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a-kt& d-yawnaye. En 1-hendwayE shmacnan d-hrin d-tamman u 'urnrii d-shEdE,
haw dqMn leh kg'. wa-t&t pdos haw garbyaya m-n d-it hu @ra haw d-met@
'my', w-'umra w d-malake. w-'a1 sum haw Mt trayhon it mdittii '"wzyn' b-malkutil
d- 'm31w', w-hesni 'zwhytg', w-madb*a 't3nysh', w-guE taqqipay qurri wa-mtallge
daqd&n arCa d-hunnaye.
The point at which the eauata is intersected by this is called thuhw
---- 3
of m'lw.,
[qubM = arab. qubba], or the centre proper, d. Concerning the property
of this place, we have found nothing in -Gm&s, but we have
heard that tbe a &aUkxthatfhereis- which they call
bg. They say - Poleism and it is the
thdesxt- very mld snow-clad
IYJlkhlstsndl-m.
In his attempt to identify the Indian place-names found in this passage. BakoS
made use of the Tirikh al-hind and the geography of AbB'1-Fidi. His task would
have been easier, had he had access to the following passage of Tmrn
Tajhim arab. wrightf9 140.9- 15:
--
.I
.al+Yl & j&i &&,all r+ Li.p* j(l lYJJ a"AIJ a J&l h C. .sJYI itj C.
&S Sb 31 j+> 41 C.1, . bJi dl; j&J +A jli 8 1 . ~ 2 ,I dlJ Ll,, ,YI 4,
j *LJ~ &A 4 &IJ M I LL, &Wl ;-..-- 9, ,+ & J U I +bill ;.;J &L=JI ;-..--
.dAl &JI rC.1 j" ~~,.dl JWI, ,&.G LM d+JJ irlij IJC. i S L
14,: lege ll &L,Jl: lege II a: lege &I II QU: lege eJJ]
What is the w-? It means the mid-point of the longitude between east and
west. It is sometimes described as "lacking latitude", because it is on the. I
have been unable to ascertain whether it is the opinion of the Persians or others, as the
do not mention it. The Tndians ht&xekhk (lege Ink,
Lanka), ~ f andthatunder the Niddkkisthemddled ~ ,
- -
m s . On joining the_rJara&hesiQdAwh
- -
(Ujai-ndgamof thdh-
the plain& Dnidu
t h e v e r p ~ 1 a n U
m.
Since Tafiim exists in Arabic and Persian versions and we know that Barhebraeus
was capable of using Persian sources,70 we must consider here the possibility that
69 The Arabic text given by Wright is a facsimile edition of ms. Brit. Lib. Or. 8349 (undated, but
before 143516). Wright's English translation, which he originally ma& from a manuscript of
the Persian version, is frequently closer to the Persian version than to the Arabic.
70 BH's disciple, Gabriel b. John of Baelli (as bishop, Dioscorus of Gbarti4, ob. 1301) tells us
in his biography of his teacher that the "Holy Spirit" had instructed him in "Syriac. Armenian,
Arabic and Persian" (ed. Ci~k [1985] 39.5f.3 cf. Sauma [I=] 40). - For the use of Persian
sources in BH Chron., see ed. Bedjan 2.12; 249.20; 555.12-15 (Juwaini); 4%.19-24 (a song
translated from Persian, = BH Cam. [Dolabani] p. 165, no. 12.10). - On the use of 'j'i&i's
AkMq-i win as the principal source for the part of But. on practical philosophy, see Zonta
(1992). id. (1998). - Cf. also Hoffmann (1827) 297, Gottsberger (1900) 149; Wickens (1%2)
28f.