-2 PRACTICAL FOREST MANAGEMENT. 



" The birth of Buddha took place in the Gth Century B.C. at 

 some place either in or close to what is now the north of Gorakh- 

 pur district and Kusinagara where he died has been identified 

 by archaeological authorities with Kasia in the east of 

 district. About the 2nd Century B.C. the then ruling dynasty wa 

 overthrown and for a time the country was in a state of confusion. 

 About 400 A.D. the country was visited by a Chinese traveller, 

 Fa-Hien, and again in 635 A.D. another Chinese traveller Hiuen 

 Tsian* passed through it. Both of them wrote descriptions of the 

 country, but exact localities referred to in these writings have 

 not all been identified. The following are extracts from Beal's 

 translation of Hiuen Tsiang's diary (the capital of Kapilavastu 

 according to Beal's notes has been identified with a place about 

 25 miles north of Fyzabad) : 



" From this (i.e., the capital of Kapilavastu) going east 300 li 

 across a wild and deserted jungle we arrive at the kingdom of 

 Lanmo. The kingdom of Lanmo has been waste and desolate for 

 many years. The towns are decayed and the inhabitants few. 

 From this going north-east through a great forest along a danger- 

 ous and difficult road where wild oxen and herds of elephants and 

 robbers and hunters cause incessant trouble to travellers we come 

 to the kingdom of Kusinagara. 



From Kusinagara going 500 li through the great forest we come 

 to the kingdom of P'o-lo-ni-sse (Benares)". 



It is probable that during the flourishing period of Buddhist 

 times large areas of sal forest were cleared for cultivation and that 

 this process only ceased with the troubled times following the fall 

 of strong and enlightened government. 



Until the 17th Century the country enjoyed no long period 

 of settled rule and no great or permanent extension of cultivation 

 took place. The Ain-i-Akbarl, which was completed in 1576, shows 

 only 84,727 acres were under cultivation in the Gorakhpur district 

 but this by no means iinplie 3 that the rest of the country was sal 



