Rakhigarhi and Sarasvati River

[Swaminathan Madhuresan]

Erik Seldeslachts <erik.seldeslachts at RUG.AC.BE> wrote:

> Can anyone tell me precisely what area is called "Cholistan"
> and what the etymology of this name is?

In Tamil, "cOlai"= grove/forest/flower garden. If Cholistaan
retains remnants from the times when Sarasvati was a substantial
river, then chOlistAn, from a Dravidian viewpoint would be,
"area/land of groves/gardens". Note that Oasis in Tamil is
"pAlainilac cOlai"(= grove in the desert land").
This makes sense since Cholistan is West of the Great Indian (Thar)
desert.

Compare Cholistaan and ta. cOlai to The medieval Tamil dynasty
name, Chola (ChOzha). This is possibly from cOlai also, because
Cholas are called "vaLavar"(people of the fertile lands) in Sangam texts.
The Chola heartland is Kaviri delta. In Tamil,
kaa+viri = grove(cOlai)-expanding river.
Later, Sanskrit mythology was created taking kaaviri
to be kaaveri, daughter of a rishi by name "kavera muni".

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