AJCUGANGAM, &C. 51 



t\reen the Beijah and Setlej. Ser-hind is neither a 

 Sa7iscrit riQX Hindu denomination; hut it is ^n Indo- 

 »Sci/thian compound, and signifies the limits or bor- 

 ders of Hhid. The Cathrei, or Cluifars, were a Scy- 

 thian tribe, as we may safely conclude from their fea- 

 tures ay.d manners in the time of Alexander, and 

 even to tlie present day. Tlie word Ser, or Sereh, is 

 used in that sense in Bidiu:shan, and the adjacent 

 countries : and Ser-hind was probably the limit of 

 tiie conquests of Alexander, though he never was 

 there himself, as well as of the Persian dominions in 

 India ; that part of which was called Ilodu, accord- 

 ing to the book of Esther: and that it was once 

 so called, is attested by the natives to this day, who 

 say that it was formerly called Hud. 



As I intend to v/rite expressly on the marches of 

 Alexander tlnough India, (having all the materials 

 ready for that purpose,) I shall now content myself 

 with exhibiting an attem.pt toward the correction of 

 the various accounts of this famous Royal, or Nys- 

 sa-an road, from Pliny, tlie Feutingerian tables, 

 Ptolemy, and the anonymous geographer of Ra- 

 'cenna. 



From the ferry of Tor-Boikh, or Tor-Beilam, (or 

 the black Bcilam,) on the Indus, to the westward of 

 Peucolais, (now PucauU, or Bir-xvdld, called Pirhola, 

 m the maps, and Parke in the Peutingerian ticbles,) 

 to Taxila, on the river Suvarna, (now the Sone, the 

 Soamiis ioY Soanus of A\iMiA':s), It is called m San- 

 scrit, Tacshila ; and its true name is Tacsha-Sydla, 

 according to the natives, who call themselves Syalas, 

 Its ruins extend over the villages called Rubbaut 

 and PekkcJi, in J\f ajor Rennell's map of tlie coun- 

 tries between Delhi and Candahdr. The -royal resi- 

 dence is pointed out by the natives, at a smiall village 

 near the river, .and is called Sycda to this day; and is 

 ajittle to tlie north of Rubbaut. Tac-Sijdia having; 



