The Ancient Geography of India. I. The Buddhist Period, including the Campaigns of Alexander, and the Travels of Hwen-Thsang c6.s3.t37.22

c6.s3.t37.22

The pilgrim estimates the circuit of Champâ at 4000 *li*, or 667 miles; and as it was bounded by the Ganges on the north, and by *Hiranya-Parvata*, or Mongir, on the west, it must have extended to the Bhâgirathi branch of the Ganges on the east and to the Daumda river on the south. Taking the two northern points at Jángira and Teliagali on the Ganges, and the two southern points at *Páchit* on the Damuda and *Kalna* on the Bhâgirathi, the length of the boundary line will be 420 miles measured direct, or about 500 miles by road distance. This is so much less than the size estimated by Hwen Thsang that I think there must either be some mistake in the text or some confusion between the geographical limits of the original district of *Champâ*, and its actual political boundary at the time of the pilgrim's visit. We know from his journal that the king of Mongir, on the west of *Champâ*, had been dethroned by a neighbouring raja, and that the district of Kânkjol on the east of *Champâ* was then a dependency of the neighbouring kingdom. As *Champâ* lies between these two districts, I infer that the raja of *Champâ* was most probably the king who conquered them, and therefore that the large estimates of Hwen Thsang must include these two states to the east and west of the original *Champâ*. Under this view, the political boundaries may be stated as extending from Lakhiterai to Râjmahal on the Ganges, and from the Pârasnâth Hill along the Daumda river to *Kalna* on the Bhagirathi. With these boundaries the circuit of *Champâ* will be about 550 miles measured direct, or 650 miles by road distance.