The Ancient Geography of India. I. The Buddhist Period, including the Campaigns of Alexander, and the Travels of Hwen-Thsang c5.s4.t10: Kusáwar, or Kasúr.
The Ancient Geography of India. I. The Buddhist Period, including the Campaigns of Alexander, and the Travels of Hwen-Thsang c5.s4.t10
- Language
- English
Kusáwar, or Kasúr.
c5.s4.t10.1
According to the traditions of the people Kasúr was founded by Kusa, the son of Râma, after whom it was named Kusáwar, which, like the contemporary city of Lohâwar, has been slightly altered in pronunciation by the transposition of the vowels. The town stands on the high bank of the old bed of the Biâs river, 32 miles to the south-south-east of Lahor,[*] and is popularly said to have once possessed *bára kilah*, or “twelve forts,” of which seven only are now standing. Its antiquity is undoubted. There are, however, no buildings or remains of any consequence; but the extent of the ruins is very great;[†] and the situation on the high-road between Lahor and the old point of junction of the Biâs and Satlej, opposite Firuzpur, is so favourable that it must have been occupied at a very early date. The position also is a strong one, as it is covered by the Biâs river on the south, and by ravines on the other sides. It is quite impossible to define the limits of the ancient city, as the suburbs of the present town are entirely covered with the ruins of tombs and masjids, and other massive buildings; but it could not, I think, have occupied less than one square mile, which would give a circuit of about four miles for the walled town. Several of the tombs are fully a mile distant from the present town; and at least one-half of the intervening space, which is thickly covered with ruins, would appear to have belonged to the ancient city. It seems probable, therefore, that this must be the "great town" on the eastern frontier of Táki, that is, on the Biâs river, at which Hwen Thsang halted for a month on his way from the capital of Táki to Chinapati. Unfortunately, he has omitted the usual details, and we have only the one bare fact, that it was situated somewhere on the right bank of the Biâs opposite Lahor, to guide us in determining its position.
c5.s4.t10.2
∗ See Map No. VI.
c5.s4.t10.3
† I speak from personal survey and examination; but I can also refer to Lieutenant Barr’s ‘Kabul and the Panjâb,’ p. 409,—“Kasur, a large and ancient town, that in former days must have covered an extensive area, as its ruins are interminable.”