Lithuanian River Names

[Narayan R. Joshi]

I would like to thank Dr.Ganesan for bringing to my attention his 1999
postings on the river names.I think "VaishyambhalyA" is adjective for the
river SarasvatI and not the earlier proper name.I may be wrong. However the
ancient names of the rivers is the complex problem.The book "Vedic People"
by Dr.Kochhar offers standard information very well but I had problem with
his suggestion that Aryans transferred Afghanistan river names (Haroyu,
HarahvatI, GangA and YamunA) to Indian rivers of the north India.Here is my
problem.The author Krishna Chaitanya(P.3, book-A New History of Sanskrit
Literature-Pub:Manohar, 1977)tell us that Lithuania has river names Tapti,
Nemuna,Srobati,and Narbudey. The another author included Gauja in the list.
These are the Indian river names Tapti,YamunA, SarasvatI,NarmadA and
GangA.Here I assume that the theory of Aryans from East Europe bringing
these river names from Lithuania to the land of the ancient Afghanistan is
now out of fashion.The theory of Aryans dispersing from Central Asia to
West and East is still in vogue.Here is the question. How did Aryans
migrating to the West from their home in Central Asia know the Indian river
names Tapti and NarmadA unless they knew them as the names of rivers from
Afghanistan? Now which rivers in Afghanistan have the names Tapti and
NarmadA? Why did Aryans wait to reach Lithuania to transfer these names
ignoring many other rivers on their way in the long journey? Is any
information available in literature about the origins of the river names
Tigris and Euphrates? Or about their earlier names if any? Central Asia
often comes into picture in connection with the prehistory of India as the
source of both earlier Dravidian and later Aryan migrations to the sub-
continent.Dravidians suspiciously sneaked through the Makuran corridor to
Sindha while Aryans (some think) came in victory parade sitting on their
horses and chariots.Are their ancient Dravidian names of the Central Asian
rivers Oxus and Jaxartes? Could we say that dull Dravidians from Central
Asia were ignorant of the names of rivers from which they used to drink
water? However smart Aryans did have Sanskrit names to Oxus and Jaxartes.
Could we say that after their interaction with Aryans inside the sub-
continent, Dravidians became smart to recognize the earlier Dravidian river
names of India? I believe Dravidians were smarter than Aryans. It is they
(not Aryans) who went to Lithuania and named rivers with the names of
Indian rivers.If I am wrong, please correct me. Thanks.