The 5 villages that Pandavas demanded and where are they now?

In the third chapter of Udyog Parva of Mahabharat, Lord Krishna went to Hastinapur before the Mahabharata Battle for a peace treaty he proposed 3 ideas that could stop the inevitable war. 

The first one was Indraprastha would be returned to the Pandavas with due respect to which even though Dhritarashtra, Bhishma, Guru Dronacharya ,Kulguru Kripacharya while Duryodhana said a clear no. The second one was Duryodhana and his brothers would touch Panchali, Draupadi's feet and beg for forgiveness which angered Duryodhana even more. The third one was the Pandavas would be given 5 villages,which left the Sabha shell shocked. While almost everyone considered it a fair deal, Duryodhana and Shakuni refused to nod affirmatively. "I won't give them land the size of tip of a needle",replied Duryodhana in a jiff. He proved his foolishness by trying to capture Krishna which angered him and he said a war and demise of the Kauravas is certain.

The five villages were Avisthal, Vakrasthal, Makandi, Varnavat and one more their own choice.

Modern locations of the 4 villages

 Let us first take a close look at the map of India of the Mahajanpada time.

We can see that Gandhara kingdom is located in modern day Afghanistan and other kingdoms spread over Uttarpradesh, Uttarakhand,Bihar, Madhyapradesh, Haryana and parts of Rajasthan and Nepal.

Kusasthala , also assumed to be called Avisthala is the modern city of Kannauj. Varnavata could be a place called Shivpuri which is located to the northeast of Rishikesh in Uttarakhand. Vrikasthala is assumed to be in the Gurgaon district of Haryana and Makandi is expected to be somewhere near the bank of river Ganga.

Let us look at the Google map locations of these modern day places.

Kannauj

Shivpuri

Gurgaon

Ganga River

Opinion based on Observation behind selection of these particular villages

If we take a closer look at the probable locations of the 4 villages and compare it with the map of Kuru kingdom,we can see the best example of wit and diplomacy. 3 of the 4 villages are located at the border of the kingdom while one is located at the heart of it which is a proof of possession. Even if Duryodhana would be the king,if he had chosen to negotiate,the location of the villages would infer that the real king is Yudhishthir. And that is what I love about Mahabharata,so much learning in every sentence.

This is a very personal opinion of mine,the reason behind the 4 villages and may or may not be true. The locations however are obtained from various sources on the internet, mostly Hinduism stack exchange.

Image credits- Google,Google maps.

I would again say that the logic behind the 4 villages is my personal opinion based on observation and there is no evidence of it. Corrections and suggestions are welcomed. Comment and share if you like my content.

Stay home,stay safe.