The Ancient Geography of India. I. The Buddhist Period, including the Campaigns of Alexander, and the Travels of Hwen-Thsang c6.s3.t13.5

c6.s3.t13.5

At the time of Hwen Thsang’s visit, Kanoj was the capital of Raja Harsha Vardhana, the most powerful sovereign in Northern India. The Chinese pilgrim calls him a *Fei-she*, or *Vaisya*, but it seems probable that he must have mistaken the *Vaisa*, or *Bais* Rajput for the *Vaisya*, or *Bais*, which is the name of the mercantile class of the Hindus; otherwise Harsha Vardhana’s connection by marriage with the Rajput families of Malwa and Balabhi would have been quite impossible. Baiswâra, the country of the Bais Rajputs, extends from the neighbourhood of Lucknow to Khara-Mânikpur, and thus comprises nearly the whole of Southern Oudh. The Bais Rajputs claim descent from the famous *Sáliváhan*, whose capital is said to have been *Daundia-Khera*, on the north bank of the Ganges. Their close proximity to Kanoj is in favour of the sovereignty which they claim for their ancestors.