The Vishnu Purana, translated by Horace Hayman Wilson, [1840], at sacred-texts.com
The Vishnu Purana, translated by Horace Hayman Wilson, [1840], at sacred-texts.com
From the Mahábhárata, Bhíshma Parva, II. 342.
SANJAYA speaks to Dhritarásht́ra.--Hear me, monarch, in reply to your inquiries, detail to you the particulars of the country of Bhárata.
[paragraph continues] Mahendra, Malaya, Sahya, Śuktimat 2, Gandhamádana, Vindhya, and Páripátra are the seven mountain ranges: as subordinate portions of them are thousands of mountains; some unheard of, though lofty, extensive, and abrupt; and others better known, though of lesser elevation, and inhabited by people of low stature 3: there pure and degraded tribes, mixed together, drink 4 of the following streams: the stately Gangá, the Sindhu, and the Saraswatí 5; the Godavari, Narmadá, and the great river
[paragraph continues] Báhudá 6; the Śatadru, Chandrabhágá, and great river Yamuná; the Drishadwatí 7, Vipáśá 8, and Vipápá, with coarse sands; the Vetravatí, the deep Krishńaveńí, the Irávatí 9, Vitastá 10, Pavoshńí 11, and
[paragraph continues] Devíká 12; the Vedasmritá, Vedavatí 13, Tridivá 14, Ikshumálaví 15, Karíshińí, Chitrabahá, the deep Chitrasená, the Gomatí, the Dhútapápá, and the great river Gandakí 16; the Kauśikí, Niśchitá 17, Krityá, Nichitá, Lohatariní 18, Rahasyá, Śatakumbhá, and also the Śarayú 19, the Charmanvatí, Chandrabhágá 20, Hastisomá, Dis, Śarávatí 21, Payoshńí, Pará 22, and Bhímarathí 23, Káverí 24, Chulaká 25, Víná 26, Satabalá, Nivárá, Mahitá 27,
Suprayogá 28 Pavitrá 29, Kuńd́alá, Sindhu 30, Rajání 31, Puramáliní, Purvábhirámá, Víra, Bhímá 32, Oghavatí, Paláśiní 33, Pápáhará, Mahendrá, Pát́alavatí 34, Karíshińí, Asikní, the great river Kuśachírá 35, the Makarí 36, Pravará, Mená 37, Hemá, and Dhritavatí 38, Purávatí 39, Anushńá 40, Saivyá, Kápí 41, Sadánírá 42, Adhrishyá, the great river Kuśadhárá 43, Sadákántá 44, Śivá, Viravatí, Vástu, Suvástu 45, Gaurí, Kampaná 46, Hirańvatí, Vará, Vírankará, Panchamí, Rathachitrá, Jyotirathá, Viswámitrá 47, Kapinjalá, Upendrá, Bahulá, Kuchírá 48, Madhuváhiní 49, Vinadí 50, Pinjalá, Veńá, Tungaveńá 51, Vidiśá 52, Krishńaveńá, Támrá, Kapilá, Selu, Suvámá 53, Vedáśwá, Hariśravá, Mahopamá 54, Śíghrá, Pichchhalá 55, the deep Bháradwájí, the Kauśikí, the Sona 56, Bahudá, and Chandramá, Durgá,
[paragraph continues] Amtraśilá 57, Brahmabodhyá, Vrihadvatí, Yavakshá 58, Rohí, Jámbunadí, Sunasá 59, Tamasá 60, Dásí, Vasá, Varańá, Así 61, Nálá, Dhritamatí, Púrnáśá 62, Támasí 63, Vrishabhá, Brahmamedhyá, Vrihadvatí. These and many other large streams, as the Krishńá 64, whose waters are always salubrious, and the slow-flowing Mandaváhiní 65, the Brahmáńí 66, Mahágaurí, Durgá 67, Chitropalá 68, Chitrarathá, Manjulá 69, Mandákiní 70, Vaitarańí 71, the great river Kośá 72, the Muktimatí 73, Maningá 74, Pushpaveńí, Utpalavatí, Lohityá 75, Karatoyá 76, Vrishakáhwá 77, Kumárí, Rishikulyá 78, Márishá, Saraswatí, Mandákiní, Punyá 79, Sarvasangá; all these, the
universal mothers, productive of abundance, besides hundreds of inferior note, are the rivers of Bhárata, according to remembrance 80.
Next hear from me, descendant of Bharata, the names of the inhabitants of the different countries, They are the Kurus, Pánchalás 1, Śálwas, Mádreyas, and dwellers in thickets (Jángalas), Śúrasenas 2, Kálingas 3, Bodhas 4, Málás 5, Matsyas 6, Sukut́yas 7, Sauvalyas 8, Kuntalas 9,
[paragraph continues] Káśíkosálas 10, Chedyas 11, Matsyas 12, Kárúshas 13, Bhojas 14, Sindhupulindas 15, Uttamas 16, Daśárńas 17, Mekalas 18, Utkalas 19, Pánchálas 20,
[paragraph continues] Kauśijas 21, Naikaprisht́has 22, Dhurandharas 23, Sodhas 24, Madrabhujingas 25, Káśis 26, Aparakáśis, Játharas, Kukuras, Dasárńas, Kuntis, Avantis 27, Aparakuntis 28, Goghnatas 29, Mańd́akas, Shańd́as 30, Vidarbhas 31, Rúpaváhikas 32,
[paragraph continues] Aśwakas 33, Pánsurásht́ras, Goparásht́ras 34, Karítis 35, the people of Adhivájya 36, Kuládya 37, Mallarásht́ra 38, and Kerala 39; the Varápásis 40, Apavárhas 41, Chakras 42, Vakrátapas and Śakas 43, Videhas 44, Mágadhas 45, Swakshas 46, Malayas 47, and Vijayas 48; the Angas 49, Vangas 50, Kalingas 51 and Yakrillomas, Mallas 52, Sudellas 53, Prahládas, Máhikas 54 and
[paragraph continues] Śaśikas 55, Báhlíkas 56, Vát́adhánas 57, Ábhíras 58 and Kálajoshakas 59, Aparántas 60, Parántas, Pahnavas 61, Charmamańd́alas 62, Atáviśikharas and Merubhútas 63, Upávrittas, Anupávrittas, Swarásht́ras 64, Kekayas 65,
[paragraph continues] Kut́t́aparántas 66, Máheyas 67, Kakshas 68, dwellers on the sea-shore, and the Andhas and many tribes residing within and without the hills; the Malajas 69, Mágadhas 70, Mánavarjjakas 71; those north of the Mahi (Mahyuttaras), the Právrisheyas, Bhárgavas 72, Puńd́ras 73, Bhárgas 74, Kirátas, Sudesht́as; and the people on the Yamuná (Yámunas), Śakas, Nishádas 75, Nishádhas 76, Ánarttas 77; and those in the south-west (Nairritas), the Durgalas, Pratimásyas 78, Kuntalas, Kuśalas 79, Tíragrahas,
[paragraph continues] Súrasenas, Íjikas 80, Kanyakáguńas, Tilabáras, Samíras, Madhumattas, Sukandakas, Káśmíras 81, Sindhusauvíras 82, Gandháras 83, Darśakas 84, Abhisáras 85, Utúlas 86, Śaiválas 87, and Báhlíkas 88; the people of Darví 89, the
[paragraph continues] Váńavas, Darvas, Vátajamarathorajas, Báhubádhas 90, Kauravyas, Sudámas 91, Sumallis, Badhnas, Karíshakas, Kulindápatyakas, Vátáyanas 92, Daśárńas 93, Romáńas 94, Kuśavindus, Kakshas 95, Gopála-kakshas 96, Jángalas 97, Kuruvarńakas 98, Kirátas, Barbaras 99, Siddhas, Vaidehas 100 Támraliptas 101, Audras 102, Pauńd́ras 103, dwellers in sandy tracts (Śaiśikatas), and in mountains (Párvatíyas). Moreover, chief of the sons of Bharata, there are the nations of the south, the Drávíras 104, Keralas 105, Práchyas 106, Múshikas 107, and Vánavásakas 108; the Karnátakas 109, Máhishakas 110, Vikalyas 111 and Múshakas 112, Jillikas 113, Kuntalas 114, Sauhridas,
[paragraph continues] Nalakánanas 115, Kaukut́t́akas 116, Cholas 117, Kaunkanas 118, Málavánas 119, Samangas, Karakas, Kukkuras, Angáras 120, Dhwajinyutsavasanketas 121, Trigarttas 122, Śálwasenis, Śakas 123, Kokarakas 124, Prosht́as, Samavegavasas 125. There are also the Vindhyachulukas 126, Pulindas and Kalkalas 127, Málavas 128, Mallavas 129, Aparavallabhas, Kulindas 130, Kálavas 131, Kunt́hakas 132, Karat́as 133, Múshakas, Tanabálas 134, Saníyas 135, Ghatasrinjayas 136, Alindayas 137, Paśivát́as 138, Tanayas 139, Sunayas 140, Daśívidarbhas 141, Kántikas 142, Tangańas 143, Paratangańas, northern and
other fierce barbarians (Mlechchhas), Yavanas 144, Chínas 145, Kámbojas 146; ferocious and uncivilized races, Śakridgrahas 147, Kulatthas 148, Húńas, and Párasíkas 149; also Ramańas 150, Chínas, Daśamálikas 151, those living near the Kshatriyas, and Vaiśyas and Śúdras 152; also
[paragraph continues] Śúdras 153, Ábhíras 154, Daradas 155, Káśmíras, with Pat́t́is 156, Khásíras 157, Antacháras or borderers, Pahnavas 158, and dwellers in mountain caves
[paragraph continues] (Girigahvaras 159), Átreyas, Bháradwájas 160, Stanayoshikas 161, Proshakas 162, Kálinga 163, and tribes of Kirátas, Tomaras, Hansamárgas, and Karabhanjikas 164. These and many other nations, dwelling in the east and in the north, can be only thus briefly noticed 165.
179:1 In attempting to verify the places or people specified in the text, various difficulties are to be encountered, which must serve to apologize for but partial success. Some are inherent in the subject, such as the changes which have taken place in the topography of India since the lists were compiled, and the imperfectness of the specification itself: states and tribes and cities have disappeared, even from recollection, and some of the natural features of the country, especially the rivers, have undergone a total alteration. Buchanan (Description of Eastern Hindustan), following Rennell over the same ground at an interval of some thirty or forty years, remarks that many of the streams laid down in the Bengal Atlas (the only series of maps of India yet published, that can be regarded as of authority) are no longer to be traced. Then the lists which are given are such mere catalogues, that they afford no clue to verification beyond names; and names have been either changed or so corrupted, as to be no longer recognizable. On the other hand, much of the difficulty arises from our own want of knowledge. Scattered through the Puráńas and other works, the names given in the topographical lists recur with circumstances which fix their locality; but these means of verification have not yet been sufficiently investigated. There are also geographical treatises in Sanscrit, which there is reason to believe afford much accurate and interesting information: they are not common. Col. Wilford speaks of having received a number from Jaypur, but upon his death they disappeared. After a considerable interval some of his MSS. were purchased for the Calcutta Sanscrit College, but by far the larger portion of his collection had been dispersed. A few leaves only on geographical subjects were found, from which I translated and published a chapter on the geography of some of the districts of Bengal: (Calcutta Quarterly Magazine, Dec. 1824:) the details were accurate and valuable, though the compilation was modern. Notwithstanding these impediments, however, we should be able to identify at least mountains and rivers to a much greater extent than is now practicable, if our maps were not so miserably defective in their nomenclature. None of our surveyors or geographers have been Oriental scholars. It may be doubted if any of them have been conversant with the spoken language of the country: they have consequently put down names at p. 180 random, according to their own inaccurate appreciation of sounds carelessly, vulgarly, and corruptly uttered; and their maps of India are crowded with appellations which bear no similitude whatever either to past or present denominations. We need not wonder that we cannot discover Sanscrit names in English maps, when, in the immediate vicinity of Calcutta, Barnagore represents Varáhanagar, Dakshineswar is metamorphosed into Duckinsore,and Ulubaría is Anglicised into Willoughbruy. Going a little farther off, we have Dalkisore for Darikeswarí, Midnapore for Medinipur, and a most unnecessary accumulation of consonants in Caughmahry for Kákamárí. There is scarcely a name in our Indian maps that does not afford proof of extreme indifference to accuracy in nomenclature, and of an incorrectness in estimating sounds, which is in some degree, perhaps, a national defect.
180:2 The printed edition reads Śaktimat, which is also found in some MSS., but the more usual reading is that of the text. I may here add that a Śuktimat mountain occurs in Bhíma's invasion of the eastern region. Mahábh. Sabhá P. Gandhamádana here takes the place of Riksha.
180:3 For additional mountains in the Váyu, see Asiatic Researches, VIII. 334 The Bhágavata, Padma, and Márkańd́eya add the following: Maináka, which it appears from the Rámáyańa is at the source of the Sone, that river being termed Mainákaprabhava. 'Kishkindhya Káńd́a;' Trikút́a, called also in Hemachanchra's vocabulary Suvela; Rishabha, Kút́aka, Konwa, Devagiri (Deogur or Ellora, the mountain of the gods; the Apocopi are said by Ptolemy to be also called mountains of the gods); Rishyamuka, in the Dekhin, where the Pampá rises; Śrí-śaila or Śrí-parvata, near the Krishńa (As. Res. V. 303); Venkata, the hill of Tripatí, Váridhára, Mangala-prastha, Drońa, Chitrakút́a (Chitrakote in Bundelkhand), Govarddhana (near Mathurá), Raivata, the range that branches off from the western portion of the Vindhya towards the north, extending nearly to the Jumna; according to Hemachandra it is the Girińara range; it is the Aravali of Tod; Kakubha, Níla (the blue mountains of Orissa), Gohamukha, Indrakíla, Ramagiri (Ram-tek, near Nag-pur), Valakrama, Sudháma, Tungaprastha, Nága (the hills east of Ramghur), Bodhana, Pandara, Durjayanta, Arbuda (Abu in Guzerat), Gomanta (in the western Ghats), Kút́aśaila, Kritasmara, and Chakora. Many single mountains are named in different works.
180:4 See note 4, p. 175.
180:5 The Sarsuti, or Caggar or Gaggar, N. W. of Tahnesar. See below, note 6.
181:6 The Báhudá is elsewhere said to rise in the Himalaya. Wilford considers it to be the Mahánada, which falls into the Ganges below Malda. The Mahábhárata has amongst the Tírthas, or places of pilgrimage, two rivers of this name, one apparently near the Saraswatí, one more to the east. Hemachandra gives as synonymes Árjuní and Saitaváhiní, both implying the 'white river:' a main feeder of the Mahánada is called Dhavalí or Daub, which has the same meaning.
181:7 The Drishadwatí is a river of considerable importance in the history of the Hindus, although no traces of its ancient name exist. According to Manu it is one boundary of the district called Brahmávartta, in which the institution of castes, and their several duties, had for ever existed: implying that in other places they were of more recent origin. This holy land, 'made by the gods,' was of very limited extent. Its other boundary was the Saraswatí. That the Drishadwatí was not far off we learn from Manu, as Kurukshetra, Matsya, Panchála, and Śúrasena, or the upper part of the Doab, and country to the east, were not included in Brahmávartta; they constituted Brahmarshi-deśa, contiguous to it: Kullúka Bhat́t́a explains Anantara, 'something less or inferior;' but it more probably means 'not divided from,' 'immediately contiguous.' We must look for the Drishadwatí, therefore, west of the Jumna. In the Tírtha Yátrá of the Mahábhárata we find it forming one of the boundaries of Kurukshetra. It is there said, 'Those who dwell on the south of the Saraswatí, and north of the Drishadwatí, or in Kurukshetra, dwell in heaven.' In the same place, the confluence of the Drishadwatí with a stream of Kurukshetra, called the Kauśikí, is said to be of peculiar sanctity. Kurukshetra is the country about Tahnesur or Stháneśwara, where a spot called Kurukhet still exists, and is visited in pilgrimage. The Kirin-kshetra of Manu may be intended for the country of the Kurus, in the more immediate vicinity of Delhi. According to Wilford, the Drishadwatí is the Caggar; in which case our maps have taken the liberty of transposing the names of the rivers, as the Caggar now is the northern stream, and the Sursooty the southern, both rising in the Himálaya, and uniting to form one river, called Gagar or Caggar in the maps, but more correctly Sarsuti or Saraswatí; which then runs south-west, and is lost in the desert. There have no doubt been considerable changes here, both in the nomenclature and in the courses of the rivers.
181:8 The Beyah, Hyphasis, or Bibasis.
181:9 The Ráví or Hydraotes or Adris.
181:10 The Jhelum, but still called in Kashmir the Vitastá, the Bidaspes or Hydaspes.
181:11 This river, according to the Vishńu P., rises from the Riksha mountains, but the Váyu and Kúrma bring it from the Vindhya or Sathpura range. There are several indications of its position in the Mahábhárata, but none very precise. Its p. 182 source appears to be near that of the Krishńa: it flows near the beginning of the Dańd́aka forest, which should place it rather near to the sources of the Godávarí: it passes through Vidarbha or Berar, and, Yudhisht́hira having bathed in it, comes to the Vaidúrya mountain and the Narmadá river. These circumstances make it likely that the Payín Gangá is the river in question.
182:12 The Devá, or Goggra.
182:13 Both these are from the Páripátra range. In some MSS. the latter is read Vedasiní and Vetasiní. In the Rámáyańa occur Vedá and Vedavainasiká, which may be the same, as they seem to be in the direction of the Sone. One of them may be the Beos of eastern Malwa, but it rises in the Riksha mountain.
182:14 From Páripátra, Kúrma; from Mahendra, Váyu.
182:15 One copy has Ikshumáliní; two others, Ikshulá and Krimi: one MS. of the Váyu has an Ikshulá from Mahendra: the Matsya has Ikshudá; Wilford's list has Drákshalá.
182:16 Of these rivers, the two first are named in the Padma P., but not in the Váyu, &c. The Gomati in Oude, the Gandak, and the Kosi are well known. The Dhutapápá is said to rise in the Himálaya.
182:17 In different MSS. read Michitá and Nisritá. In the Váyu and Matsya, Niśchirá or Nirvirá is said to flow from the Himálaya.
182:18 Also Lohatárańí and Lohachárińí.
182:19 The Sarayú or Sarju is commonly identified with the Deva. Wilford says it is so by the Pauráńics, but we have here proof to the contrary. They are also distinguished by the people of the country. Although identical through great part of their course, they rise as different streams, and again divide and enter the Ganges by distinct branches.
182:20 The recurrence of the same name in this, as in several similar subsequent instances, is possibly an error of the copyist; but it is also sometimes likely that one name is applied to different rivers. In one MS. we have, in place of this word, Chaitravatí; and in another Vetravatí.
182:21 Read also Śatávarí. According to Wilford, the Śarávatí is the Ban-gangá.
182:22 The Váyu has Párá, which is a river in Malwa, the Párvatí. MSS. read Váńí and Veńá.
182:23 According to the Váyu, this rises in the Sahya m., and flows towards the south: it is therefore the Beema of Aurungabad.
182:24 The Kaverí is well known, and has always borne the same appellation, being the Chaberis of Ptolemy.
182:25 Read Chuluká.
182:26 Read also Tápí; the Taptí river of the Dekhin.
182:27 Read Ahitá and Sahitá.
183:28 Rises in the Sahya mountain, and flows southwards: Váyu, &c.
183:29 Read Vichitrá.
183:30 Several rivers are called by this name, as well as the Indus: there is one of some note, the Káli Sindh in Malwa.
183:31 Also Vájiní.
183:32 This agrees best in name with the Beema: it is also mentioned as a tírtha in the Mahábhárata.
183:33 From Śuktimat: Kúrma and Váyu. There is a Balásan from the eastern portion of the Himálaya, a feeder of the Mahánada, which may be the Palásiní, if the mountain be in this direction.
183:34 Also Pippalalávatí. The Váyu has a Pippalá from the Riksha mountain.
183:35 Also Kuśavírá.
183:36 Also Mahiká and Maruńd́áchí.
183:37 Also Śená.
183:38 Read Kritavatí and Ghritavatí.
183:39 Also Dhuśulyá.
183:40 Also Atikrishńa.
183:41 In place of both Suvártháchí.
183:42 From Páripátra: Váyu and Matsya.
183:43 Also Kuśanára.
183:44 Also Śaśikánta.
183:45 Also Vastrá and Suvastrá.
183:46 One of the tírthas in the Mahábhárata.
183:47 According to the Mahábhárata, this rises in the Vaidúrya mountain, part of the southern Vindhya or Sathpura range.
183:48 Also Kuvíra.
183:49 Three MSS. agree in reading this Ambuváhiní.
183:50 Also Vainadí.
183:51 Also Kuveńá: it is possibly meant for the Tungabhádra or Toombudra.
183:52 A river in Malwa, so called from the city of the same name, which I have elsewhere conjectured to be Bhilsa. Megha Dúta, 31. There is a 'Bess' river in the maps, which joins the Betwa at Bhilsa, and is probably the river of the text.
183:53 The Varna or Suvamá, 'the beautiful river,' Wilford identifies with the Ramgangá.
183:54 Also Mahapagá, 'the great river.'
183:55 Also Kuchchilá.
183:56 The Sona river, rising in Maináka or Amarakantak, and flowing east to the Ganges.
184:57 This and the preceding both rise from the Vindhya mountain: the latter is also read Antassilá, 'the river flowing within or amidst rocks.'
184:58 Also Parokshá.
184:59 We have a Suraná in the Váyu, and Surasá in the Kúrma and Matsya, flowing from the Riksha mountain.
184:60 The Tamasá or Tonse, from Riksha.
184:61 This and the preceding scarcely merit a place amongst the rivers, being two small streams which fall into the Ganges east and west of Benares, which is thence denominated Varanásí.
184:62 Parńáśá or Varńáśá, from the Páripátra mountain.
184:63 Also Mánaví.
184:64 The Krishńá of the Dakhin is probably here intended, although its more ordinary designation seems to be that already specified, Krishńaveńa or Krishńaveńí. The meaning is much the same; the one being the 'dark river,' the other simply the 'dark,' the Niger.
184:65 A river from Śuktimat: Váyu.
184:66 A river in Cuttack, according to Wilford: it is one of the tírthas of the Mahábhárata, and apparently in a different direction. Buchanan (Eastern Hindustan) has a river of this name in Dinajpur.
184:67 Both from the Vindhya: Váyu and Kúrma. There is a Goaris in Ptolemy in central India.
184:68 From Riksha: Váyu.
184:69 Also Munja and Makaraváhiní.
184:70 From Riksha: Váyu. According to the Mahábhárata, it rises in the mountain Chitrakote.
184:71 The Baitarańí in Cuttack. It is named in the Mahábhárata as a river of Kalinga.
184:72 Also read Nípa and Koka.
184:73 From Riksha, but read also Śuktimati, which is the reading of the Matsya. Wilford considers it to be the Swarnarekka of Cuttack.
184:74 Also Anágá and Surangá; perhaps the preferable reading should be Sumangá, a river .flowing from Maináka, according to the Mahábhárata.
184:75 Part of the Brahmaputra.
184:76 A considerable river in the east, flowing between Dinajpur and Rangpur.
184:77 Also Vrishasáhwa.
184:78 This and the preceding flow from Śuktimat, according to the Váyu, Matsya, and Kúrma. The last occurs also Rishíka.
184:79 Also Suparńá. The Punyá is considered to be the Pun-pun of Behan, but there is also a Parná river in the same province.
185:80 It is possible that further research will identify more than those attempted to be verified in the foregoing notes, as well as meet with others readily recognizable. In the authorities consulted several occur not comprehended in the text, as the Kuhu and Ikshu, from the Himálaya; Vritraghní, Chandaná (Chandan of Bhagalpur), Mahí (the Mahy of western Malwa), Śiprá, and Avantí (rivers near Ujayin), from Páripátra; Mahánada in Orissa, Drumá, Dasárńa (Dhosaun in Bundelkhand), Chitrakút́á, Śroní or Śyená, Piśáchiká, Banjulá, Báluváhiní, and Matkuńá, all from Riksha; Nirvindhyá, Madrá, Nishadhá, Śinibáhu, Kumudvatí, and Toyá, from Vindhya; Banjula, from Sahya; Kritamálá, Támraparńí, Pushpajáti, and Utpalavatí, from Malaya; Lánguliní and Vansadhárá, from Mahendra; and Mandagá and Kripá or Rúpá, from Śuktimat. In the Rámáyańa we have, besides some already specified, the Ruchirá, Pampá, eastern Saraswatí, Vegavatí or Vyki of Madurá, and Varadá or Wurda of Berar; and we have many others in the Mahábhárata and different works, from which the Sanscrit appellations of most of the Indian rivers might be, with some little time and trouble, collected.
185:1 The people of the upper part of the Doab. The two words might also be understood as denoting the Pánchálas of the Kuru country, there being two divisions of the tribe: see below, note 20.
185:2 The Śúrasenas were the inhabitants of Mathura, the Suraseni of Arrian.
185:3 The people of the upper part of the Coromandel coast, well known in the traditions of the eastern Archipelago as Kling. Ptolemy has a city in that part called Caliga; and Pliny, Calingæ proximi mari.
185:4 One of the tribes of central India, according to the Váyu: it is also read Báhyas.
185:5 The Malas and Málavarttis are placed, in the Váyu and Matsya, amongst the central nations. The Márkańd́eya reads Gavavarttis. Wilford considers Mála to be the Mal-bhúm of Medinipur. As noticed in the Megha Dúta, I have supposed it to be situated in Chattisgarh. p. 21, note.
185:6 The people of Dinajpur, Rangpur, and Cooch Behar. Calcutta Mag. Dec. 1824.
185:7 Read Kuśańd́as, Kuśalyas, Kuśádhyas, Kisádhajas, and placed in central India.
185:8 Also Sauśalyas and Sauśulyas.
185:9 Kuntala is in one place one of the central countries; in another, one of the southern: the name is applied in inscriptions p. 186 to the province in which Curgode is situated, part of the Adoni district: (As. Res. IX. 427:) and consistently with this position it is placed amongst the dependant or allied states of Vidarbha in the Dada Kumára. Calcutta Quarterly Mag. Sept. 1827.
186:10 A central nation: Váyu. The Rámáyana places them in the east. The combination indicates the country between Benares and Oude.
186:11 Chedi is usually considered as Chandail, on the west of the Jungle Mehals, towards Nagpur. It is known, in times subsequent to the Puráńas, as Rańastambha.
186:12 Some copies read Vatsa, and the other Puráńas have such a name amongst the central countries; the people perhaps of Vatsa, Rája of Kausámbhí, near the junction of the Jumna and the Ganges. There are, however, two Matsyas, one of which, according to the Yantra Samrát́, is identifiable with Jaypur. In the Dig-vijaya of Nakula he subdues the Matsyas farther to the west, or in Guzerat.
186:13 Situated on the back of the Vindhya range: Váyu and Matsya. They are generally named with the people of Málava, which confirms this locality. They are said to be the posterity of Karusha, one of the sons of Vaivaswata Manu.
186:14 These are also placed along the Vindhya chain, but at different times appear to have occupied different positions. They were a kindred tribe with the Andhakas and Vrishńis, and a branch of the Yádavas. A Bhoja Rájá is amongst the warriors of the Mahábhárata. At a later period, Bhoja, the Rájá of Dhár, preserves an indication of this people; and from him the Bhojpuris, a tribe still living in western Behar, profess to be descended: they are not improbably relics of the older tribe. Bhoja is also used sometimes as a synonyme of Bhojakat́a, a city near the Narmadá, founded by Rukmi, brother-in-law of Krishńa, and before that, prince of Kundińa or Condavir.
186:15 Pulinda is applied to any wild or barbarous tribe; those here named are some of the people of the deserts along the Indus; but Pulindas are met with in many other positions, especially in the mountains and forests across central India, the haunts of the Bhils and Gonds. So Ptolemy places the Pulindai along the banks of the Narmadá to the frontiers of Larice; the Lát́a or Lar of the Hindus; Kandesh and part. of Guzerat.
186:16 In the other three Puráńas we have Uttámárńas, on the Vindhya range.
186:17 The people of the 'ten forts,' subsequently multiplied to 'thirty-six,' such being the import of Chattisgerh, which seems to be in the site of Dasárńa. Megha Dúta, p. 30, note.
186:18 A Vindhya tribe, according to the other Puráńas. The locality is confirmed by mythological personations; for Mekala is said to be a Rishi, the father of the river Narmadá; thence called Mekalá and Mekalakanyá: the mountain where it rises is also called Mekaládri. The Rámáyańa places the Mekalas amongst the southern tribes.
186:19 Utkala is still the native name of Orissa.
186:20 These may be the southern Pańchálas. p. 187 When Drońa overcame Drupada, king of Panchála, as related in the Mahábhárata, Ádi Parva, he retained half the country, that north of the Ganges, and restored to its former chief the other half, south of that river as far as to the Chambal. The capital of the latter became Mákandi on the Ganges; and the country included also Kámpilya, the Kampil of the Mohammedans, but placed by them in the Doab. The capital of the northern portion was Ahikshetra, a name traceable in the Adisathrus of Ptolemy, though the position differs: but Ahikshetra or Ahichchatra, as it is also written, seems to have been applied to more than one city.
187:21 Perhaps the people of Tirhut, along the Kosi.
187:22 'Having more than one back;' probable some nickname or term of derision. Thus we have, in the Rámáyańa and other works, enumerated amongst tribes, the Karńa-právarańas, 'those who wrap themselves up in their ears;' Asht́a-karńakas, 'the eight-eared;' or Osht́ha-karńakas, 'having lips extending to their ears;' Kákamukhas, 'crow-faced;' Ekapádukas, 'one-footed,' or rather 'one-slippered:' exaggerations of national ugliness, or allusions to peculiar customs, which were not literally intended, although they may have furnished the Mandevilles of ancient and modern times with some of their monsters. The spirit of the nomenclature is shewn by these tribes being associated with Kirátas, 'barbarians,' and Yavanas, either Greeks or Mohammedans.
187:23 A preferable reading seems to be Yugandhara: a city in the Punjab so called is mentioned in the Mahábhárata, Karńa P.
187:24 Read Bodhas, Godhas, and Saudhas. There is a Rajput tribe called Sodha.
187:25 This may consist of two names, and is so read in MSS., or the latter term occurs Kalingas; both terms are repeated. Besides the Machu of the north, a similar word,. Madru, is applied to Madura in the south. As. Res. IX. 428. The Rámáyańa has Madras in the east, as well as in the north.
187:26 The people of the Benares district, and that opposite.
187:27 The inhabitants of Ujayin.
187:28 These should be opposite to the Kuntis, but where either is situated does not appear.
187:29 The best reading is Gomanta, part of the Konkan about Goa.
187:30 The more usual reading is Khańd́as; one MS. has Parńas.
187:31 A country of considerable extent and power at various periods. The name remains in Beder, which may have been the ancient capital; but the kingdom seems to have corresponded with the great part of Berar and Kandesh. It is mentioned in the Rámáyańa and the Puráńas amongst the countries of the south.
187:32 Also Rúpavásikas. There is a Rupá river from the Śuktimat mountain, the vicinity of which may be alluded to. We have Rúpasas or Rúpapas amongst the southern tribes of the Puráńas.
188:33 Read also Aśmalas and Aśmakas: the latter are enumerated amongst the people of the south in the Rámáyańa, and in the Váyu, Matsya, and Márkańd́eya P. There is a prince of the same name of the solar dynasty.
188:34 Gova or Kuva is an ancient name of the southern Konkan, and may be intended in this place by the Gopa country; or it may imply 'the district of cow-herds,' that is, of Nomadic tribes.
188:35 Also read Kulatis and Páńítakas.
188:36 Read also Adhirájya and Adhirásht́ra, which mean the same, 'the over or superior kingdom.'
188:37 Also Kuśádhya, Kuśánda, and Mukuntha.
188:38 Also Vallirásht́ra. There are Mallas in the east, along the foot of the Himalaya, in Bhíma's Dig-vijaya; but we should rather look for them in the north-west, in the site of the Malli of Arrian. We have in the Puráńas, Mahárásht́ra, the Mahratta country, which may be here intended.
188:39 Two copies read Kevala; one, Kambala, The text is probably wrong, as we have Kerala below.
188:40 Also Váráyásis and Varavásis: one copy has, what is likely to be most correct, Vánarásyas, the monkey-faced people.'
188:41 Read Upaváha and Praváha.
188:42 The MSS. agree in reading this Vakra.
188:43 The Śakas occur again, more than once, which may be possibly unnecessary repetition: but these people, the Sakai and Sacæ of classical writers, the Indo-Scythians of Ptolemy, extended, about the commencement of our era, along the west of India, from the Hindu Koh to the mouths of the Indus.
188:44 The inhabitants of Tirhut.
188:45 The people of South Bahar.
188:46 Also read Mahyas and Suhmas: the latter is probably correct. The Suhmas and Prasuhmas were found in the east by Bhíma; and Suhma is elsewhere said to be situated east of Bengal, towards the sea, the king and the people being Mlechchhas, that is not Hindus: it would correspond therefore with Tiperah and Aracan.
188:47 Also read Malajas, but less correctly perhaps. The Malayas are the people of the southern Ghats.
188:48 We have Pravijayas in the east, according to the Puráńas.
188:49 Anga is the country about Bhagalpur, of which Champá was the capital.
188:50 Eastern Bengal.
188:51 We have had these before, but they are repeated perhaps in conformity to the usual classification, which connects them with the two preceding, being derived in the genealogical lists from a common ancestor.
188:52 In Bhíma's Dig-vijaya we have two people of this name, both in the east; one along the foot of the Himálaya, and the other more to the south.
188:53 Uniformly read in the MSS. Sudeshńa.
188:54 Three copies read Máhishas. We p. 189 have Mahishakas amongst the southern people in the Puráńas; and a Máhishikí in the Rámáyańa, also in the south: the latter may be connected with Máhishmatí, which Sahadeva visits in his southern invasion, and which has been elsewhere conjectured to be in Mysur. (Calcutta Annual Register, 1822,) There is also a Máhishmatí on the road to the south (Mahábh. Udyoga P.), which is commonly identified with Chulí Maheśwar, on the Narmadá.
189:55 Also Rishíkas; people placed by the Rámáyańa both in the north and in the south. Arjuna visits the former, and exacts from them eight horses. Dig-vijaya.
189:56 Also read Báhíkas, which we may here prefer, as the Báhlíkas are subsequently named: the former are described in the Mahábhárata, Karńa Parva, with some detail, and comprehend the different nations of the Punjab, from the Setlej to the Indus.
189:57 These are included amongst the northern nations; Váyu, &c.; but in Nakula's Dig-vijaya they are in the west.
189:58 The Ábhíras, according to the Puráńas, are also in the north: in the Rámáyańa and Mahábh. Sabhá P. they are in the west. The fact seems to be, that the people along the Indus, from Surat to the Himálaya, are often regarded as either western or northern nations, according to the topographical position of the writer: in either case the same tribes are intended.
189:59 The MSS. read Kálátoyakas, a people placed by the Puráńas in the north.
189:60 The Váyu reads Aparítas, a northern nation. There are Aparytæ in Herodotus, classed with a people bordering on India, the Gandari. The term in the text signifies also borderers,' and is probably correct, as opposed to the following word Parántas; the latter signifying those beyond, and the former those not beyond the borders. The latter has for Parántas, Parítas; and the Matsya, Parádas.
189:61 Also Pahlavas, a northern or northwestern nation, often mentioned in Hindu writings, in Manu, the Rámáyańa, the Puráńas, &c. They were not a Hindu people, and may have been some of the tribes between India and Persia.
189:62 Also Charmakháńd́ikas, but the sense is the same; those living in the district Mańd́ala or Khańd́a of Charma: they are a northern people: Váyu, &c. Pliny mentions a king of a people so called, "Charmarum rex."
189:63 Read Marubhaumas; more satisfactorily, as it means the inhabitants of Marubhúmí, 'the desert;' the sands of Sindh.
189:64 Also Surásht́ras, which is no doubt more correct; the inhabitants of Surat.
189:65 The Kekayas or Kaikeyas appear amongst the chief nations in the war of the Mahábhárata, their king being a kinsman of Krishńa. The Rámáyańa, II. 53, specifies their position beyond, or west of, the Vipáśa.
190:66 We have in the Puráńas Kut́t́apracharańas and Kut́t́aprávarańas amongst the mountain tribes.
190:67 These may be people upon the Mahí river: they are named amongst the southern nations by the Váyu, &c., but the west is evidently intended.
190:68 Read also Kachchas: the Puráńa have Kachchiyas. The form is equally applicable to people dwelling in districts contiguous to water and in marshy spots, and denotes the province still called Cutch.
190:69 Also read Adhya, Antya, and Andhra: the latter is the name of Telingana, the Andhri of Pliny.
190:70 Three MSS. have Malada, a people of the east in Bhíma's Dig-vijaya.
190:71 Also Mánavalakas.
190:72 A people of the east.
190:73 The western provinces of Bengal, or, as sometimes used in a more comprehensive sense, it includes the following districts: Rajshahi, Dinajpur, and Rangpur; Nadiya, Birbhum, Burdwan, part of Midnapur, and the Jungle Mahals; Ramgerh, Pachete, Palamow, and part of Chunar. See an account of Puńd́ra, translated from what is said to be part of the Brahmańd́a section of the Bhavishyat Puráńa. Calcutta Quart. Mag. Dec. 1824.
190:74 There is considerable variety in this term, Lárga, Márja, Samuttara, and Samantara; probably neither is correct. Bhargas are amongst the people subdued in the east by Bhíma.
190:75 These are foresters and barbarians in general.
190:76 Notwithstanding the celebrity of this country, as the kingdom of Nala, it does not appear exactly where it was situated: we may conclude it was not far from Vidharba (Berar) as that was the country of Damayantí. From the directions given by Nala to Damayantí, it is near the Vindhya mountain and Payoshńí river, and roads lead from it across the Riksha mountain to Avanti and the south, as well as to Vidarbha and to Kośalá. Nalopákhyána, sec. 9.
190:77 These are always placed in the west: they are fabled to be the descendants of Ánartta, the son of Saryáti, who founded the capital Kuśasthalí afterwards Dwáraká, on the sea-shore in Guzerat.
190:78 Also Pratimatsyas; those opposite or adjacent to the Matsyas.
190:79 Also Kuśajas and Kośalas; the latter is probably correct, as the name does not occur in any other form than that of Kasikośalá above. Kośalá is a name variously applied. Its earliest and most celebrated application is to the country on the banks of the Sar.ayú, the kingdom of Ráma, of which Ayodhyá was the capital. Rámáyańa, I. s. 5. In the Mahábhárata we p. 191 have one Kośalá in the east, and another in the south, besides the Prak-kośalas and Uttara-kośalas in the east and north, The Puráńas place the Kośalas amongst the people or the back of Vindhya;' and it would appear from the Váyu that Kuśa, the son of Ráma, transferred his kingdom to a more central position; he ruled over Kośalá at his capital of Kuśasthalí or Kuśávatí, built upon the Vindhyan precipices: the same is alluded to in the Pátála Khańd́a of the Padma Puráńa, and in the Raghu Vanśa, for the purpose of explaining the return of Kuśa to Ayodhyá. Certainly in later times the country of Kośalá lay south of Oude, for in the Ratnávalí the general of Vatsa surrounds the king of Kośalá in the Vindhya mountains: (Hindu Theatre, II. 305:) and, as noticed in the same work, (p. 267,) we have in the Puráńas, Sapta Kośalas, or seven Kośalas. An inscription found at Ratnapur in Chattisgarh, of which I have an unpublished translation, states that Sri-deva, the governor of Malahari Mandala, having obtained the favour of Prithwideva, king of Kośalá, was enabled to build temples, and dig tanks, &c., indicating the extension of the power of Kośalá across the Ganges in that direction. The inscription is dated Samvat 915, or A. D. 858. The Kośalá of the Puráńas and of the dramatic and poetic writers was however more to the west, along a part of the Vindhya range. Ptolemy has a Kontakossula in the south, probably one of the Kośalas of the Hindus.
191:80 Also Itíkas; perhaps the Ishíkas or Aishíkas of the Váyu, &c. a people of the south.
191:81 The people of Kashmir.
191:82 One of the chief tribes engaged in the war of the Mahábhárata. The Rámáyańa places them in the west; the Puráńas in the north. The term Sindhu shews their position to have been upon the Indus, apparently in the Punjab.
191:83 These are also a people of the northwest, found both on the west of the Indus and in the Punjab, and well known to classical authors as the Gandarii and Gandaridæ. As. Res. XV. 103; also Journal of the R. As. Soc.; Account of the Foe-küe-ki.
191:84 From the context this should probably be Darvakas, the people of a district usually specified in connexion with the succeeding.
191:85 These are the inhabitants of the country bordering on Cashmir, to the south and west; known to the Greeks as the kingdom of Abisares. It often occurs in composition with Darya, as Darvábhisára. As. Res. XV. 24.
191:86 Also read Ulút́as and Kulút́as: the Rámáyańa has Kolúkas or Kaulút́as amongst the western tribes.
191:87 Also with the short vowel, Śaivalas.
191:88 The Váhlíkas or Báhlíkas are always associated with the people of the north, west, and ultra-Indian provinces, and are usually considered to represent the Bactrians, or people of Balkh. It is specified in the Mahábh. Udyoga P. as famous for its horses, a reputation the country bordering upon it, at least Bokhara and Maimena, still preserves: and in Arjuńa's Dig-vijaya it is said to be difficult of approach.
191:89 These are probably intended for the p. 192 neighbours of the Abhisáras: they are found in the north by Arjuna, Dig-vijaya, and are there termed also Kshatriyas.
192:90 Also read Báhubádhya and Bahurada.
192:91 The name occurs in the Rámáyańa as that of a mountain in the Punjab or in the Báhíka country. II. 53.
192:92 The MSS. agree in reading this Vánáyava or Vanayus, a people in the northwest, also famous for horses.
192:93 A better reading is Dasapárśwa, as we have had Daśárńas before.
192:94 Also Ropáńas; quere, Romans?
192:95 Also Gachchas and Kachchas: the last is the best reading, although it has occurred before.
192:96 Also Gopála-kachchas: they are amongst the eastern tribes in Bhíma's Dig-vijaya.
192:97 Or Langalas.
192:98 Kurujángalas, or the people of the forests in the upper part of the Doab: it is also read Paravallabhas.
192:99 The analogy to 'barbarians' is not in sound only, but in all the authorities these are classed with borderers and foreigners and nations not Hindu.
192:100 Also Dáhas, in which we should have a resemblance to the Scythian Dahæ.
192:101 Or Támaliptas or Dámaliptas; the people at the western mouth of the Ganges in Medinipur and Tamluk. Támraliptí was a celebrated sea-port in the fourth century, (Account of the Poe-küe-ki,) and retained its character in the ninth and twelfth. Daśa Kumára Charitra and Vrihat Katha; also Journ. Royal As. Soc.
192:102 The people of Odra or Orissa.
192:103 The inhabitants of Puńd́ra: see note 73.
192:104 The people of the Coromandel coast, from Madras southwards; those by whom the Tamil language is spoken.
192:105 The people of Malabar proper.
192:106 Also Prásyas. Práchyas properly means the people of the east, the Prasii of the Greeks, east of the Ganges.
192:107 Múshika is the southernmost part of the Malabar coast, Cochin and Travancore.
192:108 Also Vánavásinas and Vánavásikas; the inhabitants of Banawasi, the Banavasi of Ptolemy, a town the remains of which are still extant in the district of Sunda.
192:109 The people of the centre of the Peninsula, the proper Kernáta or Carnatie.
192:110 The people of Mysore: see note 54.
192:111 Also Vikalpas.
192:112 Also Pushkalas,
192:113 Also Karńikas.
192:114 Read Kuntikas.
193:115 Variously read Nalakálaka, Nabhakánana, and Tilakanija.
193:116 Kaukundaka and Kaukuntaka.
193:117 The inhabitants of the lower part of the Coromandel coast; so called after them Chola-mańd́ala.
193:118 People of the Konkan: according to some statements there are seven districts so named.
193:119 Malavanara and Śálaváńaka.
193:120 These two words are sometimes compounded as Kukkurángára: it is also read Kanurájada.
193:121 This is a questionable name, though the MSS. agree. We have in Arjuna's Dig-vijaya, Utsavamanketa; and in Nakula's, to the west, Utsavasanketa.
193:122 These are amongst the warriors of the Mahábhárata; they are included in all the lists amongst the northern tribes, and are mentioned in the Rájátaranginí as not far from Kashmir: they are considered to be the people of Lahone.
193:123 Also Vyúkas and Vrikas: the latter are specified amongst the central nations: Váyu, &c.
193:124 Kokavakas and Kokanakhas.
193:125 Śáras and Vegasaras; also Parasanchárakas.
193:126 Vindhyapálakas and Vindhyamúlikas: the latter, those at the foot of Vindhya, are named in the Pauráńik lists amongst the southern tribes.
193:127 Balwala and Valkaja.
193:128 Also Málaka and Májava.
193:129 Also Vallabhas, which from the succeeding word may be conjectured to be correct. A city named Vallabhí makes a great figure in the traditions of Rajputana. See Tod's Rajasthan.
193:130 One of the tribes in the west or north-west subdued by Arjuna.
193:131 Kálada and Dohada.
193:132 Kundala, Karantha, and Mańd́aka: the latter occurs in the Rámáyańa amongst the eastern nations.
193:133 Kurat́a, Kunaka.
193:134 Stanabála.
193:135 Satírtha, Satíya, Náríya.
193:136 The Śrinjayas are a people from the north-west amongst the warriors of the Mahábhárata: the reading may be incorrect. It occurs also Putísrinjaya.
193:137 Also Aninda.
193:138 Also Sivata, Sirála, Syuvaka.
193:139 Tanapa, Stanapa, Sutapa.
193:140 Pallipanjaka and Vidarbha.
193:141 Dadhividarbha, but three copies have Rishika. Great variety, and no doubt great inaccuracy, prevails in the MSS. in several of the names ]sere given: they are not found elsewhere.
193:142 The reading of three copies is Kákas: there is a tribe so called on the banks of the Indus, as it leaves the mountains.
193:143 These and the following are mountaineers p. 194 in the north-west. The former are placed by the Puráńas in the north, and the Váyu includes them also amongst the mountain tribes. The Rámáyańa has Tankanas in the north.
194:144 The term Yavanas, although in later times applied to the Mohammedans, designated formerly the Greeks, as observed in the valuable notes on the translation of the Birth of Umá, from the Kumára Sambhava. (Journal As. Soc. of Bengal, July 1833.) The Greeks were known throughout western Asia by the term ו יון, Yavan; or Ion, Ἰαονες; the Yavana, ###, of the Hindus; or as it occurs in its Prakrit form, in the very curious inscription decyphered by Mr. Prinsep, (J. As. Soc. Beng. Feb. 1838,) Yona: the term Yona Rájá being there associated with the name Antiochus, in all likelihood Antiochus the Great, the ally of the Indian prince Sophagasenas, about B. C. 210. That the Macedonian or Bactrian Greeks were most usually intended is not only probable from their position and relations with India, but from their being usually named in concurrence with the north-western tribes, Kambojas, Daradas, Páradas, Báhlikas, Śakas, &c. in the Rámáyańa, Mahábhárata, Puráńas, Manu, and in various poems and plays.
194:145 Chinas, or Chinese, or rather the people of Chinese Tartary, are named in the Rámáyańa and Manu, as well as in the Puráńas. If the designation China was derived from the Tsin dynasty, which commenced B. C. 260, this forms a limit of antiquity for the works in question. The same word however, or Tsin, was the ancient appellation of the northern province of Shen-sy, and it may have reached the Hindus from thence at an earlier period.
194:146 These Wilford regards as the people of Arachosia. They are always mentioned together with the north-western tribes, Yavanas, Śakas, and the like: they are also famous for their hoses; and in the Rámáyańa they are said to be covered with golden lotuses. What is meant is doubtful, probably some ornament or embellishment of their dress. We have part of the name, or Kambi, in the Cambistholi of Arrian: the last two syllables, no doubt, represent the Sanscrit Sthala, 'place,' 'district;' and the word denotes the dwellers in the Kamba or Kambis country: so Kámboja may be explained those born in Kamba or Kambas.
194:147 Also Śakridvaha or Śakridguha.
194:148 Also Kulachchas and Kuntalas: the Puráńas have Kupathas amongst the mountain tribes.
194:149 Also Párataka: the first is not a common form in the Puráńas, although it is in poetical writings, denoting, no doubt, the Persians, or people of Pars or Fars: the latter, also read Páradas, may imply the same, as beyond (Pára) the Indus.
194:150 We have Ramathas in Nakula's Dig-vijaya, and in the Váyu and Matsya.
194:151 Daśamánas and Deśamánikas, in the north: Váyu and Matsya.
194:152 The passage occurs in the Váyu and Márkańd́eya Puráńas, as well as in the Mahábhárata; but the purport is not very distinct, and the proper reading is doubtful. p. 195 In three MSS. of the latter it occurs ### the latter páda is the same in all: the former, is ### in a fourth copy, in two copies of the Váyu it is ###. None of these are intelligible, and the Márkańd́eya furnishes the reading followed, Modern geographers have supposed the Cathæi, Cathari, and Chatriæi of the ancients, in the lower parts of the Punjab, to mean a people of Kshatriyas; but no such people occur directly named in our lists. Considering that the text is speaking of barbarous and foreign tribes, perhaps no particular nation is here meant, and it may be intended as an epithet of those which follow, or of Vaiśya (agricultural) and Śúdra (servile or low) tribes, living either near to, or after the manner of Kshatriyas: in that case a better reading would be, ###. According to Manu, various northern tribes, the Śakas, Kámbojas, Páradas, Pahlavas, Kirátas, Daradas, and Khasas, and even the Chinas and Yavanas, are degraded Kshatriyas, in consequence of neglecting religious rites. X. 43, 44. According to the Pauráńik legend they were overcome in war by Sagara, and degraded from their original caste. See book IV.
195:153 Here we have a people called Śúdras by all the authorities, and placed in the west or north-west, towards the Indus. They have been ingeniously, and with probability, conjectured by Mr. Lassen to be the Oxydracæ; for Śúdraka is equally correct with Śúdra; and in place of Ὀξυδράκαι various MSS. of Strabo, as quoted by Siebenkees, read Σιδράκαι and Συδράκαι: the latter is precisely the Sanscrit appellation. Pliny also has Sudraci for the people who formed the limit of Alexander's eastern conquests, or those hitherto inaccurately called Oxydracæ.
195:154 These are always conjoined with the Śúdras, as if conterminous. Their situation is no doubt correctly indicated by Ptolemy by the position of Abiria above Pattalene on the Indus.
195:155 The Durds are still where they were at the date of our text, and in the days of Strabo and Ptolemy; not exactly, indeed, at the sources of the Indus, but along its course, above the Himálaya, just before it descends to India; a position which might well be taken for its head.
195:156 Also read Paśus, 'brutes.' If the term might be altered to Palli, it would imply 'village or pastoral tribes.'
195:157 Also Khasíkas and Khasákas. The first of these is probably most correct, being equivalent to Khasas, barbarians named along with the Śakas and Daradas by Manu, &c.; traces of whom may be sought amongst the barbarous tribes on the north-east of Bengal, the Kasiyas; or it has been thought that they may be referred to the situation of Kashgar. Two copies have, in place of this, Tukháras, and the same occurs in the Rámáyańa; the Váyu has Tusháras, but the Márkańd́eya, Tukhára: these are probably the Tochari, Tachari, or Thogari, a tribe of the Śakas, by whom Bactria was taken from the Greeks, and from whom Tocharestan derives the name it still bears.
195:158 Also Pahlavas and Pallavas. The form in the text is the more usual.
196:159 The Rámáyańa has Gahvaras. The mountains from Kabul to Bamian furnish infinitely numerous instances of cavern habitations.
196:160 These two, according to the Váyu, are amongst the northern nations; but they might be thought to be religious fraternities, from the sages Atri and Bharadwaja.
196:161 The latter member of the compound occurs poshikas, páyikas, and yodhikas, 'cherishers,' 'drinkers,' or 'fighters:' the first term denotes the female breast.
196:162 Also Drońakas, 'people of vallies.'
196:163 Also Kajingas. Kalingas would be here out of place.
196:164 These and the preceding are included by the Váyu amongst the mountain tribes of the north.
196:165 Many names indeed might be added to the catalogue from the lists referred to in the Váyu, Matsya, and Márkańd́eya Puráńas, as well as several capable of verification from the Rámáyańa, and other passages of the Mahábhárata. This is not the place however to exhaust the subject, and it has been prosecuted too far perhaps already. It is evident that a very considerable proportion of the names recorded can be verified, and that many of them may be traced in the geographical notices of India left by the historians of Alexander's expedition. That more cannot be identified is owing in a great measure to incomplete research; and a more extensive examination of the authorities would no doubt discover passages where circumstances, as well as names, are given by which the places would be recognised. It is evident, however, that much embarrassment also arises from the inaccuracy of manuscripts, which vary widely and irreconcilably. I have given instances from four different copies of the text; one in my own possession, three in the library of the East India Company; all very excellent copies, but manifestly erroneous in many respects in their nomenclature of places, and particularly of those which are least known. No assistance is to be had from any commentary, as the subject is one of little interest in native estimation.