Historical Geography of Ancient India c7.473

c7.473

Pithuṇḍa.—In the Hāthigumphā Inscription of Khāravela there is a mention of a place known as Pithuḍaga or Pithuḍa, founded by the former kings of Kaliṅga. Pithuḍa is the shortened form of Pithuḍaga which is the same as Sanskrit Pṛthudaka, which is a holy place according to the Padmapurāṇa (Ch. 13—Tīrthamāhātmyam). The Gaṇḍavyūha refers to Pṛthurāṣṭra which is not different from Pitundra mentioned by Ptolemy in his Geography. Sylvain Levi points out that in the Jaina Uttarādhyayana Sūtra (Sec. XXI) there is a mention of Pithuḍa (Pihuḍa) as a seacoast town, reminding us of Khāravela’s Pithuḍa (Pithuḍaga) and Ptolemy’s Pitundra. Ptolemy locates Pitundra in the interior of Maisolia between the mouths of the two rivers, Maisolos and Mānadas, i.e., between the delta of the Godāvarī and the Mahānadī, nearly at an equal distance from both. (McCrindle, Ancient India as described by Ptolemy, pp. 68, 185 and 386-387). It may be located in the interior of Chicacole in Kaliṅgapatam towards the course of the river Nāgāvatī, also known as the Lāṅgulīya. Khāravela is said to have rehabilitated Pithuḍa or Pithuḍaga. Pithuḍa was caused to be ploughed with an ass plough, i.e., reclaimed according to some.