Tribes in Ancient India c31.2

c31.2

Kāśī was the ancient name of the kingdom of which the chief city was Bārāṇasī, the modern Benares, which is situated 80 miles below Allahabad on the north bank of the Ganges, at the junction between that river and the river Baraṇā.¹ From the joint name of the two streams which bound the city to the north and the south,—the Baraṇā and the Asi,—the Brāhmaṇas derive Vārāṇasī or Bārāṇasī.² The Baraṇā or Varaṇā is a considerable rivulet which rises to the north of Allahabad and has a course of about 100 miles; while the Asi is a mere brook. The former is probably identical with the river Varaṇāvatī, the water of which is said in the *Atharvaveda* (IV, 7, 1) to have had the property of removing poison. We agree with Macdonell and Keith that, though Kāśī is a late word, it is quite possible that the town is older, as the river Varaṇāvatī may be connected with the later Bārāṇasī.³