1879.] 8. E. Peal—A peculiarity of the river names in Asam. 259 
is again met with, as the vernacular for water, among the tributaries of the 
upper Satlej] and Indus, and used by hill tribes who do not seem to have 
had any communication, in the historic period, with the non-Aryans of 
Eastern Bengal. Jumna = Jamuna or Di-a-muna of Ptolemy.* 
In regard to the peculiarity under notice, it is evident that the Hima- 
laya has acted as a conspicuous speech-parting. Starting from China, 
where we have Tse, Sui, and Chu, we get, via Tibet, Chu and Su alone, with 
their local variations, whereas to the south of the range, vid Burma, Asam 
and India, we get the variations of Di, Ti, Thi, Dzu, Dui, Dah, which are as 
absent north of the Himalaya, as the Chu and Su are south of it, although 
to the east the two groups are connected by many intermediate forms. 
The peculiarity in question gains importance from a knowledge of the 
fact that river names often survive the races who gave them. As Dr. 
Buchanan Hamilton has truly said, “the names of rivers and mountains 
“are those which are usually most carefully preserved among the changes 
“that take place in the languages of mankind.” 
It is not intended that these few remarks should be taken as an 
attempt to group non-Aryan races through a single word, but rather to 
invite a comparison between this peculiarity, as attached to river names, and 
the languages spoken 7m sitw at the present day.. In many cases the race 
giving the name has evidently departed, leaving, as in Asam and parts of 
Bengal, little else but these river names as evidence of former occupancy. 
This is specially noteworthy in a country quite destitute of architectural 
remains, like Asam and the hill country surrounding it. A careful study 
of such words as are likely to survive the races that originate them may 
lead to many unexpected proofs of that which is, so far, only surmised. It 
would also include the changes which such words or names systematically 
undergo at the hands of Aryan races, as where Su is rendered “ Hu,” or 
even “ Ku,” as in Eu-phrates.f The Indus is obviously the Ind-su, and we 
have it on many old maps as Ind-huh (% being s at each extremity of 
India) ; it is also rendered as Ind-suh. Non-Aryan names even seem to 
occur in Persia; Ak-su, literally white water, is found common all over 
Central Asia and as far west as European Turkey. Tested by the above, 
it looks more than probable that this is the source whence we derive “ Oxus,” 
one of the tributaries of that river, near its source, being Ak-su. I am, 
however, informed by a good authority that it comes from Waksh, also one 
of its sources. Possibly there may be less difference actually between the 
“ak-su’’ and “waksh,” than at first sight appears. 
—— 
on 
f 
: 
a 
; 
i 
‘ 
: 
q 
* [Di appears to be merely the Greek way of spelling the Prakrit 7 Gamund) = 
Sanskrit y (yamund) ; see A. Cunningham’s Ancient Geography of India, p. 46. En.] 
+ [The Assyrian hw (Greek ew) = Scythian fw ‘water’; see A, Cunningham, 
Ancient Geography, p. 37. Ep.) 
