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seamen to bring the stories of the manners and customs and also certain geographical names of the countries which they visited. There is no doubt while studying this information one has to be very critical as an element of marvel permeates these travellers' tales.
Secondly, we know from the Jain Sūtras that the country in which the Jain monks could preach was confined to Anga, Magadha, Kosambi, Thīnā and Sävatthi, or roughly speaking that tract of land which includes modern Bihar, eastern U.P., and a portion of western U.P., and therefore, it is natural that the geographical knowledge of the early Jain scriptures should be confined entirely to that area. Thus in the Bhagavatī, the Avasyaka cūrņi and other scriptures we are told the names of number of towns, townlets, villages etc., mostly belonging to Anga-Magadha of which unfortunately there are no traces. It is, however, related in the Jain scriptures, and the tradition is very ancient and genuine, that in the time of Samprati, the grandson of Asoka, who was a devout Jain, other parts of the country including Maharastra, Andhra, Saurāstra and Coorg (Kudukka) etc. were opened to the Jain monks for preaching and proselytizing. This fact alone increased the geographical knowledge of the Jains substantially.
The monks themselves realised the importance of seeing and studying the various factors in the countries which they visited. Thus in the Brhatkalba Bhasya, which may perhaps be dated to the early century of the Christian era, elaborate instructions are given to the monks who toured from year to year the various parts of the country. It is mentioned that by seeing the country the monks purify their souls and gain equanimity of mind. These regular tours taught them many languages and afforded them opportunities to examine the various republics which they visited at length. This knowledge they brought back home and utilised it instructing their pupils and followers (1.1226). Among the various requisites of a monk it was expected of him that he should be accomplished in various regional languages (ibid., 1230). In the course of their Janapada tours the attention of the monks was also engaged by such worldly factors as the various means of irrigation, the products of the various parts of the country, various trade centres and the local habits of the populace (zbid. 1239).
Now it must be evident that there was a definite feeling in the Jain church in the early century of the Christian era to know thoroughly the parts of the countries which were under the sphere of the Jain influence This growth of geographical knowledge may be further seen in the Cürnis and even the Tikäs where an effort to record truly and scientifically the ethnological and geographical facts is observed.
To sum up, we have tried to collect together this motley information of the Jain scriptures at one place so that students of ancient Indian geography may not have to grope into the thick and often badly edited Jain texts. In collecting, however, this information the difficulties have been to identify most of the obscure place-names visited by Mahāvila un
