Tribes in Ancient India c57.20

c57.20

During the rule of the Guptas, the Puṇḍravardhanabhukti included as we have seen Koṭivarṣaviṣaya, which must have included the whole or a part of Dinajpur. It is certain that by that time (c. 535–720 A.D.) Puṇḍravardhana stood for the greater part of North Bengal, including at least the modern districts of Rajshahi, Bogra, Dinajpur, and portions probably of Maldah and Rungpur. But in the time of the Pālas (c. 730–1060 A.D.), the Puṇḍravardhanabhukti must have comprised a larger area, while the Senas must have ruled over a still larger division. We are led to this conclusion by the fact that the records of these two dynasties refer to the following subdivisions as included in the larger division of Puṇḍravardhanabhukti: The Koṭivarṣaviṣaya (Dinajpur), the Vyāghrataṭi maṇḍala (Maldah), the Khāḍiviṣaya (identical with the Sunderbans and the 24-Parganas), Varendri (roughly identical with Rajshahi, Bogra, Rungpur and Dinajpur), and Vaṅga (Eastern Bengal, more particularly the Dacca division). That Puṇḍravardhana included Varendri as well as Gauḍa (Maldah and Dinajpur) is also proved by a reference in Purusottama’s lexicon (eleventh century A.D.), where we have ‘Puṇḍrāḥ syur Varendri-Gauḍa-nivṛti’, i.e. ‘the Puṇḍras include the Varendri and Gauḍa (countries)’.