1874.] F. S. Growse —The Etymology of Local Names in N. India. 833 
pur, founded 300 years ago by a Jat: named Bagh-raj ; Bahadur-pur; 
Bijal-pur; Cliamar-pura ; Dhak-pura ; Fathullah-pur ; Ghatam-pur, founded 
in the reign of Shahjahan ; Hasan-pur ; I dal-pur ; Mahabat-pur ; Makan- 
pur ; Manik-pur, of modern Jat foundation ; Mir-pur ; Narayan-pur, named 
after a Gosain of modern date, Narayan Das ; Nasir-pur ; Nasir-pur ; Nan- 
pura; Rae-pura, of modern Thakur foundation ; Ram-pura, recently settled 
from Salipau, by a Brahman named Man Mall; Rasbid-pur; Sala-pur, 
founded by a Brahman named Sabala ; Salim-pur ; Samad-pur, settled not 
many generations ago by a Jat named Savadhan; Sarmast-pur ; Shahbaz- 
pur; Slier-pur; Sithara-pur, a modern off-shoot of Garumra ; Sultan-pur ; 
Taj-pura and Zari-pura. Of these 31 names, 5 are doubtful, the other 26 are 
proved to be modern. 
Adding up the results thus obtained we find that there are in the whole 
district 172 villages that exhibit the termination pur, and of these as many 
as 141 are either obviously of modern origin, or are declared to be so by 
local tradition. It is also worthy of notice that in the above lists there has 
frequently been occasion to mention the name of the parent settlement from 
which a more recent colony has been derived; but in no single instance does 
the older name shew the pur ending. Yet pura or puri is no new word, 
nor is its use as a local affix new; on the contrary we have the clearest 
literary proof that it has been very largely so employed from the very com¬ 
mencement of the Aryan occupation of India. What then has become of 
all the older names in which it once appeared ? It is inconceivable that 
both name and place should in every instance have been so utterly destroyed 
as not to leave a trace behind; and we are thus forced to accept the alter¬ 
native conclusion that the affix has in course of time so coalesced with the 
former part of the compound, that it ceases to be readily distinguishable 
from it. Now of names that are presumably ancient, it will be found that 
a considerable proportion terminate in oli, auli, auri , aura , or aula. Thus, 
deducting from the 61 villages in the Ivosi pargana, the nine that have the 
modern termination puri , we have 52 left and among that number 7 are of 
this character; viz., Banchauli, Cliacholi, Cliandausi, Mahroli, Sanchauli, 
Sujauli, and Thmaula. Again, of the 95 villages that remain in the Clihata 
pargana after deduction of the 16 ending in puri, 15 have the oli affix : viz., 
Ahori, Astoli, Baroli, Bharauli, Chaksauli, Dahroli, Darauli, Gangroli, Lo- 
dhauli, Mangroli, Parsoli, Pilhora, Rankoli, Rithora, and Taroli. Without 
continuing the list in wearisome detail through the other four parganas of 
the district, it will probably be admitted that, in earlier times, oli was as 
common a local affix as puri in modern times, and must represent some term 
of equally general and equally familiar signification. To proceed with the 
argument : these names, though as a rule older than those ending in puri , 
are still many of them of no great antiquity and can be proved to belong to 
