The Ancient Geography of India. I. The Buddhist Period, including the Campaigns of Alexander, and the Travels of Hwen-Thsang c6.s3.t37.18

c6.s3.t37.18

The advantageous position of this isolated hill on the bank of the Ganges, which commanded the land route between the hills and the river, as well as the water route by the Ganges, must have led to its occupation at a very early date. Accordingly it is mentioned in the *Mahâbhârata* as *Modâgiri*, which was the capital of a kingdom in eastern India, near *Banga* and *Tâmralipta*, or Bengal and Tamluk. At the time of Hwen Thsang's visit the king had been lately ejected by the Raja of a neighbouring state. The kingdom was bounded by the Ganges on the north, and by great forest-clad mountains on the south; and as its circuit is estimated at 3000 *li*, or 500 miles, it must have extended to the south as far as the famous mountain of *Párasnáth*, which has an elevation of 4478 feet. I would therefore fix its limits as extending from Lakhi Sarai to Sultanganj on the Ganges in the north, and from the western end of the Pârasnâth hill to the junction of the Barâkar and Damuda rivers in the south. The circuit of this tract is 350 miles, measured direct on the map, or upwards of 420 miles by road distance following the windings of the two rivers.*