14 M. A. Stein — New inscriptions discovered by Major Deane. [No. 1, 
half of the 8th century), as already noted by Messrs. Lfsvi and Chavannes, 
falls close to the time of Ou-K'ong’s residence in the monasteries of 
Gandliara and Udyana. 
These coincidences have led the Editors of Ou-Kong’s Itinerary 
to suggest a Turkish origin for our inscriptions. They are certainly 
striking enough to make it most desirable that the unknown characters 
of the latter should be fully analysed and compared with the Orkhon 
texts by a competent Turkish scholar. Unable to undertake even the 
preliminary steps for such a task, I must content myself here with 
showing that the conclusions drawn by Messrs. Llm and Chavannes 
from Ou-K'ongas to the existence of a Turkish dominion in Gandliara, 
are well supported also by what Hiuen Tsiang had recorded of those 
regions more than a century earlier. 
From Ou-K'ong’s reference to Gandliara as the site of ‘ Ihe 
eastern capital of Ki-pin (p. 349), it is certain that in his time as in 
that of the earlier Chinese pilgrim, Gandliara was under the same rule 
as the Upper Valley of the Kabul River. 8 Hiuen Tsiang tells us dis¬ 
tinctly ( Si-yu-ki , transl. Beal, i., p. 98) that the Gandliara of his time 
‘was governed by deputies from Kia-pi-shi .’ Accordingly we find that 
when the pilgrim on his return-journey crossed the Indus near Uda- 
bhanda , the old capital of Gandliara at the site of the present Und, he 
was received there by the king of Kia-pi-shi; compare Life of lliuen 
Tsiany , translated by Beal, p. 192. 
Kia-pi-shi or Kapica is undoubtedly the Kaninra of Ptolemy and 
identical with the hill-region between Kabul and the southern foot of 
the Hindukush. In describing its inhabitants Hiuen Tsiang tells us 
that ‘ their literature is like that of the Tukhara ( Tu-lio-lo ) country, but 
the customs, common language and rules of behaviour are somewhat 
different’ ( Si-yu-ki , i., p. 54). 
Retracing then our steps in the pilgrim’s narrative to the country 
of the Tu-ho-lo , i.e., Tukharistan on the Upper Oxus, we find the 
numerous petty states constituting it described as all dependent on the 
Tuh-kiue tribes, i.e., the Turks (see Si-yu-lci, i., p. 37 sq ). 'Ilie language 
of the inhabitants is said to “ differ somewhat from that of other 
countries. The number of radical letters in their language is twenty- 
five ; by combining these, they express all objects around them. Their 
writing is across the page, and they read from left to right. Their 
literary records have increased gradually.” 
i ^ . . t. 
8 From the Chinese notices regarding Ki-pin, lucidly set forth by Messrs. Levi 
and Chavannes, l.c., pp. 371 sqq., it appears that Ki-pin as a geographical term in 
Chinese texts has had a varying employ at different periods. On the whole, how¬ 
ever, preponderating evidence points to Ki-pin having been originally the designation 
of the Upper Kabul Valley. 
