62 Chinese Account of India. [Jan. 



four sides, there are mountains sloping to the south, and a valley which 

 crosses them forms the gate (or entrance) of the kingdom. Eastern India 

 is bounded on the east by the Great Sea, as well as by Foonan (Pegu) and 

 Lin-e (Siam), which are separated only by a little sea. Western India 

 adjoins Ke-pin (Cophenes) and Po-sze (Persia)* ; Central India is 

 situated in the middle of* the four other divisions of India. 



All these kingdoms had kings in the time of the Han dynasty. There 

 is besides the kingdom of Yuen-too, which is distant from Chang-ganf 

 9,800 le ; it is 2,800 le from the residence of the Governor-general of the 

 Chinese provinces in Central Asia^. To the south it adjoins the Blue 

 Mountains ; to the north its frontiers are contiguous to those of the 

 Woo-sun. 



Yau-sze-koo has stated that Yuen-too is no other than Shin-too ; and 

 Shin-too is Teen-choo; there is no difference but in the pronunciation 

 more or less strong.] 



From the kingdom called Kaon-foo§ of the Yue-che, going to the west 

 and south, as far as the Western Sea (the Indian Ocean) ; to the east, as 

 far as Pan-ke ; all these countries form the territory of Shin-too. It has 

 a number of fortified towns ; in about a hundred, commandants reside. 

 There are also different kingdoms ; ten of them have kings. There is, 

 however, little difference between them, and the whole have the collective 

 denomination of Shin-too. 



Note of the Chinese Ed' tor. 



[The narrative of Foo-nan states': " The kingdom of She-wei (Kapila) 

 belongs to that of Kea-she|| in India, which some call the kingdom of 

 Pho-lo-nae, and others the kingdom of Sze (or) She-pho-lo-na-sze." 



Choo-fa-wei, in his Euh-lcwd-ke (Memoir on the kingdoms of Fuh, or 

 Buddha), states that the kingdom of Pho-lo-nae (or Benares) is situated 

 1,480 le south of the kingdom of Kea-wei-lo-wei (or Kapila). In the ac- 

 count of the kingdom of Ching-le by She. fa, it is said : "Few oxen are 

 killed in this kingdom ; the sheep of the country are black ; their horns, 

 which are slender and apart, may be four feet long ; one is killed about 

 every ten days, but if any of these sheep happen to die of disease, the 

 inhabitants use the blood of bullocks. These animals live a long time ; 



* See for an account of these countries by Ma-twan-lin, the translation by M. 

 Re'musat, Nouo. Mel. Asiat. t. i. pp. 205 and 248. 



•f" Capital of the Hans, situated in Shen-se ; now Se-gan-foo. 



X Tbis position of the kingdom of Yuen-too affords reason to think that it may 

 be the same as that of Shin-too. It is only in the transcription of the Sanscrit 

 word Sindhu, the name of the Indus and of the countries bathed by that river, that 

 there is a slight difference. The proximity of the Woo-sun, however, suggests that 

 Yuen-too must comprehend the country in which modern Badakshan is situated. 



§ The following account of this kingdom is given by Ma-twan-lin elsewhere 

 (b. 338, f. 27) : "The kingdom of Kaou-foo was known in the time of the Hans. 

 It is situated to the south-east of the great Yue-che (Massagetae). It is likewise 

 a considerable state. Their manners resemble those of the inhabitants of India, 

 and they are gentle and humane. They carry on much commerce. India, Cophenes, 

 and the country of the Asee, are three kingdoms which are conquered by force and 

 lost by iveakness," The latter expressions are borrowed from the Taou-llh-king of 

 Laou-tsze. 



|| elTTlit Kasi or Kashi ' splendid,' epithet of the sacred city of Benares, called 

 ""^"C^Wt Varanasi or cT^^r^rt Varanasi. The latter denomination is represented 

 as closely as is permitted by the monosyllabic language of the Chinese (which wants 

 the articulation raj by Pho-lo-nae : the Sanscrit s( v having so often the sound of 

 af b, that they are not distinguished from each other in Bengali writing : Sze (or) 

 She-pho-lo-na-sze is also a faithful transcript of ^ef^'JTT^rt Sri Varanasi, ' the 

 holy, the fortunate Benares.' 



