reason I should look to this neighbourhood for the ancient Sauvíra, which I take to be the true form of the famous Sophir, or Ophir, as Sauvíra is only another name of the Vadari, or Ber-tree, as well as of its juicy fruit. Now, Sofir is the Coptic name of India at the present day; but the name must have belonged originally to that part of the Indian coast which was frequented by the merchants of the West. There can be little doubt, I think, that this was in the Gulf of Khambay, which from time immemorial has been the chief seat of Indian trade with the West. During the whole period of Greek history this trade was almost monopolized by the famous city of Barygaza, or Bhâroch, at the mouth of the Narbada river. the fourth century some portion of it was diverted to the new capital of Balabhi, in the peninsula of Gujarât; in the middle ages it was shared with Khambay at the head of the gulf, and in modern times with Surat, at the mouth of the Tapti. About If the name of Sauvira was derived, as I suppose, from the prevalence of the Ber-tree, it is probable that it was only another appellation for the province of Badari, or Eder, at the head of the Gulf of Khambay. This, indeed, is the very position in which we should expect to find it, according to the ancient inscription of Rudra Dâma, which mentions SindhuSauvira immediately after Suráshtra and Bhárukachha, and just before Kukura, Apáranta, and Nishada.* According to this arrangement, Sauvira must have been to the north of Surâshtra and Bhâroch, and to the south of Nishada, or just where I have placed it, in the neighbourhood of Mount Abu. Much the same * Journ. Asiat. Soc. Bombay, vii. 120. locality is assigned to Sauvîra in the Vishnu Purâna : "in the extreme west are the Saurashtras, Suras, Abhîras, Arbudas; the Kârushas and Mâlavas dwelling along the Paripâtra mountains; the Sauviras, the Saindhavas, the Hûnas, the Sâlwas, the people of Şakala, the Madras, etc."* In this enumeration we find mention of nearly every known district lying around Vaḍari, or Eder, on the east, west, north, and south. But there is no notice of Vadari itself, nor of Kheda, nor of Khambay, nor of Analwâra, from which I infer that Sauvîra most probably included the whole of these places. Vaḍari, or Sauvîra, was therefore equivalent to southern Râjputâna. In the Septuagint translation of the Bible, the Hebrew Ophir is always rendered by Sôphir. This spelling was perhaps adopted in deference to the Egyptian or Coptic name of Sofir. The earliest mention of the name is in the Book of Job, where the "gold of Ophir" is referred to as of the finest quality.+ At a later date the ships of Huram, king of Tyre. "went with the servants of Solomon to Ophir, and took thence 450 talents of gold, and brought them to King Solomon." The gold of Ophir is next referred to by Isaiah, who says, "I will make a man more precious than gold, even a man than the golden wedge of Ophir." The word here translated 'wedge' means a 'tongue, or ingot;' and I infer that the wedge of gold of 50 shekels weight that was concealed by Achan,|| was most probably one of the ingots of Ophir. * Wilson's translation, edited by Hall, book ii. 3; vol. ii. p. 133. † C. xxii. 24, and xxviii. 16. 2 Chron. viii. 18. In 1 King's ix. 28, the amount is 420 talents. § C. xii. 12. || Joshua vii. 21. It now remains to show that the district of Vadari, or Eder, which I have suggested as the most probable representative of Ophir, has been, and still is one of the gold producing countries of the world. The evidence on this point, though meagre, is quite clear. The only ancient testimony which I can produce is that of Pliny, who describes the people dwelling on the other side of mount Capitalia (or Abu), as possessing "extensive mines of gold and silver."* At the present day the Aravali range is the only part of India in which silver is found in any quantity, while the beds of its torrents still produce gold, of which many fine specimens may be seen in the India museum. But if the Gulf of Khambay was the great emporium of Indian trade with the West, it is not necessary that the gold for which it was famous should have been produced in the district itself. At the present day, Bombay, which is on the same western coast, exports the produce of two inland districts, the opium of Malwa and the cotton of Berar. Wherever the emporium of commerce may have been, to that point the gold of India would have flowed naturally, in exchange for the commodities of the West. EASTERN INDIA. In the seventh century the division of Eastern India comprised Assam and Bengal proper, together with the Delta of the Ganges, Sambhalpur, Orissa, and Ganjam. Hwen Thsang divides the province into six kingdoms, which he calls Kámarupa, Samataṭa, Tam * Hist. Nat. vi. 23 "Hujus incolæ, alio latere, late auri et argenti metalla fodiunt." ralipti, Kirana Suvarna, Odra, and Ganjam,* and under these names I will now proceed to describe them. 1. KAMARUPA. From Panuḍra Varddhana, or Pubna, in Middle India, the Chinese pilgrim proceeded for 900 li, or 150 miles, to the east, and crossing a great river, entered Kia-mo-leu-po, or Kámarupa, which is the Sanskrit name of Assam.† The territory is estimated at 10,000 li, 1667 miles, in circuit. This large extent shows that it must have comprised the whole valley of the Brahmâputra river, or modern Assam, together with Kusa-Vihâra, and Butân. The valley of the Brahmaputra was anciently divided into three tracts, which may be described as the Eastern, Middle, and Western districts, namely, Sadiya, Assam proper, and Kamrup. As the last was the most powerful state, and also the nearest to the rest of India, its name came into general use to denote the whole valley. Kusa-Vihara was the western division of Kamrup proper; and as it was the richest part of the country, it became for some time the residence of the rajas, whose capital, called Kamatipura, gave its name to the whole province. But the old capital of Kamrup is said to have been Gohati, on the south bank of the Brahmâputra. Now, Kamatipura, the capital of Kusa-Vilára, is exactly 150 miles, or 900 li, from Pubna,§ but the direction is due north; while Gohati is about twice that distance, or say 1900 li, or 317 miles, from Pubna, in a north-east direction. As the position of the former agrees exactly with the distance recorded *See Map No. I. Julien's Hiouen Thsang,' iii. 76. ‡'Ayin Akbari,' ii. 3. "Kamrup, which is also called Kamtah." § See Map No. I. by the pilgrim, it is almost certain that it must have been the capital of Kamrup in the seventh century. This would seem to be confirmed by the fact that the language of the people differed but slightly from that of Central India. It was therefore not Assamese, and consequently I infer that the capital visited by Hwen Thsang was not Gohati, in the valley of the Brahmâputra, but Kamatipura, in the Indian district of KusaVihara. The great river crossed by the pilgrim would therefore be the Tista, and not the Brahmâputra. On the east Kâmrup touched the frontiers of the south-western barbarians of the Chinese province of Shu; but the route was difficult, and occupied two months. On the south-east the forests were full of wild elephants, which is still the case at the present day. The king was a Brahman, named Bhâskara Varmma, who claimed descent from the god Nârâyana, or Vishnu, and his family had occupied the throne for one thousand generations. He was a staunch Buddhist, and accompanied Harsha Varddhana in his religious procession from Pațaliputra to Kanoj, in A.D. 643. 2. SAMATATA. The capital of the kingdom of Samatata, or San-mota-cha, is placed at from 1200 to 1300 li, or from 200 to 217 miles, to the south of Kâmrup, and 900 li, or 150 miles, to the east of Tâmralipti, or Tamluk.* The first position corresponds almost exactly with Jasar, or Jessore, which is most probably the place intended. The bearing and distance from Tamluk would take us to the uninhabited part of the Sundari-vana, or Sun * Julien's 'Hiouen Thsang,' iii. 81. See Map No. I. |