1837.] Chinese Account of India. 69 



of the department of war, named Le, to take cognizance of the letter of 

 submission (brought by the Indian ambassadors), and to make a report 

 upon it. The ministers reconducted the ambassadors without the city, 

 and it was ordered that in the capital perfume should be burnt as they 

 went along. 



She-lo-ye-to, surrounded by his ministers, received, with his face turn- 

 ed to the east, the imperial document (chaou-shoe) ; he again sent a pre- 

 sent of pearls of fire (ho-choo), yfih-kin plants, and the tree poo-te*. 



The 22nd year, of the same period (i. e. A. D.648), the emperor of China 

 sent a superior officer, named Wang-heuen-tse, as ambassador into this 

 kingdom (of Magadha), in order that the principles of humanity and jus- 

 tice, which had been diffused in that country, should have a protector and 

 representative there. But before his arrival, She-lo-ye-to was dead ; the 

 people of the kingdom had revolted, and the minister (of the deceased 

 king), named Na-foo-te-o-lo-na_shun, had taken his place. He sent troops 

 to oppose the entry of Heuen-tse (the Chinese ambassador) ; under these 

 circumstances, the latter took with him some tens of cavalry, and attack- 

 ed the troops (of the usurper), but could not vanquish them, and his little 

 force was exterminated ; and the result was, that the tribute received 

 (by the Chinese ambassadors) in the different kingdoms (he had visited) 

 was taken. Heuen-tse retired alone, with all expedition, to the western 

 frontiers of Too-fan (Tibet) ; and he ordered (keaou-chaou) the neigh- 

 boring kingdoms to furnish him with troopst. Too-fan sent him 1,000 

 armed men ; Nee-po-loJ furnished 7,000 cavalry. Heuen-tse, after or- 

 ganizing his force, advanced to give battle as far as the city of Too-poo- 

 ho-lo§, which he took by assault in three days. He caused 3,000 persons 

 to be beheaded, and 10,000 were drowned in the river. O-lo-na-shun 

 escaped into the kingdom of Wei. He there rallied his dispersed troops 

 and returned to the charge. The (Chinese) general made him prisoner, 

 with 1,000 men, whom he beheaded. The remainder of the people retired 

 with the king's wives to the banks of the river Kan-to-wei||. The huma- 

 nity of the Chinese general (sze-jin^) attacked them, and created a great 

 disorder amongst this population. He likewise captured the concubines 

 and children of the king, as well as other prisoners, men and women, to 

 the number of 12,000, besides animals of all kinds, amounting to 20,000. 



* The words poo-te are probably the transcription of the name of a tree in Sans- 

 crit, perhaps the uata, a sacred tree employed in religious ceremonies, and of which 

 mention is often made in Sanscrit poetry. What confirms this conjecture is the 

 following passage in Kang-he's dictionary, under the character poo : "poo-te is the 

 name of a tree which grows in the kingdom of Mo-kea-to (Magadha)." The same 

 dictionary adds, that in the books of Fuh, it is said, " Poo-te-sa-to (Bodhisattva) 

 signifies the essence of what is manifest, declared ; by abbreviation, we say ' Poo- 

 sa.' " The term Bodhisattva, in Sanscrit, signifies literally, ' truth of intelligence :' 

 it is the name given to certain Buddhist patriarchs, who have raised themselves to 

 the state of divine sanctification. 



•f- This authoritative demand, if it be not introduced here, as the facts, indeed, 

 •how, to gratify Chinese vanity, would denote that, at this period, Tibet was alrea- 

 dy dependent upon the Chinese empire as well as several other neighbouring king- 

 doms. 



X Nep&la, of Nepal: see the account given by Ma-twan-lin (book 335, fol. 14), 

 in the translation by M. Re'musat, Nouv. Mel. Asiat. t. i. p. 193. 



§ 7'oo (the first character) may be read cha, or tsa. If it be read cha, the pro- 

 nunciation of the epoch in question, Cha-poo-ho-lo would be an exact transcription 

 of Champaran, a city placed by Abul-Fazil in Bahar, the ancient kingdom of Maga- 

 dha, and probably the same as Chapra, on the Ganges, higher up than Patna ; for 

 Chapra is but a variation of Champaran, as the latter is likewise of Champaranagora. 



|| This is no doubt the GodAveri, which falls into the Gulf of Bengal, to the east- 

 ward of Masulipatam. 



^| The humanity is, at the lea9t, a singular expression to be used in these circum- 

 stances ; yet the text admits of no other sense. 



