PATTALA(τὰ Παττάλα, Arrian, 5.4, 6.17; ἡ Πάταλη, Ptol. 7.1.59), a town in Western India, situated at the point of land where the western stream of the Indus is divided off into two chief branches, which, flowing to the sea, enclose what has been popularly called the delta of that river. There can be no doubt that this place is represented by the present Tatta. Arrian states that it derives its name from an Indian word, which signifies delta (5.4; Ind. 100.2.) Alexander the Great appears to have spent some time there, and to have built a castle and docks ; and it was from this place that he made his first unfortunate but ultimately successful expedition in ships to the mouth of the Indus (Arrian, 6.18). The real Indian meaning of Patala appears to be the West, in opposition to the East, or land of the Ganges; or, mythologically, the Lower Regions (Ritter, 5. p. 476).
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