On Yuan Chwang's Travels in India, 629–645 A.D. v1.c7.s8: Tu-Huo-Lo (Tokhara)
On Yuan Chwang's Travels in India, 629–645 A.D. v1.c7.s8
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Tu-Huo-Lo (Tokhara)
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Our narrative proceeds to describe that going out of the Iron Pass you reach the Tu-huo-lo country. This was above 1000 *li* north to south and 3000 *li* east to west; it reached on the east to the Ts'ung-Ling, on the west to Persia, on the south to the Great Snow Mountains (the Hindu-Kush) and on the north to the Iron Pass; the river Oxus flowed through the middle of it from east to west; for several centuries the succession to the sovereignty had been interrupted and the country was divided into 27 States with separate chiefs and all subject to the Turks, "When the climate becomes warm there is much sickness. and at the end of winter and beginning of spring there is constant rain (in C. "a succession of hoarfrost and rain"); hence in all the countries south of this to Lan-p'o much heat-sickness is a natural characteristic; hence the Buddhist Brethren go into Retreat of the Rainy season on the 16th day of the 12th month and go out on the 15th day of the 3rd month; this is because there is much rain then, thus making their religious precepts conform to the seasons." The people were pusillanimous and ill-favoured, but they were in a manner reliable and were not given to deceitful ways. They had a peculiar spoken language and an alphabet of 25 letters, their writing was horizontal from left to right, and their records had gradually increased until they exceeded those of Su-li in number. They had for clothing more calico (tieh) than serge; their currency consisted of gold, silver, and other coins which were different from those of other countries.
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The *Tu-huo-lo* (睹貨邏) of this passage is undoubtedly the Tokhara of old western geographers. In the Chinese note to the text we are told that an old and incorrect name was *Tu-huo-lo* (吐火羅), which is the transcription used in the Sui-Shu. There are also other transcriptions of the name such as the *Tu-hu-lo* (吐呼羅) of early writers, but the differences are not important. In certain Chinese translations of Buddhist treatises the name is given *Tu-ka-lê* (兜佉勒 (or 吐佉) 勒) or Tukhar.¹ The Sanskrit name is Tukhāra another form of which is Tushāra. This word has the meanings of frost, snow, and mist or vapour.
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¹ Ta-chih-tu-lun, *ch.* 25 (No. 1169); Vibhāsha-lun, *ch.* 9 (No. 1279 tr. A.D. 383).
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The extent and boundaries of the country named Tokhara found in other works differ considerably from those given by our pilgrim.² It was supposed to correspond partly to the great Ta-Hsia of early Chinese records,³ and portions of the present Bokhara and Badakshan seem to have been once included under this name. Saint Martin and Yule⁴ are positive in asserting that Yuan-chuang's Tokhara was the country of the Yetha, but this is against Chinese authority. In the Wei-Shu and Sui-Shu, for example, we have distinct accounts of Tokhara and of the Yetha, and the people of the former are referred to the Small Yue-ti, while the Yetha are said to have been of the original Yue-ti stock. The Yetha and Tokharians lived together; but the former were nomads, while the latter were dwellers in towns.
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² Ma T. I. *ch.* 339.
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³ T'ang-shu, *ch.* 221; T'ung-chien-kang-mu, *ch.* 40 (T'ang T'ai Tsung 16th year).
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⁴ Julien III. p. 285; J. R. A. S. Vol. VI. p. 94.
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The part of the passage within inverted commas reads in Julien's version thus—"La température étant constamment tiède, les épidémies y sont très fréquentes. A la fin de l'hiver et au commencement du printemps, il tombe des pluies continuelles. C'est pourquoi au sud de ce pays, et au nord de Lan-po, il règne beaucoup d'épidémies. De là vient que tous les religieux entrent dans les demeures fixes le seizième jour du douzième mois, et en sortent le quinzième jour du troisième. Cet usage est fondé sur l'abondance des pluies. Les instructions qu'on leur donne sont subordonnées aux saisons."¹ Now the text does not seem to assert that the temperature of this large region was constamment tiède, and that consequently epidemics were frequent. Such a statement, moreover, would be at variance with other passages in this chuan such as the descriptions of Kie-chih and Bamian. It is true, however, that Ma Tuan-lin, on the authority of others, represents the Tokhara country as having a hot climate; but that was evidently only in the summer, for the inhabitants were able to store ice for use during the hot weather. What our author apparently wanted his readers to understand was that the climate became warm or mild in early spring when the rainy season began: this change in the temperature produced much illness which was called "Heat (or Spring) sickness." In all my texts the reading here is wên-chi (溫疾), but Julien's text may have had wên(瘟)-chi, and this is rightly translated in his note "maladies épidémiques." Because the early spring was the rainy season of these countries the Buddhist Brethren in them made that their time of Retreat from the Rain.
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¹ The text of the passage is—氣序既溫疾疫 (in B 吐) 亦衆冬末春初霖 (in C 霜) 雨相繼故此境己南濫波己北其國風土並多溫疾而諸僧徒以十二月十六日入安居三月十五日解安居斯乃據其多雨亦是設教隨時也.
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In India the rainy season was in the summer, and this was the time of year in which Retreat was to be observed according to the Vinaya. By changing the time of Retreat these Brethren departed from the letter but conformed to the spirit of their regulations.
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For a long time the name Tokhara seems to have practically gone out of use, and the country which once bore the name is now to some degree represented by Badakshan.¹ Even in our pilgrim's time it was properly not the name of a country but of a great tribe or people occupying a certain large territory.
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¹ See Med. Res. Vol. II. p. 99.
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Proceeding with his description of the region the pilgrim tells us that
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following the course of the Oxus down northwards you come to Ta-mi (Termed or Termez).² This country was above 600 *li* long (from east to west) and 400 *li* broad (from north to south), and its capital was above 20 *li* in circuit longer than broad. There were above ten monasteries with more than 1000 Brethren: its topes and images of Buddha were very remarkable and exhibited miracles.
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² For the various States here mentioned and briefly described by the pilgrim see Yule in J. R. A. S. Vol. VI. Art. V.
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To the east of Ta-mi was the Chih-ga-yen-na country, above 400 *li* long by 500 *li* wide, its capital being above ten *li* in circuit. It had five monasteries but the Buddhist Brethren were very few.
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To the east of it was the Hu-lu-mo country, above 100 *li* long and 300 broad with a capital above ten *li* in circuit. Its king was a Hi-su Turk: it had two monasteries and above 100 Buddhist Brethren.
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To the east of it was Su-man which was above 400 *li* long by 100 *li* broad, its capital being 16 or 17 *li* in circuit; its king was a Hi-su Turk; there were two monasteries and very few Buddhist Brethren.
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To the south-west and on the Oxus was Ku-ho-yen-na. This country was above 200 *li* long and 300 *li* wide, its capital being above ten *li* in circuit. It had three monasteries and above 100 Buddhist Brethren.
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To the east was Huo-sha, a country above 300 *li* long by 500 *li* wide, its capital being 16 or 17 *li* in circuit.
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On its east was the Ko-tu-lo country above 1000 *li* long and the same in width, its capital being 20 *li* in circuit. It reached on the east to the *Ku-mi-tê* country in the *Ts'ung-Ling*.
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The *Ku-mi-tê* country was above 2000 *li* long and 200 *li* wide; it was in the *Ts'ung-Ling* mountains; its capital was above 20 *li* in circuit: on the south-east it was near the Oxus and on the south it adjoined the *Shih-k'i-ni* country.
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To the south across the Oxus were the countries called *Ta-mo-si-t'ie-ti*, *Po-to-chuang-na*, *Yin-po-kan*, *Ku-lang-na*, *Hi-mo-ta-la*, *Po-li-ho*, *Ki-li-si-mo*, *Ko-lo-hu*, *A-li-ni*, *Mêng-kan*. South-east from the *Huo* (Kunduz) country were the *K'uo-si-to*, and *An-ta-lo-fo* countries, the circumstances about these being related in the account of the return journey.¹ South-west from *Huo* was the *Fo-ka-lang* country which was above 50 *li* long and 200 *li* broad, its capital being above ten *li* in circuit. South of it was the *Ki-lu-si-min-kan* country which was above 1000 *li* in circuit, its capital being 14 or 15 *li* in circuit. To the north-west of the *Hu-lin* country which was 800 *li* in circuit with its capital five or six in circuit. It had above ten monasteries with more than 500 Buddhist Brethren.
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¹ See *Chuan* XII: *ch*. XVIII.
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In the *Life* we are merely told that the pilgrim travelled some hundreds of *li* from Tokhara, crossed the Oxus and came to the *Huo* country (Kunduz). This was the residence of *Ta-tu* (達度) the *Shê* (設) or General in command, the eldest son of the She-hu Khan and a brother-in-law of the king of Kao-ch'ang.² This king had given a letter of introduction, but when Yuan-chuang arrived the Kao-ch'ang princess was dead and the General was ill, and hearing of the pilgrim's arrival with a letter he with his male and female retinue made uncontrollable lamentation. He invited the pilgrim to rest for a time, promising that if he recovered he would accompany the pilgrim to India. The General recovered by the help of the exorcisms of an Indian Buddhist monk, but he was poisoned by a young queen at the instigation of a step-son.¹ Then this stepson T'ê-kin, the son by the Kao-ch'ang princess being a child, usurped the position of General and married his step-mother (the young wife whom he had induced to murder her husband and his father). On account of the funeral services for the General the pilgrim was detained here more than a month. In this time he made the acquaintance of a great Buddhist monk named Dharmasangha who had a very high reputation as a profound scholar in Buddhism. But Yuan-chuang found him to be only superficially acquainted with the Hinayānist books, and he knew nothing of Mahāyānism. When the pilgrim was ready to continue his journey he asked the new General for escort and post accommodation² on the way southwards towards India. The General strongly recom-
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² The whole of this paragraph is taken from the *Life*, *ch*. II. Julien I. p. 62f. In this passage the word *Ta-tu* is apparently treated as a personal name but it was rather a generic name qualifying a title. It is found with a slight variation of transcription prefixed as here to She, and also to Khan. We must regard it as a foreign word, but we may hesitate to accept its identification with Tardush or Tardu. This latter term is generally used to designate a Turkish tribe or horde, but it also occurs in the name of a Kirghiz envoy. The *Ta-tu* of our passage cannot be regarded as having a tribal significance, and here as in other places it seems to qualify the title to which it is prefixed. See *T'ung-chien-kang-mu*, *ch*. 40 (*T'ang T'ai Tsung* 15th y.); Thomsen's Inscriptions de l'Orkhon p*. 63, 114, 146; Hirth Nachworte S. 130f. The *Shê* of this passage is of frequent occurrence in Chinese history treating of the Turks. It is explained as meaning soldier or General, but the title is always applied to a very high military officer usually a near relative of the Khan. This *Shê* is regarded
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¹ According to the text the Shê or Military governor after his marriage with the Kaochang princess had taken a new Khatun or queen. This young concubine urged on by the son of a senior queen poisoned her lord, and thereupon the young prince took his father's place to the concubine and people. He is here called T'ê-kin (特勤) as if this were his personal name. But T'ê-kin is said to be for the Turkish word Tagin (or Tegin) meaning Prince, and it is of frequent occurrence as a high title. See Schlegel's Stéle funeraire p. 6; Thomsen's Inscriptions p. 73.
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² For "post accommodation" here the original is Wu-lo (烏落). This is a word common to the Mongols and Turks and is known as ula or ulak. It denotes the contributions of service imposed on subjects by government, and includes the supply of men and horses and accommodation for officials when travelling on duty.
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as a transcription of an old Turkish word Shad. Thomsen, Inscriptions, p. 146; Hirth, Nachworte S. 45.
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mended him to visit the *Fo-ho-lo* country, which belonged to his horde, and had interesting sacred sites. This advice was urged also by certain Brethren from that country who had come to *Huo* in connection with the change of administration, and Yuan-chuang acted on the advice, and joined these Brethren on their return.
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Most of the countries here described as lying between the Iron Pass and Bamian are mentioned again in the account of the return journey, and it is not necessary to refer to them further at present.