The Ancient Geography of India. I. The Buddhist Period, including the Campaigns of Alexander, and the Travels of Hwen-Thsang c6.s3.t38.7

c6.s3.t38.7

From Kânkjol the pilgrim crossed the Ganges, and travelling eastward for 600 *li*, or 100 miles, he reached the kingdom of *Pun-na-fa-tan-na*.* This name M. Stanislas Julien renders as *Paundra-Varddhana*, and M. Vivien de Saint-Martin identifies it with Bardwân. But Bardwân is to the south of the last station, and on the same side of the Ganges, besides which its Sanskrit name is *Varddhamâna*. The difference in the direction of the route might be a mistake, as we have found in several previous instances; but the other differences are, I think, absolutely fatal to the identification of Bardwân with the place noted by Hwen Thsang. I would propose Pubna, which is just 100 miles from *Kânkjol*, and on the opposite bank of the Ganges, but its direction is nearly south-east instead of east. The Chinese syllables may represent either *Punya Varddhana*, or *Paundra Varddhana*; but the latter must be the true name, as it is mentioned in the native history of Kashmir† as the capital of *Jayanta*, Raja of *Gau.*, who reigned from A.D. 782 to 813. In the spoken dialects the name would be shortened from *Pon-bardhan* to *Pobadhan*, from which it is an easy step to *Pubna*, or *Pobna*, as some of the people now pronounce it. Hwen Thsang estimates the circuit of the kingdom at 4000 *li*, or 667 miles, which agrees exactly with the dimensions of the tract of country bounded by the Mahânadi on the west, the Tista and Brahmaputra on the east, and the Ganges on the south.