History of Dharmashastra (Ancient and Mediaeval Religious and Civil Law in India) v7.c95.131

v7.c95.131

In several Purāṇas nine divisons of Bhāratavarṣa are named viz. Indradvīpa, Kaśeru, Tāmraparṇa, Gabhastimat, Nāgadvīpa, Sahya, Gandharva, Vāruṇa and a ninth which is 1000 yojanas long from north to south, on the east of which are Kirātas and on the west Yavanas and the four varṇas in the middle of it.²⁴⁸⁴ It may be noted that though Bhāratavarṣa is only one the divisions of Jambudvīpa, some of the nine divisions are themselves called Indradvīpa and Nāgadvīpa. Another important matter is that Matsya 114. 10, Vāyu 45. 81, Vāmana 13. 11, and Brahmāṇḍa appear to call the 9th dvīpa Kumāra or as extending from Kumārikī to the sources of the Gaṅgā. Therefore, it appears that the 9th division of Bhāratavarṣa was held to be a country like modern India and the other eight divisions seem to be countries and islands lying to the south-east of present India. It is probable that early works identified Bhāratavarṣa with what is now modern India, but when Indian culture spread to South-East Asia, Bhāratavarṣa was used to denote India as well as Greater India.