The Ancient Geography of India. I. The Buddhist Period, including the Campaigns of Alexander, and the Travels of Hwen-Thsang c6.s1.t14.1

c6.s1.t14.1

The *Arabii* of Arrian are the *Arabitæ* of Curtius, the *Arbiti* of Ptolemy, the *Ambritæ* of Diodorus, and the *Arbies* of Strabo. They are said to have derived their name from the river *Arabis*, or *Arbis*, or *Arabius*, which flowed along their confines, and divided their territory from that of the Oritæ.[†] From a comparison of the details of Alexander's marches with the diary of Nearchus, it is certain that this boundary river was the Purâli, which flows through the present district of Las into the bay of Sonmiâni. According to Curtius,* Alexander reached the eastern boundary of the Arabitæ in nine days from Patala, and their western boundary in five days more. Now, from Haidarâbâd to Karâchi, the distance is 114 miles, and from Karâchi to Sonmiâni 50 miles,† the former being usually performed by troops in nine marches, and the latter either in four or five. Karâchi, therefore, must have been on the eastern frontier of the Arabitæ, a deduction which is admitted by the common consent of all inquirers, who have agreed in identifying the Kolaka of Ptolemy and the sandy island of Krokola, where Nearchus tarried with his fleet for one day, with a small island in the Bay of Karâchi. Krokola is further described as lying off the mainland of the Arabii. It was 150 stadia, or 17¼ miles, from the western mouth of the Indus, which agrees exactly with the relative positions of Karâchi and the mouth of the Ghâra river, if, as we may fairly assume, the present coast-line has advanced 5 or 6 miles during the twenty-one centuries that have elapsed since the time of Alexander. The identification is confirmed by the fact that "the district in which Karâchi is situated is called Karkalla to this day."‡