List of Travelogues & Translation

As we mentioned earlier, the travelogues played a very important role in resurrecting history. The Buddhist monks used them as a guide to plan their religious and educational trips as they gave a detailed account of the pilgrimages with the description of the school of thoughts followed by different monasteries. These scriptures were always a cherished part of Chinese culture but they didn’t contribute much to the rest of the world till they were translated into the western languages.

It was in 1830’s that the first translation of the eyewitness accounts of two monks Fahien and Xuanzang were available in French and English and provided a major break through in understanding Buddhism and the places associated with Buddha.
This information was well appreciated among the enthusiastic orientalists and explorers. Subsequently many translations were published in 19th and 20th century giving better insight. These translations equipped the explorers with much needed details about the religion, the places associated with it, the history, the importance of monasteries, trade practices, people, demography etc. It proved to be the inspiration that many orientalists were looking for and hence conceived ambitious plans to bring to light the past of the silk route and the Indian subcontinent.


Given below is a list of translations:

A. Fahien translations

1. “Foe Koue Ki” of MM.Remusat, klaproth and Landresse. 1833. -- Remusat is the originator of the French translation work and then it was taken by Heinrich Julius klaproth and when both of them died in 1832 and 1835 respectively, it was taken up by M. Landresse who saw it through to publication. An English Summary of this book was prepared by Wilson in 1837.
2. The English translation “The pilgrimage of Fahien” from French edition of “Foe Koue Ki” of MM.Remusat, klaproth and Landresse was published in Calcutta in 1848 by Laidley.
3. A complete English version from original Chinese version was published in 1869 in by Rev. S. Beal.
4. “Records of Buddhist Kingdom By Fahien” translated by James Legge, 1886

B. Xuanzang Translations

1- 1st in 1853- Histoire de la vie de Hiouen Thsang by M. Julien
2- 2nd in 1857 Memoires sur les contrees occidentales by M.Julien
3- Buddhist records of the western worlds (“Travels”), translated from Chinese of Hiuen Tsiang (AD 629) by Samuel Beal in 1884
4- The life of Xuanzang (“Life”)- Shaman Hwui Li by Samuel Beal in 1911
5- On Yuan chwang’s travels in india(“Travels”) - Thomas watters in 1904-05

C. Wou-Itsing- A record of Buddhist region by J. Takakusu

D. Dharmasvamin--- Biography of Dharmasvamin by, Dr. G. Roerich

NEXT: Interpretation of travelogues  

Interpretation of travelogues

The full title of the book by Xuanzang is “Ta-Tang-Hsi-yu-chi”, i.e., records of the western lands of the great Tang period.
The original text as written by Xuanzang and presented to king Taizong had 9 or 10 Chuan (chapter), in later centuries there is mention of the “His-yu-chi” (or Si-yu-Ki) i.e. “The records of the western lands”, with 12 Chuan. In some editions of His-yu-chi it says written by Xuanzang and compiled by Pien-chi and it is generally agreed that notes and comments may have been added by Pien-chi and by other contributors later in subsequent editions.
“His-yu-chi” exists in several editions like Han, Shan, Sung, Yuan, and Ming etc with considerable variations in explanations and the text. The book is one of the classical Buddhist books and is preserved in Buddhist monasteries in China, Korea and Japan.
The translation works carried out by orientalists have used one or many of the editions (A, B, C and D as mentioned by the translators) kept in various important monasteries in china, Japan and Korea. The translators found that subsequent editions had lots of alteration and many times its felt that the original facts were modified. This is one important reason why his “Travels” and “Life” vary considerably in the routes taken and places visited by Xuanzang. These discrepancies stems from the different edition used by different translators. Another reason is Xuanzang received information in local dialect which he transcripted in Sanskrit and sometimes he left them in their Pali form. For a good translation it is essential to have knowledge of Pali and Sanskrit. Many translators where not verse with Pali this also led to different interpretations. Besides that exact pronunciation of characters, names and places 1500 years back when the accounts were first written can not be exactly known. Pekinese and Morrison system of spellings were referred for transliterating the names of Chinese characters.
Of course as newer knowledge and techniques were found some of the old work was seen as obsolete or even incorrect in certain situations. The discrepancies between older and newer translation work sometimes contradicted the work previously done and has led to some criticism.

Julian made observations that Remusat work on Fahien is incorrect and is unreliable to use it as a reference. T.W.Rhys Davids has mentioned in preface of Thomas watters’ “Yuan Chwang travels in India”, that the translation done by Samuel Beal contains many mistakes.
Following suit Thomas watters labeled Julian’s translation a hasty and inaccurate work.
If we see the works published by Julian on Xuanzang’s “Record”, the first work published in 1853 was full of discrepancies. Explorers found it very difficult to interpret the names mentioned in the travelogues.

In last 1500 years the demography has totally changed and old cities like Kanyakubja, Kapilavastu don’t exist in there original state and are nowhere to be found on the map. The values of the unit of dimensions used in that era like, Li and Yojan has also transformed in the last 1500 years. The topography of the area and land-use changed over time and most of the remains were associated with local legends and folklores.
For example, Ashokan pillar at Nigliva was Bhimsen-Ki- Nigali (smoking pipe of Legendary Bhima from epic Mahabharata) for the local people and the big mound of “Remains of ancient Nalanda University” were mentioned as remains of Kundalpur fort of Raja Bhimika, father-in-law of Krishna (from epic Mahabharata).
Needless to say with plethora of information lying at every step and no standard way of validating any information posed a great challenge to put the history of the place together and in any proper sequence.

NEXT: Measurement units and verifications  

Measurement units and verifications

In the previous posts you must have come across the old measurement units that are no longer considered a standard unit of distance. In this post we try to clarify a little on those terms and while you are trying to gauge distances based on these unit try to imagine the challenge that initial explorers must have had the first time they had to decipher what each unit might stand for…

Fahien has recorded the places in “Yojan”. “Yojan” and “Kos” is the Indian unit for measurement of long distances. Xuanzang has given equivalent of “Yojan” in terms of “Li”, he says traditionally one “Yojan” consists of 40Li but at his time of visit it was only 30Li. But Xuanzang didn’t mention the equivalent he used in his travelogue.

Li- it’s a traditional measurement unit in China and founds it origin in 2600 BC by Yellow Emperor. Its values have changed with periods reaching up to 644 Mts in Qing dynasty. At the time of Xuanzang when Tang dynasty (618- 907 AD) was in power the value was approximately 323 Mts. The Present value is 1 Li = 500Mts

Yojan- it was the longest unit of measurement employed in ancient India and it had as many meanings. Yojan has emanated from Yoga, it used to indicate how much distance a cow can pull the cart. Xuanzang in his “Travels” accounts has elaborately defined the measurement units existing in India at that point of time. Yojan according to him was distance covered by a royal army in a day. And it was obvious its value differed in different places at different times. Yojan was further divided into Krosa. Krosa or Kos for example meant the distance at which the cow could be heard. One “kos” for a Buddhist monk meant ideal place to live from a Village.

Jain tradition= 1 Yojan= 4 Kos=9 miles
As per kautaliya’ Arthasastra 4 Kos= 1 Yojan= 9 Miles
Value of Li and Yojan by different Orientalists,


Cunningham Estimation
We will study how Cunningham came to his values based on his observations. Cunningham has gone into roots of traditional measurement systems and calculated the values of “Li” and “Yojan”. He has corroborated values with real distance between the places mentioned by Fahien and Xuanzang. Fahien has recorded distance in “Yojan” and Xuanzang has used “Li”, to estimate the measure of “Li” and “Yojan” Cunningham recorded distance between well known places and found equivalent of Li, Yojan in terms of Meter and Mile by taking average.
1 Yojan= 39.25 Li


1 Yojan of Fahien = 6.71 Miles

1 Mile= 5.925 Li= 329 Meters


All the later explorer and archaeologists have used the values mentioned by Cunningham as a standard.

But the calculation by Cunningham was based a lot on assumptions. A Basic mistake in the calculation done by Cunningham is that Fahien never visited Nalanda Mahavihara instead he talks about Nala, the birth place of Sariputra. And the Sariputra’s birth place as per Xuanzang was 20li South East of meeting place of Bimbisara and Buddha which is around 14 Li south-west of Nalanda Mahavihara. Hence the place Nalanda mentioned for the comparison is different for Fahien and Xuanzang. Also Giriyak he assumes as the site of Indrasaila Guha which is again wrong as the Indrasaila guha was later identified near Parvati village which is further north -East of Giriyak. Also It’s not explained how General Cunningham comes up with the figure of 58 Li between Nalanda to Giriyak. 

NEXT: Travelogue matrix for Nalanda and Rajgir  

The reason for this blog

Every story has a moral, every journey has a destination and every dream has a realization…

Before we begin to unfold the story, we’d like you to know that this blog is an effort to generate awareness about the heritage of Nalanda; bequeathed to us as timeless treasure and we’d like to share it with the world and present it as an invaluable resource to unearthing our past and enriched history. We’d also like to develop an appreciation for the cultural heritage that we are a part of and take pride in our roots.

As you accompany us on this journey, you’ll realize that Nalanda was way ahead of its times and could have been a foundation stone for many forthcoming theories, lifestyle choices, scientific and religious concepts and we already cherish the heritage of Nalanda without knowing it, without may be acknowledging it.

Our commitment lies with the benefit of the community from this heritage.

As the popularity of this place is growing, we have seen an increase in the quest for knowledge that this region offers, tourism has increased multi-folds and pride in our history has increased but the very people who have held it together for centuries are at a disconnect. They haven’t seen a direct impact on their lives from the increased popularity of the area.

Based on our research so far and our communication within the community, we have found that for the long term preservation of this heritage that is scattered in the villages all around, some discovered and other that is still to be unearthed; we need to educate them about the treasure, make them associate with it and most importantly make them see the benefit of preserving it all for the future generation.

A direct benefit that can be achieved by the community would be to have sustainable livelihood based on the tourist activities and other products related to this industry. Our larger purpose of this project is to involve the local community in the already growing tourism industry of the area and partake in the revenues that can be reverted back to enhancing the service industry and improve the overall experience of the tourists and the locals as well.

Here is a map of the journey that we plan to reveal and share with you the subtleties of the area to make your trip more enjoyable:

1. Footsteps of Xuanzang — this is where we share with you the hardships that were met by the initial explorers and how Xuanzang’s eyewitness account helped them see the Buddhist heritage and how they pieced the story to share it with the world.

2. Nalanda – the place is a buried treasure and everything from its name to the ruins have a story to tell, some of these are founded on solid facts and there are others that were built to answer the unknown. We’ll share with you what we have uncovered so far, some myths and more realities.

3. A Journey with the enlightened – As the name suggests this area has attracted various spiritual leaders from Buddha and Mahavir to all the way back to the mythological characters of Mahabharata. We have stories to tell, some based on the discoveries and others based on the belief of local people.

4. Heritage spread in the villages - As we mentioned above, the villages are scattered with lots very significant sculpture that are in dire need for protection. In the last 25 years many have gone missing from these villages and the community needs a comprehensive awareness program to deal with such rampant destruction of our heritage.

As we talk about these heritage pieces that are yet to be documented, we’ll share with you the folklores that have been built around the potsherds, bricks and sculpture found in these areas. These stories have been passed on for generations and make the archeological journey through the local villages very interesting.

5. We’ll end this journey with the discussion on the crux and suggest a plan for the community participation in heritage management and livelihood from tourism based on a Participatory appraisal with the local community.

We plan to discuss an interpretation program, new travel maps (routes) for the tourists and a few newer places and their historic references; with the hope of benefiting both tourists and the locals with this process.

So with the hope that you’ll accompany us on this journey through the end, let’s get the ball rolling…