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The Ancient Geography of India. I. The Buddhist Period, including the Campaigns of Alexander, and the Travels of Hwen-Thsang c6.s3.t3: 1. Sthâneswara.

The Ancient Geography of India. I. The Buddhist Period, including the Campaigns of Alexander, and the Travels of Hwen-Thsang c6.s3.t3

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1. Sthâneswara.

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In the seventh century Sa-ta-ni-shi-fa-lo, or Sthâneswara, was the capital of a separate kingdom, which is described as being 7000 *li*, or 1167 miles, in circuit. No king is mentioned, but the state was tributary to Harsha Varddhana of Kanoj, who was the paramount sovereign of Central India. From the large dimensions given by Hwen Thsang, I infer that the district must have extended from the Satlej to the Ganges.[*] Its northern boundary may be approximately described as a straight line drawn from Hari-ki-patan, on the Satlej, to Muzafarnagar, near the Ganges; and its southern boundary as an irregular line drawn from near Pâk-patan, on the Satlej, viâ Bhatner and Nârnol, to Anupshahar on the Ganges. These limits give a boundary of about 900 miles, which is nearly one-fourth less than is stated by the pilgrim. But it is certain that many of these boundary measurements must be exaggerated, as the distances could only have been estimated, and the natural tendency of most persons is rather to overstate the actual size of their native districts. Another source of error lies in the deficient information of Hwen Thsang’s own narrative, which describes each of the 37 districts as a distinct and separate state, whereas it is almost certain that several of the minor states should be included within the boundaries of the larger ones. Thus I believe that the petty districts of *Govisana* and *Ahichhatra* must have formed part of the state of *Madáwar*; that *Vaisákha* and *Kusapura*, and the other small districts of the Gangetic Doab, *Ayulo*, *Hayamukha*, *Kosámbi*, and *Prayága*, were included in Kanoj; that *Kusinagara* belonged to *Kapila*; and that *Vadari* and *Kheda* were integral parts of *Malwa*. In some instances also, I believe that thousands have been inserted in the text instead of hundreds. I refer specially to the petty districts in the lower Gangetic Doab. Thus, *Prayâga*, or Allahabad, is said to be 5000 *li*, or 833 miles, in circuit, and *Kosâmbi*, which is only 30 miles from Allahabad, is said to be 6000 *li*, or 1000 miles, in circuit! In both of these instances I would read the smaller numbers of 500 *li*, or 83 miles, and 600 *li*, or 100 miles, which would then agree with the actual dimensions of these petty divisions. It is quite certain that they could not have been larger, as they were completely surrounded by other well-known districts. By making due allowance for one or other of these sources of error, I think it will be found that Hwen Thsang’s measurements are in general not very far from the truth.

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∗ See Map No. I.

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∗ See Map No. X.

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The town of *Sthâneswara*, or Thânesar, consists of an old ruined fort, about 1200 feet square at top, with the modern town on a mound to the east, and a suburb called *Bûhari*, or “without,” on another mound to the west. Altogether, the three old mounds occupy a space nearly one mile in length from east to west, and about 2000 feet in average breadth. These dimensions give a circuit of 14,000 feet, or less than 2¾ miles, which is somewhat under the 20 *li*, or 3⅓ miles, of Hwen Thsang. But before the inroads of the Muhammadans, it is certain, from the number of brick ruins still existing, as well as from the statements of the people themselves, that the whole of the intervening space between the present town and the lake, which is now called *Darrâ*, must have formed part of the old city. Taking in this space, the original city would have been, as nearly as possible, an exact square of one mile on each side, which would give a circuit of 4 miles, or a little more than the measurement of the Chinese pilgrim. According to tradition, the fort was built by Raja Dilipa, a descendant of Kuru, five generations anterior to the Pândus. It is said to have had 52 towers or bastions, of which some remains still exist. On the west side the earthen ramparts rise to a height of 60 feet above the road; but the mass of the interior is not more than 40 feet high. The whole mound is thickly covered with large broken bricks, but with the exception of three old wells, there are no remains of any antiquity.

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The name of Thânesar, or Sthâneswara, is said to be derived either from the Sthâna or abode of Iswara, or Mahâdeva, or from the junction of his names of Sthânu and Iswara, or from Sthânu and sar, a “lake.” The town is one of the oldest and most celebrated places in India, but the earliest certain notice of it under this name is by the Chinese pilgrim Hwen Thsang, in A.D. 634, although it is most probably mentioned by Ptolemy as Batan-Kaisara, for which we should, perhaps, read Satan-aisara, for the Sanskrit Sthâneswara. But the place was more famous for its connection with the history of the Pândus, than for its possession of a temple of Mahâdeva, whose worship, in India at least, must be of much later date than the heroes of the Mahâbhârata. All the country immediately around Thânesar, between the Saraswati and Drishadwati rivers, is known by the name of Kuru-Kshetra, that is, the “field or land of Kuru,” who is said to have become an ascetic on the bank of the great holy lake to the south of the town. This lake is called by various names, as Brahmâ-Sar, Râma-hrad, Vâyu, or Vâyava-Sar, and Pavana-Sar. The first name is attributed to Brahma, because he performed a sacrifice on its banks. The second name is derived from *Farasu-Rama*, who is said to have spilt the blood of the *Kshatriyas* in this place. The last two titles are derived from the names of the god of Wind, on account of the pleasant breezes which blew over the waters of the lake during Kuru's period of asceticism. This lake is the centre of attraction for most pilgrims; but all around it for many miles is holy ground, and the number of holy places connected with the Kauravas and Pándavas, and with other heroes of antiquity, is very great indeed. According to popular belief, the exact number is 360, but the list given in the *Kuru-kshetra Mahátmya* is limited to 180 places, of which one-half, or 91, are to the north along the line of the venerated Saraswati river. There are, however, in this list so many omissions of places of acknowledged importance, such as the *Nágahrada* at Pundri, the *Vyásasthala* at Basthali, the *Parásaratirath* at Bâlu, and the *Vishnu-tirath* at Sagga, near Narána, that I feel inclined to believe that the popular number of 360 may not be exaggerated.

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The *Chakra*, or district of *Kuru-Kshetra*, is also called *Dharma-Kshetra*, or the "holy land," which is evidently the original of Hwen Thsang's "*champ du bonheur.*" In his time the circle of pilgrimage was limited to 200 *li*,* which, at his valuation of 40 *li* to the Indian *yojana* of 4 kos, is equivalent to 20 kos. In the time of Akbar, however, the circle had already been increased to 40 kos,† and at the time of my visit it had been extended to 48 kos, although the 40 kos circuit was also well known, and is, indeed, noted by Mr. Bowring. The circuit stated by the Chinese pilgrim could not have been more than 35 or 40 miles, at 7 or 8 miles to the yojana, but the circle mentioned by Abul Fazl could not be less than 53 miles, at the usual valuation of the Padshahi kos at 1⅓ miles, and might, at Sir H. Elliot's valuation of Akbar's kos at more than 2½ miles, be extended to upwards of 100 miles. It is possible, indeed, to make these different statements agree very closely by changing the pilgrim's number to 400 li, or 10 yojanas, which are equivalent to 40 kos, or 80 miles, and by estimating Abul Fazl's 40 kos at the usual Indian rate of about 2 miles each. I am myself quite satisfied of the necessity for making this correction in the pilgrim's number, as the narrow extent of his circle would not only shut out the equally famous shrines at *Prithudaka*, or Pehoa on the Saraswati, and at the *Kausiki-Sangam*, or junction of the Kausiki and *Drishadwati* rivers, but would actually exclude the Drishadwati itself, which in the *Vámana Purána* is specially mentioned as being within the limits of the holy land,—

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∗ Julien's 'Hiouen Thsang,' ii. 213.

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† 'Ayin Akbari,' ii. 517.

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Dirgh-Kshetre Kurukshetre dirgha Satranta yire
Nudyâstire Drishadvatyâh punyayâh Suchirodhasah.

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"They were making the great sacrifice of *Satranta* in the wide region of *Kurukshetra* on the banks of the *Drishadwati*, esteemed holy on account of its virtues." This river is also specially mentioned in the *Vana Parva* of the *Mahábhárata* as being the southern boundary of the holy land.*

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Dakshinena Sarasvatyâ Drishadvatyuttarena-cha
Ye vasanti Kurukshetre te vasanti trivishtape.

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"South from *Saraswati*, and north from *Drishadwati*, they who dwell in *Kurukshetra* live in paradise.” From these texts it is certain that the holy land of *Kuru-kshetra* must have extended to the *Drishadwati* in the time of Hwen Thsang, and therefore that his limitation of its circuit to 200 *li*, or 20 *kos*, must be erroneous.

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∗ Chap. 83, v. 4.

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In another passage of the *Mahâbhârata*, the boundaries of the holy land are even more explicitly detailed,—*

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Tad Ratnukâratnukyor yadantaram Râmâhradân-cha Bhachak-nukasya-cha
Etat Kurukshetra, Samanta—panchakam, Pitamahâsyottara Vediruchyate.

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“The tract between *Ratnuka*, *Aratnuka*, *Râmâhrada* and *Bhachaknuka*, is called *Kurukshetra*, *Samantapanchaka*, and the northern *Vedi* of *Pita-maha* (or *Brahmâ*).” As this last name of *Brahmâ-vedi* is equivalent to *Brahmâvartta*, we have another testimony in the Code of Manu for extending the holy land to the banks of the *Drishadwati*.†

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† Houghton’s ‘Institutes of Menu,’ ii. 17.

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Sarasvati Drishadvatyordeva nudyor yadantaram
Tandeva nirmitam-desan Brahmâvarttan prachakshate.

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“That region, made by the Gods, which is between the *Saraswati* and *Drishadwati* rivers, is called *Brahmâvartta*.”

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The great lake of *Kurukshetra* is an oblong sheet of water 3516 feet in length from east to west, and 1900 feet in breadth. It is mentioned by Abu Rihân,‡ who records, on the authority of Varâha Mihira, that during eclipses of the moon the waters of all other tanks visit the tank at Thânesar, so that the bather in this tank at the moment of eclipse obtains the additional merit of bathing in all the other tanks at the same time.

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∗ ‘Vana Parva,’ chap. 83, last verse.

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‡ Reinaud, ‘Mémoire sur l’Inde,’ p. 287.

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This notice by Varâha Mihira carries us back at once to A.D. 500, when the holy tank at Thânesar was in full repute. But the Pauranic legends attribute to it an antiquity long anterior even to the Pândus themselves. On its banks Kuru, the common ancestor of the Kauravas and Pândavas, sat in ascetic abstraction; here Paraṣu-Râma slew the Kshatriyas, and here Pururavas having lost the nymph Urvaśi, at length met his celestial bride at Kurukshetra “sporting with four other nymphs of heaven in a lake beautiful with lotuses.” But the story of the horse-headed Dadhyanch, or Dadhícha, is perhaps even older than the legend of Pururavas, as it is alluded to in the Rig Veda.* “With his bones Indra slew ninety times nine Vritras.” The scholiast explains this by saying that the thunderbolt of Indra was formed of the horse's head with which the Aswins had supplied the headless Dadhyanch, that he might teach his science to them. According to the legend, Dadhyanch during his lifetime had been the terror of the Asuras, who, after his death, multiplied and overspread the whole earth. Then “Indra inquiring what had become of him, and whether nothing of him had been left behind, was told that the horse's head was still in existence, but no one knew where. Search was made for it, and it was found in the lake Saryandrat on the skirts of Kurukshetra.” I infer that this is only another name for the great tank of Kurukshetra, and consequently that the sacred pool is at least as old as the Rig Veda itself. I think it also probable that the *Chakra-tirath*, or spot where Vishnu is said to have taken up his *Chakra*, or discus, to kill Bhishma, may have been the original spot where Indra slew the Vritras, and that the bones, which were afterwards assigned to the Pândus, may have been those of the Vritras of the older legend. In support of this suggestion, I may mention that the *Chakratirath* is close to *Asthipur*, or the "place of bones." In A.D. 634 these bones were shown to the Chinese pilgrim, Hwen Thsang, who records that they were of very large size.* All my inquiries for them were fruitless, but the site of *Asthipur*, or "Bone-town," is still pointed out in the plain to the west of the city, near *Aujas-ghât*.

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∗ Wilson's translation, i. 216.

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