Historical Geography of Ancient India c5.s3.21

c5.s3.21

The division of India into five provinces was also adopted by the Chinese. India is described in the official records of the Thang dynasty of the 7th century A.D. as consisting of five divisions called the East, West, North, South and Central, which are generally styled as the Five Indies. (*C.A.G.I.*, p. 11). The Chinese system of the five divisions was directly borrowed from the Hindu Brahmanical system as described in the Purāṇas with slight modifications. Modern India and adjacent countries may thus be divided for our purpose into: (1) Northern India, comprising the Punjab proper including Kashmir and the adjoining hill states with the whole of Eastern Afghanistan beyond the Indus and the present Cis-Sutlej states to the West of the Sarasvatī river. The entire Indus Valley is included in Northern India.