16. The village of Rama is the same as the Ramaganio of the Cingalese collection. The two Chinese pilgrims in their relations call that place Lan-mo. Can it be that the modern Ramnagar is indicative of the ancient Ramaganio? At all events we would not be far from the truth if we place it between the Gogra and the Rapti, but nearer to the latter, almost due west of Goruckpore.
17. The Pawa town is supposed by A. Cunningham to have occupied the same site as the large village of Padarawana, twelve miles to the west of the river Gunduck, and forty miles north-north-east of Goruckpore. A large mound of more than 200 feet in length by 120 in breadth exists in that locality. From the excavations made on the place, it is supposed that there was a courtyard, with cells for monks, on each side, the centre being, as was often the case, occupied by a dzedi. The people of Pawa obtained one-eighth of the relics, after the cremation of Buddha’s remains, and built one dzedi over them.
18. Kapilawot, or Kapilawastu, was situated between Fyzabad and Goruckpore, but a little nearer to the latter place. It was on or near the banks of the Gogra. The small river Rohini formed the boundary between the territory of Kapilawot and that of Kaulia.
19. Gaya and Buddha-Gaya are two distinct places. The first is well known as the town of Gaya. The second lies six miles southward, and is famous as the locality of the Pipal or Bodi tree, under which Gaudama obtained the Buddhahood. A tree of the same description is still to be seen on the same spot. The present one was in full vigour in 1811, when Dr. Buchanan saw it. He describes it as not being more than a hundred years old. A. Cunningham says that it is now much decayed. One large stem with three branches on the westward side are still green; but the other branches are barkless and rotten. Hwen Thsang, in his itinerary, speaks of an early renewal of that tree by King Purna Varmma, after its destruction by King Sasangka, who, with a true Brahminical and inimical feeling, dug up the very ground on which it had stood, and moistened the earth with sugar-cane juice, to prevent its renewal. The same eminent archæologist describes a massive brick temple, standing east of the Bodi tree, and with great plausibility maintains that it is the same which has been described by the above-named Chinese pilgrim. As Fa-Hian is silent respecting that temple, A. Cunningham concludes that it was erected during the sixth century of the Christian era, when Buddhism, under the favour of King Amara-sinha and some of his successors, regained a vigorous ascendancy at least in Magatha. It is probable that all the temples, the ruins of which have been examined at Buddha-Gaya, Nalanda, and Behar, having a similarity in architectural plans and ornaments, were erected during the sixth and a part of the seventh century of our era. The inference therefrom is that Buddhism was flourishing in Magatha at that period. Hwen Thsang, who has visited and described those monuments in or about 625, speaks of them in the highest terms. How long lasted the prosperous days of Buddhism in those parts? It is difficult to state with any degree of accuracy. But it seems probable that it maintained itself in a satisfactory condition until the beginning of the tenth century. It had then to give way before the irresistible and triumphant ascendancy of Brahminism.
To the south-east of the great temple is a small tank which is probably that of the Naga, who protected Buddha during one of the several stations that he made round the Bodi tree.
20. Anawadat is the name of a lake famous in Buddhist sacred history. Its etymological meaning is, agreeably to some savans, exempt of tumult, and, according to others, not brightened. This last appellation is owing probably to the high peaks that surround it and prevent its being brightened by the rays of the sun. This is certainly the famous and extensive lake, which covers a portion of the high table-land of Pamir. It has been visited and described by Lieutenant Wood. What he states from a careful observation on the spot agrees well with what is found in the itineraries of the Chinese travellers. From that high plateau which embosoms the lake flows in an eastern direction one of those small streams that form the river Ganges; whilst, in an opposite direction, the Oxus, issuing from the western slope, shapes its course nearly towards the west.
21. Udiana is a country the position of which is fixed on the banks of the Indus, between Cabul and Cashmere, west of the latter country. Gandara is, it appears, the country called Candahar by the Mussulmans, lying between the Swat and the Indus. The Burmese author mentions always Kashmera along with Gandara. This would indicate that the two places are in the vicinity of each other, and that they formed primitively one and the same state. Yaunaka is perhaps the peninsula of Guzerat. But the writer entertains serious doubts on this subject. It might be the countries situated west of the Hindu Kush, that is to say, the ancient Bactriana. The Burmese author states that Yaunaka was inhabited by a people called Pantsays. What people were they? Is it an allusion to the Greeks that had settled in Bactriana? It is not without interest to hear our Chinese traveller stating that religion was flourishing in the above-mentioned countries, whilst in the Punjaub he met with religious with whom he declined holding intercourse, and of whom he speaks in rather unfavourable terms. Hence we may conclude that heretical opinions were then prevailing in that country, and that doctrines at variance with those of Buddha had already taken a deep root, and in their growth almost choked genuine Buddhism, if it had ever been the prevailing creed in the land of the five rivers.
22. On his way down the Ganges, our pilgrim does not appear to have left his boat for any considerable time; he contents himself with mentioning a fact that to some may appear somewhat doubtful, viz., the flourishing condition of the Buddhist religion as far as the neighbourhood of the present metropolis of India. He speaks of the kingdom of Champa. Campapuri, or Karnapura, was the capital of that state. It was situated on the site of the present Bhagulpore, or not far from it. Thence Fa-Hian came to the state of Tamaralipti. The town which bore that name is the modern Tumlook, on the right bank of the Hoogly, not far from Calcutta. It was at that port that he embarked on board of a ship bound to Ceylon. Tamaralipti must have been a famous sea-port several centuries before Fa-Hian’s days. We are informed that Maheinda and his companions, who were appointed to proceed to Ceylon to preach Buddhism to the people of that island, embarked at the same place.