Tribes in Ancient India c33.88

c33.88

The question of the site of Kauśāmbī has been much debated, chiefly because of the impossibility of reconciling Cunningham’s identification with the descriptions of the Chinese pilgrims. But such descriptions may either have been incorrect originally or may have been subsequently misinterpreted. For instance, there is nothing in the actual records of Hsüan Tsang to suggest that the distance given was the actual distance between Prayāga and the city of Kauśāmbī. It is likely that the pilgrim went to Kauśāmbī by a roundabout route from Prayāga. The distance and direction of Kauśāmbī from Sārnāth as given by Fā-Hien may be taken as fairly correct. The distance of 13 yojanas (about 90 or 104 miles) is almost the present distance by road from Benares to Kosam. The fact that Fā-Hien placed Kauśāmbī to the north-west of Benares may perhaps be due to his having walked along a road following a north-west direction for some distance.