On Yuan Chwang's Travels in India, 629–645 A.D. v2.c17.s1.3

v2.c17.s1.3

The numbers which Yuan-chuang gives for the ruined towns and deserted monasteries in this country were probably either hearsay statements or mere conjectures. We read of *eight cities* in the country, and we find "Eight Cities" used apparently as a proper name for a locality.¹ The number of monasteries is evidently an exaggeration; as Buddhism does not seem to have ever flourished, either at Kapilavastu, or in the surrounding districts.