Identification of Rigvedic hydronyms has engaged multiple historians; it is the single most important way of establishing the geography and chronology of the earlyVedic period.[1][2] Rivers with certain identifications stretch from easternAfghanistan to the westernGangetic plain, clustering in thePunjab region. The Rigveda mentions thesapta-sindhavaḥ (Sanskrit:सप्तसिन्धवः, seven rivers), along with other rivers:
“He has surveyed eight summits of the Earth, three shore or desert regions, seven rivers.” (aṣṭaú vy àkhyat kakúbhaḥ pr̥thivyā́s trī́ dhánva yójanā saptá síndhūn RV.I.35.8).[3]
Sapta-sindhavaḥ is cognate withAvestanhapta həndu, and is interpreted as referring to Punjab.[a] The region's name comes from پنج,panj, 'five' and آب,āb, 'water' thus "five waters", a Persian calque of the Indo-AryanPancha-nada meaning "five rivers".[4]
The same names were often imposed on different rivers as the Vedic culture migrated eastward from around Afghanistan (where they stayed for a considerable time) to the subcontinent via Punjab.[1]
Multiple hydronyms are located in the Rigvedic corpus; they are slotted according to rough geographical locations, following the scheme ofMichael Witzel.[1] Alongside, opinions of scholars about modern correlates are provided:[5][6]
Indus:
Síndhu – Identified withIndus.[5] The central lifeline of RV.[6]
Northwestern Rivers:
Tr̥ṣṭā́mā – Blažek identifies withGilgit.[5] Witzel notes it to be unidentified.[1]
Susártu – Unidentified.
Ánitabhā – Unidentified.
Rasā́ – Described once to be on the upper Indus; at other times a mythical entity.[5]
Mehatnū – A tributary ofGomatī́.[5] Unidentifiable.[1]
Yavyā́vatī – Noted to be a branch of Gomatī́. Witzel as well as Blažek identifies withZhob River.[1][5] Dähnhardt comments it to be synonymous to Yamúnā or flowing very close to it.[6]
^abcdefghWitzel, Michael (1998). "Aryan and non-Aryan Names in Vedic India: Data for the linguistic situation, c. 1900-500 B.C". InBronkhorst, James; Deshpande, Madhav (eds.).Aryans and Non-Non-Aryans: Evidence, Interpretation and Ideology. Harvard Oriental Series. Cambridge. pp. 337–404.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
^abcdDähnhardt, Thomas Wolfgang Peter (2009). "The descent of King Lion: Some considerations on the relations between the Indus and other rivers in the sacred geography and culture of ancient India". In Filippi, Gian Giuseppe (ed.).I fiumi sacri. Indoasiatica. Vol. 6. Libreria Editrice Cafoscarina. pp. 189–208.ISBN9788875432416.
Gherardo Gnoli,De Zoroastre à Mani. Quatre leçons au Collège de France (Travaux de l'Institut d’Études Iraniennes de l’Université de la Sorbonne Nouvelle 11), Paris (1985).
