Historical Geography of Ancient India c6.617

c6.617

The Chinese pilgrim Hiuen Tsang found this country to be above 5,000 li in circuit and the capital above 20 li in circuit. He praised the country, the climate, and the people. According to him, there were only two Buddhist establishments and many Deva-temples. The majority of the inhabitants were non-Buddhists (Watters, On Yuan Chwang, I, 361). Here green products and fruit trees grew in abundance. The climate was warm and agreeable. The people were gentle and compliant in their disposition. They were fond of learning (Beal, Buddhist Records of the Western World, I, 230). According to the Brahma Purāṇa (Chs. 10-12), three kings named Kuru, Duṣmanta, and Bharata ruled it. Pururavā, the hero of the Vikramorvaśī, is said to have been the ruler of this place. Prayāga was in the possession of Dhaṅga, who is reported to have entered into beatitude by abandoning his body in the waters of the Jāhnavī and the Kālindi (E.I., I, 139, 146). According to the Kamauli grant (A.D. 1172), the Gāhaḍavāla Jaychandra took his bath in the Veṇī at Prayāga (E.I., IV, p. 122), which gave way to Pratiṣṭhānapura towards the latter part of the Hindu rule (Nevill, Allahabad Dist. Gazetteer, p. 195).