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107-650: The earliest references to a fabulous land of gold that could be interpreted as places in Southeast Asia may be found in Indian literature. In the Ramayana , there are mentions of Suvarnabhumi (Land of Gold) and Suvarnadvipa (the Golden Island or Peninsula, where dvipa might refer to either a peninsula or an island ) Greek knowledge of lands to their east improved after the conquests of Alexander

214-526: A promontory and an island . Ptolemy's Geography , based on the work by Marinus of Tyre , contains the best-known and perhaps the earliest reference to the Golden Chersonese. However, Geography includes information added by later geographers, and the first specific mention of the Golden Chersonese may be in the work of Marcian of Heraclea . Chersonese means peninsula in Greek, and although

321-697: A Torave Ramayana in Kannada by 16th-century poet Narahari; Adhyathmaramayanam , a Malayalam version by Thunchaththu Ramanujan Ezhuthachan in the 16th century; in Marathi by Sridhara in the 18th century; in Maithili by Chanda Jha in the 19th century; and in the 20th century, Rashtrakavi Kuvempu 's Sri Ramayana Darshanam in Kannada and Srimadramayana Kalpavrukshamu in Telugu by Viswanatha Satyanarayana who received Jnanapeeth award for this work. There

428-801: A closed basin. Arab geographers were aware that the idea of the Indian Ocean as a closed basin was a mistake by the 8th century, for example in the work of al-Khwārizmī , Book of the Description of the Earth . They showed that the Indian Ocean might be linked to the World Oceans , with the eastern limit of the inhabited world beyond the Malay Peninsula being the Island of the Jewel in

535-554: A demon, Lankini , who protects all of Lankā. Hanumān fights with her and subjugates her in order to get into Lankā. In the process, Lankini, who had an earlier vision/warning from the gods, therefore, knows that the end of Lankā nears if someone defeats Lankini. Here, Hanumān explores the demons' kingdom and spies on Rāvaṇa. He locates Sītā in Ashoka grove, where she is being wooed and threatened by Rāvaṇa and his rakshasis to marry Rāvaṇa. Hanumān reassures Sītā, giving Rāma's signet ring as

642-551: A few early scholars had attempted to link the Golden Chersonese with Lower Burma , the term is now generally accepted to mean the Malay Peninsula. The Malay Peninsula is thought to have been a producer of gold in ancient times, and gold mines in Patani and Pahang were still mentioned in the 17th century by the Malay-Portuguese writer Godinho de Erédia . Although gold is no longer a major product of modern-day Malaysia, it

749-585: A gift. Rama's rule itself was Rāma rājya described to be a just and fair rule. It is believed by many that when Rama returned people celebrated their happiness with diyas , and the festival of Deepavali is connected with Rāma's return. Scholars note "linguistic and rhetorical differences" between the Uttara Kanda and books 2 through 6 of the Ramayana, especially in stories such as Sita's exile and death of Shambuka , and together with Bala Kanda it

856-409: A gigantic form and makes a colossal leap across the sea to Lanka. On the way, he meets with many challenges like facing a Gandharva Kanyā who comes in the form of a demon to test his abilities. He encounters a mountain named Maināka who offers Hanuman assistance and offers him rest. Hanumān refuses because there is little time remaining to complete the search for Sītā. After entering Lankā, he finds

963-576: A quarter of the globe. Ptolemy's work included a single large and less detailed world map and then separate and more detailed regional maps. The first Greek manuscripts compiled after Maximus Planudes 's rediscovery of the text had as many as 64 regional maps. The standard set in Western Europe came to be 26: 10 European maps, 4 African maps, and 12 Asian maps. As early as the 1420s, these canonical maps were complemented by extra-Ptolemaic regional maps depicting, e.g., Scandinavia . An outline of

1070-688: A scribal error was made and Cattigara was located at eight and a half degrees South of the Equator. On Ptolemaic maps, such as that of Martellus, Catigara was located on the easternmost shore of the Mare Indicum, 180 degrees East of the Cape St Vincent at, due to the scribal error, eight and a half degrees South of the Equator. Catigara is also shown at this location on Martin Waldseemüller's 1507 world map, which avowedly followed

1177-437: A sign that Rāma is still alive. He offers to carry Sītā back to Rāma; however, she refuses and says that it is not the dharma, stating that Ramāyaṇa will not have significance if Hanumān carries her to Rāma – "When Rāma was not there Rāvaṇa carried Sītā forcibly and when Rāvaṇa was not there, Hanumān carried Sītā back to Ræma." She says that Rāma himself must come and avenge the insult of her abduction. She gives Hanumān her comb as

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1284-501: A single river which does not actually exist. It has however been suggested that this might be an indication of the existence of an ancient transpeninsular route that linked Perak and Pahang, a short cut between the east and west coasts of the Malay Peninsula. Ramayana Traditional The Ramayana ( / r ɑː ˈ m ɑː j ə n ə / ; Sanskrit : रामायणम् , romanized :  Rāmāyaṇam ), also known as Valmiki Ramayana , as traditionally attributed to Valmiki ,

1391-437: A son and in the desire to have a legal heir performs a fire sacrifice known as Putrīyā Iṣṭi. Meanwhile, the gods are petitioning to Brahmā and Viṣhṇu about Rāvaṇa, king of the rākṣasas who is terrorizing the universe. Thus Viṣṇu had opted to be born into mortality to combat the demon Rāvaṇa . As a consequence, Rāma was first born to Kausalyā, Bharata was born to Kaikeyī, and Lakṣmaṇa and Śatrughna were born to Sumitrā. When Rāma

1498-517: A token to prove that she is still alive. Hanumān takes leave of Sītā. Before going back to Rāma and tell him of Sītā's location & desire to be rescued only by him, he decides to wreak havoc in Lankā by destroying trees in the Naulakha Bagh and buildings and killing Rāvaṇa's warriors. He allows himself to be captured and delivered to Rāvaṇa. He gives a bold lecture to Rāvaṇa to release Sīta. He

1605-703: A twelve-year exile. After nine years, Dasharatha died and Lakkhaṇa and Sita returned. Rāmapaṇḍita, in deference to his father's wishes, remained in exile for a further two years. This version does not include the abduction of Sītā. There is no Ravana in this version, or the Rama-Ravana war. However, Ravana appears in other Buddhist literature, the Lankavatara Sutra . Ptolemy%27s Geography The Geography ( Ancient Greek : Γεωγραφικὴ Ὑφήγησις , Geōgraphikḕ Hyphḗgēsis , lit.  "Geographical Guidance"), also known by its Latin names as

1712-652: A version of the Ramayana in the 17th century. Akbar , the third Mughal Emperor, commissioned a simplified text of the Ramayana which he dedicated to his mother, Hamida Banu Begum . Created around 1594, the manuscript is illustrated with scenes from the narrative. Other versions include Krittivasi Ramayan , a Bengali version by Krittibas Ojha in the 15th century; Vilanka Ramayana by 15th century poet Sarala Dasa and Jagamohana Ramayana (also known as Dandi Ramayana ) by 16th century poet Balarama Dasa, both in Odia ;

1819-406: A wicked maidservant, to claim two boons that Daśaratha had long ago granted her. Kaikeyī demands Rāma to be exiled into the wilderness for fourteen years , while the succession passes to her son Bharata. The grief-stricken king, bound by his word, accedes to Kaikeyī's demands. Rāma accepts his father's reluctant decree with absolute submission and calm self-control which characterizes him throughout

1926-484: Is that the Rama, Lakshmana and Hanuman were tied to a tree and were brought to trial in the tribal court, where the deities of the clan Sidhappan, Nanjappan, Mathappan etc. interrogate them with intense inquiries regarding the ethical justification for abandoning his pregnant wife in the barren jungle, neglecting his duties as a husband. Rama admits his mistakes and reaccepts Sita, Lava and Kusha. Even before Kambar wrote

2033-600: Is a smriti text (also described as a Sanskrit epic ) from ancient India , one of the two important epics of Hinduism known as the Itihasas , the other being the Mahabharata . The epic narrates the life of Rama , the seventh avatar of the Hindu deity Vishnu , who is a prince of Ayodhya in the kingdom of Kosala . The epic follows his fourteen-year exile to the forest urged by his father King Dasharatha , on

2140-472: Is a sub-plot to the Ramayana , prevalent in some parts of India, relating the adventures of Ahiravan and Mahi Ravana, evil brother of Ravana, which enhances the role of Hanuman in the story. Hanuman rescues Rama and Lakshmana after they are kidnapped by the Ahi-Mahi Ravana at the behest of Ravana and held prisoner in a cave, to be sacrificed to the goddess Kali . Adbhuta Ramayana is a version that

2247-399: Is a treatise on cartography and chorography , describing the methods used to assemble and arrange Ptolemy's data. From Book II through the beginning of Book VII, a gazetteer provides longitude and latitude values for the world known to the ancient Romans (the " ecumene "). The rest of Book VII provides details on three projections to be used for the construction of a map of

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2354-450: Is an epic poem containing over 24,000 couplet verses, divided into seven kāṇḍa s ( Bālakāṇḍa , Ayodhyakāṇḍa, Araṇyakāṇḍa, Kiṣkindakāṇḍa, Sundarākāṇḍa , Yuddhakāṇḍa, Uttarakāṇḍa), and about 500 sargas (chapters). It is regarded as one of the longest epic poems ever written. The Ramayana text has several regional renderings, recensions, and sub-recensions. Textual scholar Robert P. Goldman differentiates two major regional revisions:

2461-446: Is an image of Rama and Sita inside his chest. Rama rules Ayodhya and the reign is called Rama-Rajya (a place where the common folk is happy, fulfilled, and satisfied). Then Valmiki trained Lava and Kusha in archery and succeeded the throne after Rama. As in many oral epics, multiple versions of the Ramayana survive. In particular, the Ramayana related in north India differs in important respects from that preserved in south India and

2568-464: Is best if he continues to follow Rāma's orders to protect her. On the verge of hysterics, Sītā insists that it is not she but Rāma who needs Lakṣmaṇa's help. He obeys her wish but stipulates that she is not to leave the cottage or entertain any stranger. He then draws a line that no demon could cross and leaves to help Rāma. With the coast finally clear, Rāvaṇa appears in the guise of an ascetic requesting Sītā's hospitality. Unaware of her guest's plan, Sītā

2675-588: Is composed of two words, Rāma and ayaṇa . Rāma , the name of the main figure of the epic, has two contextual meanings. In the Atharvaveda , it means 'dark, dark-coloured or black' and is related to the word rātri which means 'darkness or stillness of night'. The other meaning, which can be found in the Mahabharata , is 'pleasing, pleasant, charming, lovely, beautiful'. The word ayana means travel or journey. Thus, Rāmāyaṇa means "Rama's journey" with ayana altered to yaṇa (due to

2782-435: Is condemned and his tail is set on fire, but he escapes his bonds and leaps from roof to roof, sets fire to Rāvaṇa's citadel, and makes the giant leap back from the island. The joyous search party returns to Kiṣkindhā with the news. Also known as Lankā Kāṇḍa , this book describes the war between the army of Rāma and the army of Rāvaṇa. Having received Hanuman's report on Sītā, Rāma and Lakṣmaṇa proceed with their allies towards

2889-605: Is considered by some scholars to be an interpolation, and that "the 'original' poem ended with the Yuddhakanda. This kanda narrates Rama's reign of Ayodhya , the birth of Lava and Kusha , the Ashvamedha yajna , and last days of Rama. At the expiration of his term of exile, Rama returns to Ayodhya with Sita, Lakshmana, and Hanuman, where the coronation is performed. On being asked to prove his devotion to Rama, Hanuman tears his chest open and to everyone's surprise, there

2996-460: Is obscure but also attributed to Valmiki – intended as a supplementary to the original Valmiki Ramayana . In this variant of the narrative, Sita is accorded far more prominence, such as elaboration of the events surrounding her birth – in this case to Ravana 's wife, Mandodari as well as her conquest of Ravana's older brother in the Mahakali form. The Gondi people have their own version of

3103-593: Is still being mined , for example in Raub in Pahang. The Golden Chersonese appears in the map of Ptolemy , which gives some geographical locations on the peninsula. The earliest surviving maps of Ptolemy, however, came from the end of the 13th century. Note that Ptolemy, like many early geographers, believed the Indian Ocean to be a closed sea, and maps based on Ptolemy's work show the Golden Chersonese located within

3210-413: Is tricked and is then forcibly carried away by Rāvaṇa. Jatāyu , a vulture , tries to rescue Sītā but is mortally wounded. In Lankā, Sītā is kept under the guard of rakṣasīs . Ravaṇa asks Sītā to marry him, but she refuses, being totally devoted to Rāma. Meanwhile, Rāma and Lakṣmaṇa learn about Sītā's abduction from Jatāyu and immediately set out to save her. During their search, they meet Kabandha and

3317-648: Is used now, though Ptolemy used fractions of a degree rather than minutes of arc. His Prime Meridian , of 0 longitude , ran through the Fortunate Isles , the westernmost land recorded, at around the position of El Hierro in the Canary Islands . The maps spanned 180 degrees of longitude from the Fortunate Isles in the Atlantic to China . Ptolemy was aware that Europe knew only about

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3424-648: The Geographia and the Cosmographia , is a gazetteer , an atlas , and a treatise on cartography , compiling the geographical knowledge of the 2nd-century Roman Empire . Originally written by Claudius Ptolemy in Greek at Alexandria around 150 AD, the work was a revision of a now-lost atlas by Marinus of Tyre using additional Roman and Persian gazetteers and new principles. Its translation – Kitab Surat al-Ard – into Arabic by Al-Khwarismi in

3531-675: The Alvar literature of Kulasekhara Alvar , Thirumangai Alvar , Andal and Nammalvar (dated between 5th and 10th centuries CE). Even the songs of the Nayanmars have references to Ravana and his devotion to Lord Siva. The entire Ramayana was written as a Tamil Opera again in the 18th century CE by Arunachala Kavirayar in Srirangam . The Ramayana was named as Rama Natakam and was composed in Tamil Language . Arunachala Kavi

3638-488: The Canary Islands . He said that he had sailed 1100 leagues from the Canaries when he found Cuba in 1492. This was approximately where he thought the coast of eastern Asia would be found. On this basis of calculation he identified Hispaniola with Cipangu, which he had expected to find on the outward voyage at a distance of about 700 leagues from the Canaries. His later voyages resulted in further exploration of Cuba and in

3745-601: The Geography in providing the coordinates for 545 cities and regional maps of the Nile , the Island of the Jewel , the Sea of Darkness, and the Sea of Azov . A 1037 copy of these are the earliest extant maps from Islamic lands. The text clearly states that al-Khwārazmī was working from an earlier map, although this could not have been an exact copy of Ptolemy's work: his Prime Meridian

3852-469: The Himalayas . Upon reaching, Hanumān is unable to identify the sanjeevani herb that will cure Lakṣmaṇa and so he decides to bring the entire mountain back to Lankā. Eventually, the war ends when Rāma kills Rāvaṇa. Rāma then installs Vibhishaṇa on the throne of Lanka. On meeting Sītā, Rāma says; "The dishonour meted out to him and the wrong done to her by Rāvaṇa have been wiped off, by his victory over

3959-500: The Hindu life and culture, and its main figures were fundamental to the cultural consciousness of a number of nations, both Hindu and Buddhist . Its most important moral influence was the importance of virtue, in the life of a citizen and in the ideals of the formation of a state (from Sanskrit : रामराज्य , romanized :  Rāmarājya , a utopian state where Rama is king) or of a functioning society/ realm. The name Rāmāyaṇa

4066-732: The Magnus Sinus . This known portion of the world was comprised within 180 degrees. In his extreme east Ptolemy placed Serica (the Land of Silk), the Sinarum Situs (the Port of the Sinae ), and the emporium of Cattigara . On the 1489 map of the world by Henricus Martellus, which was based on Ptolemy's work, Asia terminated in its southeastern point in a cape, the Cape of Cattigara. Cattigara

4173-633: The Marvels of the Seven Climes to the End of Habitation . Surviving maps from the medieval period were not done according to mathematical principles. The world map from the 11th-century Book of Curiosities is the earliest surviving map of the Muslim or Christian worlds to include a geographic coordinate system but the copyist seems to have not understood its purpose, starting it from the left using twice

4280-477: The Mediterranean as they may not be based on astronomical observation, and therefore cannot be reliably used for identification. Ptolemy's work was also copied and translated over many hundreds of years, with the oldest surviving version copied over a thousand years after it was written, and errors may have been introduced. The Ptolemy map shows three rivers which are joined together to form as their source

4387-662: The Ramavataram in Tamil in the 12th century AD, there are many ancient references to the story of Ramayana, implying that the story was familiar in the Tamil lands even before the Common Era. References to the story can be found in the Sangam literature of Akanaṉūṟu (dated 1st century BCE) and Purananuru (dated 300 BC), the twin epics of Silappatikaram (dated 2nd century CE) and Manimekalai (cantos 5, 17 and 18), and

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4494-596: The Sea of Darkness . The Ptolemaic eastern shore became the Dragon's Tail peninsula . The Golden Chersonese is shown on the mappa mundi of Andreas Walsperger made in Constance around 1448. It bears the inscription, hic rex caspar habitavit (here lived King Caspar). Caspar was one of the Three Magi who worshipped the newborn Christ at Bethlehem. Martin of Bohemia , on his 1492 geographical globe , located

4601-483: The 12th century AD. However, no copy of that translation has survived. The Greek text of the Geography reached Florence from Constantinople in about 1400 and was translated into Latin by Jacobus Angelus of Scarperia around 1406. The first printed edition with maps, published in 1477 in Bologna , was also the first printed book with engraved illustrations. Many editions followed (more often using woodcut in

4708-578: The 15th century. The earliest translation to a regional Indo-Aryan language is the early 14th century Saptakanda Ramayana in Assamese by Madhava Kandali . Valmiki's Ramayana inspired Sri Ramacharit Manas by Tulsidas in 1576, an epic in Awadhi Hindi with a slant more grounded in a different realm of Hindu literature, that of bhakti ; it is an acknowledged masterpiece, popularly known as Tulsi-krita Ramayana . Gujarati poet Premanand wrote

4815-403: The 3rd century BC. Ptolemy improved the treatment of map projections . He provided instructions on how to create his maps in the first section of the work. The gazetteer section of Ptolemy's work provided latitude and longitude coordinates for all the places and geographical features in the work. Latitude was expressed in degrees of arc from the equator , the same system that

4922-502: The 6th or 5th century BCE, due to the narrative not mentioning Buddhism (founded in the 5th century BCE) nor the prominence of Magadha (which rose to prominence in the 7th century BCE). The text also mentions Ayodhya as the capital of Kosala , rather than its later name of Saketa or the successor capital of Shravasti . In terms of narrative time, the action of the Ramayana predates the Mahabharata . Goldman & Sutherland Goldman (2022) consider Ramayana's oldest surviving version

5029-487: The 7th to 5th centuries BCE, and later stages extend up to the 3rd century CE, although the original date of composition is unknown. It is one of the largest ancient epics in world literature and consists of nearly 24,000 verses (mostly set in the Shloka / Anuṣṭubh metre), divided into seven kāṇḍa (chapters). It belongs to the genre of Itihasa , narratives of past events ( purāvṛtta ), interspersed with teachings on

5136-515: The 9th century was highly influential on the geographical knowledge and cartographic traditions of the Islamic world . Alongside the works of Islamic scholars – and the commentary containing revised and more accurate data by Alfraganus – Ptolemy's work was subsequently highly influential on Medieval and Renaissance Europe. Versions of Ptolemy's work in antiquity were probably proper atlases with attached maps, although some scholars believe that

5243-503: The Elder demonstrated a reluctance to rely on the contemporary accounts of sailors and merchants who plied distant areas of the Indian Ocean , Marinus and Ptolemy betray a much greater receptiveness to incorporating information received from them. For instance, Grant Parker argues that it would be highly implausible for them to have constructed the Bay of Bengal as precisely as they did without

5350-627: The Great , but specific references to places in Southeast Asia did not appear until after the rise of the Roman Empire . Greek and Roman geographers Eratosthenes , Dionysius Periegetes , and Pomponius Mela had written about a Golden Isle ( Khrysē , Chryse Insula ), which some in modern times have argued refers to Sumatra while excluding the Malay Peninsula. Pliny the Elder in Natural History , however, referred to Chryse as both

5457-569: The Ramayana known as the Gond Ramayani , derived from oral folk legends. It consists of seven stories with Lakshmana as the protagonist, set after the main events of the Ramayana, where he finds a bride. In Adiya Ramayana, an oral version of Ramayana prevailing among the Adiya tribe of Wayanad , Sita is an Adiya woman hailing from Pulpally in Wayanad. A notable difference in the version

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5564-400: The above stemma descends, even if maps existed in antiquity: "The transmission of Ptolemy's text certainly passed through a stage when the manuscripts were too small to contain the maps. Planudes and his assistants therefore probably had no pictorial models, and the success of their enterprise is proof that Ptolemy succeeded in his attempt to encode the map in words and numbers. The copies of

5671-553: The accounts of sailors. When it comes to the account of the Golden Chersonese (i.e. Malay Peninsula ) and the Magnus Sinus (i.e. Gulf of Thailand and South China Sea ), Marinus and Ptolemy relied on the testimony of a Greek sailor named Alexandros, who claimed to have visited a far eastern site called " Cattigara " (most likely Oc Eo , Vietnam , the site of unearthed Antonine -era Roman goods and not far from

5778-538: The aid of the rakṣasa Mārīca . Mārīca, assuming the form of a golden deer, captivates Sītā's attention. Entranced by the beauty of the deer, Sītā pleads with Rāma to capture it. Rāma, aware that this is the ploy of the demons, cannot dissuade Sītā from her desire and chases the deer into the forest, leaving Sītā under Lakṣmaṇa's guard. After some time, Sītā hears Rāma calling out to her; afraid for his life, she insists that Lakṣmaṇa rush to his aid. Lakṣmaṇa tries to assure her that Rāma cannot be hurt that easily and that it

5885-498: The amalgamation of "a" in Rama and the "a" in ayana, as per the Sanskrit grammar rule of internal sandhi ). Scholarly estimates for the earliest stage of the available text range from the 7th to 5th centuries BCE, with later stages extending up to the 3rd century CE. According to Robert P. Goldman (1984), the oldest parts of the Ramayana date to the early 7th century BCE . The later parts cannot have been composed later than

5992-414: The ascetic Śabarī , who directs them towards Sugriva and Hanuman. Kishkindha Kanda is set in the place of Vānaras (Vana-nara) – Forest dwelling humans. Rāma and Lakṣmaṇa meet Hanumān, the biggest devotee of Rāma, greatest of ape heroes, and an adherent of Sugriva , the banished pretender to the throne of Kiṣkindhā. Rāma befriends Sugriva and helps him by killing his elder brother Vāli thus regaining

6099-568: The basis of his (now lost) Chorography of the Ecumene . Later imperial writers and mathematicians, however, seem to have restricted themselves to commenting on Ptolemy's text, rather than improving upon it; surviving records actually show decreasing fidelity to real position. Nevertheless, Byzantine scholars continued these geographical traditions throughout the Medieval period. Whereas previous Greco-Roman geographers such as Strabo and Pliny

6206-535: The bow, but breaks it in the process. Rāma marries Sītā; the wedding is celebrated with great festivity in Mithilā and the marriage party returns to Ayodhyā. After Rāma and Sītā have been married, an elderly Daśaratha expresses his desire to crown Rāma, to which the Kosala assembly and his subjects express their support. On the eve of the great event, Kaikeyī was happy about this, but was later on provoked by Mantharā ,

6313-431: The burning pyre, carrying Sītā in his arms and restores her to Rāma, testifying to her purity. Rama later joyfully accepts her. The episode of Agni Pariksha varies in the versions of Ramāyaṇa by Valmiki and Tulsidas . In Tulsidas 's Ramcharitmanas , Sītā was under the protection of Agni (see Māyā Sītā ) so it was necessary to bring her out before reuniting with Rāma. The gods led by Brahma arrive and glorify Rama as

6420-448: The coordinates provided by the text, as Planudes was forced to do. Later scribes and publishers could then copy these new maps, as Athanasius did for the emperor Andronicus II Palaeologus . The three earliest surviving texts with maps are those from Constantinople ( Istanbul ) based on Planudes's work. The first Latin translation of these texts was made in 1406 or 1407 by Jacobus Angelus in Florence , Italy , under

6527-400: The discovery of South and Central America . At first South America, the Mundus Novus ( New World ) was considered to be a great island of continental proportions; but as a result of his fourth voyage , it was apparently considered to be identical with the great Upper India peninsula ( India Superior ) represented by Behaim – the Cape of Cattigara. This seems to be the best interpretation of

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6634-402: The early days), some following traditional versions of the maps, and others updating them. An edition printed at Ulm in 1482 was the first one printed north of the Alps . Also in 1482, Francesco Berlinghieri printed the first edition in vernacular Italian . Ptolemy had mapped the whole world from the Fortunatae Insulae ( Cape Verde or Canary Islands ) eastward to the eastern shore of

6741-402: The earth, only to return without success from north, east, and west. The southern search party under the leadership of Aṅgada and Hanumān learns from a vulture named Sampātī the elder brother of Jatāyu, that Sītā was taken to Lankā. Sundara Kanda forms the heart of Valmiki's Ramayana and consists of a detailed, vivid account of Hanumān 's heroics. After learning about Sītā, Hanumān assumes

6848-414: The encyclopedia follows, with links to the appropriate Misplaced Pages article. The original treatise by Marinus of Tyre that formed the basis of Ptolemy's Geography has been completely lost. A world map based on Ptolemy was displayed in Augustodunum ( Autun , France ) in late Roman times. Pappus , writing at Alexandria in the 4th century, produced a commentary on Ptolemy's Geography and used it as

6955-422: The end of the thirteenth century, which are the earliest extant manuscripts of the Geography; these are U, K & F. Recension, Ξ, is represented by one codex only, X. Mittenhuber agrees with Berggren & Jones, stating that "The so-called Codex X is of particular significance, because it contains many local names and coordinates that differ from the other manuscripts ... which cannot be explained by mere errors in

7062-465: The enemy with the assistance of Hanumān, Sugrīva and Vibhishaṇa". However, upon criticism from people in his kingdom about the chastity of Sītā, Rāma gets extremely disheartened. So Sītā, in order to prove the citizens wrong and wipe the false blame on her, requests Rāma and Lakṣmaṇa to prepare a pyre for her to enter. When Lakṣmaṇa prepares the pyre, Sītā prays to Agni and enters into it, in order to prove her conjugal fidelity. Agni appears in person from

7169-430: The epic without two of its kandas. During the 12th century, Kamban wrote Ramavataram , known popularly as Kambaramayanam in Tamil , but references to Ramayana story appear in Tamil literature as early as 3rd century CE. The Telugu rendition, Ranganatha Ramayanam , was written by Gona Budda Reddy in the 13th century and another of a purer Telugu rendition, called Molla Ramayanam written by Atukuri Molla in

7276-458: The epics Mahabharata and Ramayana , and the Puranas . The genre also includes teachings on the goals of human life . It depicts the duties of relationships, portraying ideal characters like the ideal son, servant, brother, husband, wife, and king. Like the Mahabharata , Ramayana presents the teachings of ancient Hindu sages in the narrative allegory , interspersing philosophical and ethical elements. In its extant form, Valmiki's Ramayana

7383-498: The extensive additions to the Ptolemaic map shown on the 1492 globe of Martin Behaim . The fact that Ptolemy did not represent an eastern coast of Asia made it admissible for Behaim to extend that continent far to the east. Behaim’s globe placed Marco Polo’s Mangi and Cathay east of Ptolemy’s 180th meridian, and the Great Khan’s capital, Cambaluc ( Beijing ), on the 41st parallel of latitude at approximately 233 degrees East. Behaim allowed 60 degrees beyond Ptolemy’s 180 degrees for

7490-430: The forest and implores him to return to Ayodhyā and claim the throne that is rightfully his. But Rāma, determined to carry out his father's orders to the letter, refuses to return before the period of exile. Bharata reluctantly returns to Ayodhyā and rules the kingdom on behalf of his brother. In exile, Rāma, Sītā, and Lakṣmaṇa journey southward along the banks of the river Godāvari , where they build cottages and live off

7597-415: The goals of human life . There are many versions of the Ramayana in Indian languages, including Buddhist and Jain adaptations. There are also Cambodian ( Reamker ), Indonesian , Filipino , Thai ( Ramakien ), Lao , Burmese , Nepali , Maldivian , Vietnamese , Tibeto-Chinese , and Malay versions of the Ramayana. The Ramayana was an important influence on later Sanskrit poetry and

7704-415: The incarnation of Supreme God Narayana. Indra restores the dead Vanaras back to life. After the exile, Rāma returns to Ayodhya and the people are so happy they celebrate it like a festival. Deepavali is the day considered that Rāma, Sītā, Lakṣmaṇa and Hanumān reached Ayodhyā after a period of 14 years in exile after Rāma's army of good defeated demon king Rāvaṇa's army of evil. The return of Rāma to Ayodhyā

7811-409: The intended scale and then (apparently realizing his mistake) giving up halfway through. Its presence does strongly suggest the existence of earlier, now-lost maps which had been mathematically derived in the manner of Ptolemy, al-Khwārazmi, or Suhrāb. There are surviving reports of such maps. Ptolemy's Geography was translated from Arabic into Latin at the court of King Roger II of Sicily in

7918-679: The islands of Chryse and Argyre ("Gold" and "Silver") in the vicinity of Zipangu ( Japan ), which was said to be "rich in gold" by Marco Polo . An expedition was sent to find the purported islands in this location under the command of Pedro de Unamuno in 1587. The names of various geographical features and settlements of the Golden Chersonese are given in Ptolemy's Geography , including towns and rivers. Different identities however have been suggested by different scholars for these names. Although coordinates are given for many of these places, they are not considered reliable for places so far away from

8025-531: The killing of the ascetic Sambuka. The U-K attributes both actions to Rama, whom people acknowledged to be righteous and as a model to follow. By masquerading as an additional kanda of the Ramayana composed by Valmiki himself, the U-K succeeded, to a considerable extent, in sabotaging the values presented in Valmiki's Ramayana. The epic begins with the sage Vālmīki asking Nārada if there is a righteous man still left in

8132-417: The kingdom of Kiṣkindhā, in exchange for helping Rāma to recover Sītā. However, Sugriva soon forgets his promise and spends his time enjoying his newly gained power. The clever former ape queen Tārā , (wife of Vāli) calmly intervenes to prevent an enraged Lakṣmaṇa from destroying the ape citadel. She then eloquently convinces Sugriva to honor his pledge. Sugriva then sends search parties to the four corners of

8239-541: The land. One day, in the Pañcavati forest they are visited by a rākṣasī named Śurpaṇakhā , sister of Ravaṇa. She tries to seduce the brothers and, after failing, attempts to kill Sītā out of jealousy. Lakṣmaṇa stops her by cutting off her nose and ears. Hearing of this, her brothers Khara and Dushan organize an attack against the princes. Rama defeats Khara and his rakshasas. When the news of these events reaches Rāvaṇa, he resolves to destroy Rāma by capturing Sītā with

8346-439: The landscape, his own ancestors, and the ancestors of the princes. The party then decide to go to attend king Janaka's sacrifice in the kingdom of Mithilā , who has a bow that no one has been able to string. Janaka recounts the history of the famed bow, and informs them that whoever strings the bow will win the hand of his daughter Sītā , whom he had found in the earth when plowing a field. Rāma then proceeds to not only string

8453-520: The length of a degree instead of the longer degree of Ptolemy, and by adopting Marinus of Tyre ’s longitude of 225 degrees for the east coast of the Magnus Sinus . This resulted in a considerable eastward advancement of the longitudes given by Martin Behaim and other contemporaries of Columbus. By some process Columbus reasoned that the longitudes of eastern Asia and Cipangu respectively were about 270 and 300 degrees east, or 90 and 60 degrees west of

8560-430: The main epic, according to many Uttara Kanda is certainly a later interpolation, not attributable to Valmiki. Both of these two kāndas are absent in the oldest manuscript. Some think that the Uttara Kanda contradicts how Rama and Dharma are portrayed in the rest of the epic. M. R. Parameswaran says that the way the positions of women and Shudras are depicted shows that the Uttara Kanda is a later insertion. Since Rama

8667-613: The mainland of Asia and 30 degrees more to the east coast of Cipangu (Japan). Cipangu and the mainland of Asia were thus placed only 90 and 120 degrees, respectively, west of the Canary Islands. The Codex Seragliensis was used as the base of a new edition of the work in 2006. This new edition was used to "decode" Ptolemy's coordinates of Books 2 and 3 by an interdisciplinary team of TU Berlin , presented in publications in 2010 and 2012. Christopher Columbus modified this geography further by using 53⅔ Italian nautical miles as

8774-470: The maps in later manuscripts and printed editions of the Geography were reproduced from Planudes' reconstructions." Mittenhuber (2010) further divides the stemma into two recensions of the original c.AD 150 lost work: Ξ and Ω (c.3rd/4th cent., lost). Recension Ω contains most of the extant manuscripts and is subdivided into a further two groups: Δ and Π . Group Δ contains parchment manuscripts from

8881-487: The maps were either copied defectively for not at all. "Of the greatest importance for the text of the Geography" they state is manuscript X ( Vat.Gr.191 ); "because it is the only copy that is uninfluenced by the Byzantine revision." e.g. the 13th-14th century corrections of Planudes, possibly associated with recreating the maps. Regarding the maps, they conclude that it was unlikely that extant maps survived from which

8988-488: The name Geographia Claudii Ptolemaei . It is not thought that his edition had maps, although Manuel Chrysoloras had given Palla Strozzi a Greek copy of Planudes's maps in Florence in 1397. Berggren & Jones (2000) place these manuscripts into a stemma whereby U, K, F and N are connected with the activities of Maximos Planudes (c.1255-1305). From a sister manuscript to UKFN descends R, V, W & C, however

9095-424: The northern (n) and the southern (s). Scholar Romesh Chunder Dutt writes that "the Ramayana , like the Mahabharata , is a growth of centuries, but the main story is more distinctly the creation of one mind." There has been discussion as to whether the first and the last volumes of Valmiki's Ramayana (Bala Kanda and Uttara Kanda) were composed by the original author. Though Bala Kanda is sometimes considered in

9202-414: The references to maps in the text were later additions. No Greek manuscript of the Geography survives from earlier than the 13th century. A letter written by the Byzantine monk Maximus Planudes records that he searched for one for Chora Monastery in the summer of 1295; one of the earliest surviving texts may have been one of those he then assembled. In Europe, maps were sometimes redrawn using

9309-479: The region of Jiaozhi in northern Vietnam where ancient Chinese sources claim several Roman embassies first landed in the 2nd and 3rd centuries). Muslim cartographers were using copies of Ptolemy's Almagest and Geography by the 9th century. At that time, in the court of the caliph al-Maʾmūm , al-Khwārazmī compiled his Book of the Depiction of the Earth ( Kitab Surat al-Ard ) which mimicked

9416-456: The request of Rama's stepmother Kaikeyi ; his travels across forests in the Indian subcontinent with his wife Sita and brother Lakshmana ; the kidnapping of Sita by Ravana , the king of Lanka , that resulted in war; and Rama's eventual return to Ayodhya along with Sita to be crowned king amidst jubilation and celebration. Scholarly estimates for the earliest stage of the text range from

9523-508: The rest of southeast Asia. There is an extensive tradition of oral storytelling based on Ramayana in Indonesia , Cambodia , Philippines , Thailand , Malaysia , Laos , Vietnam and Maldives . There are diverse regional versions of the Ramayana written by various authors in India. Some of them differ significantly from each other. A West Bengal manuscript from the 6th century presents

9630-455: The shore of the southern sea. There they are joined by Rāvaṇa's renegade brother Vibhiṣaṇa . The vānaras named Nala and Nīla construct the Rama Setu . The princes and their army cross over to Lanka. A lengthy war ensues. During a battle, Ravana's son Meghanāda hurls a powerful weapon at Lakṣmaṇa and he gets mortally wounded. So Hanumān assumes his gigantic form and flies from Lankā to

9737-403: The sketch map made by Alessandro Zorzi on the advice of Bartholomew Columbus (Christopher's brother) around 1506, which bears an inscription saying that according to the ancient geographer Marinus of Tyre and Christopher Columbus the distance from Cape St Vincent on the coast of Portugal to Cattigara on the peninsula of India Superior was 225 degrees, while according to Ptolemy the same distance

9844-481: The story. He asks Sītā to remain in Ayodhyā, but she convinces him to take her with him in exile. Lakṣmaṇa also resolves to follow his brother into the forest. After Rāma's departure, King Daśaratha, unable to bear the grief, passes away. Meanwhile, Bharata, who was on a visit to his maternal uncle, learns about the events in Ayodhyā. He is shocked and refuses to profit from his mother's wicked scheming. He visits Rāma in

9951-446: The surviving manuscript tradition can be seen in the epitomes of Markianos by Stephanus : "Καὶ ἄλλοι οὕτως διὰ του π Πρετανίδες νῆσοι, ὡς Μαρκιανὸς καὶ Πτολεμαῖος ." The tradition preserved within the stemma of surviving (13th-14th century) manuscripts by Stückelberger & Grasshoff only preserves " Β " and not " Π " recentions of " Βρεττανικήσ ". The Geography consists of three sections, divided among 8 books. Book I

10058-498: The tradition of Ptolemy. Ptolemy's information was thereby misinterpreted so that the coast of China, which should have been represented as part of the coast of eastern Asia, was falsely made to represent an eastern shore of the Indian Ocean. As a result, Ptolemy implied more land east of the 180th meridian and an ocean beyond. Marco Polo ’s account of his travels in eastern Asia described lands and seaports on an eastern ocean apparently unknown to Ptolemy. Marco Polo’s narrative authorized

10165-629: The tradition.". Although no manuscripts survive from earlier than the late 13th century; there are references to the existence of ancient codicies in late antiquity. One such example is in an epistle by Cassiodorus (c.560 A.D.): “Tum, si vos notitiae nobilis cura inflammaverit, habetis Ptolemaei codicem, qui sic omnia loca evidenter expressit, ut eum cunctarum regionum paene incolam fuisse iudicetis. Eoque fit, ut uno loco positi, sicut monachos decet, animo percurratis, quod aliquorum peregrinatio plurimo labore collegit.”( Institutiones 1, 25) . The existence of ancient recensions that differ fundamentally to

10272-529: The world, to which Nārada replies that such a man is Rāma. After seeing two birds being shot, Vālmīki creates a new form of metre called śloka , in which he is granted the ability to compose an epic poem about Rāma. He teaches his poem to the boys Lava and Kuśa, who recite it throughout the land and eventually at the court of king Rāma. Then the main narrative begins. Daśaratha was the King of Ayodhyā. He had three wives: Kausalyā, Kaikeyī, and Sumitrā. He did not have

10379-455: The world, varying in complexity and fidelity. Book VIII constitutes an atlas of regional maps. The maps include a recapitulation of some of the values given earlier in the work, which were intended to be used as captions to clarify the map's contents and maintain their accuracy during copying. Maps based on scientific principles had been made in Europe since the time of Eratosthenes in

10486-535: Was 10° east of Ptolemy's, he adds some places, and his latitudes differ. C.A. Nallino suggests that the work was not based on Ptolemy but on a derivative world map, presumably in Syriac or Arabic . The coloured map of al-Maʾmūm constructed by a team including al-Khwārazmī was described by the Persian encyclopædist al-Masʿūdī around 956 as superior to the maps of Marinus and Ptolemy, probably indicating that it

10593-414: Was 16 years old, the r̥ṣi (sage) Viśvāmitra comes to the court of Daśaratha in search of help against demons who were disturbing sacrificial rites. He chooses Rāma, who is followed by Lakṣmaṇa, his constant companion throughout the story. Rāma and Lakṣmaṇa receive instructions and supernatural weapons from Viśvāmitra and proceed to destroy Tāṭakā and many other demons. Viśvāmitra also recounts much lore of

10700-661: Was 180 degrees. Prior to the 16th century, knowledge of geography in the Ottoman Empire was limited in scope, with almost no access to the works of earlier Islamic scholars that superseded Ptolemy. His Geography would again be translated and updated with commentary into Arabic under Mehmed II , who commissioned works from Byzantine scholar George Amiroutzes in 1465 and the Florentine humanist Francesco Berlinghieri in 1481. There are two related errors: This suggests Ptolemy rescaled his longitude data to fit with

10807-433: Was built along similar mathematical principles. It included 4530 cities and over 200 mountains. Despite beginning to compile numerous gazetteers of places and coordinates indebted to Ptolemy, Muslim scholars made almost no direct use of Ptolemy's principles in the maps which have survived. Instead, they followed al-Khwārazmī's modifications and the orthogonal projection advocated by Suhrāb's early 10th-century treatise on

10914-473: Was celebrated with his coronation. It is called Rāma pattabhisheka . There are mentions in Rāmayaṇa that Rama gave several donations to Sugriva, Jambavan, other Vanaras, and gave a pearl necklace to Sita telling her to give it to a great person. She gives it to Hanumān. Rāma was so thankful to Vibhisaṇa and wanted to give him a great gift. Rāma gave his Aradhana Devata (Sri Ranganathaswamy) to Vibhishana as

11021-468: Was composed around 500 BCE. Books two to six are the oldest portion of the epic, while the first and last books ( Balakanda and Uttara Kanda , respectively) seem to be later additions. Style differences and narrative contradictions between these two volumes and the rest of the epic have led scholars since Hermann Jacobi toward this consensus. The Ramayana belongs to the genre of Itihasa , narratives of past events ( purāvṛtta ), which includes

11128-465: Was fascinated by the epic Ramayana so much that he wanted to impart the story and the good lessons preached by it to a large number of persons who could not obviously read the entire epic in original. He composed the entire Ramayana in the form of songs together as an opera so even normal people could understand his Ramayana. In the Buddhist variant of the Ramayana ( Dasaratha Jataka ), Dasharatha

11235-457: Was king of Benares and not Ayodhya. Rama (called Rāmapaṇḍita in this version) was the son of Kaushalya, first wife of Dasharatha. Lakṣmaṇa (Lakkhaṇa) was a sibling of Rama and son of Sumitra, the second wife of Dasharatha. Sita was the wife of Rama. To protect his children from his wife Kaikeyi, who wished to promote her son Bharata, Dasharatha sent the three to a hermitage in the Himalayas for

11342-426: Was revered as a dharmatma, his ideas seen in the Ramayana proper cannot be replaced by new ideas as to what dharma is, except by claiming that he himself adopted those new ideas. That is what the U-K [Uttara Kanda] does. It embodies the new ideas in two stories that are usually referred to as Sita-parityaga, the abandonment of Sita (after Rama and Sita return to Ayodhya and Rama was consecrated as king) and Sambuka-vadha,

11449-584: Was understood by Ptolemy to be a port on the Sinus Magnus, or Great Gulf, the actual Gulf of Thailand, at eight and a half degrees north of the Equator, on the coast of Cambodia, which is where he located it in his Canon of Famous Cities . It was the easternmost port reached by shipping trading from the Graeco-Roman world to the lands of the Far East. In Ptolemy's later and better-known Geography ,

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