India as Known to Panini: A Study of the Cultural Material in the Ashtadhyayi c7.s4.54

c7.s4.54

²⁰ *Rāṅku* (IV.2.100). Pāṇini uses the term Rāṅkavaka for a native of Rāṅku. He also mentions the terms Rāṅkavāvāyaṇa and Rāṅkava to indicate what was non-human, as examples of which the *Kāśikā* mentions the *Rāṅkavāyaṇa* bull and the *Rāṅkava* blankets. It may be noted that Raṅgka is the name of a language used in parts of Almora district (Moti Chandra, Indian Costume, *Bhāratīya Vidyā*, Vol. I, p. 46, footnote; for the Raṅgka language see, *Linguistic Survey of India*, Vol. III, pt. I, p. 479). So the Rāṅku *janapada* may have been located in this region which was the home of woollen blankets. The area of ancient Rāṅku must have been much bigger than at present.