354 F. S. Growse —The Etymology of Local Names in N. India. [No. 4, 
the Sanskrit title of Pipasa-vana, may really bear a name identical with 
the Hindi word pisaya , ‘ thirsty’ if the name was first assigned to the spot 
by the Gokul Gosains as a foundation for a story of Radha’s bringing 
a draught of water for the relief of her exhausted lover. But this is 
questionable, since it appears that there is a place with the same name, but 
without any similar legend, in the Aligarh district ; and both are therefore 
most probably far anterior to the 16th century and susceptible of some en¬ 
tirely different explanation. 
In all these and similar cases it is impossible to arrive at sound con¬ 
clusions without a large amount of local knowledge ; while the absurdity of 
the explanations advanced by the local Pandits demonstrates the equal 
necessity for acquaintance with at least the rudimentary laws of philologi¬ 
cal science. Scholastic speculations made without reference to physical 
features or the facts of village history are always liable to summary disproof; 
and no one with any respect for his own reputation should think of pro¬ 
nouncing off-hand upon the derivation of the name of any place regarding 
the circumstances of which he has not very definite information. For ex¬ 
ample, as the village Jati-pura is on the border of the Jat state of Bharatpur, 
what could be more plausible than to say that it is so called as being a Jat 
colony P but as a fact, it has always been inhabited by Brahmans, and 
its founder was the Vallabliacharya Gosain Bitthalnath, who was popularly 
known by tbe name of Jati ji. Again, Lodhauli (in accordance with the prin¬ 
ciples stated in the earlier part of this paper) might be at once set down as 
equivalent to Lodha-puri ; but here too the caste of the residents forbids such 
a derivation, for they have always been not Lodhas, but Jadons ; and the 
modern name is a perversion of Lalita-puri. Phalen again and Siyara would 
be inexplicable but for the knowledge that they are built, the one on the 
margin of a pond, called Prahlad-kund, and the other by the Chir Ghat, a 
very ancient and now comparatively neglected tirath on the Jamuna. The 
confusion between the letters s and ch is one of the peculiarities of the local 
dialect. Thus Amar Sinh is frequently called Amarchu ; and the village of 
Parsua, in the mouths of the villagers on the spot, is indistinguishable from 
Pilchua. 
Although it may safely be laid down as a general principle of Indian to¬ 
ponymy that the majority of names are capable of being traced up to Aryan 
roots, it is possible that the rule may have some exceptions. In the Ma¬ 
thura and Mainpuri districts there is a current tradition that the older occu¬ 
pants of the country were a people called Kalars. The name seems to sup¬ 
port a theory advanced by Dr. Hunter in his Dissertation, where he quotes 
a statement from some number of the Asiatic Society’s Journal to the effect 
that the whole of India was once called Kolaria. On the strength of a number 
of names which he sees in the modern map, he concludes that the race, from 
