The Geography of the Puranas c3.1

c3.1

THE following pages are the result of my discussion with Pandit Dwarka Prasad Mishra, Chief Minister, Madhya Pradesh, and former Vice-Chancellor of the Saugar University, whose interest in Ancient Indian History led him to investigate its geographical background. My book *Arab Geography* which deals with the geographical ideas of the Arabs drew his attention to corresponding ideas in the Arab and Persian works. It was felt that it may be profitable to sift the geographical notions contained in the various sections of the Purāṇas and to put them together in the form of a monograph which should present the Purāṇic point of view in a concise manner without affecting their intrinsic merit. This study was made possible with the help of Pandit Mishra's wide study of world history, profound knowledge of Sanskrit and keen geographical sense. They have been fully utilised in this monograph.