hills, and within 6 miles of Opiân, or Alexandria Opiane. As I know of no other place that answers all these requirements, it seems most probable that Begrâm must be the true locality. Parwân and Kushân are ancient places of some consequence in the neighbourhood of Opiân; but they are both on the left bank of the Ghorband river, while the first is probably the Baborana of Ptolemy, and the other his Kapisa. Begrâm also answers the description which Pliny gives of Cartana, as Tetragonis, or the "Square;" for Masson, in his account of the ruins, specially notices "some mounds of great magnitude, and accurately describing a square of considerable dimensions."*

If I am right in identifying Begrâm with the Kiulu-sa-pang of the Chinese pilgrim, the true name of the place must have been Karsana, as written by Ptolemy, and not Cartana, as noted by Pliny. The same form of the name is also found on a rare coin of Eukratides, with the legend Karisiye nagara, or "city of Karisi," which I have identified with the Kalasi of the Buddhist chronicles, as the birthplace of Raja Milindu. In another passage of the same chronicle,† Milindu is said to have been born at Alasanda, or Alexandria, the capital of the Yona, or Greek country. Kalasi must therefore have been either Alexandria itself or some place close to it. The latter conclusion agrees exactly with the position of Begrâm, which is only a few miles to the east of Opiân. Originally two distinct places, like Delhi and Shah Jahanabad, or London and Westminster, I suppose Opian and Kar

* 'Travels,' iii. 155. For the position of Begrâm see No. III. Map. + Milindu-prasna, quoted by Hardy, in Manual of Buddhism,' pp. 440, 516.

of their history, I think that it is sufficient to note the very great similarity of the two names.

In the seventh century the king of Kophene was a Turk, and the language of the country was different from that of the people of Ghazni. Hwen Thsang mentions that the alphabet of Kapisene was that of the Turks, but that the language was not Turki. As the king, however, was an Indian, it may reasonably be inferred that the language was Indian. For a similar reason it may be conjectured that the language of Kophene was some dialect of Turki, because the king of the district was a Turk.

3. ARACHOSIA, OR GHAZNI.

The Chinese pilgrim places the country of Tsau-ku-ta at 500 li, or 83 miles, to the south of Huphina, or Kophene, and to the north-west of Falana, or Banu. The valley of the Lo-mo-in-tu river, which is mentioned as producing assafoetida, is readily identified with the Helmand by prefixing the syllable Ho to the Chinese transcript. The kingdom is said to have been 7000 li, or 1166 miles, in circuit, which cannot be far from the truth, as it most probably included the whole of south-western Afghanistan with the exception of Kandahar, which at that time, from the story of the begging-pot of Buddha already noted, would appear to have belonged to Persia.

This district possessed two capitals, called Ho-si-na and Ho-sa-lo. The first has been identified by M. de St. Martin with Ghazni, which is quite satisfactory; but his suggestion that the other may be connected with Hazára is, I think, very doubtful. Hazâra is the name of a district, and not of a town; and its applica

Its length, from Bayân, on the Mahighir canal, to Julgha, is about 8 miles; and its breadth, from Kilah Buland to Yuz Bashi, is 4 miles. Over the whole of this space vast numbers of relics have been discovered, consisting of small images, coins, seals, beads, rings, arrow-heads, fragments of pottery, and other remains, which prove that this plain was once the site of a great city. According to the traditions of the people, Begrâm was a Greek city, which was overwhelmed by some natural catastrophe.* Masson doubts the tradition, and infers from the vast number of Kufic coins found there, that the city must have existed for some centuries after the Muhammadan invasion. am inclined to think that Masson is right, and that the decline of the city was caused by the gradual desertion of the people, consequent on the transfer of the seat of government to Ghazni, after the conquest of the country by the Muhammadans. Coins of the last

I

Hindu Rajas of Kabul and of the first Muhammadan kings of Ghazni are found in great numbers; but the money of the later Ghaznavi princes is less plentiful, whilst of the succeeding Ghori dynasty only a few specimens of some of the earlier sovereigns have yet been discovered. From these plain facts, I infer that the city began gradually to decay after the Muhammadan conquest of Kabul by Sabuktugîn, towards the end of the tenth century, and that it was finally deserted about the beginning of the thirteenth century. As the latter period corresponds with the date of Janghez Khan's invasion of these provinces, it is very posle, as Masson, has already supposed, that Begrâm y have been finally destroyed by that merciless rbarian.

* Masson, Travels,' iii. 159.

occupation of the country by the Turki tribe of Tochari, about the beginning of the Christian era.

ancestors.

In the seventh century the king of Ghazni, who was a Buddhist, was descended from a long line of Both the alphabet and the language of the people are said to have been different from those of other countries; and as Hwen Thsang was acquainted with both the Indian and Turki languages, I infer that the speech of the people of Ghazni was most probably Pushtu. If so, the people must have been Afghans; but, unfortunately, we have no other clue to guide us in settling this very interesting point, unless, indeed, the name of O-po-kien, a place to the south-east of Ghazni, may be identified with Afghán, a point which will be discussed hereafter.

Of Guzaristân, on the Helmand, I am not able to give any further information, as that part of the country has not yet been visited by any European. Ghazni itself is too well known to require any particular description, but I may note that it must have been in a very flourishing condition in the seventh century, as Hwen Thsang estimates its circuit at 30 li, or 5 miles. At the present day the circuit of the walled town is not more than one mile and a quarter. Vigne calls it an irregular pentagon, with sides varying from 200 to 400 yards in length, strengthened by numerous towers. He adds,* that "the Afghans boast much of the strength of the walls and fortifications of Ghazni." But Ghazni has always been famous in the East as a place of strength and security; and for this very reason it received its name of Gaza, an old Persian term for a "treasury." It is described in some

* 'Ghazni,' p. 122.

Thus we have Kabura and the Kabolitæ, Drepsa and the Drepsiani, Taxila and the Taxili, Kaspeira and the Kaspeiræi, from which I would infer, that there was most probably also a town named Cadrusia, whose inhabitants were called Cadrusi. This inference is strengthened by the correspondence, both in name and in position of the ruined mound of Koratâs, with the Cadrusi of Pliny.

The names of other peoples and towns are recorded by Ptolemy; but few of them can now be identified, as we have nothing to guide us but the bare names. The Parsii, with their towns Parsia and Parsiana, I take to be the Pashais, or people of the Panjhir or Panjshir valley. The true name is probably Panchir, as the Arabs always write j for the Indian ch. The modern spelling of Panjshir adopted by Burnes, Leech, and others, appears to be only an attempt to give the Afghan pronunciation of ch as ts in Pantsir. A town named Panjhir is mentioned by the early Arab geographers, and a mountain named Pashaï was crossed by Ibn Batuta, on his way from Kunduz to Parwân.*

Other tribes are the Aristophyli, a pure Greek name, and the Ambautæ, of whom nothing is known. The towns not already noticed are Artoarta and Barzaura in the north, and Drastoka and Naulibis in the south. The second of these may be Bazârak, a large town in the Panjshir valley, and the last may be Nilâb of Ghorband. The third was most probably a town in one of the darás or valleys of the Koh-dâman.

2. KOPHENE, OR KABUL.

The district of Kabul is first mentioned by Ptolemy, who calls the people Kabolite, and their capital Kabura, Travels,' p. 98.