The Ancient Geography of India. I. The Buddhist Period, including the Campaigns of Alexander, and the Travels of Hwen-Thsang c5.s1.t10: Utakhanda, or Ohind, or Embolima.
The Ancient Geography of India. I. The Buddhist Period, including the Campaigns of Alexander, and the Travels of Hwen-Thsang c5.s1.t10
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Utakhanda, or Ohind, or Embolima.
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From Polusha Hwen Thsang travelled 200 li, or 33 miles, to the south-east to U-to-kia-han-cha, which M. Julien transcribes as Udakhanda, and M. Vivien de St. Martin identifies with Ohind on the Indus. The pilgrim describes Udakhanda as having its south side resting on the river, which tallies exactly with the position of Ohind, on the north bank of the Indus, about 15 miles above Attok. General Court and Burnes call this place Hund, and so does Mr. Loewenthal, who styles Ohind a mistaken pronunciation. But the name was written ويهند Waihand or Oaihand, by Abu Rihân in A.D. 1030, and Ohind by Mirza Mogal Beg in 1790. To my ear the name sounded something like Wahand, and this would appear to have been the pronunciation which Rashid-ud-din obtained in A.D. 1310, as he names the place *Wehand*.* According to all these authors *Waihand* was the capital of Gândhâra, and Rashid-ud-din adds that the Mogals called it *Kârajáng*. The only native writer who uses the abbreviated form of the name is Nizâm-ud-din, who in his ‘*Tabakât-i-Akbari*’ says that Mahmud besieged Jaipal in the fort of *Hind* in A.D. 1002. But this place is differently named by Ferishta, who calls it the fort of *Bithanda*, بتہندہ. In this last name we have a very near approach to the old form of *Utakhanda*, which is given by Hwen Thsang. From all these examples, I infer that the original name of *Utakhanda*, or *Ut-khand*, was first softened to *Uthand* or *Bithanda*, and then shortened to *Uhand* or *Ohind*. The other form of *Wehand* I look upon as a simple misreading of *Uthand*, as the two words only differ in the position of the diacritical points of the second letter. General James Abbott, in his ‘*Gradus ad Aornon*,’ calls the place *Oond*, and says that it was formerly called *Oora*, from which he thinks it probable that it may be identified with the *Ora*, *Ὤρα*, of Alexander’s historians.
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I have entered into this long detail out of respect for the acknowledged learning of the late lamented Isidor Loewenthal. His opinion as to the name of Ohind was most probably, although quite unconsciously, biassed by his belief that Utakhanda was to be found in the modern Attak. But this place is unfortunately on the wrong side of the Indus, besides which its name, as far as I am aware, is not to be found in any author prior to the reign of Akbar. Abul Fazl calls the fort *Atak-Banáras*, and states that it was built in the reign of his Majesty. Baber never mentions the place, although he frequently speaks of Nilâb. Rashid-ud-din, however, states that the Parashâwar river joins the Indus near *Tankur*, which most probably refers to the strong position of Khairabad. I have a suspicion that the name of Attak, the "forbidden," may have been derived by Akbar from a mistaken reading of *Tankur*, with the Arabic article prefixed, as *Et-tankur*. The name of *Banáras* was undoubtedly derived from *Banár*, the old name of the district in which the fort is situated. The name of *Banâr* suggested *Banáras*, and as *Kási-Baánras* was the city which all Hindus would wish to visit, so we may guess that this fact suggested to the playful mind of Akbar the exactly opposite idea of *Attak Banáras* or the "forbidden" *Banáras*, which all good Hindus should avoid. Or the existence of *Katak Banáras** (or Cuttack) in Orissa, on the extreme eastern limit of his kingdom, may have suggested an alteration of the existing names of Attak and *Banâr* to *Attak-Banáras* as an antithesis for the extreme west.
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∗ There is a place of the same name on the Jhelam, which Moorcroft spells *Oin*.
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*Wehand*, or *Uhand* as I believe it should be written, was the capital of the Brahman kings of Kabul, whose dynasty was extinguished by Mahmud of Ghazni in A.D. 1026. Masudi, who visited India in A.D. 915, states that "the king of El-kandahar (or Gândhâra), who is one of the kings of Es-Sind ruling over this country, is called *Jahaj*; this name is common to all sovereigns of that country."† Now, Chach is the name of the great plain to the east of the Indus, immediately opposite to Ohind; and as the plain of *Banár* is said to have been named after Raja *Banár*, it seems probable that the plain of *Chach* may have been named after the Brahman dynasty of Ohind. It is curious that the Brahman dynasty of Sindh was also established by a *Chach* in A.D. 641; but it is still more remarkable that this date corresponds with the period of the expulsion of the Brahman dynasty from *Chichito*, or *Jajhoti*, by the Chandels of Khajurâ. I think, therefore, that there may have been some connection between these events, and that the expelled Jajhotiya Brahmans of Khajurâ may have found their way to the Indus, where they succeeded in establishing themselves at first in Sindh and afterwards in Ohind and Kabul.
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∗ ‘Ayin Akbari,’ ii. 194, and Stirling’s ‘Orissa,’ in Bengal Asiat Researches, xv. 189.
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† Sir Henry Elliot’s ‘Muhammadan Historians of India,’ i. 57. In the new edition by Professor Dowson, i. 22, the name is altered to Hahaj.
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In the time of Hwen Thsang the city was 20 *li*, or upwards of 3 miles, in circuit, and we may reasonably suppose that it must have increased in size during the sway of the Brahman dynasty. It would seem also to have been still a place of importance under the successors of Changiz Khan, as the Mogals had changed its name to Kârajâng. But the building of Attak, and the permanent diversion of the high-road, must seriously have affected its prosperity, and its gradual decay since then has been hastened by the constant encroachments of the Indus, which has now carried away at least one-half of the old town.* In the sands at the foot of the cliff, which are mixed with the *débris* of the ruined houses, the gold-washers find numerous coins and trinkets, which offer the best evidence of the former prosperity of the city. In a few hours' washing I obtained a bronze buckle, apparently belonging to a bridle, a female neck ornament, several flat needles for applying antimony to the eyes, and a considerable number of coins of the Indo-Scythian and Brahman princes of Kabul. The continual discovery of Indo-Scythian coins is a sufficient proof that the city was already in existence at the beginning of the Christian era, which may perhaps induce us to put some faith in the tradition, mentioned by Abul Feda, that *Wehand*, or *Ohind*, was one of the cities founded by Alexander the Great.
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∗ See No. IV. Map for its position.
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After the surrender of Peukelaotis, Arrian* relates that Alexander captured other small towns on the river Kophenes, and "arrived at last at Embolima, a city seated not far from the rock Aornos," where he left Kraterus to collect provisions, in case the siege should be protracted. Before he left Bazaria, Alexander, with his usual foresight, had despatched Hephæstion and Perdikkas straight to the Indus with orders to "prepare everything for throwing a bridge over the river." Unfortunately, not one of the historians has mentioned the name of the place where the bridge was made; but as the great depôt of provisions and other necessaries was formed at Embolima, I conclude that the bridge must have been at the same place. General Abbott has fixed Embolima at *Amb-Balima* on the Indus, 8 miles to the east of Mahâban; and certainly if Mahâban was Aornos the identity of the other places would be incontestable. But as the identification of Mahâban seems to me to be altogether untenable, I would suggest that *Ohind* or *Ambar-Ohind* is the most probable site of Embolima. Ambar is a village two miles to the north of Ohind, and it is in accordance with Indian custom to join the names of two neighbouring places together, as in the case of *Attak-Banáras*, for the sake of distinction, as there is another *Ohin* on the Jhelam. It must be remembered, however, that *Embolima* or *Ekbolima* may be only a pure Greek name, descriptive of the position of the place, at the junction of the Kabul river with the Indus, where it is placed by Ptolemy. In this case the claim of Ohind would be even stronger than before. That the bridge over the Indus was at, or near, Embolima, seems almost certain from the statement of Curtius, that when Alexander had finished his campaign to the west of the Indus by the capture of Aornos, "he proceeded towards *Ecbolima*; "* that is, as I conclude, to the place where his bridge had been prepared by Hephæstion and Perdikkas, and where his provisions had been stored by Kraterus. I infer that the depôt of provisions must have been close to the bridge, because one guard would have sufficed for the security of both bridge and stores.
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∗ 'Anabasis,' iv. 28.
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*Sálátura, or Lahor.*
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Hwen Thsang next visited *So-lo-tu-lo*, or Sálátura, the birthplace of the celebrated grammarian Pânini, which he says was 20 *li*, or 3⅓ miles, to the north-west of Ohind. In January, 1848, during a day's halt at the village of *Lahor*, which is exactly four miles to the north-east of Ohind, I procured several Greek and Indo-Scythian coins, from which it may be inferred, with some certainty, that the place is at least as old as the time of Pânini himself, or about B.C. 350. I have, therefore, no hesitation in identifying Sâlâtura with Lahor. The loss of the first syllable of the name is satisfactorily accounted for by the change of the palatal sibilant to the aspirate, according to the well-known usage of the people of western India, by whom the Sindhu river was called Hendhu and Indus, and the people on its banks Hindus or Indians; Sâlâtura would, therefore, have become Hálátura and Alátur, which might easily have been corrupted to Lahor; or, as General Court writes the name, to Lavor.
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∗ Vit. Alex., viii. 12,—"inde processit Ecbolima."