Hyecho

On the advice of his Indian teachers in China, he set out for India in 723 to acquaint himself with the language and culture of the land of the Buddha.

The travelogue reveals that Hyecho, after arriving by sea in India headed to the Indian Kingdom of Magadha (present-day Bihar), then moved on to visit Kushinagar and Varanasi.

However Hyecho's journey did not end there and he continued north, where he visited Lumbini (present-day Nepal), Kashmir, the Arabs.

[1] Hyecho left India following the Silk Road towards the west, via Agni or Karasahr,[2] to China where the account ends in 729 CE.

As to the kingdom of Tibet to the East, there are no monasteries at all and the Buddha's teaching is unknown; but in [these above-mentioned] countries the population consists of Hu, therefore they are believers.

"[3] Rizvi goes on to point out that this passage not only confirms that in the early eighth century the region of modern Ladakh was under Tibetan suzerainty, but that the people were of non-Tibetan stock.

One of the important excerpts from Hyecho's work relates to his visit Jibin (Kapisa) in 726 CE: for example, he reports that the country was ruled by a Turk King, thought to be one of the Turk Shahis, and that his Queen and dignitaries practice Buddhism (三寶, "Triratna"):[4][5] "又從此覽波國而行入山。經於八日程。至罽賓國。此國亦是建馱羅王所管。此王夏在罽賓。逐涼而坐。冬往建馱羅。趁暖而住。彼即無雪。暖而不寒。其罽賓國冬天積雪。為此冷也。此國土人是胡。王及兵馬突厥。衣著言音食飲。與吐火羅國。大同少異。無問男之與女。並皆著[疊*毛]布衫袴及靴。男女衣服無有差別。男人並剪鬚髮。女人髮在。土地出駝騾羊馬驢牛[疊*毛]布蒲桃大小二麥欝金香等。國人大敬信三寶。足寺足僧。百姓家各絲造寺。供養三寶。大城中有一寺。名沙糸寺。寺中貝佛螺髻骨舍利見在王官百姓每日供養。此國行小乘。亦住山裏山頭無有草木。恰似火燒山也".

The products of this land include camels, mules, sheep, horses, asses, cotton cloth, grapes, barley, wheat, and saffron.