Āryāvarta (Sanskrit: आर्यावर्त, , Aryavarta, Monier Williams Sanskrit English Dictionary (1899) ) is a term for the northern Indian subcontinent in the ancient Hindu texts such as Dharmashastras and Sutras, referring to the areas of the Indo-Gangetic Plain and surrounding regions settled during and after the Indo-Aryan migrations by Indo-Aryan tribes and where Indo-Aryan religion and rituals predominated. The limits of Āryāvarta extended over time, as reflected in the various sources, as the influence of the Brahmanism spread eastwards in post-Vedic times.
The Vasistha Dharma Sutra (oldest sutras ca. 500–300 BCE) 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.
Patanjali's (mid-2nd century BCE) defines Āryāvarta like the Vashistha Dharmasutra. According to Bronkhost, he "situates it essentially in the Ganges plan, between the Thar desert in the west and the confluence of the rivers Ganges (Ganga) and Jumna (Yamuna) in the east."
The Manava Dharmasastra (ca.150-250 CE) gives aryavarta as stretching from the eastern to the western seas, which Bronkhorst directly associates with the growing sphere of influence of the Brahmanical ideology.
According to Bronkhorst, the Brahmins overcame their deprivation of patrons by providing new services and by incorporating the non-Vedic Indo-Aryan religious heritage of the eastern Ganges plain along with local religious traditions, giving rise to the Hindu synthesis.
However, several other Indologists and scholars have criticised Johannes Bronkhorst's claim of a sharp cultural divide between east and west, the supposed lesser influence of Brahmanisation in early Magadha, and his proposed revision of textual chronology, while also criticising him for overlooking the role of socioeconomic and political developments in shaping new ideological trends.
Patrick Olivelle is especially critical of all those who see Śramaṇa seers of Magadha as non-Brahmanical, anti-Brahmanical, or even non-Aryan precursors of later sectarian ascetics. According to Olivelle, these scholars are trying to draw conclusions that far outstrip the available empirical evidence.
Alexander Wynne asserts that unorthodox Brahmin thinkers in the eastern gangetic plains developed the ideas that triggered the ascetic and philosophical culture Bronkhorst associates with Greater Magadha.
Madhyadesa extended from the upper reaches of the Ganges and the Yamuna to the confluence of the two rivers at Triveni Sangam, and was the region where, during the time of the Mahajanapadas, the Kuru Kingdom and Pañcāla existed. The entire region is considered sacred in the Hindu mythology as gods and heroes mentioned in the two epics, the Ramayana and Mahabharata, lived here.
The Gurjara-Pratihara king in the tenth century was titled the Maharajadhiraja of Aryavarta.
Devapala, the emperor of Pala Empire was known to be the Overlord of Aryavarta.
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