Alright, here’s some detailed feedback, updates, and corrections.
The main thing I’d suggest is to make sure we distinguish the “southern road”. Basically, the southern hills (dakkhinagiri) were a substantial enough obstacle to force the trade route south-west to Avanti. So I would make sure that the hilly region to the north of that (i.e. Cetic, Venasa, Gonaddha, etc.) were nice and gentle, soft round rises rather than peaks.
That aside, here’s a modified map. I’ll explain each point below. I hope you appreciate the subtle artistry I have managed to evoke with my GIMP skills!
forests
I have added forests in green. The main thing was I took a map of contemporary forests in India and superimposed it. It turns out, the forested regions correspond fairly well to the geographical features you’d expect, namely that the forests tend to be in hilly regions less suited for agriculture. Obviously there would have been much more forest, but I think the distribution would have been similar. Anyway this might give you some suggestions as to adding a bit of forest especially in less-populated areas. We can’t get the exact distribution of forest — heck even the Australian Government can’t map its own forests properly—but at least it can convey the sense that there was forest around.
In addition to the superimposed light green, I have added some mid-green forests in the Himalaya region (Nepal was not included in the map of modern forests I used). Basically the Himalayas were skirted with forests in their foothills.
Meanwhile, we should remove most of the forests in the populated areas around Savatthi, etc. Sure, there were forests there, but fewer, and we need space for the names.
south
- I moved Assaka to the east a little, bearing in mind that Bavari was on the western border of Assaka, which probably covered the central region.
- I also adjusted the position of Māhissatī. It is located on the river. And since it’s a stop on the way from Patiṭṭhāna to Ujjenī, it would make sense for it to not require a detour to get around the hills.
- speaking of which, we can probably add a label for the Dakkhiṇāgiri
north-west
- Indapatta doesn’t appear in the early texts, but Kammāsadamma does. It would be pretty much in the same place or nearby, just north of modern Delhi.
- Kuru should probably be a bit further north-west
- Pancala seems to reach the Himalayas in the north, and have the Surasenas on their western border.
- Speaking of which, we know little of the location of the Surasenas, mostly that their capital is Madhura. It probably makes sense to assume that the hills made the border to their west.
- Meanwhile, Vamsa has Kosambi as its capital, so could probably move south east a little.
- I’ve added the Bhaggā lands north of Kosambi (like other additions, if they can fit in!)
east
- Move Anga a little east, away from Magadha.
- Add Uttarāpaṇa
middle
- added Kesaputta (town) (or Kālāmā the land, which might be better)
- Add Moriyā, Koliyā, and Videha. The former two may not have enough room, but if they do we could put them.
- Vajjī needs to give the impression of large swathe of land, from the mountains to the river
- it looks like the hills in n-w Magadha (around Gayā) are too prominent. Check Google Maps, where there are no substantial hills west of Rajagaha (Rajgir). Rather, apart from the steep hills around Rajagaha itself, the n-w of Magadha is pretty flat until you hit the southern hills.
- Also BTW it’s Magadha not Māgadha (which means “of Magadha”, i.e. Magadhan).
I think that’s about it. Sorry about adding so many changes, my knowledge is getting better over time!