Raaladesha and more

[Ashok Aklujkar]

IOn 2010-06-17, at 7:59 PM, Mahes Raj Pant wrote:

> 1. Two Nepalese inscriptions, the one from early 17th and the other from early 18th century, record the meritorious acts of the Vasis.Thagotrin BhaTTa Brahmins hailing from Raaladesha, situated on the bank the Kaaverii river. The latter inscription spells the desha in question as RaaDa. There is no problem in la and ra because we know that ralayor abhedah.<

Dear Dr. Pant,

Your Raala/Raa.da is probably the Raa.dha/Laa.la mentioned on the following pages of D.C. Sirkar's _Studies in the Geography of Ancient and Medieval India_: 37n, 122, 131n, 158n, 170, 217 and 246n. 

Sircar puts Raa.dha in ancient Suhma or the Burdwan region of Southwest Bengal, which would conflict with the detail "on the bank the Kaaverii river" in your post. However, on none of the pages I have specified above does Sircar explain why Raa.dha should be located where he locates it. Nor in the specifics he gives about similarly sounding Raal and Laa.l (that he justifiably connects with Raa.dha) do I see any reason for accepting a location in Southwest Bengal. Therefore, at least for the present, I would say that your inscription may have given us the correct location of Raa.dha or a precious clue as to how far to the south Raa.dha extended. 

ashok aklujkar