Studies in the Geography of Ancient and Medieval India c8.s3.58

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.