mountains, and produced a large quantity of gold. This account of the route, compared with the bearing
* Julien's ' Hiouen Thsang,' ii. 168. But he fixes the date at only 50
years after Buddha, for which we should most probably read 250 years.
t Tumour's ' Mahawanso,' p. 71 ; see also my ' BLilsa Topes,' p. 120.
g2
84 THE ANCIENT GEOGRAPHY OF INDIA.
and distance, show that Po-lu-lo must be the modern Balii, or Little Tibet, which is undoubtedly correct, as the people of the neighbouring D^rdu districts on the Indus know Balti onlj' by the name of Palolo* Balti also is still famous for its gold washings. The name, too, is an old one, as Ptolemy calls the people BiiXrai,^ or Byltm. Lastly, both in size and position Balti corresponds exactly with the account of the Chinese pilgrim, as the length of the province is along the course of the Indus from east to west for 150 miles, and the breadth about 80 miles from the moun- tains of Deoseh to the Karakoram range, or altogether 460 miles in circuit, as measured direct on the map, or about 600 miles by road measurement.
9. FALIXA, OR BANU.
The name of Fa-la-na is mentioned only by Hwen Thsang, who places the coimtry to the south-east of Ghazni, and at fifteen days' journey to the south of Lamghan.t It was 4000 //, or 666 miles, in circuit, and was chiefly composed of mountains and forests. It was subject to Kapisene, and the language of the people had a slight resemblance to that of Central India. Prom the bearing and distance, there is no doubt that Banii was the district visited by Hwen Thsang, from which it may be inferred that its ori- ginal name was Varana, or Barna. This is confirmed by Fa-Hian, who calls the country by the shorter Yoruacular name of Po-na, or Bona, which he reached in thii'teen days from IS'agarahara in going towards the south. Pona also is said to be three days' journey to the west of the Indus, which completes the proof of its identity with Banu, or the lower half of the
* 'HioiienThsang.'ii. 150; andmy'Ladak.'p. 31. f H. Tli., i. 265.
NORTHERN INDIA. 85
valley of the Kuram river. In the time of Fa-Hian the kingdom of Banu was limited to this small tract, as he makes the upper part of the Kuram valley a separate district, called Lo-i, or Boh.* But in the time of Hwen Thsang, when it had a circuit of more than 600 miles, its boundaries must have included the whole of the two large valleys of the Kuram and Gomal rivers, extending from the Safed Koh, or " Little Snowy Mountains " of Fa-Hian, to Sivastan on the south, and from the frontiers of Ghazni and Kandahar on the west to the Indus on the east.
I think it not improbable that the full name of this district, Falana or Barana, may have some connection with that of the great division of the Ghilji tribe named Burdn, as the upper valleys of both the Kuram and Gomal rivers, between Ghazni and the Sulimani mountains, are now occupied by the nume- rous clans of the Sulimani Khel, or eldest branch of the Burgins. Iryub, the elder son of Buran, and the father of Suliman, is said to have given his name to the district of Haryuh or Irydb, which is the upper valley of the Kuram river.
M. Vivien de St. Martin"]' identifies Falana with Vdneh, or Wanneh, of Elphinstone. :]: But Vdtia, or Wdna, as the Afghans call it, is only a petty little tract with a small population, whereas Banu is one of the largest, richest, and most populous districts to the west of the Indus. Yana lies to the south-south-east, and Banu to the east-south-east of Ghazni, so that either of them will tally very well with the south-east direction noted by Hwen Thsang ; but V^na is from
* Seal's Translation, c. 14, p. 50. t ' Hiouen Thsang,' appendice iii. X Elphinstone 's ' Kabul,' ii. 156, 158.
86 THE ANCIENT GEOGRAPHY OF INDIA.
20 to 25 days' journey to the south of Lamghan, while Banu is just 15 days' journey as noted hy the pilgrim. As Fa-Hian's notice of Banu dates as high as the beginning of the fifth century, I think that it may he identified with the Banagara of Ptolemy, which he places in the extreme north of Indo-Scythia, and to the south-south-east of Nagara^ or Jalalab&d. A second town in the same direction, which he names Andrapana, is probably Drdhand or Berdband, near Dera Ismail Khan.
Hwen Thsang mentions a district on the western frontier of Palana, named Ki-kiang-na, the position of which has not yet been fixed. M. Vivien de St. Martin and Sir H. Elliot have identified it with the KaiJcdndn, or KiJcdn, of the Arab historians of Sindh ;* but unfortunately the position of Kaikdndn itself is still undetermined. It is, however, described as lying to the north or north-east of Eachh Gandava, and as Kikiangna was to the west of Falana or Banu, it appears probable that the district intended must be somewhere in the vicinity of PisJiin and Kwetta ; and as Hwen Thsang describes it as situated in a valley under a high mountain, I am inclined to identify it with the valley of Pishin itself, which lies between the Khoja Amran hills on the north, and the lofty Mount Takatu on the south. This position agrees with that of Kai- Icdn, Jjitj given by Biladuri,t who says that it formed part of Sindh in the direction of Khorasan. This is further confirmed by the statement that Kai- Icdn was on the road from Multan to Kabul, as the usual route between these places lies over the Sakhi
* ' Hiouen Thsang,' iii. 185 ; Dowson's edition of Sir H. Elliot's ' Muhammadan Historians,' i. 381.
! Eeinaud's 'Fragments Arabes, etc.,' p. 184.
NOETHERN INDIA. 87
Sarwar Pass in tlie Sulimani mountains, and across the PisWn valley to Kandahar. A shorter, but more difficult, route is by the valley of the Gomal river to Ghazni. But as the valley of the Gomal belonged to Falana, it follows that the district of KiUangna must have been somewhere in the neighbourhood of Pisltin; and as this valley is now inhabited by the tribe of Khakas, it is not improbable that the name of Kikdn, or Kaikdn, may have been derived from them.
10. OPOKIEN, OR AFGHANISTAN?
0-po-kien is mentioned only once by Hwen Thsang in a brief paragraph, which places it between Falana and Ghazni, to the north-west of the former, and to the south-east of the latter. From this description it would appear to be the same as the Lo-i of Fa-Hian, and the Boh of the Indian historians. Perhaps the name of Opohlen may have some connection with Vorgun or Verghin^ which Wilford's surveyor, Mogal Beg, places near the source of the Tunchi, or Tochi branch of the Kuram river. In the map attached to Burnes's Travels by Arrowsmith the name is written Borghoon. I am, however, inclined to identify Opokien, or Avakan, as it is rendered by M. Julien, with the name of Af- ghan, as I find that the Chinese syllable Men represents ghan in the word Ghanta. From the cursory notice of the district by Hwen Thsang, I infer that it must have formed part of the province of Falana. It was certainly a part of the mountainous district called Boh by Abul Fazl and Ferishta,* or south-eastern Afghanistan, which would appear to have been one of the original seats of the Afghan people. Major * Briggs's ' Ferishta,' i, p. 8.
88 THE ANCIENT GEOGRAPHY OF INDIA.
Eaverty* describes Eoli as " the mountainous district of Afghanistan and part of Bilnchistan," or "the country between Ghazni and Kandahar and the Indus." The people of this province are called Ro- hilas, or Eohila Afghans, to distinguish them from other Afghans, such as the Ghori Afghans of Ghor between Balkh and Merv. There is, however, a slight chronological difficulty about this identification, as the Afghans of Khilij, Ghor, and Kabul are stated by Ferishta to have subdued the province of Eoh so late as A.H. 63, or a.d. 682, that is about thirty years later than the period of Hwen Thsang's visit. But I think that there are good grounds for doubting the accuracy of this statement, as Hwen Thsang describes the language of Falana as having but little resem- blance to that of Central India. The inhabitants of Eoh could not, therefore, have been Indians; and if not Indians, they must almost certainly have been Afghans. Ferishtaf begins his account by saying that the Muhammadan Afghans of the mountains "invaded and laid waste the inhabited countries, such as Kirman, Shivaran, and Peshawar;" and that seve- ral battles took place between the Indians and Afghans " on a plain between Kirman and Peshawar." The Kirman here mentioned is not the great province of Ku- man, or Karmania, on the shore of the Indian Ocean, but the Kirman, or Kirmdsh, of Timur's historians, which is the valley of the Kui-am river. The dif- ficulty may be explained if we limit the part of Kir- mfm that was invaded to the lower valley, or plains of the Kuram river, and extend the limits of the Afghan country beyond Ghazni and Kabul, so as to
* Puslitu Dictionary, in voce. f Briggs's Translation, i. 7.
NOETHEEN INDIA. 89
embrace the upper valley, or mountain region of tlie Kuram river. Politically the ruler of Peshawar has always been the ruler of Kohat and Banu, and the ruler of Kabul has been the lord of the upper Kuram valley. This latter district is now called Khost ; but it is the Irydb of Timur's historians, and of Wilford's surveyor, Mogul Beg, and the Haryub of Elphinstone. Now the Sulimda-K/iel of the Burdn division of the Ghiljis number about three-fourths of the whole horde. I infer, therefore, that the original seat of the Ghiljis must have included the upper valleys of the Kuram and Gomal rivers on the east, with Ghazni and Kelat- i-Ghilji on the west. Haryub would thus have formed part of the Afghan district of Khilij, or Ghilji, from which the southern territories of Peshawar were easily accessible.
But whether this explanation of Ferishta's state- ment be correct or not, I feel almost certain that Hwen Thsang's 0-po-kien must be intended for Afghan. Its exact equivalent would be Jvaffhan, which is the nearest transcript of Afghan that the Chinese syllables are capable of making. If this rendering is correct, it is the earliest mention of the Afghans that I am aware of under that name.
II. Kingdom of KLishmir.
In the seventh century, according to the Chinese pilgrim, the kingdom of Kashmir comprised not only the valley of Kashmir itself, but also the whole of the hilly country between the Indus and the Chenab to the foot of the Salt range in the south. The different states visited by Hwen Thsang were TJrasa^ to the west of Kashmir ; J'axila and Sinhajjura, to the south-
90 THE ANCIENT GEOGRAPHY OF INDIA.
■west; and Punach and Eajaori to the soutli. The other hill-states to the east and south-east are not mentioned; but there is good reason for believing that they also were tributary, and that the dominions of Kashmir in the seventh century extended from the Indus to the Eavi. The petty independent state of Kullu, in the upper valley of the Bias river, was saved by its remoteness and inaccessibility ; and the rich state of Jdlandhar, on the lower Bias, was then sub- ject to Harsha Vardhana, the great king of Kanoj. But towards the end of the ninth century the Kangra valley was conquered by Sankara Yarmma, and the sovereign power of Kashmir was extended over the whole of the Alpine Panjab from the Indus to the Satlej.*
Hwen Thsang describes Kashmir as surrounded on all sides by lofty mountains, which is a correct de- scription of the valley itself ; but when he goes on to say that its circuit is 7000 li, or 1166 miles, he must refer to the extended kingdom of Kashmir, and not to the valley, which is only 300 miles in circuit. But the extent of its political boundary, from the Indus on the north to the Salt range on the soutli, and from the Indus on the west to the Eavi on the east, cannot be estimated at less than 900 miles, and may very probably have reached the amount stated by the pilgrim.
1. XASHMIE.
H^ven Thsang entered the valley of Kashmir from the west in September, a.d. 631. At the entrance there was a stone gate, where he was met by the younger brother of the king's mother ; and after pay-
* ' Eaja Taracgini,' v. 144.
NORTHERN INDIA. 91
ing his devotions at the sacred monuments, he went to lodge for the night in the monastery of Hu-se-kia-lo, or Hushkara.* This place is mentioned by Abu Eihan,! who makes Ushkara the same as Bardmula, which occupied both sides of the river. In the ' Eaja Tarangini 'J also Hushhapura is said to be near Vardha, or Vardhamula, which is the Sanskrit form of Bard- mula. Hushkara or Uskar stiU exists as a village on the left or eastern bank of the Behat, two miles to the south-east of Baramula. The Kashmiri Brahmans say that this is the Hushkapura of the ' Eaja Tarangini,' which was founded by the Turushka king Hushka, about the beginning of the Christian era.
According to the chronology of the ' Eaja Tarangini,' the king of Kashmir in A.n. 631 was Pratapaditya ; but the mention of his maternal uncle§ shows that there must be some error in the native history, as that king's father came to the throne in right of his wife, who had no brother. Pratapaditya's accession must, therefore, have taken place after Hwen Thsang's departure from Kashmir in a.d. 633, which makes an error of three years in the received chronology. But a much greater difference is shown in the reigns of his sons Chandrapida and Muktapida, who applied to the Chiaese emperor for aid against the Arabs. || The date of the first application is a.d. 713, while, accord- ing to the native chronology, Chandrapida reigned from A.D. 680 to 688, which shows an error of not less than twenty-five years. But as the Chinese annals also record that about a.d. 720 the emperor granted the title of king to Chandrapida, he must
* ' Hiouen Thsang,' i. 90. \ Eeinaud, ' Fragments Arabes,' p. 116. + B. Tii. 1310 and 1313. § ' Hiouen Thsang,' ii. 90.
II Kemusat, ' Nouveaux Melanges Asiatiques,' i. 197.
92
THE ANCIENT GEOGEAPHY OF INDIA.
have been living as late as the previous year a.d. 719, which makes the error in the Kashmirian chronology amount to exactly thirty-one years. By applying this correction to the dates of his predecessors, the reign of his grandfather, Durlahha, will extend from a.b. 625 to 661. He, therefore, must have been the kirig who was reigning at the time of Hwen Thsang's arrival in Kashmir in a.d. 631. Durlabha, who was the son-in-law of his predecessor, is said to have been the son of a Niiga, or Dragon ; and the dynasty which he founded is called the Nuga or KarJcota dynasty. By this appellation I understand that his family was given to ophiolatry, or serpent-worship, which had been the prevailing religion of Kashmir from time im- memorial. Hwen Thsang designates this race as Ki- li-to^ which Professor Lassen and M. Stanislas Julien render by Kriiya and Kritiya. They were extremely hostile to the Buddhists, who had frequently deprived them of power, and abolished their rights ; on which account, says the pilgrim, the king, who was then reigning, had but little faith in Buddha, and cared only for heretics and temples of the Brahmanical gods. This statement is confirmed by the native chronicle, which records that the queen, Ananga-Iekha, built a Vihdra, or Buddhist monastery, named after herself, Anangahhavana ; while the king built a temple to Vishnu, called after himself, Burlahha-sivdmina* I infer from this that the queen still adhered to the Buddhist faith of her family, and that the king was, in reality, a Brahmanist, although he may have pro- fessed a lukewarm attachment to Buddhism.
The people of Kashmir are described as good look-
* ' Raja Tarangiui,' iy. 3 aud 5.
NORTHERN INDIA. 93
ing, easy and fickle in manner, effeminate and cowardly in disposition, and naturally prone to artifice and deceit. This character they still bear; and to it I may add that they are the dirtiest and most immoral race in India. Hwen Thsang states that the neigh- bouring kings held the base Kashmiris in such scorn that they refused all alliance with them, and gave them the name of Ki-li-to or Krityas, which would appear to be a term of contempt applied to evil-minded and mischievous persons, as enemies, traitors, assas- sins, etc. The term which 1 have heard used is Kh^- Mlechchhas, or the " Barbarian Kiras," and "Wilson gives Kira as a name of the valley of Kashmir, and Kiruh as the name of the people.
In the seventh century the capital of the country was on the eastern bank of the river, and about 10 li, or less than 2 miles, to the north-west of the ancient capital. Abu Eihan* calls the capital Adishtdn, which is the Sanskrit JdMsthdna, or "chief town." This is the present city of Srinagar, which was built by Raja Pravarasena about the beginning of the sixth century, and was, therefore, a new place at the time of Hwen Thsang's visit. The "old capital" I have abeady identified with an old site, 2 miles to the south-east of the Takht-i-Suliman, called Pundrethdn, which is the corrupt Ka'shmirian form of Purdnddhisthdna, or "the old chief city." Pdn is the usual Kashmiri term for " old," as in Pdn Drds, or "old Dras," to distinguish it from the new village of Dras, which is lower down the river, t Near the old capital there
* Eeinaud, ' Fragments Arabes, eto.,' p. 116.
t Wilson altered this spelling to Payin Dras, wliioh in Persian signifies " Lower Dras," in spite of the fact that PiU Drds is higher up the river.
94 THE AXCIENT GEOGRAPHY OF INDIA.
was a famous stupa, which, in a.d. 631 enshrined a tooth of Buddha; hut before Hwen Thsang's return to the Panjab in a.d. 643 the sacred tooth had been given up by the Eaja to Harsha Varddhana, the power- ful king of Kanoj, who made his demand at the head of an army on the frontier of Kashmir.* As Eaja Durlabha was a Brahmanist, the sacrifice of the Bud- dhist tooth was a real gain to his religion.
From the earliest times Kashmir has been divided into the two large districts of Kamrdj and Meraj\ the former being the northern half of the valley, below the junction of the Sindh river with the Behat, and the latter the southern half above that junction. The smaller divisions it is unnecessary to mention. But I may note the curious anomaly which a change of religious belief has produced in the use of two of the most distinctive Hindu terms. By the Hindu who Avorships the sun, the cardinal points are named with reference to the east, as para, the " front," or the " east," to which he turns in his daily morning wor- ship ; apara, "behind," or the "west;" vama, the "left" hand, or the "north;" and dakshim, the "right" hand, or the "south." By the Muhamma- dan, who turns his face to the west, towards Mecca,
these terms are exactly reversed, and dachin, which still means the " right " hand in Kashmiri, is now used to denote the "north," and kdwar, or the "left" hand to denote the "south." Thus, on the Lidar riA'cr there is the subdivision of Dachinpdra to the north of the stream, and Kmoarpdra to the south of it. On the Behat river also, below Barahmula, the subdivision of Dachin lies to the north, and that of
* Compare ' Hiouen Thsaiig,' ii. 180 with i. 251.
NOETHERN INDIA. 95
Kdwar to the south of the stream. This change in the meaning of Dachin from " south " to " north " must have taken place before the time of Akbar, as Abul Fazl* describes Z>acAm/iffm as " situated at the foot of a mountain, on the side of Great Tibet," that is to the north of the river Lidar.
The principal ancient cities of Kashmir are the old capital of Srinagari, the new capital called Pravarasena- pura ; Khdgendra-pura and Khunamusha, built before the time of Asoka; Vijipdra and Pdntasok^ which are referred to Asoka himself ; Surapura, a restoration of the ancient Kdmhuva ; Kanishkapura, Hushkapura, and Jushkapura, named after the three Indo-Scythian Princes by whom they were founded ; Parihdsapura, built by Lalitaditya ; Padmapura, named after Padma, the minister of Eaja Vrihaspati ; and Avantipura, named after Haja Avanti Yarmma.
Srinagari, the old capital of Kashmir prior to the erection of Pravarasenapura, is stated to have been founded by the great Asoka, f who reigned from e.g. 263 to 226. It stood on the site of the present Pdn- drethdn, and is said to have extended along the bank of the river from the foot of the TakJd-i-Sulimdn to Pdntasok, a distance of more than three miles. The oldest temple in Kashmir, on the top of the Takht-i- Suliman, is identified by the unanimous consent of all the Brahmans of the valley with the temple of Jyeshta Budra, which was built by Jaloka, the son of Asoka, in Srinagari.;]: This identification is based on the fact that the hill was originally called Jyesldeswara. The old bridge abutments at the village of Pantasok are
* ' Ayin Akbari,' ii. 130. J ' Eaja Tarangini,' i. 124.
t 'Kaja Tarangini,' i. 101.
96 THE ANCIENT GEOGRAPHY OF INDIA.
also attributed to Asoka ; and the other ruins at the same place are said to be the remains of the tAvo Jsok- eswara temples which are noted in the native chronicle of Kashmir. Srinagari was still the capital of the valley in the reign of Pravarasena I., towards the end of the fifth century, when the King erected a famous symbol of the god Siva, named after himself Pravares- loara. This city still existed in a.d. 631, when the Chinese pilgrim arrived in Kashmir, although it was no longer the capital of the valley. He speaks of the capital of his time as the " new city," and states that the " old city " was situated to the south-east of it, at a distance of ten li^ or nearly two miles, and to the south of a high mountain. This account describes the relative positions of Pandrethan and the present capital with the lofty hill of Takht-i-Suliman so exactly, that there can be no hesitation in accepting them as the representatives of the ancient places. The old city was still inhabited between a.d. 913 and 921, when Meru, the minister of Eaja Partha, erected in Purunadhisthdna, that is in the " old capital," a temple named after himself Meru- Varddha7ia-sivdmi. This building I have identified with the existing temple of Pandrethan, as Kallian Pandit relates* that, when Eaja Abhimanyu set fire to his capital, all the noble build- ings "from the temple of Varddliana iSwdmi, as far as BhikshuJcipdraka''^ (or the asylum of mendicants) were destroyed. I attribute the escape of the limestone temple to its fortunate situation in the midst of a tank of water. To this catastrophe I would assign the final desertion of the old capital, as the humble dwellings of the people could not possibly have escaped the destruc-
* See my ' Temples of Kashmir,' p. 41; and ' Eaja Tarangini.'.vi. 191.
NOETHEEN INDIA. 97
tive fire which consumed all the " noble edifices " of the city.
Pravarasenapura, or the new capital, was built by Eaja Pravarasena II. in the beginning of the sixth century. Its site, as already noted, was that cif the present capital of Srinagar. This is determined beyond all possibility of doubt by the very clear and distinct data furnished by the Chinese pilgrim Hwen Thsang, and by the Hindu historian Kalhan Pandit. The statements of the first have already been quoted in my account of the old capital ; but I may add that Hwen Thsang resided for two whole years in Kash- mir, in the Jayendra Vihdra^* or Buddhist monastery, built by Jayendra, the maternal uncle of Pravarasena. The Hindu author describes the city as situated at the confluence of two rivers, and with a hill in the midst of it. This is an exact description of the present Srinagar, in the midst of which stands the hill of Hari Parbat, and through which flows the river Hara, or Ara, to join the Behat at the northern end of the city.f
The question now arises, how did the new city of Prmarasenapura lose its own name, and assume that of the old city of Srinagari ? I think that this diffi- culty may perhaps be explained by the simple fact that the two cities were actually contiguous, and, as they existed together side by side for upwards of five centuries, the old name, as in the case of Delhi, would naturally have remained in common use with the people, in preference to the new name, as the
* ' Hiouen Thsang,' i. 96.
t ' Moorcroft's Travels,' ii. 276. I speak also from personal know- ledge, as I have twice visited Kashmir.
H
08 THE ANCIEXT GEOGEA.PHY OP IXDIA.
cnstomnr}' designation of the capital. The old name of Dcllii is exactly a case in point. There, new city after new city was built by successive kings, each with the distinctive name of its founder ; but as they were all in the immediate vicinity of Delhi itself, the old familiar name still clung to the capital, and each new appellation eventually became absorbed in the one general name of "Delhi." In the same way I believe that the old familiar name of Srinagar eventually swamped the name of the new city of Pravarasenapura.
The names of Khdr/ipura and Kfiunamusha are referred by Kalhan Pandit* to Eaja Khagendra^ who, as the sixth predecessor of Asoka, must have reigned about 400 B.C. Wilson and Troyer have identified these two places with the Kdkajnir and Gauinoha of Muham- madan wiiters. The first is certain, as Kdkapur still exists on the left bank of the Behat, at 10 miles to the south of the Takht-i-Suliman, and 5 miles to the south of Pampur. But the identification of Gau- moha, wherever that may be, is undoubtedly wrong, as Khunamusha is now represented by the large village of Khunamoh, which is situated under the hills at 4 miles to the north-east of Pampur.
The old town of Bij Bidra, or Vijipdra, is situated on both banks of the Behat, at 25 miles to the south- east of the capital. The original name was Vijnya- pdra, so called altci' the ancient temple of Vijagesa, which still exists, although its floor is 14 feet below the present level of the surrounding ground. This difference of level shows the accumulation of ruins since the date of its foundation. The people refer its erection to Asoka, B.C. 250, who is stated by Kalhan
* 'Eaja Tarangini,' i. 90.
NORTHERN INDIA. 99
Pandit* to have pulled down the old brick temple of Vijayesa^ and to have rebuilt it of stone. This is ap- parently the same temple that is mentioned in the reign of Arya Eaja, some centuries after Christ, t
Snrapura^ the modern Supur or Sopur, is situated on both banks of the Behat, immediately to the west of the Great "Wular Lake. It was originally called Kumbuva, and under this name it is mentioned in the chronicles of Kashmir as early as the beginning of the fifth century. J It was rebuilt by Sura, the minister of Avanti Yarmma, between a.d. 854 and 883, after whom it was called SArapura. From its favourable position at the outlet of the Wular Lake, I think it probable that it is one of the oldest places in Kashmir.
Kanishkapura was built by the Indo-Scythian prince Kanishka,§ just before the beginning of the Christian era. In the spoken dialects of India it is called Kanikhpur, which in Kashmir has been still further corrupted to Kdmpur. It is situated 10 miles to the south of Srinagar, on the high-road leading to the Pir Panchal Pass. It is a small village with a sarai for travellers, and is now generally known as Kdvipur Sarai. In the large map of Kashmir by Captain Montgomerie the name is erroneously given as Khanpoor.
Hushkapura, which was founded by the Indo- Scythian prince Hushka, or Huvishka, the brother of Kanishka, would appear to have been the same place as the well-known Vardhamula, or Bardhmula, on the Behat. Abu Eihan|| calls it " UsJikar, which is the
* 'Eaja Tarangini,' i. 105. t Hid., ii. 123. % Ibid., iii. 237. § Ibid., i. 168. || Reinaud, 'Fragments Arabes, etc.,' p. 116.
100 THE ANCIENT GEOGEAPIIY OE INDIA.
town of Banmula, built on botli banks of the river." It is noted under tbe same name by the Chinese pil- grim Hwen Thsang, who entered the valley from the west by a stone gate, and halted at the monastery of Ilii.se.kia-io, or Hushkara. The name of Bardhmula has now eclipsed the more ancient appellation, which, however, still exists in the village of Uskara, 2 miles to the south-east of the present town, and im- mediately under the hills. The place has been visited, at my request, by the Eev. G. W. Cowie, who found there a Buddhist stupa still intact. This is probably the same monument that is recorded to have been erected by Eaja Lalitaditya* between a.d. 723 and 760. It is again mentioned in the native chronicle| as the residence of the Queen Sugandha in a.d. 913. From all these notices, it is certain that the town still bore its original name down to the beginning of the eleventh century, when Abu Eihan mentions both names. But after this time the name of Vardhamula alone is found in the native chronicles, in which it is mentioned during the reigns of Harsha and Sussala, early in the twelfth century. I think it probable that the main portion of the town of Hushkapiira was on the left, or south bank of the river, and that Yarahamula was originally a small suburb on the right bank. On the decline of Buddhism, when the monastic establishment at Hushkapura was abandoned, the old town also must have been partially deserted, and most probably it continued to decrease until it was supplanted by the Brahmanical suburb of Yara- hamula.
Jushkopura was founded by the Indo- Scythian prince
* ' Eaja Tavangini,' iv. 188. \ Ibid., v. 258.
NORTHEEN INDIA. 101
Jushka, a brother of Kanishka and Huslika. The Brahmans of Kashmir identify the place with Zuhru, or Zukur, which is still a considerable village, 4 miles to the north of the capital. This is evidently the " SchecroJi^ ville assez considerable," which Troyer and "Wilson* have identified with Hushkapura. I visited the place in November, 1847, but the only traces of antiquity that I could discover were a considerable number of stone pillars and mouldings of the style of architecture peculiar to Kashmir, all of which had been trimmed and adapted to Muhammadan tombs and Masjids. Parihdsapura was built by the great Eaja Lalitaditya,f who reigned from a.d. 723 to 760. It was situated on the right, or eastern bank of the Behat, near the present village of Sumbal. There are still many traces of walls and broken stones on the neighbouring mounds, which show that a city must once have existed on this spot ; but the only considerable remains are a bridge which spans tlio Behat, and a canal which leads direct towards Supur, to avoid the tedious passage by the river through the Wular Lake. As Pari/idsripura is not mentioned again in the native chronicle, it must have been neg- lected very soon after its founder's death. His own grandson, Jayapida, built a new capital named Jaya- pura, in the midst of a lake, with a citadel, which he named Sri-dtodravati, but which the people always called the " Inner Fort."! The position of this j)lace is not known, but I believe that it stood on the left bank of the Behat, immediately opposite to Parihdsa- pura, where a village named Jnfar-kof^ or the " Inner
* 'Eaja Tarangini,' i. 370; Asiat. Kes. xv. 23.
t ' Eaja Tarangini,' iv. 194 % Ibid., iv. 505, 510.
102 THE ANCIENT GEOGRAPHY OF INDIA.
Fort," exists to this day. The final destruction of this city is attributed by the people to Sangkara Varmma, who reigned from a.d. 883 to 901. He is said to have removed the stones to his own new city of Sangharapura^ which still exists as PaiJian, 7 miles to the south-west of the Sumbal bridge. The great temple at Parikisa was destroyed by the bigoted Si- kandar, who reigned from 1389 to 1413, a.d. Of this temple a curious story is told by the Muhammadan historians. Speaking of Pdrispur, Abul Fazl* says, "here stood a lofty idolatrous temple which was destroyed by Sikandar. In the ruins was found a plate of copper with an inscription in the Indian lan- guage purporting that after the expiration of 1100 years the temple would be destroyed by a person named Sikandar." The same story is told by Ferishta,-]" with the addition of the name of the Eaja, whom the translator calls Balnat, which is probably a mistake for Laldil, the usual contracted form of Lalitaditya among the Kashmiris. As the difference of time between this prince and Sikandar is barely 700 years, it is strange that the tradition should preserve a date which is so much at variance with the chronology of their own native chronicles.
Padmapura, now called Pdinpur, was founded by Padma, the minister of Raja Yrihaspati, who reigned from A.D. 832 to 844. i}: It is situated on the right bank of the Behat, 8 miles to the south-east of the capital, and about midway on the road to Avautipura. The place is still Avell inhabited, and its fields of saffron are the most productive in the whole valley.
* ' Ayin Akbari," ii. 135. f Briggs's ' Ferishta,' iv. 465.
X ' Eaja Tarangini,' iv. 69-1.
NOETHEEJf INDIA. 103
Avaniipura was founded by Eaja Avanii-Varmma* who reigned from a.d. 854 to 833. It is situated on the right bank of the Behat, 17 miles to the south- east of the present capital. There is now only a small village called Wafitipur ; but the remains of two mag- nificent temples, and the traces of walls on all sides, show that it must have been once an extensive city. The name of No-naff ar, or the " New Town," which is now attached to the high tract of alluvial table-land on the opposite side of the river, is universally al- lowed by the people to refer to Avantipura itself, which is said to have occupied both banks of the river ori- ginally.
2. UEASA.
Between Taxila and Kashmir Hwen Thsang places the district of U-la-shi, or Urasa, which, from its po- sition, may at once be identified with the Varsa Begio of Ptolemy, and with the modern district oiBa-sh^ in Dhan- tawar, to the west of MuzafarabS,d. It is mentioned in the native chronicle of Kashmirf as a mountainous district in the vicinity of the valley, where Eaja Sani/- kara Varmma received his death wound in a.d. 901. It corresponds exactly with the Pakhali of Abul Fazl, which included all the hilly country between the Indus and Kashmir, as far south as the boundary of Attak. At the present day the principal towns of the district are Manser a^ in the north-east; Noshahra^ in the middle ; and Kishangarh^ or Haripur^ in the south- west. In Hwen Thsang's time the capital is said to have been either 300 or 500 U, that is, 50 or 83 miles, distant from Taxila. This difference in the distance
* 'Eaja Tarangini,' v. 44. t Ibid., t. 216.
104 THE ANCIENT GKOGEAPHY OF INDIA.
makes it impossible to identify tlie actual position of the capital in the seventh century ; but it seems pro- bable that it must have been at Mdngali, which is said by the people to have been the ancient capital of the district. This place stands midway between Noshahra and Mansera, and about 50 miles to the north-east of Taxila.
According to Hwen Thsang, Urasa was 2000 li, or 333 miles, in circuit, which is probably correct, as its length from the source of the Kunihar river to the Gandgarh mountain is not less than 100 miles, and its breadth from the Indus to the Behat, or Jhelam, is 55 miles in its narrowest part. Its distance from Kash- mir is stated at 1000 li, or 167 miles, which would place the capital somewhere in the neighbourhood of Noshahra, and within a few miles of Mangala, which was the ancient capital according to the traditions of the people.
3. TAXILA, OR TAKSHASILA.
The position of the celebrated city of Taxila has hitherto remained unknown, partly owing to the erro- neous distance recorded by Pliny, and partly to the want of information regarding the vast ruins Avhich still exist in the vicinity of Shah-dheri. All the copies of Pliny agree in stating that Taxila Avas only 60