The Ancient Geography of India. I. The Buddhist Period, including the Campaigns of Alexander, and the Travels of Hwen-Thsang c5.s3.t2: Champa, or Chamba.
The Ancient Geography of India. I. The Buddhist Period, including the Campaigns of Alexander, and the Travels of Hwen-Thsang c5.s3.t2
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Champa, or Chamba.
c5.s3.t2.1
Chamba is a large district, which includes the valleys of all the sources of the Râvi, and a portion of the upper valley of the Chenâb, between Lâhul and Kâshmír. It is not mentioned by Hwen Thsang, and was therefore, probably included by him within the limits of Kashmir. The ancient capital was Varmapur, or Varmâwar, on the Budhil river, where many fine temples, and a brazen bull, of life size, still exist to attest the wealth and piety of its early rulers. According to the inscriptions these works belong to the ninth and tenth centuries. The country is frequently mentioned in the native chronicle of Kashmir, under the name of Champa, and each notice is confirmed by the local genealogies. Between A.D. 1028 and 1031 the district was invaded by Ananta of Kashmir,[*] when the native Raja, named Sála, was defeated and put to death. His son founded a new capital, Champapura, called after the goddess Champávati Devi; which, under the name of Chamba, is still the chief place in the district. The Rajas of Kashmir afterwards intermarried with the Chamba family;[†] and during the troubles that followed the Muhammadan invasions this petty state became independent, and remained so until reduced by Gulâb Singh, early in the present century.
c5.s3.t2.2
∗ Briggs's ‘Ferishta,’ i. 283. The Gakars inhabited the banks of the Nilâb (or Indus) up to the foot of the mountains of Siwâlik.
c5.s3.t2.3
† ‘Raja Tarangini,’ vii. 218.
c5.s3.t2.4
† *Ibid.*, vii. 589, 1520; viii. 1092.
Linked texts (1)
- Rājataraṅgiṇī — Kalhaṇa, Sanskrit