Āryāvarta

The approximate extent of the Vedic period Āryāvarta is highlighted in pale yellow

Āryāvarta (Sanskrit:, lit. "abode of the Aryans", Sanskrit pronunciation: [aːɾjaːˈʋəɾtə]) is the historic name for the present-day northern Indian subcontinent, including the territories north of the Vindhya Range in India, northern Bangladesh, Nepal and the provinces of Punjab and Sindh in Pakistan, as per the classical Sanskrit literature. This is the region where the historic "Aryans" (early Indo-Aryan peoples) settled down.

Classical sources

The Manusmṛti (2.22) gives the name to "the tract between the Himalaya and the Vindhya ranges, from the Eastern Sea (Bay of Bengal) to the Western Sea (Arabian Sea)".

The Vasistha Dharma Sutra I.8-9 and 12-13 locates the Āryāvarta to the east of the disappearance of the Sarasvati River in the desert, to the west of the Kālakavana, to the north of the Pariyatra Mountains and the Vindhya Range and to the south of the Himalayas.

The Baudhayana Dharmasutra (BDS) 1.1.2.10 gives similar definitions and declares that Āryāvarta is the land that lies west of Kālakavana, east of Adarsana, south of the Himalayas and north of the Vindhyas, but in BDS 1.1.2.11 Āryāvarta is confined to the doab of the Ganges-Yamuna, and BDS 1.1.2.13-15. Patanjali's Mahābhāṣya defines Āryāvarta like the Vasistha Dharmasutra.

Some sutras recommend expiatory acts for those who have crossed the boundaries of Āryāvarta. The Baudhayana Shrauta Sutra recommends this for those who have crossed the boundaries of Āryāvarta and ventured into far away places.

The Gurjara-Pratihara king in the tenth century was titled the Maharajadhiraja of Aryavarta.

See also

• Names of India