The Geography of the Puranas c11.s5.1

c11.s5.1

The list of the Puranic janapadas of the South shows that the Daksinapatha or Southern India was normally conceived as that part of the Indian Peninsula which lies south of the crests of Satpura-Mahadeo-Maikal Ranges and the western and southern limits of the Mahanadi Basin. North of this line were the Vindhyan lands while to its north-west lay the western lands of the Puranas. By virtue of their position, the janapadas located on the border lands of these major regions could be assigned to either side. Some Puranas, for instance, the Matsya and the Vayu, rightly consider the Narmada and Mahanadi axis as the dividing line between Northern and Southern India and include the Tapti basin within the southern region.