Tribes in Ancient India c62.s2.5

c62.s2.5

Pliny in his *Natural History* mentions the Oretes as a people of India in whose country stood Mount Maleus which in another passage he locates amongst the Monedes and Suari. Cunningham identifies the last two peoples as the Muṇḍas and Suars, from which he is led to conclude that the Oretes must be the people of Orissa. But it must be remembered that even then we cannot definitely equate the Greek Oretes with the Sanskrit Oḍra or Uḍra or Auḍradeśa.