The Ancient Geography of India. I. The Buddhist Period, including the Campaigns of Alexander, and the Travels of Hwen-Thsang c6.s3.t13.12

c6.s3.t13.12

According to tradition, the ancient city contained 84 wards or *Mahalas*, of which 25 are still existing within the limits of the present town. If we take the area of these 25 wards at three-quarters of a square mile, the 84 wards of the ancient city would have covered just 2½ square miles. Now, this is the very size that is assigned to the old city by Hwen Thsang, who makes its length 20 *li*, or 3½ miles, and its breadth 4 or 5 *li*, or just three-quarters of a mile, which multiplied together give just 2½ square miles. Almost the same limits may be determined from the sites of the existing ruins, which are also the chief *find-spots* of the old coins with which Kanoj abounds. According to the dealers, the old coins are found at *Bala Pir* and *Rang Mahal*, inside the fort; at *Makhdum-Jahaniya*, to the south-east of the fort; or *Makarandnagar* on the high-road; and intermediately at the small villages of *Singh Bhawani* and *Kutlupur*. The only other productive site is said to be *Rajgir*, an ancient mound covered with brick ruins on the bank of the *Chota Ganga*, three miles to the south-east of Kanoj. Taking all these evidences into consideration, it appears to me almost certain that the ancient city of Hwen Thsang’s time must have extended from *Haji-Harmayan* and the *Kshem-Kali Burj*, on the bank of the Ganges (now the *Chota Ganga*), in a south-west direction, to *Makarand-nagar*, on the Grand Trunk Road, a length of just three miles, with a general breadth of about one mile or somewhat less. Within these limits are found all the ruins that still exist to point out the position of the once famous city of Kanoj.