OUR ARYAN FOREFATHERS 



pretensions nor the credentials of an authentic 

 historical narrative. It relates long-past events 

 as ascertained not through the sifting of previ- 

 ous human testimony, but by direct revelation 

 from the good spirit to his prophet Zarathustra 

 or Zoroaster. Nevertheless, the geographical 

 succession of the various places mentioned in 

 this legend is very suggestive. With the ex- 

 ception of Aryana Vaejo, every one of the six- 

 teen abodes seems to be described by a genuine 

 geographical name, though two or three have 

 not yet been satisfactorily determined. Thus 

 Sugdha, the second country, is what the ancients 

 knew as Sogdiana; Muru appears to be the 

 modern Merv, or Margiana ; and Baktria, the 

 next in order, has been already mentioned. And 

 so, curiously enough, by stringing together the 

 whole series of names, there is indicated a con- 

 tinuous migration from the region beyond the 

 Oxus, at first southwesterly, and then south- 

 easterly, down to what we now call the Punjab, 

 or " country of five rivers," but which in the 

 Vedic hymns is somewhat more comprehen- 

 sively termed the Sapta-Sindhavas, or " Seven 

 Rivers," and which in our Zend legend is de- 

 scribed in identical language as the Hapta 

 Hendu. This larger designation is reached by 

 including, along with the five rivers of the Pun- 

 jab, the Sarasvati and the Indus, or " The 

 River," 'par excellence. Having thus reached 



