& ‘i 

Vol. IV, No. 5.] Notes on the Geography of Old Bengal. 269 
[N.8.] 
the Puranas generally of uncertain dates but containing much old 
material, 
In the references of the epic period, the Pundras were located 
in Eastern India. A passage in the Speed eekly Chapter XXX, 
precise details. Bhima fought with Karna (the king of Anga), an 
after defeating him conquered the hill tribes (20). Then he titled 
in battle at Modagiri (its) king (21). Next, subduing the pow 
ful Pundra king Vasudeva and the king of Kausiki- kaccha, he fell 
on the Vanga king (22-3), ter conquerin 
Mlecchas (25). In another passage of the same parvva (XIV, 20), 
the aforesaid Vasudeva is described as the king of Vangas, Pundras 
and Kiratas. The Pundra land is thus narrowed down to the 
tract having , Anga and the Kausiki marshes on the west, the 
mays (hill ieiba) on the north, the Vangas on digs south-east, 
and the Suhmas with Tamraliptas on the south-we 
: was usual in old days, this tract was sana bounded by 
Their location. natural barriers like mountains or large 
rivers. On the east the boundary was 
the Karatoya, named in the Mahabharata list of rivers and specially 
noted for sanctity.! The Amarakosa gives it the synonym sada- 
(TX. 24) aoe from the ie and therefore S Hohe have 
been the name of another river, the Sadanira@ of oe Mathava 
in the Satapatha-brahmana. Is the name Karatoya pegs from 
khara- ci or swift-watered, having been fed by the rapid hill- 
stream n the west the bounda ary of Pundras would have 
been some large stream, lying east of the Kausiki. What river 
can this be but the modern Mahananda? It is not unlikely that 
the Ganges itself flowed further east into the southern part of the 
d ahinanda, with the junction-point higher up. In the 
south it was bounded probably by the §.-E. branch of the Gangee 
(modern se the bifurcation being pretty old and shown i in 
Ptolemy’s ma The northern boundary was ill-defined, wi 
jungles, hills, and aboriginal tribes like Kiritas. The grey 
(syama) diamonds exported from Paundra* were probably 
brought from these northern hills. 




| Bhisma-P°, IX ; Vana-P°, LXX 
aratoyam Lieshatlae tri-ratr- corned 
Asvamedham = avapnoti praja spat cok | 3 || 
2 Amarakosa, Kinda I, Vargga X, verse 33. 
3 A. nes Nordenskiold, Porciaile Man, Plate XXV (reprint of 1490 
A.D., Ed. Rome). 
4 Brhat-samhita, UXXX UXXX, 7; Garuda-purana, LXVIUI, 1, 17-18. Cf. Travels 
of Nicolo Conti (circa 1440), transl., J. W. Jones, (Haklnyt Society), p. 10, 
e speaks of carbuncles, 
