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The Kashmir Timeline

Xuanzang

The Chinese pilgrim who described Kashmir in the 7th century.

Xuanzang photograph

Photo: Unknown author Unknown author · Public domain · Wikimedia Commons

Xuanzang travelled from China to India to collect Buddhist scriptures and stopped for about two years in Kashmir to study. His record of the journey describes a Valley enclosed by mountains, a wealthy and learned population, and about a hundred Buddhist monasteries.

Facts

  • He described the people of Kashmir as fond of learning.
  • His account, Great Tang Records on the Western Regions, is a key source for 7th-century South and Central Asia.