Uttara Kuru

[Dominique.Thillaud]

>This is not entirely true. In Greek and Latin sources Uttarakuru is
>rendered Ottorokora (and
>variants). In the Geography of Ptolemy Ottorokora is a city, Ottorokoras
>is a river and
>Ottorokorai a people, all of them situated in the southern part of Serike.
>Serike, which is
>definitely not China as is often thought, included not only extensive
>parts of Central Asia
>including Tibet, but very probably also Assam and adjacent areas.
>The Attacori of Pliny might also refer to the Uttarakuru people and are
>explicitly identified
>by him with the Hyperboraeans. His description of their country as a
>valley secluded by
>mountains and enjoying a beneficial climate (like the Hyperboreans) as
>well as the rest of his
>geographical indications seem to me to point in the direction of Assam.

        Why not ?
        But the myths and rumors about "Lost Happy Valleys", Shangri-La,
Eden, Ultimate Thule, Eldorado, &c. are very common ones and I'm not sure
the sources of Ptolemy and Pliny were verified ones. Their conception of
the Geography was not the our own ;-)
        Without archeological or textual evidence, an identification with
any real place is nothing but a gamble (but perhaps you win!).

        Regards,
Dominique

Dominique THILLAUD
Universite' de Nice Sophia-Antipolis, France