Studies in the Geography of Ancient and Medieval India c8.s4.5

c8.s4.5

Indraprastha, the name used in ancient literature to indicate a city in the suburbs of Delhi (see v. 4), appears to have been connected with Yoginīpura which is another name of Delhi. In the eastern district of our Indra-prastha lay Mathurā and Gokula, the famous pilgrim-spots of North India. Vṛndāvana, which is near Mathurā, is placed at the kola-deśa, i.e. side, of Indra-prastha while Hastināpura in the Meerut District lay in its north. Dvārakā is placed to the west and Gadāvarta to the south. Dvārakā is the famous Tīrtha in Kathiawad. Gadāvarta, quite well-known from the Harivaṃśa as the place where the Gadā or club thrown by Jarāsandha against Kṛṣṇa at Mathurā fell, is also to be placed not very far from Mathurā. This Indraprastha is therefore bounded by Delhi and Meerut in the north, Gadāvarta in the south, Mathurā in the east, and Dvārakā in the west. Roughly speaking it included the Meerut region in the north-east and parts of Kathiawad in the south-west with its centre at the city of Indraprastha (Delhi). It is stated to have been the land of the Aśvapati or the lord of horses or cavalry.