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No. III ]
A NOTE ON DESIGANA.
65
Therefore the said tot seems to have been so called as its grati became famous in every country (agregirant) they visited, perhaps on a religious mission to preach and spread Jainism. But this explanation seems to be lacking in historical sense in that it clearly seems to have been easily based on the actual and primary meaning of the word ag' which means 'a country'; or in other words this explanation is merely a ready-made enlargement of the literal sense of ag'. I cannot bring myself to accept this explanation, but shall offer mine own in instead, which, however, I leave to the readers to judge.
That portion of the Deccan that lay between the Western Ghaut Bālāghāt (aroratt) the Karnāṭaka country of the ancient and medieval times and the river Gödārarī was called simply the
Dēša ;3 and the Brāhmanas, who were the inhabitants of this country of ' are still known as arma' Brāhmaṇas. It is because a certain portion of the members of the afatia colonised or settled or otherwise dwelt in the said country of it, I presume, their section must have come to be called aging. For as we have seen above, there are other sections of " Mūla-Sangha," which are called the 'grace -107' and 'Fic-Tu'. Now in the former name, the word 'grata'4 is the name of a certain portion of South India, which now lies in the S W. of the Mysore State, and its capital was Kittipur fragt or Kittur (125) which is now included in the
tocarà tālūka of the said state. The Greek geographer Ptolmey (150 A. C.) has mentioned the ‘Pounnata' (or Pounata) as containing mines of the precious stone, known as beryl' (dad). The पुन्नाट संघ of the Digambara Jainas was also known as कित्त र संघ Though it is not possible to say where the place called (Forge) 1. The uplands of the present North-Kanara district (in Bombay
Presy.) Vide“ Bombay Gazeteer, Vol. XIII, pt. I p. 2. 2. Vide " Imperial Gazeteer " Bombay Prescy) vol. I, pp. 194—196. 3. #Etreta 97819 HITT 94 (aar')
4. In the earlier times 'Paiz' included also the present district of Coimbatore in the Madras Presidency.
5. Sravanabelgola Inscrips. No. 81.
