On Yuan Chwang's Travels in India, 629–645 A.D. v1.c6.s3.3

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.