On the Ancient Geography of Central Und Eastern Asia> With
On the Ancient Geography of Central und Eastern Asia> with Illustrations derived from Recent Discoveries in the North of India. By HUGH MURRAY, ESQ. F. R. S. EDIN, (Read April 29. 1816. J HE descriptions which historians and geographers have T transmitted to us of the ancient world, are not generally deficient either in copiousness or accuracy. The theatre of those great events, which still interest mankind, may be com- monly ascertained with sufficient precision. The distinct knowledge of the ancients, however, was limited to a certain sphere ; after passing which, clouds always begin to envelope it. The almost total change of names, the uncertainty as to their itinerary measures, and the defects of their mathematical geography, leave no perfectly fixed point on which we can rest. Hence, even where copious and interesting details are given, it is often difficult to determine to what region, or to what na- tion, these descriptions refer. The question may appear some- times to be one of curiosity only; yet the curiosity seems na- tural and liberal, and it is often connected with interesting questions relative to the history of the human species. It il- lustrates the extent to which commercial enterprise and activi- ty had reached in ancient times ; and often, by enabling us to compare the modern with the ancient aspect of the same re- Y 2 cion, 172 ON THE ANCIENT GEOGRAPHY gion, it qualifies us to ascertain the progress which mankind' have made, during so long a succession of ages. There are perhaps no regions with regard to which this question possesses equal interest, as those which formed the eastern extremity of the ancient world.., The faint and decay- ing light of science there shone, not upon inhospitable de- serts, not upon the abodes of rude and pastoral tribes, but upon civilized, populous, and commercial regions, which, in all the arts and improvements of life, were not perhaps much inferior to the Roman empire during its most flourishing era.
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