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AN EARLY HISTORY OF ORISSA
CHAPTER I
( Section I) THE GEOGRAPHICAL FACTOR IN THE
HISTORY OF ORISSA Geography has moulded the destiny of India to a very great extent. India is a vast sub-Continent separated from the rest of Asia by the great mountain ranges in the north, north-west and north-east, and is bounded by sea on the rest of its sides. These physical barriers which 'played a highly important part in directing human destiny,' have given it a distinct 'geographical personality' as the anthropo-geographers call it. This will be apparent when we see a population map of the world which shows India as one of the most densely populated countries. The main centres of civili. zation in India were away from the 'plenty of the tropics and the poverty of the poles—the conditions that stimulate man to sustain efforts';3 and that is the most note-worthy geographic feature that has made India the centre of one of the most ancient and high civilizations of the world. Only the distinct 'geographical personality' of India, and probably, the limited capacity of the openings into the land account for the fundamental unity of Indian culture.
Yet, there is a distinct diversity and variety in its component regions. Vidal de la Blanche' has drawn atten1. Ray H. Whitbeck & Olive J. Thomas-Geographical Factor,
p. 27. 2. Fabore--Geographical Introducion to History. 3. Whitbeck & Thomas, op. cit., p. 102. 4. Fabore, op. cit., p. 315,
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