Historical Geography of Ancient India c7.348

c7.348

According to Hiuen Tsang this country was about 5,000 li in circuit. The soil was rich and fertile and it was regularly cultivated. The climate was hot and the people were honest and simple. They were of tall stature and vindictive in nature. There were some Saṅghārāmas and Deva temples (Beal, Buddhist Records of the Western World, II, 255ff.). It is said to be the Ariake of Ptolemy (p. 39). It was 6,000 li in circuit, and the capital was on the west of a great river. The ancient capitals of Mahārāṣṭra were (1) Pratiṣṭhān or Paiṭhāna on the Godāvarī, (2) Kalyāṇa on the eastern shore of the Bombay harbour, (3) Vātāpi of the early Cālukyas, (4) Bādāmi which was the real capital in Yuan Chwang’s time. According to Saupārā and Māski inscriptions the Mahārāṣṭra country formed a part of the empire of Aśoka. One of the missionaries sent by Aśoka to spread the gospel of the Buddha in the Mahārāṣṭra country was Dhammarakkhita (Mahāvamsa, Ch. XII, p. 97, Geiger’s Ed.). For further details, vide C.A.G.I., notes, pp. 745ff.; N. L. De, Geographical Dictionary, p. 118; S. R. Shende, How, whence and when Mahārāṣṭra came into being published in the Siddha-bhāratī, Pt. II, pp. 285ff; H. D. Sankalia, Ancient and Pre-historic Mahārāṣṭra, J.B.B.R.A.S., Vol. 27, Pt. I, 1951, New Series.