The Geography of the Puranas c7.s1.17

c7.s1.17

The later Vedic literature adds to this list the Kurus and the Pañcālas (Kāṭh. Saṁh. and Kauśīt Up. and Bṛhad. Up.) who reached their zenith in the Brāhmaṇa period, Vashas (associated with Uśinaras and living somewhere near Kurus and Pañcālas) (Ait. Br., VIII, 14), Kāśī, Kosala and Videha (Brāhmaṇas), Magadhas (Śat. Brāh., I, 4, 1, 10 and Atharvaveda, V, 22, 14), Aṅgas (Atharvaveda, V, 22, 14), Puṇḍras (Ait. Br., VII, 8), Vaṅgas (Ait. Āraṇ., II, 1, 1), Matsyas (Śat. Brāh., XIII, 5, 4, 9) Sātvanas (Ait. Br., VIII, 14), Pulindas (Ait., Br., VII, 18), Vidarbhas (Ait. Br., VII, 34), Andhras (Ait. Br., VII, 18, where they, along with the Puṇḍras, Sabaras, Pulindas and Mūtibas are described as inhabitants beyond the boundaries of the Āryan territory). Kaliṅgas, Avantis and Saurāṣṭras appear in Baudhāyana (Dh. Sūt. I, 1, 2, 13-15), the first two being considered unholy. Each of these tribes or people was so much associated with a particular region that land and people became synonymous. In many cases where these people formed kingdoms or republics, the name persisted for a long time. Thus Kāśī region, Kāśīs and Kāśī kingdom; Vidarbha region, Vidarbhas and Vidarbha kingdom; Aṅga reign, Aṅgas and Aṅga kingdom, etc., became standard names which were carried over in the works of the post-Vedic period including the Purāṇas.