# The Ancient Geography of India

THE
ANCIENT GEOGRAPHY
OF
INDIA.
I.
A. Cunningham del$^t$.
TAYLOR AND CO., PRINTERS,
LITTLE QUEEN STREET, LINCOLN'S INN FIELDS.
The second, or Ancient period, has been partially illustrated by H. H. Wilson, in his 'Ariana Antiqua,' and by Professor Lassen, in his 'Pentapotamia Indica.' These works, however, refer only to North-west India; but the Geography of the whole country has been ably discussed by Professor Lassen, in his large work on Ancient India, and still more fully by M. de Saint-Martin, in two special essays,—the one on the Geography of India, as derived from Greek and Latin sources, and the other in an Appendix to M. Julien's translation of the Life and Travels of the Chinese pilgrim Hwen Thsang. His researches have been conducted with so much care and success that few places have escaped identification. But so keen is his critical sagacity, that in some cases where the imperfection of our maps rendered actual identification quite impossible, he has indicated the true positions within a few miles.
CONTENTS.
II.
A. Cunningham Del.
THE
ANCIENT GEOGRAPHY OF INDIA.
FROM the accounts of the Greeks it would appear that the ancient Indians had a very accurate knowledge of the true shape and size of their country. According to Strabo, Alexander "caused the whole country to be described by men well acquainted with it;" and this account was afterwards lent to Patrokles by Xenokles, the treasurer of the Syrian kings. Patrokles himself held the government of the north-east satrapies of the Syrian empire under Seleukus Nikator and Antiochus Soter, and the information which he collected regarding India and the Eastern provinces, has received the approbation of Eratosthenes and Strabo for its accuracy. Another account of India was derived from the register of the Stathmi, or "Marches" from place to place, which was prepared by the Macedonian ​Amyntas, and which was confirmed by the testimony of Megasthenes, who had actually visited Palibotlira as the ambassador of Seleukus Nikator. On the authority of these documents, Eratosthenes and other writers have described India as a rhomboid, or unequal quadrilateral, in shape, with the Indus on the west, the mountains on the north, and the sea on the east and south. The shortest side was on the west, which Patrokles estimated at 12,000 stadia, and Eratosthenes at 13,000 stadia. I All the accounts agree that the course of the Indus from Alexander's Bridge to the sea was 10,000 stadia, or 1149 British miles; and they differ only as to the estimated distance of the snowy mountains of Caucasus or Paropamisus above the bridge. The length of the country was reckoned from west to east, of which the part extending from the Indus to Palibothra had been measured by schœni along the royal road, and was 10,000 stadia, or 1149 British miles in length. From Palibothra to the sea the distance was estimated at 6000 stadia, or 689 British miles; thus making the whole distance from the Indus to the mouth of the Ganges 16,000 stadia, or 1838 British miles. According to Pliny, the distance of Palibothra from the mouth of the Ganges was only 637.5 Roman miles; but his numbers are so corrupt that very little dependence can be placed upon them. I would, therefore, increase his distance to 737.5 ​Roman miles, which are equal to 678 British miles. The eastern coast from the mouth of the Ganges to Cape Comorin was reckoned at 16,000 stadia, or 1838 British miles; and the southern (or south-western) coast, from Cape Comorin to the mouth of the Indus at 3000 stadia more than the northern side, or 19,000 stadia, equivalent to 2183 British miles.
The close agreement of these dimensions, given by Alexander's informants, with the actual size of the country is very remarkable, and shows that the Indians, even at that early date in their history, had a very accurate knowledge of the form and extent of their native land.
On the west, the course of the Indus from Ohind, above Attok, to the sea is 950 miles by land, or about 1200 miles by water. On the north, the distance from the banks of the Indus to Patna, by our military route books, is 1143 miles, or only 6 miles less than the measurement of the royal road from the Indus to Palibothra, as given by Strabo on the authority of Megasthenes. Beyond this, the distance was estimated by the voyages of vessels on the Ganges at 6000 stadia, or 689 British miles, which is only 9 miles in excess of the actual length of the river route. From the mouth of the Ganges to Cape Comorin the distance, measured on the map, is 1600 miles, but taking into account the numerous indentations of the coast-line, the length should probably be increased in the same proportion as road distance by one-sixth. This would make the actual length 1866 miles. From Cape Comorin to the mouth of the Indus there is a consi​derable discrepancy of about 3000 stadia, or nearly 350 miles, between the stated distance and the actual measurement on the map. It is probable that the difference was caused by including in the estimate the deep indentations of the two great gulfs of Khambay and Kachh, which alone would be sufficient to account for the whole, or at least the greater part, of the discrepancy.
This explanation would seem to be confirmed by the computations of Megasthenes, who "estimated the distance from the southern sea to the Caucasus at 20,000 stadia," or 2298 British miles. By direct measurement on the map the distance from Cape Comorin to the Hindu Kush is about 1950 miles, which, converted into road distance by the addition of one-sixth, is equal to 2275 miles, or within a few miles of the computation of Megasthenes. But as this distance is only 1000 stadia greater than the length of the coast-line from Cape Comorin to the mouth of the Indus, as stated by Strabo, it seems certain that there must be some mistake in the length assigned to the southern (or south-western) coast. The error would be fully corrected by making the two coast-lines of equal length, as the mouths of the Ganges and Indus are about equidistant from Cape Comorin. According to this view, the whole circuit of India would be 61,000 stadia; and this is, perhaps, what is intended by Diodorus, who says that "the whole extent of ​India from east to west is 28,000 stadia, and from north to south 32,000 stadia," or 60,000 stadia altogether.
At a somewhat later date the shape of India is described in the 'Mahâbhârata' as an equilateral triangle, which was divided into four smaller equal triangles. The apex of the triangle is Cape Comorin, and the base is formed by the line of the Himalaya mountains. No dimensions are given, and no places are mentioned; but, in fig. 2 of the small maps of India in the accompanying plate, I have drawn a small equilateral triangle on the line between Dwâraka, in Gujarat, and Ganjam on the eastern coast. By repeating this small triangle on each of its three sides, to the north-west, to the north-east, and to the south, we obtain the four divisions of India in one large equilateral triangle. The shape corresponds very well with the general form of the country, if we extend the limits of India to Ghazni on the north-west, and fix the other two points of the triangle at Cape Comorin, and Sadiya in Assam. At the presumed date of the composition of the 'Mahâbhârata,' in the first century A.D., the countries immediately to the west of the Indus belonged to the Indo-Scythians, and therefore may be included very properly within the actual boundaries of India.
Another description of India is that of the Nava-Khanda, or Nine-Divisions, which is first described by the astronomers Parâsara and Varâha-Mihira, although it was probably older than their time, and was ​wards adopted by the authors of several of the Purânas. According to this arrangement, Pânchâla was the chief district of the central division, Magadha of the east, Kalinga of the south-east, Avanta of the south, Anarta of the south-west, Sindhu-Sauvira of the west, Hârahaura of the north-west, Madra of the north, and Kauninda of the north-east. But there is a discrepancy between this epitome of Varâha and his details, as Sindhu-Sauvira is there assigned to the south-west, along with Anarta. This mistake is certainly as old as the eleventh century, as Abu Rihâm has preserved the names of Varâha's abstract in the same order as they now stand in the 'Brihat-Sanhitâ.' These details are also supported by the 'Mârkandeya Purâna,' which assigns both Sindhu-Sauvira and Anarta to the south-west.
I have compared the detailed lists of the 'Brihat-Sanhitâ' with those of the Brahmânda, Mârkandeya, Vishnu, Vâyu, and Matsya Purânas; and I find that, although there are sundry repetitions and displacements of names, as well as many various readings, yet
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* ↑ 'Étude sur la Géographie et les populations primitives du Nord-Ouest de l'Inde, d'après les Hymnes Védiques.' Paris, 1859.
* ↑ 'Indische Altertluimskunde." 4 vols. Bonn.
* ↑ Étude sur la Géographie Grecque et Latine de l'Inde,' 1858. M. Julien's 'Hiouen Thsang,' vol. iii. p. 251; "Mémoire Analytique," etc.
* ↑ Geographia, ii. 1, 6.
* ↑ Strabo, x. 1, 11. The name of the author of the 'Stathmi' is preserved by Athenæus, i. 103. The original measurements were most probably made by Diognetus and Baiton, whose duty it was to ascertain the distances and lengths of Alexander's expeditions. See Plin. Hist. Nat., vi. 21.
* ↑ Strabo, ii. 1, 31 and xv. 1, 11. See, also, Diodorus, Hist., ii. 3 and Dion Perieg. v. 1131. Compare fig. 1 in the accompanying plate of small maps
* ↑ Strabo, xv. 2.8. Arrian, 'Indica,' iii
* ↑ Artemidorus makes it 16,800 stadia, or 2100 Roman miles. See Pliny, vi. 22
* ↑ Plin. Hist. Nat., vi.21.
* ↑ Strabo, XV. 1, 11. "Each of the greater sides exceeding the opposite by 3000 stadia." (Falconer's translation.)
* ↑ Strabo, xv. 1, 12.
* ↑ Elphinstone, Hist, of India, Introd. p. 1, estimates the distance from Kashmir to Cape Comorin at about 1900 miles. The Caucasus is at least 50 miles to the north of Kashmir.
* ↑ Diodorus, Hist., ii. 3.
* ↑ Journ. Asiat. Soc. Bengal, xx. Wilford, quoting the Bhishma Parva of the 'Mahâbhârata," as communicated to him by Colebrooke.
* ↑ Dr. Kern, in preface to the 'Brihat-Sanhitâ' of Varâha-Mihira, p. 32, states that Varâha's chapter on Geography is taken almost intact, but changed in form, from the 'Parâsaratantra,' and must, therefore, be
* ↑ 'Brihat-Sanhitâ,' ch. xiv. 32, 33.
* ↑ Ibid., xiv. 17,— Nairrityâm disi desâ Pahlava Kâmboja Sindhu-Sauvîra— Wilford has given Varaha's list in vol. viii. p. 341, of Bengal Asiat. Researches; but he has made two divisions of Sindhu-Sauvira, and omitted Kanninda. His details, however, agree with the 'Brihat-Sanhitâ,' in assigning Sindhu-Sauvira as well as Anarta to the south-west.
* ↑ The Nine Divisions of Abu Rihân are given in Reinaud's 'Mémoire sur l'Inde,' pp. 116, 117. Compare No. II. Map, fig. 3.
* ↑ Ward's 'Hindus,' iii. 10.
* ↑ considered as representing the geography of Parasara, or perhaps yet more ancient works, "and not as the actual map of India in Varâha-Mihira's time."
This work was published before January 1, 1929, and is in the public domain worldwide because the author died at least 100 years ago.
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