Shree Somath Temple

[p.493]: Sanskrit form of Kaira, a large town of Gujarat, situated between Ahmadabad and Khambay; and I would therefore identify the pilgrim's Kie-cha with Kheda. It is true that Hwen Thsang's recorded distance is only 300 li, but there are so many mistakes in the bearings and distances of this part of the pilgrim's journey, that I have no hesitation in proposing a correction of the text, by reading 1800 li, or 217 miles, which is very nearly the exact distance between Kaira and Dhar. "When we remember that the province of Malwa was bounded on the east, within 25 miles, by the independent territory of Ujain, it is difficult to perceive how there could have been any other state within 50 miles of Dhar, otherwise the territory of Malwa would have been compressed to a breadth of about 50 miles, between Ujain and Kheda. But this difficulty is entirely removed by adopting my proposed correction, by which the district of Kheda becomes the extreme western division of the kingdom of Malwa. Hwen Thsang estimates its circuit at 3000 li, or 500 miles, a size which agrees very well with the probable limits of the district of Kaira, which may be stated as extending from the bank of the Sabarmati on the west, to the great bend of the Mahi river on the north-east, and to Baroda in the south. In shape it is a rough square.