The Ancient Geography of India. I. The Buddhist Period, including the Campaigns of Alexander, and the Travels of Hwen-Thsang c5.s4.t22: Multán.

The Ancient Geography of India. I. The Buddhist Period, including the Campaigns of Alexander, and the Travels of Hwen-Thsang c5.s4.t22

Language: English

c5.s4.t22.10 — 4 parts

Multán.

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The famous metropolis of Multân was originally situated on two islands in the Râvi, but the river has long ago deserted its old channel, and its nearest point is now more than 30 miles distant. But during high floods the waters of the Râvi still flow down their old bed, and I have twice seen the ditches of Multân filled by the natural overflow of the river.† Multân consists of a walled city and a strong fortress, situated on opposite banks of an old bed of the Râvi, which once flowed between them as well as around them. The original site consisted of two low mounds not more than 8 or 10 feet high above the general level of the country. The present height varies from 45 to 50 feet, the difference of 35 to 40 feet being simply the accumulation of rubbish during the lapse of many centuries. This fact I ascertained personally by sinking several wells down to the level of the natural soil, that is, of soil unmixed with bricks, ashes, and other evidences of man’s occupation.

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∗ Vita Alex., ix.

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⁴ "Ipse navigio circumvectus est arcem; quippe tria flumina, totâ Indiâ præter Gangen maxima, munimento arcis applicant undas. A septentrione Indus alluit; a meridie Acesines Hydaspi confunditur."

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† Burnes, 'Travels in the Punjab, Bokhara,' etc. i. 97, erroneously attributes the inundation of the country around Multân to the "Chenab and its canals." If he had travelled by land instead of by the river, he would have seen that the inundation is due to the flood waters of the Râvi resuming their ancient course from Sarai Siddhu direct upon Multân. I travelled over this line in the end of August, 1856, and saw the old bed of the Râvi in full flood.

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The citadel may be described as an irregular semicircle, with a diameter, or straight side of 2500 feet facing the north-west, and a curved front of 4100 feet towards the city, making a circuit of 6600 feet, or just one mile and a quarter. It had 46 towers or bastions, including the two flanking towers at each of the four gates. The walled city, which envelopes the citadel for more than two-thirds of the curve, is 4200 feet in length, and 2400 feet in breadth, with the long straight side facing the south-west. Altogether the walled circuit of Multân, including both city and citadel, is 15,000 feet, or very nearly 3 miles, and the whole circuit of the place, including its suburbs, is 4½ miles. This last measurement agrees very nearly with the estimate of Hwen Thsang, who makes the circuit of Multân 30 *li*, or just 5 miles.* It agrees even more exactly with the estimate of Elphinstone, who, with his usual accuracy, describes Multân as “above four miles and a half in circumference.”† The fortress had no ditch when seen by Elphinstone and Burnes, as it was originally surrounded by the waters of the Râvi. But shortly after Burnes’s visit, a ditch was added by Sâwan Mall, the energetic governor of Ranjit Singh. The walls are said to have been built by Murâd Baksh, the youngest son of Shah Jahân; but when I dismantled the defences of Multân in 1854, I found that the walls were generally double, the outer wall being about 4 feet thick, and the inner wall 3½ feet to 4 feet.* I conclude, therefore, that only the outer wall, or facing, was the work of Murâd Baksh. The whole was built of burnt bricks and mud, excepting the outer courses, which were laid in lime-mortar to a depth of 9 inches.

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∗ Julien’s ‘Hiouen Thsang,’ iii. 173.

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† ‘Kabul,’ i. 27.

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Multân is known by several different names, but all of them refer either to Vishnu or to the Sun, the latter being the great object of worship in the famous temple that once crowned the citadel. Abu Rihân mentions the names of *Kasyapa-pura*, *Hansapura*, *Bhágapura*, and *Sambapura*, to which I may add, *Prahládapura* and *Adyasthána*. According to the traditions of the people, *Kasyapa-pura* was founded by Kasyapa, who was the father of the twelve Adityas, or Sun-gods, by Aditi, and of the Daityas, or Titans, by Diti. He was succeeded by his eldest son, the Daitya, named Hiranya-Kasipu, who is famous throughout India for his denial of the omnipresence of Vishnu, which led to the manifestation of the *Nara-sinha*, or "Man-lion" *avatár*. He was followed by his still more famous son *Prahláda*, the ardent worshipper of Vishnu, after whom the city was named *Prahládapura*. His great-grandson, *Bána*, commonly called Bána the *Asur*, was the unsuccessful antagonist of Krishna, who took possession of the kingdom of Multân. Here *Sâmba*, the son of Krishna, established himself in the grove of *Mitra-vana*, and by assiduous devotion to Mitra, or the "Sun," was cured of his leprosy. He then erected a golden statue of Mitra, in a temple named *Adyasthâna*, or the "First Shrine," and the worship of the Sun thus began by *Sâmba*, has continued at Multân down to the present day.

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∗ It may be interesting to note that on dismantling the wall near the *Sikhi Darwáza*, or "Spiked Gate," I found the only two shot that were fired from the great one hundred-pounder gun, which the *Bhangi Misal* of Sikhs brought against Multân in the beginning of this century. The two shot had completely penetrated through the brick wall of 7 feet, and were within three feet of each other.

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The story of *Sâmba*, the son of Krishna, is told in the *Bhâvishya Purâna*,* but as it places the *Mitra-vana*, or "Sun-grove," on the bank of the Chandrabhâga, or Chenâb river, its composition must be assigned to a comparatively late period, when all remembrance of the old course of the Râvi flowing past Multân had died away. We know, however, from other sources, that the Sun-worship at Multân must be very ancient. In the seventh century Hwen Thsang found a magnificent temple with a golden statue of the god most richly adorned, to which the kings of all parts of India sent offerings. Hence the place became commonly known amongst the early Arab conquerors as "The Golden Temple;" and Masudi even affirms that *el Multân* means "meadows of gold."† Hwen Thsang calls it *Meu-lo-san-pu-lo*, which, according to M. Vivien de St. Martin, is a transcription of *Mûlasthânipura*. The people themselves refer the name to *Mûla-sthâna*, which agrees with the form of *Mûla-tâna*, quoted by Abu Rihân from a Kashmirian writer. *Mûla* means “root, or origin,” and *sthána*, or *thán*, in the spoken dialects, means “place, or shrine.” Hence, *Múla-sthána* is the “Temple of *Múla*,” which I take to be an appellation of the Sun. In the *Amarakosha* one of the names of the Sun is *Vradhna*, which is also given as a synonym of *Múla*; hence *vradhna* must be connected with the Latin *radix* and *radius*, and also with the Greek *ῥάβδος*.

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But as *radix* signifies not only origin, or root, in general, but also a particular root, the radish, so also does *múla* signify origin, or root, and *múlaka*, or *múli*, a radish. The connection between a sunbeam and a radish obviously lies in their similarity of shape, and hence the terms *radius* and *múla* are both applied to the spoke of a wheel. *Múla-sthána* is said by Wilson to mean “heaven, ether, space, atmosphere, God,” any one of which names would be applicable to the Sun as the lord of the ethereal space. For these reasons I infer that *múla* is only an epithet of the Sun, as the God of rays, and that *Múla-sthána-pura* means simply the “city of the Temple of the Sun. *Bhága* and *Hansa* are well-known names of the Sun; and therefore *Bhágapura* and *Hansapura* are only synonyms of the name of Multân. The earliest name is said to have been *Kasyapapura*, or as it is usually pronounced, *Kasappur*, which I take to be the *Kaspaturos* of Hekatæus, and the *Kaspaturos* of Herodotus, as well as the *Kaspeira* of Ptolemy. The last town is placed at a bend on the lower course of the *Rhuadis*, or Râvi, just above its junction with the *Sandobág*, or *Chandrabhága*. The position of *Kaspeira* therefore agrees most exactly with that of *Kasyapapura* or Multân, which is situated on the old bank of the Râvi, just at the point where the channel changes its course from south-east to east.

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This identification is most important, as it establishes the fact that Multân or Kaspeira, in the territory of the Kaspeirei, whose dominion extended from Kashmir to Mathura, must have been the principal city in the Panjâb towards the middle of the second century of the Christian era. But in the seventh century it had already acquired the name of *Mulasthânapura*, or Multân, which was the only name known to the Arab authors down to the time of Abu Rihân, whose acquirement of Sanskrit gave him access to the native literature, from which he drew some of the other names already quoted. The name of *Adyasthâna*, or "First Shrine," is applied in the *Bhávishya Purána* to the original temple of the Sun, which is said to have been built by Sâmba, the son of Krishna; but *adya* is perhaps only a corruption of *Aditya*, or the Sun, which is usually shortened to *adit*, and even *ait*, as in *aditwár* and *aitwár* for *Adityawára*, or Sunday. Bilâduri calls the idol a representation of the prophet Job, or *Ayub*, which is an easy misreading of ايوب for اديت, *adit*. *Prahladápura*, or *Pahládpur*, refers to the temple of the *Narsingh Avatár*, which is still called *Pahládpuri*. When Burnes was at Multân, this temple was the principal shrine in the place, but the roof was thrown down by the explosion of the powder magazine during the siege in January, 1849, and it has not since been repaired. It stands at the north-eastern angle of the citadel, close to the tomb of Bahâwal Hak.

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The great temple of the Sun stood in the very middle of the citadel, but it was destroyed during the reign of Aurangzib, and the Jamai Masjid was erected on its site. This masjid was the powder magazine of the Sikhs, which was blown up in 1849.

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∗ Wilford, 'Asiatic Researches,' xi. 69; and H. H. Wilson, in Renaud, 'Mémoire sur l'Inde,' p. 392. † Masudi, 'Gildemeister,' p. 134: "domum auream:" so also Sir H. M. Elliot, 'Muhammadan Historians,' p. 56; but at p. 57 he translates "golden temple." Prof. Dowson, i. 23, has "boundary of the house of gold," translating Masudi; and at i. 81, "the house of gold," translating Idrisi.

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By the identification of *Kasyapapura* with the *Kaspeira* of Ptolemy I have shown that Multân was situated on the bank of the Râvi in the first half of the second century of the Christian era. Hwen Thsang unfortunately makes no mention of the river; but a few years after his visit the Brahman Rajah of Sindh, named Chach, invaded and captured Multân, and the details of his campaign show that the Râvi still continued to flow under its walls in the middle of the seventh century. They show also that the Biâs then flowed in an independent channel to the east and south of Multân. According to the native chronicles of Sindh, Chach advanced to *Pâbiya*, or *Bahiya** on the south bank of the Biâs, from whence he advanced to Sukah or Sikkah on the bank of the Râvi, at a short distance to the eastward of Multân. This place was soon deserted by its defenders, who retired towards Multân, and joined Raja Bajhra in opposing Chach on the banks of the Râvi. After a stout fight the Multânis were defeated by Chach, and retired into their fortress, which after a long siege surrendered on terms.†

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† Lieut. Postans in Journ. Asiat. Soc. Bengal, 1838, p. 94. Sir H. W. Elliot, ‘History of India,’ edited by Prof. Dowson, i. 143.

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This brief notice of the campaign of Chach will now enable us to understand more clearly the campaign of Alexander against the capital of the Malli. My last notice left him at the strong Brahman city, which I have identified with *Atâri*, 34 miles to the north-east of Multân, and on the high-road from Tulamba. Here I will resume the narrative of Arrian.‡ “Having tarried there one day to refresh his army, he then directed his march against others of the same nation, who, he was informed, had abandoned their cities and retired into the deserts; and taking another day’s rest, on the next he commanded Python, and Demetrius the captain of a troop of horse, with the forces they then had, and a party of light armed foot, to return immediately to the river, etc. In the meanwhile he led his forces to the capital city of the Malii, whither, he was informed, many of the inhabitants of other cities had fled for their better security.” Here we see that Alexander made just two marches from the Brahman city to the capital, which agrees very well with the distance of 34 miles between Atâri and Multân. In searching for the chief city of the Malli or Malii, we must remember that Multân has always been the capital of the Lower Panjâb, that it is four times the size of any other place, and is undeniably the strongest fort in this part of the country. All these properties belonged also to the chief city of the Malli. It was the capital of the country; it had the greatest number of defenders, 50,000 according to Arrian, and was therefore the largest place; and lastly, it must have been the strongest place, as Arrian relates that the inhabitants of other cities had fled to it “for better security.” For these reasons I am quite satisfied that the capital city of the Malli was the modern Multân; but the identification will be still further confirmed as we proceed with Arrian’s narrative.

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∗ Sir Henry Elliot reads *Pâbiya*. (Prof. Dowson’s edition, i. 141.) Lieut. Postans reads *Bahiya*. (Journ. Asiat. Soc. Bengal, 1841, p. 195.)

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‡ ‘Anabasis,’ vi. 8.

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On Alexander’s approach the Indians came out of their city, and “crossing the river Hydraotes, drew up their forces upon the bank thereof, which was steep and difficult of ascent, as though they would have obstructed his passage . . . when he arrived there, and saw the enemy’s army posted on the opposite bank, he made no delay, but instantly entered the river with the troops of horse he had brought with him.” The Indians at first retired; “but when they perceived that their pursuers were only a party of horse, they faced about and resolved to give him battle, being about 50,000 in number.” From this account I infer that Alexander must have advanced upon Multân from the east, his march, like that of Chach, being determined by the natural features of the country. Now the course of the old bed of the Râvi for 18 miles above Multân is almost due west, and consequently Alexander’s march must have brought him to the fort of Sukah or Sikkah, which was on the bank of the Râvi at a short distance to the east of Multân. From this point the same narrative will describe the progress of both conquerors. The town on the east bank of the Râvi was deserted by its garrison, who retired across the river, where they halted and fought, and being beaten took refuge in the citadel. The fort of Sukah must have been somewhat near the present Mâri Sital, which is on the bank of the old bed of the Râvi, 2½ miles to the east of Multân.

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At the assault of the capital Alexander was dangerously wounded, and his enraged troops spared neither the aged, nor the women, nor the children, and every soul was put to the sword. Diodorus and Curtius assign this city to the Oxudrakæ; but Arrian distinctly refutes this opinion,[*] “for the city,” he says “belonged to the Malii, and from that people he received the wound. The Malii indeed designed to have joined their forces with the Oxudrakæ, and so to have given him battle; but Alexander's hasty and unexpected march through the dry and barren waste prevented their union, so that they could not give any assistance to each other." Strabo also says that Alexander received his wound at the capture of a city of the Malli.*

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∗ Anabasis,’ vi. 11.

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When Alexander opened his campaign against the Malli, he dispatched Hephæstion with the main body of the army five days in advance, with orders to await his arrival at the confluence of the Akesines and Hydraotes.† Accordingly after the capture of the Mallian capital, "as soon as his health would admit, he ordered himself to be conveyed to the banks of the river Hydraotes, and from thence down the stream to the camp, which was near the confluence of the Hydraotes and Akesines, where Hephæstion had the command of the army and Nearchus of the navy." Here he received the ambassadors from the Oxudrakæ and Malii tendering their allegiance. He then sailed down the Akesines to its confluence with the Indus, where he "tarried with his fleet till Perdikkas arrived with the army under his command, having subdued the Abastani, one of the free nations of India, on his way."

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† 'Anabasis,' vi. 5.

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At the capture of Multân by Chach, in the middle of the seventh century, the waters of the Râvi were still flowing under the walls of the fortress, but in A.D. 713, when the citadel was besieged by Muhammad bin Kasim, it is stated by Biladuri‡ that "the city was supplied with water by a stream flowing from the river (name left blank by M. Reinaud); Muhammad cut off the water, and the inhabitants, pressed by thirst, surrendered at discretion. All the men capable of bearing arms were put to death, and the women and children, with 6000 priests of the temple, were made slaves.” The canal is said to have been shown to Muhammad by a traitor. I am willing to accept this account as a proof that the main stream of the Râvi had already deserted its old channel; but it is quite impossible that Multân could have been forced to surrender from want of water. I have already explained that one branch of the Râvi formerly flowed between the city and fortress of Multân, and that the old bed still exists as a deep hollow, in which water can be reached at most times by merely scratching the surface, and at all times by a few minutes’ easy digging. Even in the time of Edrisi* the environs of the town are said to have been watered by a small river, and I conclude that some branch of the Râvi must still have flowed down to Multân. But though the narrative of Biladuri is undoubtedly erroneous as to the immediate cause of surrender, I am yet inclined to believe that all the other circumstances may be quite true. Thus, when the main stream of the Râvi deserted Multân, the city, which is still unwalled on the side towards the citadel, must have been protected by continuing its defences right across the old bed of the river to connect them with those of the fortress. In these new walls, openings must have been left for the passage of the waters of the canal or branch of the Râvi, whichever it may have been, similar to those which existed in modern times. Edrisi specially notes that Multân was commanded by a citadel, which had four gates, and was surrounded by a ditch. I infer, therefore, that Muhammad Kasim may have captured Multân in the same way that Cyrus captured Babylon, by the diversion of the waters which flowed through the city into another channel. In this way he could have entered the city by the dry bed of the river, after which it is quite possible that the garrison of the citadel may have been forced to surrender from want of water. At the present day there are several wells in the fortress, but only one of them is said to be ancient; and one well would be quite insufficient for the supply even of a small garrison of 5000 men.

Linked texts (3)

Bhaviṣyapurāṇa — Vyāsa, Sanskrit
Tibetan translation ('Chi med mdzod) — Classical Tibetan
Multân