The Ancient Geography of India. I. The Buddhist Period, including the Campaigns of Alexander, and the Travels of Hwen-Thsang c6.s1.t2.1.2

c6.s1.t2.1.2

In adopting this extension of the territory formerly held by the Sodha Rajputs, I am partly influenced by the statement of Abul Fazl, that the country from Bhakar to Umarkot was peopled by the Sodas and Jharejas in the time of Akbar,† and partly by the belief that the *Massanæ* of Diodorus are the *Musarnei* of Ptolemy, whose name still exists in the district of Muzarka, to the west of the Indus below Mithankot. Ptolemy also gives a town called *Musarna*, which he places on a small affluent of the Indus, to the north of the *Askana* rivulet. The *Musarna* affluent may therefore be the rivulet of Kâhan, which flows past Pulaji and Shahpur, towards Khângarha or Jacobabad, and Musarna may be the town of Shahpur, which was a place of some consequence before the rise of Shikârpur. “The neighbouring country, now nearly desolate, has traces of cultivation to a considerable extent.”‡ The *Sogdi*, or *Sodræ*, I would identify with the people of Seorai, which was captured by Husen Shah Arghun on his way from Bhakar to Multân.§ In his time, A.D. 1525, it is described as “the strongest fort in that country.” It was, however, deserted by the garrison, and the conqueror ordered its walls to be razed to the ground.