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Houen Tsang's account of Northern India ends with Bengal ; we will now accom- pany our esteemed guide to Southern India. The kingdom of Udra or Orissa was 1,400 miles in circuit, and had its capital near modern Jajpur five miles round. The soil was rich and fertile, and produced every variety of grain and many strange shrubs and flowers. The people however were uncivi- lized, of a yellowish black complexion, and spoke a language different from that of Central India. They were however fond of learning, and their country was a stronghold of Buddhism declining elsewhere in India. It had some hundred Sangharamas with about 10,000 monks, and only fifty Deva temples. Already Orissa was a great place of pilgrimage, though the temple of Puri had not yet been built. There was a Sangh&rama called Pushpagiri on a great mountain on the south-west frontiers of the country, and it is said a stone Stupa of this Sangharama emit- ted a strange light. Buddhists from far and near came to this place and presented beautifully embroidered umbrellas, and placed them under a vase at the top of the cupola and let them stand as needles in the stone. The custom of planting flags prevails in Jagannatha to the present day. To the south-east there was a great seaport called Charitra. " Here it is that merchants depart for dis- Digitized by Google CHAP. VII.] HOUEN TSANG'S ACCOUNT. 107 tant countries and strangers come and go and stop here on their way. The walls of the city are strong and lofty. Here are found all sorts of rare and precious articles." South- West of Orissa was the kingdom of KaNYODHA on the Chilka Lake. The people were brave and impul- sive, but black and dirty. They had some degree of politeness and were tolerably honest, and used the same written characters as in mid-India, but their pronun- ciation was quite different. Buddhism was not much followed here ; Hinduism prevailed. The nation was a powerful one ; their cities were strong and high, their soldiers brave and daring, and they ruled neighbouring provinces by force, and no one could resist them. As their country bordered on the sea, the people obtained many rare and valuable articles and used cowrie shells and pearls in commer- cial transactions. Elephants were used in drawing con- veyances. To the south-west of this, and beyond a vast jungle, lay the ancient kingdom of Kalinga. The kingdom was 1,000 miles in circuit, and its capital five miles round. The soil was fertile and regularly cultivated, but there were many jungles with wild elephants in them. The people, though impetuous and rough and uncivilized, were trustworthy and kept their word. Such was Kalinga when Houen Tsang saw it, but our readers will remember that in the time of Mcgas- Digitized by Google 108 BUDDHIST PERIOD. [BOOK IV. thenes the power and the empire of Kalinga stretch- ed along the entire seaboard from Bengal to the mouths of the Godavdrf. The memory of their great- ness still survived, for Houen Tsang says : " In old days the kingdom of Kalinga had a very dense population ; their shoulders rubbed one with the other, and the axles of their chariot wheels girded together." But the palmy days of Kalinga were gone, and new king- doms in Bengal and Orissa had arisen out of the fragments of their ancient empire. Such has always been the history of India. Kingdoms and races have risen in power and civilization and declined again by turns; but still the vast confederation of Hindu nations had a political unity, a cohesion in religion, language and civilization, which made India one great country in ancient times. To the north-west of Kalinga, through forests'and crags, the way lay to Kosala, corresponding to modern Berar. The kingdom was 1,000 miles round, and the capital eight miles. The towns and villages were close together and the population was dense. The people were tall, black, violent, impetuous and brave, and were partly Buddhists and partly Hindus. In connexion of these southern Kosalas (who must be distinguished from those of Oude), Houen Tsang speaks of the famous Bud- dhist writer NigSrjuna and of the king Sad vaha who tunnelled out a rock and fixed therein a Sangh&duna for his dwelling. Neither Fa Hian nor Houen Tsang zed by Google CHAP. VII.} HOUEN TSANG'S ACCOUNT. 109 personally visited this rock-cut monastery, but both speak of it, and it must have been very celebrated in their times. The king Sadvaha, we are told, " tunnelled out this rock through the middle, and built and fixed therein a Sangharama. At a distance of some 10 li (two miles) by tunnelling he opened a covered way. Thus by standing under the rock we see the cliffs excavated throughout, and in the midst of long galleries with caves for walking under and high towers, the storeyed building reaching to the height of five stages, each stage with four halls, with Viharas enclosed." We are told that in this Sangharama the Buddhist priests fell out among themselves, and went away to the king, and the Brihmans took advantage of this, and destroyed the Sangharama and barricaded the place. Our traveller next came to the ancient country of the Andhras who had developed their civilization and extended their empire in Southern India several cen- turies before Christ, and who had at a later period held the supreme power in Magadha and in India. The Guptas and the Ujjayini kings had since assumed that supremacy, and the Andhras of the seventh century were a feeble power. Their kingdom was only 600 miles in circuit and was regularly cultivated. • The people were fierce and impulsive. There were 20 Sangharamas and 30 Deva temples. South of this country was Dhanakataka or the Great Andhra country, 1,200 miles in circuit, with a capita! Digitized by Google no BUDDHIST PERIOD. [BOOK IV. town eight miles round, which has been identified with modern Bejwada. The soil was rich and produced abun- dant harvests, but there was much desert in the country and the towns were thinly populated. The people were yellowish-black, fierce and impulsive, but fond of learn- ing. The old monasteries were mostly deserted and in ruins, only about 90 were inhabited, while a hundred Deva temples had numerous followers. Houen Tsang speaks of two great mountain monas- teries, to the east and to the west of the city, called Purvasili and Aparasild, built by a former king in honor of Buddha. " He hollowed the valley, made a road, opened the mountain crags, constructed pavilions and long galleries ; and wide chambers supported the heights and connected the caverns. * * But for the last hundred years there have been no priests." Dr. Fergusson identifies the western convent with the great Amaravati tope which has been discovered and exca- vated since 1796 A. D. Dr. Burgess concludes from an inscription on the stones that the Amar&vati Stupa was either already built or was being built in the second century A. D., if not earlier. South- West from Great Andhra was the kingdom of CHOLA, 500 miles in circuit, but deserted and wild. The population was sparse, troups of brigands ravaged the open country, and the people were dissolute and cruel. Further to the south was the kingdom of DrAvida 1,200 miles in circuit, with its capital the famed town of Digitized by Google CHAP. VII.] HOUEN TSANG'S ACCOUNT. Ill Kanchi or Kdnchipura, which has been identified with modern Conjiveram. The soil was fertile and regularly cultivated, and the people were brave, truthful, honest, and fond of learning, and used the language of Middle India. There were somehundred Sanghardmasand 10,000 priests. Further south from Dr&vida was the kingdom of MALlKftTA which Dr. Burnell identifies with the delta of the Kiveri river. The men were dark in complexion, firm and impetuous, not fond of learning but wholly given to commercial pursuits. South of this country were the famed Malaya mountains, the southern por- tions of the Malabar Ghats, which produced sandal wood and camphor. To the east of this range was Mount Potalaka, where the Buddhist spirit or saint Avalokitesvara, worshipped by Northern Buddhists in Thibet, China and Japan, was supposed sometimes to take his abode. Houen Tsang did not visit CEYLON, but nevertheless gives an account of that island with its rich vegetation, its extensive cultivation and its teeming population. He narrates legends about Sinha or lion, about Riksha- sas, and about Mahendra the brother of Asoka who in- troduced Buddhism into the island ; and there were 100 convents and 20,000 priests in Houen Tsang's time. He speaks of the coast as being rich in gems and pre- cious stones, and of Mount Lankd to the south-east of the island. Digitized by Google 112 BUDDHIST PERIOD. [BOOK IV. Travelling northwards from Dravida, Houen Tsang came to KONKAN, 10,000 miles in circuit, fertile and regularly cultivated. The people were black, fierce and ardent in disposition, but esteemed learning. North- West from Konkan, and across a great forest infested by wild beasts and robbers, was the great country Maharashtra, 1,000 miles in circuit. The soil was rich and regularly cultivated, and the people were honest, but stern and vindictive. " To their bene* factors they are grateful, to their enemies relentless. If they are insulted, they will risk their lives to avenge themselves. If they are asked to help one in distress, they will forget themselves in their haste to render assistance. If they are going to seek revenge, they first give their enemy warning, then each being armed, they attack each other with spears. If a gen- eral loses a battle, they do not inflict punishment, but present him with woman's clothes, and so he is driven to seek death for himself. * * The king is of the Kshatriya caste, and his name is Pulakesi.