Geographical location of Vedic Irina in Southern Rajasthan

Iyengar, RN and Radhakrishna, BP (2007) Geographical location of Vedic Irina in Southern Rajasthan. In: Journal of the Geological Society of India, 70 (5). pp. 699-705.

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Abstract

Vedic literature refers to a place or region by name Irina. In the Rgveda it appears as a locale frequented by a particular wild animal for drinking water. But with the passage of time, in the Yajurveda texts, the word acquires a negative meaning as a desert or a place devoid of water. Gradually, in the ritualistic Vedic texts Irina gets more and more associated with disaster or misfortune. The physical features associated with Irina, as described metaphorically in the Vedic texts, are analysed to identify its probable location. It is possible the word Irina is the progenitor of the Greek name (gulf of) Eirinon of Periplus which is presently designated as the Ran-of-Kutch. During the Rgveda period Irina was in all probability, situated a little north of the Ran-of-Kutch. Available data indicates its location in the Luni-Jawai plains west of the Aravallis, in Rajasthan. The small town Erinpura (25 degrees 5'N, 73 degrees 3'E) appears to retain memories of the Vedic Irina.

Item Type:	Journal Article
Publication:	Journal of the Geological Society of India
Publisher:	Geological Society of India
Additional Information:	Copyright of this article belongs to Geological Society of India.
Department/Centre:	Division of Mechanical Sciences > Civil Engineering
Date Deposited:	04 Aug 2008
Last Modified:	19 Sep 2010 04:48
URI:	http://eprints.iisc.ac.in/id/eprint/15391

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