[Pramāṇa](https://indike.org/pramana/) › [Studies](https://indike.org/pramana/ins) › [General history and culture](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.general) › [The Classical Accounts of India](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.general.majumdar-1960) › c19.2 # The Classical Accounts of India c19.2 The Classical Accounts of India c19.2 - **Language:** English ### [c19.2](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.general.majumdar-1960.c19.2) Ll 1080-1165. Direct now they attention eastwards to the part of Asia that still is left over, for the delineation of the continent is now nearing its completion. Hard by the Persian waters of the ocean dwell the Carmanians under the orient sun—settled not far off from the Persian land in separate spheres of the country, some along the shores of the sea and others in the interior. To the east of these stretches away the land of the Gedrosians, lying on the verge of the vast ocean, next to whom in the orient dwell the Scythians of the South, on the banks of the river Indus, which welling from fountains amid the soaring peaks of Caucasus, and rushing with furious speed straight south, goes, in ending its course, to encounter the tide of the Erythraean. The river has two mouths, and dashes against the island enclosed between them, called in the tongue of the natives, Patalene Many, need I say, are the races of men whom it disparts. On the side where the sun sinks to his couch, are the Oreitans and Aribes and the Arachotians clad in linen mantles, and the Satraidans and the dalesmen of Parnasos¹—all bearing the common name of Areianians. Far from delectable is the land of their abode—here a wilderness of barren sand, and there a dense jungle But withal there are ways by which help comes to these poor mortals, for the earth yields them unalloyed wealth in another form—for they find the stone of red coral everywhere, and everywhere again the veins of underlying rocks give birth to beauteous tablets of the golden-hued and azure sapphire-stone, which they detach from the parent rock and part with at prices which yield them a livelihood. But on the eastern side the lovely land of the Indians lies outspread, the last of all lands, on the very lips of the ocean where the ascending sun with his earliest beams scatters heat and radiance over the works of gods and men. Hence the complexions of the dwellers there are dark, their limbs exquisitely sleek and smooth, and the hair of their head surpassing soft, and dark-blue like the hyacinth. They are variously occupied—some by mining seek for the matrix of gold, digging the soil with well-curved pickaxes; others ply the loom to weave textures of linen; others saw the tusks of elephants and burnish them to the brightness of silver; and others along the courses of mountain torrents search for precious stones—the green beryl, or the sparkling diamond, or the pale-green translucent jasper, or the yellow-stone of the pure topaz, or the sweet amethyst, which with a milder glow imitates the hue of purple. For India enriches her sons with wealth in every form, being everywhere watered with perennial streams; nay, having moreover its meadows bedecked even with perpetual verdure, for while in one place the fields are covered with crops of grain, they flourish elsewhere with whole forests of the red-hued reed. - [Previous: c19.1](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.general.majumdar-1960.c19.1) - [Next: c19.3](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.general.majumdar-1960.c19.3) - [Up: c19](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.general.majumdar-1960.c19) ## Cites (1) - [Indus Civilisation](https://indike.org/pramana/inp.period.harappan) --- Source: [https://indike.org/pramana/ins.general.majumdar-1960.c19.2](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.general.majumdar-1960.c19.2) · Pramāṇa