The Geography of the Puranas c10.74

c10.74

Para 6 above, therefore, at once disproves the contention of Cunningham, Majumdar and others who supposed that Bhāratavarṣa, in the context of its nine divisions, meant Greater India and included the Malay Peninsula and the islands of the East Indies. It is true that the Indian monarchs at one time ruled over South-Eastern Asia but the facts enumerated above show that the Purāṇas clearly distinguished between India proper or Bhāratavarṣa and the islands or dwīpas which lie to the south-east of it.