The Ancient Geography of India. I. The Buddhist Period, including the Campaigns of Alexander, and the Travels of Hwen-Thsang c5.s1.t5: 4. Lamghân.
The Ancient Geography of India. I. The Buddhist Period, including the Campaigns of Alexander, and the Travels of Hwen-Thsang c5.s1.t5
- Language
- English
4. Lamghân.
c5.s1.t5.1
The district of *Lan-po*, or Lamghân, is noted by Hwen Thsang as being 600 *li*, or just 100 miles, to the east of Kapisene. He describes the road as a succession of hills and valleys, some of the hills being of great height. This description agrees with all the recent accounts of the route along the northern bank of the river from Opiân to Lamghân. The bearing and distance also coincide so exactly with the position of Lamghân that there can be no doubt of the identity of
c5.s1.t5.2
* ‘Dionysiaca,’ xxvi. 30:—
c5.s1.t5.3
καὶ οἵ λινοερχέϊ κύκλῳ
ΓΑΖΟΝ ἐπυργώσαντο λινοπλέκτοισι δομαίοις,
Ἄρεος ἀκλινὲς ἕρμα, καὶ οὔποτε δήϊος ἀνὴρ
Χαλκὸν ἔχων ἐρρήξε εὐκλώστοισι θεμέλλοις.
c5.s1.t5.4
the two districts. Ptolemy, also, places a people called *Lambatæ* in the very same position. From a comparison of this term with the modern appellation of Lamghân, it seems probable that the original form of the name was the Sanskrit *Lampaka*. I would, therefore, correct Ptolemy’s *Lambatæ* to *Lambagæ*, by the slight change of *r* for *T*. The modern name is only an abbreviation of *Lampaka*, formed by the elision of the labial. It is also called *Laghmán* by the simple transposition of the middle consonants, which is a common practice in the East. The credulous Muhamadans derive the name from the patriarch Lamech, whose tomb they affirm still exists in Lamghân. It is noticed by Baber and by Abul Fazl.
c5.s1.t5.5
The district is described by Hwen Thsang as being only 1000 *li*, or 166 miles, in circuit, with snowy mountains on the north, and black hills on the other three sides. From this account it is clear that *Lan-po* corresponds exactly with the present Lamghân, which is only a small tract of country, lying along the northern bank of the Kabul river, bounded on the west and east by the Alingar and Kunar rivers, and on the north by the snowy mountains. This small tract is very nearly a square of 40 miles on each side, or 160 miles in circuit. It had formerly been a separate kingdom; but in the seventh century the royal family was extinct, and the district was a dependency of Kapisene.