Rigvedic rivers explained

The Rigveda refers to a number of rivers located in the northwestern Indian subcontinent, from Gandhara to Kurukshetra.

Rigvedic geography

Identification of Rigvedic hydronyms has engaged multiple historians; it is the single most important way of establishing the geography and chronology of the early Vedic period.^{[1] [2]} Rivers with certain identifications stretch from eastern Afghanistan to the western Gangetic plain, clustering in the Punjab. The Rigveda mentions the sapta-sindhavaḥ (Sanskrit: सप्तसिन्धवः, seven rivers), along with other rivers:

Sapta-sindhavaḥ is cognate with Avestan hapta həndu, and is interpreted as referring to Punjab. The region's name comes from پنج, panj, 'five' and آب, āb, 'water' thus "five waters", a Persian calque of the Indo-Aryan Pancha-nada meaning "five rivers".^[3]

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.

List of rivers

Multiple hydronyms are located in the Rigvedic corpus; they are slotted according to rough geographical locations, following the scheme of Michael Witzel. Alongside, opinions of scholars about modern correlates are provided:^{[4] [5]}

Indus:

• Síndhu – Identified with Indus. The central lifeline of RV.

Northwestern Rivers:

• Tr̥ṣṭā́mā – Blažek identifies with Gilgit. Witzel notes it to be unidentified.
• Susártu – Unidentified.
• Ánitabhā – Unidentified.
• Rasā́ – Described once to be on the upper Indus; at other times a mythical entity.
• Mehatnū – A tributary of Gomatī́. Unidentifiable.
• Śvetyā́ – Unidentified.
• Kúbhā – Identified with Kabul river.
• Krúmu – Identified with Kurrum.
• Suvā́stu – Identified with Swat.
• Gomatī́ – Identified with Gomal.
• Saráyu / Harōiiu – Blažek identifies with Sarju. Witzel identifies with Hari.
• Kuṣávā – Probably the Kunar River.
• Yavyā́vatī – Noted to be a branch of Gomatī́. Witzel as well as Blažek identifies with Zhob River. Dähnhardt comments it to be synonymous to Yamúnā or flowing very close to it.

Eastern tributaries:

• Suṣómā – Identified with Soan.
• Arjikiya – Blažek identifies with Haro. Witzel speculates it to be Poonch or Tawi.
• Rivers of Punjab:
  • Vitástā – Identified with Jhelum.
  • Asiknī́ – Identified with Chenab.
  • Iravatī – Identified with Ravi.
  • Vípāśā – Identified with Beas.
  • Śutudrī́ – Identified with Sutlej.
  • Marúdvr̥dhā – Identified with Mahuvardhavan.

Haryana

• Sarasvati
  • Āpayā́ and Āpayā́ – Streams/rivers of Sarasvati basin.
  • Drishadvati^[6]

Eastern Rivers:

• Áśmanvatī – Identified with Assan.
• Yamúnā – Identified with Yamuna.
  • Aṃśumátī – Probably an epithet for Yamúnā.
• Gáṅgā – Identified with Ganga.

See also

• Ap (water)
• Aryan migration
• Nadistuti sukta
• Old European hydronymy
• Out of India theory
• Rigvedic deities
• River goddess
• Samudra
• Zhetysu – 7 rivers of Central Asia

Further reading

General

• Blažek, Václav. "Hydronymia R̥gvedica". In: Linguistica Brunensia. 2016, vol. 64, iss. 2, pp. 7–54. ; .
• 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)

Notes and References

1. Book: Witzel, Michael. Aryans and Non-Non-Aryans: Evidence, Interpretation and Ideology. 1998. Bronkhorst. James. Johannes Bronkhorst. Harvard Oriental Series. Cambridge. 337–404. Aryan and non-Aryan Names in Vedic India: Data for the linguistic situation, c. 1900-500 B.C. Michael Witzel. Deshpande. Madhav.
2. Web site: Sapta Sinhavas- The land of seven rivers. M. Aslamkhan.
3. Grewal . J. S. . J. S. Grewal . 2004 . Historical Geography of the Punjab . Journal of Punjab Studies . . 11 . 1 . 1–18 . 0971-5223 . 436148809.
4. Blažek. Václav. Václav Blažek. 2016. Hydronymia R̥gvedica. Linguistica Brunensia. Masaryk University. 64. 2. 7–54.
5. Book: Dähnhardt, Thomas Wolfgang Peter. 2009. Filippi. Gian Giuseppe. 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. Indoasiatica. Libreria Editrice Cafoscarina. 6. 189–208. I fiumi sacri. 9788875432416.
6. Kar. Amal. Ghose. Bimal. 1984. The Drishadvati River System of India: An Assessment and New Findings. The Geographical Journal. 150. 2. 221–229. 10.2307/635000. 635000 . 0016-7398.