the capital with the well-known scaport town of Bhároch, under its Sanskrit name of Bhrigu-Kachha, as written by the Brahmans, or Bharukachha, as found in the old inscriptions. The latter was no doubt the more usual form, as it is almost literally preserved in the Bapúyağa of Ptolemy, and the 'Periplus.' From Hwen Thsang's measurement of its circuit, the limits of the district may be determined approximately as extending from the Mahi* river on the north, to Dâmân on the south, and from the Gulf of Khambay on the west to the Sahyadri mountains on the cast. According to the text of Hwen Thsang, Bhâroch and Balabhi were in Southern India, and Surashtra in Western India; but as he places Malwa in Southern India, and Ujain in Central India, I look upon these assignments as so many additional proofs of the confusion which I have already noticed in the narrative of his travels in Western India. I would therefore assign both Balabhi and Bhâroch to Western India, as they formed part of the great province of Surashtra. The correctness of this assignment is confirmed by the author of the 'Periplus,' who notes that below Barygaza the coast turns to the south, whence that region is named Dakhinabades, as the natives call the south Dakhanos.t CENTRAL INDIA. According to the Chinese pilgrim, the great division of Central India extended from the Satlej to the head of the Gangetic Delta, and from the Himalâya mountuins to the Narbadâ and Mahânadi rivers. It com * The Maïs river of Ptolemy. Peripl. Mar. Erythr., in Hudson's Geogr. Vet., i. 29. prised all the richest and most populous districts of India, with the single exception of the Gangetic Delta, or Bengal proper.* Of the seventy separate states of India that existed in the seventh century, no less than thirty-seven, or rather more than one-half, belonged to Central India. The whole of these districts were visited by Hwen Thsang, whose footsteps I will now attend in describing the different principalities from west to east in the following order : 1. Sthâneswara. 2. Bairât. 3. Srughna. 5. Brahmapura. 7. Ahichhatra. 8. Pilosana. 10. Mathura. 11. Kanoj. 13. Hayamukha. 18. Srâvasti. 19. Kapila. 20. Kusinagara. 27. Hiranya Parvata. 29. Kânkjol. 30. Paundra Vardhana. 32. Maheswarapura. 35. Kheda, or Khaira. 1. STHANESWARA. In the seventh century Sa-ta-ni-shi-fa-lo, or Stháncswara, was the capital of a separate kingdom, which is Sce Map No. I. described as being 7000 li, or 1167 miles, in circuit. No king is mentioned, but the state was tributary to Harsha Varddhana of Kanoj, who was the paramount sovereign of Central India. From the large dimensions given by Hwen Thsang, I infer that the district must have extended from the Satlej to the Ganges.* Its northern boundary may be approximately described as a straight line drawn from Hari-ki-patan, on the Satlej, to Muzafarnagar, near the Ganges; and its southern boundary as an irregular line drawn from near Pâk-patan, on the Satlej, viâ Bhatner and Nârnol, to Anupshahar on the Ganges. These limits give a boundary of about 900 miles, which is nearly onefourth less than is stated by the pilgrim. But it is certain that many of these boundary measurements must be exaggerated, as the distances could only have been estimated, and the natural tendency of most persons is rather to overstate the actual size of their native districts. Another source of error lies in the deficient information of Hwen Thsang's own narrative, which describes cach of the 37 districts as a distinct and separate state, whereas it is almost certain that several of the minor states should be included within the boundaries of the larger ones. Thus I believe that the petty districts of Govisana and Ahichhatra must have formed part of the state of Madáwar; that Vaisakha and Kusapura, and the other small districts of the Gangetic Doab, Ayuto, Hayamukha, Kosambi, and Prayaga, were included in Kanoj; that Kusinagara belonged to Kapila; and that Vadari and Kheda were integral parts of Malwa. In some instances also, I believe that thousands have been inserted in the See Map No. X. text instead of hundreds. I refer specially to the petty districts in the lower Gangetic Doab. Thus, Prayaga, or Allahabad, is said to be 5000 li, or 833 miles, in circuit, and Kosambi, which is only 30 miles from Allahabad, is said to be 6000 li, or 1000 miles, in circuit! In both of these instances I would read the smaller numbers of 500 li, or 83 miles, and 600 li, or 100 miles, which would then agree with the actual dimensions of these petty divisions. It is quite certain that they could not have been larger, as they were completely surrounded by other well-known districts. By making due allowance for one or other of these sources of error, I think it will be found that Hwen Thsang's measurements are in general not very far from the truth. The town of Sthaneswara, or Thânesar, consists of an old ruined fort, about 1200 feet square at top, with the modern town on a mound to the east, and a suburb called Bahari, or "without," on another mound to the west. Altogether, the three old mounds occupy a space nearly one mile in length from cast to west, and about 2000 feet in average breadth. These dimensions give a circuit of 14,000 feet, or less than 22 miles, which is somewhat under the 20 li, or 33 miles, of Hwen Thsang. But before the inroads of the Muhammadans, it is certain, from the number of brick ruins still existing, as well as from the statements of the people themselves, that the whole of the intervening space between the present town and the lake, which is now called Darra, must have formed part of the old city. Taking in this space, the original city would have been, as nearly as possible, an exact square of one mile on each side, which would give a circuit of 4 miles, or a little more than the measurement of the Chinese pilgrim. According to tradition, the fort was built by Raja Dilipa, a descendant of Kuru, five generations anterior to the Pândus. It is said to have had 52 towers or bastions, of which some remains still exist. On the west side the earthen ramparts rise to a height of 60 feet above the road; but the mass of the interior is not more than 40 feet high. The whole mound is thickly covered with large broken bricks, but with the exception of three old wells, there are no remains of any antiquity. The name of Thanesar, or Sthaneswara, is said to be derived either from the Sthána or abode of Iswara, or Mahadeva, or from the junction of his names of Sthánu and Iswara, or from Sthánu and sar, a "lake." The town is one of the oldest and most celebrated places in India, but the earliest certain notice of it under this name is by the Chinese pilgrim Hwen Thsang, in A.D. 634, although it is most probably mentioned by Ptolemy as Batan-Kaisara, for which we should, perhaps, read Satan-aisara, for the Sanskrit Sthaneswara. But the place was more famous for its connection with the history of the Pândus, than for its possession of a temple of Mahâdeva, whose worship, in India at least, must be of much later date than the heroes of the Mahâbhârata. All the country immediately around Thânesar, between the Saraswati and Drishadwati rivers, is known by the name of KuruKshetra, that is, the "field or land of Kuru," who is said to have become an ascetic on the bank of the great holy lake to the south of the town. This lake is called by various names, as Brahmá-Sar, Ráma-hrad, Vayu, or Váyava-Sar, and Pavana-Sar. The first |