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The walls of the capital were several tens of feet high, and the foundations of the wall were raised on a lofty embankment, so that by their high escarpment, they could defy the attack of enemies. Passing through other places, our traveller came to PUNDRA or Pundra Vardhana, corresponding with Northern Bengal. The kingdom is described as 800, miles in circuit and was thickly populated. The tanks and public offices and flowering woods were regularly connected at intervals. The soil was flat and loamy, and! rich in all kinds of grain produce. The bread fruit though plentiful was highly esteemed. There were about 20 Sangharamas and 300 priests, and some hundred Deva temples with sectaries of various schools. The naked Nirgranthas were the most numerous. 104 BUDDHIST PERIOD. [BOOK IV. To. the east, and beyond a great river (the Brahma- putra) was the powerful kingdom of KAMAROPA 2,000 miles in circuit. It apparently included in those times ‘modern Assam, Manipur and Kachar, Mymensing and Sylhet. The soil was rich and was cultivated, and grew cocoanuts and bread fruit in abundance. Water Jed from rivers or banked up reservoirs flowed round towns, The climate was soft and temperate, the man- ners of. the people simple and honest. The men were of small stature, of a dark yellow complexion, and spoke a language different from that of mid-India. They were however impetuous, with very retentive memories, and very earnest in their studies, . The people had no faith in Buddha and adored and . bacrificed to the Devas, and there were about a hundred i Deva temples. Of Buddhist Sanghérdmas, there were ‘none. The king was a. Brahman by caste, Bhaskara Varman. by name, and had the title of Kum4ra. Our readers. will remember that Houen Tsang was intro- duced by this king to the great Siladitya of Kanovj. South of the Kamardpa kingdom was SAMATATA (iterally \evel country) or East Bengal. The kingdom was 600 miles in circuit; the lands were low and rich and regularly cultivated, and produced crops and fruits in plenty. The capital was 4 miles in circuit. The men were small in stature and black in complexion, but hardy, and fond of learning and diligent in its acquisi- tion ;—a description which applies to the people of East "CHAP. VIL] HOUEN TSANG’S ACCOUNT. 105 Bengal to the present day. There were some 30 Sang- haramas and about 2,000 monks, and some hundred Deva temples. The naked ascetics Nirgranthas were numerous. ’ Next to Samatata was the kingdom of Tamra LIPTI, 2¢., Tumlook country or South-West Bengal, in- cluding modern Midnapur. The country was 300 miles in circuit, and the capital was a seaport.. The people were hardy and brave, but quick and hasty, The coast of the country was formed bya recess of the sea, and wonderful articles of value and gems were collected here, and the people were rich. There were ten Sang- haramas and fifty Deva temples. . Houen Tsang then speaks of the KARNA SUVARNA kingdom, supposed to be Western Béngal including modern Murshedabad. We have seen that it was Sas- ° anka, the king of this country, who defeated ard killed. the elder brother of the great Siladitya of Kanouj. The country was 300 miles in circuit and thickly populated and the people were fond of learning, and honest and amiable. The soil was regularly cultivated, and the cli- mate was agreeable. There were 10 Sangharamas and fifty Deva temples. The reader will perceive from the foregoing account. that Bengal proper (ze., excluding Behar and Orissa) was divided in those days into five great kingdoms. Northern Bengal was Pundra; Assam and North-East formed Adimaripa; Eastern Bengal was Samatata ; 106. BUDDHIST PERIOD. [BOOK Iv. South-West Bengal was 7émralzpii ; and Western Ben- gal was Karna Suvarna. WHouen 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 Sangh4radmas with about 1000 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 Sanghérama called Pushpagiri on a great mountain on the south-west frontiers of the country, and it is said a stone StOpa of this Sangh4arama 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. Bs To the south-east there was a great seaport called ; Charitra. “Here it is that merchants depart for dis- CHAP. VIL] 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 KaLinca. 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 Megas- 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 Godavari. 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 Nagarjuna and of the king Sadvaha who tunnelled out a rock and fixed therein a Sanghdrama for his. dwelling. Neither Fa Hian nor Houen Tsang ‘CHAP, VIL] 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 Sangh4rama the Buddhist priests fell out among themselves, and went away to the king, and the Brahmans 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 Ujjayint 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 capital Yio 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.