1899.] 
THE OLD AND NEW CAPITALS. 
137 
which the country might have supported in the most prosperous times 
of Hindu rule. 
The fact of Kasmir having possessed a far greater population in 
ancient times helps to explain the curious traditional verse which puts 
the number of villages of Kasmir at 66,063. The verse is found twice 
in the Lokaprakasa and still lives in the oral tradition of the Brahmans 
throughout the Valley. It has been reproduced from the latter in 
Pandit Sahibram’s Tirthasamgraha. 1 2 That it can claim some antiquity 
is evident from the allusion made to the number in Jonaraja’s Chronicle.* 
Though that figure must have at all times implied a considerable ex¬ 
aggeration, it is nevertheless characteristic of the popular notion on the 
subject. Even Sharifu-d-din whose information, collected about a.d. 1400, 
is generally accurate and matter-of-fact, records: “ It is popularly 
believed that in the whole of the province—plains and mountains 
together — are comprised 100,000 villages. The land is thickly inhabit¬ 
ed.” 3 It is curious that Mirza Haidar who had ruled Kasmir himself 
copies this statement without modification or dissent. 
Section III.— The old and new Capitals. 
88. The ancient divisions of Kramarajya and Madavarajya are 
separated by a line drawn through S'rinagar. This fact as well as the 
great historical interest attaching to S'rinagar as the capital of the 
country make it the convenient starting-point for our survey. The 
history of Kasmir has always been reflected as it were in that of its 
capital. The site of the latter has not changed for more than 
thirteen centuries. It is thus easy to account for the ample historical 
data which enable us to restore in great part the ancient topography of 
S'rinagar and to trace back the city’s history to the time of its foundation. 
Hiuen Tsiang who visited the Kasmir capital about a.d. 631, and 
whose record is the earliest we possess, found 
it already in the position of the present S'ri¬ 
nagar. He describes it as situated along the 
Srinagara in the 
Hiuen Tsiang’s time. 
1 Sastir gramasahasrani fastir grdmaiatani ca\ sastir gramas trayo grdmd hyetat 
Kaimiramandalam II ; comp. Lokaprakasa, Ind. Studien, xviii. p. 375. 
2 See Jonar. (Bo. ed), 153. 
8 See Tdrlkh-i-Rash'/di , p. 430. Ritter who reproduces the passage of the 
Zafarnama from De la Croix’s translation, shows the number of villages as 10,000; 
see Asien, ii. p. 1123. It may be noted in passing that according to the Census of 
1891 the number of villages in Kasmir was then reokoned at 2870. 
J. i. 18 
