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Cosmography and Geography in Early Indian Literature c7: Lecture III: Indian Sub-continent and its Neighbourhood

Cosmography and Geography in Early Indian Literature c7

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Lecture III: Indian Sub-continent and its Neighbourhood

1. Bhārata-varṣa and its Ninth Subdivision

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We have seen above how the land bounded by the Himalayas in the north and the sea in the east, south and west was generally called Bhārata-varṣa, but that sometimes the names Jambu-dvīpa (of which the Bhārata-varṣa was the ninth part according to the Purāṇas) and Sāgarasaṃvṛta-dvīpa or Kumārī-dvīpa (which was likewise the ninth part of the Bhārata-varṣa according to the Purāṇas) were applied to the same region.

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The said tract was usually divided by Indian geographers into five divisions, viz. (1) Madhya-deśa in the central area of Northern India between the Himalayas in the north and the Vindhyas in the south and between a place in the Eastern Punjab (e.g. Adarśana or Vinaśana in the Kurukṣetra area in the Ambala District, or Pṛthūdaka or Pehoa in the west and another in Eastern U. P. (e.g. Kālakavana or Prayāga near Allahabad, or Vārāṇasi according to Rājaśekhara) in the east, though the Buddhists pushed the boundary further east to Kajaṅgala in East Bihar or to Puṇḍravardhana in North Bengal ; (2) Prācya or Pūrva-deśa lying to the east of the Madhya-deśa ; (3) Aparānta, Pāścātya or Paścād-deśa to the west of the Madhya-deśa (to the west of Devasabhā, modern Dewas near Ujjain, according to Rājaśekhara) ; (4) Udīcya or Uttarāpatha comprising the north-western regions of the Indian sub-continent (beyond the Karnal-Ambala area of the Eastern Punjab) and the contiguous parts of Central Asia and taken to have included the Himalayan region ; and (5) Dakṣiṇāpatha or Dākṣiṇātya comprising the whole of South India to the south of the Vindhyas, the boundary being sometimes specified as the river Narmadā (beyond Māhiṣmati on the Narmadā according to Rājaśekhara). To this list of five, the Puranic section on the janapadas adds the following two, viz. (1) Parvatāśraya or the Himalayan region (often included in Udīcya or Uttarāpatha), and (2) Vindhya-pṛṣṭha or the Vindhyan region (often included partly in the various contiguous divisions). Sometimes Āryāvarta or the whole land to the north of Dākṣiṇāpatha was called Uttarāpatha.

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Besides the Varṣa-parvata entitled Himavat, the said tract had seven other great mountain ranges known as Kul-ācala or Kula-parvata. The seven Kula mountains are—(1) Mahendra (Eastern Ghāṭs), (2) Malaya (Travancore hills and the southern fringes of the Western Ghāṭs), (3) Sahya (the Western Ghāṭs to the north of the Malaya), (4) Śuktimat (parts of the Vindhyan range including the Sakti hills in Eastern M. P.), (5) Ṛkṣavat (parts of the Vindhyan range to the south of Malwa), (6) Vindhya (the Vindhyan range, extending from Gujarat to Bihar, but sometimes used in a restricted sense with the exclusion of the portions covered by the Śuktimat, Ṛkṣavat and Pāriyātra), and (7) Pāriyātra or Pāripātra (Western Vindhyas including the Aravali range). They were inhabited by kulas (tribes).

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In the geographical section of several Purāṇas, there are two lists, one of the janapadas of the above-mentioned seven divisions of India and the second enumerating the rivers issuing from the Varṣa-parvata and the seven Kula mountains. These sections, especially the longer lists of the janapadas and rivers, as found in the Brahmāṇḍa, Mārkaṇḍeya, Matsya, Vāmana and Vāyu Purāṇas, practically follow the same draft. There is likewise condensed lists of janapadas and rivers in some of the Purāṇas like the Viṣṇu. We have discussed the subject of these lists elsewhere¹ and come to the following conclusions. The original draft of the bigger lists seems to have been compiled for the Matsya. The Mārkaṇḍeya probably copied the text from the Vāyu at a slightly later date, though a little independence of the copyist in the arrangement of names in a few cases is noticed in this text. The Brahmāṇḍa furnishes us with a still later copy of the Vāyu text. The date of this copy may not be far removed from the time of Al-Bīrūnī (c. 1030 A.D.) who is known to have consulted a manuscript of the Vāyu in giving the list of peoples after the Purāṇas. The Kūrma, which like some other Purāṇas copies the smaller draft of the janapada list from the Viṣṇu, has a fuller list of rivers probably after the Vāyu. The smaller drafts of peoples and rivers appear to have been compiled from the bigger drafts in the Matsya and Vāyu for the first time for Viṣṇu. Like the Brahmāṇḍa, the Kūrma text does not appear to be far removed in point of time from the date of Al-Bīrūnī. The Vāmana appears, however, to be the latest copy of the modified draft as found in the other texts. But, in several cases, the compiler of the Vāmana lists shows a tendency to arrange the names rather independently, even though in many cases he does not go much beyond the originals before him. The new readings introduced by later copyists of the original draft or its modifications appear to have been, in some cases at least, offered by way of improvement or correction, and it is sometimes difficult to determine the reading of the original draft from it. The fact however that even the late Vāmana often leaves the mistakes of the other copies as they are probably points to the absence of any determined and persistent effort on the part of the copyists to deviate from the texts before them. It should be remembered that numerous mistakes had already crept into the Vāyu text as early as c. 1030 A.D. when Al-Birūnī consulted a Vāyu manuscript. The geographical section of the Garuḍa exhibits considerable freedom, though it seems to have utilised the Mārkaṇḍeya section known as the Kūrma-vibhāga. The date of the Garuḍa section as also the corresponding section in the Śiva, seems to be close to that of the Vāmana, since they all add to the old description of the Kumārī-dvīpa (as having the Kirātas in the east and the Yavanas in the west) a new line placing the Turuṣkas (the Turkish Muhammadans) in the north and the Andhras (probably the Kākatīyas) in the south, which suggests a date not much earlier than the 13th century A.D.

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¹ Stud. Geog. Anc. Med. Ind., pp. 19-20.

2. Puranic List of Janapadas

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² Sircar, Stud. Geog. Anc. Med. Ind., pp. 21ff.

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I. Madhya-deśa—

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1. Kuru—capital at Hastināpura in the present Meerut District, U.P., Indraprastha in the Delhi region being for some time a secondary capital.

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2. Pāñcāla—capital of the Northern Pāñcāla country at Ahicchatra (modern Ramnagar in the Bareilly District, U.P.) and that of Southern Pāñcāla at Kāmpilya (modern Kampil in the Furrukhabad District, U.P.). Early medieval kings, who had their capital at Kānyakubja (e.g. king Vajrāyudha mentioned in Rājaśekhara’s Karpūramañjarī), were sometimes represented as lords of the Pāñcāla country. As we shall see below, a late medieval work locates Pāñcāla in the present West Pakistan (cf. the name of the Pir Panjal range).

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3. Sālva—also known as Kārakutsīya or Kārakukṣīya; lived in the Punjab and the adjoining regions of U.P. and Rajasthan; were divided into six clans, viz. (1) Audumbara, (2) Tilakhala, (3) Madrakāra or Bhadrakāra, (4) Yugandhara, (5) Huliṅga or Bhuliṅga, and (6) Śaradaṇḍa.

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4. Jāṅgala—possibly the same as Kuru-jāṅgala which extended up to the Sarasvatī, though Jain writers locate it in North Pañcāla and the Kalpadrukośa identifies it with Kurukṣetra (see below).

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5. Sūrasena—capital at Mathurā in Western U. P.

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6. Bhadrakāra or Madrakāra—a clan of the Sālva people.

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7. Bodha.

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8. Paṭaccara—regarded by some scholars as occupying parts of the Allahabad and Banda Districts of U.P.

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9. Matsya—lived in the Jaipur-Alwar region of Rajasthan and had their capital at Virāṭanagara, modern Bairat in the Jaipur Division. In place of Matsya, some Purāṇas read Vatsa who had their capital at Kauśāmbī, modern Kosam on the Yamunā, about 35 miles from Allahabad.

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10. Kirāta—probably lived in the Himalayan region; cf. the name of the modern Kirānti tribe of Nepal.

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11. Kulya—probably lived in the Kulait region on the upper Rāvī.

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12. Kunti—a branch of the Yādava people; often identified with the Kunti-Bhoja who lived on the Aśva-nadī or Aśvaratha-nadī, a tributary of the Carmaṇvatī or Chambal, in Malwa.

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13. Kāśī—capital at Vārāṇasī in Eastern U. P.

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14. Kośala—capital in ancient times at Ayodhyā in the Fyzabad District, U.P., according to the Rāmāyaṇa, but at Śrāvastī (the joint village of Set-Mahet or Sahet-Mahet on the borders of the Gonda and Bahraich Districts, U. P.) according to the Buddhist literature. The city of Sāketa, famous in literature and either identical with Ayodhyā or situated on its suburbs, may have been the headquarters of the Kośala territory after the decline of Śrāvastī. There was another Kośala country in the Deccan to the south of the Vindhyas. This Dakṣiṇa-Kośala became famous in Indian geography from the early centuries of the Christian era.⁸

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⁸ See Sel. Ins., 2nd ed., p. 264 (Mahendra of Kosala in the Allahabad pillar inscription of Samudragapta); Mahābhārata, iii. 61. 21ff.—ete gacchantī bahavaḥ panthāno Dakṣiṇāpatham | Avantim=Ṛkṣavantañ=ca samatikramya parvatam || eṣa Vindhyo... || eṣa panthā Vidarbhānām=asau gacchati Kośalān | ataḥ parañ=ca deśo='yaṃ dakṣiṇe Dakṣiṇāpathaḥ ||

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15. Avanti—people of the Avanti country with their capital at Ujjayinī (modern Ujjain in Western Madhya Pradesh). Early Buddhist literature refers to Avanti-Dakṣiṇāpatha which had its capital at Māhiṣmatī on the Narmadā (modern Māndhātā or Maheśvar in the Nimar region of Madhya Pradesh). It is interesting to note that the Avanti country has been located in the Madhya-deśa instead of the Western Division.

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16. Bhuliṅga—a clan of the Sālva people. Some Purāṇas read in its place Kaliṅga, Tiliṅga, etc., which appear to be wrong.

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17. Magadha—people of the Patna-Gaya region of South Bihar, though their inclusion among the people of the Madhya-deśa may be due to confusion since the Magadhas are also mentioned in the list of the peoples of the Eastern Division. It is interesting to note that Magadha in South Bihar lay in the Madhya-deśa not according to the Brahmanical authors, but in the opinion of the Buddhist writers.

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18. Andhaka—a branch of the Yādava clan whose original home was in the Mathurā region, though the people later migrated to Kathiawar.

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II. Udīcya or Uttarāpatha—

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1. Vāhlika—also spelt as Bāhlika, Bāhlīka, Bahlika, Bahlīka, etc., often with *v* instead of *b*. Modern Balkh (Bactra or Zariaspa of the Greeks) near the Oxus in Northern Afghanistan represents the capital of the people ; called Bactria by the Greeks.

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2. Vāṭadhāna—lived in the Punjab-Rajasthan region and is supposed to have had a settlement at Madhyamikā (modern Nagari near Chitodgadh).

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3. Ābhīra—lived near Kurukṣetra (where the Sarasvatī lost herself in the sands of the desert) according to the *Mahābhārata* (ix. 37. 1).

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4. Kālatoyaka.

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5. Aparita—a variant reading is Aparānta which is probably wrong.

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6. Śūdra—the Sodrai of the Greeks who lived in Northern Sind ; but more probably the people of the same name dwelling near Kurukṣetra. The *Mahābhārata* places the Śūdras and the Ābhīras in the area near Kurukṣetra where the Sarasvatī lost herself in the desert.

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7. Pahlava—identified with the Parthians of the Khurasan region of North-Eastern Iran ; may be the Sasanians in the present case.

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8. Carmakhaṇḍika—people of Samarkand in the Uzbekistan Republic of the U.S.S.R.

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9. Gandhāra—lived on both sides of the Sindhu (Sindhor=ubhayataḥ pārśve) with their capitals at Takṣaśilā near Rawalpindi (West Pakistan) and Puṣkalāvatī (modern Charasadda or Mirziyarat near Peshawar) according to the *Rāmāyaṇa* (vii. 113. 11 ; 114. 11).

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10. Yavana—one of the many Greek settlements, the most important amongst them, in the age of Aśoka, seems to have been in the Kandahar region as suggested by the Graeco-Aramaic edict of the Maurya emperor at Shar-i-Kuna (Kandahar) in Southern Afghanistan.

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11. Sindhu—Lower Indus valley lying to the west of the river.

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12. Sauvira—Lower Indus valley lying to the east of the river. Al-Biruni regarded it as the old name of the land comprising Multan and Jahrāwar.

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13. Madraka—capital at Śākala, modern Sialkot in West Pakistan.

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14. Śatadruja—people of the valley of the Śatadru or Satlaj.

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15. Kuṇinda—the modern Kunets of the Kulu valley and the Simla region, their coins being also discovered in large numbers in the Saharanpur District of U. P. and the Ambala District of the Punjab.

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16. Pārada—probably the people of a Parthian settlement in India.

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17. Hārahūṇaka—also spelt Hārahūra; a branch of the Hun race divided into Śveta (White Hun or Epthalite; Avestic Spet Hyou) and Hāra meaning Black (Turkish Qara) or Red (Avestic Karmir Hyou), the Śveta being regarded as somewhat more civilized than the latter.⁴

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⁴ See JIH, Vol. xliii, Part ii, August 1965, pp. 495ff.

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18. Ramaṭha—located by some in the land between Ghazni and Wakhan; but the claim of the Gurjara-Pratīhāra king Mahīpāla I to have defeated the Ramaṭhas (according to Rājaśekhara’s Bālabhārata or Pracaṇḍapāṇḍava) possibly suggests that they did not live so far away, even though the stanza in question may merely exhibit the poet’s skill in alliteration and no history at all.

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19. Rudhakaṭaka—possibly the Randhrakaraka mentioned elsewhere; sometimes located in the gold-producing Rudok area of Tibet.

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20. Kaikeya—lived near the Jhelam and had their capital at Rājagṛha or Girivraja (modern Girjak or Jalalpur on the Jhelam).

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21. Daśamānaka or Daśamānika—probably lived in the Dasht valley in Kalat.

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22. settlements of the Kṣatriyas and Śūdras.

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23. Kāmboja—Iranian autochthons, one of whose important settlements lay near Kandahar as the Aramaic version of the Shar-i-Kuna (Kandahar) edict of Aśoka appears to have been meant for them. The medieval work entitled Śakti-saṅgama-tantra locates the Kāmboja country between the Pir Panjal range in Kashmir and Khurasan and apparently to the south and south-east of the Balkh region of Northern Afghanistan (see below).

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24. Darada—lived in Dardistān in the upper Kishenganga valley in Kashmir; their capital was at Daratpura or Daratpuri, mentioned in the Rāja-taraṅgiṇī and identified with modern Gurez.

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25. Varvara—often spelt Barbara; lived in the lower valley of the Indus;

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their chief city seems to have been called Barbaricum by the Greeks and Alasanda, Alakanda, etc. (Alexandria) by the Indians.⁵

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⁵ See Journ. Ind. Hist., Vol. xliii, pp. 343 ff.

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26. Aṅgalaukika—either the Agalassoi (living in the land between the Jhelam and the Chenab) of the Greeks or the Central Asiatic people called Aṅgalokavara in another section of the Purāṇas.

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27. Cīna—some Mongoloid people of the Tibet-China region.

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28. Tukhāra or Tuṣāra—people of the area called Tokhāristān (in the valley of the Oxus) by the Arabs.

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29. Kṣatri—the Xathroi of the Greeks; lived near the lower Chenab between the junctions of that river with the Rāvi and with the Indus.

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30. Bhāradvāja.

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31. Prasthala—Some Purāṇas read Puṣkala who lived in the Puṣkalāvatī (Charsadda or Mirziyarat near Peshawar) region, though both the Prasthala and the people of Puṣkalāvatī are sometimes mentioned side by side in the list of the northern peoples (cf. Parāśara quoted below).

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32. Daseraka—same as Maru (Marwar or the Rajputana Desert) according to the lexicons.

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33. Lampāka—people of Lamghān or Laghmān in Eastern Afghanistan.

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34. Talagāna—there are several variants of the name; but none of them is satisfactorily identifiable.

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35. Cūlika—probably the same as Śūlika; identified with the Sogdians living in the land to the north of the Oxus, though there is no proof in favour of the identification.

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36. Jāguḍa—capital at Ghaznī in Southern Afghanistan.

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37. Aupadha.

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38. Anibhadra.

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39. tribes of the Kirāta people.

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40. Tomara—located on the East Himalayan river Nalinī in another section of the Purāṇas and in India beyond the Ganges in Ptolemy's Geography.

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41. Haṃsamārga—identified with Humza in North-Western Kashmir; but the people are mentioned in another section of the Purāṇas to have lived on the Nalinī river which flowed through the Eastern Himalayas towards the east.

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42. Kaśmīra—people of the upper Vitastā valley in the heart of modern Kashmir.

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43. Taṅgaṇa—one of the settlements of this Himalayan people seems to have been around Taṅganāpura near Joshimath in the Garhwal District, U.P.

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44. Kulūta—lived in the Kulu valley in the Kangra District, Punjab. Some coins of the ancient Kulūta kings have been discovered even at Taxila in the Rawalpindi District, West Pakistan.
45. Āhuka.
46. Ūrṇa.
47. Dārva—lived together with the Abhisāra in Dārv-abhisāra mentioned in the Rājatarangiṇī; the land roughly comprised the Punch and Naoshera regions between the Jhelam and the Chenab.

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An interesting point in the above list is the mention of the Carmakaṇḍika (people of Samarkand) among the peoples of the North and the absence of Prāg-jyotiṣa often located by the earlier authors in the North.⁶

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6. In connectiou with this list, it is interesting to note that a number of peoples and kingdoms of the present West Pakistan region are mentioned by Alexander's historians—1. The Aspasians (Aśvaka) living in the Alishang-Kunar-Bajaur valley; 2. The Gauraeans of the Gauri or Panjkora valley; 3. kingdom of Assakenos (Aśvaka) in Swat and Buner, i.e. Suvāstu or Uḍḍiyāna, with the capital at Massaga and a fortress at Aornos (modern Una between the Swat and Indus); 4. Nysa, a Greek settlement in the Kohimor valley in Swat; 5. Peukelaotis (Puṣkalāvati); 6. Taxila (Takṣaśilā); 7. kingdom of Arsakes (Urasā); 8. king Abisares (cf. Abhisāra, i.e. Punch and Naoshera); 9. kingdom of the Elder Poros (Paurava), i.e. Kekaya, between the Jhelam and Chenab; 10. the Glauganicians or Glaucians living near No. 9; 11. Gandaris (the eastern extremity of old Gandhāra) between the Chenab and Ravi, ruled by the Younger Poros; 12. the Adraistai dwelling on the eastern side of the Hydraotes (Ravi) with their capital at Pimprama; 13. the Cathaeans of the Gurdaspur-Amritsar region with their Capital at Sangala; 14. kingdom of Sophytes (Saubhūti), a nomarch or chief of an area near the Salt Range or between the Hydaspes and Acesines (Jhelam and Chenab); 15. kingdom of Phegelas or Phegeus between the Hydraotes and Hyphasis (Ravi and Beas); 16. the Siboi (Śibi) of the Shorkot region of the Jhang District below the junction of the Jhelam and Chenab; 17. the Agalassoi, neighbours of the Siboi; 18. the Oxydrakai (Kṣudraka) of the Montgomery region between the Hydraotes and Hyphasis; 19. the Malloi (Mālava) occupying the valley of the lower Hydraotes north of the confluence of the Hydraotes and Acesines; 20. the Abastanoi (or Sabastanoi, i.e. Ambaṣṭha) living on the lower Acesines; 21-22. Xathroi (Kṣatri) and Ossadioi (Vasāti) of the valley of the lower Acesines between the confluence of the Acesines with the III. Prācya—

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1. Aṅga—people of the Monghyr-Bhagalpur region of Eastern Bihar, having their ancient capital at Campā which is located near modern Bhagalpur, the location being supported by Hiuen-tsang and Al-Bīrūni (see below).

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2. Vaṅga—lived in the deltaic region of Southern Bengal. The Greeks mention them as Gangaridae who had their capital at the city of Gange or Ganges (Gaṅgā) which reminds us of the name of Gaṅgāsāgara near the confluence of the Bhāgirathī (Hooghly) and the Bay of Bengal.

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3. Mudgaraka—people of the locality called Mudgagiri in the records of the Pāla age, which is identical with modern Monghyr in Bihar.

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4-5. Antargiri and Bahirgiri—probably in Assam.

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6. Pravaṅga.

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7. Vāṅgeya.

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8. Malada—a Vindhyan people.

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9. Mallavartaka.

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10. Brahmottara—the same as Barmhattar in Sarkar Satgaon known from the 'Ain-i-Akbarī.

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11. Pravijaya.

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12. Bhārgava.

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13. Āṅgeya.

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14. Mallaka—probably not the Mallas of the Kuśīnārā-Pāvā region of the Deoria District, U.P., since they are separately mentioned in the list.

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15. Prāgjyotiṣa—also called Kāmarūpa from the age of the Guptas; identified with the Gauhati region of Assam. It may be noted that the Mahābhārata and Kālidāsa's Raghuvamśa locate Prāgjyotiṣa in the Northern Division and not in the East (see below).

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Hydraotes and with the Indus; 23-24. Sodrai (Śūdra) and Massanoi of Northern Sind below the confluence of the Punjab rivers; 25. kingdom of Mousikanos covering large parts of Sind with its capital at modern Alor in the Sukkur District; 26. principality of Oxykanos or Portikanos ruling over the Praesti of the Larkana region of Sind; 27. principality of Sambos (Śambhu) having his capital at Sindimana, modern Sehwan on the Indus; 28. Patalene in the Indus delta with its capital at Patala near modern Bahmanādād. See Raychaudhuri, PHAI, 1938, pp. 196ff.

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16. Pauṇḍra—people of Northern Bengal, who had their capital at Pauṇḍranagara or Puṇḍravardhana (modern Mahasthan in the Bogra District of East Pakistan). Hiuen-tsang mentions the Karatoyā as the boundary between this country and Kāmarūpa

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17. Videha—people of North Bihar, also called Tirabhukti (modern Tirhut); had their ancient capital at Mithilā, identified with Janakpur in the Nepalese Tarai.

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18. Tāmraliptaka—people of Tāmralipta, identified with modern Tamluk in the Midnapur District, West Bengal.

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19. Malla—lived in the Kuśinārā-Pāvā region of the Deoria District of U. P.

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20. Magadha—lived in the Patna and Gaya Districts of South Bihar and had their capital first at Girivraja, then at Rājagṛha (modern Rajgir in the Patna District), built by Bimbisāra in the 6th century B. C. on the suburbs of Girivraja, and finally at Pāṭaliputra at the confluence of the Ganges and the Sone near modern Patna.

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21. Gonarda—a locality lying between Ujjayinī (capital of West Malwa) and Vidiśā (capital of East Malwa) in Malwa; wrongly placed in Eastern India probably under the influence of a convention of the grammarians who divided North India into North (really North-West) and East (actually South-East) and placed Gonarda in the latter division.⁷

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7. The Buddhist canonical literature gives the following interesting route from the Deccan to Eastern India—from the banks of the Godāvarī in the Aśmaka country near Mūlaka to Pratiṣṭhāna (Paithan in the Aurangabad District) in Mūlaka; thence to the city of Māhiṣmatī (in the Nimar region on the Narmadā); thence to Ujjayinī; thence to Gonarda ; thence to Vaidiśa (near Bhilsa); thence to Vanasāhvaya (probably Tumbavana, modern Tumain in the Guna District); thence to Kauśāmbī (near Allahabad); thence to Sāketa (Ayodhyā in the Fyzabad District); thence to Śrāvastī (modern Set-Mahet on the borders of the Goṇḍa and Bahraich Districts); thence to Śvetavyā; thence to Kapilavastu (in the Tarai); thence to Kuśinagara (Kasia in the Deoria District); thence to Pāvā; thence to Bhoganagara; thence to the Magadhan city of Vaiśālī. See Sircar, Stud. Geog. Anc. Med. Ind., p. 206. Among similar other routes known from Indian literature attention may be drawn to Kālidāsa's Meghadūta describing the cloud's aerial path from Rāmagiri (Ramtek in the Nagpur District) to Alakā in the Himalayas IV. Dākṣiṇātya or Dakṣiṇāpatha —

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1. Pāṇḍya—lived in the Madurai-Ramanathapuram-Tirunelveli region of South India and had their capital at Mathurā or Dakṣiṇa-Mathurā (modern Madurai).

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2. Kerala—people of the present Malayalam-speaking region in the western coast of South India ; identified with the Cerapāda of the Aitareya Āraṇyaka.

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3. Cola—lived in the Tanjavur-Tiruchirapalli region of the Madras State and had their capital at Uraiyur, near Tiruchirapalli.

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4. Kulya.

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5. Setuka—people of the Setu (i.e. Setubandha-Rāmeśvara) region of South India.

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6. Mūṣika—probably the people dwelling on the banks of the Musi flowing by the city of Hyderabad or another river of the same name running through the Nellore and Guntur Districts of Andhra Pradesh.

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7. Kumāra—people of Cape Comorin (called Kanyā-Kumārī) in the Tirunelveli District of Madras.

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8. Vanavāsaka—people of Vanavāsī (Banavāsi in the north Kanara District, Mysore).

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9. Mahārāṣṭra—roughly identifiable with the people of the Marāṭhi-speaking area. Hiuen-tsang applies the name Mahārāṣṭra to the dominions of the Cālukya king Pulakeśin II of Bādāmi, though his kingdom is stated in the Aihole inscription to have comprised three Mahārāṣṭras or great kingdoms.

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10. Mahiṣaka—people of the Mahiṣa-viṣaya in Mysore or of Māhiṣmatī on the Narmadā in the Nimar region of Madhya Pradesh.

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11. Kaliṅga—lived in the coastal areas of Orissa and Andhra Pradesh having their capital originally at Tosalī (modern Dhauli near Bhubaneswar, Orissa) and later at Kaliṅganagara (near Srikakulam in Andhra Pradesh). It may be noted that Kaliṅga is located here in the Southern Division and not in the Eastern zone as in the Kāvyamīmāṃsā (see below).

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12. Kāvera—people of the valley of the river Kāverī in South India.

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13. Aiṣika.

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14. Āṭavya—some forest people.

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and to the Kiṣkindhā-kāṇḍa of the Rāmāyaṇa describing Rāma’s route from Ayodhyā to Janasthāna in the Daṇḍaka forest and thence to Laṅkā through Kiṣkindhā. For the two divisions of North India, see above, p. 18.

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15. Śabara, Śavara—the modern Saoras of the Eastern Ghāṭs.
16. Pulinda—lived in the Vindhyan region.
17. Vindhyamauleya—some forest people dwelling in the Vindhyas.
18. Vidarbha—modern Berar, a name derived from Varadā-taṭa (the valley of the Wardha).

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19. Daṇḍaka—same as Mahārāṣṭra according to medieval writers; parts of the Marāṭhā country including the Nasik region.

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20. Paurika—people of Purikā, probably the same as the capital of the Southern Konkan under kings of the Maurya dynasty as mentioned in the Aihole inscription of Pulakeśin II.

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21. Maulika—probably the people of Mūlaka which had its capital at Pratiṣṭhāna (modern Paithan in the Aurangabad District, Maharashtra State).

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22. Aśmaka—lived on the Godāvarī and had their capital at Paudanya (modern Bodhan in the Nizamabad District, Andhra Pradesh).

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23. Bhogavardhana—people of the present Bhokardan Taluk of the Aurangabad District, Maharashtra State.

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24. Naiṣika.

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25. Kuntala—people of Karṇāṭa or the Kannaḍa-speaking area.

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26. Andhra—people of the tract called Andhrāpatha comprising the Krishna and Guntur Districts of Andhra Pradesh together with the neighbouring areas.

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27. Udbhida.

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28. Nala—probably the people of Nalavāḍi in the Kurnool-Cuddapah region of Andhra Pradesh or of the early Nala kingdom which had its capital once at the city of Puṣkarī in the Bastar District in Madhya Pradesh.

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29. Kālika.

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V. Aparānta or Paścād-deśa—

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1. Sūrpāraka, Śūrpāraka—people of the modern Sopara region of the Thana District of Maharashtra.

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2. Kolavana—probably Kolāpura or Kolhapur in the Maharashtra State.

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3. Durga—dwellers on the banks of the Durgā, a tributary of the Sābarmatī in Gujarat.

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4. Tālikaṭa—probably Talakāḍ in South Mysore.

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5. Puleya (with variant readings).

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6. Surala (with variant readings).

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7. Rūpasa (with variant readings).

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8. Tāmasa (with variant readings).

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9. Turamina (with variant readings).
10. Kāraskara.
11. Nāsikya—people of the Nasik region of Maharashtra.
12. Uttara-Narmada—people of the northern or Southern bank of the Narmadā probably in the lower valley of the river.
13. Bharukaccha—people of the Bharoch (Broach) region of Gujarat.
14. Māheya—people of the Mahi valley in Gujarat.
15. Sārasvata—people of the Sarasvatī valley in Gujarat.
16. Kacchiya—people of Kutch in the Gujarat State.
17. Surāṣṭra—people of Southern Kathiawar in the Gujarat State.
18. Ānarta—people of the Ānartapurī or Dvārakā region in Kathiawar, Gujarat State.
19. Arbuda—people of the Mt. Abu region in the Sirohi District, Rajasthan.

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The inclusion of the Nāsikya suggests that Aparānta was not confined to the coastal region, while the identification of Kolavana and Tālīkaṭa, indicated above, would point to the extention of Aparānta towards the south. It may be remembered in this connection that the *Periplus* and Ptolemy's *Geography* appear to place Araiake (Aparāntaka) immediately to the north of Kerala (kingdom of the Kerobothra in the country of Damirike) while Kālidāsa's *Raghuvamśa* seems to mention the Muralā river as the boundary between Kerala and Aparānta.⁸ In a narrow sense, Aparānta indicated the Northern Konkan, but, in a wider sense, Konkan or Western India.

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⁸ See Journ. Ind. Hist. Vol. xliii, Part ii, August 1965, p. 348

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VI. Vindhya-pṛṣṭha (Vindhyan region)—

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1. Malada—mentioned also in the list of the peoples of the Eastern Division.
2. Kāruṣa—people of the Shahabad region of Bihar; also called Bṛhadgṛha.
3. Mekala—lived in the Amarkantak region; the name is still preserved in that of the Maikal range.
4. Utkala—people of the Midnapur-Balasore region living between the lands of the Vaṅgas in the east and the Kaliṅgas in the west according to Kālidāsa's *Raghuvamśa*.
5. Uttamarṇa.
6. Daśārṇa—people of East Malwa with the capital at Vidiśā (modern Besnagar near Bhilsa, Madhya Pradesh).
7. Bhoja—a branch of the Haihaya people like the Avanti; probably settled in Berar.

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8. Kiṣkindhaka—people of the Dharwar-Bellary region or, more probably, of the Kalyanpur area in the Bhomat District of the Udaipur Division, Rajasthan.

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9. Tosala—name applied to the Puri-Cuttack-Balasore region of Orissa; named after the city of Tosali (modern Dhauli near Bhubaneswar) previously in the ancient Kaliṅga country.

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10. Kosala—people of Dakṣiṇa-Kosala in the Raipur-Bilaspur-Sambalpur region of Madhya Pradesh and Orissa.

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11. Traipura—people of the Tripuri (modern Tewar in the Jabalpur District, Madhya Pradesh) region.

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12. Vaidiśa—people of Vidiśā (modern Besnagar near Bhilsa in Madhya Pradesh), capital of Ākara or Daśārṇa.

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13. Tumura (with variant readings).

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14. Tumbura (with variant readings).

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15. Paṭu.

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16. Niṣadha—probably lived near the Pāriyātra (the Western Vindhyas and the Aravali). Narwar in the Shivapuri District of Madhya Pradesh was called Nalapura, i.e. the city of king Nala of the Niṣadhas.

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17. Anūpa—people of the Māhiṣmatī (Mandhata or Mahesvar) region on the Narmadā.

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18. Tuṇḍikera—a branch of the Haihaya people like the Avanti and Vītihotra.

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19. Vītihotra—a branch of the Haihaya people like the Avanti and Tuṇḍikera.

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20. Avanti—same as the Āvanta people located in the Madhya-deśa; a branch of the Haihayas who were divided into six clans, viz. Vītihotra, Bhoja, Avanti, Tuṇḍikera, Tālajaṅgha and Śāryāta.

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VII. Parvat-āśraya (Himalayan region)—

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1. Nirāhāra.

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2. Hamsamārga—also mentioned in the list of the peoples of the Northern Division; lived on the river Nalinī in the Eastern Himalayas according to another section of the Purāṇas.

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3. Kuru—apparently the Uttara-Kuru located beyond the Himavat who were also known to the Greek geographer Ptolemy.

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4. Taṅgana—also mentioned in the list of the peoples of the Northern Division; lived on the Cakṣu (Oxus) according to another section of the Purāṇas.

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5. Khasa—a Himalayan people including the ancestors of the modern Khakkas of Kashmir.
6. Karṇaprāvaraṇa—a people of the Eastern Himalayas living on the river Nalinī according to another section of the Purāṇas.
7. Hūṇa—probably the same as Hāra-hūṇaka mentioned in the list of peoples of the Northern Division.
8. Dārva—also mentioned in the list of peoples of the Northern Division.
9. Huhuka—a Himalayan people living on the eastern river Nalinī according to another section of the Purāṇas.
10. Trigarta—lived in the modern Jalandhar region of the Eastern Punjab.
11. Mālava—probably the Malloi of the Greeks, who lived in the Montgomery region of West Pakistan.
12. Kirāta—also mentioned in the list of peoples of the Northern Division.
13. Tamara—probably a mistake for Tomara, mentioned in the list of peoples of the Northern Division as also in that of the peoples living on the eastern river Nalinī in another section of the Purāṇas.⁹

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⁹ For most of these peoples and others, see also F. E. Pargiter's Mārkaṇḍeya Purāṇa, Moti Chandra's Geographical and Economic Studies in the Mahābhārata : Upāyana-parva, S. B. Chaudhuri's Ethnic Settlements in Ancient India, etc.

3. Puranic List of Rivers

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¹⁰ Sircar, Stud. Geog. Anc. Med. Ind., pp. 39ff.

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The Purāṇas enumerate the rivers rising from eight mountain ranges, viz. the Varṣaparvata Himavat and the seven Kula mountains mentioned above.

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I. Himavat—

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1. Gaṅgā—see our list of the Ṛgvedic rivers.
2. Sindhu—also mentioned in our list of the Ṛgvedic rivers.
3. Sarasvatī—see our list of the Ṛgvedic rivers.
4. Śatadru—same as Śutudrī of the Ṛgveda (cf. our list of the Ṛgvedic rivers).
5. Candrabhāgā—same as Asiknī of the Ṛgveda (see our list of the Ṛgvedic rivers).

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6. Yamunā—see our list of the Ṛgvedic rivers.

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7. Sarayū—also mentioned in our list of the Ṛgvedic rivers (s. v. Sarayu).

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8. Irāvatī—same as the Paruṣṇī, mentioned in our list of the Ṛgvedic rivers.

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9. Vitastā—see our list of the Ṛgvedic rivers.

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10. Vipāśā—same as the Vipāś, mentioned in our list of the Ṛgvedic rivers.

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11. Devikā—modern Deeg, a tributary of the Irāvatī or Rāvi.

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12. Kuhu—same as the Kubhā mentioned in our list of the Ṛgvedic rivers.

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13. Gomati—same as the Ṛgvedic Gomatī (modern Gomal, a western tributary of the Indus) or the modern Goomti which joins the Gaṅges below Vārāṇasi

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14. Dhūtapāpā—a tributary of the Ganges in the Vārāṇasi region ; often associated with Ahopap on the Goomti, 18 miles south-west of Sultanpur in U.P.

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15. Bāhudā—identified by some with the Dhavalā (modern Dhumelā or Buṛhī-Rāptī), a tributary of the Rāptī, and by others with the Rāmgaṅgā which joins the Ganges near Kanauj.

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16. Dṛṣadvati—mentioned in our list of the Ṛgvedic rivers.

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17. Kauśiki—modern Kosī which runs through Nepal and Tirhut and joins the Ganges now below Patna, though, in early times, the river probably flowed through North Bengal and joined the Brahmaputra.

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18. Tṛtiyā—a mistake for Karatoyā or Trisrotā according to Pargiter, both of them being rivers of North Bengal ; may be really a mistake for Karatoyā.

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19. Niścīrā—may be a mistake for Trisrotā, modern Teesta running through North Bengal.

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20. Gaṇḍaki—modern Gaṇḍak (Buṛhī-Gaṇḍak), joining the Ganges near Sonepur or Hariharakṣetra (opposite Patna) in the Muzaffarpur District of Bihar ; another smaller river of the same name runs through Nepal and the Gorakhpur and Saran Districts and falls into the Ghogra (which joins the Ganges at Chapra), while a third Gaṇḍak is a small tributary of the Bāgmatī (tributary of the Buṛhī-Gaṇḍak).

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21. Ikṣu—same as Ikṣumatī, modern Kālī-nadī joining the Ganges near Kanauj in the Farrukhabad District of U.P.

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22. Lauhitya—modern Brahmaputra, the name being still borne by its branch and tributary known as the Lohit in the Sibsagar and Lakhimpur Districts of Assam. The Brahmaputra flows through Tibet and Assam and joins the Padmā (the main course of the Ganges in Bengal) at Goalundo in the Faridpur District of East Pakistan, its lower course being known as the Meghnā.

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II. Pāriyātra—

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1. Vedasmṛti—identified with modern Besulā in Malwa.
2. Vedavati.
3. Vṛtraghni—also spelt Vrataghni, modern Vātrak, a tributary of the Sābarmatī in Gujarat.
4. Sindhu—modern Kālīsindh, a tributary of the Chambal (ancient Carmaṇvatī) ; it flows through Rajasthan and Malwa.
5. Parṇāśā—modern Banās, tributary of the Chambal ; it flows through the Udaipur and Tonk regions of Rajasthan.
6. Candanā—identified with the Sābarmatī.
7. Sadānīrā.
8. Mahī—rises in Malwa and drains itself into the Gulf of Cambay.
9. Pārā—identified with the Pārvatī which rises in the Bhopal region and falls into the Chambal.
10. Lupī (with variant readings).
11. Vidiśā—modern Bes or Besalī which falls into the Betwa near Besnagar (ancient Vidiśānagarī) and Bhilsa in Madhya Pradesh.
12. Vetravatī—modern Betwa joining the Jumna (Yamunā) near Hamirpur, U.P.
13. Siprā—rises from the northern side of the Vindhyan range in Malwa, passes by the city of Ujjayinī and falls into the Chambal.
14. Avantī—rises near Mhow and falls into the Chambal.
15. Kuntī—identified with the Aśva-nadī or Aśvaratha-nadī which is a small tributary of the Chambal.

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III. Ṛkṣavat—

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1. Śoṇa—modern Sone which rises in the Amarkantak range and falls into the Ganges near Pāṭnā in Bihar.
2. Mahānadī—rises from the Raigarh region of Madhya Pradesh and runs through Orissa to fall into the Bay of Bengal.
3. Narmadā—modern Narbadā which rises in the Amarkantak range and falls into the Gulf of Cambay near Broach (ancient Bhṛgukaccha).
4. Surasā.
5. Kriyā.

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6. Mandākini—modern Mandākin which flows into the Paisuni near the Citrakūṭa hill.
7. Daśārṇā—modern Dhasān which flows past Saugor and falls into the Betwa.
8. Citrakūṭā—probably a portion of the Mandākin falling into the Paisuni near the Citrakūṭa hill.
9. Tamasā—modern Tons flowing into the Ganges below Allahabad.
10. Pippalaśroṇi—modern Paisuni or Parsaroni which flows into the Jumna (Yamunā) between the Tons and the Ken.
11. Karamodā—identified with modern Karamnāśā falling into the Ganges above its junction with the Sone.
12. Piśācikā.
13. Citrotpalā—a tributary of the Mahānadi or identical with a part of the Mahānadi below its junction with the Pyri ; cf. the Mahada plates.
14. Vipāśā.
15. Mañjulā, Vañjulā or Jambulā.
16. Bāluvāhini. 17-18. Śuni and Lajjā (with variant readings).
19. Śuktimati—modern Ken which flows through Bundelkhand and falls into the Jumna (Yamunā).
20. Śakuli—modern Sakri which flows into the Seonath, a tributary of the Mahānadi,
21. Tridivā.
22. Krumu (with variant readings).

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IV. Vindhya—

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1. Tāpi—now called Tāpti which rises near Multai in the Betul District, Madhya Pradesh, and flows into the Gulf of Cambay near Surat.
2. Payoṣṇi—identified with the Pain or Paingaṅgā which is a tributary of the Godāvari.
3. Nirvindhyā—modern Newuj which flows between the Betwa and the Kālisindh and falls into the Chambal.
4. Niṣadhāvati (with variant readings).
5. Veṇvā—identified with the Waingaṅgā which joins the Prāṇhitā (Praṇitā of a medieval inscription from Manthani) and falls into the Godāvari.

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6. Vaitaraṇī—modern Baitaraṇī in Orissa, which falls into the Bay of Bengal.
7. Śinivālī.
8. Kumudvatī.
9. Brahmāṇī—modern Brāhmaṇī which is the combined course of the Southern Koel and the Sankh in Orissa and falls into the Bay of Bengal.
10. Mahāgaurī.
11. Durgā.
12. Antaḥśilā.

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V. Sahya—

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1. Godāvarī—rises from the Western Ghāṭs and flows through the Deccan into the Bay of Bengal.
2. Bhīmarathi—modern Bhīmā, a tributary of the Kṛṣṇā.
3. Kṛṣṇā—flows from the Western Ghāṭs through the Deccan into the Bay of Bengal.
4. Veṇvā—modern Varṇā which runs between the Satara and Kolhapur Districts and joins the Kṛṣṇā, the combined stream being often called Kṛṣṇaveṇvā or Kṛṣṇaveṇā.
5. Vañjulā—modern Mañjirā, a southern tributary of the Godāvarī.
6. Tuṅgabhadrā—the combined course of the Tuṅgā and Bhadrā rivers which rise from the hills bordering South Kanara and join each other in the Shimoga District of Mysore, the joint stream falling into the Kṛṣṇā in the Karnul District of Andhra Pradesh.
7. Suprayoga—same as Suprayoga mentioned in the Uruvupalli grant of the Pallava crown-prince Viṣṇugopavarman as a river in the Nellore-Guntur region.
8. Bāhyā.
9. Kāverī—flows through Coorg, South Mysore and the Coimbatore, Salem, Tiruchirapalli and Tanjavur Districts of Madras into the Bay of Bengal.

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VI. Malaya—

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1. Kṛtamālā—modern Vaigai running past Madurai. The Bengali Vaiṣṇava saint Caitanya took a ceremonial bath in the holy waters of the Kṛtamālā at Dakṣiṇa-Mathurā (i.e. Madurai).
2. Tāmraparṇi—modern Tāmbravari which combines its stream with the Chittar in the Tirunelveli District
3. Puṣpajā.
4. Utpalāvati.

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VII. Mahendra—

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1. Trisāmā or Tribhāgā.
2. Ṛṣikulyā—flows into the Bay of Bengal near Berhampore in the Ganjam District of Orissa.
3. Ikṣulā.
4. Tridivā.
5. Lāṅgalini—modern Lāṅguliyā flowing into the Bay of Bengal by Srikakulam in Andhra Pradesh.
6. Vamśadharā—modern Vamśadhārā which flows into the Bay of Bengal by Kalingapatnam near Srikakulam.

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VIII. Śuktimat—

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1. Ṛṣikulyā—modern Koel in Chota Nagpur, the Northern Koel falling into the Sone and the Southern Koel uniting with the Sankh and forming the Brāhmaṇi river.
2. Kumāri—flows through the Manbhum District of Bihar.
3. Mandagā.
4. Mandavahini.
5. Kūpā—modern Kopā, a tributary of the Bāblā or Dwarka which waters the Santal Parganas, Birbhum and Murshidabad Districts of Bihar and West Bengal.

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In this connection, reference may be made to the Puranic description of the seven streams of the Ganges all starting from the Bindu-sarovara in the Himalayas, of which the Nalini, Hlādini and Pāvani are said to be flowing towards the east, the Sitā, Cakṣu and Sindhu towards the west and the Bhāgirathi towards the south, all the seven watering the varṣa called Hima (i.e. Bhārata-varṣa). Although the order of the names of the three rivers running towards the east is not the same in the different Purāṇas, the description is interesting for the list of peoples through whose lands the rivers are said to have passed. Some of the peoples mentioned in this context are known from other sections of the Purāṇas, though their location is only vaguely suggested by the direction of the course of the streams in question. The seven lists of the peoples are quoted below.¹¹

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¹¹ Sircar, Stud. Geog. Anc. Med. Ind., pp. 57ff.

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I. *Sītā (identified with the Tagdumbash branch of the Yarkand river)*—

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1. Sirīndhra, 2. Kukura, 3. Cīna, 4. Varvara, 5. Yavana, 6. Śaka, 7. Ruṣāṇa (people of Roshan in the Tadzdik Republic), 8. Kuṇinda, and 9. Aṅgalokavara.

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