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The Ancient Geography of India. I. The Buddhist Period, including the Campaigns of Alexander, and the Travels of Hwen-Thsang c5.s4.t2: Jobnáthnagar, or Bhiṛa.

The Ancient Geography of India. I. The Buddhist Period, including the Campaigns of Alexander, and the Travels of Hwen-Thsang c5.s4.t2

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Jobnáthnagar, or Bhiṛa.

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The modern town of Bhiṛa, or Bheḍa, is situated on the left, or eastern bank, of the Jhelam; but on the opposite bank of the river, near Ahmedabad, there is a very extensive mound of ruins, called *Old Bhiṛa*, or *Jobnáthnagar*, the city of Raja Jobnáth, or Chobnáth. At this point the two great routes of the salt caravans diverge to Lahor and Multân; and here, accordingly, was the capital of the country in ancient times; and here also, as I believe, was the capital of Sophites, or Sopeithes, the contemporary of Alexander the Great. According to Arrian, the capital of Sopeithes was fixed by Alexander as the point where the camps of Kraterus and Hephæstion were to be pitched on opposite banks of the river, there to await the arrival of the fleet of boats under his own command, and of the main body of the army under Philip.* As Alexander reached the appointed place on the third day, we know that the capital of Sophites was on the Hydaspes, at three days' sail from Nikæa for laden boats. Now Bhiṛa is just three days' boat distance from Mong, which, as I will presently show, was almost certainly the position of Nikæa, where Alexander defeated Porus. Bhiṛa also, until it was supplanted by Pind Dâdan Khan, has always been the principal city in this part of the country. At Bhiṛa† the Chinese pilgrim, Fa-Hian, crossed the Jhelam in A.D. 400; and against Bhiṛa, eleven centuries later, the enterprising Baber conducted his first Indian expedition.

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† Beal's translation, chap. xv.; Fa-Hian calls it Pi-cha or Bhi-ḍa—the Chinese *ch* being the usual representative of the cerebral *ḍ*.

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The classical notices of the country over which Sophites ruled are very conflicting. Thus Strabo* records:—"Some writers place *Kathæa* and the country of Sopeithes, one of the monarchs, in the tract between the rivers (Hydaspes and Akesines); some on the other side of the Akesines and of the Hyarotes, on the confines of the territory of the other Porus,—the nephew of Porus, who was taken prisoner by Alexander, and call the country subject to him *Gandaris*." This name may, I believe, be identified with the present district of *Gundalbár*, or *Gundar-bár*. *Bár* is a term applied only to the central portion of each Doâb, comprising the high lands beyond the reach of irrigation from the two including rivers. Thus *Sandal*, or *Sandar-bár*, is the name of the central tract of the Doâb between the Jhelam and the Chenâb. The upper portion of the *Gundal Bár* Doâb, which now forms the district of Gujarât, belonged to the famous Porus, the antagonist of Alexander, and the upper part of the *Sandar-Bár* Doâb belonged to his nephew, the other Porus, who is said to have sought refuge among the Gandaridæ. The commentators have altered this name to *Gangaridæ*, or inhabitants of the Ganges; but it seems to me that the text of Diodorus† is most probably correct, and that the name of *Gandaridæ* must refer to the people of the neighbouring district of *Gandaris*, who were the subjects of Sophites.

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∗ ‘Anabasis,’ vi. 3.

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† Hist., xix. 47.

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The rule of the Indian prince was not, however, confined to the Doâb between the Hydaspes and Akesines; for Strabo‡ relates that "in the territory of Sopeithes there is a mountain composed of fossil salt sufficient for the whole of India.” As this notice can only refer to the well-known mines of rock salt in the Salt Range, the whole of the upper portion of the Sindh Sâgar Doâb must have been included in the territories of Sopeithes. His sway, therefore, would have extended from the Indus on the west to the Akesines on the east, thus comprising the whole of the present districts of Pind Dâdan and Shâhpur. This assignment of the valuable salt mines to Sopeithes, or Sophites, may also be deduced from a passage in Pliny by the simple transposition of two letters in the name of a country, which has hitherto puzzled all the commentators. Pliny says, “when Alexander the Great was on his Indian expedition, he was presented by the king of *Albania* with a dog of unusual size,” which successfully attacked both a lion and an elephant in his presence.* The same story is repeated by his copyist, Solinus,† without any change in the name of the country. Now, we know from the united testimony of Strabo, Diodorus, and Curtius, that the Indian king who presented Alexander with these fighting dogs was *Sophites*, and *he*, therefore, must have been the king of *Albania*. For this name I propose to read *Labania*, by the simple transposition of the first two letters. *ΛΑΒΑΝ* would, therefore, become *ΛΑΒΑΝ*, which at once suggests the Sanskrit word *lavana*, or ‘salt,’ as the original of this hitherto puzzling name. The mountain itself is named *Oromenus* by Pliny,‡ who notes that the kings of the country derived a greater revenue from the rock salt than from either gold or pearls. This name is probably intended for the Sanskrit *Raumaka*, which, according to the Pandits, is the name of the salt brought from the hill country of *Ruma*. H. H. Wilson, however, identifies *Ruma* with *Sámbhar*;* and as *rauma* means "salt," it is probable that the term may have been applied to the *Sámbhar* lake in Rajputana, as well as to the Salt Range of hills in the Panjâb.†

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∗ Geogr., xv. 1, 30.

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‡ Geogr., xv. 1-30. This notice was most probably derived from Kleitarchos, one of the companions of Alexander, as Strabo quotes him in another place (v. 2-6) as having mentioned the salt mines of India, καὶ τοὺς ἐν Ἰνδοῖς ἅλας.

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† *Ibid.*, xxxi.

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³⁹ “Sunt et montes nativi salis, ut in Indis Oromenus.

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† See Maps Nos. V. and VI.

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The historians of Alexander have preserved several curious particulars regarding Sophites and the country and people over which he ruled. Of the king himself, Curtius‡ records that he was pre-eminent amongst the barbarians for beauty; and Diodorus§ adds, that he was six feet in height. I possess a coin of fine Greek workmanship, bearing a helmeted head on one side, and on the reverse a cock standing, with the legend ΣΩΦΥΤΟΥ, which, there seems good reason to believe, must have belonged to this Indian prince. The face is remarkable for its very striking and peculiar features. The subjects of Sophites also were distinguished by personal beauty, which, according to Diodorus, they endeavoured to preserve, by destroying all their children who were not well formed. Strabo relates the same thing of the *Kathæi*, but, as he adds, that they elected the handsomest person for their king,‖ his account must be referred to the subjects of Sophites, as the *Kathæi* of Sangala had no king. There is, however, so much confusion between all the authorities in their accounts of the *Kathæi* and the Lacedaemonians, who had been waiting for the signal, now attacked the city. The Plataeans, seeing the enemy already inside and their own men falling, and knowing nothing of the plot, were seized with panic and, thinking that the Thebans were far more numerous than they really were, surrendered at discretion. But when they discovered that the Thebans were few, they took heart and, resolving to attack them, closed the gates and fell upon them.

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∗ See his Sanskrit Dictionary in voce. *Ruma*, *Rauma*, *Raumaka*.

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‡ Vita Alex., ix. 1.

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§ Hist., xvii. 49.

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‖ Geogr., xv. 1, 30.

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The Thebans, finding themselves in a trap, began to defend themselves. Twice or thrice they repelled the attacks of the Plataeans, but when the women and slaves began to shout and throw tiles and stones from the houses, and a heavy rain began to fall, the Thebans, confused and blinded, broke and fled through the city. Most of them, not knowing the way in the darkness and rain, fell into the drains or were killed by the Plataeans, who knew the streets. The gate through which they had entered had been shut by a Plataean who had found a javelin-head and used it as a bolt, so that there was no way out. Pursued through the city, some climbed the wall and jumped down, most of them perishing; others reached the gate and, finding it shut, were cut down by the women and slaves. A small party, seeing a large building with an open door, rushed in, thinking it was a gate, and were captured.

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Meanwhile, the main body of the Thebans, who were to have arrived at daybreak to support the first party, had been delayed by the rain and the swollen river Asopus. When they heard of the disaster, they hurried to the city, intending to seize any Plataeans who might be outside the walls. The Plataeans, suspecting their intention, sent a herald to them, warning them not to harm the prisoners they had taken, and threatening to kill them if they did not withdraw from their territory. The Thebans, upon this, retired.

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The Plataeans, having thus cleared the city, collected their dead and the prisoners. The prisoners, numbering about one hundred and eighty, were executed the next day, despite a message from the Thebans claiming that they had surrendered on terms. The Plataeans denied this, asserting that they had promised to spare them only if they did not commit further acts of violence.

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Thus ended the attempt of the Thebans upon Plataea, an event which was the immediate cause of the war between Athens and the Peloponnesians. The Plataeans, having secured their city, sent a messenger to Athens with the news, and the Athenians, fearing for the safety of the Plataeans, sent a garrison to their aid and removed the women and children to Athens.

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ALEXANDER'S PASSAGE OF THE HYDASPES AND BATTLE WITH PORUS. B.C. 327. 4 Miles to 1 Inch.

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of the subjects of Sophites, that it seems highly probable that they were one and the same people. They were certainly neighbours; and as both of them would appear to have had the same peculiar customs, and to have been equally remarkable for personal beauty, I conclude that they must have been only different tribes of the same race of people.

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