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The Ancient Geography of India. I. The Buddhist Period, including the Campaigns of Alexander, and the Travels of Hwen-Thsang c8.s3: 3. Andhra.

The Ancient Geography of India. I. The Buddhist Period, including the Campaigns of Alexander, and the Travels of Hwen-Thsang c8.s3

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3. Andhra.

c8.s3.1

From Kosala, Hwen Thsang proceeded to the south for 900 *li*, or 150 miles, to *An-to-lo*, or *Andhra*,* the modern Telingâna. The capital was named *Ping-ki-lo*, which M. Julien transcribes as *Vingkhila*, but it has not yet been identified. We know that Warangol, or Varnakol, was the capital of Telingâna for several centuries afterwards, but its position does not agree with the pilgrim's narrative, as it lies too far from Chânda on the Pain Ganga river, and too near to Dhâranikotta on the Kistna. The Chinese syllables also do not represent the name of Warangol, although they might perhaps be taken for *Vankol*. They may be read as *Bhimgal*, which is the name of an old town in Telingâna mentioned by Abul Fazl. But Bhimgal is only 120 miles to the south-west of Chânda, instead of 150 miles to the south or south-west, and is upwards of 200 miles to the north of Dhâranikotta instead of 167 miles. I should therefore be inclined to accept the Chinese syllables as a blundering transcription of Warangol itself, if the positions agreed more nearly. But the actual distance between Varangol and Chânda is 160 miles, and between Varangol and Dhâranikotta only 120 miles. It is, therefore, too near the latter place, and too far from the former place, according to Hwen Thsang's account. If we might adopt Amaravati in Berar as the capital of Kosala, then Bhimgal would represent the capital of Andhra beyond all doubt, as it stands rather short of midway between Chânda and Dhâranikotta ; but both the distances are too great to suit Hwen Thsang’s numbers of 900 *li* and 1000 *li*, or 150 miles and 167 miles. The position of *Elgandel*, which is midway between Bhimgal and Varangol, agrees better with the pilgrim’s narrative, as it is about 130 miles from Chânda, and 170 miles from Dhâranikotta. I am, therefore, willing to adopt *Elgandel* as the probable representative of the capital of *Andhra* in the seventh century of the Christian era.

c8.s3.2

∗ Julien's ‘Hiouen Thsang,’ iii. 105. See Map No. I.

c8.s3.3

The province of Andhra is described as 3000 *li*, or 500 miles, in circuit. No frontier is mentioned in any direction ; but it may be presumed that the Godâvari river, which is the modern boundary to the north and east, was likewise the ancient one, as it is also the limit of the Telugu language towards the north. To the west, where it met the great kingdom of Mahârâshtra, it cannot have extended beyond the *Manjhira* branch of the Godâvari. The territory may, therefore, be described as stretching from the junction of the Manjhira and Godâvari to Bhadrachelam on the south-east, a length of 250 miles, and to Haidarabad on the south, a length of 100 miles, the distance between Haidarabad and Bhadrachelam being 175 miles. These limits give a total circuit of 525 miles, or nearly the same as that stated by Hwen Thsang.

c8.s3.4

The *Andhras* are mentioned by Pliny* under the name of *Andaræ*, as a powerful nation, who possessed thirty fortified cities, and a large army of one hundred thousand infantry, two thousand cavalry, and one thousand elephants. They are also noted in the Pentingerian Tables as *Andræ-Indi*. Wilson quotes these Tables as placing the Andhras “on the banks of the Ganges,”* but the extremely elongated form of the Pentingerian Map has squeezed many of the peoples and nations far out of their true places. A much safer conclusion may be inferred from a comparison of the neighbouring names. Thus the *Andræ-Indi* are placed near *Damirice*, which I would identify with Ptolemy’s *Limyrike* by simply changing the initial *Δ* to *Λ*, as the original authorities used for the construction of the Tables must have been Greek. But the people of Limyrike occupied the south-west coast of the peninsula, consequently their neighbours the Andræ-Indi must be the well-known Andhras of Telingana, and not the mythical Andhras of the Ganges, who are mentioned only in the *Puránas*. Pliny’s knowledge of the Andaræ must have been derived either from the Alexandrian merchants of his own times, or from the writings of Megasthenes and Dionysius, the ambassadors of Seleukus Nikator and Ptolemy Philadelphus to the court of Palibothra. But whether the Andaræ were contemporary with Pliny or not, it is certain that they did not rule over Magadha at the period to which he alludes, as immediately afterwards he mentions the Prasii of Palibothra as the most powerful nation in India, who possessed 600,000 infantry, 30,000 horse, and 9000 elephants, or more than six times the strength of the Andræ-Indi.

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∗ Hist. Nat., vi. 22.

c8.s3.6

The Chinese pilgrim notices that though the language of the people of Andhra was very different from that of Central India, yet the forms of the written characters were for the most part the same. This statement is specially interesting, as it shows that

c8.s3.7

[^ *]: ‘Vishnu Purana,’ Hall’s edition, iv. 203, note.

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the old Nâgari alphabet introduced from Northern India was still in use, and that the peculiar twisted forms of the Telugu characters, which are found in inscriptions of the tenth century, had not yet been adopted in the south.

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