al-Biruni • Kitab al-Hind
On Geography, Cosmography, and Astronomy
CHAPTER 18
VARIOUS NOTES ON THEIR COUNTRY, THEIR RIVERS, AND THEIR OCEAN,
ITINERARIES OF THE DISTANCES BETWEEN THEIR SEVERAL KINGDOMS,
AND BETWEEN THE BOUNDARIES OF THEIR COUNTRY
[i.196] THE reader is to imagine the inhabitable world, the œcumenē (oi)koume/nh), as lying in the northern half of the Earth, and more accurately in one-half of this half (i.e. in one of the quarters of the Earth). It is surrounded by a sea, which both in west and east is called the comprehending one; the Greeks call its western part near their country ōceanus (w)keano/j). This sea separates the inhabitable world from whatever continents or inhabitable islands there may be beyond it, both towards west and east; for it is not navigable on account of the darkness of the air and the thickness of the water, because there is no more any road to be traced, and because the risk is enormous, while the profit is nothing. Therefore people of olden times have fixed marks both on the sea and its shores that are intended to deter from entering it. The inhabitable world does not reach the north on account of the cold, except in certain places where it penetrates into the north in the shape, as it were, of tongues and bays. In the south it reaches as far as the coast of the Ocean, which in west and east is connected with the comprehending Ocean. This southern Ocean is navigable. It does not form the utmost southern limit of the inhabitable world. On the con [i.197]trary, the latter stretches still more southward in the shape of large and small islands that fill the Ocean. In this southern region land and water dispute with each other their position, so that in one place the continent protrudes into the sea, while in another the sea penetrates deeply into the continent.
The continent protrudes far into the sea in the western half of the Earth, and extends its shores far into the south. On the plains of this continent live the western Negroes, whence the slaves are brought; and there are the Mountains of the Moon, and on them are the sources of the Nile. On its coast, and the islands before the coast, live the various tribes of the Zanj ('Blacks'). There are several bays or gulfs which penetrate into the continent on this western half of the Earth-the Bay of Berbera, that of Klysma (the Red Sea), and that of Persia (the Persian Gulf)-and between these gulfs the western continent protrudes more or less into the Ocean.
In the eastern half of the Earth, the sea penetrates as deeply into the northern continent as the continent in the western half protrudes into the southern sea, and in many places it has formed bays and estuaries which run far into the continent-bays being parts of the sea, estuaries being the outlets of rivers towards the sea. This sea is mostly called from some island in it or from the coast that borders it. Here, however, we are concerned only with that part of the sea that is bordered by the continent of India, and therefore is called the Indian Ocean.
As to the orographic configuration of the inhabitable world, imagine a range of towering mountains like the vertebrae of a pine stretching through the middle latitude of the Earth, and in longitude from east to west, passing through China, Tibet, the country of the Turks, Kabul, Badhakhshān, Ṭokhāristān, Bāmiyān, Elghōr, Khurāsān, Media, Azerbaijan, Armenia, the (Byzantine) Roman [i.198] Empire, the country of the Franks, and of the Gallicians (Jalāliḳa). Long as this range is, it has also a considerable breadth, and, besides, many windings that enclose inhabited plains watered by streams, which descend from the mountains both towards north and south. One of these plains is India, limited in the south by the above-mentioned Indian Ocean, and on all three other sides by the lofty mountains, the waters of which flow down to it. But if you have seen the soil of India with your own eyes and meditate on its nature-if you consider the rounded stones found in the earth however deeply you dig, stones that are huge near the mountains and where the rivers have a violent current; stones that are of smaller size at greater distance from the mountains, and where the streams flow more slowly; stones that appear pulverized in the shape of sand where the streams begin to stagnate near their mouths and near the sea-if you consider all this, you could scarcely help thinking that India has once been a sea which by degrees has been filled up by the alluvium of the streams.
The middle of India is the country round Kanoj (Kanyākubja), which they call Madhyadeśa ('Middle Realm'). It is the middle or center from a geographical point of view, in so far as it lies half way between the sea and the mountains, in the midst between the hot and the cold provinces, and also between the eastern and western frontiers of India. But it is a political centre too, because in former times it was the residence of their most famous heroes and kings. The country of Sindh lies to the west of Kanoj. In marching from our country to Sindh we start from the country of Nīmrōz (Sijistān), while marching to Hind (India proper) we start from the side of Kabul. This, however, is not the only possible road. You may march into India from all sides, supposing that you can remove the obstacles in the way. [i.199] In the mountains that form the frontier of India towards the west, there are tribes of the Hindus or of people near akin to them-rebellious savage races-that extend as far as the farthermost frontiers of the Hindu race.
Kanoj lies to the west of the Ganges, a very large town, but most of it is now in ruins and desolate since the capital has been transferred thence to the city of Bārī, east of the Ganges. Between the two towns there is a distance of three to four days' marches.
As Kanoj (Kanyākubja) has become famous by the children of Pāṇḍu, the city of Māhūra (Mathurā) has become famous by Vāsudēva. It lies east of the river Jaun (Yamunā). The distance between Māhūra and Kanoj is 28 farsakh.
Tānēshar (Sthānēśvara) lies between the two rivers to the north both of Kanoj and Māhūra, at a distance of nearly 80 farsakh from Kanoj, and nearly 50 farsakh from Māhūra.
The river Ganges rises in the mountains that have already been mentioned. Its source is called Gaṅgādvāra. Most of the other rivers of the country also rise in the same mountains, as we have already mentioned in the proper place.
As for the distances between the various parts of India, those who have not themselves actually seen them must rely upon tradition; but unfortunately it is of such a nature that already Ptolemy incessantly complains of its transmitters and their bias towards storytelling. Fortunately I have found out a certain rule by which to control their lies. The Hindus frequently estimate the burden an ox could bear at 2000 and 3000 manā (which is infinitely more than an ox could carry at once). In consequence they are compelled to let the caravan make the same march to and fro during many days-in fact, so long until the ox has carried the whole load assigned to it from one end of the route to [i.200] the other, and then they reckon as the distance between the two places a march of such a number of days as the caravan has altogether spent in marching to and fro. It is only with the greatest exertion and caution that we can to some extent correct the statements of the Hindus. However, we could not make up our mind to suppress that which we know on account of that which we do not know. We ask the reader's pardon where there is anything wrong, and now we continue.
A man marching from Kanoj to the south between the two rivers Jaun and Ganges passes the following well-known places: Jajjamau, 12 farsakh from Kanoj, (each farsakh being equal to four miles, or one kurōh); Abhāpūrī, 8farsakh; Kuraha, 8 farsakh; Barhamshil, 8farsakh; the Tree of Prayāga (Allahabad), 12 farsakh, the place where the water of the Jaun joins the Ganges, where the Hindus torment themselves with various kinds of tortures, which are described in the books about religious sects. The distance from Prayāga to the place where the Ganges flows into the sea is 12 farsakh (sic).
Other tracts of country extend from the Tree of Prayāga southward towards the coast. Arku-tīrtha, 12 farsakh from Prayāga; the realm Uwaryahār, 40 farsakh; Ūrdabīshau on the coast, 50 farsakh.
Thence along the coast towards the east there are countries that are now under the sway of Jaur; first Daraur, 40 farsakh from Ūrdabīshau; Kānji, 30 farsakh; Malaya, 40 farsakh; Kūnk, 30 farsakh, which is the last of Jaur's possessions in this direction.
Marching from Bārī along the Ganges on its eastern side, you pass the following stations: Ajodaha (Ayodhyā, Oudh), 20farsakh from Bārī; the famous Banārasī, 20 farsakh.
Thence changing the direction, and marching eastward instead of southward, you come to Sharwār, 35 farsakh from Banārasī; Pāṭaliputra, 20 farsakh; Mungīrī, 15 farsakh; Janpa, 30 farsakh; Dūgumpūr, [i.201] 50 farsakh; Gangāsāyara, 30 farsakh, where the Ganges flows into the sea. Marching from Kanoj towards the east, you come to Bārī, 10 farsakh; Dūgum, 45 farsakh; the Empire of Shilahat, 10 farsakh; the town Bihat, 12 farsakh. Farther on the country to the right is called Tilwat, the inhabitants Tarū, people of very black color and flat-nosed like the Turks. Thence you come to the mountains of Kāmrū, which stretch away as far as the sea. Opposite Tilwat the country to the left is the realm of Nēpāl. A man who had traveled in those countries gave me the following report:
When in Tanwat, he left the easterly direction and turned to the left. He marched to Nēpāl, a distance of 20 farsakh, most of which was ascending country. From Nēpāl he came to Bhōteshar in thirty days, a distance of nearly 80 farsakh , in which there is more ascending than descending country. And there is a body of water crossed several times on bridges consisting of planks tied with cords to two canes, which stretch from rock to rock, and are fastened to milestones constructed on either side. People carry the burdens on their shoulders over such a bridge, while below, at a depth of 100 yards, the water foams as white as snow, threatening to shatter the rocks. On the other side of the bridges, the burdens are transported on the back of goats. My reporter told me that he had there seen gazelles with four eyes; that this was not an accidental malformation of nature, but that the whole species was of this nature.
Bhōteshar is the first frontier of Tibet. There the language changes as well as the costumes and the anthropological character of the people. Thence the distance to the top of the highest peak is 20 farsakh. From the height of this mountain, India appears as a black expanse below the mist, the mountains lying below this peak like small hills, and Tibet and China [i.202] appear as red. The descent towards Tibet and China is less than one farsakh.
Marching from Kanoj towards the southeast, on the western side of the Ganges, you come to the realm of Jajāhūtī, 30 farsakh from Kanoj. The capital of the country is Kajūrāha. Between this town and Kanoj there are two of the most famous fortresses of India, Gwāliyar (Gwalior) and Kālanjar. Dahāla [ - farsakh], a country the capital of which is Tīaurī, and the ruler of which is now Gangeya.
The realm of Kannakara, 20 farsakh. Apsūr, Banavās, on the seacoast.
Marching from Kanoj towards the southwest, you come to Āsī, 18 farsakh from Kanoj; Sahanyā, 17 farsakh; Jandrā, 18 farsakh; Rājaurī, 15farsakh; Bazāna, the capital of Guzarat, 20 farsakh. This town is called Nārāyan by our people. After it had fallen into decay the inhabitants migrated to another place called Jadūra (?).
The distance between Māhūra and Kanoj is the same as that between Kanoj and Bazāna (28 farsakh). If a man travels from Māhūra to Ūjain, he passes through villages that are only five farsakh and less distant from each other. At the end of a march of 35 farsakh, he comes to a large village called Dūdahī; thence to Bāmahūr, 17farsakh from Dūdahī; Bhāilsān, 5 farsakh, a place most famous among the Hindus. The name of the town is identical with that of the idol worshipped there. Thence to Ardīn, 9 farsakh. The idol worshipped there is called Mahakāla. Dhār, 7 farsakh.
Marching from Bazāna southward, you come to Maiwār, 25 farsakh from Bazāna. This is a kingdom the capital of which is Jattaraur. From this town to Mālavā and its capital, Dhār, the distance is 20 farsakh. The city of Ūjain lies 7 farsakh to the east of Dhār. From Ūjain to Bhāilasān, which likewise belongs to Mālavā, the distance is 10 farsakh.
[i.203] Marching from Dhār southward, you come to Bhūmihara, 20 farsakh from Dhār; Kand, 20 farsakh; Namāvur, on the banks of the Narmadā (Nerbudda), 10 farsakh; Alīspūr, 20 farsakh; Mandagir, on the banks of the river Gōdāvar, 60 farsakh.
Again marching from Dhār southward, you come to the valley of Namiyya, 7 farsakh from Dhār; Mahratta- Dēsh, 18 farsakh; the province of Kunkan, and its capital, Tāna, on the sea-coast, 25 farsakh.
People relate that in the plains of Kunkan, called Dānak, there lives an animal called sharava (Sanskrit: śarabha). It has four feet, but also on the back it has something like four feet directed upwards. It has a small proboscis, but two big horns with which it attacks the elephant and cleaves it in two. It has the shape of a buffalo, but is larger than a gaṇḍa (rhinoceros). According to popular tales, it sometimes rams some animal with its horns, raises it or part of it towards its back, so that it comes to lie between its upper feet. There it becomes a putrid mass of worms, which work their way into the back of the animal. In consequence it continually rubs itself against the trees, and finally it perishes. Of the same animal people relate that sometimes, when hearing the thunder, it takes it to be the voice of some animal. Immediately it proceeds to attack this imaginary foe; in pursuing him it climbs up to the top of the mountain-peaks, and thence leaps towards him. Of course, it plunges into the depth and is dashed to pieces.
The gaṇḍa exists in large numbers in India, more particularly about the Ganges. It is of the build of a buffalo, has a black scaly skin, and dewlaps hanging down under the chin. It has three yellow hoofs on each foot, the biggest one forward, the others on both sides. The tail is not long; the eyes lie low, farther down the cheek than is the case with all other animals. On the top of the nose there is a single horn that is [i.204] bent upwards. The Brahmins have the privilege of eating the flesh of the gaṇḍa. I have myself witnessed how an elephant coming across a young gaṇḍa was attacked by it. The gaṇḍa wounded with its horn a forefoot of the elephant, and threw it down on its face. I thought that the gaṇḍa was the rhinoceros (or karkadann), but a man who had visited Sufāla, in the country of the Negroes (Zanj), told me that the kark, which the Negroes call impīlā, the horn of which furnishes the material for the handles of our knives, comes nearer this description than the rhinoceros. It has various colors. On the skull it has a conical horn, broad at the root, but not very high. The shaft of the horn (lit. 'arrow') is black inside, and white everywhere else. On the front it has a second and longer horn of the same description, which becomes erect as soon as the animal wants to ram with it. It sharpens this horn against the rocks, so that it cuts and pierces. It has hoofs, and a hairy tail like the tail of an ass.
There are crocodiles in the rivers of India as in the Nile, a fact that led simple al-Jāḥiz, in his ignorance of the courses of the rivers and the configuration of the Ocean, to think that the river of Muhrān (Indus River) was a branch of the Nile. Besides, there are other marvelous animals in the rivers of India of the crocodile tribe, makara, curious kinds of fishes, and an animal like a leather-bag that appears to the ships and plays in swimming, called the burlū (porpoise?). I suppose it to be the dolphin or a kind of dolphin. People say that it has a hole on the head for taking breath like the dolphin.
In the rivers of Southern India there is an animal called by various names, grāha, jalatantu, and tanduā. It is thin, but very long.
People say it spies and lies in wait for those who enter the water and stand in it, whether men or animals, and at once attacks them. First it circles round the prey at some distance, until [i.205] its length comes to an end. Then it draws itself together, and winds itself like a knot round the feet of the prey, which is thus thrown off its legs and perishes. A man who had seen the animal told me that it has the head of a dog, and a tail to which there are attached many long tentacles, which it winds round the prey, in case the latter is not weary enough. By means of these feelers it drags the prey towards the tail itself and, when once firmly encircled by the tail, the animal is lost.
After this digression we return to our subject.
Marching from Bazāna towards the southwest, you come to Anhilvāra, 60 farsakh from Bazāna; Somanāth, on the seacoast, 50 farsakh.
Marching from Anhilvāra southward, you come to Lārdēsh, to the two capitals of the country, Bihrōj and Rihanjūr, 42 farsakh from Anhilvāra. Both are on the seacoast to the east of Tāna.
Marching from Bazāna towards the west, you come to Mūltān, 50 farsakh from Bazāna; Bhātī, 15 farsakh. Marching from Bhātī towards the southwest, you come to Arōr, 15 farsakh from Bhātī, a township between two arms of the Sindh River; Bamhanwā (al-Manṣūra), 20 farsakh; Lōharānī, at the mouth of the Sindh River, 30 farsakh. Marching from Kanoj towards the north-northwest, you come to Shirshāraha, 50 farsakh from Kanoj; Pinjaur, 15 farsakh, situated on the mountains, while opposite it in the plain there lies the city of Tānēshar; Dahmāla, the capital of Jālandhar, at the foot of the mountains, 18 farsakh; Ballāwar, 10 farsakh; thence marching westward, you come to Ladda, 13 farsakh; the fortress Rājagiri, 8 farsakh; thence marching northward, you come to Kaśmīr, 25 farsakh. Marching from Kanoj towards the west, you come to Diyāmau, 10 farsakh from Kanoj; Kutī, 10 farsakh; Ānār, 10 farsakh; Mīrat, 10 farsakh; Pānipat, 10 [i.206] farsakh. Between the latter two places flows the river Jaun; Kawītal, 10 farsakh; Sunnām, 10 farsakh. Thence marching towards the northwest, you come to Ādittahaur, 9 farsakh; Jajjanīr, 6 farsakh; Mandahūkūr, the capital of Lauhāwur, east of the river Irāwa, 8 farsakh; the river Candrāha, 12farsakh; the river Jailam, west of the river Biyatta, 8 farsakh; Waihind, the capital of Ḳandhār, west of the river Sindh, 20 farsakh; Purshāwar, 14farsakh; Dunpūr, 15 farsakh; Kābul, 12 farsakh; Ghazna, 17 farsakh.
Kaśmīr lies on a plateau surrounded by high inaccessible mountains. The south and east of the country belong to the Hindus, the west to various kings, the Bolar-shāh and the Shugnān-shāh, and the more remote parts up to the frontiers of Badhakhshān, to the Wakhān-shāh. The north and part of the east of the country belong to the Turks of Khotan and Tibet. The distance from the peak of Bhōteshar to Kaśmīr through Tibet amounts to nearly 300 farsakh.
The inhabitants of Kaśmīr are pedestrians; they have neither riding animals nor elephants. The noble among them ride in palanquins called katt, carried on the shoulders of men. They are particularly anxious about the natural strength of their country, and therefore take always much care to keep a strong hold upon the entrances and roads leading into it. In consequence it is very difficult to have any commerce with them. In former times they used to allow one or two foreigners to enter their country, particularly Jews, but at present they do not allow any Hindu whom they do not know personally to enter, much less other people.
The best known entrance to Kaśmīr is from the town Babrahān, half way between the rivers Sindh and Jailain. Thence to the bridge over the river, where the stream of the Kusnārī is joined by that of the Mahwī, both of which come from the mountains of Shamīlān and fall into the Jailam, the distance is 8 farsakh. [i.207] Thence you reach in five days the beginning of the ravine whence the river Jailam comes; at the other end of this ravine is the watch-station Dvār, on both sides of the river Jailam. Thence, leaving the ravine, you enter the plain, and reach in two more days Addishtān, the capital of Kaśmīr, passing on the road the village Ūshkārā, which lies on both sides of the valley, in the same manner as Baramūlā.
The city of Kaśmīr covers a space of four farsakh, being built along both banks of the river Jailam, which are connected with each other by bridges and ferryboats. The Jailam rises in the mountains Haramakōt, where also the Ganges rises, cold, impenetrable regions where the snow never melts nor disappears. Behind them there is Mahācīn (China). When the Jailam has left the mountains, and has flowed two days' journey, it passes through Addishtān. Four farsakh farther on it enters a swamp of one square farsakh. The people have their plantations on the borders of this swamp, and on such parts of it as they manage to reclaim. Leaving this swamp, the Jailam passes the town Ūshkārā, and then enters the above-mentioned ravine.
The Indus River (Sindh) rises in the Unang Mountains in the territory of the Turks, which you can reach in the following way:
Leaving the ravine by which you the north enter Kaśmīr and entering the plateau, then you have for a march of two more days on your left the mountains of Bolor and Shamīlān, Turkish tribes who are called Bhattavaryān. Their king has the title Bhatta- shāh. Their towns are Gilgit, Aswira, and Shiltās, and their language is the Turkish. Kaśmīr suffers much from their inroads. Marching on the left side of the river, you always pass through cultivated ground and reach the capital; marching on the right side, you pass through villages, one close to the other, south of the capital, and thence you reach the mountain Kulārjak, [i.208] which is like a cupola similar to the mountain Dunbāwand. The snow there never melts. It is always visible from the region of Tākeshar and Lauhāwar (Lahore). The distance between this peak and the plateau of Kaśmīr is two farsakh. The fortress Rājāgirī lies south of it, and the fortress Lahūr west of it, the two strongest places I have ever seen. The town Rājāwarī is three farsakh distant from the peak. This is the farthest place to which our merchants trade, and beyond which they never pass.
This is the frontier of India from the north. In the western frontier mountains of India there live various tribes of the Afghans, and extend up to the neighborhood of the Indus (Sindh) Valley.
The southern frontier of India is formed by the Ocean. The coast of India begins with Tīz, the capital of Makrān, and extends thence in a southeastern direction towards the region of al-Daibal, over a distance of 40 farsakh. Between the two places lies the Gulf of Tūrān. A gulf is like an angle or a winding line of water penetrating from the Ocean into the continent, and is dangerous for navigation, especially on account of ebb and flood. An estuary is something similar to a gulf, but is not formed by the Ocean's penetrating into the continent. It is formed by an expanse of flowing water, which there is changed into standing water and is connected with the Ocean. These estuaries, too, are dangerous for the ships, because the water is sweet and does not bear heavy bodies as well as salt water does.
After the above-mentioned gulf follow the small Munha, the great Munha, then the Bawārij (i.e. the pirates of Kacch and Sōmanāth). They are thus called because they commit their robberies on sea in ships called bīra. The places on the coast are: Tawalleshar, 50 farsakh from Daibal; Lōharānī, 12 farsakh; Baga, 12 farsakh ; Kacch, where the muḳl-tree grows, and Bāroī, 6 farsakh; Sōmanāth, 14 farsakh; Kanbāyat, [i.209] 30 farsakh; Asawil, 2 days; Bihrōj, 30 farsakh (?); Sandān, 50 farsakh; Sūbāra, 6 farsakh; Tāna, 5 farsakh.
Thence the coastline comes to the country Lārān, in which lies the city of Jīmūr, then to Vallabha, Kānjī, Darvad. Next follows a great bay in which Singaldīb lies (i.e. the island Sarandīb, or Sri Lanka). Round the bay lies the city of Panjayāvar (sic). When this city had fallen into ruins, the king, Jaur, built instead of it, on the coast towards the west, a new city that he called Padnār.
The next place on the coast is Ūmmalnāra, then Rāmsher (Rāmeshar?) opposite Sarandīb; the distance of the sea between them is 12 farsakh. The distance from Panjayāvar to Rāmsher is 40 farsakh, that between Rāmsher and Setubandha 2 farsakh. Setubandha means 'Bridge of the Ocean.' It is the Dike of Rāma, the son of Daśaratha, which he built from the continent to the castle Laṅkā. At present it consists of isolated mountains between which the Ocean flows. Sixteen farsakh from Setubandha towards the east is Kihkind, the 'Mountains of the Monkeys.'
Every day the King of the Monkeys comes out of the thicket together with his hosts, and settles down in particular seats prepared for them. The inhabitants of that region prepare for them cooked rice, and bring it to them on leaves. After having eaten it they return into the thicket, but in case they are neglected, this would be the ruin of the country, as they are not only numerous, but also savage and aggressive. According to the popular belief, they are a race of men changed into monkeys on account of the help that they had afforded to Rāma when making war against the demons; he is believed to have bequeathed those villages to them as a legacy. When a man happens to fall in with them, and he recites to them the poetry of Rāma and pronounces the incantations of Rāma, they will quietly listen to him; they will even [i.210] lead on the right path him who has gone astray and give him meat and drink.
At all events, thus the matter stands according to popular belief. If there is any truth in this, the effect must be produced by the melody, the like of which we have already mentioned in connection with the hunting of gazelles (i.195).
The eastern islands in this Ocean, which are nearer to China than to India, are the islands of the Zābaj, called by the Hindus Suvarṇa-dvīpa ('Gold Island').
The western islands in this Ocean are those of the Zanj (Negroes, e.g. Zanzibar), and those in the middle are the islands Ramm and the Dīva islands (Malediva, Laccadiva), to which belong also the Ḳumair islands. It is peculiar to the Dīva islands that they rise slowly; first, there appears a sandy tract above the surface of the Ocean; it rises more and more and extends in all directions, till at last it becomes a firm soil, while at the same time another island falls into decay and melts away, finally is submerged and disappears in the Ocean. As soon as the inhabitants become aware of this process, they search for a new island of increasing fertility, transport there their coconut palms, date palms, cereals, and household goods, and emigrate to it. These islands are, according to their products, divided into two classes, the Dīva-kūdha ('dīva of the kauri-shells'), because there they gather kauri -shells from the branches of the coconut palms which they plant in the sea, and Dīva-kanbār ('dīva of the cords twisted from coconut fibers,' and used for fastening together the planks of the ships).
The Island of Alwāḳwāḳ belongs to the Ḳumair islands. Ḳumair is not, as common people believe, the name of a tree which produces screaming human heads instead of fruits, but the name of a people the color of whom is whitish. They are of short stature and of a build like that of the Turks. They practice the religion of the Hindus, and have the custom of piercing their [i.211] ears. Some of the inhabitants of the Wāḳwāḳ Island are of black color. In our countries there is a great demand for them as slaves. People fetch from thence the black ebony-wood; it is the pith of a tree, the other parts of which are thrown away, while the kinds of wood called mulammaᴄ and shauḥaṭ and the yellow sandalwood are brought from the country of the Zanj ('Negroes').
In former times there were pearl-banks in the bay of Sarandīb (Sri Lanka), but at present they have been abandoned. Since the Sarandīb pearls have disappeared, other pearls have been found at Sufāla in the country of the Zanj, so that people say the pearls of Sarandīb have migrated to Sufāla.
India has the tropical rains in summer, which is called varshakāla, and these rains are the more copious and India, last the longer the more northward the situation of a province of India is, and the less it is intersected by ranges of mountains. The people of Mūltān used to tell me that they have no varshakāla, but the more northern provinces nearer the mountains have the varshakāla. In Bhātal and Indravēdi it begins with the month Āshāḍha, and it rains continually for four months as though water-buckets were poured out. In provinces still farther northward, round the mountains of Kaśmīr up to the peak of Jūdarī, between Dunpūr and Barshāwar, copious rain falls during two and a half months, beginning with the month Śrāvana. However, on the other side of this peak there is no rainfall; for the clouds in the north are very heavy, and do not rise much above the surface. When, then, they reach the mountains, the mountainsides strike against them, and the clouds are pressed like olives or grapes, in consequence of which the rain pours down, and the clouds never pass beyond the mountains. Therefore Kaśmīr has no varshakāla, but continual snowfall during two and a half months, beginning with Māgha, and shortly [i.212] after the middle of Caitra continual rain sets in for a few days, melting the snow and cleansing the Earth. This rule seldom has an exception; however, a certain amount of extraordinary meteorological occurrences is peculiar to every province of India.
CHAPTER 19
CHAPTER 20
CHAPTER 21
DESCRIPTION OF EARTH AND HEAVEN ACCORDING TO THE RELIGIOUS VIEWS OF THE HINDUS, BASED UPON THEIR TRADITIONAL LITERATURE
[i.228] THE people of whom we have spoken in the preceding chapter think that the earths are seven like seven covers one above the other, and the upper one they divide into seven parts, differing from our astronomers, who divide it into climata (kli/mata), and from the Persians, who divide it into kishvar. We shall afterwards give a clear explanation of their theories derived from the first authorities of their religious law, to expose the matter to fair criticism. If something in it appears strange to us, so as to require a commentary, or if we perceive some coincidence with others, even if both parties missed the mark, we shall simply put the case before the reader, not with the intention of attacking or reviling the Hindus, but solely in order to sharpen the minds of those who study these theories.
They do not differ among themselves as to the number of earths nor as to the number of the parts of the upper earth, but they differ regarding their names and the order of these names. I am inclined to derive this difference from the great verbosity of their language, for they can one and the same thing by a multitude of names. For instance, they call the Sun by a thousand different names according to their own statement, just as the Arabs call the lion by nearly as many. Some of these names are original, while others are derived from the changing conditions of his life or his actions and faculties. The Hindus and their like boast of this copiousness, while in reality it is one of the greatest faults of [i.229] the language. For it is the task of language to give a name to everything in creation and to its effects, a name based on general consent, so that everybody, when hearing this name pronounced by another man, understands what he means. If therefore one and the same name or word means a variety of things, it betrays a defect of the language and compels the hearer to ask the speaker what he means by the word. And thus the word in question must be dropped in order to be replaced either by a similar one of a sufficiently clear meaning, or by an epithet describing what is really meant. If one and the same thing is called by many names, and this is not occasioned by the fact that every tribe or class of people uses a separate one of them, and if, in fact, one single name would be sufficient, all the other names save this one are to be classified as mere nonsense, as a means of keeping people in the dark, and throwing an air of mystery about the subject. And in any case this copiousness offers painful difficulties to those who want to learn the whole of the language, for it is entirely useless, and only results in a sheer waste of time.
Frequently it has crossed my mind that the authors of books and the transmitters of tradition have an aversion to mentioning the earths in a definite arrangement, and limit themselves to mentioning their names, or that the copyists of the books have arbitrarily altered the text. For those men who explained and translated the text to me were well versed in the language, and were not known as persons who would commit a wanton fraud.
The following table exhibits the names of the earths, as far as I know them. We rely chiefly on that list, which has been taken from the Āditya-Purāṇa, because it follows a certain rule, combining every single earth and heaven with a single member of the members of the Sun. The Heavens are combined with the members from the skull to the womb, the Earths with the members from the navel to the foot. This mode of comparison illustrates their sequence and preserves it from confusion:
[i.230]
|
Number of the Earths |
Āditya-Purāṇa |
Vishnu-Purāṇa |
Vāyu-Purāṇa |
|||
|
What Members of the Sun They Represent |
Their Names |
Their Epithets |
Their Names |
Vernacular Names |
||
|
I |
navel |
Tāla |
Atala |
Ābhāstala |
Kṛishṇa-bhūmi, the dark |
Amśu (?) |
|
II |
thighs |
Sutāla |
Vitala |
Ilā (?) |
Śukla-bhūmi, the bright earth |
Ambaratāla |
|
III |
knees |
Pātāla |
Nitala |
Nitala |
Rakta-bhūmi, the red |
Śarkara (?) |
|
IV |
under the knees |
Āśāla (?) |
Gabhastimat |
Gabhastala |
Pīta-bhūmi, the yellow earth |
Gabhastimat |
|
V |
calves |
Viśāla (?) |
Mahākhya |
Mahātala |
Pāshāṇa-bhūmi, the earth of marble |
Mahātala |
|
VI |
ankles |
Mṛitāla |
Sutala |
Sutala |
Śilātala, the earth of brick |
Sutāla |
|
VII |
feet |
Rasātala |
Jāgara (?) |
Pātāla |
Suvarṇa-varṇa, colored earth |
Rasātla |
THE SPIRITUAL BEINGS LIVING ON THE SEVEN EARTHS
ACCORDING TO THE VĀYU-PURĀṆA
[i.231] 1. Of the dānavas-Namuci, Śaṅkukarṇa, Kabandha (?), Nishkukāda (?), Sūladanta, Lohita, Kaliṅga, Śvāpada; and the master of the serpents-Dhanañjaya, Kāliya.
2. Of the daityas-Surakshas, Mahājambha, Hayagrīva, Kṛishṇa, Janarta (?), Śaṅkhākhsha, Gomukha; and of the rākshasa-Nīla, Megha, Krathanaka, Mahoshṇīsha, Kambala, Aśvatara, Takshaka.
3. Of the dānavas-Rada (?), Anuhlāda, Agnimukha, Tārakāksha, Triśira, Śiśumāra; and of the rākshasa-Cyavana, Nanda, Viśāla. And there are many cities in this world.
4. Of the daityas-Kālanemi, Gajakarṇa, and Uñjara (?); and of the rākshasa-Sumāli, Muñja, Vṛikavaktra, and the large birds called Garuḍa.
5. Of the daityas-Virocana, Jayanta (?), Agnijihva, Hiraṇyāksha; and of the rākshasa-Vidyujjihva, Mahāmegha; the serpent Karmāra, Svastikajaya.
6. Of the daityas-Kesari; and of the rākshasa -Ūrdhvakuja (?), Śataśīrsha ('Having a Hundred Heads,' a friend of Indra); Vāsuki, a serpent.
7. The King Bali; and of the daitya-Mucukunda; and in this world there are many houses for the rākshasa; and Vishṇu resides there; and Śesha, the master of the serpents.
After the Earths follow the Heavens, consisting of seven stories, one above the other. They are called Loka, or 'Gathering-Places.' In a similar manner also the Greeks considered the Heavens gathering-places. So Johannes Grammaticus says in his Refutation of Proclus:
That the Sphere called galaxias (galaxi/aj, 'milk,' by which they mean the Milky Way) is a dwelling-place for Rational Souls.
The poet Homer says:
Thou hast made the pure Heaven an eternal dwelling-place for the gods. The winds do not shake it, the rains do not wet it, and the snow does not destroy it. For in it there is resplendent clearness without any covering cloud.
Plato says:
God spoke to the Seven Planets: You are the gods of the gods, and I am the father of the Actions; I am he who made you so that no dissolution [i.232] is possible; for anything bound, though capable of being loosened, is not exposed to destruction, as long as its order is good.
Aristotle says in his letter to Alexander:
The world is the order of the whole Creation. That which is above the world, and surrounds it on the sides, is the dwelling-place of the gods. Heaven is full of the gods to which we give the name of stars.
In another place of the same book he says,
The earth is bounded by the water, the water by the air, the air by the fire, the fire by the aethēr (ai)qh/r). Therefore the highest place is the dwelling-place of the gods, and the lowest, the home of the aquatic animals.
There is a similar passage in the Vāyu-Purāṇa to this effect, that the earth is held in its grasp by the water, the water by the pure fire, the fire by the wind, the wind by heaven, and heaven by its Lord.
The names of the Lokas do not differ like those of the Earths. There is a difference of opinion only regarding their order. We exhibit the names of the Lokas in a table similar to the former (i.230).
|
Number of |
What Members of the Sun They Represent (according to the Āditya-Purāṇa) |
Their Names (according to the Aditya-,Vayu- and Vishṇu-Purāṇas) |
|
I |
stomach |
Bhūr-loka |
|
II |
breast |
Bhuvar-loka |
|
III |
mouth. |
Svar-loka |
|
IV |
eyebrow |
Mahar-loka |
|
V |
forehead |
Jana-loka |
|
VI |
above the forehead |
Tapo-loka |
|
VII |
skull |
Satya-loka |
This theory of the Earths is the same with all Hindus, except alone the commentator of the Book of Patañjali. He had heard that the pitaras ('Fathers') had their gathering-place in the Sphere of the Moon, a tradition built on the theories of the astronomers. In conse[i.233]quence he made the lunar sphere the First Heaven, while he ought to have identified it with Bhūr -loka. And because by this method he had one Heaven too many, he dropped the Svar-loka ('Place of Reward').
The same author differs besides in another point. As the Seventh Heaven, Satya-loka, is in the Purāṇas also called Brahma-loka, he placed the Brahma-loka above the Satya-loka, while it would have been much more reasonable to think that in this case one and the same thing is called by two different names. He ought to have omitted the Brahma-loka, to have identified Pitṛi-loka with Bhūr-loka, and not to have left out the Svar-loka.
So much about the Seven Earths and the Seven Heavens, we shall now speak of the division of the surface of the Uppermost Earth and of related subjects.
Dīp (dvīpa) is the Indian word for island, hence the words Sangaladīp (Siṃhala-dvīpa, which we call Serendīb), and the Dōbajāt (Maledives, Laccadives). The latter are numerous islands, which become, so to speak, decrepit, are dissolved and flattened, and finally disappear below the water, while at the same time other formations of the same kind begin to appear above the water like a streak of sand which continually grows and rises and extends. The inhabitants of the former island leave their homes, settle on the new one and colonize it.
According to the religious traditions of the Hindus, the Earth on which we live is round and surrounded by a sea. On the sea lies an earth like a collar, and on this earth lies again a round sea like a collar. The number of dry collars, called islands, is seven, and likewise that of the seas. The size of both dvīpas and seas rises in such a progression that each dvīpa is the double of the preceding dvīpa, each sea the double of the preceding sea, i.e. in the progression of the powers of two. If the Middle Earth is reckoned as one, the [i.234] size of all Seven Earths represented as collars is 127. If the sea surrounding the Middle Earth is counted as one, the size of all Seven Seas represented as collars is 127. The total size of both earths and seas is 254.
The commentator of the Book of Patañjali has adopted as the size of the Middle Earth 100,000 yojana. Accordingly, the size of all the earths would be 12,700,000 yojana. Further he adopts as the size of the sea that surrounds the Middle Earth 200,000 yojana. Accordingly, the size of all the seas would be 25,400,000 yojana, and the total size of all the earths and seas 38,100,000 yojana. However, the author himself has not made these additions. Therefore we cannot compare his numbers with ours. But the Vāyu-Purāṇa says that the diameter of the totality of earths and seas is 37,900,000 yojana, a number that does not agree with the above-mentioned sum of 38,100,000 yojana. It cannot be accounted for, unless we suppose that the number of earths is only six, and that the progression begins with the number 4 instead of 2. Such a number of seas (i.e. 6) may possibly be explained in this way, that the seventh one has been dropped, because the author only wanted to find the size of the continents, which induced him to leave the last surrounding sea out of the calculation. But if he once mentions the continents he must also mention all the seas that surround them. Why he has commenced the progression with 4 instead of 2, I cannot account for by any of the principles of the calculation as they have been laid down.
Each dvīpa and sea has a separate name. As far as we know them, we place them before the reader in the following table, and hope that the reader will excuse us for so doing.
[i.235]
|
Vernacular Names |
Seas |
Lavaṇa-samudra |
Ikshu |
Surā |
Sarpis |
Dadhisāgara |
Kshīra |
Pānīya |
|
Dvīpas |
Jambu |
Śāka |
Kuśa |
Krauñca |
Śālmali |
Gomeda |
Pushkara |
|
|
Commentator of Pañjali; Vishṇu-Purāṇa |
Seas |
Kshāra |
Ikshu |
Surā |
Sarpis |
Dadhi |
Kshīra |
Svādūdaka |
|
Dvīpas |
Jambu |
Plaksha |
Śālmali |
Kuśa |
Krauñca |
Śāka |
Pushkara (name of a tree) |
|
|
Matsya-Purāṇa |
Seas |
Lavana |
Kshīrodaka |
Ghṛitamaṇḍa |
Dadhimaṇḍa |
Surā |
Ikshurasoda |
Svādūdaka |
|
Dvīpas |
Jambu-dvīpa |
Śāka-dvīpa |
Kuśa-dvīpa |
Karauñca-dvīpa |
Śālmali-dvīpa |
Gomeda-dvīpa |
Pushkara-dvīpa |
|
|
Number of the Dvīpas and the Seas |
I |
II |
III |
IV |
V |
VI |
VII |
|
[i.236] The differences of the traditions as exhibited by this table cannot be accounted for in any rational way. They can hardly have sprung from any other source but from arbitrary, accidental changes of the enumeration. The most appropriate of these traditions is that of theMatsya-Purāṇa, because it enumerates the dvīpas and seas one after the other according to a fixed order, a sea surrounding an island, an island surrounding a sea, the enumeration proceeding from the center to the periphery.
We shall now in this place record some related subjects, though it would perhaps be more correct to treat of them in some other part of the book.
The commentator of the Book of Patañjali, wishing to determine the dimension of the world, begins from below and says:
The dimension of the Darkness is one koṭi and 85 laksha yojana (18,000,000 yojana).
Then follows Naraka ('The Hells') of the dimension of 13 koṭi and 12 laksha (131,200,000 yojana ).
Then follows Darkness, of one laksha (100,000 yojana ).
Above it lies the earth Vajra, so called on account of its hardness, because the word means 'Diamond,' and 'Molten Thunder-Bolt,' of 34,000 yojana.
Above it lies the Middle Earth, Garbha, of 60,000 yojana.
Above it lies the Golden Earth, of 30,000 yojana.
Above this the Seven Earths, each of 10,000 yojana, which makes the sum of 70,000 yojana. The upper one of them is that which contains the dvīpas and the seas.
Behind the Sweetwater Sea lies Lokā-loka ('Not-Gathering-Place,' i.e. a place without civilization and inhabitants).
Thereupon follows the Golden Earth of one koṭi (10,000,000 yojana); above it the Pitṛi-loka of 6,134,000 yojana.
The totality of the Seven Lokas, which is called Brah [i.237]māṇda, has the dimension of 15 koṭi (150,000,000 yojana). And above this is the darkness Tamas, similar to the lowest darkness, of 18,500,000 yojana.
We on our part found it already troublesome to enumerate all the Seven Seas, together with the Seven Earths, and now this author thinks he can make the subject more easy and pleasant to us by inventing some more earths below those already enumerated by ourselves! The Vishnu-Purāṇa, when treating of similar subjects, says:
There is a serpent under the Seventh, Lowest Earth, which is called Śeshākhya, worshipped among the spiritual beings. It is also called Ananta. It has a thousand heads, and bears the Earths without being molested by their heavy weight. These Earths, one stored above the other, are gifted with good things and happiness, adorned with jewels, illuminated by their own rays, not by those of Sun and Moon. The latter two luminaries do not rise in them. Therefore their temperature is always equal, they have everlasting fragrant flowers, blossoms of trees and fruits; their inhabitants have no notion of time, since they do not become aware of any motions by counting them. Their dimension is 70,000 yojana, the dimensions of each being 10,000. Nārada, the ṛishi, went down in order to see them, and to acquaint himself with the two kinds of beings that inhabit them, the daitya and dānava. When he then found the bliss of paradise to be rather insignificant in comparison with that of these Earths, he returned to the angels, giving his report to them, and rousing their admiration by his description.
Further, the following passage:
Behind the Sweet-Water Sea lies the Gold Earth, the double of the totality of the dvīpas and seas; but not inhabited by men or by demons. Behind it lies Lokā-loka, a mountain of the height of 10,000 yojana, and of the same breadth. Its whole dimension is 50 koṭi (500,000,000 yojana).
The totality of all this is in the Hindu language [i.238] sometimes called Dhātṛi ('Holding All Things'), and sometimes Vidhātṛi ('Letting Loose All Things'). It is also called the Dwelling-Place of Every Living Being, and by various other names, which differ as people differ in their opinions about the Vacuum. Those who believe in the Vacuum make it the Cause why all bodies are attracted towards it, while those who deny the Vacuum declare that it is not the Cause of the attraction.
Then the author of the Vishṇu-Purāṇa returns to the Lokas and says:
Everything upon which a foot can tread, and in which a ship can sail, is Bhūr-loka.
This seems to be an indication of the surface of the uppermost Earth. The Air, which is between the Earth and the Sun, in which the siddhas, the munis, and the gandharvas ('musicians'), wander to and fro, is the Bhuvar-loka. The whole of these three Earths is called the Three Pṛithivī. That which is above them is Vyāsa-maṇḍala ('Realm of Vyāsa'). The distance between the Earth and Sun is 100,000 yojana, that between the Sun and the Moon is the same. The distance between the Moon and Mercury is two lakshas (200,000 yojana), that between Mercury and Venus is the same. The distances between Venus and Mars, Mars and Jupiter, Jupiter and Saturn, are equal, each being 200,000 yojana. The distance between Saturn and the Great Bear is 100,000 yojana, and that from the Great Bear to the pole is 1000 yojana. Above it is Mahar -loka, at a distance of 20 millions of yojana; above it, the Jina-loka, at a distance of 80 millions; above it, Pitṛi-loka, at a distance of 480 millions; above it, Satya -loka.
This sum, however, is more than thrice the sum that we have mentioned on the authority of the commentator of the Book of Patañjali (150,000 yojana). But such is the custom of the copyists and scribes in every nation, and I cannot declare the students of the Purāṇas to be free from it, for they are not men of exact learning.
CHAPTER 22
CHAPTER 23
CHAPTER 24
TRADITIONS OF THE PURĀṆAS REGARDING EACH OF THE SEVEN DVĪPAS
[i.251] WE must ask the reader not to take any offence if he finds all the words and meanings that occur in the present chapter to be totally different from anything corresponding in Arabic. As for the difference of words, it is easily accounted for by the difference of languages in general; and as regards the difference of the meanings, we mention them only either in order to draw attention to an idea which might seem acceptable even to a Muslim, or to point out the irrational nature of a thing which has no foundation in itself.
We have already spoken of the central dvīpa ('island,' 'continent') when describing the environs of the mountain in its center. It is called Jambū-dvīpa, from a tree growing in it, the branches of which extend over a space of 100 yojana. In a later chapter, devoted to the description of the inhabitable world and its division, we shall finish the description of Jambū-dvīpa. Next, however, we shall describe the other dvīpas that surround it, following, as regards the order of the names, the authority of Matsya- Purāṇa, for the above-mentioned reason (i.236). But before entering into this subject we shall here insert a tradition of the Vāyu-Purāṇa regarding the central dvīpa (Jambū-dvīpa).
According to this source:
There are two kinds of inhabitants in Madhyadeśa ('Middle Realm'). First the Kiṁpurusha-their men are known as the Gold-Colored, their women as the Sureṇu. They live a long life without ever [i.252] being ill; they never commit a sin, and they do not know envy. Their food is a juice that they express from the dates of the palm trees, called madya (?). Second the Haripurusha-the Silver-Colored. They live 11,000 years, are beardless, and their food is sugarcane.
Since they are described as beardless and silver-colored, one might be inclined to take them for Turks; but the fact of their eating dates and sugarcane compels us to see in them a more southern nation. But where do we find people of the color of gold or silver? We know only of the color of burnt silver, which occurs, for example, among the Zanj, who lead a life without sorrow and envy, as they do not possess anything that gives birth to these passions. They live no doubt longer than we, but only a little longer, and by no means twice as long. The Zanj are so uncivilized that they have no notion of a natural death. If a man dies a natural death, they think he was poisoned. Every death is suspicious with them, if a man has not been killed by a weapon. Likewise it is regarded with suspicion by them, if a man is touched by the breath of a consumptive person.
We shall now describe Śāka-dvīpa. It has, according to the Matsya-Purāṇa, seven great rivers, one of which equals the Ganges in purity. In the first ocean there are seven mountains adorned with jewels, some of which are inhabited by dēvas, others by demons. One of them is a golden, lofty mountain, whence the clouds rise which bring us the rain. Another contains all the medicines. Indra, the ruler, takes from it the rain. Another one is called Soma. Regarding this mountain they relate the following story:
Kaśyapa had two wives, Kadrū, the Mother of the Snakes, and Yinatā, the Mother of the Birds. Both lived in a plain where there was a grey horse. However, the Mother of the Snakes maintained that the horse was brown. Now they made the covenant that [i.253] she who was wrong should become the slave of the other, but they postponed the decision till the following day. In the following night the Mother of the Snakes sent her black children to the horse, to wind themselves round it and to conceal its color. In consequence the Mother of the Birds became her slave for a time.
The latter, Vinatā, had two children, Anūru, the guardian of the tower of the Sun, which is drawn by the horses, and Garuḍa. The latter spoke to his mother: "Demand from the children nourished at your breast what may restore you to liberty." This she did. People also spoke to her of the ambrosia (amṛita), which is with thedēvas. Thereupon Garuḍa flew to the dēvas and demanded it from them, and they fulfilled his wish. For amṛita is one of those things peculiar to them and, if somebody else gets it, he lives as long as the dēvas. He humbled himself before them in order to obtain the amṛita, for the purpose of freeing therewith his mother, at the same time promising to bring it back afterwards. They had pity upon him, and gave it him. Thereupon Garuḍa went to the mountain Soma, in which the dēvas were living. Garuḍa gave the amṛita to the dēvas, and thereby freed his mother. Then he spoke to them: "Do not come near the amṛita unless you have before bathed in the river Ganges." This they did, and left the amṛita where it was. Meanwhile Garuḍa brought it back to the dēvas, and obtained thereby a high rank in sanctity, so that he became the King of All the Birds and the Riding-Bird of Vishṇu.
The inhabitants of Śāka-dvīpa are pious, long-lived beings, who can dispense with the rule of kings, since they do not know envy nor ambition. Their lifetime, not capable of any change, is as long as a Treta-yuga. The Four Colors are among them (i.e. the different castes, which do not intermarry nor mix with each other). [i.254] They live in eternal joy, without ever being sorry. According to Vishṇu-Purāṇa, the names of their castes are Āryaka, Kurura, Viviṁśa (Vivaṁśa), and Bhāvin (?), and they worship Vāsudēva.
The third dvīpa is Kuśa-dvīpa. According to the Matsya-Purāṇa it has seven mountains containing jewels, fruit, flowers, odoriferous plants, and cereals. One of them, named Droṇa, contains famous medicines or drugs, particularly the viśalyakaraṇa, which heals every wound instantaneously, and mṛitasaṁjīvan, which restores the dead to life. Another one, called hari, is similar to a black cloud. On this mountain there is a fire called Mahisha, which has come out of the water, and will remain there till the destruction of the world-this very fire will burn the world. Kuśa- dvīpa has seven kingdoms and innumerable rivers flowing to the sea, which are then changed by Indra into rain. To the greatest rivers belong Jaunu (Yamunā), which purifies from all sins. About the inhabitants of this dvīpa, Matsya-Purāṇa does not give any information. According to Vishṇu-Purāṇa the inhabitants are pious, sinless people, every one of them living 10,000 years. They worship Janārdana, and the names of their castes are Damin, Śushmin, Sneha, and Mandeha.
The fourth, or Krauñca-dvīpa, has, according to the Matsya-Purāṇa, mountains containing jewels, rivers that are branches of the Ganges, and kingdoms the people of which have a white color and are pious and pure. According to Vishṇu-Purāṇa the people there live in one and the same place without any distinction among members of the community, but afterwards it says that the names of their castes are Pushkara, Pushkala, Dhanya, and Tishya (?). They worship Janārdana.
The fifth, or Śālmala-dvīpa, has, according to the Matsya-Purāṇa, mountains and rivers. Its inhabitants [i.255] are pure, long-lived, mild, and never angry. They never suffer from drought or dearth, for their food comes to them simply in answer to their wishes, without their sowing or toiling. They come into existence without being born; they are never ill nor sorry. They do not require the rule of kings, since they do not know the desire for property. They live contented and in safety; they always prefer that which is good and love virtue. The climate of this dvīpa never alters in cold or heat, so they are not bound to protect themselves against either. They have no rain, but the water bubbles up for them out of the earth and drops down from the mountains. This is also the case in the following dvīpas. The inhabitants are of one kind, without any distinction of caste. Every one lives 3000 years.
According to the Vishṇu-Purāṇa they have beautiful faces and worship Bhagavat. They bring offerings to the fire, and every one of them lives 10,000 years. The names of their castes are Kapila, Aruṇa, Pita, and Kṛishṇa.
The sixth, or Gomeda-dvīpa, has, according to the Matsya-Purāṇa, two great mountains, the deep-black Sumanas, which encompasses the greatest part of the dvīpa, and the Kumuda, of golden color and very lofty; the latter one contains all medicines. This dvīpa has two kingdoms.
According to Vishṇu-Purāṇa the inhabitants are pious and without sin and worship Vishṇu. The names of their castes are Mṛiga, Māgadha, Mānasa, and Mandaga. The climate of this dvīpa is so healthy and pleasant that the inhabitants of paradise now and then visit it on account of the fragrancy of its air.
The seventh, or Pushkara-dvīpa, has, according to the Matsya-Purāṇa, in its eastern part the mountain Citraśālā (i.e. having a variegated roof with horns of jewels). Its height is 34,000 yojana, and its circum [i.256]ference 25,000 yojana. In the west lies the mountain Manasa, shining like the full Moon; its height is 35,000 yojana. This mountain has a son who protects his father against the west. In the east of this dvīpa are two kingdoms where every inhabitant lives 10,000 years. The water bubbles up for them out of the earth, and drops down from the mountains. They have no rain and no flowing river; they know neither summer nor winter. They are of one kind, without any distinction of caste. They never suffer from dearth, and do not get old. Everything they wish for comes to them, while they live quiet and happy without knowing anything else but virtue. It is as if they were in the suburb of paradise. All bliss is given to them; they live long and are without ambition. So there is no service, no rule, no sin, no envy, no opposition, no debating, no toiling in agriculture and diligence in trading.
According to the Vishṇu-Purāṇa, Pushkara- dvīpa is so called from a large tree, which is also called nyagrodha. Under this tree is Brahma-rūpa (the figure of Brahman, worshipped by the dēva and dānava). The inhabitants are equal among each other, not claiming any superiority, whether they be human beings or beings associating with the dēvas. In this dvīpa there is only a single mountain, called Mānasottama, which rises in a round form on the round dvīpa. From its top all the other dvīpas are visible, for its height is 50,000 yojana, and the breadth the same.
CHAPTER 25
ON THE RIVERS OF INDIA, THEIR SOURCES AND COURSES
[i.257] THE Vāyu-Purāṇa enumerates the rivers rising in the well-known great mountains that we have mentioned as the knots of Mount Meru (see i.247). To facilitate the study we exhibit them in the following table:
|
The Great Knots |
Names of the Rivers which Rise in Them in Nagarasamvṛitta |
|
Mahendra |
Trisāgā, Ṛishikulyā, Ikshulā, Tripavā (?), Āyanā (?), Lāṅgūlinī, Vaṁśavara |
|
Malaya |
Kṛitamālā, Tāmravarṇā, Pusbpajāti, Utpalavatī (!) |
|
Sahya |
Godāvarī, Bhīmarathī, Kṛishṇa, Vaiṇyā, Savañjulā, Tuṅgabhadrā, Suprayogā, Pājaya (?), Kāverī |
|
Śukti |
Ṛishīka, Bālūka (!), Kumārī, Mandavāhinī, Kirpa (!), Palāśinī |
|
Ṛiksha |
Śona, Mahānada, Narmadā, Surasa, Kirva (?), Mandākinī, Daśārṇā, Citrakūṭā, Tamasā, Pipyala, Śronī, Karamoda (?), Piśābika (?), Citrapala, Mahāvegā, Bañjulā, Bāluvāhiṇī, Śuktimatī, Shakruṇā (?), Tridivā |
|
Vindbya |
Tāpī, Payoshṇī, Nirbindhyā, Sirvā (?), Nishadhā, Vēnvā, Vaitaranī, Sini, Hāhu (!). Kumudvatī, Tobā, Mahāgaurī, Durgā, Antaśilā |
|
Pāriyātra |
Vedasmṛiti, Vedavatī, Vṛitraghnī (?) Parṇāśā, Nandanā, Saddānā (?), Rāmadī (?), Parā, Carmaṇvatī, Lūpa (?), Vidiśā |
[i.258] The Matsya-Purāṇa and Vāyu-Purāṇa, mention the rivers flowing in Jambū- dvīpa, and say that they rise in the Mountains of Himavant (Himalayas). In the following table we simply enumerate them, without following any particular principle of arrangement. The reader must imagine that the mountains form the boundaries of India. The northern mountains are the Snowy Himavant. In their center lies Kaśmīr, and they are connected with the country of the Turks. This mountain region becomes colder and colder till the end of the inhabitable world and Mount Meru. Because this mountain has its chief extension in longitude, the rivers rising on its north side flow through the countries of the Turks, Tibetans, Khazars, and Slavonians, and fall into the Sea of Jurjān (Caspian Sea), or the Sea of Khwārizm (Aral Sea), or the Sea Pontus (Black Sea), or the Northern Sea of the Slavonians (Baltic); while the rivers rising on the southern slopes flow through India and fall into the Great Ocean, some reaching it single, others combined.
The rivers of India come either from the cold mountains in the north or from the eastern mountains, both of which in reality form one and the same chain, extending towards the east, and then turning towards the south until they reach the Great Ocean, where parts of it penetrate into the sea at the place called the Dike of Rāma. Of course, these mountains differ very much in cold and heat.
We exhibit the names of the rivers in the following table:
[i.259]
|
Sindh, |
Biyatta, |
Candrabhāgā, or Candraha |
Biyāha, |
Irāvatī |
Śatarudra, |
|
Sarsat, flowing through the country Sarsat |
Jaun |
Gaṅgā |
Sarayū, |
Devikā |
Kuhū |
|
Gomatī |
Dhutapāpā |
Viśālā |
Bāhudāsa (!) |
Kauśikī |
Niścīrā |
|
Gaṇḍakī |
Lohitā |
Dṛishadvatī |
Tāmrā Aruṇā |
Parnāśā |
Vedasmṛiti |
|
Vidāsinī |
Candanā |
Kāwanā |
Parā |
Carmaṇvatī |
Vidiśā |
|
Veṇumatī |
Śiprā, rises in Pāriyātrā and passes Ujain |
Karatoyā |
Shmāhina |
In the mountains bordering on the kingdom of Kāyabish (Kābul) rises a river that is called Ghorwand on account of its many branches. It is joined by several affluents:
1. The river of the Pass of Ghūzak
2. The river of the Gorge of Panchīr, below the town of Parwān
3. & 4. The river Sharvat and the river Sāwa, which latter flows through the town of Lanbagā (Lamghān); they join the Ghorvand at the fortress of Drūta
5. & 6. The rivers Nūr and Ḳīrā
Swelled by these affluents, the Ghorvand is a great river opposite the town of Purshāvar, being there called the ford, from a ford near the village of Mahanāra, on the eastern banks of the river, and it falls into the river Sindh (Indus) near the castle of Bītūr, below the capital of al-Ḳandahār (Gandhāra, i.e. Vaihand).
The river Biyatta, known as Jailam, from the city of [i.260] this name on its western banks, and the river Candarāha join each other nearly fifty miles above Jahrāvar, and pass along west of Multān.
The river Biyāh flows east of Multān, and joins afterwards the Biyatta and Candarāha.
The river Irāva is joined by the river Kaj, which rises in Nagarkot in the mountains of Bhātul. Thereupon follows as the fifth the river Shatladar (Satlej).
After these five rivers have united below Multan at a place called Pañcanada ('Union of the Five Rivers'), they form an enormous watercourse. In flood-times it sometimes swells to such a degree as to cover nearly a space of ten farsakh, and to rise above the tree of the plains, so that afterwards the rubbish carried by the floods is found in their highest branches like birds-nests.
The Muslims call the river, after it has passed the Sindhī city Aror, as a united stream, the River of Mihrān. Thus it extends, flowing straight on, becoming broader and broader, and gaining in purity of water, enclosing in its course places like islands, until it reaches al-Manṣūra, situated between several of its arms, and flows into the Ocean at two places, near the city Loharānī, and more eastward in the province of Kacch at a place called Sindhu-sāgara (Sindh Sea).
As the name Union of the Five Rivers occurs in this part of the world (in Panjāb) we observe that a similar name is used also to the north of the above-mentioned mountain chains, for the rivers which flow thence towards the north, after having united near Tirmidh and having formed the river of Balkh, are called the Union of the Seven Rivers. The Zoroastrians of Sogdiana have confounded these two things: for they say that the whole of the seven rivers is Sindh (Indus), and its upper course Barīdīsh. A man descending on it sees the sinking of the Sun on his right side if he turns his [i.261] face towards the west, as we see it here on our left side (sic).
The river Sarsati falls into the sea at the distance of various a bowshot east of Somanāth.
The river Jaun joins the Ganges below Kanoj, which lies west of it. The united stream falls into the Great Ocean near Gaṅgāsāgara.
Between the mouths of the rivers Sarsati and Ganges is the mouth of the river Narmadā, which descends from the eastern mountains, takes its course in a southwestern direction, and falls into the sea near the town Bahroj, nearly sixty yojana east of Somanāth.
Behind the Ganges flow the rivers Rahab and Kawīnī, which join the river Sarwa near the city of Bārī.
The Hindus believe that the Ganges in ancient times flowed in Paradise, and we shall relate at a subsequent opportunity how it happened to come down upon earth.
The Matsya-Purāṇa says:
After the Ganges had settled on earth, it divided itself into seven arms, the middle of which is the main stream, known as the Ganges. Three flowed eastward, Nalinī, Hrādinī, and Pāvanā, and three westward, Sītā, Cakshu, and Sindhu.
The river Sītā rises in the Himavant, and flows through these countries: Salila, Karstuba, Cīna, Varvara, Yavasa (?), Baha, Pushkara, Kulata, Maṅgala, Kavara, and Saṅgavanta (?); then it falls into the Western Ocean.
South of Sītā flows the river Cakshuś, which irrigates the countries Cīna, Maru, Kālika (?), Dhūlika (?), Tukhāra, Barbara, Kāca (?), Palhava, and Bārwancat.
The river Sindh (Indus) flows through the countries Sindhu, Darada, Zindutunda (?), Gāndhāra, Rūrasa (?), Krūra (?), Śivapaura, Indramaru, Sabātī (?), Saindhava, Kubata, Bahīmarvara, Mara, Mrūna, and Sukūrda.
The river Ganges, which is the middle and main [i.262] stream, flows through the Gandharva, the musicians, Kiṁnara, yakshas, rākshasa, Vidyādhara, Uraga ('Breast-Creepers'), the serpents, Kalāpagrama ('City of the Most Virtuous'), Kiṁpurusha, Khasa (?), the mountaineers, Kirāta, Pulinda, the hunters in the plains, robbers, Kuru, Bharata, Pañcāla, Kaushaka (?), Mātsya, Magadha, Brahmottara, and Tāmalipta-these are the good and bad beings through whose territories the Ganges flows. Afterwards it enters into branches of Mount Vindhya (where the elephants live), and then it falls into the Southern Ocean.
Of the eastern Ganges arms, the Hrādinī flows through the countries Nishaba, Ūpakāna, Dhīvara, Prishaka, Nīlamukha, Kīkara, Ushṭrakarṇa ('Upturned-Lips.' like their ears), Kirāta, Kalīdara, Vivarṇa ('Colorless,' so-called on account of their intense blackness), Kushikāna, and Svargabhāmi (i.e. a country like Paradise). Finally it falls into the Eastern Ocean.
The river Pāvanī gives water to the Kupatha ('Sinless'), Indradyumnasaras ('Cisterns of King Indradyumna'), Kharapatha, Bīra, and Saṅkupatha. It flows through the steppe Udyānamarūra, through the country of the Kuśaprāvaraṇa, and Indra-dvīpa, and afterwards it falls into the Salt Sea. The river Nalinī flows through Tāmara, Haṁsamārga, Samūhuka, and Pūrna. All these are pious people who abstain from evil. Then it flows through the midst of mountains and passes by the Karṇaprāvaraṇa ('Ears-on-the-Shoulders'), Aśvamukha, ('Horse-Faced'), Parvatamaru, mountainous steppes, and Rūmīmaṇḍala. Finally it flows into the Ocean.
The Vishṇu-Purāṇa mentions that the great rivers of the Middle Earth, which flow into the Ocean, are Anutapata, Shikhi, Dipāpa, Tridiva, Karma, Amṛita and Sukṛita.
CHAPTER 26
ON THE SHAPE OF HEAVEN AND EARTH ACCORDING TO THE HINDU ASTRONOMERS
[i.263] THIS and similar questions have received at the hands of the Hindus a treatment and solution totally different from that which they have received among us Muslims. The sentences of the Koran on these and other subjects necessary for man to know are not such as to require a strained interpretation in order to become positive certainties in the minds of the hearers, and the same may be said regarding the holy codes revealed before the Koran. The sentences of the Koran on the subjects necessary for man to know are in perfect harmony with the other religious codes, and at the same time they are perfectly clear, without any ambiguity. Besides, the Koran does not contain questions that have forever been subjects of controversy, nor such questions the solution of which has always been despaired of (e.g. questions similar to certain puzzles of chronology).
Islam was already in its earliest times exposed to the machinations of people who were opposed to it in the bottom of their heart, people who preached Islam with sectarian tendencies, and who read to simple-minded audiences out of their Koran-copies passages of which not a single word was ever created (i.e. revealed) by God. But people believed them and copied these things on their authority, beguiled by their hypocrisy; nay, they disregarded the true form of the Book, which they had had until then, because the vulgar mind is [i.264] always inclined to any kind of delusion. Thus the pure tradition of Islam has been rendered confused by this Judaistic party.
Islam encountered a second mishap at the hands of the Zindīḳs, the followers of Mānī, like Ibn al-Muḳaffaᴄ, ᴄAbd al-Karīm ibn ᴄAbī al-ᴄAujā ᴄ, and others, who, being the fathers of criticism, and declaring one thing as just, another as admissible, etc., raised doubts in weak-minded people as to the One and First (i.e. the Unique and Eternal God), and directed their sympathies towards dualism. At the same time they presented the biography of Mānī to the people in such a beautiful garb that they were gained over to his side. Now this man did not confine himself to the trash of his sectarian theology, but also proclaimed his views about the form of the world, as may be seen from his books, which were intended for deliberate deception. His opinions were far-spread. Together with the inventions of the abovementioned Judaistic party, they formed a religious system which was declared to be the Islam, but with which God has nothing whatever to do. Whoso opposes it and firmly adheres to the orthodox faith in conformity with the Koran is stigmatized by them as an infidel and heretic and condemned to death, and they will not allow him to hear the word of the Koran. All these acts of theirs are more impious than even the words of Pharaoh, "I am your highest lord" (Sūra 79:24), and, "I do not know of any god for you save myself " (Sūra 28:38). If party spirit of this kind will go on and rule for a long time, we may easily decline from the straight path of honor and duty. We, however, take our refuge with God, who renders firm the foot of every one who seeks Him, and who seeks the truth about Him.
The religious books of the Hindus and their codes of tradition, the Purāṇas, contain sentences about the shape of the world that stand in direct opposition to [i.265] scientific truth as known to their astronomers. By these books people are guided in fulfilling the rites of their religion, and by means of them the great mass of the nation have been wheedled into a predilection for astronomical calculation and astrological predictions and warnings. The consequence is, that they show much affection to their astronomers, declaring that they are excellent men, that it is a good omen to meet them, and firmly believing that all of them come into Paradise and none into Hell. For this the astronomers requite them by accepting their popular notions as truth, by conforming themselves to them, however far from truth most of them may be, and by presenting them with such spiritual stuff as they stand in need of. This is the reason why the two theories, the vulgar and the scientific, have become intermingled in the course of time, why the doctrines of the astronomers have been disturbed and confused, in particular the doctrines of those authors-and they are the majority-who simply copy their predecessors, who take the bases of their science from tradition and do not make them the objects of independent scientific research.
We shall now explain the views of Hindu astronomers regarding the present subject, namely the shape of Heaven and Earth. According to them, Heaven as well as the whole world is round, and the Earth has a globular shape, the northern half being dry land, the southern half being covered with water. The dimension of the Earth is larger according to them than it is according to the Greeks and modern observations, and in their calculations to find this dimension they have entirely given up any mention of the traditional seas and dvīpas, and of the enormous sums of yojana attributed to each of them. The astronomers follow the theologians in everything that does not encroach upon their science (e.g. they adopt the theory of Mount Meru being under the North Pole, and that of the island [i.266] Vaḍavāmukha lying under the South Pole). Now, it is entirely irrelevant whether Meru is there or not, as it is only required for the explanation of the particular mill-like rotation, which is necessitated by the fact that to each spot on the plane of the Earth corresponds a spot in the sky as its zenith. Also the fable of the southern island Vaḍavāmukha does no harm to their science, although it is possible, nay, even likely, that each pair of quarters of the Earth forms a coherent, uninterrupted unity, the one as a Continent, the other as an Ocean (and that in reality there is no such island under the South Pole). Such a disposition of the Earth is required by the Law of Gravitation, for according to them the Earth is in the center of the universe, and everything heavy gravitates towards it. Evidently on account of this Law of Gravitation they consider Heaven, too, as having a globular shape.
We shall now exhibit the opinions of the Hindu astronomers on this subject according to our translation of their works. In case, however, one word or other in our translation should be used in a meaning different from that which it generally has in our sciences, we ask the reader to consider only the original meaning of the word (not the technical one), for this only is meant. Pulisa says in his Siddhānta:
Paulisa the Greek says somewhere that the Earth has a 'globular' shape, while in another place he says that it has the shape of a 'cover' (i.e. of a flat plane). And in both sentences he is right; for the plane or surface of the Earth is round, and its diameter is a straight line. That he, however, only believed in the globular shape of the Earth, may be proved by many passages of his work. Besides, all scholars agree on this head, as Yarāhamihira, Āryabhaṭa, Dēva, Śrīsheṇa, Vishṇucandra, and Brahman. If the Earth were not round, it would not be girded with the latitudes of the different places on Earth, day and night would not be different in winter and summer, [i.267] and the conditions of the planets and of their rotations would be quite different from what they are.
The position of the Earth is central. Half of it is clay, half water. Mount Meru is in the dry half, the home of the dēva (the 'angels') and above it is the pole. In the other half, which is covered by water, lies Vaḍavāmukha, under the South Pole, a continent like an island, inhabited by the daitya and nāga, relatives of the dēva on Meru. Therefore it is also called Daityāntara.
The line that divides the two earth-halves, the dry and the wet, from each other, is called Niraksha ('without latitude'), being identical with our equator. In the four cardinal directions with relation to this line there are Four Great Cities:
Yamakoṭi, in the east.
Laṅkā, in the south.
Romaka, in the west.
Siddhapura, in the north
The earth is fastened on the two poles, and held by the axis. When the Sun rises over the line that passes both through Meru and Laṅkā, that moment is noon to Yamakoṭi, midnight to the Greeks, and evening to Siddhapura.
In the same manner things are represented by Āryabhaṭa.
Brahmagupta, the son of Jishṇu, a native of Bhillamāla, says in his Brahmasiddhānta:
Many are the sayings of people about the shape of the Earth, especially among those who study the Purāṇas and the religious books. Some say that it is level like a mirror, others say that it is hollow like a bowl. Others maintain that it is level like a mirror, enclosed by a sea, this sea being enclosed by an earth, this earth being enclosed by a sea, etc., all of them being round like collars. Each sea or earth has the double size of that which it encloses. The outside earth is sixty-four times as large as the central earth, and the sea inclosing the outside earth is [i.268] sixty-four times as large as the sea inclosing the central earth. Several circumstances, however, compel us to attribute globular shape both to the Earth and Heaven, since the stars rise and set in different places at different times-a man in Yamakoṭi observes one identical star rising above the western horizon, while a man in Rūm at the same time observes it rising above the eastern horizon. Another argument to the same effect is this, that a man on Meru observes one identical star above the horizon in the zenith of Laṅkā, the country of the demons, while a man in Laṅkā at the same time observes it above his head. Besides, all astronomical calculations are not correct unless we assume the globular figure of Heaven and Earth. Therefore we must declare that Heaven is a globe, because we observe in it all the characteristics of a globe, and the observation of these characteristics of the world would not be correct unless in reality it were a globe. Now, it is evident that all the other theories about the world are futile.
Āryabhaṭa inquires into the Nature of the world, and says that it consists of earth, water, fire, and wind, and that each of these Elements is round.
Likewise Vasishṭha and Lāṭa say that the Five Elements-earth, water, fire, wind, and heaven-are round.
Varāhamihira says that all things which are perceived by the Senses, are witnesses in favor of the globular shape of the Earth, and refute the possibility of its having another shape.
Āryabhaṭa, Pulisa, Vasishṭha, and Lāta agree in this, that when it is noon in Yamakoṭi, it is midnight in Rūm, beginning of the day in Laṅkā, and beginning of the night in Siddhapura, which is not possible if the world is not round. Likewise the periodicity of the eclipses can only be explained by the world's being round.
[i.269] Lāṭa says:
On each place of the Earth only one-half of the globe of Heaven is seen. The more northern our latitude is, the more Meru and the pole rise above the horizon; as they sink down below the horizon, the more southern is our latitude. The equator sinks down from the zenith of places, the greater their latitude is both in north and south. A man who is north of the equator only sees the North Pole, while the South Pole is invisible to him, and vice versa.
These are the words of Hindu astronomers regarding the globular shape of Heaven and Earth, and what is between them, and regarding the fact that the Earth, situated in the center of the globe, is only of a small size in comparison with the visible part of Heaven, These thoughts are the elements of astronomy as contained in the first chapter of Ptolemy's Almagest, and of similar books, though they are not worked out in that scientific form in which we are accustomed to give them
...lacuna...
for the Earth is more heavy than the water, and the water is fluid like the air. The globular form must be to the Earth a physical necessity, as long as it does not, by the order of God, take another form. Therefore the Earth could not move towards the north, nor the water move towards the south, and in consequence one whole half is not terra firma ('solid land'), nor the other half water, unless we suppose that the terra firma half be hollow. As far as our observation, based on induction, goes, the terra firma must be in one of the two northern quarters, and therefore we guess that the same is the case on the adjacent quarter. We admit the possibility of the existence of the island Vaḍavāmukha, but we do not maintain it, since all we know of it and of Meru is exclusively based on tradition.
The equatorial line does not, in the quarter of the Earth known to us, represent a boundary between terra [i.270] firma and the Ocean. For in certain places the continent protrudes far into the Ocean, so as to pass beyond the equator-e.g. the Plains of the Negroes ('the Sudan') in the west, which protrude far towards the south, even beyond the Mountains of the Moon and the sources of the Nile, in fact, into regions which we do not exactly know. For that continent is desert and impassable, and likewise the sea behind Sufāla of the Zanj ('Blacks,' on the Zanzibar Coast) is unnavigable. No ship that ventured to go there has ever returned to relate what it had witnessed.
Also a great part of India above the province of Sindh deeply protrudes far towards the south, and seems even to pass beyond the equator.
In the midst between both lie Arabia and Yemen, but they do not go so far south as to cross the equator. Further, as the terra firma stretches far out into the Ocean, thus the Ocean too penetrates into terra firma, breaking into it in various places, and forming bays and gulfs. For instance, the sea extends as a tongue along the west side of Arabia as far as the neighborhood of Central Syria. It is narrowest near Ḳulzum, whence it is also called the Sea of Ḳulzum.
Another and still larger arm of the sea exists east of Arabia, the so-called Persian Sea. Between India and China, also, the sea forms a great curve towards the north.
Hence it is evident that the coast-line of these countries does not correspond to the equator, nor keep an invariable distance from it,
...lacuna...
and the explanation relating to the four cities will follow in its proper place.
The difference of the times which has been remarked is one of the results of the rotundity of the earth, and of its occupying the center of the globe. And if they attribute to the earth, though it be round, inhabitants-for cities cannot be imagined without inhabitants-the existence of men on earth is accounted for by the [i.271] attraction of everything heavy towards its center (the middle of the world).
Much to the same effect are the expressions of Vāyu-Purāṇa-that noon in Amarāvatī is sunrise in Vaivasvata, midnight in Sukhā, and sunset in Vibhā.
Similar, also, are the expressions of Matsya- Purāṇa, for this book explains that east of Meru lies the city Amarāvatīpura, the residence of Indra, the Ruler, and his wife; south of Meru, the city Saṁyamanīpura, the residence of Yama, the son of the Sun, where he punishes and requites mankind; west of Meru, the city Sukhāpura, the residence of Varuṇa ('Water'); and north of Meru, the city Vibhavaripura, belonging to the Moon. Sun and planets revolve round Meru. When the Sun has his noon position in Amarāvatīpura, it is the beginning of the day in Saṁyatnanīpura, midnight in Sukhā, and the beginning of the night in Vibhāvarīpura. And when the Sun has his noon position in Saṁyamanīpura, he rises over Sukhāpura, sets over Amaravatīpura, and has his midnight position with relation to Vibhavarīpura.
If the author of the Matsya-Purāṇa says that the Sun revolves round Meru, he means a mill-like rotation round those who inhabit Meru, who, in consequence of this nature of the rotation, do not know east nor west. The Sun does not rise for the inhabitants of Meru in one particular place, but in various places. By the word 'east' the author means the zenith of one city, and by 'west' the zenith of another. Possibly those four cities of the Matsya-Purāṇa are identical with those mentioned by the astronomers. But the author has not mentioned how far they are distant from Meru. What we have besides related as notions of the Hindus is perfectly correct and borne out by scientific methods; however, they are wont never to speak of the pole unless they mention in the same breath also the mountain Meru.
In the definition of what is 'low' the Hindus agree with us (that it is the center of the world), but their [i.272] expressions on this head are subtle, more particularly as this is one of the great questions which is only handled by the most eminent of their scholars.
So Brahmagupta says:
Scholars have declared that the globe of the Earth is in the midst of Heaven, and that Mount Meru, the home of the dēvas, as well as Vaḍavāmukha below, is the home of their opponents; the daitya and dānava belong to it. But this 'below' is according to them only a relative one. Disregarding this, we say that the Earth on all its sides is the same; all people on Earth stand upright, and all heavy things fall down to the Earth by a Law of Nature, for it is the natural of earth (the Element) to attract and to keep things, as it is the nature of water to flow, that of fire to burn, and that of the wind to set in motion. If a thing wants to go deeper down than the earth, let it try. The earth is the only 'low' thing, and seeds always return to it, in whatever direction you may throw them away, and never rise upwards from the earth.
Varāhamihira says:
Mountains, seas, rivers, trees, cities, men, and angels, all are around the globe of the Earth. And if Yamakoṭi and Rum are opposite to each other, one could not say that the one is low in its relation to the other, since the low does not exist. How could one say of one place of the Earth that it is low, as it is in every particular identical with any other place on Earth and one place could as little fall as any other. Every one speaks to himself with regard to his own self, "I am above and the others are below," while all of them are around the globe like the blossoms springing on the branches of a kadamba-tree. They encircle it on all sides, but each individual blossom has the same position as the other, neither the one hanging downward nor the other standing upright. For the Earth attracts that which is upon her, for it is the below towards all directions, and Heaven is the above towards all directions
As the reader will observe, these theories of the [i.273] Hindus are based on the correct knowledge of the Laws of Nature, but, at the same time, they practice a little deceit upon their traditionalists and theologians. So Balabhadra the commentator says:
It is the most correct of the opinions of people, many and different as they are, that the Earth and Meru and the zodiacal Sphere are round. And the Āpta(?)-purāṇa-kāra (the faithful followers of the Purāṇa) say: "The Earth is like the back of a tortoise; it is not round from below." They are perfectly right, because the Earth is in the midst of the water, and that which appears above the water has the shape of a tortoise-back; and the sea around the Earth is not navigable. The fact of the Earth being round is proved by eyesight.
Here the reader must notice how Balabhadra declares the theory of the theologians as to the rotundity of the back to be true. He gives himself the air of not knowing that they deny that the womb (the other half of the globe), is round, and he busies himself with a traditional element (as to the Earth being like the back of a tortoise), which, in reality, has no connection with the subject.
Further, Balabhadra says:
Human eyesight reaches to a point distant from the Earth and its rotundity the 96th part of 5000 yojana, i.e. 52 yojana (exactly 52⅟12). Therefore man does not observe its rotundity, and hence the discrepancy of opinions on the subject.
Those pious men (the Āpta(?)-purāṇa-kāra) do not deny the rotundity of the back of the earth; nay, they maintain it by comparing the Earth to the back of a tortoise. Only Balabhadra makes them deny it (by the words, "the Earth is not round from below"), since he understood their words as meaning that the water surrounds the Earth. That which rises above the water may either be globular or a plain rising above the water like an inverted drum (i.e. like a segment of a round pilaster).
[i.274] Further, the remark of Balabhadra (i.273), that man, on account of the smallness of his stature, cannot observe the rotundity of the Earth, is not true; because even if the human stature were as tall as the plumb-line of the highest mountain, if he were to make his observation only from one single point without going to other places, and without reasoning about the observations made at the different places, even such a height would be of no avail to him, and he would not be able to perceive the rotundity of the Earth and its Nature.
What, however, is the connection of this remark with the popular theory? If he had concluded from analogy that that side of the Earth which is opposed to the round one-I mean the lower half-was also round, and if he then had given his theory about the extent of the power of human vision as a result of reflection, not as a result of the perception of the senses, his theory would seem to have a certain foundation.
With regard to Balabhadra's definition of the extent that may be reached by the human eye, we propose the following calculation:
Let A B round the center H represent the globe of the Earth. B is the standing point of the observer; his stature is B C. Further, we draw the line C A, so that it touches the Earth. Now it is evident that the field of vision is B A, which we suppose to be equal to ⅟96 of the circle-i.e. 3¾ degrees- if we divide the circle into 360º.
According to the method followed in the calculation of the mountain Meru (in chap.23), we divide the square of T A (i.e. 50,625) by [i.275] H T (3431´). So we get as quotient T C = 0° 14´45"; and B C, the stature of the observer, is 0° 7´ 45".
Our calculation is based on this, that H B, the sinus totus, is 3438'. However, the radius of the earth is, according to the circumference which we have mentioned, 795° 27´ 16" (yojana). If we measure B C by this measure, it is = 1 yojana, 6 krośa, 1035 yards ( = 57,035 yards). If we suppose B C to be equal to four yards, it stands in the same relation to A T, according to the measure of the sine, as 57,035 (the yards which we have found as the measure of the stature), to A T according to the measure of the sine (225). If we now calculate the sine, we find it to be 0° 0´ 1" 3 "', and its arc has the same measure. However, each degree of the rotundity of the earth represents the measure of 13 yojana , 7 krośa, and 333⅓ yards (sic). Therefore the field of vision on the earth is 291⅔ yards (sic) [ see glossary for an explanation of this equation].
The source of this calculation of Balabhadra's is the Pulisa-siddhānta, which divides the arc of the quarter of a circle into 24 kardajāt. He says:
If anybody asks for the reason of this, he must know that each of these kardajāt is ⅟96 of the circle = 225 minutes ( = 3¾ degrees). And if we reckon its sine, we find it also to be = 225 minutes.
This shows us that the sines are equal to their arcs in parts that are smaller than this kardaja. And because the sinus totus, according to Pulisa and Āryabhaṭa, has the relation of the diameter to the circle of 360º, this arithmetical equality brought Balabhadra to think that the arc was perpendicular; and any expanse in which no convexity protrudes preventing the vision from passing, and which is not too small to be seen, is visible.
This, however, is a gross mistake; for the arc is never perpendicular, and the sine, however small it be, never equals the arc. This is admissible only for such degrees as are supposed for the convenience of [i.276] calculation, but it is never and nowhere true for the degrees of the earth.
If Pulisa says (see i.267) that the earth is held by an axis, he does not mean thereby that in reality there exists such an axis, and that but for it the earth would fall. How could he say such a thing, since he is of opinion that there are four inhabited cities around the world, which is explained by the fact that everything heavy falls from all sides down towards the earth? However, Pulisa holds this view, that the motion of the peripheric parts is the reason why the central parts are motionless, and that the motion of a globe presupposes two poles, and one line connecting them, which in the idea is the axis. It is as if he meant to say, that the Motion of Heaven keeps the Earth in its place, making it the natural place for the Earth, outside of which it could never be. And this place lies on the midst of the Axis of Motion. For the other diameters of the globe may also be imagined to be axes, since in dynamis ('potentially') they are all axes, and if the Earth were not in the midst of an axis, there might be axes which did not pass through the Earth. Hence one may say metaphorically that the Earth is supported by the axes.
As regards the resting of the Earth, one of the elementary problems of astronomy, which offers many and great difficulties, this, too, is a dogma with the Hindu astronomers. Brahmagupta says in the Brahmasiddhānta:
Some people maintain that the First Motion (from east to west) does not lie in the meridian, but belongs to the Earth. But Varahamihira refutes them by saying: "If that were the case, a bird would not return to its nest as soon as it had flown away from it towards the west." And, in fact, it is precisely as Varahamihira says.
Brahmagupta says in another place of the same book:
The followers of Āryabhaṭa maintain that the Earth is moving and Heaven resting. People have tried to [i.277] refute them by saying that, if such were the case, stones and trees would fall from the Earth.
But Brahmagupta does not agree with them, and says that that would not necessarily follow from their theory, apparently because he thought that all heavy things are attracted towards the center of the Earth. He says:
On the contrary, if that were the case, the Earth would not vie in keeping an even and uniform pace with the minutes of Heaven, the prāṇas of the times.
There seems to be some confusion in this chapter, perhaps by the fault of the translator. For the minutes of Heaven are 21,600, and are called prāṇa ('breaths'), because according to them each minute of the meridian revolves in the time of an ordinary human breath.
Supposing this to be true, and that the Earth makes a complete rotation eastward in so many breaths as Heaven does according to his (Brahmagupta's) view, we cannot see what should prevent the Earth from keeping an even and uniform pace with Heaven.
Besides, the rotation of the Earth does in no way impair the value of astronomy, as all appearances of an astronomic character can quite as well be explained according to this theory as to the other. There are, however, other reasons which make it impossible. This question is most difficult to solve. The most prominent of both modern and ancient astronomers have deeply studied the question of the moving of the Earth, and tried to refute it. We, too, have composed a book on the subject called Miftāḥ ᴄilm al-Haiᴐa (Key to Astronomy), in which we think we have surpassed our predecessors, if not in the words, at all events in the matter.
CHAPTER 27
ON THE FIRST TWO MOTIONS OF THE UNIVERSE (THAT FROM EAST TO WEST ACCORDING TO ANCIENT ASTRONOMERS AND THE PRECESSION OF THE EQUINOXES)
BOTH ACCORDING TO HINDU ASTRONOMERS AND THE AUTHORS OF THE PURĀṆAS
[i.278] THE astronomers of the Hindus hold on this subject mostly the same views as ourselves. We shall give quotations from them, but shall at once confess that that which we are able to give is very scanty indeed. Pulisa says:
The Wind makes the Sphere of the Fixed Stars revolve; the two poles keep it in its place, and its Motion appears to the inhabitants of Mount Meru as a motion from the left to the right; to the inhabitants of Vaḍavāmukha as one from the right to the left.
In another place he says:
If anybody asks for the direction of the Motion of the Stars which we see rising in the east and rotating towards the west until they set, let him know that the Motion which we see as a westward motion appears different according to the places which the spectators occupy. The inhabitants of Mount Meru see it as a motion from the left to the right, while the inhabitants of Vaḍavāmukha see it as the opposite, as a motion from the right to the left. The inhabitants of the equator see it exclusively as a westward motion, and the inhabitants of the parts of the Earth between the poles and the equator see it more or less depressed, as their places have more or [i.279] less northern or southern latitude. The whole of this Motion is caused by the Wind, which makes the Spheres revolve, and compels the planets and the other stars to rise in the east and to set in the west. This, however, is only an accidens ('non-essential circumstance'). As for the essentia rei ('core of the matter'), the Motions of the heavenly bodies are directed towards the east, from al-Sharaṭān towards al-Buṭain, the latter lying east of the former. But if the inquirer does not know the lunar stations, and is not capable of procuring for him self by their help an idea of this eastward Motion, let him observe the Moon herself, how she moves away from the Sun once and a second time; how she then comes near him, till she finally joins him. This will give him an idea of the Second Motion.
Brahmagupta says:
The Sphere has been created as moving with the greatest rapidity possible about two poles without ever slackening, and the stars have been created where there is neither Baṭn-ḥūt nor Sharaṭān (i.e. on the frontier between them, which is the vernal equinox).
Balabhadra, the commentator, says:
The whole world hangs on two poles, and moves in a circular motion, which begins with a kalpa and ends with a kalpa. But people must not therefore say that the World, on account of the continuity of its Motion, is without beginning and without end
Brahmagupta says:
The place without latitude (Niraksha), divided into sixty ghaṭikā, is the horizon for the inhabitants of Meru. There east is west; and behind that place (beyond the equator) towards the south is Vaḍavāmukha and the Ocean which surrounds it. When the spheres and the stars revolve, the meridian becomes a horizon common to the dēvas (in the north) and the daityas (in the south), which they see together. But the direction of the Motion appears to them as different. The Motion which the angels (dēvas) see as a motion to the right, the daityas see as one to the left, and vice versa, just as a man who has a thing on his [i.280] right side, looking into the water, sees it on his left. The cause of this uniform Motion which never increases nor decreases is a Wind, but it is not the common wind which we feel and hear; for this is lulled, and roused, and varies, while that Wind never slackens.
In another place Brahmagupta says:
The Wind makes all the fixed stars and the planets revolve towards the west in one and the same revolution; but the planets move also in a slow pace towards the east, like a dust-atom moving on a potter's wheel in a direction opposite to that in which the wheel is revolving. That motion of this atom that is visible is identical with the motion that drives the wheel round, while its individual motion is not perceived. In this view Lāṭa, Āryabhaṭa, and Vasishṭha agree, but some people think that the Earth moves while the Sun is resting. That Motion which mankind conceives as a motion from east to west, the angels (dēva) conceive as a motion from left to right, the daityas as one from right to left.
This is all I have read in Indian books on the subject.
Their speaking of the Wind as the 'Motor' (see above) has, I think, only the purpose of bringing the subject near to the understanding of people and to facilitate its study; for people see with their own eyes that the wind, when blowing against instruments with wings and toys of this kind, puts them into motion. But as soon as they come to speak of the First Mover (God), they at once give up any comparison with the natural wind, which in all its phases is determined by certain causes. For though it puts things into Motion, the moving is not its essence; and besides, it cannot move without being in contact with something, because the Wind is a body, and is acted upon by external influences or means, its Motion being commensurate with their force.
[i.281] Their saying that the Wind does not rest, simply means that the moving power works perpetually, and does not imply rest and motion such as are proper to Bodies. Further, their saying that it does notslacken means that it is free from all kinds of accidents; for slackening and weakening only occur in such bodies or beings which are composed of elements of conflicting qualities.
The expression that the two poles keep the Sphere of the Fixed Stars (i.278) means that they keep or preserve it in its normal state of motion, not that they keep or preserve it from falling down. There is a story of an ancient Greek who thought that once upon a time the Milky Way had been a road of the Sun, and that afterwards he had left it. Such a thing would mean that the motions ceased to be normal, and to something like this the expression of the two poles keeping the Sphere of the Fixed Stars may be referred.
The phrase of Balabhadra about the "ending of the Motion" (that it ends with a kalpa, etc., i.279) means that everything which exists and may be determined arithmetically has no doubt an end, for two reasons: first, because it has a beginning, for every number consists of one and its reduplications, while the One itself exists before all of them; and, secondly, because part of it exists in the present moment of Time, for if days and nights increase in number through the continuation of existence, they must necessarily have a beginning whence they started. If a man maintains that Time does not exist in the Sphere (as one of its immanent qualities), and thinks that day and night have only a relative existence, exist only in relation to the Earth and its inhabitants, that if, for example, the Earth were taken away out of the midst of the world, also night and day would cease to exist as well as the possibility of measuring elements composed of days, he would thereby impose upon Balabhadra the necessity of a [i.282] digression, and compel him to prove the cause, not of the First, but of the Second Motion. The latter cause is the cycles of the planets, which have only a relation to the Sphere, not to the Earth. These cycles Balabhadra indicates by the word kalpa (see i.279), since it comprehends them all, and since all of them begin with its beginning.
If Brahmagupta says of the meridian that it is divided into sixty parts (see i.279), it is as if any one of us should say, the meridian is divided into twenty-four parts; for the meridian is a medium for measuring and counting time. Its revolution lasts twenty-four hours, or, as the Hindus will have it, sixty ghaṭikā (or ghaṛī). This is the reason why they have reckoned the risings of the zodiacal signs in ghaṭikā, not in times of the meridian (360º).
If, further, Brahmagupta says that the Wind causes the fixed stars and the planets to revolve, if he besides, in particular, attributes a slow eastward motion to the planets (i.280), he gives the reader to understand that the fixed stars have no such motion, or else he would have said that they, too, have the same slow eastward motion as the planets, not differing from them save in size and in the variation which they exhibit in the retrograde motion. Some people relate that the ancients originally did not understand their (the fixed stars') motions until, in long periods of time, they became aware of them. This opinion is confirmed by the fact that Brahmagupta's book does not, among the various cycles, mention the cycles of the fixed stars, and that he makes their appearing and disappearing depend upon invariable degrees of the Sun.
If Brahmagupta maintains (i.278) that to the inhabitants of the equator the First Motion is not a motion to the right and left, the reader must bear in mind the following. A man dwelling under either of the two poles, to whatever direction he turns, has always the [i.283] moving heavenly bodies before himself, and as they move in one direction, they must necessarily first stand opposite one of his hands, and then, moving on, come to stand opposite his other hand. The direction of this Motion appears to the inhabitants of the two poles just the very contrary, like the image of a thing in the water or a mirror, where its directions seem to be exchanged. If the image of a man is reflected by the water or a mirror, he appears as a different man standing opposite to the spectator, his right side opposite to the left of the spectator, and his left side opposite to the right of the spectator.
Likewise the inhabitants of places of northern latitude have the revolving heavenly bodies before themselves towards the south, and the inhabitants of places of southern latitude have them before themselves towards the north. To them the Motion appears the same as to the inhabitants of Meru and Vaḍavāmukha. But as regards those living on the equator, the heavenly bodies revolve nearly above their heads, so they cannot have them before themselves in any direction. In reality, however, they deviate a little from the equator, and in consequence the people there have a uniform Motion before themselves on two sides, the motion of the northern heavenly bodies from right to left, and that of the southern bodies from left to right. So they unite in their persons the faculty of the inhabitants of the two poles (that is, of seeing the heavenly bodies moving in different directions), and it depends entirely upon their will, if they want to see the stars move from the right to the left or vice versa.
It is the line passing through the zenith of a man standing on the equator which Brahmagupta means when he says that it is divided into sixty parts (see i.279). The authors of the Purāṇas represent Heaven as a [i.284] dome or cupola standing on Earth and resting, and the stars as beings that wander individually from east to west. How could these men have any idea of the Second Motion? And if they really had such an idea, how could an opponent of the same class of men concede the possibility that one and the same thing individually moves in two different directions?
We shall here communicate what we know of their theories, although we are aware that the reader will not derive any profit from them, since they are simply useless.
The Matsya-Purāṇa says:
The Sun and the stars pass along southward as rapidly as an arrow revolving round Meru. The Sun revolves round something like a beam, the end of which is burning when its revolution is very rapid. The Sun does not really disappear (during the night); he is then invisible only to some people, to some of the inhabitants of the four cities on the four sides of Meru. He revolves round Meru, starting from the north side of Mount Lokā-loka; he does not pass beyond Lokā -loka, nor illuminate its south side. He is invisible during the night, because he is so far away. Man can see him at a distance of 1000 yojana, but when he is so far away, a small object sufficiently near to the eye can render him invisible to the spectator.
When the Sun stands in the zenith of Pushkara-dvīpa, he moves along the distance of one-thirtieth part of the earth in three-fifths of an hour. In so much time he traverses 21 laksha and 50,000 yojana (2,150,000 yojana). Then he turns to the north, and the distance he traverses becomes thrice as large. In consequence, the day becomes long. The distance that the Sun traverses in a southern day is 9 koṭi and 10,045 yojana. When he then returns to the north and revolves round Kshīra (the Milky Way), his daily march is 1 koṭi and 21 laksha yojana.
[i.285] Now we ask the reader to consider how confused these expressions are. If the author of the Matsya-Purāṇa says, "the stars pass as rapidly as an arrow," etc., we take this for a hyperbole intended for uneducated people; but we must state that the arrow-like motion of the stars is not peculiar to the south to the exclusion of the north. There are limits both in the north and south whence the Sun returns, and the time of the Sun's passing from the southern limit to the northern is equal to the time of his passing from the northern limit to the southern. Therefore his northward has the same right of being described as as rapid as an arrow. Herein, however, lies a hint of the theological opinion of the author regarding the North Pole, for he thinks the north is the above and the south the below. Hence the stars glide down to the south like children on a see-saw plank.
If, however, the author hereby means the Second Motion, while in reality it is the First, we must state that the stars in the Second Motion do not revolve round Meru, and that the plane of this Motion is inclined towards the horizon of Meru by one-twelfth of the circle.
Further, how far-fetched is this simile in which he connects the motion of the Sun with a burning beam! If we held the opinion that the Sun moves as an uninterrupted round collar, his simile would be useful in so far as it refutes such an opinion. But as we consider the Sun as a body, as it were, standing in Heaven, his simile is meaningless. And if he simply means to say that the Sun describes a round circle, his comparing the Sun to a burning beam is quite superfluous, because a stone tied to the end of a cord describes a similar circle if it is made to revolve round the head (there being no necessity for describing it as burning).
That the Sun rises over some people and sets over others, as he describes it, is true; but here, too, he is not free from his theological opinions. This is shown [i.286] by his mention of the mountain Lokā-loka and his remark that the rays of the Sun fall on it, on its human or north side, not on its wild or south side.
Further, the Sun is not hidden during the night on account of his great distance, but because he is covered by something-by the earth according to us, by Mount Meru according to the author of the Matsya- Purāṇa. He imagines that the Sun marches round Meru, while we are on one of its sides. In consequence we are in a varying distance from the Sun's path. That this is originally his opinion is confirmed by the later following remarks. That the Sun is invisible during the night has nothing whatever to do with his distance from us.
The numbers which the author of the Matsya- Purāṇa mentions I hold to be corrupt, as they are not born out by any calculation. He represents the path of the Sun in the north as threefold that in the south, and makes this the cause of the difference of the length of the day. While in reality the sum of day and night is always identical, and day and night in north and south stand in a constant relation to each other, it seems necessary that we should refer his remarks to a latitude where the summer-day is 45ghaṭikā, the winter-day 15 ghaṭikā long.
Further, his remark that the Sun hastens in the north (marches there more rapidly than in the south), requires to be proved. The places of northern latitude have meridians not very distant from each other, because of their being near to the pole, while the meridians become more distant from each other the nearer they are to the equator. If, now, the Sun hastens in traversing a smaller distance, he wants less time than for traversing the greater distance, more especially if on this greater distance his march is slackening. In reality the opposite is the case.
By his phrase, "when the Sun revolves above Pushkara-dvīpa" (i.284) is meant the line of the winter solstice. [i.287] According to him, on this line the day must be longer than in any other place, whether it be the summer solstice or another. All this is unintelligible.
Similar notions are also found in the Vāyu- Purāṇa, namely that:
The day in the south is twelve muhūrta, in the north eighteen, and that the Sun between south and north has a declination of 17,221 yojana in 183 days, i.e. 9419/183 yojana for each day.
One muhūrta is equal to four-fifths of an hour ( = 48 minutes). The sentence of the Vāyu- Purāṇa applies to a latitude where the longest day is 14⅖ hours. As regards the numbers of the yojanas mentioned by the Vāyu-Purāṇa, the author means evidently the portio of the double declination of the sphere. According to him, the declination is 24º; therefore the yojanas of the whole sphere would be 129,157½. And the days in which the Sun traverses the double declination are half the solar year, no regard being had to the fractions of days, which are nearly five-eighths of a day. Further, the Vāyu- Purāṇa says that:
The Sun in the north marches slowly during the day and rapidly during the night, and in the south vice versa. Therefore the day is long in the north, even as much as eighteen muhūrta.
This is merely the language of a person who has not the slightest knowledge of the eastern motion of the Sun, and is not able to measure a day's arc by observation.
The Vishṇu-Dharma says:
The orbit of the Great Bear lies under the pole; under it the orbit of Saturn; then that of Jupiter; next Mars, the Sun, Venus, Mercury, and the Moon. They rotate towards the east like a mill, in a uniform kind of Motion that is peculiar to each star, some of them moving rapidly, others slowly. Death and life repeat themselves on them from eternity thousands of times.
If you examine this statement according to scientific [i.288] principles, you will find that it is confused. Conceding that the Great Bear is under the pole and that the place of the pole is absolute height, the Great Bear lies below the zenith of the inhabitants of Meru. In this statement he is right, but he is mistaken with regard to the planets. For the word below is, according to him, to be understood so as to mean a greater or smaller distance from the earth; and thus taken, his statement (regarding the distances of the planets from the earth) is not correct, unless we suppose that Saturn has, of all planets, the greatest declination from the equator, the next greatest Jupiter, then Mars, the Sun, Venus, etc., and that at the same time this amount of their declination is a constant one. This, however, does not correspond to reality.
If we take the sum total of the whole statement of the Vishṇu-Dharma, the author is right in so far as the fixed stars are higher than the planets, but he is wrong in so far as the pole is not higher than the fixed stars.
The mill-like rotation of the planets is the First Motion towards the west, not the Second Motion indicated by the author. According to him, the planets are the Spirits of individuals who have gained exaltation by their merits, and who have returned to it after the end of their life in a human shape. According to my opinion, the author uses a number in the words "thousands of times" (i.287), either because he wanted to intimate that their existence is an existence in our meaning of the term, an evolution out of the dynamis ('potential') into the praxis ('action,' hence something finite, subject to numeration or determination by measure), or because he meant to indicate that some of those Spirits obtain Moksha, others not. Hence their number is liable to a more or less, and everything of this description is of a finite nature.
CHAPTER 28
ON THE DEFINITION OF THE TEN DIRECTIONS
>[i.289] THE extension of bodies in space is in three directions: length, breadth, and depth (or height). The path of any real direction, not an imaginary one, is limited; therefore the lines representing these three paths are limited, and their six end-points or limits are the directions. If you imagine an animal in the center of these lines, (i.e. where they cut each other, which turns its face towards one of them), the directions with relation to the animal arebefore, behind, right, left, above, and below.
If these directions are used in relation to the world, they acquire new names. As the rising and setting of the heavenly bodies depend upon the horizon and the First Motion becomes apparent by the horizon, it is the most convenient to determine the directions by the horizon. The Four Directions, east, west, north, south (corresponding to before, behind, left, and right), are generally known, but the directions which lie between each two of these are less known. These make eight directions, and, together with above and below, which do not need any further explanation, ten directions.
The Greeks determined the directions by the rising and setting places of the zodiacal signs, brought them into relation to the winds, and so obtained sixteen directions.
[i.290] Also the Arabs determined the directions by the blowing-points of the winds. Any wind blowing between two cardinal winds they called in general nakbā. Only in rare cases they are called by special names of their own.
The Hindus, in giving names to the directions, have not taken any notice of the blowing of a wind; they simply call the Four Cardinal Directions, as well as the secondary directions between them, by separate names. So they have eight directions in the horizontal plane, as exhibited by the following diagram:
|
S.W. |
South |
S.E. |
||
|
Nairṛita |
Dakshiṇa |
Āgneya |
||
|
West |
Paścima |
Madhyadeśa |
Pūrva |
East |
|
Vāyava |
Uttara |
Aiśāna |
||
|
N.W. |
North |
N.E. |
||
Besides there are two directions more for the two poles of the horizontal plane, the above and below, the former being called Upari, the second Adhas and Tola.
These directions, and those in use among other nations, are based on general consent. Since the horizon is divided by innumerable circles, the directions also proceeding from its center are innumerable. The [i.291] two ends of every possible diameter may be considered as before and behind, and therefore the two ends of the diameter cutting the former at right angles (and lying in the same plane) are right and left.
The Hindus can never speak of anything, be it an object of the intellect or of imagination, without representing it as a personification, an individual. They at once marry him, make him celebrate marriage, make his wife become pregnant and give birth to something. So, too, in this case. The Vishṇu-Dharma relates that Atri, the star who rules the stars of the Great Bear, married the Directions (represented as one person, though they are eight in number) and that from her the Moon was born.
Another author relates:
Dakska (Prajāpati) married Dharma ('Reward') to ten of his daughters, i.e. the Ten Directions. From one of them he had many children. She was called Vasu, and her children the Vasus. One of them was the Moon.
No doubt our people, the Muslims, will laugh at such a birth of the Moon. But I give them still more of this stuff. Thus, for example, they relate: The Sun, the son of Kaśyapa and his wife (Āditya), was born in the sixth Manvantara on the lunar station Viśākhā; the Moon, the son of Dharma, was born on the station Kṛittikā; Mars, the son of Prajāpati, on Pūrvāshāḍhā; Mercury, the son of the Moon, on Dhanishṭhā; Jupiter, the son of Aṅgiras, on Pūrvaphālgunī; Venus, the daughter of Bhṛigu, on Pushya; Saturn on Revatī; the Bearer of the Tail, the son of Yama (the Angel of Death) on Āślesha, and the Head on Revatī.
According to their custom, the Hindus attribute certain dominants to the eight directions in the horizontal plane, which we exhibit in the following table:
[i.292]
|
Dominants |
Directions |
|
Indra |
East |
|
Fire |
S.E. |
|
Yama |
South |
|
Pṛithu |
S.W. |
|
Varuṇa |
West |
|
Vāyu |
N.W. |
|
Kuru |
North |
|
Mahādēva |
N.E. |
The Hindus construct a figure of these eight directions, called Rāhucakra ('Figure of the Head'), by means of which they try to gain an omen or prophecy for hazard-playing. It is the following diagram:
The figure is used in this way: First, you must know the Dominant of the Day in question, and its place in the present figure. Next you must know that one of the eight parts of the day in which you happen to be. These eighths are counted on the lines, beginning with [i.293] the Dominant of the Day, in uninterrupted succession from east to south and west. Thus you find the Dominant of the eighth in question. If, for example, you want to know the fifth eighth of Thursday while Jupiter is the dominus diei ('Dominant of the Day') in the south, and the line proceeding from the south terminates in northwest, we find that the Dominant of the first eighth is Jupiter, that of the second is Saturn, that of the third the Sun, that of the fourth the Moon, and that of the fifth Mercury in the north. In this way you go on counting the eighths through the day and the night till the end of the nychthēmeron ('a-night-and-a-day', nuxqh/meron). When thus the direction of the eighth of the day in which you are has been found, it is considered by them as Rāhu; and when sitting down to play, you must place yourself so that you have this direction at your back. Then you will win, according to their belief. It is no affair of the reader to despise a man who, on account of such an omen, in a variety of games stakes all his chances on one cast of the dice. Suffice it to leave to him the responsibility of his dice-playing.
CHAPTER 29
DEFINITION OF THE INHABITABLE EARTH ( ŒCUMENĒ ) ACCORDING TO THE HINDUS
[i.294] IN the book of the ṛishi Bhuvanakośa we read that:
The inhabitable world stretches from Himavant (Himalayas) towards the south, and is called Bharata-varsha, so called from a man, Bharata, who ruled over them and provided for them. The inhabitants of this œcumenē (oi)koume/nh) are those to whom alone reward and punishment in another life are destined. It is divided into nine parts, called Navakhaṇḍa-prathama ('Primary Nine Parts'). Between each two parts there is a sea, which they traverse from one khaṇḍa to the other. The breadth of the inhabitable world from north to south is 1000 yojana.
By Himavant (Himalayas) the author means the northern mountains, where the world, in consequence of the cold, ceases to be inhabitable. So all civilization must of necessity be south of these mountains.
His words, that the inhabitants are subject to reward and punishment, indicate that there are other people not subject to it. These beings he must either raise from the degree of man to that of angels, who, in consequence of the simplicity of the Elements they are composed of and of the purity of their Nature, never disobey a divine order, being always willing to worship; or he must degrade them to the degree of irrational animals. According to him, therefore, there are no human beings outside the œcumenē (i.e. Bharatavarsha). [i.295] Bharatavarsha is not India alone, as Hindus think, according to whom their country is the world, and their race the only race of mankind; for India is not traversed by an ocean separating one khaṇḍa from the other. Further, they do not identify these khaṇḍa with the dvīpas, for the author says that on those seas people pass from one shore to the other. Further, it follows from his statement that all the inhabitants of the Earth and the Hindus are subject to reward and punishment, that they are one great religious community. The nine parts are called prathama ('primary'), because they also divide India alone into nine parts. So the division of the œcumenē is a primary one, but the division of Bharatavarsha a secondary one. Besides, there is still a third division into nine parts, as their astrologers divide each country into nine parts when they try to find the lucky and unlucky places in it.
We find a similar tradition in the Vāyu- Purāṇa, namely that:
The center of Jambū-dvīpa is called Bharatavarsha, which means 'those who acquire something and nourish themselves.' With them there are the Four Yuga. They are subject to reward and punishment; and Himavant lies to the north of the country. It is divided into nine parts, and between them there are navigable seas. Its length is 9000 yojana, its breadth 1000; and because the country is also called Samnāra (?), each ruler who rules it is called Samnāra (?). The shape of its nine parts is as follows.
Then the author begins to describe the mountains in the khaṇḍa between the east and north, and the rivers that rise there, but he does not go beyond this description. Thereby he gives us to understand that, according to his opinion, this khaṇḍa is the œcumenē. But he contradicts himself in another place, where he [i.296] says that Jambu-dvīpa is the center among the Navakhaṇḍa-prathama, and the others lie towards the eight directions. There are angels on them, men, animals, and plants. By these words he seems to mean the dvīpas.
If the breadth of the œcumenē is 1000 yojana, its length must be nearly 2800.
Further, the Vāyu-Purāṇa mentions the cities and countries that lie in each direction. We shall exhibit them in tables, together with similar information from other sources, for this method renders the study of the subject easier than any other.
Here follows a diagram representing the division of Bharatavarsha into nine parts.
|
Nāga-dvīpa |
South |
Tāmravarṇa |
||
|
Gabhastimat |
||||
|
West |
Saumya |
Indra-dvīpa, |
Kaśerumat |
East |
|
Gāndharva |
Nagarasaṁvṛitta |
|||
|
North |
||||
We have already heretofore mentioned that that part of the earth in which the œcumenē lies resembles a tortoise, because its borders are round, because it rises above the water and is surrounded by the water, and because it has a globular convexity on its surface. However, there is a possibility that the origin of the name is this, that their astronomers and astrologers divide the directions according to the lunar stations. [i.297] Therefore the country, too, is divided according to the lunar stations, and the figure which represents this division is similar to a tortoise. Therefore it is called Kūrma-cakra ('tortoise-circle' or 'tortoise-shaped'). The following diagram is from the Saṁhitā of Varāhamihira.
Varahamihira calls each of the Nava-khaṇḍa a varga. He says:
By them (vargas) Bharatavarsha (i.e. half of the world), is divided into nine parts, the central one, the eastern, etc. Then he passes to the south, and thus round the whole horizon. That he understands by 'Bharatavarsha' India alone is indicated by his saying that each varga has a region, the king of [i.298] which is killed when some mishap befalls it. So belong:
|
to the 1st (or 'central') varga, |
the region Pāñcāla |
|
to the 2nd varga, |
the region Magadha |
|
to the 3rd varga, |
the region Kaliṅga |
|
to the 4th varga, |
the region Avanti (Ujain) |
|
to the 5th varga, |
the region Ananta |
|
to the 6th varga, |
the region Sindhu and Sauvīra |
|
to the 7th varga, |
the region Hārahaura |
|
to the 8th varga, |
the region Madura |
|
to the 9th varga, |
the region Kulinda |
All these countries are parts of India proper.
Most of the names of countries under which they appear in this context are not those by which they are now generally known. Utpala, a native of Kaśmīr, says in his commentary on the book Samhitā regarding this subject:
The names of countries change, and particularly in the yugas. So Mūltān was originally called Kāśyapapura, then Haṁsapura, then Bagapura, then Sāmbhapura, and then Mūlasthāna ('Original Place,' for mūla means 'root,' or 'origin,' and tāna means 'place').
A yuga is a long space of time, but names change rapidly, when, for instance, a foreign nation with a different language occupies a country. Their tongues frequently mangle the words, and thus transfer them into their own language, as is, for example, the custom of the Greeks. Either they keep the original meaning of the names, and try a sort of translation, but then they undergo certain changes. So the city of Shāsh, which has its name from the Turkish language, where it is called Tāsh-kand (Tāshkent, 'Stone-City'), is called Stone-Tower in the book Geōgraphia (gewgrafi/a, by Ptolemy). In this way new names spring up as translations of older ones. Or, secondly, the barbarians adopt and keep the local names, but with such sounds and in such forms as are adapted to their tongues, as the Arabs do in Arabizing foreign names, which become disfigured in [i.299] their mouth: e.g. Būshang they call in their books Fāsanj, and Sakilkand they call in their revenue-books Fārfaza (sic). However, what is more curious and strange is this, that sometimes one and the same language changes in the mouth of the same people who speak it, in consequence of which strange and uncouth forms of words spring up, not intelligible save to him who discards every rule of the language. And such changes are brought about in a few years, without there being any stringent cause or necessity for it. Of course, in all of this the Hindus are actuated by the desire to have as many names as possible, and to practice on them the rules and arts of their etymology, and they glory in the enormous copiousness of their language which they obtain by such means.
The following names of countries, which we have taken from the Vāyu-Purāṇa, are arranged according to the four directions, while the names taken from the Samhitā are arranged according to the eight directions. All these names are of that kind which we have here described (i.e. they are not the names now in general use). We exhibit them in the following tables:
--------------------------------
The Single Countries of the Middle Realm,
According to the Vāyu-Purāṇa
The people in the center:
Kuru, Pāñcāla, Sālva, Jaṅgala, Śūrasena, Bhadrakāra (!), Bodha, Patheśvara, Vatsa, Kisadya, Kulya, Kuntala, Kāśi, Kosala, Arthayāshava (?), Puhliṅga (!), Mashaka (!), Vṛika
The people in the east:
Andhra, Vāka, Mudrakaraka (?), Prātragira (?), Vahirgira, Prathanga (?), Vaṅgeya, Mālava (!), Mālavartika, Prāgjyotisha, Muṇḍa, Ābika (?), Tāmraliptika, Māla, Magadha, Govinda (Gonanda?)
The people in the south:
Pāṇḍya, Kerala, Caulya, Kulya, Setuka, Mūshika, Rumana (?), Vanavāsika, Mahārāshtra, Māhisha, Ka [i.300]liṅga, Abhīra, Īshīka, Āṭavya, Śavara (?), Pulindra, Vindhyamūli, Vaidarbha, Daṇḍaka, Mūlika (!), Asmaka,
Naitika (!), Bhogavardhana, Kuntala, Andhra, Udbhira, Nalaka, Alika, Dākshinātya, Vaideśa, Sūrpākāraka, Kolavana, Durga, Tillīta (?), Puleya, Krāla (!), Rūpaka, Tāmasa, Tarūpana (?), Karaskara, Nāsikya, Uttaranarmada, Bhānukacchra (?), Maheya, Sāraswata (?), Kacchīya, Surāshtra, Anartta, Hudvuda (?)
The people in the west:
Malada (?.), Karūsha, Mekala, Utkala, Uttamarṇa, Baśārṇa (?), Bhoja, Kishkinda, Kosala, Traipura, Vaidika, Tharpura (?), Tumbura, Shattumāna (?), Padha, Karṇaprāvaraṇa (!), Hūna, Darva, Hūhaka (!), Trigartta, Mālava, Kirāta, Tāmara
The people in the north:
Vāhlīka (!), Vāḍha, Vāna (?), Ābhīra, Kalatoyaka, Aparānta (?), Pahlava, Carmakhaṇḍika, Gāndhāra, Yavana, Sindhu, Sauvīra (Multān and Jahrāwār), Madhra (?), Śaka, Drihāla (?), Litta (Kulinda), Malla(?), Kodara (?), Ātreya, Bharadva, Jāṅgala, Daseruka (!), Lampāka, Tālakūna (?), Sūlika, Jāgara
The Names of the Countries for the Tortoise-Figure,
As Taken from the Samhitā of Varāhamihira
I. The names of the countries in the center of the realm:
Bhadra, Ari, Meda, Māṇḍavya, Sālvanī, Pojjihāna, Maru, Vatsa, Ghosha, the Valley of the Yamunā, Sārasvata, Matsya, Māthura, Kopa, Jyotisha, Dharmāraṇya, Śūrasena, Gauragrīva, Uddehika near Bazāna, Pāṇḍu, Guḍa (Tānēshar), Aśvattha, Pañcāla, Sāketa, Kaṇka, Kuru (Tānēshar, again), Kālkoṭi, Kukura, Pariyātra, Audnmbara, Kapishṭhala, Gaja
II. The names of the countries in the east:
Añjana, Vṛishabadhvaja, Padma-Tulya (sic), Vyāghramukha ('Tiger-Faces'), Suhma, Karvaṭa, Candrapura, Śūrpakarṇa ('Ears-Like-[i.301]Sieves'), Khasha, Māgadha, Mount Śibira, Mithilā, Samataṭa, Oḍra, Aśvavadana ('Horse-Faces'), Dantura ('Long-Teeth'), Prāgjyotisba, Lohitya, Krīra-samudra (sic, 'Milk-Sea'), Purushāda, Udayagiri ('Mountain of Sunrise'), Bhadra, Gauraka, Pauṇḍra, Utkala, Kāśi, Mekala, Ambashṭha, Ekapada ('One-Footed'), Tāmaliptikā, Kausalaka, Vardhamāna
III. The names of the countries of the southeast (Āgneya):
Kosala, Kaliṅga, Vaṅga, Upavaṅga, Jaṭhara, Aṅga, Saulika, Vidarbha, Vatsa, Andhra, Colika (?), Ūrdhvakarṇa, ('Upward-Ears'), Vṛisha, Nālikera, Carma-dvīpa, Mount Vindhya, Tripurī, Śmaśrudhara, Hemakūṭya, Vyālagrīva ('Snake-Bosoms'), Mahāgrīva ('Wide-Bosoms'), Kishkindha (Country of the Monkeys), Kaṇḍakasthala, Nishāda, Rāshṭra, Dāśarṇa, Purika, Nagnaparṇa, Śavara
IV. The names of the countries in the south:
Laṅkā ('Cupola of the Earth'), Kālājina, Sairīkīrṇa (?), Tālikaṭa, Girnagara, Malaya, Dardura, Mahendṛa, Mālindya, Bharukaccha, Kankaṭa, Taṅkaṇa, Vanavāsi on the coast, Śibika, Phaṇikāra, Koṅkana near the sea, Ābhīra, Ākara, Veṇā (a river), Avanti (Ujain), Daśapura, Gonarda, Keralaka, Karṇāṭa, Mahāṭavi, Citrakūṭa, Nāsikya, Kollagiri, Cola, Krauñca- dvīpa, Jaṭādhara, Kauverya, Ṛishyamūka, Vaiḍūrya, Śaṅkha, Mukta, Atri, Vāricara, Jarmapaṭṭana-dvīpa (sic), Gaṇarājya, Kṛishṇavaiḍūrya, Śibika, Śūryādri, Kuśumanaga, Tumbavana, Kārmaṇeyaka, Yāmyodadhi, Tāpasāśrama, Ṛishika, Kāñcī, Marucīpaṭṭana, Divārśa (!), Siṁhala, Ṛishabha, Baladevapaṭṭana, Daṇḍakāvaṇa, Timingilāśana (?), Bhadra, Kaccha, Kuñjaradarī, Tāmraparṇa
V. The names of the countries in the southwest (Nairṛita):
[i.302] Kāmboja, Sindhu, Sauvīra (i.e. Multan and Jahrāvār), Vaḍavāmukha, Āravāmbashṭha, Kapila, Pāraśava (Persians), Sūdra, Barbara, Kirāta, Khaṇḍa, Kravya, Ābhīra, Cañcūka, Hemagiri, Sindhu, Kālaka, Raivataka, Surāshṭra, Bādara, Dramiḍa, Mahārṇava, Nārīmukha ('Women-Faced,' i.e. Turks), Ānarta, Pheṇagiri, Yavana ('Ionians,' i.e. Greeks), Māraka, Karṇaprāvaraṇa
VI. The names of the countries in the west:
Maṇimān, Meghavān, Vanaugha, Astagiri (Country of Sunset), Aparāntaka, Śāntika, Haihaya, Praśastādri, Vokkāṇa, Pañcanada ('Union of the Five Rivers'), Maṭhara, Pārata, Tārakruti (?), Jṛinga, Vaiśya, Kanaka, Śaka, Mleccha (Arabs)
VII. The names of the countries in the northwest (Vāyava):
Māṇḍavya, Tukhāra, Tālahala, Madra, Aśmaka, Kulūtalahada. Strīrājya (i.e. women with whom no man dwells longer than half a year), Nṛisiṁhavana ('Lion-Faces'), Khastha (i.e. people born from the trees, on which they hang by navel-strings), Venumatī (Tirmidh), Phalgulu, Guruhā, Marukucca, Carmaraṅga ('Colored-Skinned'), Ekavilocana ('One-Eyed'), Sūlika, Dīrghagrīva ('Long-Bosomed,' which means with long necks), Dīrghamukha ('Long-Faced'), Dīrghakeśa ('Long-Haired')
VIII. The names of the countries in the north:
Kailāsa, Himavant, Vasumant, Giri, Dhanushman ('Bowmen'), Krauñca, Meru, Kurava, Uttarakurava, Kshudramīna, Kaikaya, Vasāti, Yāmuna (i.e. a kind of Greeks), Bhogaprastha, Ārjunāyana, Agnītya, Ādarśa, Antar- dvīpa, Trigarta, Turagānana ('Horse-Faced'), Śvamukha ('Dog-Faced'), Keśadhara, Capiṭanāsika ('Flat-Nosed'), Dāsera, Kavāṭadhāna, Śaradhāna, Takshaśila (Mārīkala), Puishkalāvatī (Pūkala), Kailāvata, Kaṇṭhadhāna, [i.303] Ambara, Madraka, Mālava, Paurava, Kacchāra, Daṇḍa, Piṅgalaka, Mānahala, Hūṇa, Kohala, Śātaka, Māṇḍavya, Bhūtapura, Gāndhāra, Yaśovati, Hematāla, Rājanya, Khajara, Yaudheya, Dāsameya, Śyāmāka, Kshemadhūrta (?)
IX. The names of the countries in the northeast (Aiśāna):
Meru, Kanashṭharājya, Paśupāla, Kīra, Kaśmīra, Abhi, Śārada, Taṅgaṇa, Kulūta, Sairindha, Rāshṭra, Brahmapura, Dārva, Dāmara, Vanarājya, Kirāta, Cīna, Kauṇinda, Bhalla, Palola, Jaṭāsura, Kunaṭha, Khasha, Ghosha, Kucika, Ekacaraṇa ('One-Footed'), Anuviśva, Suvarṇabhūmi ('Gold-Land'), Arvasudhana (sic), Nandavishṭha, Paurava, Ciranivasana, Trinetra ('Three-Eyed'), Puñjādri, Gandharva.
Hindu astronomers determine the longitude of the inhabitable world by Laṅkā, which lies in its center on the equator, while Yamakoṭi lies on its east, Romaka (Rūm) on its west, and Siddhapura on that part of the equator which is diametrically opposed to Laṅkā. Their remarks on the rising and setting of the heavenly bodies show that Yamakoṭi and Rūm are distant from each other by half a circle. It seems that they assign the countries of the West (i.e. North Africa) to Rūm (the Roman Empire), because the Rūm (Roman 'Byzantine' Greeks) occupy the opposite shores of the same sea (the Mediterranean); for the Roman Empire has much northern latitude and penetrates high into the north. No part of it stretches far southward, and, of course, nowhere does it reach the equator, as the Hindus say with regard to Romaka.
We shall here speak no more of Laṅkā (as we are going to treat of it in a separate chapter). Yamakoṭi is, according to Ya ᴄḳūb and al-Fazārī, the country where is the city Tāra within a Sea. I have not found the slightest trace of this name in Indian literature. As koṭi means 'castle' and Yama is the Angel of Death, the [i.304] word reminds me of Kangdiz, which, according to the Persians, had been built by Kaikā ᴐūs (or, Jam) in the most remote east, behind the Sea. Kaikhusrau traversed the Sea to Kangdiz when following the traces of Afrāsiāb the Turk, and there he went at the time of his anchorite life and expatriation. For diz means in Persian 'castle,' as koṭi in the Indian language. Abū-Ma ᴄshar of Balkh has based his geographical canon on Kangdiz as the 0° of longitude or first meridian.
How the Hindus came to suppose the existence of Siddhapura I do not know, for they believe, like ourselves, that behind the inhabited half-circle there is nothing but unnavigable seas.
In what way the Hindus determine the latitude of a place has not come to our knowledge. That the longitude of the inhabitable world is a half-circle is a far-spread theory among their astronomers; they differ (from Western astronomers) only as to the point which is to be its beginning. If we explain the theory of the Hindus as far as we understand it, their beginning of longitude is Ujain, which they consider as the eastern limit of one quarter (of the œcumenē) while the limit of the second quarter lies in the west at some distance from the end of civilization, as we shall hereafter explain in the chapter about the difference of the longitudes of two places.
The theory of the Western astronomers on this point is a double one. Some adopt as the beginning of longitude the shore of the (Atlantic) Ocean, and they extend the first quarter thence as far as the environs of Balkh. Now, according to this theory, things have been united which have no connection with each other. So Shapūrḳān and Ujain are placed on the same meridian. A theory that so little corresponds to reality is quite valueless. Others adopt the Islands of the Blessed ('Happy') as the beginning of longitude, and the quarter of the they extend thence as far as the neighbor[i.305]hood of Jurjān and of Nīshāpūr. Both these theories are totally different from that of the Hindus. This subject, however, shall be more accurately investigated in a subsequent chapter (i.311).
If I, by the grace of God, shall live long enough, I shall devote a special treatise to the longitude of Nīshāpūr, where this subject shall be thoroughly inquired into.
CHAPTER 30
CHAPTER 31
ON THAT DIFFERENCE OF VARIOUS PLACES WHICH WE CALL THE DIFFERENCE OF LONGITUDE
[i.311] HE who aims at accuracy in this subject must try to determine the distance between the spheres of the meridians of the two places in question. Muslim astronomers reckon by equatorial times corresponding to the distance between the two meridians, and begin to count from one (the western one) of the two places. The sum of equatorial minutes which they find is called the difference between the two longitudes; for they consider as the longitude of each place the distance of its meridian from the great circle passing through the pole of the equator, which has been chosen as the limit of the œcumenē (oi)koume/nh) and for this first meridian they have chosen the western (not the eastern) limit of œcumenē. It is all the same whether these equatorial times, whatsoever their number for each meridian may be, are reckoned as 360th parts of a circle, or as its 60th parts, so as to correspond to the day-minutes, or as farsakh or yojana.
The Hindus employ in this subject methods that do not rest on the same principle as ours. They are totally different; and howsoever different they are, it is perfectly clear that none of them hits the right mark. As we (Muslims) note for each place its longitude, the Hindus note the number of yojanas of its distance from the meridian of Ujain. And the more to the west the position of a place is, the greater is the number of [i.312] yojanas; the more to the east it is, the smaller is this number. They call it deśāntara ('difference between places'). Further, they multiply the deśāntara by the mean daily motion of the planet (the Sun), and divide the product by 4800. Then the quotient represents that amount of the motion of the star that corresponds to the number of yojana in question (i.e. that which must be added to the mean place of the Sun), as it has been found for Moon or midnight of Ujain, if you want to find the longitude of the place in question.
The number which they use as divisor (4800) is the of the Earth, number of the yojanas of the circumference of the Earth, for the difference between the spheres of the meridians of the two places stands in the same relation to the whole circumference of the Earth as the mean motion of the planet (Sun) from one place to the other to its whole daily rotation round the Earth.
If the circumference of the Earth is 4800 yojanas, the diameter is nearly 1527; but Pulisa reckons it as 1600, Brahmagupta as 1581 yojanas, each of which is equal to eight miles. The same value is given in the astronomical handbook al-Arkand as 1050. This number, however, is, according to Ibn Ṭāriḳ, the radius, while the diameter is 2100 yojanas (each yojana being reckoned as equal to four miles), and the circumference is stated as 65969/25 yojanas.
Brahmagupta uses 4800 as the number of yojanas of the Earth's circumference in his canon Khaṇḍakhādyaka, but in the amended edition he uses, instead of this, the corrected circumference, agreeing with Pulisa. The correction he propounds is this, that he multiplies the yojanas of the Earth's circumference by the sines of the complement of the latitude of the place, and divides the product by the sinus totus; then the quotient is the corrected circumference of the Earth, or the number of yojanas of the parallel circle of the place in question. Sometimes this number is called the Collar of the Meri [i.313]dian. Hereby people are frequently misled to think that the 4800 yojanas are the corrected circumference for the city of Ujain. If we calculate it (according to Brahmagupta's correction), we find the latitude of Ujain to be 16¼ degrees, while in reality it is 24°.
The author of the canon Karaṇa-tilaka makes this correction in the following way. He multiplies the diameter of the Earth by 12 and divides the product by the equinoctial shadow of the place. The gnomon stands in the same relation to this shadow as the radius of the parallel circle of the place to the sine of the latitude of the place, not to the sinus totus. Evidently the author of this method thinks that we have here the same kind of equation as that which the Hindus call vyastatrairāśika ('places of retrograde motion'). An example of it is the following.
If the price of a 15-year-old harlot is, for example, 10 denars, how much will it be when she is a 40-year-old?
The method is this, that you multiply the first number by the second:
15 x 10 = 150
and divide the product by the third number:
150 ÷ 40 = 3¾
then the quotient, or fourth number, is her price when she has become old:
3¾ denars.
Now the author of the Karaṇa-tilaka, after having found that the straight shadow increases with the latitude, while the diameter of the circle decreases, thought, according to the analogy of the just mentioned calculation, that between this increase and decrease there is a certain ratio. Therefore he maintains that the diameter of the circle decreases (i.e. becomes gradually smaller than the diameter of the Earth) at the same rate as the straight shadow increases. Thereupon he calculates the corrected circumference from the corrected diameter.
After having thus found the longitudinal difference between two places, he observes a lunar eclipse, and fixes in day-minutes the difference between the time of its appearance in the two places. Pulisa multiplies [i.314] these day-minutes by the circumference of the Earth and divides the product by 60, namely by the 'minutes' (or '60th parts') of the daily revolution. The quotient, then, is the number of the yojanas of the distance between the two places.
This calculation is correct. The result refers to the Great Circle on which Laṅkā lies.
Brahmagupta calculates in the same manner, save that he multiplies by 4800. The other details have already been mentioned.
As far as this, one clearly recognizes what the Hindu astronomers aim at, be their method correct or faulty. However, we cannot say the same of their calculation of the deśāntara from the latitudes of two different places, which is reported by al-Fazāri in his canon in the following manner:
Add together the squares of the sines of the latitudes of the two places, and take the root of the sum. This root is the portio.
Further, square the difference of these two sines and add it to the portio. Multiply the sum by 8 and divide the product by 377. The quotient, then, is the distance between the two places, that is to say, according to a rough calculation.
Further, multiply the difference between the two latitudes by the yojanas of the circumference of the Earth and divide the product by 360.
Evidently this latter calculation is nothing but the transferring of the difference between the two latitudes from the measure of degrees and minutes to the measure of yojanas. Then he proceeds:
Now the square of the quotient is subtracted from the square of the roughly, calculated distance, and of the remainder you take the root, which represents the straight yojanas.
Evidently the latter number represents the distance between the spheres of the meridians of the two places [i.315] on the circle of latitude, while the roughly calculated number is the distance between the two places in longitude.
This method of calculation is found in the astronomical handbooks of the Hindus in conformity with the account of al-Fazāri, save in one particular. The herementioned portio is the root of the difference between the squares of the sines of the two latitudes, not the sum of the squares of the sines of the two latitudes.
But whatever this method may be, it does not hit the right mark. We have fully explained it in several of our publications specially devoted to this subject, and there we have shown that it is impossible to determine the distance between two places and the difference of longitude between them by means of their latitudes alone, and that only in case one of these two things is known (the distance between two places or the difference between the longitudes of them), by this and by means of the two latitudes, the third value can be found.
Based on the same principle, the following calculation has been found, there being no indication by whom it was invented:
Multiply the yojanas of the distance between two places by 9, and divide the product by...lacuna... the root of the difference between its square and the square of the difference of the two latitudes. Divide this number by 6. Then you get as quotient the number of day-minutes of the difference of the two longitudes.
It is clear that the author of this calculation first takes the distance (between the two places), then he reduces it to the measure of the circumference of the circle. However, if we invert the calculation and reduce the parts (or degrees) of the great circle to yojanas according to his method, we get the number 3200-i.e. 100 yojanas less than we have given on the authority of [i.316] al-Arkand (i.312). The double of it, 6400, comes near the number mentioned by Ibn Ṭāriḳ (i.e. 65969/25, see i.312), being only about 200 yojanas smaller.
We shall now give the latitudes of some places, as we hold them to be correct.
All canons of the Hindus agree in this that the line connecting Laṅkā with Meru divides the œcumenē lengthways in two halves, and that it passes through the city of Ujain, the fortress of Rohitaka, the river Yamunā the plain of Tāneshar, and the Cold Mountains. The longitudes of the places are measured by their distance from this line. On this head I know of no difference between them except the following passage in the book of Āryabhaṭa of Kusumapura:
People say that Kurukshetra (the plain of Tāneshar), lies on the line that connects Laṅkā with Meru and passes through Ujain. So they report on the authority of Pulisa. But he was much too intelligent not to have known the subject better. The times of the eclipses prove that statement to be erroneous, and Pṛithusvāmin maintains that the difference between the longitudes of Kurukshetra and Ujain is 120 yojanas.
These are the words of Āryabhaṭa.
Yaᴄḳūb Ibn Ṭāriḳ says, in his book entitled The Composition of the Spheres, that the latitude of Ujain is 4⅗ degrees, but he does not say whether it lies in the north or the south. Besides, he states it, on the authority of the book al-Arkand, to be 4⅖ degrees. We, however, have found a totally different latitude of Ujain in the same book in a calculation relating to the distance between Ujain and al-Manṣūra, which the author calls Brahmaṇavāṭa (Bamhanwā), namely the latitude of Ujain, 22° 29´; latitude of al-Manṣūra, 24° 1´.
According to the same book, the straight shadow in Lohāniyye (Loharānī) is 5⅗ digits.
[i.317] On the other hand, however, all the canons of the Hindus agree in this, that the latitude of Ujain is 24°, and that the Sun culminates over it at the time of the summer solstice.
Balabhadra, the commentator, gives as the latitude of Kanoj 26° 35´; and that of Taneshar, 30° 12´.
The learned Abū Aḥmad, the son of Catlaghtagīn, calculated the latitude of the city of Karlī (?), and found it to be 28° 0´, that of Taneshar 27', and both places to be distant from each other by three days' marches. What the cause of this difference is I do not know.
According to the book Karaṇa-sāra, the latitude of Kaśmīr is 34° 9´, and the straight shadow there 87/60 digits.
I myself have found the latitude of the fortress Lauhūr to be 34° 10´. The distance from Lauhūr to the capital of Kaśmīr is 56 miles, half the way being rugged country, the other half plain. What other latitudes I have been able to observe myself, I shall enumerate in this place:
|
Ghazna |
33° 35´ |
|
Kābul |
33° 47´ |
|
Kandī (Guardstation |
33° 55´ |
|
Dunpūr |
34° 20´ |
|
Lamghān |
34° 43´ |
|
Purshāvar |
34° 44´ |
|
Waihand |
34° 30´ |
|
Jailam |
33° 20´ |
|
The fortress Nandna |
32° 0´ |
The distance between the latter place and Multan is nearly 200 miles.
|
Sālkot |
32° 58´ |
|
Mandakkakor |
31° 50´ |
|
Multān |
29° 40´ |
If the latitudes of places are known, and the distances between them have been measured, the difference between their longitudes also may be found according to the methods explained in the books to which we have referred the reader.
[i.318]We ourselves have (in our travels) in their country not passed beyond the places that we have mentioned, nor have we learned any more longitudes and latitudes (of places in India) from their literature. It is God, alone, who helps us to reach our objects!
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