The Early History of India, from 600 B.C. to the Muhammadan Conquest, including the Invasion of Alexander the Great c31.s1.16

c31.s1.16

The accession of the emperor Hiuen-tsung, in 713, marks a revival of Chinese activity ; and determined efforts were made by means of both diplomacy and arms to keep open the Pāmīr passes, and to check the ambition of the Arabs and Tibetans, who sometimes combined. In 719, Samarkand and other kingdoms invoked the aid of China against the armies of Islam ; while the Arab leaders sought to obtain the co-operation of the minor states on the Indian borderland. The chiefs of Udyāna (Suwāt), Khottal (west of Badakshān), and Chitrāl, having refused to listen to Muslim blandishments, were rewarded by the emperor of China with letters patent conferring on each the title of king ; and a similar honour was bestowed upon the rulers of Yasin (Little Po-lu), Zabulistan (Ghaznī), Kapisa, and Kashmīr. China made every effort to organize these frontier kingdoms, so as to form an effective barrier against both Arabs and Tibetans. Chandrāpīda, king of Kashmīr, received investiture as king from the emperor in 720, and his brother Muktāpīda-Lalitāditya was similarly honoured in 733.