The Ancient Geography of India. I. The Buddhist Period, including the Campaigns of Alexander, and the Travels of Hwen-Thsang c10: Appendix A. Approximate Chronology of Hwen Thsang's Travels.

The Ancient Geography of India. I. The Buddhist Period, including the Campaigns of Alexander, and the Travels of Hwen-Thsang c10

Language: English

Appendix A. Approximate Chronology of Hwen Thsang's Travels.

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| A.D. | | References. |
| 629, Aug. 1 | Left *Liang-cheu*, in 8th month of 3rd year of *Ching-kwang*, on horseback . . . . . . | Julien's ‘Hiouen Thsang.’ Vol. i. 14. |
| Dec. 1 | *Akini*, about 1200 miles, including 2 months' detention on the way . . . . . . | Vol. i. 15, 39. |
| Dec. 28 | *Baluka*, about 500 miles. | |
| 630, Jan. 10 | *Issikul*, about 250 miles. | |
| Feb. 10 | *Talas*, about 600 miles. | |
| Mar. 5 | SAMARKAND, about 500 miles. | |
| ,, 20 | *Khulm* (Hu-o), halt for 1 month | Vol. i. 62. |
| Apr. 20 | BALKH. | |
| ,, 30 | *Bamian*. Snowstorm on road to *Kapisa* . . . . . . | Vol. i. 71. |
| May 10 | KAPISA. Halt till end of summer | Vol. i. 75. |
| Aug. 15 | *Lamghán*. Halt 3 days . . . | Vol. i. 75. |
| ,, 20 | *Nagarahâra*. Halt 2 months (?) to visit holy places. | |
| Nov. 1 | *Gándhára*. Visits holy spots. | |
| Dec. 1 | *Utakhanda*. | |
| 631, Jan. 1 | *Udyána*. Visits holy places. | |
| Mar. 1 | Source of *Subhavastu* river; frost and ice. | |
| Apr. 1 | Returns to *Utakhanda*. | |
| ,, 10 | TAXILA. Halt 1 month (?) to visit holy places. | |
| May 25 | *Sinhapura*. | |

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| A.D. | | ‘ Hiouen Thsang.’ |
| 631, June 15 | Returns to *Taxila*. | |
| July 10 | *Urasa*. | |
| Aug. 10 | KASHMIR. Halt 2 entire years | Vol. i. 96. |
| 633, Oct. 1 | Leaves Kashmir. | |
| ,, 10 | *Punach*. | |
| ,, 20 | *Rajaori*. | |
| Nov. 10 | *Tseka* or *Taka*. | |
| ,, 15 | *Sákala* or *Sangala*. | |
| ,, 25 | Large town (? *Kusâwar* or *Kasûr*). Halt 1 month | Vol. i. 101. |
| 634, Jan. 1 | *Chinapati*. Halt 14 months | Vol. i. 101. |
| 635, Mar. 15 | *Jálandhara*. Halt 4 months | Vol. i. 102. |
| Aug. 1 | *Kuluta*. | |
| Sep. 10 | *Satadru*. | |
| ,, 25 | *Páriyátra*, or *Bairát*. | |
| Oct. 5 | *Mathura*. | |
| ,, 25 | *Thânesar* or *Sthâneswara*. | |
| Nov. 1 | SRUGHNA. Halt 4½ months, for whole winter and half spring | Vol. i. 106. |
| 636, Mar. 15 | MADÂWAR. Halt 4½ months, for half spring and whole summer. | Vol. i. 109. |
| Aug. 1 | *Brahmapura*. | |
| ,, 5 | Returns to *Madâwar*. | |
| ,, 10 | *Govisana*. | |
| ,, 15 | *Ahichhatra*. | |
| ,, 20 | *Pilosana*. | |
| ,, 25 | *Sankisa*. | |
| Sep. 1 | KANOJ. Halt 3 months | Vol. i. 113. |
| Dec. 1 | *Ayuto*. | |
| ,, 4 | *Hayamukha*. | |
| ,, 7 | *Prayâya*. | |
| ,, 10 | *Kausâmbi*. | |
| ,, 13 | *Kusapura*. | |
| ,, 16 | *Vaisákha*, or *Sáketa*, or *Ajudhya*. | |
| ,, 20 | SRÂVASTI. | |
| ,, 25 | *Kapilavastu*. | |

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APPENDIX.

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| A.D. | | ‘Hiouen Thsang.’ |
| 643, July 1 | *Pilosana*. March 1 month, halt 2 months . . . . . . | Vol. i. 261. |
| Sep. 20 | *JALANDHARA*. Halt 1 month . . | Do. |
| Nov. 15 | *Sinhapura*. | |
| Dec. 15 | *TAXILA*. Halt 7 days . . . | Vol. i. 264. |
| ,, 25 | Fords the Indus on an elephant ; therefore in midwinter to *Utakhanda*. Halt 1 month and 20 days . . . . . . | Do. |
| 644, Mar. 15 | Reaches *Lamghân* with the king in 1 month . . . . . | Vol. i. 265. |
| June 15 | *Falana*, or *Banu*. 15 days’ march | Do. |
| ,, 20 | *Opokien*, or *Afghan*. | |
| ,, 25 | *Tsaokiuto*, or *Ghazni*. | |
| July 1 | *Urddhasthâna*, or *Ortospana*, or *Kabul*. | |
| ,, 5 | *KAPISA*. Halt. Religious assembly 7 days . . . . . . | Vol. i. 266. |
| ,, 20 | *Andarâb*. Cross snowy mountains, and frozen streams. | |
| Aug. 1 | *Tukhâra*. Halt 1 month. | |
| Sep. 1 | *Munkan*. | |
| ,, 3 | *Himatala*. | |
| ,, 8 | *Badakshân*. | |
| ,, 10 | *Kiepokian* | |
| ,, 12 | *Kuilangnu*. | |
| ,, 25 | *Pamer*. | |
| ,, 26 | *Kopanto*. Halt 20 days. | |
| Oct. 10 | Great rock. | |
| ,, 12 | *Ush*. | |
| ,, 15 | *Káshgâr*. | |
| ,, 22 | *Yárkand*. | |
| Nov. 2 | *Kotan*. Halt 7 days. | |
| ,, 13 | *Khima*. Sandy desert. | |
| ,, 16 | *Nijang*. Great desert. | |
| ,, 21 | *Tukhâra*. | |

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| A.D. | | ‘Hiouen Thsang.’ |
| 644, Nov. 29 | *Chemotana.* | |
| Dec. 13 | *Nafopo.* | |
| Jan. 1 | Frontier of China, after some détours. | |
| Apr. 1 | Enters the capital of Western China, in spring of 645 (first moon of spring, nineteenth year of Ching-kwang) . . . | Vol. i. 292. |

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The above chronology gives the approximate dates as nearly as I can determine them, partly from the facts stated, and partly from my own lengthened experience of travelling in India. The estimated dates are well supported by facts noted in the histories of Ceylon, Sindh, and Kashmir; but I may here repeat, that on Hwen Thsang’s arrival at Kánchi, in February, 640, he heard of the assassination of the King of Ceylon. This must have been Raja Buna Mugalan, who was put to death in A.D. 639.

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Another proof of the general accuracy of my estimate of the pilgrim’s rate of travelling is afforded by his statement made to the Great Abbot of the Nâlanda Monastery that his travels had occupied three years.* This period must refer to the actual time spent in travelling, as his recorded halts at various places for the purpose of study, before he reached Nâlanda, amount to four years and seven months. These halts, as stated in his life, are as follows:—

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| | Years. | Months. |
| At Kapisa, one whole summer . . . . . . | 0 | 3 |
| ,, Kashmir, two entire years . . . . . . | 2 | 0 |
| ,, a large town (Kasur ?) . . . . . . | 0 | 1 |
| ,, Chinapati . . . . . . . . . . . | 1 | 2 |
| ,, Jâlandhar . . . . . . . . . . . | 0 | 4 |
| ,, Srughna, whole winter and half spring . | 0 | 4½ |
| ,, Madâmar, half spring and whole summer | 0 | 4½ |
| | Years | 4 | 7 |

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∗ Julien’s ‘Hiouen Thsang,’ i. 147.

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Adding to these recorded halts the three years said to have been spent in travelling, the whole period elapsed, between the pilgrim’s departure from Liang-cheu in August, 629, and the date of his conversation with the Great Abbot, is seven years and seven months, which fixes his arrival at Nâlanda in February, 637 A.D., the date according to my estimate being 1st March, 637.

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The chronology here detailed follows the route indicated in the *Life* of Hwen Thsang, which differs from that given in the *Memoirs* after the departure of the pilgrim from Maheswarapura in April, A.D. 641. According to the *Memoirs*, the route was as follows:—

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A.D. 641, Apr. 5, *Maheswarapura*. June 1, *Sindh*. July 10, *Multân*. ,, 20, *Polofato* or *Shorkot*. Halt 2 months. Oct. 20, *Udumbara*. Nov. 30, *Lángala*. Dec. 13, *Pitasila*, or *Patala*. ,, 20, *Avanda*, or *Bahmana*. 642, Feb. 10, *Falana*, or *Banu*. Mar. 1, *Tsaokiuto*, or *Ghazni*.

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By this route the pilgrim would have reached Tsaokiuto just two years and two months earlier than by the other route, and as the date of his return to China is fixed with certainty, this long period of upwards of two years is wholly unaccounted for in the record of the pilgrim’s travels. It seems almost certain, therefore, that it must have been spent in revisiting Magadha, as stated in the ‘Life.’

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In the ‘Life’ it is recorded that at the end of his second visit to Magadha, after two years’ study, the pilgrim had a dream, in which the Bodhisatwa *Mânju Sri* appeared to him, and foretold the death of King Silâditya in ten years.* The king’s death is then noted to have taken place at the end of the period Yong-hoei, or in A.D. 650. According to this date, the pilgrim’s two years’ residence in Magadha must have been from A.D. 638 to 640. But I find it quite impossible to reconcile this date with the detailed statements of his travels. If, however, we might refer the dream to the end of his *first* visit to Magadha, in November A.D. 638, which would seem to have also extended to about two years, then the date of Silâditya’s death would be fixed to A.D. 648, which is the very year assigned for it in the Chinese account of India by *Ma-twan-lin*.* In the 22nd of the years Ching-kwan (A.D. 648), the Emperor of China sent an ambassador to Magadha, but before his arrival Silâditya was dead. The information obtained by this ambassador is, I think, more trustworthy than the account of Hoei-li, the biographer of Hwen Thsang, as the former had no object to serve in making an erroneous statement, while the latter was obliged to support the prophetic announcement of Hwen Thsang’s dream. I am, therefore, inclined to adopt A.D. 648 as the true date of Silâditya’s death, and to refer the period of the pilgrim’s dream to the close of his first visit to Magadha in A.D. 638.

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∗ Julien’s ‘Hiouen Thsang,’ i. 215.

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According to this view, the greater part of his two years’ study at Nâlanda must be referred to his first visit in A.D. 637–638, to which I have assigned a period of twenty-two months, which, added to his subsequent two months’ study for the resolution of doubts† at his second visit, makes up the total period of two years’ study at Nâlanda. The longer period of five years’ study of all the works of both Buddhists and Brahmans, which is mentioned in another place,‡ I understand to refer to the whole duration of his three principal halts, namely, at Kashmir for two years, at Chinapati for fourteen months, and at Nâlanda for two years, which, taken in round numbers, amount to just five years.

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∗ Journ. Asiat. Soc. Bengal, 1837, p. 69; anonymous English translation. See also Journ. Asiatique, 1839, 398; French translation by M. Pauthier. † *Julien’s ‘Hiouen Thsang,’* i. 211.