[Pramāṇa](https://indike.org/pramana/) › [Studies](https://indike.org/pramana/ins) › [General history and culture](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.general) › [The Early History of India, from 600 B.C. to the Muhammadan Conquest, including the Invasion of Alexander the Great](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.general.smith-1924) › c28.90 # The Early History of India, from 600 B.C. to the Muhammadan Conquest, including the Invasion of Alexander the Great c28.90 The Early History of India, from 600 B.C. to the Muhammadan Conquest, including the Invasion of Alexander the Great c28.90 - **Language:** English ### [c28.90](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.general.smith-1924.c28.90) ¹ The grounds of the statements in the text are stated at length in App. L of the second edition, which need not be reprinted. It will suffice to note here a few points. The territory from which the hostages came was the Chinese dependency watered by the Sītā or Yārkand river and the so-called Chakshū, that is to say, the Oxus. The name Chakshū seems to have been obtained from the astronomer Bhāskara Achārya (Colebrooke, \*Siddhānta Siromani\*, &c., and Wilson, \*Sanskrit Dict.\*, s. v. \*Meru\*, quoted in Elliot, \*Hist. of India\*, I, 50). But Prof. Pāthak has shown (\*Ind. Ant.\*, 1912, p. 266) that the Sanskrit name for the Oxus should be Vakshū. I conclude, therefore, that 'Chakshū' is a clerical error for 'Vakshū', due to the confusion of the characters \*ch\* and \*v\*, which might easily occur in mediaeval script. The hostages' monastery at Kapiśa was Hīnayānist, and therefore presumably connected with Hīnayānist Kāshgar rather than with Mahāyānist Yārkand. It is possible that the introduction of the Hīnayāna into Kāshgar may date from Asoka's time. The treasure, according to Beal's version, consisted of 'several hundred \*catties\* of gold, and several scores \[\*scil.\* of \*catties\*\] of pearls'. The \*catty\* is a Chinese weight, said to be equal to about 1½ lb. avoirdupois. The references for the hostages' story are:— Hiuen Tsang (Yuan Chwang), \*Records\*, in Watters, I, 124, and Beal I, 57, for Kapiśa; \*ibid.\*, in Watters, I, 292, and Beal, I, 173 for Chinabhukti; and \*Life\*, p. 54, for Kapiśa. The story has been discussed by O. Franke, \*Beiträge . . . zur Kenntnis der Türkvölker\*, &c., Berlin (\*Königl. Akad. d. Wissensch.\*), 1904, pp. 80 foll. For identification of the Sītā river, see Stein, \*Ancient Khotan\* (1907), pp. 27, 35, 42. The correct transcription, \*Chīnabhukti\*, is due to Watters. The town lay to the SW. of Jālandhar, and must be sought in the Fīrōzpur District. - [Previous: c28.89](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.general.smith-1924.c28.89) - [Next: c28.91](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.general.smith-1924.c28.91) - [Up: c28](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.general.smith-1924.c28) ## Linked texts (1) - [玄奘](https://indike.org/pramana/inf.cn.tang.xuanzang) — Classical Chinese --- Source: [https://indike.org/pramana/ins.general.smith-1924.c28.90](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.general.smith-1924.c28.90) · Pramāṇa