Page:The Ancient Geography of India.djvu/303

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WESTERN INDIA. 257


Musikani Alor.

From the territory of the Sogdi or Sodra, Alexander continued his voyage down the Indus to the capital of a king named Musikanus, according to Strabo, Dio- dorus, and Arrian,* or of a people named Musicani, according to Curtius.† From Arrian we learn that this kingdom had been described to Alexander as "the richest and most populous throughout all India;" and from Strabo we get the account of Onesikritus that "the country produced everything in abundance;" which shows that the Greeks them- selves must have been struck with its fertility. Now these statements can apply only to the rich and powerful kingdom of Upper Sindh, of which Alor is known to have been the capital for many ages. Where distances are not given, and names disagree, it is difficult to determine the position of any place from a general description, unless there are some pe- culiarities of site or construction, or other properties which may serve to fix its identity. In the present instance we have nothing to guide us but the general description that the kingdom of Musikanus was “the richest and most populous throughout all India." But as the native histories and traditions of Sindh agree in stating that Alor was the ancient metropolis of the country, it seems almost certain that it must be the capital of Musikanus, otherwise this famous city would be altogether unnoticed by Alexander's historians, which is highly improbable, if not quite impos-

  • Strabo, Geogr., xv. i. 22-34 and 54. Diodorus, xvii. 10. Arrian,

"Anabasis,' vi. 15. † Vita Alex., ix. 8.

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