The Ancient Geography of India. I. The Buddhist Period, including the Campaigns of Alexander, and the Travels of Hwen-Thsang c6.s1.t3.5

c6.s1.t3.5

The true name of Alor is not quite certain. The common pronunciation at present is *Aror*, but it seems probable that the original name was *Rora*, and that the initial vowel was derived from the Arabic prefix *Al*, as it is written *Alror* in Biladûri, Edrisi, and other Arab authors. This derivation is countenanced by the name of the neighbouring town of Rori, as it is a common practice in India thus to duplicate names. So *Rora* and *Rori* would mean Great and Little Rora. This word has no meaning in Sanskrit, but in Hindi it signifies "noise, clamour, roar," and also "fame." It is just possible, therefore, that the full name of the city may have been Rora-pura, or Rora-nagara, the “Famous City.” This signification suggested itself to me on seeing the name of *Abhijanu* applied to a neighbouring village at the foot of the hill, 2 miles to the south-west of the ruins of Alor. *Abhijan* is a Sanskrit term for “fame,” and is not improbably connected with Hwen Thsang’s *Pi-chen-po-pu-lo*, which, by adding an initial syllable *o*, might be read as *Abhijanwapura*. I think it probable that Alor may be the *Binagara* of Ptolemy, as it is placed on the Indus to the eastward of *Oskana*, which appears to be the *Oxykanus* of Arrian and Curtius. Ptolemy’s name of Binagara is perhaps only a variant reading of the Chinese form, as *pulo*, or *pura*, is the same as *nagara*, and *Pichenpo* may be the full form of the initial syllable *Bi*.