The History and Culture of the Indian People v1.c19.s1.2

v1.c19.s1.2

In order to ascertain the extent of the Aryan settlements in the period of the *Ṛigveda*, we should, therefore, consider the references to mountains, rivers, localities, countries, tribes, and kingdoms contained in the hymns. Courses of rivers, especially in the Punjab, have considerably changed in the course of the last three or four millennia. Their names have also varied in different times. There is, therefore, some difference of opinion with regard to the identifications of the rivers mentioned in the Vedic texts. The same is the case regarding the location of the various tribes and countries that figure in the Vedic texts, as their boundaries were subject to constant modifications and they were known by different names in different periods. But in spite of these difficulties it is possible to form a fair idea of the location of quite a large number of them.