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INTRODUCTORY
In the absence of the critical editions of the Purāņas, it is very difficult to say which portion is genuine and which spurious. Hence it becomes a difficult task to give the exact chronology of the Puranas. Under these circumstances, for the material taken from the Puranas for the Chronology of Gujarat, the dates of the Puranas are accepted as given by the late Sri Durgāśankar Sästrl, in his standard book Purāṇa-vivecana. These dates. are, therefore, subject to later modification in the light of further research in the field of Puranic Studies.
About this portion of data, mostly gathered from Brahmanical, Buddhistic and Jaina Literary Tradition-namely the Epics, the Purāņas and the later literary works inspired by them, there does not exist any recorded date. However, the geographical data-consisting of references to villages, towns, rivers, mountains and places of pilgrimage and the various regions of colonisation and the settlements of various tribes, along with the dynastic lists of kings and families-afford rich material for interpretation.
It is needless to say that against the general Epic and Puranic background, this account would bring into focus the geographic data on Gujarat.
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