Pramāṇa · Search · About · API

Studies in the Geography of Ancient and Medieval India c8.s3: Fifty-six Countries

Studies in the Geography of Ancient and Medieval India c8.s3

Language
English

Fifty-six Countries

c8.s3.1

1. Aṅga (v. 2).

c8.s3.2

Aṅga is said to have extended from Vaidyanātha upto Bhuvaneśa. Vaidyanātha is no doubt the same as Baidyanāth-dhām in the Santal Parganas District, very near the southern frontiers of the Monghyr and Bhagalpur Districts, in Bihār. Bhuvaneśa reminds us of the celebrated Bhubaneswar in the Puri District of Orissa.

c8.s3.3

The ancient Aṅga country is supposed to have comprised the present Monghyr and Bhagalpur Districts of Bihar excluding the parts lying to the north of the Ganges. Its capital Campā is believed to have been situated at the confluence of the Ganges and the Campā (modern Cāndan) and the two villages Campā-nagar and Campāpur, near Bhāgalpur, are supposed to represent the acutal site of the ancient capital of Aṅga. Epigraphic evidence, however, seems to suggest the location of the ancient city near the Lakhisarai station on the Eastern Railway, in the western fringe of the Monghyr District.¹ There are traditions regarding the expansion of the boundary of the Aṅga country especially in the south. The *Kathāsaritsāgara*,² e.g., refers to the Aṅga city called Viṭaṅkapura which was situated on the seashore. The commentary on Vātsyāyana’s *Kāmasūtra* (VI, 6) places Aṅga to the east of the Mahānadi.

c8.s3.4

¹ *J.B.R.S.*, Vol. XLI, Part 2, p. 8.

c8.s3.5

² 25, 35; 26, 116; 82, 3-16.

c8.s3.6

It will be seen that Baidyanāthdhām is situated near the southern limits of the original Aṅga country; but Vaidyanātha may here indicate the district round the holy place, and the reference to Bhubaneswar may point to the country’s extension towards the Bay of Bengal. The verse appears to place Aṅga to the south of the Ganges, and it must be admitted that there is no definite evidence indicating the extension of the Aṅga country to the north of that river. According to some manuscripts of the *Bhaviṣya Purāṇa* (see No. 37 below), Vaidyanātha-Mahādeva lay in the Jāngala-Jhārīkhaṇḍa country which was situated to the north of the Dārukeśvara river and to the west of the Bhāgīrathī, between Pañcakūṭa (the former Pañcakoṭ State in the Manbhum District) and Kikaṭa (the Gayā region in South Bihar).

c8.s3.7

2. *Vaṅga* (v. 3).

c8.s3.8

The country of Vaṅga is described as extending from the sea as far as the Brahmaputra. The sea is no doubt the Bay of Bengal in the south and Brahmaputra, the northern boundary, seems to indicate that portion of the river which bifurcates from the Jumna. Vaṅga therefore included the eastern part of the Sundarbans in the south and half of the Mymensingh District in the north. The verse seems to exclude the region to the east of the Brahmaputra and the Meghnā (cf. v. 37) and agrees with medieval epigraphic evidence which places the heart of Vaṅga in the Vikramapura-bhāga comprising the Munshiganj and Madaripur Subdivisions of the Dacca and Faridpur Districts of East Pakistan. The original habitat of the Vaṅga people has been discussed in a separate chapter (Ch. XI) below.

c8.s3.9

3-4. *Kaliṅga* (v. 4) and *Kāliṅga* (v. 5).

c8.s3.10

Kaliṅga extended from the east of Jagannātha as far as the banks of the Kṛṣṇā. Jagannātha here evidently refers to the celebrated deity in the shrine of Purī in the Puri District of Orissa. It is interesting to note that the Tantric texts recognise Purī as one of the Pīṭha-sthānas where the Bhairava is Jagannātha and the Bhairavī Vimalā. That the Purī region was also called Utkala is known from v. 42.

c8.s3.11

The name Kaliṅga has been used here in a wide sense. The *Mahābhārata* (III, 114, 4) recognises the Vaitaraṇī river as the north-eastern boundary of Kaliṅga, and at the time of Aśoka and Khāravela it certainly comprised the Puri-Cuttack region in the east. At the time of the Eastern Gaṅga king Anantavarman Coḍagaṅga, the Kaliṅga kingdom extended from the Ganges to the Godīvarī. The statement in the commentary on the Kāmasūtra (VI, 6) that Kaliṅga lies to the south of Gauḍa-viṣaya appears to indicate the extension of ancient Kaliṅga as far as the Ganges. The expansion of Kaliṅga from the Mahānadī to the river Kṛṣṇā in the south seems to be referred to in an inscription of the fifth century A.D.¹ The reference in our text may, however, be to the dominions of the Sūryavaṃśī Gajapatis of Orissa. Their empire originally included certain tracts lying to the south of the Kṛṣṇā, though they were later ousted from those areas by the kings of Vijayanagara.

c8.s3.12

¹ Cf. *Ep. Ind.*, Vol. XXX, p. 114. Some allied topics have been discussed in a separate chapter (Ch. VII).

c8.s3.13

On the southern confines of Kaliṅga was a country called Kāliṅga according to our text. But we do not know of any country of this name to the south of the Kṛṣṇā from any other source. The author probably refers to the Nellore-Guntur region which once formed parts of the dominions of the Sūryavaṃśī Gajapatis of Orissa.

c8.s3.14

5. *Kerala including Siddhikerala* (v. 6).

c8.s3.15

The Kerala country is said to have extended from Subrahmaṇya upto Janārdana and Siddhikerala to have formed a part of it. Roughly speaking, Kerala comprised the coastal region inhabited by the Malayāḷam-speaking people. But our text makes separate mention not only of two other Keralas called Haṃsa (v. 7) and Sarveśa (v. 8), but also of Malayāla (v. 15).

c8.s3.16

There are many temples of Subrahmaṇya (Kārttikeya) in South India and it is difficult to determine which of them is meant. The same is the case with Janārdana, as we can trace several Janārdana temples in the area in question. It is, however, possible that Subrahmaṇya here indicates the village of that name in the South Kanara District, which is famous for its temple and cattle fair, and that Janārdana is the temple at Varkala or Varkkalai between Quilon and Trivandrum.

c8.s3.17

6. *Haṃsa-Kerala* (v. 7).

c8.s3.18

The territory including Rāmeśvara and Veṅkaṭeśa is called Haṃsa-Kerala, a name otherwise unknown. The shrine of Rāmeśvara and the celebrated Veṅkaṭeśvara temple at Tirupati are quite well known; but it is difficult to determine whether they are acutally intended. If, however, the verse refers to the country from Rāmeśvara to Tirupati, the name Haṁsa-Kerala would appear to indicate the same territory as the old Drāviḍa.

c8.s3.19

7. Sarveśa-Kera'a (v. 8).

c8.s3.20

The Kerala country designated by the name Sarveśa extended from the Ananta-śaila upto the city called Uḍupa. The Ananta hill may refer to Trivandrum which is known as Ananta-śayana or Anantapura. It is possible that the place is referred to by Varadarāja (17th century) whose Saṁskṛtamañjarī speaks of the southern Tīrthas called Janārdana-kṣetra, Gokarṇa-kṣetra (in the North Kanara District), Anantasena (°śayana ?)-kṣetra, and Subrahmaṇya-kṣetra. Uḍupa-pura is possibly Uḍipi, headquarters of the Uḍipi Taluk in the South Kanara District. The celebrated Vaiṣṇava saint Madhva was born at Kalyāṇapura near Uḍipi.

c8.s3.21

8. Kāśmīra (v. 9).

c8.s3.22

Kāśmīra (Kashmir) is described as the country lying between the Śāradā-maṭha and the Kuṅkum-ādri and extending over 50 yojanas. The Kuṅkuma hill cannot be satisfactorily identified; but it may refer to the Kuṅkuma (saffron)-growing plateau above Pampur near Srinagar, capital of Kashmir.¹ Śāradā-maṭha is evidently modern Sardi near the confluence of the Kishenganga and Kankatori rivers in Kashmir. The shrine of the goddess Śāradā is mentioned in Kalhaṇa's Rājatarangiṇī (VIII, 2556, 2706). According to Stein, the old shrine is in complete ruins and it is substituted by the late Śāradā temple at Guṣa (ancient Ghoṣa) which is now visited by the pilgrims.²

c8.s3.23

¹ Cf. Watt, The Commercial Products of India, p. 429.

c8.s3.24

² See Rājatar., trans., Vol. II, pp. 279, 289.

c8.s3.25

9. Kāmarūpa (v. 10).

c8.s3.26

The country of Kāmarūpa is said to have extended from Kāleśvara to the Śveta-giri and from Tripura to the Nīla-parvata.

c8.s3.27

The ‘Blue Mountain’ seems to be the Nil-ādri or Nilakūṭa, the name of the Kāmakhyā hill according to the *Kālikā Purāṇa* (Ch. 79, v. 74). The Gaṇeśa-giri seems to be referred to as lying in the heart of Kāmarūpa. Tripura can be quite satisfactorily identified with Tripurā (Tipperah) which is now partly in East Pakistan. The heart of ancient Kāmarūpa was the Gauhati region of Assam. The celebrated temple of Kāmakhyā, called the *Yoni-pīṭha*, lies not far from the city of Gauhati. According to Hiuen-tsang, Kāmarūpa lay to the east of the Kāratoyā, while the *Yoginī Tantra* includes in the country the Brahmaputra valley together with Rangpur and Cochbihar.

c8.s3.28

10. Mahārāṣṭra (v. 11).

c8.s3.29

Mahārāṣṭra (i. e. the Marāṭhī-speaking area) extended from Tryambaka to Karṇāṭa, and comprised Ujjayinī, Mārjāra-tīrtha and Kolāpura-nivāsinī. Tryambaka is certainly the celebrated Tryambakeśvara Śiva-liṅga near Nāsik and here indicates the whole of the Nasik area. Ujjain and Kolhāpur are also well-known localities. Kolāpura-nivāsinī appears to be the goddess Mahālakṣmī of the great shrine at Kolhāpur. As has already been pointed out, the inclusion of Ujjain appears to refer to the Marāṭhā conquest of Malwa during the rule of Peshwā Bājī Rāo I (1720-40 A. D.); and in that case we have to assume that the *Śaktisaṅgama Tantra*, or at least the Deśavibhāga section of it, was composed not earlier than the first quarter of the 18th century. Karṇāṭa of this verse seems to be different from that of v. 16 and to indicate the original Karṇāṭa, i.e. the Kannaḍa-speaking area. It is interesting to note that the *Kāmasūtra* (VI, 5, 29) commentary (middle of the thirteenth century) locates Mahārāṣṭra between the Narmadā and Karṇāṭa:

c8.s3.30

11. Andhra (v. 12).

c8.s3.31

Andhra is said to have been the country which has Jagan-nātha above and Bhramarāmbikā below. Jagannātha is the celebrated god of Purī; but here the district round the shrine seems to be indicated. Bhramarāmbikā is no doubt the famous Bhramarāmbā who is one of the 18 Śaktis in India and is enshrined on the Śrīśaila with the god Mallikārjuna, one of the 12 Jyotirlingas. It has to be noted that our author separates Andhra from Tailaṅga (v. 14) and also from Kaliṅga (vv. 4-5).

c8.s3.32

12. Saurāṣṭra or Gurjara (v. 13).

c8.s3.33

From Koṅkaṇa up to Hiṅgulāja in the west lies, according to the verse, the Saurāṣṭra country covering a hundred yojanas on the coast. This country has also been called Gurjara. Koṅkaṇa is the strip of land between the Western Ghāṭs and the Arabian Sea, and Hiṅgulāja is the famous Tīrtha of Hiṅglāj near the Arabian Sea (between lat. 25° and 26° and long. 65° and 66°), more than 100 miles to the west of Karachi.

c8.s3.34

Surāṣṭra originally indicated the southern part of Kathiawar; but in the later period the name Gujarāt is found to be used in a wide sense to comprise the whole of Kathiawar and the adjoining regions. The verse in question gives a wide extent of the country. It must, however, be remembered that from a pilgrim’s point of view Gujarāt may be roughly placed between the Northern Koṅkan (comprising the modern Thana District of Bombay State) and the district round Hiṅglāj. Pilgrims seem to have reached Somanātha in Kathiawar by boat from the Northern Koṅkan and then proceeded to Hiṅglāj again by boat.¹

c8.s3.35

¹ Cf. v. 57.

c8.s3.36

13. Tailaṅga (v. 14).

c8.s3.37

From the Śrī-śaila up to the middle of the distance between the same and Coleśa lies the Tailaṅga country. Coleśa may indicate the god of the celebrated Bṛhadeśvara temple at Tañjāvūr. Tailaṅga is the same as the name Telengana and is related to Telugu. But the origin of this geographical name is unknown. The author’s separation of Tailaṅga from Andhra (v. 11) is comparable to that of Kāliṅga from Kaliṅga (vv. 4-5). Really Tailaṅga means the Telugu-speaking area which is the same as Andhra.² An inscription³ of 1358 A. D. gives the following boundaries of the Tilinga or Tailaṅga country :

c8.s3.38

² The description does not suit the present Telengana area of Andhra Pradesh.

c8.s3.39

³ Ep. Ind., Vol. XIV, p. 90.

c8.s3.40

पश्चात्पुरस्ताद्यस्य देशौ महाराष्ट्रकलिंगसंज्ञौ ।
अवागुदक् पाण्ड्यकान्यकुब्जौ देशस्त तत्रास्ति तिलिंगनामा ॥

c8.s3.41

that is, the Telugu country is bounded by Mahārāṣṭra in the west, Kaliṅga in the east, Pāṇḍya in the south and Kānyakubja in the north. There is reference here to the old empire of the Kākatīyas. Of course, in this age, the Kānyakubja country was no longer a political unit; but the reference may be to the empire of the Turkish Sultāns of Delhi.

c8.s3.42

14. Malayāla (v. 15).

c8.s3.43

The Malayāla country, which is separated from the tracts called Kerala (vv. 6-8), is described as lying between Mūkāmbikā and the Malay-ādri. The Malay-ādri or Malaya range has been identified with the Travancore hills. The goddess is no doubt one of the same name worshipped at Kollūr or Barkalūr in the northern part of the South Kanara District, formerly in Madras but now in Mysore. This goddess is mentioned in inscriptions like C.P. Nos. 3-6A of *A.R.Ep.*, 1927-28, and in stone inscription No.403 of the same year. See also the *Śivatattva-ratnākara*, Kallola V, Ch. I, vv. 27ff.

c8.s3.44

15. Karṇāṭa (v. 16).

c8.s3.45

The Karṇāṭa country is said to have extended from Rāmanātha upto Śrīraṅga. Śrīraṅga is either Śrīraṅgam opposite Tañjāvūr on the other side of the Kāverī or Śrīraṅgapattana (Seringapatam) near Mysore. Rāmanātha seems to be either the Rāmanāthapuram (former Ramnad) District, or the Rāmanātha Maṭha in the Madurai District, or the Rāmeśvara Tīrtha near the junction of the rivers Tuṅga and Bhadra.¹ The possible reference to Śrīraṅgam or Ramnad as a boundary of Karṇāṭa suggests that it is not the ancient Karṇāṭa country, the heart of which was in the Kannaḍa-speaking land, *Kannaḍa* being the same as Sanskrit *Karṇāṭa*. With the expansion of the empire of the Kanarese kings of Vijayanagara, the name Karṇāṭa extended over a large part of the Deccan. After the battle of Talikoṭa in 1665 A.D., the Vijayanagara kings withdrew first to Candragiri (Chittoor District) and then to Vellore (North Arcot District). But, as has already been indicated, even when their kingdom became confined to a very small area far away from ancient Karṇāṭa, they were known as the Rāyas of Karṇāṭaka. About the end of the seventeenth century, Zulfiqār Ali Khān (*circa* 1692-1703 A.D.), the progenitor of the Nawābs of Arcot, was created the ‘Nawāb of the Carnatic (Karṇāṭaka).’ It is not impossible that the verse actually refers to the kingdom of these Nawābs of the Carnatic.

c8.s3.46

¹ See *Bomb. Gaz.*, Vol. I, Part ii, pp. 377, 397. This was however a very small place which has not yet been identified.

c8.s3.47

16. Avanti (v. 17).

c8.s3.48

Avanti is described as extending from the Tāmraparṇī as far as the northern side of some hills and as the place of the goddess Kālikā. This Tāmraparṇī is an unknown river and not the celebrated rivulet of that name in the extreme south of India.¹ The hills referred to may be the Western Vindhyas.

c8.s3.49

¹ See above, p. 52, note 5.

c8.s3.50

Avanti is generally identified with the district round Ujjain (in the former Gwalior State) which was its capital.² Kālikā mentioned in the verse is evidently the Śakti of the celebrated Mahākāla of Ujjain.

c8.s3.51

² Cf. Mālava below, No. 20.

c8.s3.52

17. Vidarbha (v. 18).

c8.s3.53

The country of Vidarbha is said to have been situated to the east of Bhadrakālī and to the west of Rāmadurga or with Rāmadurgā to its west. This Bhadrakālī appears to be the same goddess as Kālikā [of Ujjain] mentioned in the preceding verse. Rāmadurga reminds us of the former State of this name in the South Marāṭhā country lying between Belgaum and Bijapur, although it is far from Vidarbha, i.e. modern Berar. The Ujjain region lies to the north or north-west of Berar. Even if we accept an old tradition according to which Avanti included the Māhiṣmatī (modern Māndhātā in the Nimar District or Maheswar in the former Indore State) region on the Narmadā, it cannot be placed to its west. I have therefore suggested the reading *Bhadrakālī-dakṣapūrve*, ‘to the south-east of Bhadrakālī’.

c8.s3.54

18. *Maru* (v. 19).

c8.s3.55

The Maru country seems to be described as lying to the north-west of the Gujarāt region and to the north of Dvārakā and also as famous for its camels. It is the great Indian desert called the Thar or Rājputānā desert. The land no doubt also includes the Mārwār (i.e. Maru) or Jodhpur area.

c8.s3.56

19. *Ābhīra* (v. 20).

c8.s3.57

The Ābhīra country appears to be placed on the Vindhya between the Koṅkaṇa in the south and the Tāpi or Tāptī in the north-west.

c8.s3.58

The Ābhīras originally lived in the desert; but they gradually pushed towards the south.¹ In the 1st and 2nd centuries A.D., Aberia or the Ābhīra country lay not far from Surāṣṭra or Southern Kathiawar. In the 3rd century A.D., the Ābhīras founded a kingdom comprising parts of the Northern Koṅkan and the Nāsik region. But it is difficult to believe that this area was called Ābhīra in the late medieval period. The reference seems to be to the Ahirwas fort in the former Indore State, lying at lat. 22° 31′, long. 76° 31′. But, in that case, we have to read *śrī-Koṅkaṇāt purva-bhāge*, since the area in question does not lie to the south of the Koṅkaṇ. The *Kāmasūtra* (VI, 4, 24) commentary applies the name Ābhīra to the tracts including Śrīkaṇṭha (Thanesar) and Kuru-kṣetra.

c8.s3.59

¹ See *The Age of Imperial Unity*, pp. 221 ff.

c8.s3.60

20. *Mālava* (v. 21).

c8.s3.61

The great country of Mālava is described as lying to the east of Avanti and to the north of the Godāvarī. The verse evidently indicates Eastern Malwa, the ancient name of which was Ākara or Daśārṇa having its capital at Vidiśā (modern Besnagar near Bhilsa in the former Gwalior State). It has to be noticed that the *Kāmasūtra* (VI, 5, 22 and 24) mentions Avanti and Mālava separately and its commentary identifies Mālava with Pūrva-Mālava and gives the name Avanti to the Ujjain region. Bāṇa’s Kādambarī supports the same tradition when it associates Mālava ladies with the Vetravatī (modern Betwa) surrounding Vidiśā and speaks of Ujjayinī as a city of the Avanti country in the present West Malwa.¹

c8.s3.62

¹ Cf. Siddhāntavāgīśa's ed., pp. 19, 183.

c8.s3.63

21. Cola (v. 22).

c8.s3.64

The Cola country is said to have been situated between Drāviḍa and Tailaṅga (v. 14), and the three countries, which were very similar to one another, were also known generally as the [land of the] Lambakarṇas.

c8.s3.65

The Cola country proper was the Tañjāvūr-Tirucirāpalli region. The verse, however, appears to refer to the country of the Telugu Coḍas of the Anantapur-Cuddappa area.

c8.s3.66

22. Pāñcāla (v. 23).

c8.s3.67

Pāñcāla appears to have been described as lying at 13 or 30 yojanas from Indraprastha with Kuru-kṣetra both in the west and the north. Indraprastha is the modern Delhi region and Kuru-kṣetra was the country to the south of the Sarasvatī and to the north of the Dṛṣadvatī, in the Karnal-Ambala region of the Eastern Punjab.

c8.s3.68

Ancient Pāñcāla was divided into two divisions, viz., the northern and the southern, and the former comprised roughly the modern Rohilkhand Division of U. P. Ahicchatrā, capital of North Pāñcāla, has been identified with modern Rāmnagar in the Bareily District, while Kāmpilya, which was the capital of South Pāñcāla, has been located at modern Kāmpil in the Farrukhabad District to the south of the Ganges.

c8.s3.69

23. Kāmboja (v. 24).

c8.s3.70

The Kāmboja country is described as extending from Pāñcāla and lying to the south-east of the Mleccha country. This Mleccha is apparently the same as Mahā-Mleccha of v. 28 and indicates the Muslim countries on the north-western borders of medieval India.²

c8.s3.71

² Cf. Nos. 25 and 27 below.

c8.s3.72

The ancient Kāmbojas may be supposed to have lived in various settlements in the wide area between the Punjab and Balkh ( cf. No. 27 ). From a pilgrim’s standpoint therefore the country may have been described as having Pāñcāla in the south-east and the Muhammadan countries in the north-west. The horses of the Kāmboja country are often found mentioned in literature and inscriptions. The Kāmbojas living in Aśoka’s empire are mentioned in his inscriptions along with the Yavanas or Greeks of the Kabul valley and Kandahar where an edict in two versions meant for these two peoples has been discovered.

c8.s3.73

24. Virāṭa (v. 25).

c8.s3.74

The country called Virāṭa or Vairāṭa is placed to the north of Vidarbha, to the south of Indraprastha and to the east of Maru-deśa.

c8.s3.75

Of course Vidarbha is far to the south ; but the ancient Virāṭa or Matsya country actually lay in the Alwar-Bharatpur-Jaipur region to the south of the Delhi area and to the east of the desert. Vidarbha was never its southern boundary ; but it may have been mentioned as a country lying in the south—whatever be the distance—of the Virāṭa country. One of the Śākta Piṭhas is said to be in Virāṭa where the Devī is Ambikā and the Bhairava Amṛta. There was a Virāṭa country in Northern Bengal, according to some manuscripts of the *Bhavisya Purāṇa*.¹ The Nivṛti country (comprising Vardhanakūṭa= Bardhankoṭ, Kacchapa=Cochbihār or, more probably, Kachhar, and Rangpur) has there been described as :

c8.s3.76

¹ See No. 37 below.

c8.s3.77

निवृत्तिः सा च यत्रैव जनिष्यति तृणादिकम् ।
वरेन्द्रोत्तरभागे च विराटस्य च सन्निधौ ।
वंगस्य पश्चिमोत्तरे निवृत्तिविषयो मतः ॥

c8.s3.78

This Virāṭa is apparently connected with the ‘Birāṭ-rājār Garh’ in the Rangpur District, or Bairāṭṭā in the Dinajpur District, in the northern part of Bengal and has nothing to do with the country of the same name mentioned in our text.

c8.s3.79

25. Pāṇḍu (v. 26).

c8.s3.80

The Pāṇḍu or Pāṇḍya country is placed to the south of Kāmboja and to the west of Indraprastha or the Delhi region.

c8.s3.81

It is interesting to note that there is evidence of the existence of an ancient Pāṇḍu country in the Punjab. Ptolemy’s Geography¹ places the country of Pandouoi (i.e. Pāṇḍava) about the Bidaspes=Vitastā=Jhelam and includes in it Sagala=Sākala=Siālkot. Poros (i. e. Puru or Paurava), contemporary of Alexander, evidently belonged to this Pāṇḍu country. The *Vedic Index* suggests that either the Jhelam region was the early home of the Purus where some remained while others migrated to the east, or that region was later conquered by the Purus who had been settled in the east. But it is difficult to determine how this ancient tradition finds an echo in the late medieval text before us.

c8.s3.82

¹ VII, i, 46.

c8.s3.83

26. Videha or Tairabhukti (v. 27).

c8.s3.84

The Videha country, also called Tirabhukta or Tairabhukti, is described as extending from the banks of the Gaṇḍakī as far as the Camp-āraṇya. Gaṇḍakī-tīra here appears to indicate the southern boundary of the country and the place where the modern Gaṇḍak falls into the Ganges. Camp-āraṇya is the modern Campāraṇ which seems to be the northern boundary. The name Tirabhukti still survives in the modern form Tirhut. It is the same as the Darbhanga-Muzaffarpur region of Upper Bihar to the north of the Ganges.

c8.s3.85

27. Bāhlika (v. 28).

c8.s3.86

The Bāhlika country is said to be bordering on Kāmboja and situated to the east of Mahā-Mleccha. Bāhlika was Bactria (modern Balkh) in the north of Afghānistān; but Vāhīka was an old name of the Punjab. The reading Bāhlika is better as the country is placed between Kāmboja and the great Mleccha world of the west. It is interesting to note that the Kāmbojas, elsewhere associated with Pāñcāla (v. 24), are here connected with the northern part of Afghānistān.

c8.s3.87

28. *Kirāta* (v. 29).

c8.s3.88

The Kirāta country is described as extending from Tapta-kuṇḍa as far as Rāma-kṣetra and as lying on the Vindhyas. Tapta-kuṇḍa may indicate the hot springs at Rājgir in the Patna District, Bihar, or those near Monghyr. Rāma-kṣetra may be Rāma-giri or Rāmtek. Kirāta here seems to indicate some Vindhyan hill tribes, though in old literature they are usually connected with the Himalayan region. The fact is that such names as Pulinda and Kirāta really indicated particular hill tribes; but later their meaning expanded so as to signify any hill tribe.

c8.s3.89

29. *Vakrānta* (v. 30).

c8.s3.90

The Vakrānta country is said to have extended from the Karatoyā as far as Hiṅgulāja and abounded in a large number of Mlecchas. The Karatoyā river mentioned here is not easy to identify; but the reference to the Hiṅlāj area as one of the bordering regions suggests that Vakrānta-deśa is possibly not Wakhan, but very probably Makran between Baluchistan and Persia. Pargiter¹ notices three Karatoyās; the first a tributary of the Brahmaputra in North Bengal, the second belonging to the Himalayan region in North India and the third rising from the Vindhyan range. The second seems to be indicated in the verse; but the plurality of the name may have been caused by wrong readings.

c8.s3.91

¹ Mārkaṇḍeya Purāṇa, trans., p. 301.

c8.s3.92

30. *Khurāśana* (v. 31).

c8.s3.93

The country called Khurāśana (Khorashan) is described as extending from the Hiṅgu-pīṭha, i.e. Hiṅgulāja, upto Makkeśa. Makkeśa, ‘lord of Mecca,’ is an imaginary Śiva-liṅga at Mecca, the most sacred of the Muslim holy places. According to a popular Bengali tradition, apparently influenced by the Tantras, in an underground room underneath the floor of the Kaaba at Mecca there lies Śiva in deep sleep; pious Hindus are never allowed to approach him; if, however, a devout Hindu could place on his head a *bilva-patra* only once, the god would at once rise up and destroy all the Muhammadans of the world.

c8.s3.94

Khorashan is the north-eastern province of Persia, to the west of Afghānistān; but the name here seems to be employed to indicate the kingdom of Persia as known in the late medieval period.

c8.s3.95

31. *Airāka* (v 31).

c8.s3.96

In the northern part of the country of Khurāsana, i.e. the Persian kingdom or Western Asia, is placed Airāka, i.e. Iraq.

c8.s3.97

32. *Bhoṭānta* (v. 33).

c8.s3.98

The Bhoṭānta country is said to have extended from Kāśmīra and lay to the west of Kāmarūpa and to the south of Mānaseśa. Bhoṭānta is evidently Bhoṭān and Mānaseśa refers to the god Śiva at the Mānasa lake (Mānsarovar) in the Himalayas. Modern Bhoṭān in a small state to the north of Bengal; but the Tibetan people are also known as Bhauṭṭa or Bhoṭa. Taken in this wider sense, Bhoṭānta may actually be placed between Kāśmīra in the west and Kāmarūpa in the east.

c8.s3.99

33. *Cīna* (v. 34).

c8.s3.100

Cīna-deśa is described as lying to the south-east of Mānaseśa. The country to the south-east of the Mānasa-sarovara is Tibet which appears to be indicated by the name Cīna in the verse. Tibet formed a part of the dominions of the Chinese emperors. Abul Fazl’s *Ain-i-Akbarī* refers to ‘Pegu which former writers called Cheen, accounting this to be the capital city’, and seems to include Burma in the Cīna country.¹ According to Pargiter, Cīna comprised the country of Tibet ‘along the whole range of the Himalayas’.² The Cīnas are sometimes linked in the *Mahābhārata* with the Kāmbojas of the north-west³ and often mentioned among the retinue of the king of Prāgjyotiṣa or Assam in the east¹ and are also sometimes placed near the source of the Ganges in the country lying midway between the two regions.²

c8.s3.101

¹ Jarrett’s trans., Vol. II, ed. Sarkar, p. 132.

c8.s3.102

² *Mārk. Pur.*, trans., p. 319, note.

c8.s3.103

³ VI, 9, 66.

c8.s3.104

¹ V, 19, 15.

c8.s3.105

² III, 177, 12.

c8.s3.106

34. Mahā-Cīna (v. 35)

c8.s3.107

The Mahācīna country is said to have extended from the Kailāsa-giri and from the place of origin of the Sarayū as far as Moṅga. Mount Kailāsa is that part of the Himalayan range which lies to the north of the Mānasa-sarovara and the origin of the Sarayū (Ghogra) is not far off. Moṅga and its variations appear to refer to Mongolia to the north of China. Mahācīna therefore refers to China proper.³ The suggestion is supported by the fact that in the seventh century A.D. the Chinese traveller Hiuen-tsang described his native country as ‘the Mahācīna of the Indians’.⁴

c8.s3.108

³ For Cina and Mahācīna, see Hobson-Jobson, s.v. China and Machin. The evidence of our text is supported by the Ain-i-Akbari, trans. Jarrell and Sarkar, Vol. II, p. 131.

c8.s3.109

⁴ Cf. Watters, On Yuan Chwang’s Travels in India, Vol. I, p. 349.

c8.s3.110

35. Nepāla (v. 35).

c8.s3.111

The country of Nepāla is placed between Jaṭeśvara and Yoginī which seems to refer to Yoginīpura or Delhi. The Nepāla country to the north of Bihār and U.P. is well-known; but Jaṭeśvara cannot be satisfactorily identified. It is possible that the original reading was Jalpeśvara, the famous Śiva of the Jalpaiguri District in North Bengal, sometimes referred to in the later Puranic literature.

c8.s3.112

36. Śilahaṭṭa (v. 36).

c8.s3.113

The country called Śilahaṭṭa is described as extending from Gaṇeśvara as far as the sea. Gaṇeśvara appears to be identical with Gaṇeśa-giri placed in the heart of the country of Kāmarūpa (v. 10). Śilahaṭṭa is no doubt modern Sylhet which however does not now extend up to the Bay of Bengal. The land lying to the east of the Meghna in South-East Bengal (now mostly in East Pakistan) seems to be included in Śilahaṭṭa.

c8.s3.114

37. Gauḍa (v. 38).

c8.s3.115

Gauḍa is said to have extended from the Vaṅga country upto Bhuvaneśa (i.e. Bhubaneswar in Orissa). In modern times, Gauḍa implies the whole area inhabited by the Bengali-speaking people. Originally, however, the country seems to have comprised the present Murshidabad District with the exclusion of its southernmost part. The Chinese traveller Hiuen-tsang describes Karṇasuvarṇa as the name of both the kingdom and capital of Śaśāṅka who has been called ‘the lord of Gauḍa’ in the Harṣacarita. According to the Chinese pilgrim, the Raktamṛttikā-vihāra lay in the suburbs of the Karṇasuvarṇa city and the country was about 730 or 750 miles in circuit. As the monastery referred to has been located at modern Rāṅgāmāṭi (Sanskrit Rakta-mṛttikā), the identification of the Karṇasuvarṇa or Gauḍa country with the Murshidabad District is plausible. This identification is again supported by an interpolated section of the Bhaviṣya Purāṇa,¹ which says :

c8.s3.116

¹ MS. No. 3582 of the Asiatic Society, Culcutta.

c8.s3.117

पुण्ड्रदेशे सप्तदशास्तेषां नामानि वै शृणु ।
गौडो वरेन्द्रो निवृतिः सुह्यदेशः प्रकीर्त्तितः ॥
जांगलो झारिखंडश्च वराहभूमिरैव च ।
वर्द्धमानो विंध्यपार्श्वे सप्तैते परिकीर्त्तिताः ॥
पद्मानद्या दक्षभागे वर्द्धमानस्य चोत्तरे ।
गौददेशः स विज्ञेयो गौदेशी यत्र तिष्ठति ॥

c8.s3.118

It is said that Gauḍa (comprising Navadvīpa, Śāntipura, Maulapattana and Kaṇṭakapattana) lies between the river Padmā and the Vardhamāna district and forms a part of Puṇḍra, a name here used to indicate Bengal without its south-eastern part, but with some parts of Bihār and Orissa. The southern part of the Malda District comprising the site of the city of Gauḍa (Gauṛ) seems to have been to the south of the Ganges and included in the Gauḍa country in the early medieval period, and the capitals of some of the Pāla and Sena kings in Gauḍa were situated near the modern site of Gauṛ. Our work divides Bengal in two broad divisions, viz. East Bengal (Vaṅga) and West Bengal (Gauḍa). It is interesting in this connection to note that Mulsim historians sometimes called this country ‘Gaur-Bangāl.’ Gauḍa offers one of the numerous instances of the expansion of the connotation of a geographical term.¹

c8.s3.119

¹ Cf. Chapter V below.

c8.s3.120

38. *Mahā-Kośala* (v. 38).

c8.s3.121

The Mahā-Kośala country is placed to the south of Gokarṇeśa, to the north of Āryāvarta, to the west of Tairabhukti and to the east of Mahāpurī. Gokarṇa is the name of a village on the Bāgamatī in Nepāl. Āryāvartta is not the same as that (=North India) defined by Manu, but the Tantric Āryāvartta defined as

c8.s3.122

विन्ध्योत्तरगतेनैव मगधाच्चापरेण तु ।
हिमाद्रर्दक्षिणे भागे पाञ्चालात्पूर्वस्ततथा ॥
आर्यावर्त्त इति ख्यातः..........²

c8.s3.123

² Bagchi, *Studies in the Tantras*, p. 108.

c8.s3.124

Mahāpurī appears to refer to Delhi which was the capital of the Mughal emperors at the time of the composition of the work to which the verse belongs. Mahā-Kośala is no doubt the same as old Kośala ruled by the Sūrya-vamśī kings from their capital at Ayodhyā, near modern Fyzābād in Oudh (Ayodhyā). The name Mahā-Kośala thus appears to be wrongly applied now to indicate South Kośala, *i.e.* the Raipur-Sambalpur-Bilaspur region in Madhya Pradesh and Orissa.³ If we prefer the reading *sarvataḥ* to *pūrvataḥ*, Mahāpurī would possibly indicate Ayodhyā, the ancient capital of the Kośala *janapada*.

c8.s3.125

³ See Pargiter, *Mārk. Pur.*, trans., pp. 308, 342.

c8.s3.126

39. *Magadha* (v. 39).

c8.s3.127

The great country of Magadha is described as extending from Kāleśvara or Vyāseśvara as far as the Tapta-kuṇḍa. Kāleśvara is evidently the celebrated Kāla-Bhairava of Banāras and Vyāseśvara reminds us of Vyāsa-Kāśī. Tapta-kuṇḍa seems to refer to the hot springs (*e.g.*, Sītākuṇḍa) near Monghyr. The Magadha *deśa* is therefore placed between the Benares region and the Monghyr District. The ancient Magadha country comprised the present Patna and Gaya Districts of South Bihar and had its capital originally at Rājagṛha (Rājgir) and then at Pāṭaliputra (near Pāṭnā), both in the present Patna District.

c8.s3.128

40. Kikaṭa (v. 40).

c8.s3.129

The Kikaṭa country is placed in the southern part of Magadha, the northern half of which is called Magadha proper. Kikaṭa is described as extending from the Caraṇ-ādri upto Gṛdhrakūṭa. The celebrated Gṛdhrakūṭa or ‘Vulture Peak’ (modern Śaila-giri) was situated near Rājagṛha, modern Rājgir in the Patna District. Caraṇ-ādri appears to indicate either the Viṣṇupada hill at Gayā, or Chūnār. In the Purāṇic literature, Kikaṭa is essentially connected with the Gayā region. But the traditional indentifications of Kikaṭa with Gayā-pradeśa and with Magadha appear to be both right. The verse under study indicates that originally the Gayā region was called Kikaṭa and the Pāṭnā region Magadha; but soon the former became a part of the latter.

c8.s3.130

41. Utkala (v. 41).

c8.s3.131

The country which had Jagannātha (the god in the shrine at Purī on the sea) on the boundary is described as Utkala. The original connotation of the name and its later expansion have been discussed in the separate chapter below, pp. 134 ff.

c8.s3.132

42. Śrīkuntala (v. 43).

c8.s3.133

The country called Śrīkuntala is placed between the Kāma-giri and Dvārakā. V. 44 shows that the Kāma-giri was far to the north of the desert. In this connection, it is interesting to note that an inscription of 1176 A.D.¹ represents a ruler of the Kāma country as a tributary to the king of the Sapādalakṣa Mountain (i.e. the Siwalik range). It is also not impossible that the name Kāma has something to do with that of Kumaon. The Śrīkuntala country thus appears to be placed between the Siwalik-Kumaon region in the north and Dvārakā in the south. Śrīkuntala is, however, otherwise unknown and the well-known Kuntala lies in the Kanarese area. Is Śrīkuntala a mistake for Śrikaṇṭhaka or the Thānesar region? The wide extent of the Śrikaṇṭha country can, however, only be accepted if we refer to the time of Harṣavardhana (606-47 A.D.), king of Thānesar and Kanauj.

c8.s3.134

¹ Ind. Ant., Vol. X, p. 342.

c8.s3.135

Pargiter¹ notices three Kuntalas, one in the Deccan, the second near Chūnār to the south of Banāras and the third ‘in the west’. This third Kuntala may be indicated in the verse. It is, however, probable that this plurality of Kuntala as accepted by Pargiter is due to wrong readings which might have misled even the author of the verse in question.

c8.s3.136

¹ Mārkaṇḍeya Purāṇa, trans., p. 308.

c8.s3.137

43. Hūṇa (v. 44)

c8.s3.138

Hūṇa-deśa is placed to the south of the Kāma-giri (see No. 42) and to the north of Maru-deśa, i.e. the Desert, and is called the land of heroes. The Hūṇas had a place in Indian politics even long after the disintegration of the extensive empire of Toramāṇa and Mihirakula. The Harṣacarita places the Hūṇa country in the Punjab region practically suggesting the same area as the verse under study. Hūṇa royal houses are mentioned in the records of the Pratihāras, Kalacuris and others. The Hūṇas are ultimately known to have been regarded as one of the 36 clans of the Rajputs.

c8.s3.139

44. Koṅkaṇa (v. 45).

c8.s3.140

Koṅkaṇa has been described as lying on the sea-coast. It seems to have extended from the Ghaṭṭa as far as the middle of the district round Koṭīśa. The Koṅkaṇ, as we know, is the strip of land between the Western Ghāṭs and the Arabian Sea. Ghaṭṭa therefore appears to indicate the Western Ghāṭs, while Koṭīśa reminds us of the famous Koṭeśvara Mahādeva near the sea, not far from Bhuj, the headquarters of Kutch. But this Koṭeśvara is far away from the Koṅkaṇ. Our Koṭīśa may be the same as Saptakoṭīśvara of the inscriptions, and coins of the Kadambas of Goa.² 45. *Kaikaya* (v. 46).

c8.s3.141

² See Ind. Ant., Vol. XIV, pp. 288 ff. Moraes, Kadamba Kuls, pp. 383-84.

c8.s3.142

Kaikaya is placed between the Brahmaputra and Kāmarūpa. The ancient Kekaya country lay in the Punjab to the east of Gandhāra (the Peshawar-Rāwalpindi region). But a Kekaya kingdom is known to have existed in the northern part of Mysore in the fifth century A.D.¹ The Kaikaya country mentioned in our verse seems to be a place in North-East Bengal, which was possibly connected by local traditions with the ancient Kekayas of the Punjab. Kaikaya here may even indicate the land of the Kukis in Assam and Manipur. It this identification is accepted, it shows how such tribal names were given a classical colour in the late medieval works.

c8.s3.143

¹ See *Suc. Sāt.*, pp. 313 ff.

c8.s3.144

46. *Śaurasena* (v. 47).

c8.s3.145

The Śaurasena country seems to be described as extending from Magadha in the south-east upto the territory to the west of the Vindhya. The ancient Śūrasena people lived in the Mathurā region. Greek writers refer to the Sourasenoi and to their cities Methora (Mathurā) and Kleisobora (possibly Kṛṣṇapura = Gokula). This old Śūrasena or Śaurasena country therefore had nothing to do with Magadha, the ancient name of South Bihār. It must, however, be remembered that our author extends Magadha as far as the Banāras district in the west. He possibly believed that the Śaurasena country extended from the Banāras region up to the Mathurā district which is to the west (actually to the north-west) of the Vindhyan range. It may also be suggested that the text requires emendation and that the intention was to say ‘to the north of the Vindhya.’ It is interesting to note in this connection that the *Kāmasūtra* (VI, 9, 28) commentary locates Śaurasena *Kauśāmbyāḥ dakṣiṇataḥ* (sic. *paścimataḥ*) *kūle* [*Yamunāyāḥ*].

c8.s3.146

47. *Kuru* (v. 48).

c8.s3.147

The Kuru country appears to be described as extending from the Hastināpura region and as lying to the south of the Kuru-kṣetra tract, with Pāñcāla lying in the east. Hastināpura, capital of the Kuru country, has been identified with a locality in the Meerut District, U. P. According to the *Mahābhārata*,¹

c8.s3.148

¹ III, 83, 4 and 205.

c8.s3.149

दक्षिणेन सरस्वत्या दृषद्वत्युत्तरेण च ।
ये वसन्ति कुरुक्षेत्रे ते वसन्ति त्रिविष्टपे ॥

c8.s3.150

that is to say, the land called Kuru-kṣetra lay between the rivers Sarasvatī and Dṛṣadvatī in the Eastern Punjab. This land has been called Brahmāvarta in the *Manusmṛti*.² The verse placing the Kuru country practically between Kuru-kṣetra on the Dṛṣadvatī and Pāñcāla says nothing against the epic tradition.

c8.s3.151

² II, 17.

c8.s3.152

48. *Siṃhala* (v. 49).

c8.s3.153

The great country called Siṃhala, the best of all countries, is placed to the east of Maru-deśa and to the south of the Kām-ādri. This Siṃhala cannot be identified with Ceylon. It is evidently in the Punjab-Rajasthan region and reminds us of the kingdom of Siṃhapura mentioned by Hiuen-tsang. The capital of this kingdom has been identified with Khetas or Katas in the Jhelum District, which is, next to Jvālāmukhī, the most frequented place of pilgrimage in the Punjab. Tantric literature locates Sambhala (probably, Siṃhala) and Laṅkāpurī in the Swat-Kashmir region.³

c8.s3.154

³ Bagchi, *op. cit.*, pp. 39-40.

c8.s3.155

49. *Pulinda* (v. 50).

c8.s3.156

The country of Pulinda is placed to the east of Śilahatta and possibly to the south of Kāmarūpa. The text reads ‘to the north of Kāmarūpa’; but no locality to the north of Kāmarūpa, the heart of which was the Gauhati region in Assam, could have anything to do with Śilahatta, i.e. modern Sylhet. The Pulindas were a hill tribe usually connected with the Vindhyan range. Pargiter⁴ notices several branches of the Pulinda tribe, viz. (1) a western branch, (2) a Himalayan branch related to the Kirātas and the Tanganas, and (3) a southern branch.

c8.s3.157

⁴ *Mārkaṇḍeya Purāṇa*, trans., pp. 316, 335, 338.

c8.s3.158

The second branch may be intended here, though the plurality of the name may be due either to misreadings in the manuscripts or to the fact that the term was sometimes used to indicate *any* hill tribe. Pulinda of our text may possibly refer to tribes of the hills of Assam, but more probably to the land of the Paliyās or Rājbaṁśīs of North Bengal.

c8.s3.159

50. Kaccha (v. 51).

c8.s3.160

The Kaccha country is placed to the east of Gaṇeśvara and to the north of the sea, and is possibly also called Sevana. If Gaṇeśvara is the same as Gaṇeśa-giri in the heart of Kāmarūpa, Kaccha may be identified with Kacchapa (possibly Kacchar Cochbihār) placed by the *Bhaviṣya Purāṇa* in the north-eastern region of Vaṅga.¹ But the expression ‘to the north of the sea’ seems to indicate Kutch. The identification of Kaccha and Sevana, possibly suggested in the verse, offers another difficulty. Sevana, i.e. Seuna-deśa, was the name of modern Khandesh. It indicated the kingdom of the Yādavas who had their capital first at Sinnar near Nasik and then at Devagiri, modern Daulatābād in the Aurangabad District of the former Hyderabad State. The Seuna country may therefore have been the Nasik-Daulatabad region or even the vast kingdom conquered by the powerful kings of the Yādava dynasty. But it is doubtful if the memory of the Yādava age lingered down to the late medieval period. Kaccha may possibly also indicate the district round Bhṛgu-kaccha, modern Broach near the mouth of the Narmadā. The meaning of the word *kaccha* appears to be ‘a region on the sea-coast,’ and it is possible that different *Kacchas* (including Kutch and Kacchapa), referred to above, have been confused in the verse. As to Kacchapa, a medieval tradition refers to the expansion of the Eastern Sea (Bay of Bengal) in the heart of Bengal as far north as Devikoṭṭa or Bāṅgaṛh in the Dinajpur District, now in East Pakistan.² Long ago the sea no doubt touched the central areas of Bengal at least through the mouths of the big rivers falling in it. But the medieval tradition referred to above is no doubt due to the existence of big lakes called bils, like the Chalan, in the Rajshahi-Bogra-Mymensing area.

c8.s3.161

¹ See No. 24; cf. No. 37.

c8.s3.162

² Cf. *I.H.Q.* Vol. XVII, p. 471.

c8.s3.163

The language of the verse may suggest that Sevana was different from Kaccha, the discription of the former having been omitted through oversight. But in that case, the number of countries would be more than fifty-six.¹

c8.s3.164

¹ Cf. however p. 71, verse 8 of Group I and verse 5 of Group II.

c8.s3.165

51. Matsya (v. 52).

c8.s3.166

The Matsya country is placed to the north of Pulinda and to the east of Kaccha. This country is described as abounding in fish. If Pulinda of this verse is the same as that in verse 50, and Kaccha is the same as Kacchapa (Kacchar or Cochbihār), this Matsya-deśa may be identified with Virāṭa placed to the north-east of Bengal in a verse of the Bhavisya Purāṇa.² Virāṭa was the celebrated epic king of the Matsya country which has been located in the Alwar-Jaipur-Bharatpur region and its capital Virāṭa-nagara has been identified with modern Bairāṭ in the former Jaipur State. But this ancient Matsya country seems to be mentioned in our text as Virāṭa (verse 25). It is difficult to say whether the author's intention was to distinguish between Matsya and Virāṭa, both located in the same area or whether he has made a confusion between the actual Matsya country in Eastern Rajasthan and a tract of land in Bengal.

c8.s3.167

² See No. 24 (above, p. 93).

c8.s3.168

52. Madra (v. 53).

c8.s3.169

The Madra country is located south-eastwise between Vairāṭa and Pāṇḍya. Vairāṭa is evidently the same as Virāṭa (No. 24) and Pāṇḍya the same as Pāṇḍu (No. 25). The ancient Madra people lived about the modern Sialkot District of the Punjab. Their capital Śākala has been identified with Sialkot. Madra however has been used here in a wider sense, as Virāṭa or Matsya lay far to the south of the ancient Madra country.

c8.s3.170

53. Sauvīra (v. 54).

c8.s3.171

The Sauvīra country seems to be placed to the west of Śaurasena and to the east of Kaṇṭhaka and is called the worst of all countries. Ancient Sauvira was situated to the east of the Lower Indus and included Multān in the north. haurasena, *i.e.* the Mathurā region, was far to the east. Kaṇṭhaka cannot be satisfactorily identified; but it reminds us of the Kathaioi tribe located by the classical authors between the Jhelam and the Chinab. This Kaṇṭhaka does not appear to be identical with Śrīkaṇṭha in the eastern part of the Punjab. Or, can the intended reading be *Kacchakāt paścime*, 'to the west of Kutch'?

c8.s3.172

54. *Lāṭa* (v. 55).

c8.s3.173

The Lāṭa country seems to be placed to the west of Avanti and to the north-west of Vaidarbha (Berar). The ancient Lāṭa country was the district between the Lower Mahī and the Tāptī; but sometimes it also extended beyond the Mahī. Bhṛgukachcha (Broach) and Navasārikā (Nausāri) belonged to this country. The *Kāmasūtra* (VI, 5, 26) commentary also locates Lāṭa to the west of Apara-Mālava, *i.e.* Western Malwa.

c8.s3.174

55. *Varvara* (v. 56).

c8.s3.175

The great country called Varvara is described as extending from Māyāpura and as lying to the north of Sapta-śṛṅga. Varvara reminds us of Barbaricum of the *Periplus*, which lay on the sea at the mouth of the Indus and belonged to the country of Scythia (Indo-Scythia of Ptolemy), *i.e.* the Śaka country, about the beginning of the Christian era. It is tempting to identify Māyāpura with the place of that name near Hardwār; but it is far away from the ancient Barbaricum. Sapta-śṛṅga is again a famous place to the north of Nasik. The image of the eighteen-armed goddess of this place is 12 feet high.¹ A verse of the Supplement also mentions both Māyāpura and Sapta-śṛṅga; but it is difficult to determine their position with reference to the country of Varvara. Can Māyāpura be the Mayapur Pass in the Jhansi District, U. P.?

c8.s3.176

¹ *Ind. Cult.*, Vol. VII, p. 450.

c8.s3.177

56. *Saindhava* (v. 57).

c8.s3.178

The great country called Saindhava, *i.e.* Sindhu, is described as extending from Laṅkā-pradeśa as far as Makkā. Makkā may indicate here the Muslim lands of Western Asia in general. But Laṅkā is not easy to identify. It is difficult to determine whether the country called Siṃhala=Siṃhapura of the Punjab is intended by the author. Of course it is possible, in consideration of the travellers’ point of view, to identify it with Ceylon. They might have reached Sind from Ceylon which was on the way to Mecca. The ancient Sindhu-deśa lay to the west of the Lower Indus and was not exactly the same as modern Sindh.

Linked texts (13)