The vastness of the Bharath, the land rich in heritage and cultural diversity
Modern Termez stands close to the Amu Darya in the Surkhandarya region of southern Uzbekistan, near the country’s border with Afghanistan. In antiquity, this region formed part of Bactria, a crossroads connecting the Indian subcontinent with Iran, Central Asia and the wider Silk Road.
Dandaka therefore belongs to the Mahabharata’s geographical world not merely as an isolated name, but as a vast southern forest zone lying between established kingdoms, pilgrimage routes and the expanding political geography of ancient India.
Jammu and Kashmir Chief Secretary Atal Dulloo formally marked the commencement of the new excavation season during a visit to the site, where he inspected the trenches, archaeological remains and antiquities recovered during the first phase. The work is being undertaken by the Centre of Central Asian Studies at the University of Kashmir in collaboration with the Jammu and Kashmir Department of Archives, Archaeology and Museums.
Nishadha was the celebrated kingdom of King Nala, one of the most memorable rulers outside the main Kuru lineage in the Mahabharata. Its exact position cannot be fixed with the same confidence as kingdoms such as Kuru, Panchala, Matsya, Chedi or Vidarbha, but the geographical clues preserved in the Nala-Damayanti narrative strongly place it within the wider central Indian world associated with the Vindhyas, Avanti, Vidarbha and the routes leading north toward Kosala.
The epic also gives the Mekalas a distinctive military character. They fought on the Kaurava side, guarded Bhishma during the early stages of the war, and later appeared among regional troops renowned for fighting from elephants. During the Karna Parva, Mekala warriors joined other eastern and central Indian contingents in a fierce assault against Nakula and the Pandava forces.
Anupa is particularly important because the Mahabharata does not present this landscape merely as a name in a geographical catalogue. Mahishmati becomes the setting for one of the most remarkable episodes of Sahadeva’s Digvijaya, involving King Nila, the protection of Agni and the political submission of the city to Yudhishthira’s Rajasuya authority.
Located on the left bank of the Swat River in present-day Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Barikot is identified with ancient Bazira, also known in regional traditions as Vajirasthana. Archaeological evidence indicates human occupation in the area from at least the second millennium BCE, followed by successive Early Historic, Indo-Greek, Kushan, Kushano-Sasanian, later Hindu Shahi and early Islamic phases.
Vaidisha, identified with the ancient Vidisha-Besnagar region of present-day Madhya Pradesh, occupied one of the most strategically important landscapes of central Bharat. Situated around the Betwa or ancient Vetravati River and close to the Vindhyan and eastern Malwa regions, it stood at a natural meeting point between northern India, the Malwa plateau, Bundelkhand and the routes leading farther south.
The discovery comes from Leilo Kaa, a rock shelter in the Chiphur area of Noklak district near the India-Myanmar frontier. A joint team from Nagaland University’s Department of History and Archaeology and the Government of Nagaland’s Department of Art and Culture conducted the first preliminary archaeological cave expedition in the district in March 2026. The wider survey identified and mapped five caves and four rock shelters across the rugged limestone terrain of the Naga Hills Ophiolite Belt.
Modern geographical identification: Vidisha and the eastern Malwa region of Madhya Pradesh, India
