1874.] F. S. Growse —The Etymology of Local Thames in N. India. 343 
may be so ; but obviously instances of this very restricted derivation are 
rare. 
Edgar, ( a town,’ has always been fairly popular as a local affix, and 
the Mathura district contains seven examples of the word so used, viz. Rup- 
nagar, Sher-nagar, a second Rup-nagar, Ma’sum-nagar, Ram-nagar, Bir- 
nagar, and Raj-nagar. But it is in modern times and as a prefix that it 
enters most largely into any catalogue of village names. As a rule, when¬ 
ever now-a-days an over-crowded town throws out a branch settlement, 
which becomes of sufficient importance to claim a separate entry in the 
Government rent-roll, it is therein recorded as Nagla so-and-so, according 
to the name of the principal man in it. On the spot, Nagla Bali, to take 
a particular case, is more commonly called Bali ka nagara ; and after the 
lapse of a few generations, if the new colony prospers, it drops the Nagara 
altogether, and is known simply as Bali. The transmutation of the word 
nagara into Nagla and its conversion from a suffix into a prefix, are due solely 
to the proclivities of native revenue officials, who affect the Persian colloca¬ 
tion of words rather than the Hindi, and always evince a prejudice against 
the letter r. It is interesting to observe that in England the Teutonic 
mode of compounding names differs from the Celtic, in the same way as in 
India the Hindi from the Urdu : for while the Celts spoke of Strath Clyde 
and Abertay, the Teutons preferred Clydesdale and Taymouth. 
The number of sacred woods and lakes in Braj accounts for the termi¬ 
nations ban and found , which probably are not often met elsewhere. Ex¬ 
amples of the former are Kot-ban, Bhadra-ban, Brinda-ban, Loha-ban and 
Maha-ban ; and of the latter, Radha-kund and Madhuri-kund, The only 
name in this list, about which any doubt can be felt as to the exact deriva¬ 
tion, is Loha-ban. It is said to commemorate Krishna’s victory over a 
demon called Loha-jangha, i. e. Iron-leg ; and at the annual festival, offerings 
of 4 iron’ are made by the pilgrims. In the ordinary authorities for Krish¬ 
na’s life and adventures I certainly find no mention of any Loha-jangha, 
and as we shall see when we come to speak of the village Bandi, local 
customs are often based simply on an accidental coincidence of name, and 
prove nothing but the prevalent ignorance as to the true principles of 
philology. But in the Vrihat-katha, written by Somadeva in the reign of 
Harsha I)eva, king of Kashmir, A. D. 1059-1071, is a story of Loha- 
jangha, a Brahman of Mathura, who was miraculously conveyed to Lanka: 
whence it may be inferred that at all events in the 12tli century Loha- 
jangha, after whom the young Brahman was named by the romancer, was 
recognized as a local power ; and thus, though we need not suppose that 
any such monster ever existed, Loha-ban does in all probability derive its 
name from him. 
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