The Ancient Geography of India. I. The Buddhist Period, including the Campaigns of Alexander, and the Travels of Hwen-Thsang c6.s3.t21.48

c6.s3.t21.48

Now Aumi, or in Sanskrit Avami, means "inferior," and as the name of a river it would be descriptive of its small size as compared with other rivers in its neighbourhood. A glance at the map is sufficient to show that the Aumi is an old bed of the Rapti, which left the present channel near Dumariyaganj. A main branch of the Aumi, named the Budh Nali, or "old river," which rises in the neighbourhood of Bânsi, is still supplied from the Rapti during the rainy season by a channel called Daldal Nala, or "Quicksand Stream." This fact alone affords a most decisive proof that the lower course of the Aumi, below the junction of the Budh Nala near Balehar, is an old bed of the Rapti. The name of Aumi or Avami Nadi, the "inferior" or "lesser river," was therefore an appropriate appellation of the old channel to distinguish it from the larger or main stream of the Rapti.