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AFRI, 1921 ]
THE ANCIENT GEOGRAPHY OF INDIA
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the earth es so many islands was maintained also by the Greeks, and is referred to by Teopompo in Eliano, by Erastothenes, and by Strabo.11 As for the Indian theory of concentric islands, its origin may be explained thus (1) the change of meanings of the words dripa and samudra ; dulpa (derived by Pāṇini as dvi +ap; and thus etymologically connected with doab), meant, primarily, land having water (and not sea) on two and not all) of its sides. The original meaning of samudra is a collection of water. 15 These words lost their original meanings and came to mean island and sea respectively. (2) Now when the Epic and Puranic writers (who had not the slightest personal knowledge of foreign lands) attempted the difficult task of arranging the traditional accounts of the different parts of the then known world handed down from those who actually visited them, they harmonized (?) the different accounts by reducing them to this system. But though their system is wrong and though there is plenty of the fabulous in Hindu Geography, their accounts of the different parts of the world were based on facts. Mr. Wilford collected an account of the River Nile and of its source and reconstructed & map out of the Purâņas. 13 H. H. Wilson called him an injudicious writor."14 Cunningham remarked that his essay is a "wild speculation."16 St. Martin stated him to be the first victim of the "imposture" geographical literature of the Hindus. 16 But Lieut. J. H. Speke, (in his Discovery of the Source of the Nile, chaps. I, V, X) unhesitatingly states that when planning his discovery of the source of the Nile, he secured his best information from Wilford's map and testifies to the substantial correctness of the Puranic account.17 Is is not enough to repay the labours of the Purâna-writers that it is they (and not Ptolemy, the great geographer of Greek Egypt) who helped the nineteenth century explorer with their accurate knowledge of that part of the country ? As the subject of our study is the ancient geography of India and not the geographical theories of ancient Indians, we dismiss the theory of seven dripas with these remarks and return to the sources describing India only.
The indigenous geography of India is, like every other Indian Science, chiefly dependent on religion. India is a land of tirihas every crag, every spring, every river, and every hoary tree is sacred. As it is a duty of every pious Indian-Hindu, Jaina, or Buddhist to make pilgrimages, pilgrims travelled far and wide to pay their respects to the objects of their veneration. This expanded their knowledge which has been embalmed in the sacred literature-Orthodox (Hindu) or Heterodox (Jaina and Buddhist). Thus though disregard to the historical order of things, owing to their peculiar religious idea that worldly existence is a misery, has caused the want of historical accounts, yet it is that same peculiar religion which did much to preserve the materials of geography. And though there is plenty of the fabulous in Indian geography of outlandish regions, the allusions to purely Indian topography are generally sober. The main features of the country were adequately known in very early times.
Let us now examine the different branches of Indian literature as geographical sources. The Vodas are our only source of the geography of Vedic India. Vivien de St. Martin
11 Pallo's Studi, vol. IV, p. 20, quoting Berger's "Geschichte der wise. Geographie der Griechen," p. 12. 19 St. Martin's Géographie du Voda, p. 62.
18 Ariatick Researches, vol. III. 14 Hindu Theatre, vol. I, p. 9.
16 A. 8. R., vol. I, p. i. 16 St. Martin's Etat actuel des études sur l'Inde ancienne, p. siil. 11 Schoff's Periplus, pp. 87 and 230.
