Cosmography and Geography in Early Indian Literature c6.s4.43

c6.s4.43

The nine subdivisions of the Bhārata-varṣa are enumerated in the earlier Purāṇas as—(1) Indra-dvīpa, (2) Kaserumat, (3) Tāmraparṇa, (4) Gabhastimat, (5) Nāga-dvīpa, (6) Saumya, (7) Gāndharva, (8) Vāruṇa, and (9) Sāgarasaṃvṛta (surrounded by the sea), the last of the list being described as 1000 yojanas from north to south and being inhabited by the Kirāta on the eastern border, the Yavana on the western border and the Brāhmaṇa, Kṣatriya, Vaiśya and Śūdra in the middle.⁸⁵ Some late Puranic passages mention Kaṭāha, Siṃhala and Kumāra (also called Kumārī or Kumārikā) instead of Saumya, Gāndharva and Sāgarasa-mṛta.⁸⁶ As regards the inhabitants of the ninth supdivision of the Bhārata-varṣa, these passages add the Andhras on the southern border and the Turuṣkas on the northern.⁸⁷ In any case, the ninth division of the Bhārata-varṣa apparently indicates the Indian subcontinent with a part of Central Asia, so that the Bhārata-varṣa itself would appear to be a bigger unit. The Kula-parvatas,⁸⁸ peoples and rivers of the Indian sub-continent are all located in the said ninth subdivision.