The Geography of the Puranas c2.2

c2.2

Prof. S. M. Ali is to be congratulated for his learned work on the geography of the Purāṇas. It is the result of deep study not only of the researches carried out by modern scholars but of relevant ancient literature as well. Without sacrificing scientific austerity he has made the book interesting and instructive. If the world of scholarship accepts his main conclusions he will have established the fact that in the days of the Purāṇas, India was more or less in touch with a greater part of the world to which within a few centuries it turned its back. Obviously, this is not the last word on the subject. The works of Pargiter and Cunningham did something to make Ancient Indian Geography to some extent familiar to those interested in the subject. Prof. Ali's book should go very much farther in that direction and endow names about which we read in ancient literature with meaning. Even apparently fanciful descriptions of oceans like cane-juice, milk and curds might some day be interpreted in a manner not dissonant with modern knowledge.