The Early History of the Deccan (Parts I–XI) v1.c6.s6.2

v1.c6.s6.2

It must not, however, be thought that the *janapada* was merely a political unit and nothing more. Each of these tracts of land possessed its own distinctive characteristics which are noted by the epic poets, for example in the *Karṇaparva* of the *Mahābhārata*, as well as by observers like Ptolemy,¹ Vāt-syāyana, Yuan Chwang, Bharata, Daṇḍin, and Rājaśekhara. The manners, customs, language, style and diction (*rīti*), ethnic peculiarities, flora and fauna of different *janapadas* offer a field for fruitful investigation.