Indian Antiquary Vol 48

Author(s): Richard Carnac Temple, Devadatta Ramkrishna Bhandarkar
Publisher: Swati Publications

Page 26

22
THE INDIAN ANTIQUARY
(FEBRUARY, 1919
d'Extrême Orient, Hanoi, 1903) and of 0-Kung (A.D. 800; translated in the Journal Asialique, 1895) are very short, describing a few places of North-Western India (Kabul Valley, the Punjab and Kashmir).
Itsing landed at Tâmralipti, the then port on the Bay of Bengal, in A.D. 673 and visited Nålandå, Gridhrakậta, Buddhagaya, Vaisali, Kubinagara, Kapila vastu, Sråvasti, the Deerpark. Cock Mountain, and left India from Tâmralipti. [Translated by Dr. Takakusu, C. P. S. Oxford, 1896.)
Still more important are the accounts of Fa-Hlan ( A.D. 399-414) and Hwan Tslang (A.D. 629-45 ) or Yuan-chwang (as Mr. Watters prefers to spell it). Fa-Hian entered India from the North-West, travelled over the whole of the Aryavarta and left it at the port of Tamralipti, His record (Fo-Kue-Ki) is truthful, clear and straight-forward. Though a devout Buddhist, he was a sensible and not often a hysterical pilgrim-traveller. The earlier part of his work is strictly geographical. But when he reached India, religion had the better of his geography. Still his geographical notions are valuable for their precision, as he generally fixed the position of every place that he visited by its bearing and distance from that which he left.
Yuan Chwang also entered India from the North-West, travelled though the whole of it and left it by the game route. His records Si-YW-K are fuller than even that of Fa-Hian and it is almost impossible to exaggerate their importance.
In utilising materials from these sources a student should note that:
1. In giving the direction of a place from another Fa-Hain mentions only the four principal cardinal points. (Hence his E. may mean NE. or SE.; and so with the other pointa.) Yüan Chwang also generally does the game; and very seldom does he give the direction as due NE., etc. But still there are other points of the compass beyond these eight.
II. (a) In stating the distance of a place from another, Fa-Hian states it in the yojana and Yuan Chwang in the yojana and the li measure. Dividing the knowndistance-in-miles by the number of yojanas which the distance covers according to these pilgrims, Cunningham asserted that a yojana of Yuan Chwang is 8-75 miles while that of Fa-Hian is 6.71 miles.
Mr. V. Smith takes a yojana of Yüan Chwang to be 65 miles and one of Fa-Hian to be 7.25 miles.
M. Julien and probably Dr. Stein take 8 miles as equal to one yojana of Yuan Chwang, while in the opinion of Mr. Giles a yojana of Fa-Hian varies from 5 to 9 miles.
Now Yüen Chwang has himself stated (Watters, Vol. I, p. 141-2) that a yojana is a day's march for a Royal army; that there are three kinds of yojanas of 16 li (found in Sacred Writings), of 30 l (oommon reckoning in India and of 40 li (old Chinese account). He has also stated that a yojana consisted of eight kerosas (a kerosa being originally the distanoe that the lowing of a cow can be heard). He has also given figures to change a kroja into "bows" ,"oubits","figures" and "barley-oorns." Making caloulations from these materials Floet tried to prove that there were three kinds of yojanas: I. Magad ba yojaná (used by the Buddhists) of 16000 hastas or 4:54 miles; II. General yojana of 32000 hastas or 9.09 miles; III. A third yojan.. (which was acoording to Yuan Chwang it of the general yojana) of 12:12 miles. This third yojana was, according to Fleet, the original yojana (from yuj, to yoke)-the yoking distance the distance along which