The present paper is an attempt to assess the previous research conducted on Hiuen Tsang's travelogue. It analyses the various existing interpretations about the locations of various places of his visit and, juxtaposes its identification with assistance of thearchaeological findings, Geographic Information System (GIS data) and environmental studies. The topographic features of the ancient Punjab observed and recorded by the traveller serves as indicators to trace the route of his journey. The traveller's route provides us new insights to explore the trade routes and, trade and urban centres of 7^thcentury CE.

This study aims to explore the important urban centres and the land routes of ancient Punjab popular in the 7th century CE. Tracing the Hiuen Tsang, a Chinese traveller’s route came to India at that time aims to throw light on such centres situated on his route. This study will open up further scope of research into the regional history with special reference to the trade and commerce.

Alexander Cunningham’s The Ancient Geography of India throws light on the geography of India rendered from the Greek historians’ accounts and the travelogue of Hiuen Tsang. Hiuen Tsang’s journey and his description of different places helps us to picturise the then landscape and the territorial extent of different states. This text gives us an overview of historical geography of India. However, a detailed study of regional importance to ancient Punjab is still not done. 

T.W. Rhys Davids edited Thomas Watters’s book On Yuan Chwang’s travels in India 639-645 AD which traces the traveller’s route which he opted from China to India, and back. This text provides us a chronological record of his complete journey. He crossed through the ancient Punjab twice during his expedition to the Indian subcontinent. His description about the various kingdoms of the Punjab gives us important information about the political history. However, a close correlation of the political history and the geography needs to be established which is missed out in this text. 

Whereas, sincere attempts were made to find out recent research related to the topic of this research paper specially from 2021-23 but no study with direct linkage has been found.

Early life of Hiuen Tsang

Amongst various Chinese travelers to the India, Hiuen Tsang is a man who presented most descriptive account of India. He was an avid scholar who resolved to travel to India to collect the holy records to complement the knowledge of Buddhism among the Chinese followers. He was given the title ‘Master of the Law’ due to his deep knowledge in philosophy and religious order. He was born in Chin-Lin village near modern Luoyang, Henan province, China. His grandfather Kong was appointed as president of the Imperial College at Peking due to his distinguished scholarship. The same intellectual capabilities were exhibited by his father which further travelled through genes to Hiuen Tsang himself. At the age of 8, his father identified his dedication towards reading books and acquiring new knowledge. Rather mixing with children of his age, he showed enthusiasm towards reading the scriptures of ancient sages. His elder brother Chang-Tsi taught him the method of reading and practice of sacred books of Buddhism. At the age of 13, he was admitted to the convent in Luoyang (the eastern capital of Chinese empire) as a recluse where he established his command on various records of the law and astonished the priests with his extra-ordinary memory an oratory. He shifted with his brother Chang-Tsi to the town of Shing-Tu after the fall of Sui dynasty. There, he was fully ordained as ‘Master of the Law’ after completing the age of 20. Going through the study of Sutras and Sastras, he raised some queries and to address these, he went out to meet different scholars and masters of these subjects. He travelled through the places i.e. Hang-Chow, Siang-Chow, Chiu-Chow and Chang’an or modern Xi’an (the western capital of Chinese empire). Visiting all these places and meeting the celebrated masters, he came to know that each of them implicated on the teaching of their school but, on verifying their doctrine, he observed that the holy books differed too much. He was determined to enrich his knowledge with most authentic sort of information. Thereafter, to clear his doubts, he resolved to travel towards the western world (India subcontinent) or the land of Buddha where the original holy books were produced.

Travel Route towards the Western World

Started his journey as a pilgrimage towards the western world in 639 CE, Hiuen Tsang transversed through the Chinese town of Tsin-Chow, Lan-Chow, Liang-Chow and Kwa-Chow. Further going westwards, he crossed the Takla Makan Desert and reached the town of I-Gu. Thereafter, he reached Kua-Chang (in modern district of Turfan of Xinjiang province).[1] Thomas Watters identifies Kua-Chang upto 640 CE as one among the ‘western lands’ (outside the control of Chinese Empire), which after the political turmoil of 639-640 CE, was taken under the imperial control by Chinese emperor Tai Tsung thence extending the western boundary of his empire upto Yenki (modern Karashar, Kyrgyzstan).[2]The pilgrim went through the towns namely Kuchih, Poh-lu-ka, Thousand Springs, Taras, Peh-shwi, Kong-Yu, Nujkend, Chaj, Ferghanah, Sutrishna, Samarkand, Bokhara, Khwarazm, Termez, Vakhsh, Baghlan, Balkh, Bamyan and Kapisa to reach the western frontiers of Indian subcontinent.[3] During his transit route, he crossed territories of modern nation-states of Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan and Afghanistan to enter into Indian subcontinent. From Kapisa (Afghanistan), he proceeded to Lamghan (Afghanistan) and Nagarahara or Jalalabad (Afghanistan). Nagarahara’s natural boundaries were demarcated by Khyber Pass in the east, Jagdalak Pass in the west, Kabul River in the north and Safed-Koh Mountains in the south.[4]Geological studies suggests that the Safed-Koh Mountains are part of the western rim which separates the Indian tectonic plate from the Eurasian plate. The Khyber Pass (crossing spur of Safed-Koh Mountains) is regarded as ‘the gateway to the Indian subcontinent’ from the ancient times because of the easier accessibility through it. Khyber Pass has seen numerous migrations, movements of trade caravans and mobility of troops. Generally, Ancient Punjab covered the region to the east of Khyber Pass. However, the frontiers of Ancient Punjab encroached in and across Khyber Pass (even upto the eastern fringes of Hindukush Mountains) with the will and skill of regional and trans-regional rulers. Hiuen Tsang’s pilgrimage transverse through the region of Ancient Punjab towards Ganga-Yamuna Plains and the rest of the India. S. Beal translates the Hwui Li's (Hiuen Tsang's disciple) workon the life of his teacher which have described the travel route and major events of the pilgrim's travel throughout Indian subcontinent and his return to his homeland. The major places of his visit in a sequenced mannerhave beendescribedin the below given lines.‘After crossing Khyber Pass, the pilgrim travelled through Gandhara, Utkhanda (Ohind), Swat, Taxila, Singapura, Urasa, Kashmir, Punch, Rajaori, Sakala, Lahore, Patti, Jalandhar, Kullu, Satadru, Mathura, Thanesar, Srughna, Kannauj, Koshambhi, Ayodhaya, Sravasti, Kapilavastu, Kushinagara, Banaras, Vaishali, Patna, Bodh Gaya, Rajgriha, Nalanda. Thence, he penetrated the deep east through Modagiri, Champa, Pubna and Kamarupa. From Kamarupa (Assam), he turned southwards through Jessore, Tamralipti (Tamluk), Ganjam, Kalinga, Berar, Amravati and Kanchipuram (Tamil Nadu). However, he was willing to visit Ceylon (Sri Lanka) but, due to prevailing troublesome state of affairs due to king’s death, he turned northwards via western coast of Indian Peninsula. He crossed Konkan coast to reach Bharoach, Ujjain, Vallabhi, Sindh and Multan (Pakistan). Thence, he once again turned towards east to Nalanda and Kamarupa. He started his westward journey in 643 CE towards Patliputra to join camp of King Harshavardhana and marched through Pryagraj, Koshambhi and Kannauj. From Kannauj, he took leave from Harshavardhana’s camp to start his return journey to China, crossing through Punjab once again via Jalandhar and Utkhanda (Ohind). He further crossed Lamghan, Kabul, Ghazni and Kapisa. Going through Panjshir Valley, he reached Anderab, Khashgar, Yarkand, Khotan and finally in Luoyang in 645 CE.’[5]

Transversal through Ancient Punjab

Hiuen Tsang have described the northern division of India which comprised of the undivided Punjab, the Cis-Sutlej plains, Kashmir and adjoining hill states and the area beyond Indus River upto eastern Afghanistan.During HiuenTsang’s visit in 7^th century CE, northern India had three major powers with seats at Kapisa, Kashmir and Taki.Hiuen Tsang’s Taki comprised the dissected foothills zone of Pir Panjal, Dhauladhar and Shiwalik ranges of Himalayas and,plains between Indus and Beas rivers upto the junction of five rivers to the south-west ofMultan.[6]The pilgrim has conterminously used ‘Taki’ to define Punjab but somehow, he hasn’t considered the Bist Doab and Cis-Sutlej area in it.It is worth mentioning here that, the pilgrim has defined ‘Taki’ as a politio-administrative unit.Whereas, in this study, we will take up a larger geographical unit, addressing it with ‘Ancient Punjab’. As discussed earlier, the largest extentof ancient Punjab from west to east is reflected by the natural frontiers i.e. Hindukush mountains and Yamuna River respectively. However, be it the political control or the cultural cohesiveness, Khyber Pass parallel to the western watershed divide of Indus Rivermost oftenremained the effective western boundary of ancient Punjab.Now let’s discuss about the placeswhich are visited by Hiuen Tsang comes under the preview of ancient Punjab (Refer to the
Map 1).

Map 1. Hiuen Tsang’s travel route through Ancient Punjab

Nagarahara

Nagarahara or modern Jalalabad(Afghanistan) lies immediate to the west of Khyber Pass in Safed-Koh mountains. It has beenreferred as the frontier lands of Indian subcontinent by the foreign travellers.Itis a large city 80 miles to the east of Kabul, the capital of Afghanistan. It lies in Nangarhar Province of the country. As per the pilgrim’s records, he proceeded 100 li or 17 miles from Laghman (Afghanistan) to Nagarahara in south-eastern direction.He crossed a mountain ridge and a river to reach Nagarahara (Na-ka-lo-ho)country. Of the two other places visited by the pilgrim in the close vicinity of Nagarahara, one was the city of Hidda (‘Hi-lo’), 6 miles to the north-west, which had two-storey building preserving Ushnisha bone, skull, one eye, medicant stuff and one of clerical robes of the Buddha. Other was the cave 3-4 miles south-west to the city of Hidda where pilgrim saw the ‘shadow of Buddha.’[7]S. Beal quotes W. Simpsons where the latter determines the location of Nagarahara at the angle formed by the junction of Surkhar and Kabul rivers. Beal also suggests that the pilgrim might have crossed the Kabul River at the place named Daruntato reach Nagarahara.[8]A. Cunnigham identifies modern Begram, 2 miles west of Jalalabad as the capital city of Nagarahara district of pilgrim's records. He also describes the natural boundaries of Nagarahara district having, Jagdalak Pass in the west, Khyber Pass in the east, Kabul River in the north and Safed- Koh Mountains in the south.Nagarahara has been identified as Nagara or Dionysopolis of Ptolemy, Nysa of Arrian and Curtis, Dinus of Abu Rihan and Na-kie of Fa-Hien.[9]The GIS data suggests the location of 7^th century Na-ka-lo-ho lies at modern Jalalabad and the pilgrim had to crossKabul River to reachhere while coming from Laghman.

Gandhara

From Nagarahara, the pilgrim ceded into the lands of Gandhara (Kiln-to-lo)which has been mentioned in the records as a country. It had capital at Peshawar (Parashapura or Peshawar). Gandhara was an ancient kingdom mentioned in the epic of Mahabharata.It relates to Dhritrashtra’s Queen Gandhari, where she belonged to. Karna and Arjuna's military expeditions to Gandhara gives us a good deal of geographical exposure to this kingdom.Classical geographers like Strabo and Ptolemy called it 'Gandaritis' and 'Gandarae' respectively. V.S. Agrawala locates Salutara, the birthplace of Panini within the vicinity of Gandhara. He refers Gandhara as a subset of Udiya division along with Vahika.[10]The records of pilgrimdescribe the size of Gandharaspanned 1000 li aur 166 miles from west to east and 800 li or 133 miles from north to south.A. Foucher comments that the above given distance might be evaluated by the pilgrim from one capital to the two neighbouring capitals in the line of his march.So, adding same number twice i.e. Nagarahara to Purushapura (500 li) and Purushapura to Taxila (500 li), he gets the breadth(1000 li)of Gandhara country from west to east. A. Foucher also enlightens as that Indus River divided Gandhara and Taxila countries, also forming eastern border of Gandhara itself. The western frontier has been setasKunar Riverby S. Bealand southern frontier by A. Cunningham as Kalabagh hills.

Peshawar

Hiuen Tsang named the capital of Gandhara as Peshawar (Po-lu-sha-pu-lo). In present times, Peshawar serves as capital of Pakistani province of Kyber Pakhtunkwa. Fa-Hien refered it by the name of 'Fo-leu-sha', Al-Masaud and Abu Rihan by 'Parashawar'. However, its present name owes to Akbar. The pilgrim recorded a holy Pipal tree of 100 feet or so in height at 8-9 li or 1.5 miles to the south-east of the city. He also refers a great stupa made by Kanishka to the south of this tree. He describes it having 400 feet height and 1.5 li or a quater of mile in circumference. He mentions an old monastery or a Sangharama to the west of this great stupa, also made by Kanishka.[11]Advancing from this old monastery, the pilgrim went 50 li or 8.5 miles north-eastwards where he crossed a great river to reach Pushkalavati (Po-shi-kie-lo-fa-ti).[12]

Pushkalavati and Palo-Dheri

Pushkalavati was a celebrated town where many saints and sages came to preach law. It was called upon by Peukelaotis, Peucolaitis, Peubelas, Pukalei by various Classical geographers. Strabo and Arrian locates it near Indus Riverwhich is quite a vague statement unless any description of its direction from such a large river could have been given.Ptolemy has located it near the eastern bank of river Suastene (Swat River), whereas, A. Cunningham goes a step further by locating it north to the junction of Swat and Kabul rivers.[13]From the given description, the location of Pushkalavati, is likely to be around Charsadda and possibly, the pilgrim had to cross the Kabul River to reach there from Peshawar.The records of pilgriminform us thathe visited an old monastery 4-5 li to the north of town thence, turning eastwards he reached near two stone stupas 100 feet each in height built by Brahma Deva and Sakra kings. Thence, he also visited the stupa of Samaka Bodhisattva some 50 li or 8.5 miles north-west.

Turning south-east hereafter, he went 200 li or 34 miles to reach the town of Po-lu-sha, which is identified with modern Palo-Dheri 40 miles north-east of Charsadda and 40 miles south- east of Samaka's stupa. The pilgrim have also given the description of the cave of Prince Sudana, alongwith the cave of Kashmiri-Ghar in Mt. Dantalokwhich might be somewhere in the hills of Buner district of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province of Pakistan,3.3 miles north-east of Palo-Dheri and 8 miles north-west of Bazar.

Ohind

The pilgrim resumed his journey, went 50 li or 8.5 miles north-east of Palo-Dheri to a high mountain where he noticed a green stone carved figure of the wife of Isvara Deva, also identified with Bhima Devi.[14]Locating this place on physical map of Pakistan, it seems, it lied on the outermost fringes of the Buner Hills near Bazar (having altitude upto 1000 m from sea level). Thence, going south-eastwards he came to U-to-kia-han-cha. It is translated as Udakhanda by M. Julien, Ohind by M.V. de St. Martin and modern Hund by General Court and Burnes.[15]Hund lies 15 miles upstream of Indus (on its right bank) starting from Attock. It tallies to the position of Ohind described by the pilgrim. He mentioned that its southern side rested on a mighty river (must be Indus). Ohind has later pronounced as 'Waihind'by Abu Rihan in 11^th century CE. Waihindis famous for the battle fought in its vicinity (near Chach plains) between Mahmud of Ghori and Jayapala’s son Anandpala in 1009.[16]The pilgrim observed the circuit of this city to be 20 li or more than 3 miles. However, during the medieval times, this city has seen a high watermark of prosperity but at present, Hund is a small village with low population. Indus river flows in numerous parallel streams in its south which probably made Ohind to face theforces of the river. The pilgrim crossed Indus twice, once while proceeding towards India and again while returning to China. While returning, he lost some rare manuscripts from his collection and specially acquired flower seeds when Indus River capsized his boat.[17]An old tradition was introduced to him by the King of Kapisa that people carrying flower seeds of India across Indus Riverencounters similar misfortunes. 

Salatura

Hiuen Tsang’s next stop was at Salatura (So-lo-tu-lo), the birthplace of famous grammarian Panini. He mentions it 20 li or 3.3 miles on the north-west of Ohind.[18]A. Cunningham identifies it with village of Lahor, 4 miles north-west of Ohind. V.S. Agrawala mentioned Salanki, Dakshiputra and Salaturiya as appellations by Panini which the former identified with Salatura,located in Gandhara country, thuscalling Panini an 'Udichya'. Agrawala also juxtaposes the origin of Daksha people (gotra),to which Panini belonged and settle his claim in Salatura itself, few miles north of the confluence of Kabul with Indus River.[19]

Udyana

Udyana (U-chang-na) is regarded to be the Swat region. The pilgrim left Ohind and followed 600 li or 100 miles northern path until he arrived in mountainous region alongside the valley of Swat River. Appellation for Udyana in Sanskrit is Subhavastu or Suvastu, Ujjana in Prakrit, Suastus called by Arrian and U-Chang by Fa-Hien. S. Beal identified it with the region comprised with the valley of Swat River north of Peshawar to the entire hills south of Hindukush mountains and Dard country (western part of Indus valley in Buner district).[20]Going with Beal's hypothesis, it might consist of modern districts of Chitral, Upper Dir, Swat, Kohistan, Manshera and Buner in Pakistan. These districts occupy approximately the same extentas described by the pilgrim for this region i.e. 5000 li or 833 miles in circuit. He visited the capital of Udyana, 'Mung-kie-li' or Mangala (coincides with modern Manglor)which lies 60-70 li or 12 miles north-east of modern MalakabadGharejo (aside of Swat stream). It is Mangora of Wilford's surveyor Mogal Beg, Manglavar of General Court's map and Mangalapura of V. de St. Martin.The pilgrim travelled 250-260 li or 45 miles north-eastwards from Manglor upto the source of Su-po-fa-so-tu or Swat Riverat Naga Apalala fountain.[21]Referring the study of hydrology of Swat River, we consider that the pilgrim could have reached the junction of Gabrial and Ushu river, somewhere which he called upon the place known as Naga Apalala. Coming back, the pilgrim passed the valleys of several rivulets and deep gorges in the north-easterlydirectionfrom Manglor to reach Buner, west of the Indus River, known as Dard country or Ta-li-lo. Thence, the pilgrim visited the Bolor or Po-lu-lo (Baltistanregion). He returned back alongwith the stream of Indus River to Ohind where he crossed it to take south-easterly path towards Taxila (Th-cha-shi-lo).[22]

Taxila

The pilgrim described Taxila kingdom as tributary state of the king of Kashmir.He described its extent of 2000 li or 340 miles in circuit, whereas, its capital was about 10 li or near to 2 miles in circuit. A. Cunningham describes it to be bounded with Indus in the west, Jhelum in the east, kingdom of Urasa in the north, kingdom of Singhapura in the South, Sohan river in the southwest and Bakrala range of hills in the southeast.[23]For the identification of capital city ofTaxila, T. Watters exhibits Baron Hugel’s view of placing this site to modern Rawalpindi. However, Watters puts his stake in favour of A. Cunningham’s identification of locating it at modern Shahdheri, one mile north-east of Kala-ka-Sarai.[24]It is important to mention here that both the pilgrims Fa-Hien and Hiuen Tsang placed Taxila out of the preview of Gandhara region.The pilgrim mentioned visiting a place 12-13 li or 2 miles north of Taxila where Buddha in his former existence, made an alms-gift of his head, commemorated by King Ashoka with a stupa. The pilgrim visited another place Manikyala or modern Mankiala, 200 li or 34 miles south-east of Taxila across the Sohan river, the place where Buddha gave his body to feed a starving tiger. Thence, from Taxila, the pilgrim proceeded towards south-east direction for 700 li or 120 miles mountainous path, full of valleys to reach Singhapura.[25]

Singhapura

From the description in pilgrim's records and analysis of physical map of Pakistan, we can locate the mountains of Salt range not more then 90 miles South-east of Taxila. A. Cunninghamrefers to Julien's interpretation from the pilgrim's records that the kingdom of Singhapura was 3600 li or 600 miles in circuit, bounded in the north by Taxila kingdom, in south byJhelum River andin west by Indus River. He also compares the archaeological findings of ruined fort of Kotera near Katas, with the description of pilgrim for its capital city. Cunningham has concluded that modern Katas, situated 16 miles north of Pind Dadan Khan and 18 miles south of Chakwal, was the location of capital city of Singhapura.[26]The pilgrim's description of limpid pool in the vicinity of the capital alongwith two sacred sites with stupas has been investigated by the study conducted by a Pakistani scholar, Mohammad Hameed. He also located the capital at Katas itself and identified theSheranwali Khangah, the Katas Raj andthe Murti as the mainsites in this city.[27]

Urasa

From Singhapura, the pilgrim resumed his journey going northwards to Mankiala and then towards Urasa. The pilgrim's records describe it as a district falling between Taxila and Kashmir. Verifying Ptolemy and Abul Fazl's hypothesis for the identification of Urasa,A. Cunningham verdicts that it lies in modern Nowshera district having Haripur district in southwest and Mansera district in northeast. To pin point the exact location of Urasa's capital in Nowshera district, we canlocate the modern city of Abbottabod at 50 miles distance from Taxila(distance given in pilgrim's records). A. Cunningham claims Mangal (13 kms north of Abbotabad City) as the site of its capital in 7^thcentury CE.The pilgrimhas also stated that Urasa's capital was 1000 li or 167 miles from Kashmir (or Srinagar City).[28] The location of Mangala fulfils the description of the pilgrim with respect itsdistance calculatedfrom both Taxila and Srinagar.

Punach and Rajauri

The pilgrim left Urasa to visit the celebrated land of Kashmir, where he halted for two years. Kashmir was however lie north of the Pir Panjal Range, so, it was regarded to be out of the preview of ancient Punjab. After leaving Kashmir, the pilgrim transverse through Pir Panjal to Punach which lies to its south. As we have already discussed, Pir Panjal was the geographical contour which defined northern frontier of ancient Punjab.The pilgrim has recorded the distance between Kashmir to Punach equals to 700 li or 117 miles in south-westwhich is nearly the same distance recorded in GlS data. He also described Punach having Jhelum River in west, Pir Panjal range in north and a small state of Rajauri in east and south-east.[29]

Rajauri (Ho-lo-she-pu-lo) is recorded as a petty chiefship by the pilgrim which lied 400 li or 67 miles south-east of Punach. This distance might be amplified due to curvature mountainous path and crossings of valleys by the pilgrim whereas, the actual distance isonly 53 miles. The deviation in recording the distances to the higher end by the pilgrim has been highlighted by A.Cunningham. Cunningham tends to reducethe extent (circuit) of both Punach and Rajauri upto half the value given by the pilgrimdue to the shorter measuring unittaken by him in this region. The pilgrimdescribed the frontiers of Rajauri which was Pir Panjal range in the north-east, Chenab River in south and south-east and the state of Rihasi in the east.[30]

Country of Takka

From Rajauri, the pilgrim followed south-easterly path, crossing a river (must be Chenab) reached the city of Jayapur where he spent one night. S. Beal identified Jayapur with modern Jammu from where he reached Sakala. Sakala was an important city in the country of Takka. Beal refers text ofRajatrangini(a chronicle of political history of Kashmir) which have described ‘Takkadesh’ as a country of Bahikas.He also introduces us with C. Lassen’s remarks, who described Takkas as powerful tribe living near to Chenab River controlling the lands of Tsih-kia, spanning upto 10000 li or 1700 miles in circuit, from Indus River in the west to Beas River in the east.[31]Such a large area included the dissected foothills zone and Punjab plainsspreadbetween the interfluves (doabs) of different rivers lying between Indus to Beas. However, it is noteworthy that, Bist Doab and Cis-Sutlej area has not been included by the pilgrim under the previewof Punjab plainsorTakka. Probably, the pilgrim has left out the said areaconsidering the geo-political scenario of his time. Harshavardhana, the king of Kannanj was the trans-regional ruler who claimed the suzerainty of areas lying east of Beas. The dissected foothill zone or the Alpine Punjab has been divided into three groups by A. Cunningham, after the name of most powerful state which formed the confederation of smaller states i.e. Kashmir (western divisioncomprised of Kashmir valley and states lying between Indus and Jhelum rivers), Dogra (central division comprised of states lying between Jhelum and Ravi rivers) and Trigartta (eastern division comprised states lying between Ravi and Beas).[32]

Sakala

The location of Sakala has been adjudged by different scholars differently. T.Watters refers 'The life of Hiuen Tsang' which records that the pilgrim left Rajauri and went southeast, crossing Chenab Riverreached the city of Jayapur or modern Jammu, thence advancing towards Takka on the next day and he reached Sakala. Herewith, the distance between Rajauri and Sakala is given as 300 li or 55 miles approximately.[33]Whereas, A. Cunningham identifies Sakala with Sanglawala Tibba or Sangala Hill, which he calculates 700 li or120 miles in distance from Rajauri. However, the Google maps calculates the distance between these two points is 200 miles. It is therefore, Cunningham's claim is not justifiable. Sakala was the name of capital of Madras, who occupied the modern Sialkot district between Chenab and Ravi. Mahabharata's Kamaparva has referred Sakala to be situated on Apaga rivulet to the west of Ravi. Apaga rivulet seems the appellation of modern Ayak rivulet flowing nearby Sialkot.B.C. Law supported Sakala to be identified with modern Sialkot.[34i]Now, if wecalculate the distance between Sialkot and Rajauri, it is 111 miles close enough to the 120 miles distance recorded by A. Cunningham. Probably, it indicates that Cunningham have recorded the right distance but identified a wrong site (Sanglawala Tibba) to be claimed as Sakala. We also get reference of Sakala (Sialkot) in the 6th century CE, when it served as the capital city of Mihirkula.[35]The pilgrim set for the town called Narasimha, proceeded eastwards from Sakala. After crossing this town, he went further east to cross a palasa wood (or Pilu-forest), where he was robbed by the brigands.In Mahabharata, we find reference of Pilu forest assigned with land of Arattas, where the Madras tribe belonged.[36]Such forest, however, have been encroached by the urban needs of human but still a narrowstrip of remnanttrees of same species i.e. Butea monospermais found in modern Narowal District south-east of Sialkot.[37]After crossing the Pi-lu forest, the pilgrim reached the ‘frontier’ of the Takka country which is identified with Ravi River by S. Beal.[38]Along this river, the pilgrim reached the Lahore City. However, Cunningham objects to Beal’s interpretation of considering Ravi as the frontier of Takka and calls it wrong to call Ravi river's stream as its 'frontier' (against that of Beas).[39]

Lahore and Chinapati

Cunningham put forward his hypothesis that the frontier of Takka which the pilgrim referred could possibly the Beas River, and the town could be Kasur,on the right bank of it.[40]However, his hypothesis cannot be proven in absence of supporting evidences. The records also mentionthe fact that the town visited by the pilgrim had many thousands of inhabitants which tallies with the archaeological studies and demography of Lahore of 7^th century CE rather than Kasur. The pilgrim stayed for a month in Lahore but he gives us a little information about the surroundings of this city. Thence, he proceeded towards east to Chinapati.

Chinapati is the country described by the pilgrim of about 2000 li or 340 miles in circuit.He described the country comprised with whole of Upper Bari Doab and, foothills to the junction of Beas and Sutlej near Harike (near Ferozpur).A. Cunningham identifies Chinapati with modern Patti town in Taran Taran district of Eastern Punjab (India), 27 miles northeast of Kasur, 10 miles west of Beas and 25 miles west of Tomasa-vanamonastery (identified at Sultanpur Lodhi) across Beas River.[41]There are almost correct geo-coordinatesaccording to the places mentioned herewith. However, the distance mentioned by pilgrim from Takka (probably from Sialkot) to Patti equals to 83 miles does not matches the distance recorded by Google maps i.e.not more than 110 miles.Such discrepancy might be due to the route prescribed by Google keeping in view of internationalborder between Pakistan and India and the designated crossing across border.

Jalandhara

She-lan-to-lo of Hiuen Tsang, Kalindrine of Ptolemy and Tso-lan-to-la of Sung Yunare identified as appellations forthe modern Jalandhar, a country mentioned in the pilgrim's records. He reached Jalandhar town(2 miles in circuit) after travelling the distance of 140 li or 24 miles in north-eastern direction from Tomasa-vana monastery, identified to be located at modern Sultanpur Lodhi town in eastern Punjab, India.[42]The distance mention by the pilgrim tallies with the present scenario or the location of both these towns.Another statement of A. Cunningham revealing the distance of 100 miles between Jalandhar and Sakala (Sialkot) complements the claim of Jalandhar to be identified with its present location because of equidistance depicted by Google maps through Kartarpur border crossing between India and Pakistan. The pilgrim described the circuit of country of Jalandhar equals to 1000 li or 167 miles from east to west and 800 li or 133 miles from north to south.[43]As per the dimensions given by the pilgrim, A. Cunningham renders that probably,in theboundaries of Jalandhar could have included Chamba (H.P.) in north, Sukhet (modern Pangana, in Mandi district, H.P.) in east and Satadru (modern Sirhind, Punjab) in southeast.Whereas, Chamba lies in the upper Bari Doab where we can see the overlapping boundaries of Jalandhar and Chinapati.

Kullu

Kiu-lu-to or the modern Kullu was the next stop of the pilgrim came after travelling of 700 li or 120 miles north-east of Jalandhar.[44]The journey from Jalandhar to Kullu is quite rugged and one must cross severalhills and the valleys. By road, according to the route suggested by Google maps, the distance between these two points is calculated as 170 miles. However, quite possibly, our pilgrim had travelled in straight line to reduce this distance.Kullu valley lies between Manali town and Largivillage of Himachal Pradesh, and the Beas River flows through it. The pilgrim went north-east of Kullu to the country of Lahaul or Lo-u-lo (Lahaul Valley, H.P.). The records also mention the country of Ladakh (Mo-lo-po) or the 'Red district'(called due to the colour its soil) to the north of Kullu.

Satadru

After leaving Kullu, the pilgrim tooksouthern path for 700 li or 117 miles to reach Satadru or She-to-tu-lo, after crossing a great mountain and a wide river.[45]A. Cunningham juxtaposes the identity of Satadru by tallying the geo-coordinates of cities of Sirhind (Punjab), Bathinda (Punjab) and Hansi (Haryana) with the description in pilgrim’s records.In the itinerary of pilgrim, he mentioned Satadru,a place visitedby him after Kullu and before proceeding 133 miles south-east to Paryatra or Po-li-ye-to-lo (identified by modern Bairat, Rajasthan). A. Cunningham finds discrepancy in thedistance of 133 miles calculated by pilgrim from Sirhind to Bairat, possibly due to consideration of shorter kos in this part of the Indian subcontinent i.e.. 21/32 of the normal ko, and equates it with a similar discrepancy made by him in calculating distance between Mathura to Thanesar in his return journey.[46]To remove this discrepancy, Cunningham suggests toadd150 miles to the distance of 133 miles between Satardu and Bairat which makes the total distance to 283 miles; matches with the present real time distance between these two points. He discardsHansi and Bathinda with the justification of Sutlej river’s position from these places. He put his stake on Sirhindwhere,Sutlej River flows on the western and north-western frontiers. The pilgrim described Satardu as the only district in the limits of Northern India which lied to the east of Sutlej.

Sindh

After exploring Southern India, Hiuen Tsang proceeded towards north alongside the western coast of Indian peninsula, conversing through Konkan Coast, visitedKathiawar peninsula and the delta region of Indus and reached the Sindhcountry after travelling northwards from Guchala (or modern Gaushala).[47]It is important to mention Sindh here because it was the region lying on the frontiers of ancient Punjab, just outside the political boundaries of Takka or Taki. The pilgrim has recorded that, after crossing through wild rugged region and Indus river on his way, he reached to the land which yields various kinds of salt i.e.. red, white, black and rock salt. The capital of this country is mentioned as P'i-shan-p'o-pu-loby the pilgrim which is suggested Vichavapura by Julien and Alor (or modern Arror) by Cunningham. But, the identification of both these places cannot be supported with concrete evidences. However, the distance between Gaushala and Arror is 323 miles in northern direction,in a straight line, crossing through the rugged terrain of Rann of Kutch and Indus Rivermakes us to lean towards Arror of Cunningham.

Multan

After Sindh, the pilgrim went eastwards for 900 li or 153 miles,crossing Indus River, reached Mu-lo-san-p’u-luor Mulasthanapura(modern Multan). The country isdescribed of about 4000 li or 680 miles in circuit and its capitaltown of some 30 li or 5 miles round. Lying on the outskirts of the kingdom of Cheka (Tse-kia) or Takka, this country might be dependent on it.[48]There are several places mentioned by the pilgrim on his way to Multan but these are quite difficult to rendered and identified with their modern names and position.[49]It is quite possible that the forces of rivers flowing through this region, from time to time, implicated on these sites.

Shorkot

Hiuen Tsang calls Shorkot, situated in the middle portion of ancient Punjab as Po-fa-to to which Julien proposes to read as Parvata. He described the capital city of Shorkot situated at 700 li or 117 miles to the northeast of Multan.[50]The distance mentioned by the pilgrim matches with the latest GIS data. It lies in Rechna Doabnear the modern site of Jhang, where the archaeological findings suggest that a town was flourished hereby, in good degree, during 7^th century CE. It is also believed that Shorkot was a dependent polity upon Takka or Taki kingdom.

Hiuen Tsang’s travelogue enriches our knowledge about the historical geography of the Indian subcontinent of 7^th century CE. His observations giveusauthentic and reliable sort of information because, unlike the court poets and royal historians, he had no obligation to bind with and his observations can be considered unbiased to any such effect. He wandered on this land as a free lancer and provided detailed information about the rivers, valley, mountains, forests, administrative as well as urban centres. He has also given his comments on the culture of this land. The pilgrim's travel route has provided a guide map to the archaeologists by narrowing down their search area for exploration of material culture of 7^th century CE. In the present times, the vested geopolitical interests havestrained the relations between India and China. However, the Buddhism is still the common thread which can strengthen the bilateral ties between these two nations. In the past,Chinesetravellers and scholarshave visited India toenrich their knowledge about Buddhism.Joint research programmes on the travelogues of these travellers can bring India and China closer and can contribute valuable sort of information to religious as well as historical studies. In the recent time, the Chinese Govt., Bihar State Govt., Nalanda University and K.P. Jayaswal Research Institute have come together in a similar a common project to excavate the places mentioned in Hiuen Tsang’s travelogue after identifying the potential sites with modern gadgets and remote sensing techniques i.e. Ground Penetrating Radars (GPR), Light Imaging Detection and Ranging (LIDAR) etc. We can expect new layers of information with this exploration which could give us new insights about thehistorical geography and the culture of Indian subcontinent.

1. Samuel Beal, 'The Life of Hiuen Tsang AD 602 TO AD 664’(Trans.)New Delhi: Rupa Publications India Pvt. Ltd., 2012, pp. 1-20.

2. Thomas Watters,'On Yuan Chwang's Travels in India 639-645 AD’edited by T.W. Rhys Davids and S.W. Bushell. London: Royal Asiatic Society, Vol. 1, 1904, pp. 45-48

3. Samuel Beal, 2012, Op. Cit., pp. 31-46.

4. Alexander Cunningham, The Ancient Geography of India. New Delhi: Munshiram Manoharlal Publishers Pvt. Ltd, 1924, p. 51.

5. Ibid., pp. ix-xiii.

6. Ibid., pp. 13-16.

7. Thomas Watters, Op. Cit., pp. 182-183.

8. Samuel Beal, Si-Yu-Ki (Trans.). London: Trübner & Co., Ludgate Hill, Vol. 1, 1884, p. 92.

9. Alexander Cunningham, Op. Cit., pp. 52-54.

10. V.S.Agrawala, India as known to Panini. Lucknow: University of Lucknow, 1953, p-9.

11. Alexander Cunningham, Op. Cit., pp. 90-92.

12. Samuel Beal, 1884,Op. Cit.,Vol. 1,p. 109.

13. Alexander Cunningham, Op. Cit., pp. 49-52.

14. Samuel Beal, 1884,Op. Cit.,Vol. 1,p. 113.

15. Alexander Cunningham, Op. Cit., p. 61.

16. Satish Chandra, Medieval India: From Sultanat to the Mughals- Delhi Sultanat (1206-1526). New Delhi: Har-Anand Publications Pvt. Ltd, Part- 1 (3^rdedition), 2004, pp. 17-18.

17. Samuel Beal, 2012,Op. Cit.,p. 164.

18. Samuel Beal, 1884,Op. Cit.,Vol. 1,p. 114.

19. V.S.Agrawala, Op. Cit., p-9.

20. Samuel Beal, 1884,Op. Cit., Vol. 1, p. 119-136.

21. Ibid.

22. Ibid.

23. Alexander Cunningham, Op. Cit., p. 138.

24. Thomas Watters, Op. Cit., p. 241.

25. Samuel Beal, 1884, Op. Cit., Vol. 1, p. 143.

26. Thomas Watters, 'On Yuan Chwang's Travels in India 639-645 AD’ edited by T.W. Rhys Davids and S.W. Bushell. London: Royal Asiatic Society, Vol. 1, 1904, p. 249.

27. Muhammed Hameed, In Search of the Buddhist City of Singhapura: The capital of the Salt Range in the 7^th Century, An Old Problem Reinvestigated. Researchgate, Ancient Punjab- Volume 6, 2018, pp. 45-75.

28. Alexander Cunningham, Op. Cit.,p. 103.

29. Ibid. p. 128.

30. Ibid. p. 129.

31. Samuel Beal, 1884,Op. Cit.,Vol. 1, p. 165.

32. Alexander Cunningham, Op. Cit.,p. 150.

33. Thomas Watters, Op. Cit.,p. 286.

34. B.C. Law, Sakala: An AncientIndian City.East and West, Vol. 19, No. 3/4 (September-December 1969),pp. 401-409.

35. B.A. Litvinsky and others (ed.),History of Civilization of Central Asia: The Crossroads of Civilization (AD. 250 to 750).Paris: UNESCO,1996, Vol. 3,p. 145.

36. K. M.Ganguly, The Mahabharata (Trans.). New Delhi: Manoharlal Publishers Pvt. Ltd, 2012, Section-44.

37. A. U. Khan, ‘Evaluating the last remnants of Butea monosperma (Lam.) Kuntze Forest for their in-situ conservation: A Case Study.’ Environment Monit Assess. Springer. November 2010 issue. DOI https://doi.org/10.1007/s10661-009-1224-y

38. Samuel Beal, 1884,Op. Cit.,Vol. 1, p. 166.

39. Alexander Cunningham, The Ancient Geography of India. New Delhi: Munshiram Manoharlal Publishers Pvt. Ltd, 1924,pp.227.-230.

40. Ibid.

41. Ibid.

42. Thomas Watters, Op. Cit., p. 298.

43. Alexander Cunningham, Op. Cit.,p. 137.

44. Samuel Beal, 1884, Op. Cit.,Vol. 1, pp.176-177.

45. Samuel Beal, 1884, Op. Cit.,Vol. 1, pp. 178-179.

46. Alexander Cunningham, Op. Cit.,p. 166.

47. Thomas Watters, Op. Cit.,p. 253.

48. Samuel Beal, 1884, Op. Cit., Vol. 2, p. 274.

49. Jean Fairley, The Lion River: The Indus. London: Allen Lane, 1975, p. 233.

50. Samuel Beal, 1884, Op. Cit., Vol. 2, p. 275.