In studying the cultural development of any country, the importance of its geography can hardly be minimized. In the early periods of human history, geography determined to a great extent the lives and activities of people, their thought and literature. History of India is no exception to this. Geographically, India remains a single unit, separated from the rest of the world by inviolable boundaries. The vastness of the country has led many to describe it as a sub-continent.
It is isolated from the world by Himalayas in the north, the Bay of Bengal in the east, the Arabian Sea in the west and the Indian Ocean in the south As a result, from the beginning the isolated region has developed an independent identity of its own. Geographic factors like the mountain ranges, the river systems, the monsoon winds, the climatic conditions all together act as unifying forces. The size and variety of India is no proof against its unity. On the contrary, it is a source of vitality, strength and richness even though it is difficult to discover ‘One in Many1, the Individual in the aggregate and ‘the simple in the composite’.