The Geography of the Puranas c10.2

c10.2

With the extension of the domains of Indian monarchs (for instance, Aśoka), Bhārata acquired a wider significance and it came to include the north-western lands up to the Hindūkush and south-eastern lands up to Sumātrā and Jāvā. Cunningham names it Greater India and prefers to identify the traditional nine dwipas (or regions) of Bhāratavarṣa with regions within the Indian sub-continent as well as the peninsula and islands beyond the two Indian seas, i.e., the Bay of Begal and the Arabian Sea.