The Early History of India, from 600 B.C. to the Muhammadan Conquest, including the Invasion of Alexander the Great c29.198

c29.198

One of the many states into which India was divided during those troublous times deserves special notice, because the brief reference to its affairs by Hiuen Tsang has given occasion for much discussion and some misunderstanding. In A. D. 641, or early in 642, the pilgrim, after leaving Bharōch (Broach), travelled in a north-westerly direction for a considerable distance, apparently overstated in the Chinese text, until he arrived in a country called Mo-la-p'o, a name phonetically equivalent to Mālava. The unnamed capital, which was situated to the south-east of a great river, or, according to another reading, of the Mahī, has not been identified. If the 'great river' means the Sābarmatī, the capital may have stood at or near the site of Ahmadābād.¹ Although it is impossible to reconcile all the data given in the pilgrim's text, and several details are open to controversy, it is clear that the kingdom or country of Mo-la-p'o essentially comprised the basin of the Mahī river, with the region to the east of the Sābarmatī and a portion of the hilly tract of Southern Rājputāna, perhaps extending as far east as Rutlam. Mo-la-p'o was bounded on the north by the Gurjara kingdom of Bhinmāl, on the north-west by the subordinate principality or province of Ānandapura (Varnagar), lying to the west of the Sābarmatī, and on the east by the kingdom (Avanti or Eastern Mälwā), of which Ujjain was the capital. Besides Ānandapura, two other countries, Ki-t'a or Ki-ch'a, and Su-la-ch'a or Su-la-tha were dependencies of Mo-la-p'o. The latter dependency certainly is to be identified with Soratha (Surāshtra), or Southern Kāthiāwār. The identity of the former is disputed—some good authorities holding the Chinese name to mean the Kaira (Kheda, Khetaka) District, while others believe it to mean Kachchh (Cutch).