Cosmography and Geography in Early Indian Literature c5.s4.69

c5.s4.69

In connection with the Kuru and Madra peoples, mention has to be made of the northern branches of the tribes called the Uttara-Kuru and Uttara-Madra whom the *Aitareya Brāhmaṇa* locates beyond the Himavat. The same work also describes the land of the Uttara-Kuru as *deva-kṣetra* or the land of the gods which was located later in the Purāṇas on and around Mount Meru or Sumeru. The Uttara-Kuru were later regarded as a mythical or semi-mythical people.¹⁰¹ The Kurus of Madhyadeśa are occasionally called Dakṣiṇa-Kuru in the *Mahābhārata*.¹⁰²