The Ancient Geography of India. I. The Buddhist Period, including the Campaigns of Alexander, and the Travels of Hwen-Thsang c6.s3.t31.15

c6.s3.t31.15

Strabo and Pliny agree with Arrian in calling the people of Palibothra by the name of Prasii, which modern writers have unanimously referred to the Sanskrit práchya, or "eastern." But it seems to me that Prasii is only the Greek form of Palásiya or Parásiya, a "man of Palása or Parása," which is an actual and well-known name of Magadha, of which Palibothra was the capital. It obtained this name from the Palása, or Butea frondosa, which still grows as luxuriantly in the province as in the time of Hwen Thsang.* The common form of the name is Parás, or when quickly pronounced Prás, which I take to be the true original of the Greek Prasii. This derivation is supported by the spelling of the name given by Curtius,† who calls the people Pharrasii, which is an almost exact transcript of the Indian name Parásiya. The Praxiakos of Ælian is only the derivative form Palásaka.