"Outside of Indus, inside Ganges, lies
a wide-spread country, famed enough of yore;
northward the peaks of caved Emódus rise,
and southward Ocean doth confine the shore."
1577.—"India is properly called that great Province of Asia, in the whiche great Alexander kepte his warres, and was so named of the ryuer Indus."—Eden, Hist. of Trauayle, f. 3v.
The distinct Indias.
c. 650.—"The circumference of the Five Indies is about 90,000 li; on three sides it is bounded by a great sea; on the north it is backed by snowy mountains. It is wide at the north and narrow at the south; its figure is that of a half-moon."—Hwen T'sang, in Pèl. Bouddh., ii. 58.
1298.—"India the Greater is that which extends from Maabar to Kesmacoran (i.e. from Coromandel to Mekran), and it contains 13 great kingdoms.... India the Lesser extends from the Province of Champa to Mutfili (i.e. from Cochin-China to the Kistna Delta), and contains 8 great Kingdoms.... Abash (Abyssinia) is a very great province, and you must know that it constitutes the Middle India."—Marco Polo, Bk. iii. ch. 34, 35.
c. 1328.—"What shall I say? The greatness of this India is beyond description. But let this much suffice concerning India the Greater and the Less. Of India Tertia I will say this, that I have not indeed seen its many marvels, not having been there...."—Friar Jordanus, p. 41.
India Minor, in Clavijo, looks as if it were applied to Afghanistan: