Tribes in Ancient India c70.31

c70.31

In later times the Matsya country appears to have been known also as Virāṭa or Vairāṭa. Hsüan Tsang speaks of it as Vairāṭa, and Cunningham points out on his authority that in the seventh century A.D. the kingdom of Vairāṭa was 3,000 li or 500 miles in circuit. It was famous for its sheep and oxen, but produced few fruits or flowers. This is still the case with Jaypur to the S. of Vairāṭa, which furnishes most of the sheep required for the cities of Delhi and Agra, and their English garrisons. Vairāṭa, therefore, may have included the greater part of the present State of Jaypur. Its precise boundaries cannot be determined; but they may be fixed approximately as extending on the north from Jhunjun to Kot Kāsim, 70 miles; on the west from Jhunjun to Ajmer, 120 miles;