Studies in the Geography of Ancient and Medieval India c19.23

c19.23

The second of the two passages is followed by the statement that the entire Bhārata-khaṇḍa had 967200000 pattanas (towns) and 36000 velākūlas (harbours). It can hardly be doubted that the word grāma has been used in this context in the sense of ‘a village.’ But the fact that the list speaks only of grāmas and not of pattanas, etc., seems to suggest that for the purpose of enumeration the latter also were counted as grāmas. The list further shows that the traditional or conventional number of grāmas in a country as given in it could hardly have been true if the word grāma is taken exactly in its modern sense.