continental south asia and the islands 79nized the king (Hsin T’ang shu 221A:13a; T’ang hui-yao 99:23b).
Na-chieh
In 646, envoys from Na-chieh to the T’ang court offered regional
objects(Hsin T’ang shu 221A:13a; Wen-hsien t’ung-k’ao 338:51b).
Nepal.
In 647, envoys from Nepal to the T’ang court presented spinach and
onions (T’ang hui-yao 100:11b).
In 650 and 651, envoys from the king of Nepal to the T’ang court
offered gifts (Chiu T’ang shu 198:1b; T’ung-tien 190:9b; Wen-hsien t’ung-
k’ao 335:34b).
Ts’eng-t’an
The first recorded mission from Ts’eng-t’an was to the Sung court in
- It had travelled by sea to Canton via “rivijaya, and the voyage
had taken 160 days. The envoys stated that the name of their king
was A-mei-lo A-mei-lan.^182 He was the tenth ruler of his dynasty,
which had lasted for 500 years. The language of the people resem-
bled Arabic. Springs and winters were warm. Important people rode
elephants and horses. Of cereals, they had rice, millet, and wheat.
Of animals, they had sheep, goats, buffalos, water buffalos, camels,
horses, rhinoceroses, and elephants. In commercial transactions, they
used coins made by the government. Private coining was forbidden
(Sung shih 490:21b; Wen-hsien t’ung-k’ao 332:20a).
In 1083, the envoy Ts’eng-chia-ni arrived a second time.^183 In con-
sideration of the very great distance he had come, Emperor Shen-tsung
gave him the same presents which he had received at the previous
occasion, with an additional 2000 ounces of silver (Sung shih 490:22a;
Wen-hsien t’ung-k’ao 332:20a).
(^182) Hirth and Rockhill, Chau Ju-kua, p.127 note 4 read this as the Persian Amir-
i-amirân.
(^183) He is referred to as the Gentleman Who Maintains Obedience, which title
he must have received as one of the envoys in 1071.