Tribes in Ancient India c37.28

c37.28

In about the second quarter of the seventh century A.D., the celebrated Chinese pilgrim Hsüan Tsang visited the An-to-lo or the Andhra country. The nearest transcription of An-to-lo is Andara which is comparable to Pliny's Andarae referred to above, though doubtless it means the Andhra country. From Kosala (evidently South Kośala), the pilgrim travelled south, through a forest, for above 900 li to the An-to-lo country which 'had a rich fertile soil with a moist hot climate; the people were of violent character; their mode of speech differed from that of "Mid-India", but they followed the same system of writing. There were twenty odd Buddhist monasteries with more than 3,000 brethren. Near the capital was a large monastery with a succession of high walls and storeyed terraces . . .'³