On Yuan Chwang's Travels in India, 629–645 A.D. v1.c6.s3: Poh-Lu-Ka
On Yuan Chwang's Travels in India, 629–645 A.D. v1.c6.s3
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Poh-Lu-Ka
v1.c6.s3.1
Our pilgrim continuing his narrative tells us that from this (viz. Kuchih city) a journey of above 600 *li* west across a small desert brought him to the *Poh-lu-ka* country. This was above 600 *li* from east to west by more than 300 *li* from north to south, and its capital was five or six *li* in circuit. In general characteristics this country and its people resembled Kuchih and its people, but the spoken language differed a little. The fine cloth and serge of the district were esteemed by the neighbouring countries. There were some some tens of monasteries with above 1000 Brethren all adherents of the Sarvāstivādin school.
v1.c6.s3.2
A Chinese note to our text tells us that old names for *Poh-lu-ka* were *Ki-mê* and *Ku-mê* in some we have instead of this character another also read *yi*, viz. 兒. Wu-k'ung's transcription of the name is 阿遮哩貳.
v1.c6.s3.3
copies 姑 by mistake). This Ku-mê is found in the Han-Shu and is subsequent histories as the name of a state to the west of Kuchih. It had a capital called Nan-ch‘êng or “South city”, and it yielded copper, iron, and orpiment.¹ M. V. de St. Martin makes Ku-mê or Poh-lu-ka correspond to the modern district of Aksu and this identification has been adopted by others. Some Chinese writers identify it with the modern Bai city (拜城), while others more correctly regard it as represented by the present Yurgun or Khara-yurgun (哈拉玉爾滾), the Karayalghan or Khara-yurgun of our maps, which is within the political district of Aksu.² It seems that Yuan chuang was the first to use this name Poh-lu-ka, and it is known only through these Records and the Life, for the “T‘ang-Shu” evidently derived its information direct from the Records.³ The explanation of its use is apparently simple. The Ku-mê of the Histories transcribes the Turkish word Kum (or Qum) which means “sand” or “a desert”, a word of frequent occurrence in names of places in Central Asia. Then the Buddhist Brethren from India substituted for Kum its Sanskrit equivalent Bālukā which in our pilgrim’s transcription became Poh-lu-ka.
v1.c6.s3.4
¹ Ch‘ien Han-Shu, ch. 96: Wei-Shu, ch. 102 where Ku-mê is a dependency of Ku-tse.
v1.c6.s3.5
² Hsin-ch‘iang, ch. 1, 3. According to this treatise the “small desert” is the modern Ch‘a-êrh-chih-ko, the Charchik of our maps. See Proceedings of R. G. S. Vol. XII, No. 2, p. 86.
v1.c6.s3.6
³ T‘ang-Shu, ch. 221. But the P‘o-lu-ka (婆樓迦) or Bāluka of the Ta-fang-têng-ta-chi-ching ch. 55 (No. 62) is evidently the Bāluka of our text.
v1.c6.s3.7
The word translated in the above passage by “cloth” is tieh in the B text and chan or “felt” in the C and D texts. The latter in the sense of “woollen cloth” is probably here, as in other passages, the correct reading, and it was the reading in the text of the Record used by the compiler of the T‘ang-Shu”. It was the fine woollen fabrics of this district which were held in esteem by the surrounding countries.