This epigraphic study of the political geography of two historical regions, Daksina Kosala and Vidarbha between fourth and thirteenth centuries, focuses on the interaction of physical and human geography as re­flected in the changing nature of settlement patterns both rural and urban and their political organization through time – an important exercise, based primarily on Sanskrit inscriptions from the period and the region. The study contributes to further substantiation of the critical significance of the conception of early medieval in the study of Indian history.