The Geography of the Puranas c11.s4.25

c11.s4.25

This triangular region bounded by the Kośi and the Gaṅgā in the west, the Brahmaputra-Yamunā in the east and the Duars on the north is a vast plain diminishing in height from about 300 ft. to 100 ft. above sea-level, scarred by innumerable old river-courses and subject to disastrous floods, especially along the Tistā, which like the Kośi is an exceptionally violent stream. In the heart of this doāb lies the Barind, a large island or terrace of older alluvium. The Barind was formerly covered with thick forest which formed a tongue of the Himalayan forest belt protruding far towards the south. Barind was therefore a huge block of negative tract in the centre of the Doab surrounded by population groups or janapadas between the forest and the bounding rivers.