On Yuan Chwang’s Travels in India (A.D. 629–645)

The work is organized as a sustained analysis of Yuan Chwang’s travel record and the regions described in it. The opening chapters discuss the title and text of the Chinese record, the background of the pilgrim, and the interpretive problems surrounding the transliteration of his name. The main body then follows Yuan Chwang’s itinerary through a sequence of geographical chapters. Volume I includes chapters on his journey from Kao Chang to the Thousand Springs, from Tārās to Kapis, the general description of India, Lamghan to Gandhāra, Uḍyāna to Kashmir, Kashmir to Rajapur, Cheh-ka to Mathurā, Sthāneśvara to Kapitha, Kanyakubja to Viśoka, and Śrāvastī to Kusinārā. Volume II continues with Vārāṇasī to Nepal, Magadha, Magadha continued, I-Lan-Na-Po-Fa-To country, Ceylon, and Tsao-Ku-T’a. Across these chapters, the book examines place-names, kingdoms, sacred sites, Buddhist monuments, monasteries, pilgrimage centres, political territories, and religious traditions associated with Yuan Chwang’s journey.