Tribes in Ancient India c77.56

c77.56

The Tosalas are referred to in the Mārkaṇḍeya Purāṇa along with the Karūṣas, Keralas, Utkalas, Daśārṇas, Kośalas, Avantis, etc., all of whom dwelt on the slopes of Vindhya mountains. The Matsyapurāṇa reads Stosalas (CXIII, 53) erroneously, for Tosalas is the correct reading meaning the people of Tosali or Tosala and the adjoining region. Tosali or Tosala was the name of a country as well as a city. The city of Tosali was the seat of the provincial government of Kaliṅga in the days of Aśoka. The country or janapada of ‘Amita-Tosala’ is referred to in the *Gaṇḍavyūha* along with its city Tosala.¹ In Pauranic literature, Tosala is always associated with Dakṣiṇa Kośala and distinguished from Kaliṅga. Tosala in medieval times seems to have been divided into two parts: Dakṣiṇa Tosala and Uttara Tosala.² The city of Tosala seems to have been the same as Tosalei of Ptolemy.