Tribes in Ancient India c66.17

c66.17

Lāṭa is mentioned twice in Vātsyāyana’s *Kāmasūtra*.⁴ Vātsyāyana does not give any clue as to location of the country, but contents himself with describing the characteristics of the men and women respectively. Lāṭa is also referred to by the author of Kuvalayamālā (c. 779 A.D.). The inhabitants of Lāṭa are distinguished from those of Gurjara, the Lāṭa people appearing as pleasure-loving and humorous, and those of the north as sterner and of stronger build. Lāṭa appears to have possessed distinctive literary traits. A kind of style, favoured by the authors of Lāṭa, acquired the name of Lāṭī. Rājaśekhara represents the people of Lāṭa as preferring Prākrit to Sanskrit.