Page:History of India Vol 1.djvu/251

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GEOGRAPHY OF THE PERIOD
201

civilization extended as far south as Kalinga, or the eastern seaboard, stretching from modern Orissa southward to the mouth of the Krishna. The passage which we quote is interesting, because it shows that the ancient Aryan region along the Ganges and the Jumna was still regarded as the suitable home of the Aryans, while tracts of country in which the non-Aryan tribes had been recently Hinduized were regarded with some degree of contempt.

"The country of the Aryas (Aryavarta) lies to the east of the region where the River (Sarasvati) disappears, to the west of the Black Forest (Kalakavana), to the north of the Paripatra (Vindhya mountains), and to the south of the Himalaya. The rule of conduct which prevails there is authoritative.

"Some declare the country between the Yamuna and Ganga (to be the Aryavarta).

"Now the Bhallavins quote also the following verse:

"In the west the boundary river, in the east the region where the sun rises, as far as the black antelopes wander, so far spiritual pre-eminence is found.

"The inhabitants of Avanti (Malwa), of Anga (East Behar), of Magadha (South Behar), of Saurashtra (Gujarat), of the Deccan, of Upavrit, of Sindh, and the Sauviras (South Panjab) are of mixed origin.

"He who has visited the Arattas (in the Panjab), Karaskaras (in South India), Pundras (in North Bengal), Sauviras (in the Panjab), Vangas (in Eastern Bengal), Kalingas (in Orissa), or Pranunas shall offer a Punastoma or a Sarvaprishtha sacrifice"—such was