Outside our religious texts, in the oldest layer of tamizh sangam poetry, the पुऱनानूऱु, we have a song sung in praise of a great पाण्ड्य king, that attests to the contours of the land we call भारत.
Yet another evidence of geographical continuity in the poetic imagination:
Part of an ancient poem from the incomparably beautiful puRanAnURu….Had done both poetic & detailed grammatical translations. Do read!!
Together with this geographical continuity, there was also a cultural continuity. See how a द्राविड poet contrasts his sentiments towards आर्य & यवन heritage:
आर्य kings are those of a prestigious heritage while यवन-s are harsh-tongued & ruthless (the “Barbarian”). Just a few examples of a geocultural continuity. Bhārata is just a name for this continuity.