On Yuan Chwang's Travels in India, 629–645 A.D. v2.c23.4

v2.c23.4

According to the narrative in the Life here the pilgrim journeyed from Fa-la-na (Varana?) north-west to A-po-kan, and thence again north-west on to Tsao-ku-t'a. In the T'ang-Shu it is from Pitāśilā, and not from Varana, that the journey is made over mountains and across river-courses for 2000 *li* north-west to the Tsao-ku-t'a country.¹ The native annotator to our text tells us that another name for this country was Tsao-li (漕利). From other sources we learn that in the time of T'ang-Chung-Tsung it was also called Ha-ta-lo-chi (訶達羅支), and that the T'ang Empress Wu caused this to be changed for Sie-yuh (謝䫻), the name used in the T'ang-Shu. The Ho-si-na of our pilgrim's description has been identified with the modern city Ghazni, but more correctly perhaps with the old city Zabal near Ghazni in Afghanistan, and the river La-mo-yin-tu has been identified with the Helmand. But it will be noted that the distance from the valley of the Gumal to Ghazni is much less than 2000 *li* (about 400 miles). Cunningham, who adopts Saint Martin's identification of Ho-si-na, makes the second capital Ho-sa-lo, in the T'ang-Shu called A-sha-ni, to be the modern Guzra or Gusaristan on the Helmand.² The name Tsao (or Ts'ao)-kü-t'a is explained by Cunningham in his usual manner by taking Tsao as the Turki pronunciation of Ra, and Kuta as agreeing with the last two syllables of Sarasvati, Haraqaiti, and the Greek Arachotos, and we thus see that Tsaokuṭa corresponds exactly with the Arachosia of Greek writers. But as the first character of the name was also read Chao (or Cho), we may without doing violence to the Chinese characters restore the word as Jāguḍa, the name of a country famous for its saffron and also a name for saffron. The reader will remember that the "Saffron Tope" at the Bodhi Tree was originally erected by the leader of a caravan from Tsao-ku-t'a. This country, as the pilgrim intimates, was outside of India, and the Fang-chih rudely calls it a Hu (胡) or Tartar region. About the time of our pilgrim's visit there were dwelling in it Turks and people from Kashmir and Tokhara.