Studies in the Geography of Ancient and Medieval India c15.16

c15.16

It is very interesting to note that the *Periplus*² applies the name Ganges not only to a river but also to a country and its capital both located about the principal mouth of the river. The author, who was a Greek navigator and merchant, says that while sailing towards the east in the Bay of Bengal 'with the ocean to the right and the shore remaining beyond to the left' the country called Ganges comes into view: "there is a river near it called the Ganges... On its bank is a market-town which has the same name as the river, Ganges. Through this place are brought malabathrum and Gangetic spikenard and pearls, and muslins of the finest sort which are called Gangetic. It is said that there are gold mines near these places and there is a gold coin which is called *kaltis*." The reference to the Gangetic muslin no doubt reminds us of the worldwide celebrity of the muslin manufactured at Dacca in the medieval period and also of the *dukūla*, *kauśika*, *patrorṇa* and *pravara*, mentioned in the Sabhāparvan of the *Mahābhārata* as presents made to Yudhiṣṭhira by the Vaṅgas, Kaliṅgas, Tāmraliptas and Puṇḍras of Eastern India.³ It is also interesting that the city of Ganges, situated on the river of that name (apparently indicating the principal mouth of the Ganges) has been called a market-town; but the fact that the town bore the same name as the country round it shows that, although it was a market-town in the eyes of a foreign merchant, the city of Ganges was the metropolis of the country called Ganges. It is probable that, soon after the dissolution of the Maurya empire, the Gangian people of Lower Bengal formed a powerful state with their headquarters at the city of Gange or Ganges. As, however, the name of the people was apparently derived from their chief city, the Gangian city seems to have existed as early as the days of the Nandas and Mauryas of Magadha.