Indian Antiquary Vol 52

Author(s): Richard Carnac Temple, Stephen Meredyth Edwardes, Krishnaswami Aiyangar
Publisher: Swati Publications

Page 119

MAY, 1923)
REGARDING THE CHRISTIANS OF ST. THOMAS IN SOUTH INDIA
103
(16,200 feet) 17 or by way of the Naiza-tash pass and the Little Pamir. Finally, a third column, composed of 3,000 horsemen, which was to make its way to Lien-yün by Pei-ku, or " the northern gorge," may be supposed to have descended from the side of the Great Pamir. For such a move from the north, either one of the several passes could be used which lead across the Nicholas range, south-east of Victoria lake, or possibly & glacier track, as yet unexplored, leading from the latter into one of the gorges which debouch east of Sarhad.18 In any case it is clear that by thus bringing up his forces on convergent but wholly distinct lines, and by securing for himself a fresh base in distant Shighnan, the Chinese general effectively guarded against those difficulties of supplies and transport which, then as now, would make the united move of so large a body of men across the Pamirs a physical impossibility.
The crossing of the Pamirs by a force, which in its total strength amounted to ten thousand men, is so remarkable a military achievement that the measures which alone probably made it possible deserve some closer examination, however succinct the Chinese record is upon which we have to base it. So much appears to me clear, that the march was not effected in one body, but in three columns moving up from Kashgar in successive stages by routes of which Tash-kurghan," the post of the Ts'ung-ling mountains," was the advanced base or point d'appui. If Kao Hsien-chih moved ahead with the first column or detachment to Shighnan and was followed at intervals by the other two detachmente, the advantage gained as regards supplies and transport must have been very great. His own column would have reached a fresh base of supplies in Shighnan while the second was moving across the main Pamirs and the third arriving in Sarikol from the plains. Thus the great strain of having to feed simultaneously the whole force on ground absolutely without looal resources was avoided. It must be remembered that, once established on the Oxus, the Chinese Commissariat could easily draw upon the abundant produce of Badakhshan, and that for the column left on the Pamirs the comparatively easy route across the Alai would be available for drawing supplies from the rich plains of Farghana, then still under Chinese control.
(To be continued.) REGARDING THE CHRISTIANS OF ST. THOMAS IN SOUTH INDIA.
BY SIR RICHARD C. TEMPLE, BT. A LITTLE pamphlet of 70 pages has come into my hands, which purports to be "an investigation into the latest resoarohes in connection with the timo-honoured tradition regarding the martyrdom of St. Thomas in Southern India." It is a Catholio production with an introduction by Mgr. Teixeira, Vioar General of the Diocese of Mylapore (San Thomé de Meliapur), and has been written by a "retired Superintendent, General Records, Government Secretariat, Madras," who is also Editor of the Catholic Register. It is, however, far from being a sectarian issue, and the pros and cons of long-disputed points relating to the alleged mission of St. Thomas to India and its termination in South India are fairly set out in a manner worth the serious attention of students. There is also painstaking bibliography at the end of the pamphlet.
The author's position is well explained by Mgr. Teixeira, who writes "(1) That even if the evidence so far available is not such as to compel belief, it nevertheless argues very strongly in favour of the tradition which places the martyrdom of St. Thomas in Southern
17 For descriptions of this route, of, my Ruins of Khotan, pp. 60 .99., and Desert Oathay, i. pp. 83 899.
18 Regarding the existence of this track, d. the information obtained in the course of my third Central Anian journey, Geographical Journal, 48, (1916), p. 216.
1 St. Thomas the Apostle in India, by F. A. D'Cruz. Madras : Hoe and Co., 1922.