Historical Geography of Ancient India c6.253

c6.253

*Gomatī*.—This river is almost certainly identical with the Ṛgvedic Gomatī (*Ṛgveda*, X. 75, 6) which is probably the modern Gomal, a western tributary of the Indus. It has also been sought to be identified with the modern Gumtī which joins the Ganges below Benaras and which is described in the *Rāmāyaṇa* as situated in Ayodhyā, and as being crowded with cattle (Ayodhyākāṇḍa, Ch. 49). It rises in the Shāhjahānpur district and flows into the Ganges about half-way between Benaras and Ghazipur (*I.A.*, Vol. XXII, 1893, p. 178). The *Mahābhārata* (Ch. 84, 73) and the *Bhāgavata Purāṇa* (V. 19, 18; X. 79, 11) mention this river. The *Padmapurāṇa* (Uttarakhaṇḍa, vs. 35–38) also mentions it. The *Skanda Purāṇa* mentions another river of the same name (Avantikhaṇḍa, Ch. 60); evidently it flowed through Gujarat with Dvārakā on its bank. Some have attempted to identify the Dhutapāpā as a separate river with the modern Dhopāp on the Gumtī, 18 miles south-east of Sultanpur in Oudh. According to the *Skanda Purāṇa* (Kāśikhaṇḍa, Uttara, Ch. 59), it was a tributary of the Ganges near Benaras (N. L. Dey, *Geographical Dict.*, pp. 57 and 231; B. C. Law, *Rivers of India*, p. 21).