The History and Culture of the Indian People v1.c19.s1.9

v1.c19.s1.9

Now we turn to the western tributaries of the Indus. The Rasā has been identified with the Jaxartes, a stream in the extreme north-west of the Vedic territory. The Kubhā is the modern Kābul river which flows into the Indus a little above Attock and receives at Prāng the joint flow of its tributaries, the Swāt (Suvāstu) and Gauri. The Krumu or the Kurram and Gomatī or the Gomal are tributaries of the Indus meeting it further south. The Susartu and Śvetyā appear to have been the tributaries of the Indus above the Kubhā, whereas the Mehatnū, Krumu, and Gomatī are the three tributaries below the Kubhā.⁷ The Suvāstu, as already stated, is the Swāt, a tributary of the Kubhā, which itself is a tributary of the Indus. The word Suvāstu, signifying "fair dwellings," seems to indicate that there was an Aryan settlement along its banks. Hariyūpīyā, the scene of the defeat of the Vṛichīvants by Abhyāvartin Chāyamāna (*RV*, VI. 27.5) has been taken either as denoting a place or a river. As a place-name Harappā has been suggested as the modern name of Hariyūpīyā.⁸ Many other lesser streams have not yet been identified with any degree of certainty, and are not mentioned here.