Historical Geography of Ancient India c5.s1.3

c5.s1.3

The *Viṣṇu Purāṇa* list of countries is very meagre; the *Mahābhārata* has a much longer catalogue without any arrangement; so also in the *Padmapurāṇa*. The longest list of countries and peoples of India is, however, contained in the *Mārkaṇḍeya*, the *Skanda*, the *Brahmāṇḍa* and the *Vāyu Purāṇas*. The *Mārkaṇḍeya Purāṇa* contains a description of Jambudvīpa and mentions the forests, lakes and mountains around Meru. It mentions the nine divisions of Bhārata, the seven mountain ranges in India and twenty-two separate hills. It describes the course of the Ganges and refers to the famous rivers in India, grouping them according to the mountain ranges out of which they arise. The principal peoples in India and on its borders are also mentioned in it, arranged according to the natural regions of the country. The majority of the names of countries and peoples found in the *Purāṇas* is very much the same as we find in the *Nadyādivarṇanā* section of the *Mārkaṇḍeya Purāṇa*, but there is also quite a good lot of names that are entirely new and original. The *Mārkaṇḍeya Purāṇa* (Ch. 57) which really contains the strictly geographical information of other major *Purāṇas*, has a section called the *Kūrmavibhāga* containing a list of countries and peoples of India arranged according to the position of the country conceived as a tortoise, as it lies on water resting upon Viṣṇu and looking eastwards.¹ This arrangement is based on earlier astronomical works, like those of Parāśara and Varāhamihira. This chapter is invaluable from the topographical standpoint. The Bhāgavatapurāṇa also contains some geographical information. So we find that the Purāṇas are really very important for a geographical study of ancient India.