On Yuan Chwang's Travels in India, 629–645 A.D. v2.c23.s8.2

v2.c23.s8.2

Notwithstanding the wording of the above passage we are not obliged to believe that Yuan-chuang actually went to the district here described. The Life, as has been stated, merely mentions it as one of the States near Mungkan. For the Chinese transcription the original may have been a word like Krism or Krisma, but Julien’s restoration as Kharisma does not seem to be admissible. Cunningham identifies the district with Tālikān, St. Martin makes it “Ish-Keshm, at the lower end of the valley of Wakhān”, and Yule “can only see in it the once well-known Kishm or Kāshm, the Province of Casem of Marco Polo three days from Talikan”.¹