Studies in the Geography of Ancient and Medieval India c6.4

c6.4

The *Bhv* was the first Purāṇa to give an account of the dynasties of the Kali age and the *Mts*, *Vy* and *Bmd* got their accounts from it, though they as well as some other Purāṇas existed before the *Bhv*. Metrical accounts of the dynasties of North India grew up gradually, composed in Ślokas in a literary Prakrit and recited by bards and minstrels. After the introduction of writing about the 7th century B.C., the accounts were composed and written down in or near Magadha in Māgadhī or Pāli. The *Bhv* appropriated the Prakrit metrical accounts and converted the Prakrit Ślokas into Sanskrit in the form of a prophecy uttered by Vyāsa. This reshaping was carried through generally but not yet completely, and revisions of the text with new inclusions were taking place from time to time. The account of the Andhras (Sātavāhanas) originally composed in North India and written in Kharosthī was incorporated into the text about the middle of the 3rd century A.D. The *Mts* borrowed the accounts from the *Bhv* during the last quarter of the 3rd century. These *Bhv* accounts, which were still in Kharosthī and cannot now be traced in the extant text of the Purāṇa, were revised during the first quarter of the 4th century and the revised text was borrowed by the *Vy* now represented by a Ms (*e* Vāyu of Pargiter) in the India Office Library. The text was revised again about the beginning of the second quarter of the 4th century and this version was adopted by the *Vy* and soon after by the *Bmd* (which may have copied from the *Vy*) and now constitutes their general versions. The *Vsn* next utilised the accounts about the end of the 4th century and condensed it in Sanskrit prose. About the 8th or 9th century, the *Bgvt* (which in the main condensed the matter in new Ślokas) drew its materials from the *Bmd* and more particularly from the *Vsn*. The *Grd*, whose date is uncertain, utilised the same materials but has a bald list of the kings in new Sanskrit Ślokas. Since those times a quiet process of small emendations in details has been at work in these Purāṇas.