Pramāṇa · Search · About · API

The Ancient Geography of India. I. The Buddhist Period, including the Campaigns of Alexander, and the Travels of Hwen-Thsang c6.s1.t3: Musikani—Alor.

The Ancient Geography of India. I. The Buddhist Period, including the Campaigns of Alexander, and the Travels of Hwen-Thsang c6.s1.t3

Language
English

Musikani—Alor.

c6.s1.t3.1

From the territory of the *Sogdi* or *Sodræ*, Alexander continued his voyage down the Indus to the capital of a king named Musikanus, according to Strabo, Diodorus, and Arrian,* or of a people named Musicani, according to Curtius.† From Arrian we learn that this kingdom had been described to Alexander as "the richest and most populous throughout all India;" and from Strabo we get the account of Onesikritus that "the country produced everything in abundance;" which shows that the Greeks themselves must have been struck with its fertility. Now these statements can apply only to the rich and powerful kingdom of Upper Sindh, of which Alor is known to have been the capital for many ages. Where distances are not given, and names disagree, it is difficult to determine the position of any place from a general description, unless there are some peculiarities of site or construction, or other properties which may serve to fix its identity. In the present instance we have nothing to guide us but the general description that the kingdom of Musikanus was "the richest and most populous throughout all India." But as the native histories and traditions of Sindh agree in stating that Alor was the ancient metropolis of the country, it seems almost certain that it must be the capital of Musikanus, otherwise this famous city would be altogether unnoticed by Alexander’s historians, which is highly improbable, if not quite impossible. That the territory of Alor was rich and fertile we know from the early Arab geographers, who are unanimous in its praise.

c6.s1.t3.2

∗ Strabo, Geogr., xv. i. 22-34 and 54. Diodorus, xvii. 10. Arrian, ‘Anabasis,’ vi. 15.

c6.s1.t3.3

† Vita Alex., ix. 8.

c6.s1.t3.4

The ruins of Alor are situated to the south of a gap in the low range of limestone-hills, which stretches from Bhakar towards the south for about 20 miles, until it is lost in the broad belt of sand-hills which bound the Nâra, or old bed of the Indus, on the west. Through this gap a branch of the Indus once flowed, which protected the city on the north-west. To the north-east it was covered by a second branch of the river, which flowed nearly at right angles to the other, at a distance of 3 miles. At the accession of Raja Dâhir, in A.D. 680, the latter was probably the main stream of the Indus, which had been gradually working to the westward from its original bed in the old Nâra.* According to the native histories, the final change was hastened by the excavation of a channel through the northern end of the range of hills between Bhakar and Rori.

c6.s1.t3.5

The true name of Alor is not quite certain. The common pronunciation at present is *Aror*, but it seems probable that the original name was *Rora*, and that the initial vowel was derived from the Arabic prefix *Al*, as it is written *Alror* in Biladûri, Edrisi, and other Arab authors. This derivation is countenanced by the name of the neighbouring town of Rori, as it is a common practice in India thus to duplicate names. So *Rora* and *Rori* would mean Great and Little Rora. This word has no meaning in Sanskrit, but in Hindi it signifies "noise, clamour, roar," and also "fame." It is just possible, therefore, that the full name of the city may have been Rora-pura, or Rora-nagara, the “Famous City.” This signification suggested itself to me on seeing the name of *Abhijanu* applied to a neighbouring village at the foot of the hill, 2 miles to the south-west of the ruins of Alor. *Abhijan* is a Sanskrit term for “fame,” and is not improbably connected with Hwen Thsang’s *Pi-chen-po-pu-lo*, which, by adding an initial syllable *o*, might be read as *Abhijanwapura*. I think it probable that Alor may be the *Binagara* of Ptolemy, as it is placed on the Indus to the eastward of *Oskana*, which appears to be the *Oxykanus* of Arrian and Curtius. Ptolemy’s name of Binagara is perhaps only a variant reading of the Chinese form, as *pulo*, or *pura*, is the same as *nagara*, and *Pichenpo* may be the full form of the initial syllable *Bi*.

c6.s1.t3.6

∗ See Map No. IX.

c6.s1.t3.7

The city of Musikanus was evidently a position of some consequence, as Arrian relates that Alexander “ordered Kraterus to build a castle in the city, and himself tarried there to see it finished. This done, he left a strong garrison therein, because this fort semed extremely commodious for bridling the neighbouring nations and keeping them in subjection.” It was no doubt for this very reason that Alor was originally founded, and that it continued to be occupied until deserted by the river, when it was supplanted by the strong fort of Bhakar.

c6.s1.t3.8

*Præsti—Portikanus, or Oxykanus.*

c6.s1.t3.9

From the capital of Musikanus Alexander allowed his fleet of boats to continue their course down the Indus, while he himself, according to Arrian,[*]

c6.s1.t3.10

∗ ‘Anabasis,’ vi. 16.

c6.s1.t3.11

marched against a neighbouring prince named Oxykanus, and took two of his chief cities at the first assault. Curtius makes *Oxycanus* the king of a people named *Præsti*,* and states that Alexander captured his chief city after a siege of three days. Diodorus and Strabo call the king *Portikanus*. Now, these various readings at once suggest the probability that the name was that of the city, which, either as *Uchcha-gám*, or *Porta-gám*, means simply the "Lofty town," in allusion to its height. The description of Curtius of the "tremendous crash" made by the fall of two towers of its citadel shows that the place must have been more than usually lofty. I would therefore identify it with the great mound of *Mahorta* on the bank of the Ghâr river, 10 miles from Larkâna. Masson describes it as "the remains of an ancient fortress, on a huge mound, named *Maihota*. "† *Mahorta*, which is the spelling adopted by the surveyors, is probably *Mahorddha*, for *mahá*+*urddha*+*gráma*, or "the great lofty city," which, as pure Sanskrit, is not likely to be a modern name. This identification appears to me to be very probable, not only on account of the exact correspondence of name, but also on account of the relative positions of Alor and Mahorta with reference to the old course of the Indus. At present Mahorta is within a few miles of the river; but in the time of Alexander, when the Indus flowed down the bed of the Nâra, the nearest point of the stream was at Alor, from which Mahorta was distant 45 miles to the south of west. Hence Alexander was obliged to leave his fleet, and to march against Oxykanus.

c6.s1.t3.12

∗ Vita Alex., ix. 8, 26.

c6.s1.t3.13

† 'Travels,' i. 461.

c6.s1.t3.14

The site of Mahorta must always have been a position of great importance, both commercially and politically, as it commanded the high-road from Sindh, viâ Kachh-Gandâva, to Kandahar. Since its desertion, the same advantages have made Larkâna, which is situated on the same small stream, 10 miles to the west of Mahorta, one of the most flourishing places in Sindh. The rivulet called the Ghâr rises near Kelât, and traverses the whole length of the Mula, or Gandáva Pass, below which it is now lost in the desert. But the channel is still traceable, and the stream reappears on the frontier of Sindh, and flows past Larkâna and Mahorta into the Indus. Under a strong and judicious ruler, who could enforce an economical distribution of the available waters, the banks of the Ghâr rivulet must formerly have been one of the most fertile districts of Sindh.

c6.s1.t3.15

The name of *Præsti* given by Curtius* might, according to Wilson, be applied to a people occupying the *thals*, or "oases," of the desert. He refers to *Prastha*, or *Prasthala*, as derived from *sthala*, the Sanskrit form of the vernacular *thal*, which is the term generally used to designate any oasis in Western India. But as the name is simply *Præsti*, I think that it may rather be referred to *prastha*, which means any clear piece of level ground, and might therefore be applied to the plain country about Larkâna, in contradistinction to the neighbouring hilly districts of Sehwân and Gandâva. It seems possible, however, that it may be connected with the *Piska* of Ptolemy, which he places on the lower course of the small stream that flows past *Oskana* into the Indus.

c6.s1.t3.16

∗ Vita Alex., ix. 8.

c6.s1.t3.17

Now Oskana is almost certainly the *Oxykanus* of Arrian and Curtius, for not only are the two names absolutely identical, but the inland position of Oskana, on a small stream to the west of the Indus, agrees exactly with that of Mahorta, which I have identified with Oxykanus. I think also that Ptolemy's *Badana*, which lies immediately to the north of the rivulet, must be the present Gandâva, as the letters B and G are constantly interchanged. In the books of the early Arab writers it is always called *Kandábil*.

Linked texts (1)