Note 49 — Chapter XXVII · —Massaga taken by storm—Ora and Bazira besieged

Abisares. Arrian in a subsequent passage calls this chief King of the Mountaineer Indians. His name shows that he ruled over Abhisâra, that region of mountain-girt valleys, now called Hazâra, which lies between the Indus and the upper Hydaspes. In Hazâra the ancient name of the country seems to be preserved. It has been supposed, but less reasonably, that the district was so called from the great number of its petty chiefs, hazâra being the numeral for a thousand (in Persian). Abisares was a very powerful prince, and it is supposed with reason that Kâshmîr was subject to his sway.