A History of Assam c7.s1.19

c7.s1.19

The wide extent and long duration of Bodo domination is shown by the frequent occurrence of the prefix di or ti, the Bodo word for water, in the river names of the Brahmaputra valley and the adjoining country to the west, *e.g.*, Dibru, Dikhu, Dihing, Dihong, Dibong, Disang, Diphang, Dimla, etc. In some cases the old name is disappearing—the Dichu river, for instance, is now better known as the Jaldhāka—while in others it has already gone, as in the case of the Brahmaputra, which in the early days of Ahom rule was known as the Ti-lao. The latter word was doubtless the origin of another old name for this river, *viz.*, Lohit or Lau-hitya (red). This name has another derivation in Sanskrit literature, where the water is said to be so called because Parasurām washed off his bloody stains in it,* but there are numerous similar instances of the invention of such stories to explain names taken from the aboriginal languages. Thus the Kosi derives its name from *Khussi*, the Newār word for river, but it is connected in Hindu legends with Kusik Raja; and the Tistā, though its first syllable is clearly the Bodo *di* or *ti*, is regarded by the Hindus as a corruption of *trishna*, "thirst," or *trisrota*, "three springs." The Ahoms ruled in Assam for seven hundred years, but their word for river (*nām*) occurs only in a few instances in the extreme east, *e.g.*, Nāmrup, Nāmtsik and Nāmsāng. They called the Dikhu the Nāmchau, but the earlier Kachāri name has survived in spite of them. The Ahoms, of course, were relatively few in numbers, but they were the dominant race; and the fact that, compared with the Bodo tribes, they have left so few marks on the toponomy of the country may perhaps be taken to show that the period for which the latter were supreme was far longer than that for which the Ahoms are known to have ruled.