The Ancient Geography of India/Kanoj
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11. Kanoj
[p.376]: From Sangkisa Hwen Thsang proceeded to Kanoj, a distance of 200 li, or 33 miles, in a north-west direction. As the positi]]ons of both places are well known, we must correct the bearing to south-east, and the distance to 300 li, or 50 miles. The latter correction is supported by Fa-Hian, who makes the distance 7 yojanas, or 49 miles.[1] In the seventh century the kingdom is said to have been 4000 li, or 667 miles, in circuit. This estimate, as I have already observed, must certainly have included some of the petty districts to the north of the Ganges, as well as those in the Lower Gangetic Doab, otherwise the actual boundary of Kanoj proper would scarcely exceed 200 miles. Taking Hwen Thsang's estimate of 667 miles as approximately correct, the probable limits of the province of Kanoj must have included all the country between Khairabad and Tanda, on the Ghagra, and Etawa and Allahabad, on the Jumna, which would give a circuit of about 600 miles.
Of the great city of Kanoj, which for many hundred years was the Hindu capital of northern India, the existing remains are few and unimportant. In A.D. 1016, when Mahmud of Ghazni approached Kanoj, the historian relates that "he there saw a city which raised its head to the skies, and which in strength and structure might justly boast to have no equal."[2] Just one century earlier, or in A.D. 915, Kanoj is mentioned by Masudi as the capital of one of the kings of India ; and about A.D. 900 Abu Zaid, on the authority of Ibn Wahab, calls " Kaduje a great city in the king-
[p.377]: dom of Gozar." At a still earlier date, in A.D. 634, we have the account of the Chinese pilgrim Hwen Thsang, who describes Kanoj as being 20 li, or 3½ miles, in length, and 4 or 5 li, or 3/4 of a mile in breadth.[1] The city was surrounded by strong walls and deep ditches, and was washed by the Ganges along its eastern face. The last fact is corroborated by Fa-Hian, who states that the city touched the river Heng, or Ganges, when he visited it in A.D. 400. Kanoj is also mentioned by Ptolemy, about A.D. 140, as KανoΎίξα. But the earliest notice of the place is undoubtedly the old familiar legend of the Puranas, which refers the Sanskrit name of Kanyakubja, or the "hump-backed maiden," to the curse of the sage Vayu on the hundred daughters of Kusanaba.
At the time of Hwen Thsang's visit, Kanoj was the capital of Raja Harsha Vardhana, the most powerful sovereign in Northern India. The Chinese pilgrim calls him a Fei-she, or Vaisya, but it seems probable that he must have mistaken the Vaisa, or Bais Rajput for the Vaisya, or Bais, which is the name of the mercantile class of the Hindus ; otherwise Harsha Vardhana's connection by marriage with the Rajput families of Malwa and Balabhi would have been quite impossible. Baiswara, the country of the Bais Rajputs, extends from the neighbourhood of Lucknow to Khara-Manikpur, and thus comprises nearly the whole of Southern Oudh. The Bais Rajputs claim descent from the famous Salivahan, whose capital is said to have been Daundia-Khera, on the north bank of the Ganges. Their close proximity to Kanoj is in favour of the sovereignty which they claim for their ancestors
- ↑ Julien's ' Hiouen Thsang,' ii. 243. See Map No. X.
[p.378]: over the whole of the Gangetic Doab, from Delhi to Allahabad. But their genealogical lists are too imperfect, and most probably also too incorrect, to enable us to identify any of their recorded ancestors with the princes of Harsha Vardhana's family.
In determining the period of Harsha's reign between the years607 and 650 A.D., I have been guided by the following evidence : —
1 st', the date of his death is fixed by the positive statement of Hwen Thsang in the year 650 A.D. ;[1]
2nd, in speaking of Harsha's career, the pilgrim records that from the time of his accession, Harsha was engaged in continual war for 5½ years, and that afterwards for about 30 years he reigned in peace. This statement is repeated by Hwen Thsang when on his return to China, on the authority of the king himself, who informed him that he had then reigned for upioards of 30 years, and that the quinquennial assembly then collected was the sixth which he had convoked. From these different statements, it is certain that at the date of Hwen Thsang's return to China, in A.D. 640, Harsha had reigned upwards of 30 years, and somewhat less than 35 years; his accession must, therefore, be placed between A.D. 605 and 610;
3rd, now, in the middle of this very period, in A.D. 607, as we learn from Abu Rihan, was established the Sri Harsha era, which was still prevalent in Mathura and Kauoj in the beginning of the eleventh century.[2] Considering the exact
- ↑ In Appendix A, at the end of the Chronological Table of Hwen Thsang's route, I have brought forward strong reasons for believing that the true date of the death of Harsha Vardhana was A.D. 648, which is the year given by Ma-twan-lin, on the authority of the Chinese ambassador, who visited India immediately after the king's death.
- ↑ Reinaud, ' Fragments,' p. 139.
[p.379]: agreement of the names and dates, it is impossible to avoid coming to the conclusion that the Harsha who established an era in Kanoj in A.D. 607 was the great King Harsha Vardhana, who reigned at Kanoj during the first half of the seventh century.
In comparing Hwen Thsang's description of ancient Kanoj with the existing remains of the city, I am obliged to confess with regret that I have not been able to identify even one solitary site with any certainty ; so completely has almost every trace of Hindu occupation been obliterated by the Musalmans. According to the traditions of the people, the ancient city extended from the shrine of Haji Harmayan on the north, near the Raj Ghat, to the neighbourhood of Miranka Sarai on the south, a distance of exactly 3 miles. Towards the west it is said to have reached to Kapatya and Makarandnagar, two villages on the high-road, about 3 miles from Haji Harmayan. On the east the boundary was the old bed of the Ganges, or Chhota Ganga as the people call it, although it is recorded in our maps as the Kali Nadi. Their account is that the Kali, or Kalindri Nadi, formerly joined the Ganges near Sangirampur or Sangrampur ; but that several hundred years ago the great river took a more northerly course from that point, while the waters of the Kali Nadi continued to flow down the deserted channel. As an open channel still exists between Sangrampur and the Kali Nadi, I am satisfied that the popular account is correct, and that the stream which flows under Kanoj, from Sangrampur to Mhendi Ghat, although now chiefly filled with the waters of the Kali Nadi, was originally the main channel of the Ganges. The accounts of Fa-Hian and Hwen Thsang, who place Kanoj on the
[p.380]: Ganges, are therefore confirmed, not only by the traditions of the people, but also by the fact that the old channel still exists under the name of the Chota Ganga or Little Ganges.
The modern town of Kanoj occupies only the north end of the site of the old city, including the whole of what is now called the Kilah, or citadel. The boundaries are well defined by the shrine of Haji-Harmayan on the north, the tomb of Taj-Baj on the south-west, and the Masjid and tomb of Makhdum-Jahaniya on the south-east. The houses are much scattered, especially inside the citadel, so that though the city still covers nearly one square mile, yet the population barely exceeds 16,000 in number. The citadel, which occupies all the highest ground, is triangular in shape, its northern point being the shrine Haji-Harmayan, its south-west point the temple of Ajay Pal and its south-cast point the large bastion called Kshem Kali Burj. Each of the faces is about 4000 feet in length, that to the north-west being protected by the bed of the nameless dry Nala, that to the north-east by the Chota Ganga while that to the south must have been Covered by a ditch, which is now one of the main roads of the city, running along the foot of the mound from the bridge below Ajay Pal's temple to the Kshem Kali bastion. On the north-east face the mound rises to 60 and 70 feet in height above the low ground on the bank of the river, and towards the Nala on the north-west it still maintains a height of from 40 to feet. On the southern side, however, it is not more than 30 feet immediately below the temple of Ajay Pl, but it increases to 40 feet below the tomb of Bala Pir. The situation is a commanding one, and
[p.381]: before the use of cannon the height alone must have made Kanoj a strong and important position. The people point out the sites of two gates, the first to the north, near the shrine of Haji Harmayan and the second to the south-east, close to the Kshem Kali Burj. But as both of these gates lead to the river, it is certain that there must have been a third gate on the land side towards the south-west, and the most probable position seems to be immediately under the walls of the Rang Mahal, and close to the temple of Ajay Pal.
According to tradition, the ancient city contained 84 wards or Mahalas, of which 25 are still existing within the limits of the present town. If we take the area of these 25 wards at three-quarters of a square mile, the 84 wards of the ancient city would have covered just 2½ square miles. Now, this is the very size that is assigned to the old city by Hwen Thsang, who makes its length 20 li, or 3½ miles, and its breadth 4 or 5 li, or just three-quarters of a mile, which multiplied together give just 2½ square miles. Almost the same limits may be determined from the sites of the existing ruins, which are also the chief find-spots of the old coins with which Kanoj abounds. According to the dealers, the old coins are found at Bala Pir and Rang Mahal, inside the fort ; at Makhduum-Jahaniya, to the south-east of the fort ; or Makarandnagar on the high-road ; and intermediately at the small villages of Singh Bhawani and Kutlupur. The only other productive site is said to be Rajgir, an ancient mound covered with brick ruins on the bank of the Chota Ganga, three miles to the south-east of Kanoj. Taking all these evidences into consideration, it appears to me almost
[p.382]: certain that the ancient city of Hwen Thsang's time must have extended from Haji-Harmayan and the Kshem-Kali Burj, on the bank of the Ganges (now the Chota Ganga), in a south-west direction, to Makarandnagar, on the Grand Trunk Road, a length of just three miles, with a general breadth of about one mile or somewhat less. Within these limits are found all the ruins that still exist to point out the position of the once famous city of Kanoj.