The Geography of the Puranas c10.99

c10.99

The longest list of countries and peoples of India given under this regional scheme is, however, contained in the Mārkaṇḍeya, the Brahmāṇḍa and the Vāyu Purāṇas. Both the Mārkaṇḍeya and the Brahmāṇḍa refer to the territorial divisions of India (Kumaridwipa) as numbering seven, the latter expressly stating that in ancient times Bhāratavarṣa was divided into seven regions (sapta khaṇḍam).8 But this division into seven regions is not in any way fundamentally different from the division into five which is adopted by the majority of the Purāṇas, and the Mahābhārata. This will be evident from the lists of the divisions which are as follows: the Madhyadeśa, the Udicya or north, the Prācya or east, the Dakṣiṇāpatha or south the Aparānta or west, the Vindhyan region and the Himālayan region (Parvatasreyinah).