Masalia

Information from the Periplus

Ancient Toponym: Masalia
Place Type: Unspecified
Route: Eastern route
Next on Route: Gangēs
Ancient Area: India
Periplus Chapter: PME, Ch. 62

Topographic info

Longitude 77.5
Latitude 17.5
Location Source: Pleiades

Modern Identification: Masulipatama
Modern Country: India

Passage from the Periplus

Around this area lies the region of Masalia, extending far inland; a great many cotton garments are produced there. If you go due east from it across the bay that lies alongside, you come to the Desarene region, the habitat of a kind of elephant called Bosare. Beyond it, with the course by now towards the north, are numerous barbaric peoples, among whom are the Kirradai, a race of wild men with flattened noses, and another people, the Bargysoi, and the Horse Faces, who are said to be cannibals. (from the Casson translation)

Bibliography

Ancient source: Ptolemy, 7.1.15

Bibliography: Renou, Louis. 1925. La géographie de Ptolémée: L’Inde. (vii, 1-4). Paris: É. Champion; Biblioteca nazionale marciana, p. 83.