Pramāṇa · Search · About · API

The Geographical Dictionary of Ancient and Mediaeval India c5.s10: L

The Geographical Dictionary of Ancient and Mediaeval India c5.s10

Language
English

L

c5.s10.1

Lâḍa—Same as Lâṭa (Southern Gujarat) and Râḍha (a portion of Bengal).

c5.s10.2

Lahaḍa—It is the border-land between Kâśmīr and Dardistan (*Bṛihat-Saṃhitâ*, ch. XIV, v. 22; *Ind. Ant.*, XXII, 1893, p. 182—Topographical List of the *Bṛihat-Saṃhitâ* by Dr. Fleet).

c5.s10.3

Lakragaḍ—The fort of Lakragaḍ was situated on the Rajmahal hills in Bengal; it was an old fort. It is the Lakhnor of Menhajuddin and other Muhammadan historians (*Beveridge’s Buchanan Records* in *C. R.*, 1894).

c5.s10.4

Lakshmaṇâvatī—1. Lakhnauti is the corruption of Lakshmaṇâvatī. It was another name for Gauḍa (town), the ruins of which lie near Mâldâ. It was the capital of the country of Gauḍa (Tawney Merutuṅga's Prabandhachintāmaṇi, p 181) It stood on the left bank of the Ganges It was the capital of Bengal in 730 A C (Rennell's Memoir of a Map of Hindoostan p 55), which date, however, does not appear to be correct Lakshmaṇa Sena, the son and successor of Ballāla Sena and grandson of Vijaya Sena, and great grandson of Hemanta Sena the son of Sāmanta Sena (Deopara inscription, Ep Ind, I, 3), is said to have greatly embellished the city of Gauḍa with temples and other public buildings, and called it after his own name Lakshmaṇāvatī (Martin's East Ind, III, p 68) He was a great patron of Sanskrit literature Jaya Deva of Kenduli,—the author of the celebrated lyric Gīta Govinda (Bhavishya P, Pratisarga pt IV, ch IX) Umāpatidhara the commentator of the Kalapa grammar and minister of Lakshmaṇa Sena (Prabandha chintāmaṇi p 181), Govarddhana Āchārya, the spiritual guide of Lakshmaṇa Sena and author of the Ārya-saptaśatī Sarana and Dhoȳ̄ (who is called Kavi-kshamāpati-śrutidhara by Jaya Deva in his Gīta Govinda) the author of the Pavana dūta were called the Pañcharatna or five gems of Lakshmaṇa Sena's court in imitation of the Nava-ratna or nine gems of Vikramāditya (Ind Ant, vol XIV, p 183 n) Halāyudha the author of a dictionary and the spiritual adviser of the monarch, and Srīdharadāsa the author of the Sadukti Karṇāmṛta also flourished in his court Lakshmaṇa Sena founded the Lakshmaṇa Saṃvat (era) in 1108 A D (Dr R L Mitra's Buddha Gaya, p 201) but according to Dr Bühler in 1119 A D (Deopara Inscription of Vijayasena in Ep Ind vol I p 307) Hunter considers that the name of Gauḍa was more applicable to the kingdom than to the city (Hunter's Statistical Account of Bengal, vol VII, p 51 Bhavishya P, Pratisarga P, pt II ch 11) For the destruction of Gauḍa and the transfer of Muhammadan capital to Rājmahal in 1592 (see Bradley Birt's Story of an Indian Upland ch 2) 2 Lucknow in Oudh It is said to have been founded by Lakshmaṇa, brother of Rāmachandra king of Oudh It was repaired by Vikramāditya, king of Ujjayinī The town was first made the seat of government by Asaf ud daulah in 1775 (Conder's Modern Traveller, vol IX p 296) See Lucknow in Pt II of this work

c5.s10.5

Lakulīśa—See Nakulīśa

c5.s10.6

Lampāka—Lamghan on the northern bank of the Kabul river near Peshāwar (Hemakosha, Lassen's History traced from Bactrian and Indo-Scythian Coins in JASB 1840 p 486, Brahman la P, Pūrva, ch 18) It is also called Muran'l It is 20 miles north west of Jalalabad

c5.s10.7

Lampāka—Same as Lampākā (Mārkaṇḍ P, ch 57)

c5.s10.8

Lānguli—Same as Lāngulinī (Mbh Sabhā, ch 9)

c5.s10.9

Lāngulinī—The river Lāngulya on which Chicacole is situated between Vizianagram and Kalingapatam (Pargiter's Mārkaṇḍeya P ch 57, p 305) It is also called Naglandī river (Thornton's Gazetteer, s v Ganjam)

c5.s10.10

Laṅkā—1 Ceylon 2 The town of Laṅkā or Laṅkāpatanam is said to be a mountain on the south east corner of Ceylon, it is described as Trikūṭa or three-peaked in the Rāmāyaṇa (Sundara K, ch I) and was the abode of Ravana (Laṅkā Kāṇḍa, ch 12). It is believed by some to be the present Mantotto in Ceylon others think it to be a town submerged (Mutu Coomara Swamy's Dāṭhavaṃsa p 97) There is a place called Nikumbhilā, about 40 miles from Colombo where Indrajit performed his sacrifice (Buddhist Text Society's Journal vol III pt I, appendix) There are some very good reasons to suppose that Laṅkā and Ceylon are not identical islands (1) the Rāmāyaṇa (Kishk K, ch 41) says that one must cross the river Tāmraparṇī and go to the south of the Mahendra range which abuts into the ocean and cross it to reach Laṅkā, or in other words, the island of Laṅkā, according to the Rāmāyaṇa, was situated to the south of the Cardamum Mountains which form the southern portion of the Mahendra range, while if Ceylon be the ancient Laṅkā, one is not required to cross the Tāmraparṇī river to go to the southern extremity of the Mahendra Mountain in order to reach that island by the Adam’s Bridge (or Setubandha Rāmeśvara); (2) Barāha-mihira, the celebrated astronomer, says that Ujjayinī and Laṅkā are situated on the same meridian, while Ceylon lies far to the east of this meridian; (3) Some of the works of the Pauranic times mention Laṅkā and Siṃhala (the corruption of which is Ceylon) as distinct islands (Bṛihat-Saṃhitā, ch. 14 and Devī P., chs. 42, 46). On the other hand, the Mahāvaṃśa, the most ancient history of Ceylon composed in the 5th century A.D., distinctly mentions that the island of Laṅkā was called Siṃhala by Vijaya after his conquest, and calls Duṭṭhagāmani and Parākramabāhu kings of Laṅkā or Siṃhala (Geiger’s Mahāvaṃśa, chs. VII, XXXI). The Rājāvalī also mentions the tradition of the war of Rāvaṇa in the island of Ceylon (Upham’s Rājāvalī, pt. I). Dhammakitti, the author of the Dāṭhāvaṃśa, who lived in the twelfth century A.D., in the reign of Parākramabāhu I, king of Ceylon, states that Siṃhala and Laṅkā are the same island. It is called Zeilan or Silan (Ceylon) by Marco Polo, who visited it in the thirteenth century A.D. (Wright’s Marco Polo). For other derivations of the name of Silan, see Col. Yule’s Travels of Marco Polo, vol. II, p. 254, note.

c5.s10.11

Laṭa—1. Southern Gujarat including Khaṇḍesh situated between the river Mahi and the lower Tapti—the Larike of Ptolemy (Garuda P., ch. 55; Dowson’s Classical Dictionary of Hindu Mythology; Dr. Bhandarkar’s Hist. of the Dekkan, sec. XI, p. 42). It is mentioned in the Kāmasūtra of Vātsyāyana. It comprised the collectorates of Surat, Bharoch, Kheda and parts of Baroda territory (Antiquities of Kathiawad and Kachh by Burgess). According to Col. Yule, Lāṭa was the ancient name of Gujarat and Northern Koṅkaṇ (Marco Polo, vol. II, p. 302 n). It is the Lāṭhikā of the Dhauli inscription and Rāṣṭikā (Riṣṭika) of the Girnar inscription of Aśoka. According to Prof. Bühler, Lāṭa is Central Gujarat, the district between the Mahi and Kim rivers, and its chief city was Broach (see Additional Notes, It-sing’s Records of the Buddhist Religion, by Takakusu, p. 217; Alberuni’s India, I, p. 205). In the Copperplate Inscription found at Baroda, the capital of Lāṭa or the kingdom of Lāṭeśvara is said to be Elapur (v. II). The inscription also gives the genealogy of the kings of Lāṭeśvara (JASB., vol. VIII, 1839, p. 292). But it is doubtful whether Lāṭa and Lāṭeśvara are identical kingdoms. Lāṭa was also called Lāḍa in the Biddhasālabhañjikā; Ollādeśa appears to be identical with Lāṭa (see Ollā). The Nāgara Brahmins of Lāṭa (Gujarat) are said to have invented the Nagri character. The Devanāgarī character, however, is said to have been derived from the Brāhmī alphabet. 2. Rāḍha—the Lāḍa of Upham’s Mahāvaṃśa is a corruption of Rāḍha in Bengal (see Rāḍha).

c5.s10.12

Laṭṭhivana—Same as Yaṣṭivana (Jātaka, Cam. ed., IV, p. 179; Mahāvagga, I, 22).

c5.s10.13

Lavaṇā—The Lun (Looni) or Nun Nadi which rises near Paniar and falls into the Sind at Chandpursonari in Malwa (Mālatī-mādhava, Act IX; Arch. S. Rep., vol. II, p. 308).

c5.s10.14

Lavapura—Called also Lavakoṭa or Lavavarā afterwards called Lohāwar; Lahore, founded by Lava, the son of Rāmachandra (Tod’s Rajasthan, I, p. 224). The ruins of the ancient city still exist near the present city of Lahore. In the Jaina Inscriptions at Satruñjaya, it is called Lābhapura (Ep. Ind., vol. II, pp. 38, 54).

c5.s10.15

Līlājana—The river Phalgu, but, in fact, the western branch of the river Phalgu, which joins the Mohānā few miles above Gaya, is called by that name. See Nilājana.

c5.s10.16

LODHRA KANANA—The Lodh moona forest in Kumaun (*Rāmāyaṇa*, Kishk, ch 43), see Kormachala It was the hermitage of Garga Rishi

c5.s10.17

Loha—Afghanistan (*Mbh*, Sabhā, ch 26) In the tenth century of the Christian era, the last Hindu king was defeated by the Muhammadans, and Afghanistan became a Muhammadan kingdom See Kamboja

c5.s10.18

Lohargala—A sacred place in the Himalaya (*Varāha P*, ch 15) It is perhaps Lohāghāṭ in Kumaun, three miles to the north of Champāwat, on the river Lohā, as the place is sacred to Vishnu (see Kormachala)

c5.s10.19

Lohita Sarovara—The lake Rāwanhrad, which is the source of the river Lohitya or Brahmaputra (*Brahmāṇḍa P*, ch 51)

c5.s10.20

Lohitya—1 The river Brahmaputra (*Mbh*, Bhishma P, ch 9, *Raghuvamśa*, c IV, v 81, *Medinī*) For the birth of Lohitya, the son of Brahma, see *Kālikā P*, ch 82 Paraśurāma's axe fell from his hand when he bathed in this river owing to the sin of killing his mother According to Kalidāsa, the river was the boundary of Prāgjyotisha or Gauhati in Assam (*Raghuvamśa*, IV, v 81) For a description of the source of the Brahmaputra, see Sven Hedin's *Trans Himalaya*, vol II, ch 43

c5.s10.21

Lohitya Sarovara—The source of the river Chandrabhāgā or Chinab in Lahoul or Middle Tibet (*Kalikā P*, ch 82) It is a small lake now called Chandrabhāgā

c5.s10.22

Lokapura—Chanda in the Central Provinces It contained the temples of Mahākālī and her son Achaleśvara who was formerly called Jharpateśvara (*Skanda P*)

c5.s10.23

Lomasa Āśrama—The Lomasgir hill, four miles north east of Rajauli in the sub division of Nowadah, in the district of Gaya, it was the hermitage of Lomasa Rishi (Grierson's *Notes on the District of Gaya*, p 27)

c5.s10.24

Lonāra—See Vishnu Gaya (*Padma P*, Uttara, ch 62, Cousen's *Antiquarian Remains in the Central Provinces* and Berar, p 77)

c5.s10.25

Lumbini-Vana—Rummen dei in the Nepalese Terai, two miles to the north of Bhagavānpur and about a mile to the north of Paderia See Kapilavastu The eight Chaityas or sacred places which are visited by Buddhist pilgrims are (1) The Lumbini Garden in Kapilavastu where Buddha was born, (2) Bodhi tree in Bodh Gaya where he attained Buddhahood, (3) Mṛigadāva in Benares where he preached his law for the first time; (4) Jetavana in Sravasti where he displayed miraculous powers, (5) Saukāsya in the district of Kanauj where he descended from the Trayastrimśa heaven, (6) Rājagriha in Magadha where he taught his disciples, (7) Vaiśālī where he spoke to Ānanda about the length of his life, (8) Kusinagara where he died in a Śala grove (*Mahāparinibbāna Sutta*, VI, 51 62, in *SBE*, vol XI)

Linked texts (27)