138 
ANCIENT GEOGRAPHY OF KAS'MlR. 
[Extra No. 2, 
east bank of a great river, i.e. the Vitas ta, 12 or 13 li long from north 
to south and 4 or 5 li broad from east to west, About 10 li to the 
south-east of this, “ the new city,” the pilgrim notices a Buddhist convent 
which lay between a high mountain on the north and the site of ‘ the 
old city ’ on the south. 
It is the merit of General Cunningham to have first recognized that 
the situation here indicated for the new capital of Hiuen Tsiang’s time 
corresponds exactly to that of the modern S'rinagar. 1 A glance at the 
map shows that the position and dimensions ascribed by Hiuen Tsiang 
to the new city apply closely to that part of S'rinagar which occupies 
the right or eastern riverbank, and which, as we shall see, forms the 
older portion of the city. The two and a half miles represented by the 
12 or 13 li of the Chinse measurement, agree accurately with the length 
of the city within its ancient limits along the eastern bank of the Vitasta. 
The estimate of its breadth at somewhat less than one mile (4 or 5 li) 
is equally correct. 
89 . The position of ‘ the old city’ is marked by the present village 
of Pandrethan which derives its name from 
the appellation Puranadhisthana, meaning * the 
Old Capital.’ It lies to the south-east of S'rinagar just as Hiuen Tsiang 
says, at the south foot of a mountain spur which rises with bold slopes 
to a height of about 3000 feet above the village. Measured from the 
nearest point of old S'rinagar, the distance to the presumptive site of 
the monastery between Pandrethan and the steep hill-side is exactly two 
miles or 10 li. 
The history of ‘ the Old Capital ’ is so closely connected with that of 
S'rinagara that it will be useful to acquaint ourselves first with the 
data bearing upon it. The name of Puranadhisthana meets us first in 
Kalhana’s account of the reign of King Pravarasena I. (or S'resthasena) 
who is said to have erected there a shrine known as that of S'iva 
Pravarehara . 2 At the beginning of the tenth century the minister 
Puranadhisthana. 
Meruvardhana built at Puranadhisthana a Visnu temple called after his 
own name. This has been rightly identified by General Cunningham 
with the well-preserved little temple which still stands in the village 
of Pandrethan and has often been described by European travellers. 3 
1 Gen. Cunningham’s identification was first indicated in his paper on the 
architecture of Kastnlr temples, J. A. S. B., 1848, p. 283. For a fuller account, see 
Anc. Geogr., pp. 93 sqq. 
2 See Rajat. iii. 99 note, where detailed references have been given regarding the 
site 
3 ® ee v. 267 note, also for descriptions of the temple. 
