Cunningham's Ancient Geography of India c6.14

c6.14

With Ptolemy, we lose the last of our great classical authorities; and, until lately, we were left almost entirely to our own judgment in connecting and arranging the various geographical fragments that lie buried in ancient inscriptions, or half hidden in the vague obscurity of the Purânas. But the fortunate discovery of the travels of several Chinese pilgrims in the fifth, sixth, and seventh centuries of the Christian era, has thrown such a flood of light upon this hitherto dark period, that we are now able to see our way clearly to the general arrangement of most of the scattered fragments of the Ancient Geography of India.