The Ancient Geography of India. I. The Buddhist Period, including the Campaigns of Alexander, and the Travels of Hwen-Thsang c2.12

c2.12

The Chinese pilgrim Fa-Hian was a Buddhist priest, who travelled through India from the banks of the Upper Indus to the mouth of the Ganges, between the years 399 and 413 A.D. Unfortunately his journal is very concise, and is chiefly taken up with the description of the sacred spots and objects of his religion, but as he usually gives the bearings and distances of the chief places in his route, his short notices are very valuable. The travels of the second Chinese pilgrim, Sung-Yun, belong to the year 502 A.D., but as they were confined to the Kabul valley and North-west Panjâb, they are of much less importance, more especially as his journal is particularly meagre in geographical notices.*