The Ancient Geography of India. I. The Buddhist Period, including the Campaigns of Alexander, and the Travels of Hwen-Thsang c5.s4.t11: Chinapati, or Pati.
The Ancient Geography of India. I. The Buddhist Period, including the Campaigns of Alexander, and the Travels of Hwen-Thsang c5.s4.t11
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Chinapati, or Pati.
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Hwen Thsang places the town of Chinapati at 500 *li*, or 83 miles, to the east of Táki, a position which corresponds almost exactly with Patti, a large and very old town, situated 27 miles to the north-east of Kasûr, and 10 miles to the west of the Biâs river.* Unfortunately there is a discrepancy in the recorded distance of the next place visited by the pilgrim, otherwise the site of Chinapati might have been fixed absolutely with reference to its bearing and distance from the well-known city of Jâlandhar. In the Life† of Hwen Thsang, Chinapati is said to be 50 *li*, or 8 miles, to the north-west of the Támasa-vana monastery, which was 150 *li*, or 25 miles, to the south-west of Jâlandhar. But in the Travels‡ of Hwen Thsang the distance of the monastery is stated at 500 *li*, or 83 miles, from *Chinapati*. This last distance is quite impossible, as it would place *Chinapati* about 30 miles to the north of *Tâki*, instead of 83 miles to the east of it, as specified by the pilgrim in his journal. On the other hand, the shorter distance of eight miles would place it in the midst of the sandy bed of the Biâs river, where no town has ever existed. I would, therefore, propose to read 150 *li*, or 25 miles, which would fix *Chinapati* at the town of Patti, in the very position that has already been determined by the bearing and distance from *Tâki*.
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∗ See Map No. VI. † Julien's 'Hiouen Thsang,' i. 102.
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Patti is a large brick town of considerable antiquity. According to Burnes,* it was built in the reign of Akbar; but he is undoubtedly wrong, as the town was already the head of a *Parganah* in the time of Humâyun, who assigned it to his servant Jaohar.† It is called Patti-Haibatpur by Abul Fazl,‡ and it is still known as Haibatpur-Patti. According to the people, the town received its Muhammadan name from Haibat Khân, whose date is not known, but I think it probable that he may be identified with Haibat Khân Shirwâni, who was a leading noble in the time of Sikandar Ludi, and who commanded the army of the Afghan king against Humâyun on his return from Persia. The antiquity of Patti is proved by the numbers of burnt bricks and old wells which are found about the town. The old dry wells were noted more than three hundred years ago by Jaohar,|| the attendant of the Emperor Humâyun; and the pro-
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* ‘Travels in Panjâb and Bokhara,’ ii. 9. † ‘Memoirs of Humâyun,’ 112. ‡ ‘Ayin Akbari,’ ii. 260.
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|| ‘Memoirs of Humâyun,’ p. 113.
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fusion of bricks struck Burnes,* who remarks that “ the houses are constructed of bricks, and the streets are even laid with them. Some workmen digging a well in this neighbourhood lately hit upon a former well on which was a Hindu inscription. It set forth that it had been built by one Aqurtuta, of whom tradition gives no account.” I visited the place in 1838, only a few years after Burnes, but I failed to recover the inscription.
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Another proof of antiquity is the presence of one of the long graves or tombs, which the people call No-gaja, or “ Nine-yards,” that is the Giant. The Patti No-gaja is said by Barr† to have lived in the time of Akbar; but these tombs, which are common in the north-west of India, are more usually referred to the Gházis, who fell in fight against the infidels in the early ages of Muhammadanism. I would therefore assign the grave to the time of Mahmûd of Ghazni, and the brick tomb which has been erected over it to the time of Akbar.
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† ‘Cabul and the Panjâb,’ p. 62.
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According to Hwen Thsang, the district of Chinapata was about 2000 *li*, or 333 miles, in circuit. With these dimensions, it must have comprised the whole of the upper Bâri Doâb, between the Biâs and the Râvi, from the foot of the hills to the old junction of the Biâs and Satlej, near Firuzpur. The name of Chi-na-po-ti, or Chinapati, is referred to the time of the great Indo-Scythian king Kanishka, who fixed this place as the residence of his Chinese hostages. The pilgrim adds, that previous to their residence, India had possessed neither pears nor peaches, both of which were introduced by the Chinese hostages. The pears were called *Chi-na-ni*, or *Chináni*, that is, “brought from China,” and the peaches *Chi-na-lo-she-fo-ta-lo*, or *China-rája-putra*, that is, the “China King’s sons.” This is not quite correct, as both pears and peaches are found growing wild in the neighbouring hills. But there are now two kinds of cultivated peaches, the one round and juicy, the other flat and sweet. The first, which is called *árú* in Hindi, and *Shaftálú* in Persian, is certainly indigenous; but the other, which is called *Chini-shaftálú*, is most probably that which Hwen Thsang refers to as having been introduced from China.
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∗ ‘Panjâb and Bokhara,’ ii. 9.