aryavrat

Aryvarta^{[pronunciation?]} (Sanskrit: , "abode of the Aryans") is a name for North India in classical Sanskrit literature.^[1] The Manu Smriti (2.22) gives the name to "the tract between the Himalaya and the Vindhya ranges, from the Eastern (Bay of Bengal) to the Western Sea (Arabian Sea)".

The Vasistha Dharma Sutra I.8-9 and 12-13 locates ryvarta to the east of the disappearance of the Sarasvatiin the desert, to the west of Kalakavana, to the north of the mountains of Pariyatra and Vindhya and to the south of the Himalaya. Baudhayana Dharmasutra (BDS) 1.1.2.10 gives similar definitions and declares that ryvarta is the land that lies west of Kalakavana, east of Adarsana, south of the Himalayas and north of the Vindhyas, but in BDS 1.1.2.11 ryvarta is confined to the Ganges - Yamuna doab, and BDS 1.1.2.13-15. Patajali'sMahbhya^{[citation needed]} defines ryvarta like the Vasistha Dharma Sutra.

Some sutras recommend expiatory acts for those who have crossed the boundaries of ryvarta. Baudhayana Shrauta Sutra recommends this for those who have crossed the boundaries of ryvarta and ventured into far away places.^{[citation needed]}

The Gurjar Pratihar king in the tenth century was entitled as Maharajadhiraja of Aryavarta.^[2]

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