On Yuan Chwang's Travels in India, 629–645 A.D. v1.c9.s5.2

v1.c9.s5.2

The Kan-t'o-lo of this passage is doubtless the Gandhāra or Gandhāra of Indian writers. In a Chinese note we are told that the old and incorrect name was Gandhavat (Kan-t'o-wei) and that the country was in "North India". But in several Chinese treatises Kan-t'o-wei or the short form Kan-t'o is the designation of a large and rather vague region which does not always correspond to the Gandhāra of our pilgrim. Thus Fa-hsien, for example, uses it to denote a city and district in this region quite distinct from the Purushapur district.¹ In the Ka-lan-chi we find Gandha, and also Gandhāra, used to designate both a city and the country in which the city was situated.² The Wei-Shu places the district of Gandha to the west of Udyāna and makes it quite distinct from Kapin.³ Then Gandhavat and Gandhāra are names of a vague "north country" in which was the inexhaustible treasure-store of the nāga-rāja Elāpatra.⁴ In some books we find Gandhāra associated with Kapin (Kashmir) either as a part of the latter or as a neighbouring state. Thus the apostle Madhyantika was deputed to go to "Kapin Gandhāras cha", and here I think the syllable che (or cha) in the Chinese translations stands for the Sanskrit word *cha* meaning “and”.¹ In Wu-k’ung’s ‘Itinerary’ Gandhāra is described as the eastern capital of Kapin, the winter residence of the king of that country, but to the west of Kashmir.² The name Gandhāra is an old one in Buddhist literature and it is found in one of the Asoka Edicts.³ It is interpreted in some places as meaning “Earth-holder”,⁴ but while there is a Sanskrit word *dhāra* meaning “holding” there does not seem to be any Sanskrit word like *gan* meaning “Earth”. Taken as Gandhavat the name is explained as meaning *hsiang-hsing* (香行) or “scent-action” from the word *gandha* which means scent, small, perfume.⁵