The Ancient Geography of India. I. The Buddhist Period, including the Campaigns of Alexander, and the Travels of Hwen-Thsang c8.s5.2

c8.s5.2

Professor Lassen has suggested that the names of Choliya and Dráviḍa may have been transposed by the Chinese editor of the pilgrim's travels. The same suggestion occurred to me when I first examined the travels some years ago; and if it was quite certain that the Chinese syllables *Chu-li-ye* represented Chola, there would be a very strong temptation to adopt the suggestion. But I agree with M. Vivien de Saint-Martin* that it is difficult to admit the possibility of such a transposition, although an adherence to the text of Hwen Thsang involves the total omission of any mention of the famous kingdom of Chola. M. de Saint-Martin points to the present use of the name of Coromandel, which is applied to the whole of the Madras coast, as far north as the mouths of the Godâvari, as a possible explanation of the extension of the name of Chola to the country immediately to the south of the Kistna. But I believe that this extension of the name is solely due to European sailors, who adopted it for the sake of convenience. This name besides applies only to the sea-coast, whereas Chuliya is described by Hwen Thsang as a small district lying to the south-west of Dharanikoṭṭa, so that if we accept the pilgrim's account as it stands, it is scarcely possible that Choliya could have extended so far to the east as the sea-coast.