Āryāvarta
Āryāvarta (Sanskrit: आर्यावर्त, "abode of the Aryans") is the name for North India in classical Sanskrit literature. The Manu Smriti (2.22) gives the name to "the tract between the Himalaya and the Vindhya ranges, from the Eastern (Bay of Bengal) to the Western Sea (Arabian Sea)".[1]
The Vasistha Dharma Sutra I.8-9 and 12-13 locates Āryāvarta to the east of the disappearance of the Sarasvati in the desert, to the west of Kalakavana, to the north of the mountains of Pariyatra and Vindhya and to the south of the Himalaya. Baudhayana Dharmasutra (BDS) 1.1.2.10 gives similar definitions and declares that Āryāvarta is the land that lies west of Kalakavana, east of Adarsana, south of the Himalayas and north of the Vindhyas, but in BDS 1.1.2.11 Āryāvarta is confined to the Ganges - Yamuna doab, and BDS 1.1.2.13-15. Patañjali's Mahābhāṣya defines Āryāvarta like the Vasistha Dharma Sutra.
Some sutras recommend expiatory acts for those who have crossed the boundaries of Āryāvarta. Baudhayana Shrauta Sutra recommends this for those who have crossed the boundaries of Āryāvarta and ventured into far away places.
The Gurjar Pratihar king in the tenth century was entitled as Maharajadhiraja of Aryavarta.[2]
References
- ↑ Gopal, Madan (1990). K.S. Gautam, ed. India through the ages. Publication Division, Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, Government of India. p. 70.
- ↑ André Wink (2002). Al-Hind: Early medieval India and the expansion of Islam, 7th-11th centuries. BRILL. p. 284. ISBN 0-391-04173-8, ISBN 978-0-391-04173-8.
Bibliography
- Kane, Pandurang Vaman: History of Dharmasastra: (ancient and mediaeval, religious and civil law) Bhandarkar Oriental Research Institute, Poona (1962–1975)