Studies in the Geography of Ancient and Medieval India c5.s1.52

c5.s1.52

King Devapāla (c. 810-50 A.D.) is described in his records¹ as the only lord of the whole land bounded by the source of the Gaṅgā (Himālaya) in the north, Rāma’s bridge in the south, Varuṇa’s abode (western sea) in the west and Lakṣmī’s abode (eastern sea) in the east. A similar list of the boundaries of the *cakravarti-kṣetra* seems to be quoted in connection with the victories of the army of Devapāla’s father Dharmapāla (c. 770-810 A.D.) where mention is made of Kedāra (in the Himālayas) in the north, the Gaṅgā-sāgara confluence in the east and Gokarṇa (in the North Kanara District of Mysore) and other holy places in the south and west.² The Karhad plates³ of the Rāṣṭrakūṭa king Kṛṣṇa III (c. 939-67 A.D.) of Mānyakheṭa (Malkhed in the former Hyderabad state) say that he subdued the rulers of the whole land bounded by the eastern sea in the east, the western sea in the west, the Himāśaila (Himālaya) in the north and Siṃhaladvīpa (i.e. Ceylon) in the south. In the records⁴ of the Paramāra kings of Malwa, king Bhoja (c. 1010-55 A.D.) is said to have enjoyed the earth extending from the Kailāsa (in the Himālaya) in the north, the Malaya mountain (Travancore hills) in the south, the mythical Sun-set mountain in the west and the mythical Sun-rise mountain in the east. In the inscriptions of the Vijayanagara rulers, Vīranarasiṃha (c. 1506-09 A.D.), elder brother of the celebrated Kṛṣṇadevarāya (1509-29 A.D.), is described as having ruled over a kingdom bounded by the Setu (i.e. Rāma's bridge) in the south, the mythical Sumeru mountain (to the north of Bhāratavarṣa) in the north, the mythical Sun-rise mountain in the east and the western mountain (the mythical Sun-set mountain) in the west.¹ The boundaries of the cakravarti-kṣetra given in connection with the achievements of Kṛṣṇadevarāya himself, often in the same inscription, are the eastern mountain (i.e. the mythical Sun-rise mountain) in the east, the mythical Sun-set mountain in the west, the Himācala in the north and the Setu in the south.²