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NOTES TO ARRIAN'S INDICA.
DECEMBER, 1876.]
as its modern representative, but General Cunningham would "almost certainly" identify it with Niran kol or Haidarâbâd, of which Patalpur and Pâta sila ('flat rock') wereold appellations. With regard to the name Pâtala he suggests that "it may have been derived from Pátala, the trumpet flower" (Bignonia suaveolens), in allusion to the trumpet shape of the province included between the eastern and western branches of the mouth of the Indus, as the two branches as they approach the sea curve outward like the mouth of a trumpet." Ritter, however, says: "Pâtâla is the designation bestowed by the Brahmans on all the provinces in the west towards sunset, in antithesis to Prasiaka (the eastern realm) in Ganges-land: for Pátála is the mythological name in Sanskrit of the under-world, and consequently of the land of the west." Arrian's estimate of the magnitude of the Delta is somewhat excessive. The length of its base, from the Pitti to the Kori mouth, was less than 1000 stadia, while that of the Egyptian Delta was 1300.
CHAP. III. 1300 stadia.-The Olympic stadium, which was in general use throughout Greece, contained 600 Greek feet 625 Roman feet, or 606 English feet. The Roman mile contained eight stadia, being about half a stadium less than an English mile. Not a few of the measurements given by Arrian are excessive, and it has therefore been conjectured that he may have used some standard different from the Olympic,-which, however, is hardly probable. With regard to the dimensions of India as stated in this chapter, General Cunningham observes that their close agreement with the actual size of the country is very remarkable, and shows that the Indians, even at that early date in their history, had a very accurate knowledge of the form and extent of their native land.
Schoni. The schoenus was 2 Persian parasangs 60 stadia, but was generally taken at half that length.
CHAP. IV. Tributaries of the Ganges.-Seventeen are here enumerated, the J am nâ being omitted, which, however, is afterwards mentioned (chap. viii.) as the Jobares. Pliny calls it the Jomanes, and Ptolemy the Diamounas. In Sanskrit it is the Ja mun â (sister of Yama).
Kaïnas. Some would identify this with the
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Kanor Kane, a tributary of the Jamnâ. Kan is, however, in Sanskrit Sena, and of this Kainas cannot be the Greek representative.
Erannoboas.-As Arrian informs us (chap. x.) that Palim bothra (Pâtaliputra, Pâtna) was situated at the confluence of this river with the Ganges, it must be identified withi the river Sôn, which formerly joined the Ganges a little above Pâtnâ, where traces of its old channel are still discernible. The word no doubt represents the Sanskrit Hiranya va ha ('carrying gold') or Hiranyabâhu ('having golden arms), which are both poetical names of the Sôn. It is said to be still called Hiranya và ha by the people on its banks. Megasthenes, however, and Arrian, both make the Erannoboas and the Sôn to be distinct rivers, and hence some would identify the former with the Gandak (Sanskrit Gandaki), which, according to Lassen, was called by the Buddhists Hiranyavati, or 'the golden.' It is; however, too small a stream to suit the description of the Erannoboas, that it was the largest river in India after the Ganges and Indus. The Sôn may perhaps in the time of Megasthenes have joined the Ganges by two channels, which he may have mistaken for separate rivers.
Koso anos.-Cosoagus is the form of the name in Pliny, and hence it has been taken to be the representative of the Sanskrit Kaushiki, the river now called the Kosi. Schwanbeck, however, thinks it represents the Sanskrit Kośávaha (='treasure-bearing'), and that it is therefore an epithet of the Sôn, like Hiranyaváha, which has the same meaning. It seems somewhat to favour this view that Arrian in his enumeration places the Kosoanos between the Erannoboas and the Sôn.
Sonos.-The Sôn, which now joins the Ganges ten miles above Dinapur. The word is considered to be a contraction of the Sanskrit Suvarna (Suvanna), 'golden,' and may have been given as a name to the river either because its sands were yellow, or because they contained gold dust.
Sittokatis and Solomatis.-It has not been ascertained what rivers were denoted by these names. General Cunningham in one of his maps gives the Solomatis as a name of the Saranju or Sarju, a tributary of the Ghagrå, while Benfey would identify it with the famous Sarasvati or Sarsuti, which, ac
