The Ancient Geography of India. I. The Buddhist Period, including the Campaigns of Alexander, and the Travels of Hwen-Thsang c6.s3.t9.16

c6.s3.t9.16

still occupied in the reign of Akbar. The parganah was afterwards called *Karsána*, but it is now known by the name of *Saháwar Karsána*, or of *Saháwar* only. The name given by the Chinese pilgrim is *Pi-lo-shan-na*, for which M. Julien proposes to read *Virasana*. So far back as 1848 I pointed out that, as both *pil* and *kar* are Sanskrit names for an elephant, it was probable that *Pilosana* might be the same as *Karsána*, the large village which I have already mentioned as being four miles to the north of *Atranji Khera*. The chief objection to this identification is the fact that *Karsána* is apparently not a very old place, although it is sometimes called *Deora Karsána*, a name which implies the possession of a temple of note at some former period. It is, however, possible that the name of *Karsána* may once have been joined to *Atranji* in the same way that we find *Sikandarpur Atreji* in the ‘Ayin Akbari.’ As the identification of *Karsána* with *Pilosana* is purely conjectural, it is useless to hazard any more speculations on this subject. The bearing and distance from *Sankisa*, as recorded by Hwen Thsang, point to the neighbourhood of *Sirpura*, near which there is a small village called *Pilkuni* or *Pilokuni*, which is the *Pilukhoni* of our maps. It is, however, a very petty place; and although it boasts of a small *khera*, or mound of ruins, it cannot, I think, have ever been more than one-fourth of the circuit of two miles which Hwen Thsang attributes to *Pi-lo-shan-na*. But there are two strong points in its favour—namely, 1st, its position, which agrees both in bearing and distance with the Chinese pilgrim’s account; and 2nd, its name, which is almost identical with the old name, *sh* being very commonly pronounced as *kh*, so that Hwen Thsang’s *Piloshana* would usually be pronounced *Pi-lokhana*.