EARLY ARAB GEOGRAPHERS.
Bítúrashít,[1] at the city of Kandahár,[2] which is Waihind.[3] After that, there comes from the west the river of Tibet, called the Jhailam. It and the waters of the Chandrá all combine about fifty miles above Jharáwar,[4] and the stream flows to the west of Múltán. The Bíah joins it from the east. It also receives the waters of the Iráwa (Ráví). Then the river Kaj falls into it after separating from the river Kúj, which flows from the hills of Bhátal.[5] They all combine with the Satlader (Sutlej) below Múltán, at a place called Panjnad, or “the junction of the five rivers.” They form a very wide stream, which, at the time it attains its extreme breadth, extends ten parasangs, submerging trees of the forest, and leaving its spoils upon the trees like nests of birds. This stream, after passing Audar,[6] in the middle of Sind bears the name of Mihrán, and flows
- ↑ Bírúní says “Bítúr below Kandahar.”
- ↑ The proper name is Gandhárá, almost always converted by Musulmán writers into Kandahár, but we must take care not to confound it with the more noted Kandahár of the west. The Gandhárás on the Indus are well known to the Sanskrit writers, and there is a learned note on them in Troyer’s Rája Taranginí, Tom. II. pp. 316—321. It is not improbable that we have their descendants in the Gangarias of the Indus, one of the most turbulent tribes of the Hazára country. The name given to them by Dionysius, in his Periegesis, resembles this modern name more than the Sanskrit one. He says, Διωνύσου θεράποντες Γαργαρίδαι ναίουσιν. He places them more to the east, but Salmasius and M. Lassen consider that we should read Γανδαρίδαι. Herodotus calls them Γανδαριοι. The Γορύανδις of Nonnus, which M. Troyer thinks points to the abode of the Gandhárás , is probably to be looked for elsewhere. See also Mannert, Geographie der Griechen und Romen, Vol. V. pp. 5, 30, 107. Asiatic Researches, Vol. XV. Lassen, De Pentap. Ind. p. 15-17. Ritter, Die Erdkunde von Asien, Vol. IV. Pt. I. p. 453. Ersch and Gruber's Encyc.: Art. Indien, p. 2. Mem. sur I'Inde, 107. Cunningham, Bhilsa Topes, Sec. X. para. 4.
- ↑ [The modern Ohind on the right bank of the Indus fourteen miles above Attok. Baihakí writes it
and the Sikhs call it Húnd. Abú-l Fida quotes Ibn Sa’íd to the effect that it was one of the cities founded by Alexander.]
- ↑ [This must be the fort on the river in the vicinity of Múltán, in which the governor dwelt. The correct name would seem to be Jand-rúd. See Note A. in Appx.]
- ↑ There is some confusion here, which cannot be resolved by any interpretation of the original. [I have modified the translation, but the passage is still doubtful. The Arabic differs in some points. It makes no mention of the Chandrá; but as it speaks of the waters being “collected from many places,” it would seem that the name Chandrá has been mistaken for the word chand, “several.” It is ambiguous about the Kaj, but it appears to say as follows: “Then the river Laj (sic) separates from it distinctly from the river Kút (sic), which is collected from the waters of the mountains of Bhátal, and it joins it where it joins the Satladar (Sutlej) as it descends from Múltán.” See ante, p. 22.]
- ↑ Alor is no doubt the proper reading, though it assumes various forms. [The reading in the text is from MS. A. B. has اوور and C. اور. See Note A. in Appx.]
