Early History of the Dekkan down to the Mahomedan Conquest c10.6

c10.6

Pâṇini in his Sûtras or grammatical rules shows an extensive knowledge of the geography of India. Of the places and rivers mentioned by him a good many exist in the Panjâb and Afghanistân, but the names of countries situated in the eastern portion of Northern India also occur in the Sûtras. The countries farthest to the south mentioned by him are Kachchha (IV. 2, 133), Avanti (IV. 1, 176), Kosala (IV. 1, 171), Karûsha (IV. 1, 178)⁴ [7] and Kaliṅga (IV. 1, 178).⁵ The first is the same as the modern country of that name, Avantî is the district about Ujjayinî, and Kaliṅga corresponds to the modern Northern Circars Kosala, Karûsa, and Avantî are mentioned in the Purâṇas as countries situated on the back of the Vindhya.⁶ In the Ratnâvalî, a dramatic play, Kosala is also placed near that mountain range. Supposing that the non-occurrence of the name of any country farther south in Pâṇini’s work is due to his not having known it, a circumstance which, looking to the many names of places in the north that he gives, appears very probable, the conclusion follows that in his time the Âryas were confined to the north of the Vindhya, but did proceed or communicate with the northernmost portion of the eastern coast, not by crossing that range, but avoiding it by taking an easterly course.