The Ancient Geography of India. I. The Buddhist Period, including the Campaigns of Alexander, and the Travels of Hwen-Thsang c7.s2.3

c7.s2.3

The country of Samataṭa is mentioned in the inscription of Samudra Gupta on the Allahabad pillar,[*] in which it is coupled with Kâmrup and Nepâl. It is mentioned also in the geographical list of Varâha Mihira, who lived in the beginning of the sixth century.[†] According to Professor Lassen, the name signifies “bas pays littoral,” which accords exactly with Hwen Thsang’s description of it as a low, moist country on the seashore. The inhabitants were short and black, as is the case at the present day with the people of Lower Bengal. From all these concurrent facts, it is certain that Samataṭa must be the Delta of the Ganges; and as the country is described as 3000 *li*, or 500 miles, in circuit, it must have included the whole of the present Delta, or triangular tract between the Bhâgirathi river and the main stream of the Ganges.