Indian Antiquary Vol 13

SR No.: 032505
Original Sutra Author: N/A
Author: John Faithfull Fleet, Richard Carnac Temple
Publisher: Swati Publications
Publication Year: 1984
Total Pages: 492
Language: English
Classification: Book_English
File Size: 22 MB

Page 431

DECEMBER, 1884.
PTOLEMY'S GEOG. BK. VII, CH. 2, & 25.
388
Trai-linga, the three 'lingas' of Mahadeva; and this in Arakan is part of an extensive district in the Puranas, called Tri-pura, or the three towns and townships first inhabited by three Daityas. These three districts were Kamill, Chattala and Burmânaka, or Rabing, to be pro- nounced Ra-shAnh, or nearly 80; it is now Arakan. Kamilla alone retains the name of Tripara, the two other districts having been wrested from the head RÂja. Ptolemy says that in the country of the Trilinga, there were white ravens, white parrots, and bearded cooks. The wbite parrot is the kdkdtrd; white ravens are to be seen occasionally in India... Some say that this white colour might have been artificial .... The bearded cocks have, as it were, & collar of reversed feathers round the neck and throat, and there only, which gives it the appearance of beard. These are found only in the houses of native princes, from whom I procured three or four; and am told that they came originally from the hills in the N. W. of India.” Lassen has adopted a somewhat similar view. He says (Ind. Alt., vol. Ili, p. 288-9): "Trigly. phon was probably the capital of the Silver country, Arakan of the present day. It lies, according to Ptolemy's determination, one degree further east and 35 degrees further north than the mouths of the Arikan river. The mouths are placed in the right direction, only the numbers are too great. It may be added that the founda- tion of this city, which was originally called Vaibali, belongs to earlier times than those of Ptolemy, and no other capital in known to us in this country. The Greek name which means 'thrice cloven,' i.e., 'three-forked' or 'a trident' buite likewise with Arakan, because it lies at the projections of the delta, and the Arikan river, in the lower part of its course, splits into several arms, three of which are of superior importance. Ptolemy's remark that the cocks there are bearded and the ravens and parrots white, favours this view, for according to Blyth (J. A. S. Beng., vol. XV, p. 26) there is found in Arakan & species of the Bucconidae, which on account of their beards are called by the English barbets,' and on the same anthority we learn that what is said of the ravens and parrots is likewise correct." Onnningham again, says (Anc. Geog. of Ind., pp. 518-9): "In the inscriptions of the Kalachuri, or Haihaya dynasty of Cbodi, the Rajas assume the titles of "Lords of Kaliñjarapura, and of Trikalinga." Trikalinga, or the three Kalingas, must be the three kingdoms Dhanakataka, or Amaravatt, on the Krishna, Andhra or Warangol, and Kalinga, or Rajamahêndri. “The name of Trikalinga is probably old, as Pliny mentions the Macco-Calinagwe
and the Gangarides-Calingae as separato peoples from the Calingae, while the Mahabharata names the Kalingas three separate times, and each time in conjunction with different peoples. As Trikalinga thus corresponds with the great province of Télingana, it seems probable that the name of Télingana may be only a slightly contracted form of Trikalingana, or the three Kalingas. I am aware that the name is usually derived from Tri-linga, or the three phalli of Mahadeva. Bat the mention of Macco-Calingae and GangaridesCalingae by Pliny would seem to show that the three Kalingas were known as early as the time of Megasthenes, from whom Pliny has chiefly copied his Indian Geography. The name must therefore be older than the Phallio worship of Mabadêva in Southern India." Caldwell observes (Dravid. Gram., Introd., p. 32) that though Trilingon is said to be on the Ganges, it may have been considerably to the south of it, and on the God varf, which was always regarded by the Hindus as a branch of the Ganges, and is mythologically identical with it. The Andhras and Kalingas, the two ancient divisions of the Telugu people are represented by the Greeks as Gangetic nations. It may be taken as certain that Triglyphon, Trilinga or Modogalinga was identical with Telingana or Trilingam, which signifies the country of the three ligas. The Telugu name and language are fixed by Pliny and Ptolemy as near the mouths of the Ganges or between the Ganges and the GôdA vari. Modo or Modoga is equivalent to múdu of modern Telugu. It means three." Yule again places Trilingon on the left bank of the Brahmaputra, identifying it with Tripura (Tippera), a town in the district of the same name, 48 miles E.S.E. of Dhâkka.
Rhingi bêri:-Saint-Martin and Yule, as we have seen, place Rangamati on the Brahmaputra at Udipur, Wilford, however, had placed it near Chitagaon, and identified it with Ptolemy's Rhinggibéri. "Ptolemy," he says (Asiat, Res., vol. XIV, p. 439); " has placed the source of the Dorias" (which in Wilford's opinion is the Damurd or Dumviya, called in the lower part of its course the Karmaphuli" in some country to the south of Salhata or Silhet, and he mentions two towns on its banks : Pandassa in the upper part of its course, but unknown; in the lower part Rhingibêri, now Rangamati near Chåtgåv (Chitagaon), and Reang is the name of the country on its banks. On the lesser Dumure, the river Chingri of the Bengal Atlas, and near its source, is a town called there Reang. Rangamati and Rang-b&ți, to be pronounced Rangabari, imply nearly the same thing."
Tomara was no doubt a place belonging to