The Ancient Geography of India. I. The Buddhist Period, including the Campaigns of Alexander, and the Travels of Hwen-Thsang c5.s1.t5.4

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.