Historical Geography of Ancient India c6.375

c6.375

Kapiśa.—Kapiśa (Chinese Kia-pi-shi) is the Capissa of Pliny and the Caphusa of Solinus. According to Ptolemy it was situated 155 miles north-east from Kabul. Julien supposes this place to have occupied the Panjshir and the Tagao valleys in the north border of Kohistan. According to Hiuen Tsang this country was 10 li in circuit. It produced various kinds of cereals and fruit trees. The Shen horses were bred here. The climate was cold and windy. The inhabitants of the place were cruel and fierce, and the language was rude. The inhabitants used hair garments and garments trimmed with fur. They used gold, silver and copper coins. The king of the place was a Kṣatriya. He loved his subjects very much. Every year he used to make a silver figure of the Buddha 18 ft. high and convoked an assembly called the Mokṣamahāpariṣad when alms were distributed to the poor and the wretched. There were one hundred convents, stūpas, saṅghārāmas and deva temples (Beal, Buddhist Records of the Western World, I, 54ff.).