Identifying the Geographical Boundaries of Puṇḍravardhana

Abstract

The land of Puṇḍravardhana witnessed the emergence of human settlement much early. This area must have obtained an urban status not later than third century BCE and underwent further development till the Pāla-Sena period. This region is fed by several rivers, their tributaries and ultimately pour out their water to the Ganges. Such rivers were the lifeline for the urban centres engaged in trade and commerce and rendered fertile and vast agricultural fields by their silt deposits. Generally, we believe that the land between the river Karatoya in the east and Mahananda in the west was known as the Puṇḍravardhana bhukti. This is almost identical with the Varendra region of the Pāla- Sena inscriptions. The motive of this paper is to frame out the geographical boundaries of Puṇḍravardhana bhukti more precisely on the lights of new archaeological findings and interpretations.