The Ancient Geography of India. I. The Buddhist Period, including the Campaigns of Alexander, and the Travels of Hwen-Thsang c6.s3.t14.1

c6.s3.t14.1

From Kanoj the two Chinese pilgrims followed different routes, Fa-Hian having proceeded direct to *Sha-chi* (the modern Ajudhya, near Fyzabad on the Ghâghra), while Hwen Thsang followed the course of the Ganges to Prayâg or Allahabad. The first stage of both pilgrims would, however, appear to be the same. Fa-Hian states that he crossed the Ganges and proceeded 3 *yojanas*, or 21 miles, to the south to the forest of Holi, where there were several stupas erected on spots where Buddha had “passed, or walked, or sat.”* Hwen Thsang records that he marched 100 *li*, nearly 17 miles, to the town of *Nava-deva-kula*, which was on the eastern bank of the Ganges, and that at 5 *li*, or nearly 1 mile, to the south-east of the town there was a stupa of Asoka, which was still 100 feet in height, besides some other monuments dedicated to the four previous Buddhas.† I think it probable that the two places are the same, and that the site was somewhere near Nobatganj, just above the junction of the *Isan* river, and opposite *Nanamow Ghât*. But as there are no existing remains anywhere in that neighbourhood, the place has been most likely swept away by the river. This is rendered almost certain by an examination of the Ganges below the junction of the *Isan*. Formerly the river continued its course almost due south from *Nanamow* for many miles, but some centuries ago it changed its course; first to the south-east for 4 or 5 miles, and then to the south-west for about the same distance, where it rejoined its old bed, leaving an island, some 6 miles in length by 4 in breadth, between the two channels. As Hwen Thsang’s account places *Nava-deva-kula* on the very site of this island, I conclude that the town as well as the Buddhist monuments must all have been swept away by the change in the river’s course.