On Yuan Chwang's Travels in India, 629–645 A.D. v2.c22.s18: Lang-Kie(Ka)-Lo
On Yuan Chwang's Travels in India, 629–645 A.D. v2.c22.s18
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Lang-Kie(Ka)-Lo
v2.c22.s18.1
Continuing his narrative the pilgrim tells us that from *A-tien-p'o-chih-lo* he went west for about 2000 *li* to *Lang-ka-lo*. This country on each of its four sides was some thousands of *li* in extent, and its capital called *Su-t'u-li-ssŭ-fa-lo* (蘇 禿 釐 濕 伐 羅) was above 30 *li* in circuit. The country had a fertile soil yielding good crops, and in climate and popular customs it resembled *A-tien-p'o-chih-lo*; it had a flourishing population and was rich in precious substances; it was near a bay of the sea and was the way to the "West-Woman-Country"; it had no supreme government, each valley having a separate government of its own, but it was subject to Persia. Its writing was very like that of India, but the spoken language differed a little; orthodoxy and heterodoxy were both objects of belief. There were above 100 monasteries and more than 6000 Brethren who applied themselves to the study of the Great and Little "Vehicles". There were also some hundreds of Deva-temples, and very many professed Pāśupatas. In the city (i. e. the capital) was a large temple to Maheśvara, very handsome and held in geat reverence by the Pāśupatas.
v2.c22.s18.2
Julien restores the name of this country as Langala, but as the last character is sometimes omitted, the name may have been something like Lankar. For the name of the capital Julien suggests *Sūnurīśvara* as a possible restoration. But this is based on the corrupt reading of *nu* (菟) in the Chinese transcription. This character is not an authorized one, and the reading in all my texts is *t'u* (禿 or 菟), which gives us *Su-t'u-li-ssŭ-fa-lo*. This is possibly for a word like Strī-īśvara or "Woman Paramount", or the *su-t'u-li* may be for *sthul* or *sthur*. The country according to St. Martin answers to the eastern part of *Mēkran*, and "a branch of the Langga tribe still exists in the north of Biluchistan near Katch-Gandava".² Cunningham's remarks on this country and its capital are in his usual style, and need not be quoted.¹ In the "T'ang Shu" we find mention of the country Lang-ka-lo with its capital Su-t'u-li-ssŭ-fa-lo, but there it is apparently in the south-east of India.² The "West-Woman-Country" of our text is evidently the "Strī-rājya" or "Woman-Kingdom" which is in the north-west division of the Brihat Samhitā. ³
v2.c22.s18.3
² Julien, III, p. 412.
v2.c22.s18.4
¹ A. G. I. p. 310.
v2.c22.s18.5
² Ch. 221.
v2.c22.s18.6
³ Fleet op. c. p. 190.
Linked texts (2)
- Bṛhatsaṃhitā — Varāhamihira, Sanskrit
- Maheswara Temple