338 R. D. Oldham — On prohaUe Changes in the Geography [No. 4, 



name in tlie lesser, where there is no special sanctity attached to 

 the latter, can only be explained on the supposition that the Sutlej 

 originally pursued an independent course, that it afterwards joined the 

 Beas, and that the united rivers below their junction, retained the name 

 which had originally been applied to only one, in this case to the lesser 

 of the two. 



Another indication that the Sutlej was not originally a tributary 

 of the Indus is the existence of the word Panjnad as an old name of 

 the Indus. This nomenclature is mentioned by Tod as occurring in the 

 annals of Jessalmer* and by the Arab geographer Al Biruni, who, 

 writing in the eighteenth century, says that the Sind after passing Audar, 

 (Aror) bears the name of Mihran, and adds, " In the same way as 

 at this place they call the collected rivers ' Panjnad, ' so the rivers 

 flowing from the northern side of these same mountains when they 

 unite near Turmuz and form the river Balkh (Oxus) are called the 

 seven rivers." At the present day this term Panjnad is unknown as 

 a name for the Indus, the corresponding name at present being Satnad, 

 while Panjnad is confined to the Chenab below the confluence of the 

 other rivers of the Punjab, and it seems incredible that so inappropriate 

 a name could ever have been applied had the courses of the rivers been 

 similar to what they now are. 



These facts point to the conclusion that the Sutlej was not always 

 a tributary of the Indus, but may have pursued an independent course 

 at any rate to a point much below the junction of the other four rivers, 

 and if this supposition is correct, the natural conclusion is that the Sotar, 

 Hakra, or Wahind marks its ancient course through the Western desert. 



§ 4. It remains to be seen how far the physical configuration of the 

 ground supports this supposition. As I have already said, the dry bed 

 of the Sotar can be traced as far as Tohana in the Hissar district, where, 

 as is shewn by the disposition of the minor drainage that issues from 

 the outer Himalayas between the Jumna, the point of junction of the 

 two great fans of the Jumna and Sutlej respectively is situated. Under 

 there circumstances it may have derived its waters originally from either 

 the Jumna or the Sutlej or both. 



But the Sotar is by no means the only dry river channel in this 

 region. Between it and the Sutlej there are no less than four other dry 

 river channels, all of which, if any trust may be placed in maps, vary 

 from one to three miles in width, and all of them directly or indirectly 

 join the Sotar. These channels are not marked, on any map I have seen, 



* Awnals and Antiquities of Bajasthan, footnote to chapter I of the Annals of 

 Jessalmer. 



