Geographical and Economic Studies in the Mahabharata: Upayana Parva c6.83

c6.83

Thus before us is placed a suggestion that Kapiś-Kamboja denoted the same geographical unit. To this may also be added Kārpāsika which on account of its rare appearance seems to be clinging to some original form phonetically very near to the Sanskritised form Kārpāsika when more common form as Kapiśa and Kamboja were being commonly used. One thing which has been made clear in the *Mahābhārata* is that though Kāfiristān might have formed a part of Kamboja republic, its separate geographical name as Kārpāsika is maintained. Later on however there was no difference between Kamboja and Kapiśa, as Idrisi's Qanauj, a dependency of the Hindu Kings of Kabul could not be anything else but Kāfiristān. There is another thing which deserves our attention. Does the word Kāfir in Kāfiristān denote the usual contemptuous term in Arabic for the non-believers or does it signify the land of the Kapirs or some such original form from which the word Kārpāsika originated? Or is it possible that as Kaniṣka has become Kanerka so Kapiśa has changed to Kāfir¹¹⁴ (Walters, *loc. cit.*, Vol. I, p. 124)? If Ki-pin transcribes some original name as Kapir as suggested by Lévi, then it is probably Kāfiristan and not Kaspeiro which is nearer to it philologically.