The Ancient Geography of India. I. The Buddhist Period, including the Campaigns of Alexander, and the Travels of Hwen-Thsang c6.s3.t26.2

c6.s3.t26.2

The city of Banâras is situated on the left bank of the Ganges, between the Barná Nadi on the north-east, and the Asi Nála on the south-west. The Barná, or *Varaná*, is a considerable rivulet, which rises to the north of Allahâbâd, and has a course of about 100 miles. The *Asi* is a mere brook, of no length, and, owing to its insignificant size, it does not appear in any of our most detailed maps. It is not entered in the Indian Atlas Sheet, No. 88, which is on the scale of 4 miles to the inch, nor even in the larger lithographed map of the district of Banâras, on the double scale of 2 miles to the inch. This omission has led the learned French academician M. Vivien de Saint-Martin to doubt the existence of the *Asi* as a tributary of the Ganges, and he conjectures that it may be only a branch of the *Barná*, and that the joint stream called the *Varánasi** may have communicated its name to the city. The *Asi Nála* will, however, be found as I have described it, in James Prinsep’s map of the city of Benares, published by Hullmandel, as well as in the small map which I have prepared to illustrate this account of the remains at Banâras. The position of the *Asi* is also accurately described by H. H. Wilson in his Sanskrit Dictionary, under the word *Varánasi*. I may add that the road from Banâras to *Rámnagar* crosses the *Asi* just outside the city, and only a short distance from its confluence with the river. The points of junction of both streams with the Ganges are considered particularly holy, and accordingly temples have been erected both at *Barná Sangam* below the city, and at *Asi Sangam* above the city. From the joint names of these two streams, which bound the city to the north and south, the Brahmans derive *Varāṇasi*, or *Vāraṇasi*, which is said to be the Sanskrit form of the name of Banâras. But the more usual derivation amongst the common people is from Râja *Banár*, who is said to have rebuilt the city about 800 years ago.