On Yuan Chwang's Travels in India, 629–645 A.D. v1.c10.4

v1.c10.4

A note added to our text tells us that Wu-chang-na means "park", the country having once been the park of a king, (viz. Asoka, according to the 'Life'). The Wu-chang-na of the narrative is perhaps to be read Udana and it stands for Udyāna which means "a park". Other forms of the name in Chinese works are Wu-t'u or -ch'u (荼 or 荼) perhaps for Uḍa.¹ Wu-ch'ang (長) used by Fa-hsien, Wu-ch'ang (場) in the Ka-lan-chi, Wu-tien (or yun)-nang (填 or 眞 囊) used by Shih-hu of the later Sung period, and the unusual form *Wu-sun-ch'ang* (孫 烏). But the territory denoted by these varieties of name does not always correspond to the *Wu-chang-na* of our text. In some Chinese translations this country is vaguely denominated " *Yue-ti* (Getæ) Country".¹ There may possibly have been a native name like Uda from which the Sanskrit form Udyāna and the Pali Uyyāna were formed. Our pilgrim's Udyāna, according to Cunningham, comprised the present districts of Pangkora, Bijāwar, Swāt, and Bunir.² The country is represented by Yuan-chuang as not yielding good crops, and this is not in agreement with the accounts in other works which describe it as a well watered region yielding good crops of rice and wheat.³