Geography of Early Buddhism c6.23

c6.23

The five divisions as indicated in the Bhuvanakoṣa section of the Purāṇas are identical with those given in the Kāvyamīmāṃsā. They are: (a) Madhyadeśa (Central India), (b) Udīcya (Northern India), (c) Prācya (Eastern India), (d) Dakṣiṇāpatha (Deccan), and (e) Aparānta (Western India). The same division of the country into five provinces was adopted by the Chinese as well. 'In the official records of the Thang dynasty in the seventh century, India is described as consisting of "Five Divisions" called the East, West, North, South and Central, which are usually styled the Five Indies.'¹ Yuan Chwang also adopts the same divisions which Cunningham describes as follows²:—