The Ancient Geography of India. I. The Buddhist Period, including the Campaigns of Alexander, and the Travels of Hwen-Thsang c6.s1.t6.14

c6.s1.t6.14

Shortly after the Muhammadan conquest *Bráhmana* was supplanted by *Mansura*, which, according to Biladuri, was founded by Amru, the son of Muhammad bin Kâsim, the conqueror of Sindh,† and named after the second Abasside Khalif Al *Mansúr*, who reigned from A.D. 753 to 774. But according to Masudi,‡ it was founded by Jamhur, the governor of Sindh, under the last Omnicad Khalif, A.D. 744 to 749, who named it after his own father *Mansúr*. The new city was built so close to Brâhmanâbâd that Ibn Haukal, Abu Rihân, and Edrisi, all describe it as the same place. Ibn Haukal's words are, "Mansura, which in the Sind language is called Bâmiwân."§ Abu Rihân states that it was originally called *Ba-manhwá*, and afterwards *Hamanábád*, for which we may read *Bahmanabad*, by simply adding an initial B, which must have been accidentally dropped. It was situated on the eastern branch of the Mihrân, or Indus, and was 1 mile in length, and the same in breadth, or just 4 miles in circuit. Its position is approximately fixed in the neighbourhood of Hâla, by the number of days' journey in the routes to different places. It was 12 days from Multan, 8 from Kandâbil, viâ Sehwân, and 6 days from Debal, viâ Manhâbari, which was itself 4 days from Mansura. It was therefore at two-thirds of the distance from Multan to the mouth of the Indus, or very nearly in the same parallel as Hâla.