Re: Indo-Aryan Migration in <<Several Waves>>

ranjit_mathews_at_yahoo.com
Date: 03/16/05 

Date: 16 Mar 2005 14:46:32 -0800

lorad...@cs.com wrote:
> ranjit_mathews@yahoo.com wrote:
>
> > On this map, the present course of the Ghaghar would be Banawali-
> > Kalibangan, Sirsa in Bikaner state- dry bed of the Ghaghar-Hakra.
> Habib
> > claims that the Sarsuti river is next to Sirsat town and is
different
> > from the Ghaghar. He has also found a different Sirsa river,
formerly
> > the Sarsuti river, near Simla. These two Sarsuti Rivers are claimed
> to
> > make it impossible for the Ghaghar to be the Sarasvati.
> >
> > But then, the Ghaghar too is very close to Sirsa. If as water flows
> > moved from one channel to another, different channels near Sirsa
town
> > were called the Sarasvati, that would make it possible for to
> speculate
> > that the Ghagar was the Sarasvati. (1)
> >
> > Speculating that the Abohar branch canal off the Sutlej follows an
> old
> > course of the Sutlej, then the Sutudri joined the Sarasvati at
> > Sandhanawala (2) ...
> >
> > ... and speculating that the Vipasa (Beas) once followed the course
> of
> > the current Sutlej+Beas till past the Pakistan border and then
turned
> > south along the Hakra branch canal to join the Sarasvati at
Kudwala.
> > (3)
> >
> > Conflating speculations 1,2,3, at Gangeriwala, the Sarasvati
carried
> > the waters of the upper Sarasvati, Sutudri(Sutlej) and
Vipasa(Beas),
> > and joined the rest of the Indus rivers after that and thereby
flowed
> > into the sea. (4)
> >
> > These speculations might not be correct, but they don't seem worse*
> > than Irfan Habib's speculations.
> > * although they would be worse to someone who doesn't want the
> Ghaghar
> > identified with the Sarasvati.
>
> Interesting topic..
>
> Do you have info regarding the etymology of: Banawali, Kalibangan,
> Sirsa, Sarsuti, Ghaghar, Sarsuti, Simla, Sutlej, Sutudri, Sarasvati,
> Vipasa, and Kudwala..? Meanings and roots such as 'sut' and 'wala'?

No, except for Sirsa and Sarsuti:

According to Irfan Habib's paper, the Sirsa town on this map, in the
former Bikaner state was called Sarsati in the 14th century.
http://www.sawf.org/newedit/edit02192001/map1.jpg

Also according to Habib's paper, the Sirsa river that flows into the
Sutlej near Ropar was called the Sarsati. He says that Firoz Tughlaq
tried to have a ditch dug to divert this Sirsa river into one tributary
of the Choiya in order to make the Choiya a perennial river delivering
water to the plain, flowing past Sirhind (Rohira on this map) and
parallel to the Ghaghar.
http://www.sawf.org/newedit/edit02192001/map1.jpg

If the Sirsa/ Sarsati flowed so close to this Choiya tributary, it is
not inconceivable that this tributary was an earlier course of the
Sarsati, and it should be possible for someone to verify whether it
was. If the Choiya flowed past Sirhind/ Rohira, that would conceivably
place the Sarsati right in the channel flowing to the IVC population
centers on the map. According to the ancient literature, the Sarasvati
had 3 sources; perhaps one of the other two sources was the stream
flowing past Banawali and Kalibangan.

Check this out, although one look at the URL should make clear the
biases of the operators of the website.
http://www.hindunet.org/saraswati/resources/sarasvatisearch.htm

> Anyway something more to add to the mix:
>
> http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/1768109.stm
> http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/south_asia/797151.stm
>
> "The Indus is now one of Pakistan's main rivers and flows further
west.
>
> The mythical Saraswati river is believed to have flowed about four
> thousand years ago."
>
> "Altered landscape
> Dr Negi says that if field tests prove that the water seen in the
> satellite images is more than 200 years old, it could confirm that a
> branch of the Indus still flows in India.
>
> He said the Indus used to flow through the region until 1819, when a
> large earthquake - equal in intensity to the one last month - led to
> the river changing its course.
> There have been enormous changes to the landscape of the region over
> the past 10,000 years, Dr Negi said, because of repeated
earthquakes."

If one river of the Indus delta flowed into Gujarat, where is the
alluvial soil it deposited?

Relevant Pages

  • Re: Indo-Aryan Migration in <<Several Waves>>
    ... >> claims that the Sarsuti river is next to Sirsat town and is ... He has also found a different Sirsa river, ... >> make it impossible for the Ghaghar to be the Sarasvati. ...
    (sci.lang)
  • Re: Indo-Aryan Migration in <<Several Waves>>
    ... what prevents that river from being identified as Saraswati? ... All rivers that flow into the Indus flow from mountain to sea. ... "Favour ye this my laud, O Ganga, Yamuna, Sarasvati ... Sarasvati and the rest of the river downstream was called the Saraswati ...
    (sci.archaeology)
  • Re: Indo-Aryan Migration in <<Several Waves>>
    ... what prevents that river from being identified as Saraswati? ... All rivers that flow into the Indus flow from mountain to sea. ... "Favour ye this my laud, O Ganga, Yamuna, Sarasvati ... Sarasvati and the rest of the river downstream was called the Saraswati ...
    (sci.lang)
  • Re: Indo-Aryan Migration in <<Several Waves>>
    ... He has also found a different Sirsa river, ... > make it impossible for the Ghaghar to be the Sarasvati. ... > Conflating speculations 1,2,3, at Gangeriwala, the Sarasvati carried ...
    (sci.archaeology)
  • Re: Indo-Aryan Migration in <<Several Waves>>
    ... He has also found a different Sirsa river, ... > make it impossible for the Ghaghar to be the Sarasvati. ... > Conflating speculations 1,2,3, at Gangeriwala, the Sarasvati carried ...
    (sci.lang)