________________
GEOGRAPHICAL FACTOR
of it which lies at the bottom of the Eastern Ghats, was the march-land between the Kalinga and the Andhra countries. An account of Orissa, known as Kalinga from the early medieval period, must, therefore, necessarily be an account of these areas (rather Greater Orissa) as she originally included them until the last days of her independence.
The country of Kalinga, as already pointed out, extended upto the modern districts of Medinipur and Howrah in the West Bengal. Even in Mughal times, the Suvarnarekhā river, now passing through the south-western part of the district of Medinipur, was regarded as the northern boundary of Orissa. Even now the titles of the majority of Hindu zamindars of Medinipur prove that they were land-holders and feudatories of Hindu kings of Orissa at no distant date. The people of south-western Medinipur are very much like those of Balasore and Mayurbhanj in manners, customs, language and caste. Towards the west the language of Orissa gradually merges into that of aboriginal tribes who live in the secluded valleys of the Eastern Ghats, beginning with Dhalbhum and Singbhum to the north and west of Mayurbhanj, and ending with the former states of Karond, Kanker and Bastar in the Madhya Pradeśa. The districts of Khammamet and Nalgonda in Hyderabad, lie on the ghats immediately to the west of the Krishnā-Godavari doab, and these are the northern-most districts of the Telugu couatry on the Deccan plateau.
If, in the past, the inhabitants of this tract of land happened to be one of the most enterprising and prosperous peoples, it was mainly due to the unique position that Kalinga enjoyed in the geography of India. With the impassable hilly jungles on her back, with the fertile valley of the Gangā-Brahmaputra to the north, the GodavariKrishnā doab to the south, and with the mighty water mass
Jain Education International
For Personal & Private Use Only
www.jainelibrary.org
