On Yuan Chwang's Travels in India, 629–645 A.D. v1.c9.2

v1.c9.2

Our pilgrim has now reached the territory which he, like others before and after him, calls India. But it is important to remember that the countries which he describes from Lan-p'o to Rajpur both inclusive were not regarded by the people of India proper as forming part of their territory. It was only by foreigners that these districts were included under the general name India. To the inhabitants of India proper the countries in question were "border lands" inhabited by barbarians. This was a fact known to Yuan-chuang, but he named and described these States mainly from information obtained as he travelled. The information was apparently acquired chiefly from the Buddhist Brethren and believing laymen resident in these countries. To these Buddhists Jambudvipa was India and the miracles and ministrations of the Buddha extended over all the great region vaguely called Jambudvipa. Moreover the great foreign kings who had invaded India from the north had included these States in their Indian empire and the memory of these kings survived in the Buddhist religious establishments.