M. le Comte Riant (Itin. a Jerusalem, p. xxix.) from various data
thinks the two sojourns of the Polos at Acre must have been between the
9th May, 1271, date of the arrival of Edward of England and of Tedaldo
Visconti, and the 18th November, 1271, time of the departure of Tedaldo.
Tedaldo was still in Paris on the 28th December, 1269, and he appears to
have left for the Holy Land after the departure of S. Lewis for Tunis (2nd
July, 1270). - H.C.
2. - SORCERY IN KASHMIR. (Vol. i. p. 166.)
In Kalhanda's Rajatarangini, A Chronicle of the Kings of Kasmir
translated by M.A. Stein, we read (Bk. IV. 94, p. 128): "Again the
Brahman's wife addressed him: 'O king, as he is famous for his knowledge
of charms (Kharkhodavidya), he can get over an ordeal with ease.'" Dr.
Stein adds the following note: "The practice of witchcraft and the belief
in its efficiency have prevailed in Kasmir from early times, and have
survived to some extent to the present day; comp. Buehler, Report, p.
24.... The term Kharkhoda, in the sense of a kind of deadly charm or
witchcraft, recurs in v. 239, and is found also in the Vijayesvaramah
(Adipur.), xi. 25. In the form Kharkota it is quoted by the N. P.W.
from Caraka, vi. 23. Kharkhota appears as the designation of a
sorcerer or another kind of uncanny persons in Haracar., ii. 125, along
with Krtyas and Vetalas...."
3. - PAONANO PAO. (Vol. i. p. 173.)
In his paper on Zoroastrian Deities on Indo-Scythians' Coins
(Babylonian and Oriental Record, August, 1887, pp. 155-166; rep. in the
Indian Antiquary, 1888), Dr. M.A. Stein has demonstrated that the
legend PAONANO PAO on the coins of the Yue-Chi or Indo-Scythian Kings
(Kanishka, Huvishka, Vasudeva), is the exact transcription of the old
Iranian title Shahanan Shah (Persian Shahan-shah), "King of Kings";
the letter P, formerly read as P(r), has since been generally
recognised, in accordance with his interpretation as a distinct character
expressing the sound sh.
4. - PAMIR. (Vol. i. pp. 174-175.)
I was very pleased to find that my itinerary agrees with that of Dr. M.A.
Stein; this learned traveller sends me the following remarks: "The remark
about the absence of birds (pp. 174-175) might be a reflex of the very
ancient legend (based probably on the name zend Upairi-saena, pehlevi
Aparsin, 'higher than the birds') which represents the Hindu Kush
range proper as too high for birds to fly over. The legend can be traced
by successive evidence in the case of the range north of Kabul." -
Regarding the route (p. 175) from the Wakhjir (sic) Pass down the
Taghdum-bash Pamir, then via Tash-kurghan, Little Karakul, Bulun Kul,
Gez Daria to Tashmalik and Kashgar, Dr. Stein says that he surveyed it in
July, 1900, and he refers for the correct phonetic spelling of local names
along it to his map to be published in J.R.G.S., in December, 1902.
He says in his Prel. Report, p. 10: "The Wakhjir Pass, only some 12
miles to the south-west of Koek-toeroek, connects the Taghdumbash Pamir
and the Sarikol Valleys with the head-waters of the Oxus. So I was glad
that the short halt, which was unavoidable for survey purposes, permitted
me to move a light camp close to the summit of the Wakhjir Pass (circ.
16,200 feet). On the following day, 2nd July, I visited the head of
Ab-i-Panja Valley, near the great glaciers which Lord Curzon first
demonstrated to be the true source of the River Oxus. It was a strange
sensation for me in this desolate mountain waste to know that I had reached
at last the eastern threshold of that distant region, including Bactria and
the Upper Oxus Valley, which as a field of exploration had attracted me
long before I set foot in India. Notwithstanding its great elevation, the
Wakhjir Pass and its approaches both from west and east are comparatively
easy. Comparing the topographical facts with Hiuen-Tsiang's account in the
Si yu-ki, I am led to conclude that the route followed by the great
Chinese Pilgrim, when travelling about A.D. 649 from Badakshan towards
Khotan, through 'the valley of Po-mi-lo (Pamir)' into Sarikol, actually
traversed this Pass."
Dr. Stein adds in his notes to me that "Marco Polo's description of the
forty days' journey to the E.N.E. of Vokhan as through tracts of
wilderness can well be appreciated by any one who has passed through the
Pamir Region, in the direction of the valleys W. and N. of Muztagh Ata.
After leaving Tashkurghan and Tagharma, where there is some precarious
cultivation, there is no local produce to be obtained until the oasis of
Tashmalik is reached in the open Kashgar plains. In the narrow valley of
the Yamanyar River (Gez Defile) there is scarcely any grazing; its
appearance is far more desolate than that of the elevated Pamirs." - "Marco
Polo's praise (p. 181) of the gardens and vine-yards of Kashgar is well
deserved; also the remark about the trading enterprise of its merchants
still holds good, if judged by the standard of Chinese Turkestan. Kashgar
traders visit Khotan far more frequently than vice versa. It is strange
that no certain remains of Nestorian worship can be traced now." - "My
impression [Dr. Stein's] of the people of the Khotan oasis (p. 188) was
that they are certainly a meeker and more docile race than e.g. the
average 'Kashgarlik' or Yarkandi. The very small number of the Chinese
garrison of the districts Khotan and Keria (only about 200 men) bears out
this impression."
We may refer for the ancient sites, history, etc., of Khotan to the
Preliminary Report of Dr. Stein and to his paper in the Geographical
Journal for December, 1902, actually in the press.
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