Studies in the Geography of Ancient and Medieval India c13.12

c13.12

That Hiuen-tsang’s Kiu-che-lo and its capital Pi-lo-mo-lo stand respectively for Gurjara and Bhillamāla is supported by the Daulatpura inscription³ of 843 A.D., according to which the Gurjara-Pratīhāra emperor Vatsarāja (circa 775-815 A.D.) granted the village of Śivā in the Deṇḍavānaka viṣaya (modern Didwana in the former Jodhpur State, Rajasthan) of the Gurjaratrā bhūmi. In the days of the early Arab travellers, therefore, the name of the Jodhpur region of Rajasthan was Gurjaratrā or Gujarāt, a name derived from that of the Gurjara people. That, however, this country included the former Alwar and Bharatpur States in Eastern Rajasthan is suggested by the celebrated Arab writer Al-Bīrūnī who composed his work on India about 1030 A.D. Al-Bīrūnī refers to ‘Bazāna, the capital of Gujarāt’ and places it 25 *farsakh* (about 92 miles) to the north of the kingdom of Mewār (capital Jattaraur, *i.e.* Chitrakūṭa or Chitor) and 15 *farsakh* (about 55 miles) from Rājaurī lying on the route towards the south-west from Kanoj.¹ Rājaurī (*i.e.* Rājyapuri) is no doubt identical with Rājyapura (modern Rājor-gaḍh in the former Alwar State of Rajasthan) which was the capital of *Mahārājadhirāja* Mathanadeva of the Gurjara-Pratīhāra lineage according to an inscription of 960 A.D.² Al-Bīrūnī further says, “The distance between Mathurā and Kanoj is the same as that between Kanoj and Bazāna, *viz.* 28 *farsakh* (about 103 miles).”³ The above indications show almost beyond doubt that Bazāna is no other than the modern Bayānā in the former Bharatpur State of Rajasthan. It may be pointed out that Bazāna seems to have ceased to be the capital of Gujarāt in the days of Al-Bīrūnī, as he says, “This town is called Nārāyan by our people. After it had fallen into decay the inhabitants migrated to another place called Jadūra.”⁴ The name Nārāyaṇa was apparently derived from a celebrated temple of that gcd at Bayānā. As regards Jadūra, Sachau says, “This reading is uncertain. Perhaps all the signs of the Arabic text are the name of a place.”⁵ It, however, seems that the reading intended is Rājaurī, i.e. Rājyapurī or Rājyapura which is the same as the modern Rājor. It may further be pointed out that Al-Bīrūnī’s *Canon Masudicus* gives the latitudes and longitudes of both Bazāna (or Nārāyan) and Bhillamāla, longitudes being reckoned from the coast of the Atlantic and Bagdad being located at 70°.¹ As, however, the longitude recorded for Bazāna is palpably wrong, it hardly helps us in locating the city.