National Institute of Informatics - Digital Silk Road Project
Digital Archive of Toyo Bunko Rare Books

GENERAL FORMATION OF GEOGRAPHICAL NAMES.   263

1. They may contain a name or epithet connected with mythology, or the heroic period of Indian history, as Debgârh, Rampur, Sibg,nj. Also names occur connected with modern history; In India they are chiefly of Arabic origin, as Akbarabad, Jahangirpur, &c. Particular classes or qualities of men (as king, hero, &c.) are less frequent; the combination with Raj a, however, may be mentioned as not unusual, also B i r b h Am, the country of heroes, and L oh a r Oa, u, smith's village, may be compared; castes and the names. of tribes are remarkably rare in geographical compositions.

2. Descriptive delineation of a physical or geographical feature of the object is another frequent type in the formation of names. As examples from India, I mention J al a p u r, N i l g i r i s, from Tibet, where they are very often used, M a r y n 1, the low country ; R o n g d o, a place full of defiles. The introduction of names of products also have affinity with this group, as Du d h g a û, milk-village ; Ma c h l i ban d a r, fish-harbour.

In general, it would appear highly probable, that the physical types might be met with in the oldest names; but for India, at least, this does not quite coincide with the actual distribution. As an explanation of this, I would suggest, that the older settlements, which so often, from geographical causes, are also the most important ones, nearly always received several names in succession, before they obtained one intimately connected with an ideal, or historical meaning, coinciding besides with a period, when the place was already very widely known — circumstances, which generally exclude any later alteration, unless conquering tribes directly -interfere.

3. Names which reveal no traces of compound formation in one or other of the forms just alluded to, are comparatively rare; we meet occasionally, however, with names such as—d u r g , fort, garh, fort, pura, town, which are simply generic words locally applied. The names of a divine being, such as Krishna, Nanda Dévi, &c., are also sometimes used for topographical objects without any further modification or addition. It is very rare that such personal names have a derivative terminal syllable added, as Indri, Sikandra, Mohammada.

The form, colour, or any peculiarity of a river, peak, &c., not unfrequently furnishes its name ; as L o h i t, the red (river) ; L O n i , the saltish (river) ; D a p s a n g (a very high

peak), the sublime apparition.

A peculiar difficulty arises in determining the etymology of many names, in consequence of the gradual modification of their forms, this being more especially the case with words in most frequent use; thus the connection of Maissur with Mahishasura,