INDIA. 



59 



SUMtic*. capital of this kingdom was Palebrotha, generally sup- 

 *"<'' posed to be 1'utna, on the south side of the Ganges, in 

 latitude 25' 37', and longitude 85 15'. In this city 

 Megasthene* resided three years, and as he kept a 

 journal of what he saw and heard regarding India 

 during his residence, it may be supposed that his in- 

 formation added very much to the knowledge which 

 the ancient* po**e*acd of India. Diodorus Siculus, 

 , ftc. Strabo, Arrian, and Pliny seem to have derived all the 

 account* which they gave of India from Megactbenee. 

 All these authors lay down the proportional dimensions 

 of thia country with tolerable accuracy. According 

 to Diodorus, the breadth i* seven-eighths of the length. 

 Arrian'* geography of India is principally confined to 

 the nathaiu part*, which had been visited by Alex- 

 ander and Megasthenes : he gives a tolerably accurate 

 '. of moat of the rivers which now into the Indus 

 i ; and the extent of India, which he derived 

 . ia aa near the troth, according to 

 Mr Bennel, as that which we assigned it 6O years ago. 

 Pliny was evidently acquainted with the form of the 

 Pennwula, front the mraaare* which be give* along the 

 coaat* between the mouths of the Ganges and the Indus. 

 One of the aaost important ancient record* of this aeon- 

 try, i* to be found m the nap and description of Pto- 

 lemy. In some reepeeU this author i* very minute and 



t-rrone.,u, though fefcaj.* *] nftnT Hhw, h 

 describe, the peninsula of India a* stretching from the 

 gulf of Cam bay from eaat to weet, inatoM 

 from north to south. This is the more 

 not only becaaa* he had aeeees to the < 

 corato *e*na*k respect** lntna, imtded by 8lrab, 

 and Pliny, but becaoee he himself 



with great i 



the inost reaaarkable place* on k, and aaeign* the lati- 

 tude and longttnde of eaeh from Cape Comonn to the 

 uthoftheGangea. Hence k would appear, that U* 

 oral account of the form of ladia waTexpreetly 

 Ibrhu, 



Tu Itol -my aW we are indebted far the 

 and relative potkion of the dufcrent month* 



positien 



and fcr a carioa* 

 by the traders to Chum, 



.< the 



thrrJthVllm. 



f *s *" " *BW*t nsMnr *j 



Uide* oi the faneo. royal or Nvaenan road. This wa* 

 made with great care, and at the and of every Indian 



first part of it m iisip*mli with the roate panned by 

 Alexander from the Indus to the Hyphen* ; the raw 

 inainderledtoPalebretha. k* whole trngth was nearly 

 1500 mile* This road ha* been illu*r..r.l with eon. 





, i , < . 





 . ajnj 



learning, but net always wkh the 

 judgment, by Malar Witord. 



.r the age of Ptolemy, we derive no additional or 



"* >0e ?**! tonH> * m ***** '*. efiln 

 antury after Chnet. At tfai* period Coansaa, an Bgyp. 

 Uan merchant, made some voyage* to India. Frisn 



hi* wnrk. it appear, that he wa. well in^linm wkh 

 the weat coaet of the rVr.in..U, which be particularly 

 it* trade in nrnprr. After 



MH! 1 1'iJX', 



illustrated 

 Manama- 



eantory, wheat travel* have 

 by Rena'udot; by Maaioodi, and by 

 raMna author, who wrote about the middle 



of the 14-th century. The Mahomedan travellers men. Statistic*, 

 tion a great empire on the Malabar coast : their rela- ^ 

 tion in this and other respects is confirmed by Mas- 

 soudi, who published his account of India in the 10th 10th, 

 century. This last author describes India as divided 

 into four kingdoms ; the first comprised the provinces 

 on the Indus and its tributary streams, of which Mul- 

 tan was the capital. The second kingdom seems to 

 have lam on the banks of the Ganges ; of this, Kanogc 

 we* the capital. This kingdom and its capital are 

 much celebrated in the most remote times of ancient 

 Hindoo history. The third kingdom was Cashmere ; 

 the fourth waa Guzerat. From this description, it is 

 evident that the information respecting India possessed 

 by Massoudi, and probably by his countrymen in go* 

 neral, wa* conftnea to Hindostan proper. The Ara- 

 bian author who wrote about the middle of the 1 4th a ,,a 14,1, 

 century, divide* into the northern part, comprehending centuries, 

 all the provinces on the Indus ; the middle, which 

 stretched across from Guzerat to the Ganges ; and the 

 southern, which he calls Comar, probably from Cape 

 Ouumin. About the middle of the 13th century, 

 Marco Polo visited llai*i tut parts of Hindostan : he is 

 the first author who mentions Bengal and Surat by 

 their present names, as rich and powerful kingdoms. 



The next illustration of the geography of Hindostan The Ayin 

 i* derived from the Ayin Acbaree, a work which we Acbttcc. 

 have already mentioned under the reign of the Empe- 

 ror Acbar. This sovereign divided Hindostan Proper 

 into eleven soubah* or provinces, which were again 

 divided into earoara, and theae subdivided into parja- 

 wah*. Canbul, and the countries weat of the Indus, 

 constituted a 18th soubah; and the conquests in the 

 Deean afterward* were divided into three more. The 

 fto>aili given in the Ayin Acbaree, of the extent, loun- 

 diviaiena, radnotiaai, military ferae, &c. of 

 is surprisingly minute, and apparently 

 ich attentive and laborious invcstiga- 

 But oar object i* only to notice 

 went extent aan'gned to 

 the Ayin Aefaaree from what i* assigned to 



thus illustrate 

 In the reign 



of Acbar, Mohan wa*' one of the Urges* provinces of 

 the empire, maniiing to the Ironben of Persia, and 

 alee majtinh inking several of the Dooabs now belong- 

 ing to the province of Lahore. The province of Aj- 



than it dai hi the reign of Aebar, when thi* part of k 

 wa* ptobabiy poaaaaaad by independent Rajpoot prince*. 

 In the toubah of Bengal are included Oii.ua and Cut- 

 tack, wkh the country to the south-east as far as Chit- 

 lagong. Malwah, Insaiad of being bounded mi thr 

 oath by Khandeiah and Berar, extended beyond the 

 Harbudah, while on the south-west and sooth it touch- 

 on* on BagUna, and on Berar on the east. The very 

 limits of Guaerat included the greater part oi 

 i and Malwah ; and in the reign of Acbar, k 

 southward to Dasnaun, where it touched on 

 Aorangabad The present province of Nandere was 

 comprehended in that of Berar. while the western parts 

 of the latter do not seem to have been conquered by 

 Acbar. The province of Khandeiah differed in its di- 

 meneion* and boundaries only very little from what it 

 i* at present, then hiving Aurungabad on the west, in- 

 stead of Guserat, which now bound* it on that quarter. 

 The province of Aurungabad, which in the time oi' 

 Acbar we* known by the name of Ahmednagur, hav- 

 ing been pflrtially conquered by that monarch, it* boun> 



them at present, in order that we may 

 the nBuiaariM eorah of Hindostan. 



