On Yuan Chwang's Travels in India, 629–645 A.D. v2.c21.s16.2

v2.c21.s16.2

The passage here slightly abridged in translation presents some difficulties, and does not agree with the Life. It seems to state that Julien personally visited the Malakuṭa country, while the Life represents him as only hearing about it. The words of the Life are—"Distant from the confines of this country (i. e. Draviḍa) above 3000 *li* he heard that there was the Malakuṭa country".¹ As this is not very clear, and as the direction is not given, we should not lightly accept the statement. There is nothing in the pilgrim's account of the country to show that he did not visit it, and see its capital and the district around, although he may not have gone to remote objects of interest. We must remark, however, that he does not tell us anything about the nature of the country between Draviḍa and Malakuṭa, and that in the next *chuan* he represents himself as continuing his pilgrimage from Draviḍa. He may not have gone to Malakuṭa, but the descriptions of the country, the people, and the Buddhist remains are evidently those of an eye-witness.