482 Verification of the Itinerary of Hiwn Thsang [June, 



Beyond Fan-yan-na, or Bamian to the Eastward, and across the 

 snowy mountains, or Koh-i-Baba, lies the town of Kia-pi-she, which 

 is undoubtedly the Kapisa of Ptolemy and the Capissa of Pliny. Major 

 Anderson identifies Kia-pi-she with Kabul ; and thinks that " Si-pi- 

 to-fa-la-sse may be Estalif" But Estalif lies to the North of Ka- 

 bul, whereas Si-pi-to-fa-la-sse was to the South of Kia-pi-she. The 

 Major is therefore as unfortunate in his conjectures as in his more elabo- 

 rate deductions. Si-pi-to-fa-la-sse is an exact transcript syllable for 

 syllable, of the Sanskrit Sweta-Versha. Now Ptolemy mentions both 

 Kapisa and Kabura, and places the former to the Northward of the 

 latter, and in the neighbourhood of Barborana or Parwan, of Parsiana 

 or Panjshir, and of Niphanda (read Ophiana) or Hupidn. It is highly 

 probable therefore that we may identify it with the present Kushdn 

 more particularly as Solinus calls the place Caphusa ; for the name of 

 Kushan, c^y> is often written i^Ln-s*', Kafshan, in the same way 

 that we have both Afghan and Aoghan. 



This point being established I will now proceed to examine Hwan 

 Thsang's " distances and directions." From Kiapishe to the eastward 

 at 600 li was Lan-pho, or Lamghdn (Lambatce of Ptolemy.) Thence 

 to the South-East at 100 li and across a large river was Na-ko-lo-ho, 

 or Nangrihdr. Major Anderson calls this district Nang-nehar t which 

 is only another erroneous fruit of his Persian predilections, that name 

 being the Persian corruption of Nangrihar, as the word is spelt in 

 Pushtu works, and which is faithfully preserved in the Chinese trans- 

 cript. Professor Lassen has identified it with the Nagara or Diony- 

 sopolis of Ptolemy, which was no doubt the same as the Begrdm near 

 Jalalabad, around which several topes still exist as witnesses of Hwan 

 Thsang's accuracy. Ptolemy's name of Dionysopolis was still in use 

 so late as A, D. 1000, for Dinuz or Dinus, is mentioned by Abu Rihan 

 as lying nearly midway between Kabul and Peshawur. Now, from 

 Kia-pi-she to Na-ko-lo-ho being 700 li or 233 miles by Major 

 Anderson's estimate of the li, it follows that if he is correct in his iden- 

 tification of the former with Kabul, the latter must be situated to the 

 eastward of Peshawur ; but as he identifies Na-ko-lo-ho with Nangri- 

 har, it is clear that his estimate of the li must be wrong. According to 

 my estimate of 6 H to the British mile the distance will be 1 1 7 miles ; 

 which is only a few miles more than the distance measured upon Walk- 



