India as Known to Panini: A Study of the Cultural Material in the Ashtadhyayi c8.s13.19

c8.s13.19

Pāṇini also refers to another popular method of water transport called *bhastrā*, a raft of inflated skins; one who carried goods in this way was called *bhastrika* (IV.4.16; *Bhastrayāharati*). This method of crossing is frequently resorted to in the flooded rivers of the Panjab, the N.W.F.-P., and Afghanistan and is considered the safest and quickest (see *Imp. Gaz.*, N.W.F.-P., pp. 117-118).¹ In Persia also the Behistun Ins. refers to "floats-of-skin" (*mashkākuvā*) used by Darius. Examples are seen sculptured on Assyrian panels from Sennacherib's palace, and Herodotus also mentions this cargo-raft on the Tigris.¹