Maesolia

MAESO´LIA (ἡ Μαισωλία, Ptol. 7.1.15; in Peripl. p. 35, Μασαλία), a district on the eastern coast of Hindostán, along the Bay of Bengal, corresponding to that now occupied by the Circars and the upper part of the Coromandel coast. Ptolemy mentions two towns in its territory which he calls Emporia, namely, Contacossyla (probably the present Masulipattana) and Allosygna. The district was traversed by a river of considerable size, the Maesolus (now Godávari), which flows into the Bay of Bengal, after giving its name to the surrounding country. It was from one of the ports of Maesolia that merchants were in the habit of taking ship and crossing the Bay of Bengal to the Aurea Chersonesus. The people were called Maesoli (Μαισώλοι). (Vincent, Peripl. vol. 2. p. 521.)