Jainism Early Faith of Ashoka

Author(s): Edward Thomas
Publisher: Trubner and Company London

Page 31

BACTRIAN COINS AND INDIAN DATES.
19
names of Sakastanè or Paraitakene with a capital city entitled Sigal.
The ancient Sigal may perhaps be identified with the modern site of Sekooha, the metropolis of a district of that name, which, in virtue of its position, its walls, and its wells, still claims pre-eminence among the cities of Seistán.
And to complete the data, I now find on the surface of the
alike to have disappeared from the local map. 1. IIpopladla. 2. 'Pouda. 3. "Ivya. 4. 'Aplkáda. 5. "AOTA. 6. Eapsápr. 7. Nooráva. 8. papacáva. 9. Bryls. 10. Apidom. 11. 'Apáva.-Ptolemy, lih. vi. cap. 19; Hndson, vol, iii. p. 44; Journ. R A.S. Vol. X. p. 21, and Vol. XV. pp. 97, 150, 206; Darius' Inscription, Persian “Saka," Scythic “Sakka.” The old term of 1. Kw is preserved in all the intelligent Persian and Arabian writers. Majmal
سكان شاه Hamza Isfahani ;ننکان شاه 1889 ,Al Tawarikh, Journ, Asiatique
p. 50; msound mul kowg p. 51. And the Armenians adhere to the Sakasdan. - Moses of Khoreno, French edition, vol. ii. p. 143; Whiston, pp. 301, 364; St.- Martin, L’Arménie, vol. ii. p. 18. "Lime Les villes principales sont: Zalek, Kerkouyah, Hissoum, Zarany, et Bost, où l'on voit les ruines de l'écurie de Roustam, le Héros."-B. de Meynard, La Perse, p. 303. Other references to the geography of this locality will be found in Pliny vi. 21: Ouseley's Oriental Geography, p. 205; Anderson's Western Afghanistan, J.A.S. Bengal, 1849, p. 586; Leech (Sekwa), J.A.S.B., 1844, p. 117; Khanikoff, Asie Centrale,' Paris, 1861, p. 162 (Sékouhe); Ferrier's Travels, p. 430; Malcolm's Persia, vol. i. p. 67; Pottinger's Beloochistán, pp. 407-9; Burnouf's Yasna, p. xcix.
14 This fortress is the strongest and most important in Seistán, hecause, heing at 5 parasangs from the lake, water is to be obtained only in wells which have been dug within its enceinte. The intermediate and surrounding country being an arid parched waste, devoid not only of water, but of everything else, the besiegers could not subsist themselves, and would, even if provisioned, inevitably die of thirst. It contains about 1200 houses. ... I have called it the capital of Seistán, but it is impossible to say how long it may enjoy that title,”-Caravan Journeys of J. P. Ferrier, edited by H. D. Seymour, Esq., Murray, 1857, p. 419. « On the 1st February, 1872, made a 30 mile march to Sekuha, the more modern capital of Seistán...; finally we found Sekuha itself amid utter desolation." --Sir F. J. Goldsmid. From R. Geog. Soc. 1873, p. 70. See also Sir H. Rawlinson's elaborate notes on Seistán, p. 282, “Ši-kobeh " (three hills], in the same volume. I may add in support of this reading of the name of the capital, that it very nearly reproduces the synonym of the obscure Greek Suyda, in the counterpart Pehlvi JAS = Saw Sí gar or gal, which stands equally for three bills." Tahari tells us that in the old language, “guer a le sens de montagne" (Zotenberg, vol. i. p. 5), and Hamza Isfahání equally recognizes the ger as “colles et montes" (p. 37). The interchange of the rs and ls did not disturb the Iranian mind any more than the indeterminate use of gs and ks. See Journ. R.A.S. Vol. XII. pp. 265, 268, and Vol. XIII. p. 377. We need not carry on these comparisons further, but those who wish to trace identities more completely may consult Pictet, vol. i. p. 122, and follow out the Sanskrit giri, Slave gora, etc. Since the body of this note was set up in type, Sir F. Goldsmid's official report upon " Eastern Persia" has been published, and supplies the following additional