[Pramāṇa](https://indike.org/pramana/) › [Studies](https://indike.org/pramana/ins) › [Historical geography](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.geography) › [The Ancient Geography of India. I. The Buddhist Period, including the Campaigns of Alexander, and the Travels of Hwen-Thsang](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.geography.cunningham-1871) › c11.16 # The Ancient Geography of India. I. The Buddhist Period, including the Campaigns of Alexander, and the Travels of Hwen-Thsang c11.16 The Ancient Geography of India. I. The Buddhist Period, including the Campaigns of Alexander, and the Travels of Hwen-Thsang c11.16 - **Language:** English ### [c11.16](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.geography.cunningham-1871.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. - [Previous: c11.15](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.geography.cunningham-1871.c11.15) - [Next: c11.17](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.geography.cunningham-1871.c11.17) - [Up: c11](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.geography.cunningham-1871.c11) --- Source: [https://indike.org/pramana/ins.geography.cunningham-1871.c11.16](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.geography.cunningham-1871.c11.16) · Pramāṇa