The Ancient Geography of India. I. The Buddhist Period, including the Campaigns of Alexander, and the Travels of Hwen-Thsang c6.s1.t12: IV. Kachh.
The Ancient Geography of India. I. The Buddhist Period, including the Campaigns of Alexander, and the Travels of Hwen-Thsang c6.s1.t12
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IV. Kachh.
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The fourth province of Sindh, in the seventh century, was *Kachh*, and it was still attached to Sindh in the time of Akbar. It is described by Hwen Thsang as situated at 1600 *li*, or 267 miles, to the south-west of the capital of Sindh,* which at that time was *Alor*, near Bhakar, on the Indus. This agrees with the details given elsewhere,† which make the route as follows: from Alor to Brahmana, 700 *li* to the south, then to Pitasila 300 *li* to the south-west, and then to Kachh 700 *li* to the south; the whole distance being 1650 *li*. But the general direction is south, instead of south-west, which agrees with the actual position of Kachh. The province is named *'O-tien-po-chi-lo*, which M. Julien renders as *Adhyavakila*, or *Atyanvakela*, but for which no Sanskrit equivalent is offered either by himself or by M. Vivien de St. Martin. I think, however, that it may be intended for *Audumbatira*, or *Audumbara*, which Professor Lassen gives as the name of the people of Kachh. They are the *Odomboërae* of Pliny,[*] but there is no trace of this name at the present day.
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∗ M. Julien's ‘Hiouen Thsang,’ i. 207, 208. See Map No. IX.
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† *Ibid.*, iii. 175.
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The province is described as being 5000 *li*, or 833 miles, in circuit, which is much too great, unless the whole of the Nagar Pârkar district to the north of the Ran was included, which is most probable, as this tract has always been considered as a part of Kachh, and is still attached to it. Taking its northern boundary as stretching from Umarkot to the neighbourhood of Mount Abu, the whole length of frontier will be upwards of 700 miles. The capital, named *Kie-tsi-shi-fa-lo*, was 30 *li*, or 5 miles, in circuit. This name is rendered as *Khajiswara* by M. Julien, and as *Kachchheswara* by Professor Lassen. But as the Chinese syllable *tse* represents the cerebral *t*, I think that *tsi* must have the same value; and I would therefore read the whole as *Koṭiswara*, which is the name of a celebrated place of pilgrimage on the western shore of Kachh. That this is the place actually intended is rendered certain by the pilgrim's description of its position, which is said to be on the western frontier of the country close to the river Indus, and to the great ocean.[†] This is a most exact description of the position of the holy *Koṭesar*, which is situated on the western frontier of Kachh, on the bank of the Kori branch of the Indus, and close to the great Indian Ocean. This identification is further supported by the statement that in the middle of the city there was a famous temple of Siva. The name of the place is derived from Koṭi-iswara, or the "ten million Iswaras," and refers to the small lingam stones that are found there in great numbers. Iswara is the well-known name of Siva, and the lingam is his symbol.
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∗ Hist. Nat., vi. 23.
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† M. Julien's ‘Hiouen Thsang,’ iii. 175: “Elle est située, à l’écart, sur les frontières de l’ouest : elle est voisine du fleuve *Sin-tu* (Sindh), et à proximité d’une grande mer.”
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M. Vivien de St. Martin has identified this capital with Karâchi; but the distance from Alor is not more than 1300 *li*, or 217 miles, while only the initial syllable of the name corresponds with the Chinese transcript. The country is described by Hwen Thsang as low and wet, and the soil impregnated with salt. This is an exact description of the lowlands of Kachh, which means a "morass" (*Kachchha*), and of the salt desert, or *Ran* (in Sanskrit *Irina*), which forms about one-half of the province. But it is quite inaccurate if applied to the dry sandy soil of Karâchi. There is also a large swamp extending for many miles, immediately to the south of Koṭesar.