On Yuan Chwang's Travels in India, 629–645 A.D. v2.c21.s8.2

v2.c21.s8.2

In the *Life* the pilgrim is represented as going south-west not from Karṇasuvarṇa but from Tāmralipti to *Wu-t'u*, and the distance between these two places is not given. If we understand Karṇasuvarṇa to have been to the north-east of Tāmralipti the difference between the statement in the *Records* and that in the *Life* is not important, as Tāmralipti would be south-west from Karṇasuvarṇa and between it and *Wu-t'u*. The country which Yuan-chuang calls by this name, pronounced Uḍa or Oḍa, has been identified with Uḍra or Oḍra, the modern Orissa. Fergusson thinks that the capital may have been on the site of the present Midnapur. The *Che-li-ta-lo* of this passage is apparently, as Julien restores it, Charitra. It is translated in a note to the text by *Fa-hsing* (發行), which may mean "setting out", that is, on a voyage or journey; and the city is supposed to have received this name because it was a starting place for navigators and land-travellers. But the *Fang-chih* gives as the translation of the word *Chiao-hsing-che* (教行者) which may mean "having religious observances", and this seems to agree with the common use of the word *Charitra*. Moreover the pilgrim apparently does not describe the city as a starting-point or terminus of a journey; his words seem rather to indicate that it was a dêpot and caravanseray for traders and travellers to and from the seaports and also by land. Cunningham thinks that "Charitrapura was probably the present town of Puri, or "the city", near which stands the famous temple of Jagannāth". Fergusson regards the city as represented by the modern Tumluk which is generally taken to be the old city of Tamralipti.¹ Dr. Waddell writes that at the time of our pilgrim's visit to this part of India "Yajapur was undoubtedly the capital of the country of 'U-cha'—the northern portion of Orissa". He adds—"Indeed the 'U-cha' of the pilgrim seems intended to represent the Sanskrit Yaja". This, however, is quite impossible as Wu-tu or U-t'a (or -ch'a) could not be taken to transcribe Yaja. Wu-tu is the reading of all the texts of the Records, and of one text at least of the Life. In the C text of the Life we have -ch'a which is often used for t'u, the characters represented by these sounds having formerly had a similar pronunciation. There can be little doubt that the name transcribed by Wu-t'u or Wu-ch'a was Odda or Otta.