The Ancient Geography of India. I. The Buddhist Period, including the Campaigns of Alexander, and the Travels of Hwen-Thsang c6.s1.t9.7

c6.s1.t9.7

The site of Thatha itself is admitted to be modern, but those of Sâminagar and Kalyân-kot are said to be of great antiquity. This belief of the people is no doubt true, as the position at the head of the inferior Delta commanded the whole traffic of the river, while the hill-fort gave security. Lieut. Wood remarks* that the site of Thatha is so advantageous for commercial purposes that it is probable that a mart has existed in its neighbourhood from the earliest times. “But,” he judiciously adds, “as the apex of the Delta is not a fixed point, the site of this city must have varied as the river changed.” This change of site would naturally have entailed a change of names; and I am therefore led to believe that Thatha was the actual position of the Manhábari of the Arab geographers, and of the Minnagara of the author of the ‘Periplus.’†