Historical Geography of Ancient India c8.520

c8.520

Vaiśālī was visited by the Chinese pilgrim Fa-hien in the 5th century A.D. According to him there was a large forest to its north, having in it the double-galleried Vihāra where the Buddha dwelt and the tope over half the body of Ānanda (Legge, *Fa-hien*, p. 72). Another Chinese pilgrim Hiuen Tsang who visited it in the 7th century A.D., relates that the foundations of the old city Vaiśālī were 60 or 70 li in circuit and the ‘palace city’ was 4 or 5 li in circuit (Watters, *On Yuan Chwang*, Vol. II, p. 63). This city was above 5,000 li in circuit, a very fertile region abounding in mangoes, plantains and other fruits. The people were honest, fond of good works, and esteemers of learning. They were orthodox and heterodox in faith (*Ibid.*, II, p. 63). According to the Tibetan account (Dulva, III, f. 80) there were three districts in Vaiśālī. In the first district there were 7,000 houses with golden towers; in the middle district there were 14,000 houses with silver towers; and in the last district there were 21,000 houses with copper towers; in these lived the upper, the middle and the lower classes according to their positions (Rockhill, *Life of the Buddha*, p. 62). In the Buddha's time this city was encompassed by three walls at a distance of a *gāvuta* from one another and that at three places there were gates with watch-towers and buildings (*Jātaka*, I, p. 504).