The Geography of the Puranas c10.66

c10.66

As details of these nine khaṇḍas are lacking in the Purāṇas, there has been a lot of speculation and a great deal of disagreement among scholars regarding their identification. Thus, Alberuni identifies Indradvīpa with Madhyadeśa, i.e., the Middle Country (Indica I, p. 296), while Abul Fazl in his Ain-i-Akbari places it between Laṅka and the Mahendra hills (III. p. 31) which somewhat agrees with the location of the dvīpa as described in Skanda Purāṇa. Majumdar identifies it with Burma. The next dvīpa, Kaserumat, is placed by Alberuni to the east of Madhyadeśa, and by Abul Fazl, between the Mahendra and Sukti hills. Majumdar identifies it with the Malay Peninsula. The third dvīpa, Tāmravarṇa or (Tāmraparṇa or Tāmraparṇi) is placed in the south-east by Alberuni and between Sukti and Malaya by Abul Fazl. It has been identified by some scholars with the region drained by the river Tāmraparṇi in the extreme south, and by others with Ceylon which the Greek geographers knew as Taprobane, and is referred to in the inscriptions of Asoka as Tāmbapaṇṇi. Gabhastimat, according to Abul Fazl, lay between the Rakṣa and the Malaya, and according to Alberuni, to the south of the Madhyadeśa. According to Smith, Nāgadwipa seems to be identical with the Jāffna Peninsula of Ceylon.⁴ Saumya has not been identified, but Kataha which is the substitute reading in the Vāmana Purāṇa has been identified by some with Kedah in the Malaya Peninsula. Gandharva is placed by Alberuni to the north-west of the Madhyadeśa; it could be the well-known and ancient region of Gandhara. Garuḍa Purāṇa reads Simhala (instead of Gandharva) which probably indicates Ceylon. Varuṇa, the eighth dwipa, is placed by Abul Fazl between the Sahya and the Vindhya. Cunningham⁵ suggests that these nine khaṇḍas belong to greater India, i.e., Greater Bhāratavarṣa which included the islands and peninsula of the East Indies and not to Bhārata proper. Thus he identifies the nine khaṇḍas with Burma, Malaya Peninsula, Jāvā, Sumātrā, Ceylon, etc.