The Ancient Geography of India. I. The Buddhist Period, including the Campaigns of Alexander, and the Travels of Hwen-Thsang c8.s7.4

c8.s7.4

According to the writer of the ‘Life of Hwen Thsang,’* Malayakuṭa was not visited by the pilgrim, but described by hearsay, and the distance of 3000 *li* is said to be from the frontiers of Drâviḍa. But this would only increase the difficulty by placing the capital of Malayakuṭa still further to the south. In a note to this passage,† M. Julien quotes the *Si-yu-ki* as fixing the distance at 300 *li*, instead of 3000 *li*, as given in his translation of the Memoirs of Hwen Thsang. If this number is not a misprint, these different readings may show that there is some uncertainty as to the distance, as well as to the point of departure. I am inclined, therefore, to think that the original distances given in the memoirs and life of the pilgrim may perhaps have been 300 *li*, or 50 miles, from the frontiers of Drâviḍa in the latter, and 1300 *li*, or 217 miles, from the capital of Drâviḍa in the former. In either case, the capital of *Malayakuṭa* would be fixed at *Madura*, which has always been one of the principal cities of Southern India.