The Ancient Geography of India. I. The Buddhist Period, including the Campaigns of Alexander, and the Travels of Hwen-Thsang c5.s1.t14.9

c5.s1.t14.9

Hwen Thsang mentions a district on the western frontier of Falana, named *Ki-kiang-na*, the position of which has not yet been fixed. M. Vivien de St. Martin and Sir H. Elliot have identified it with the *Kaikánán*, or *Kikán*, of the Arab historians of Sindh;* but unfortunately the position of *Kaikánán* itself is still undetermined. It is, however, described as lying to the north or north-east of Kachh Gandâva, and as *Kikiangna* was to the west of *Falana* or *Banu*, it appears probable that the district intended must be somewhere in the vicinity of *Pishin* and *Kwetta*; and as Hwen Thsang describes it as situated in a valley under a high mountain, I am inclined to identify it with the valley of Pishin itself, which lies between the Khoja Amrân hills on the north, and the lofty Mount Takatu on the south. This position agrees with that of *Kai-kán*, قيكان given by Biladûri,† who says that it formed part of Sindh in the direction of Khorasan. This is further confirmed by the statement that *Kaikán* was on the road from Multan to Kabul, as the usual route between these places lies over the Sakhi Sarwar Pass in the Sulimâni mountains, and across the Pishin valley to Kandahar. A shorter, but more difficult, route is by the valley of the Gomal river to Ghazni. But as the valley of the Gomal belonged to Falana, it follows that the district of Kikiangna must have been somewhere in the neighbourhood of Pishin; and as this valley is now inhabited by the tribe of Khakas, it is not improbable that the name of Kikán, or Kaikán, may have been derived from them.