The Geography of the Puranas c7.s4.72

c7.s4.72

The overall picture of the Kuśadwīpa as painted by the Purāṇic literature suggests a ‘grassland’, i.e., a region of seasonal drought. There are two such belts (i.e., grassland belts) in the old world—the tropical grasslands, i.e., the Savannahs and the temperate grasslands, the steppes. The Purāṇas in all probability refer to the former and not to the latter since starting from the equator it is the 2nd climatic belt towards the Poles. The reference to Agni is rather pointed and brings out the association of this region with the fire-worshippers of Iran and South-Western Asia. Kuśadwīpa therefore included Iran, Iraq and the fringing lands of the hot desert, i.e., the south-western corner of the land mass round Meru which is left out in the regional pattern of Jambū Dwīpa. Incidentally, this region also coincides with the land of Kuśa of the scripture which added Ethiopia to the Purāṇic dwīpa mentioned above.