Chinabhukti

Author:Laxman Burdak, IFS (R)

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Chinabhukti (चीनभुक्ति) was a kingdom mentioned by Xuanzang.

Variants

• Chinabhukti (चीनभुक्ति) (AS, p.339)
• Chinapati (by Alexander Cunningham)
• Chi-na-po-ti (by Xuanzang)
• China-pata

Visit by Xuanzang in 634 AD

Alexander Cunningham writes about Chinapati or Pati: [p.200]: Hwen Thsang places the town of Chinapati at 500 li, or 83 miles, to the east of Taki, a position which corresponds almost exactly with Patti, a large and very old town, situated 27 miles to the north-east of Kasur, and 10 miles to the west of the Bias river.¹ Unfortunately there is a discrepancy in the recorded distance of the next place visited by the pilgrim, otherwise the site of Chinapati might have been fixed absolutely with reference to its bearing and distance from the well-known city of Jalandhar. In the Life² of Hwen Thsang, Chinapati is said to be 50 li, or 8 miles, to the north-west of the Tāmasa-vana monastery, which was 150 li, or 26 miles, to the south-west of Jalandhar. But in the Travels³ of Hwen Thsang the

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1 See Map No. VI.

2 Julien's ' Hiouen Thsang,' i. 102.

3 Ibid., ii. 198.

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[p.201]: distance of the monastery is stated at 500 li, or 83 miles, from Chinapati. This last distance is quite impossible, as it would place Chinapati about 30 miles to the north of Taki, instead of 83 miles to the east of it, as specified by the pilgrim in his journal. On the other hand, the shorter distance of eight miles would place it in the midst of the sandy bed of the Bias river, where no town has ever existed. I would, therefore, propose to read 150 li, or 25 miles, which would fix Chinapati at the town of Patti, in the very position that has already been determined by the bearing and distance from Taki.

Patti is a large brick town of considerable antiquity. According to Burnes,¹ it was built in the reign of Akbar; but he is undoubtedly wrong, as the town was already the head of a Parganah in the time of Humayun, who assigned it to his servant Jaohar.² It is called Patti-Haibatpur by Abul Fazl,³ and it is still known as Haibatpur-Patti. According to the people, the town received its Muhammadan name from Haibat Khan, whose date is not known, but I think it probable that he may be identified with Haibat Khan Shirwani, who was a leading noble in the time of Sikandar Ludi, and who commanded the army of the Afghan king against Humayun on his return from Persia. The antiquity of Patti is proved by the numbers of burnt bricks and old wells which are found about the town. The old dry wells were noted more than three hundred years ago by Jaohar,⁴ the attendant of the Emperor Humayun ; and the pro-

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1 ' Travels in Panjab and Bokhara,' ii. 9.

2 'Memoirs of Humayun,' 112.

3 ' Ayin Akbari,' ii. 260.

4 ' Memoirs of Humayun,' p. 113.

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[p.202]: fusion of bricks struck Burnes,¹ who remarks that " the houses are constructed of bricks, and the streets are even laid with them. Some workmen digging a well in this neighbourhood lately hit upon a former well on which was a Hindu inscription. It set forth that it had been built by one Agurtuta, of whom tradition gives no account." I visited the place in 1838, only a few years after Burnes, but I failed to recover the inscription.

Another proof of antiquity is the presence of one of the long graves or tombs, which the people call No-gaja, or " Nine-yards," that is the Giant. The Patti No-ffaja is said by Barr² to have lived in the time of Akbar ; but these tombs, which are common in the north-west of India, are more usually referred to the Ghazis, who fell in fight against the infidels in the early ages of Muhammadanism. I would therefore assign the grave to the time of Mahmud of Ghazni, and the brick tomb which has been erected over it to the time of Akbar.

According to Hwen Thsang, the district of China-pata was about 2000 li, or 333 miles, in circuit. With these dimensions, it must have comprised the whole of the upper Bari Doab, between the Bias and the Ravi, from the foot of the hills to the old junction of the Bias and Satlej, near Firuzpur. The name of Chi-na-po-ti, or Chinapati, is referred to the time of the great Indo-Scythian king Kanishka, who fixed this place as the residence of his Chinese hostages. The pilgrim adds, that previous to their residence, India had possessed neither pears nor peaches, both of which were introduced by the Chinese hostages. The pears were

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1 ' Panjab and Bokhara,' ii. 9. 2 ' Cabul and the Panjab,' p. 62.

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[p.203]: called Chi-na-ni, or Chinani, that is, " brought from China," and the peaches Chi-na-lo-she-fo-ta-lo, or China-raja-putra, that is, the " China King's sons." This is not quite correct, as both pears and peaches are found growing wild in the neighbouring hills. But there are now two kinds of cultivated peaches, the one round and juicy, the other flat and sweet. The first, which is called āru in Hindi, and Shaftālu in Persian, is certainly indigenous ; but the other, which is called Chini-Shaftālu, is most probably that which Hwen Thsang refers to as having been introduced from China.

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Jat clan : Chhina

B S Dahiya writes that Hiuen-Tsang mentions a kingdom of Chinabhukti in eastern Punjab. Chhinas are now found near Jalandhar and it is the place where certain Chinese prisoners were kept by the Kushana rulers. Markandeya Purana and Mahabharata places them with the Kambojas. Mahavatsu mentions their assembly whose decisions were binding.

Chhinas are also mentioned by Varahamihira, alongwith 'Jatasura' (Jata + Asura), Potals, Bhallas etc. Mahabharata Bhisma Parva in Sanskrit mentions about the province of Chhinas along with Mirdhas and mali clans. Dilip Singh Ahlawat has mentioned it as one of the ruling Jat clans in Central Asia.

Chhina is mentioned in Sabha Parva Mahabharata.

चीनभुक्ति

विजयेन्द्र कुमार माथुर ने लेख किया है ...चीनभुक्ति (AS, p.339): प्रसिद्ध चीनी यात्री युवानच्वांग अपनी भारत की यात्रा के समय 633 ई. में इस स्थान पर आया था और यहाँ चौदह मास के लगभग ठहरा था। बाद में यहाँ से वह जालंधर गया था। इस नगर के नाम से ज्ञात होता है कि यहाँ चीनी लोगों की कोई बस्ती उस समय रही होगी। ऐतिहासिक अनुश्रुति से विदित होता है कि कुषाण नरेश कनिष्क के समय (लगभग द्वितीय शती ई. का प्रारंभ) इस स्थान पर कुछ समय के लिए चीन से बंधक के रूप में आए हुए दूत रहे थे और इसी कारण इस स्थान का नाम 'चीनभुक्ति' पड़ गया था। कहा जाता है कि इन दूतों के साथ पहली बार चीन से नाशपाती और आड़ू भारत में आए थे। [p.340]: चीनभुक्ति की ठीक-ठीक स्थिति का पता नहीं है, किंतु प्राप्त साक्ष्य के आधार पर इस स्थान का पश्चिमी पंजाब या कश्मीर की पहाड़ियों में होना संभव प्रतीत होता है। कुछ विद्वानों का मत है कि यह स्थान शायद कुसुर (पश्चिमी पाकिस्तान) से 27 मील (लगभग 43.2 कि.मी.) की दूरी पर उत्तर में स्थित 'पत्ती' है। इसे पहले 'चीनपत्ती' (चीनभुक्ति का अपभ्रंश?) भी कहते थे।