Page:The Ancient Geography of India.djvu/403
CENTRAL INDIA. 855
punishment of being born again in an inferior state,
which was due to their crimes. I should prefer read-
ing Subhadra, which has the same meaning as Ma-
hâbhadrâ, as Ktesias mentions that the great Indian
river was named ὕπαρχος, which he translates by φέρων
πάντα τὰ ἀγαθὰ.[1] Pliny quoting Ktesias calls the river
Hypobarus, which he renders by "omnia in se ferre
bona."[2] A nearly similar word, Oibares, is rendered by
Nicolas of Damascus as ȧyabáyyeλos. I infer, there-
fore, that the original name obtained by Ktesias was
most probably Subhadrâ.
5. BRAHMAPURA.
On leaving Madâwar, Hwen Thsang travelled north- ward for 300 li, or 50 miles, to Po-lo-ki-mo-pu-lo, which M. Julien correctly renders as Brahmapura. Another reading gives Po-lo-hi-mo-lo,[3] in which the syllable pu is omitted, perhaps by mistake. The northern bearing is certainly erroneous, as it would have carried the pilgrim across the Ganges and back again into Srughna. We must therefore read north-east, in which direction lie the districts of Garhwâl and Kumaon that once formed the famous kingdom of the Katyuri dynasty. That this is the country intended by the pilgrim is proved by the fact that it produced copper, which must refer to the well-known copper mines of Dhanpur and Pokhri in Garhwal, which have been worked from a very early date. Now the ancient capital of the Katyuri Rajas was at Lakhanpur or Fairát-pattan on the Râmgangâ river, about 80 miles in a direct line from Madawar. If we might take the measurement
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