The Cambridge History of India, Vol. I: Ancient India v1.c17.8

v1.c17.8

Of the names in the Rigveda those of the rivers alone permit of easy and certain identification. The Āryan occupation of Afghānistān is proved by the mention of the Kubhā (Kābul), the Suvāstu (Swāt) with its 'fair dwellings,' the Krumu (Kurram) and Gomatī (Gumal). But far more important were the settlements on the Sindhu (Indus), the river *par excellence* from which India has derived its name. The Indus was the natural outlet to the sea for the Āryan tribes, but in the period of the Rigveda there is no clear sign that they had yet reached the ocean. No passage even renders it probable that sea navigation was known. Fishing is all but ignored, a fact natural enough to people used to the rivers of the Punjab and East Kābulistān, which are poor in fish. The word *samudra*, which in later times undoubtedly means 'ocean,' occurs not rarely; but where the application is terrestrial, there seems no strong reason to believe that it means more than the stream of the Indus in its lower course, after it has received the waters of the Punjab and has become so broad that a boat in the middle cannot be discerned from the bank. Even nowadays the natives call the river the sea of Sind.