The Ancient Geography of India. I. The Buddhist Period, including the Campaigns of Alexander, and the Travels of Hwen-Thsang c11.16

c11.16

M. Vivien de Saint-Martin, quoting Le Père Gaubil,* shows that the Chinese *li*, shortly after the time of Hwen Thsang, was equal to 329 mètres, or 1079·12 English feet. As this agrees very nearly with the value of one-fifth of an English mile, or 1056 feet, which I have deduced for the *li* from the recorded distances of Hwen Thsang, I think that it must have been the actual *li* which the pilgrim used in estimating the length of his marches in India. Accepting it as the true value of the Chinese *li* of the seventh century, the length of the *yojana* would have been 43,164·8 feet, or nearly 8 3/16 miles, which agrees very closely with the popular valuation at from 8 to 9 miles.