History of Kanauj to the Moslem Conquest c11.s1.1

c11.s1.1

We have now finished our critical survey of Yuan Chwang’s description of contemporary kingdoms, along with the evidence of other relevant authorities, in regard to their government and the nature of their political status. There are indeed some very striking features in the narrative of the pilgrim. It is to be noticed that he is very careful to mention the governments of the countries he visited, and to name the dependencies of certain kingdoms, like Kapiśa, Kashmir, Mālava and Sindh. In case of certain countries he even notes the transfer of allegiance, as we learn about Taxilla that it “had been formerly subject to Kapiśa, but now it was a dependency of Kashmir.”² About Lang-kie (ka)-lo he observes: “It had no supreme government, each valley having a separate government of its own, but it was subject to Persia.”³ Again, in the case of A-tien-po-chih-lo the pilgrim notes: “The country had latterly been without a sovereign and was under Sindh.”⁴