Buddhist records of the Western world (Xuanzang)
by Samuel Beal | 1884 | 224,928 words | ISBN-10: 8120811070
This is the English translation of the travel records of Xuanzang (or, Hiuen Tsiang): a Chinese Buddhist monk who traveled to India during the seventh century. This book recounts his documents his visit to India and neighboring countries, and reflects the condition of those countries during his time, including temples, culture, traditions and fest...
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Chapter 11 - Country of P’o-lo-hih-mo-pu-lo (Brahmapura)
Note: Cunningham identifies Brahmapura with British Garhwāl and Kumāun (Anc. Geog. of India, p. 356).
This kingdom is about 4000 li in circuit, and surrounded on all sides by mountains. The chief town is about 20 li round. It is thickly populated, and the householders are rich. The soil is rich and fertile; the lands are sown and reaped in their seasons. The country produces teou-shih (native copper) and rock crystal. The climate is rather cold; the people are hardy and uncultivated. Few of the people attend to literature—most of them are engaged in commerce.
The disposition of the men is of a savage kind. There are heretics mixed with believers in Buddha. There are five saṅghārāmas, which contain a few priests. There are ten Deva temples, in which persons of different opinions dwell together.
This country is bounded on the north by the great Snowy Mountains, in the midst of which is the country called Su-fa-la-na-kiu-ta-lo (Suvarṇagotra).[1] From this country comes a superior sort of gold, and hence the name. It is extended from east to west, and contracted from north to south. It is the same as the country of the "eastern women."[2] For ages a woman has been the ruler, and so it is called the kingdom of the women. The husband of the reigning woman is called king, but he knows nothing about the affairs of the state. The men manage the wars and sow the land, and that is all. The land produces winter wheat and much cattle, sheep, and horses. The climate is extremely cold (icy). The people are hasty and impetuous.
On the eastern side this country is bordered by the Fan kingdom (Tibet), on the west by San-po-ho (Sampaha or Malasa (?)), on the north by Khotan.
Going south-east from Mo-ti-pu-lo 400 li or so, we come to the country of Kiu-pi-shwong-na.
Footnotes and references:
[1]:
In Chinese "Kin-shi", "golden people." Below it is said that San-po-ho was limited on the west by Su-fa-la-na-kiu-to-lo (Suvarṇagotra, called also the kingdom of women), which itself touched on the east the country of T'u-fan (Tibet), and on the north the kingdom of Yu-tien (Khotan). Suvarṇagotra is here placed on the frontier of Brahmapura.
[2]:
There is a country of the "western women" named by Hiuen Tsiang in Book xi. See also Yule's Marco Polo, vol. ii. p. 397.