The Ancient Geography of India. I. The Buddhist Period, including the Campaigns of Alexander, and the Travels of Hwen-Thsang c7.s4.18

c7.s4.18

The *Suari* of Pliny are the *Sabaræ* of Ptolemy, and both may be identified with the aboriginal *Savaras*, or *Suars*, a wild race of wood-cutters, who live in the jangals without any fixed habitations. The country of the *Savaras* is said to begin where that of the *Khonds* ends, and to extend as far south as the Pen-nâr river. But these *Savaras* or *Suars* of the eastern Ghâts are only a single branch of a widely-extended tribe, which is found in large numbers to the south-west of Gwalior and Narwar, and also in southern Rajputâna. The *Savaris* or *Saharias* of the Gwalior territory occupy the jangals on the Kota frontier to the westward of Narwar and Guna. They are found along the course of the Chambal river and its branches, where they meet the Rajputâna *Surrias* of Tod. The name is preserved in the *Soræ Nomades* of Ptolemy, who are placed to the south of the *Kondali* and *Phyllitæ*, or the *Gonds* and *Bhils*. They must therefore be the *Suars* or *Savaras* of central India, who occupy the wild hilly country about the sources of the Wain Gangâ, and who are also found along the valley of the Kistna river. As *Kiraṇa* means a “man of mixed race,” or barbarian, it seems probable that the name of *Kiraṇa Suvarna* may be the original appellation of the barbarian *Suvaras*, or *Suars*.