0] West of the
Indus the Kurum and Gomal appear to be known also. Many rivers are
mentioned of which the names are given, but their location is not
established. It is from the district west of the Indus that the most
famous Sanskrit grammarian comes, and long after the Vedas an Indic
people are known in the Kandahar district, while Kashmeer was a late
home of culture. The Sarasvati river, the name of which is transferred
at least once in historical times, may have been originally one with
the Arghand[=a]b (on which is Kandahar), for the Persian name of this
river (_s_ becomes _h_) is Harahvati (Arachotos, Arachosia), and it is
possible that it was really this river, and not the Indus which was
first lauded as the Sarasvat[=i]. In that case there would be a
perfect parallel to what has probably happened in the case of the
Ras[=a], the name--in both cases meaning only 'the stream' (like
Rhine, Arno, etc.)--being transferred to a new river. But since the
Iranian Harahvati fixes the first river of this name, there is here a
stronger proof of Indo-Iranian community than is furnished by other
examples.[11]

These facts or suggestive parallels of names are of exceeding
importance. They indicate between the Vedic Aryans and the Iranians a
connection much closer than usually has been assumed. The bearings of
such a connection on the religious ideas of the two peoples are
self-evident, and will often have to be touched upon in the course of
this history. It is of less importance, from the present point of
view, to say how the Aryans entered India, but since this question is
also connected with that of the religious environment of the first
Hindu poets, it will be well to state that, although, as some scholars
maintain, and as we believe, the Hindus may have come with the
Iranians through the open pass of Herat (Haraiva, Haroyu), it is
possible that they parted from the latter south of the Hindukush[12]
(descending through the Kohistan passes from the north), and that the
two peoples thence diverged south-east and south-west respectively.
Neither assumption would prevent the country lying between the
Harahvati and Vitast[=a][13] from being, for generations, a common
camping-ground for both peoples, who were united still, but gradually
diverging. This seems, at least, to be the most reasonable explanation
of the fact that these two rivers are to each people their farthest
known western and eastern limits respectively. With the exc