Lāṭa

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Lata (

IAST The International Alphabet of Sanskrit Transliteration (IAST) is a transliteration scheme that allows the lossless romanisation of Indic scripts as employed by Sanskrit and related Indic languages. It is based on a scheme that emerged during ...

: Lāṭa) was a historical region of India, located in the southern part of the present-day

Gujarat Gujarat (, ) is a state along the western coast of India. Its coastline of about is the longest in the country, most of which lies on the Kathiawar peninsula. Gujarat is the fifth-largest Indian state by area, covering some ; and the ninth ...

state. Mahi river The Mahi is a river in western India. It rises in Madhya Pradesh and, after flowing through the Vagad region of Rajasthan, enters Gujarat and flows into the Arabian Sea. It is one of the relatively few west-flowing rivers in India, alongside the ...

in the north and Narmada or Tapi River in south.

Bharuch Bharuch (), formerly known as Broach, is a city at the mouth of the river Narmada in Gujarat in western India. Bharuch is the administrative headquarters of Bharuch District. The city of Bharuch and surroundings have been settled since tim ...

is a major city and former capital of the region. (marked here in modern day

state)." latitude="21.861" longitude="73.477" zoom="6" width="400" height="300" align="right">

Location and extent

''Shakti-Sangam-Tantra'', a Shakt sampradaya text composed before 7th century CE, states that Lata was located to the west of

Avanti (India) Avanti ( sa, अवन्ति) was an ancient Indian Mahajanapada (''Great Realm''), roughly corresponding to the present-day Malwa region. According to the Buddhist texts, the ''Anguttara Nikaya'', Avanti was one of the ''solasa mahajanapa ...

and to the north-west of

Vidarbha Vidarbha (Pronunciation: Help:IPA/Marathi, �id̪əɾbʱə is a geographical region in the east of the Indian state of Maharashtra and a Proposed states and union territories of India#Maharashtra, proposed state of central India, comprising th ...

. According to Tej Ram Sharma, Lata's northern boundary was formed by the

Mahi River The Mahi is a river in western India. It rises in Madhya Pradesh and, after flowing through the Vagad region of Rajasthan, enters Gujarat and flows into the Arabian Sea. It is one of the relatively few west-flowing rivers in India, alongside the ...

, or at times, by the Narmada River. In the south, Lata extended up to the Purna River, and at times, up to Daman. It included

Surat Surat is a city in the western Indian state of Gujarat. The word Surat literally means ''face'' in Gujarati and Hindi. Located on the banks of the river Tapti near its confluence with the Arabian Sea, it used to be a large seaport. It is now ...

Kheda Kheda, also known as Kaira, is a city and a municipality in the Indian state of Gujarat. It was former administrative capital of Kheda district. India's First Deputy Prime Minister Vallabhbhai Patel Was Born In Kheda District of Gujarat State.K ...

and

Vadodara Vadodara (), also known as Baroda, is the second largest city in the Indian state of Gujarat. It serves as the administrative headquarters of the Vadodara district and is situated on the banks of the Vishwamitri River, from the state capital ...

. According to

Georg Bühler Professor Johann Georg Bühler (July 19, 1837 – April 8, 1898) was a scholar of ancient Indian languages and law. Early life and education Bühler was born to Rev. Johann G. Bühler in Borstel, Hanover, attended grammar school in Hanover, whe ...

, Lata was the area between

and Kim River, and its major city was Bharuch.

Historical mentions

The Lata region is not mentioned in the earliest of the

Purana Purana (; sa, , '; literally meaning "ancient, old"Merriam-Webster's Encyclopedia of Literature (1995 Edition), Article on Puranas, , page 915) is a vast genre of Indian literature about a wide range of topics, particularly about legends an ...

s or the

Sanskrit epics Indian epic poetry is the epic poetry written in the Indian subcontinent, traditionally called ''Kavya'' (or ''Kāvya''; Sanskrit: काव्य, IAST: ''kāvyá''). The ''Ramayana'' and the ''Mahabharata'', which were originally composed in ...

. The earliest mention of the region probably comes from the writings of the 2nd century Greco-Egyptian writer

Ptolemy Claudius Ptolemy (; grc-gre, Πτολεμαῖος, ; la, Claudius Ptolemaeus; AD) was a mathematician, astronomer, astrologer, geographer, and music theorist, who wrote about a dozen scientific treatises, three of which were of importanc ...

. The Larike mentioned by him is identified with Lata by multiple scholars including H. D. Sankalia and

D. C. Sircar Dineshchandra Sircar (1907–1985), also known as D. C. Sircar or D. C. Sarkar, was an epigraphist, historian, numismatist and folklorist, known particularly in India and Bangladesh for his work deciphering inscriptions. He was the Chief Ep ...

, The Greek name might have derived from Lār-deśa ("Lār country"), the

Prakrit The Prakrits (; sa, prākṛta; psu, 𑀧𑀸𑀉𑀤, ; pka, ) are a group of vernacular Middle Indo-Aryan languages that were used in the Indian subcontinent from around the 3rd century BCE to the 8th century CE. The term Prakrit is usu ...

form of Lāṭa. Ptolemy mentions that the delta of the river Mophis (identified with Mahi) and Barygaza (Bharuch) were located in Larike. Vatsayayana in his ''

Kama Sutra The ''Kama Sutra'' (; sa, कामसूत्र, , ; ) is an ancient Indian Sanskrit text on sexuality, eroticism and emotional fulfillment in life. Attributed to Vātsyāyana, the ''Kama Sutra'' is neither exclusively nor predominantly ...

'' of the third century calls it ''Láṭa''; describes it as situated to the west of Malwa; and gives an account of several of the customs of its people. In Sanskrit writings and inscriptions later than the third century, the name is frequently found. In the sixth century, the astronomer Varahamihira mentions the country of Láṭa, and the name also appears as Láṭa in an Ajanta and in a Mandasor inscription of the fifth century. It is common in the later inscriptions (a.d. 700–1200) of the

Chaulukya The Chaulukya dynasty (), also Solanki dynasty, was a dynasty that ruled parts of what are now Gujarat and Rajasthan in north-western India, between and . Their capital was located at Anahilavada (modern Patan). At times, their rule extended ...

, Gurjara and Ráshṭrakúṭa kings as well as in the writings of Arab travellers and historians between the eighth and twelfth centuries. '' Dipavamsa'' and '' Mahavamsa'' mention that

Prince Vijaya According to the ''Mahāvaṃsa'' chronicle, Prince Vijaya (c. 543–505 BCE) was the first Sinhalese monarchy, Sinhalese king. Legends and records from both Indian and Sri Lanka sources say that he along with several hundred followers came to ...

came from the

Sinhapura Sinhapura ("Lion City" for Sanskrit; IAST: Siṃhapura) was the capital of the legendary Indian king Sinhabahu. It has been mentioned in the Buddhist legends about Prince Vijaya. The name is also transliterated as ''Sihapura'' or ''Singhapura''. ...

city in the Lala or Lada region. This region is variously identified as Lata in Gujarat or

Rarh Rarh region () is a toponym for an area in the Indian subcontinent that lies between the Chota Nagpur Plateau on the West and the Ganges Delta on the East. Although the boundaries of the region have been defined differently according to various ...

in Bengal. In the

Gupta Gupta () is a common surname or last name of Indian origin. It is based on the Sanskrit word गोप्तृ ''goptṛ'', which means 'guardian' or 'protector'. According to historian R. C. Majumdar, the surname ''Gupta'' was adopted by se ...

-era records, Lata is mentioned as a ''

vishaya A vishaya (IAST: Viṣaya) was a historical administrative unit of India, generally equivalent to a modern district. Several other terms for units equivalent to a modern district appear in historical inscriptions, including ''āhāra'', ''rashtra'' ...

'' (

: viṣaya) or district. The Lāṭa-viṣaya was well-known until the 8th century. The Latesvara country mentioned in some early

Gurjara-Pratihara The Gurjara-Pratihara was a dynasty that ruled much of Hindustan, Northern India from the mid-8th to the 11th century. They ruled first at Ujjain and later at Kannauj. The Gurjara-Pratiharas were instrumental in containing Arab armies moving ...

and

Rashtrakuta Rashtrakuta (IAST: ') (r. 753-982 CE) was a royal Indian dynasty ruling large parts of the Indian subcontinent between the sixth and 10th centuries. The earliest known Rashtrakuta inscription is a 7th-century copper plate grant detailing their ...

records is probably same as Lata. The

Chalukyas of Lata The Chalukyas of Lata were an Indian dynasty, which ruled the Lata region of present-day Gujarat during 10th and 11th centuries. They ruled as feudatories of the Western Chalukyas in their early years, and were ultimately defeated by the Chauluk ...

ruled the region during the 10th and 11th centuries.

References

Bibliography

* * * * {{Gujarat Historical Indian regions History of Gujarat