Historical Geography of Ancient India c9.144

c9.144

Lāṭa.—In the Mandasor Inscription of Bandhuvarman we find mention of Lāṭa. According to the Ghāṭiyālā Inscription of the Pratihāra king Kakkuka, the king obtained great renown in the Lāṭadeśa (E.I., IX, pp. 278-80). According to some, Lāṭa was southern Gujarat including Khandesh situated between the rivers Mahī and lower Tāptī. Some hold it as lying between the rivers Mahī and Kim (Important Inscriptions from the Baroda State, Vol. I, p. 29). It comprised the collectorates of Surat, Broach, Kheda and parts of Baroda (N. L. Dey, Geographical Dictionary, p. 114). It was the ancient name of Gujarat and northern Konkan. According to Bühler, Lāṭa is central Gujarat, the district between the Mahī and Kim rivers, and its chief city was Broach. The Rewah Stone Inscription of Karṇa refers to Lāṭa generally identified with central and southern Gujarat (E.I., XXIV, Pt. III, July, 1937, p. 110). Lāṭarāṣṭra (Pāli Lāḷaraṭṭha—Dīpavaṃsa, p. 54; Mahāvaṃsa, p. 60) is identical with the old Lāṭa kingdom of Gujarat, the capital city of which is stated in the Dīpavaṃsa (p. 54) to have been Siṃhapura (Sihapura).