P e n i n s u l a
I n d i a <
the one writes it Sindus, the other I i W e learn by the Nubian
Geographer, that the Arabians call it Mehran. I mean to proceed
down to its Delta, where it is difcharged into the fea, and briefly
point out the moft remarkable places, antient or modern, which
occur in my courfe. .
of T h e Indus, or rather the ftreams which fall into it from ther
eaft:, particularly the Ihylum or river of Cajhmere, and the
Ganges near Latak, in Little Thibet, to the north o f Cajhmere,
approximate, and then run diverging till they reach the fea, and
peninfulate the mighty empire, fo that they give the name to-
Hindoojlan, of the Peninfula o f India. India or Hindooftanis.
not of vernacular derivation, antient as it is; the name Ilind was
given it by the Perftans, who tranfmitted it to the Greeks, and;
they formed from it the word India; for we are allured by the-
fcientific linguift Mr. Wilkins,. that no fuch word is to be found
in the Sanjcrit Dictionary; for the aborigines o f the country
knew it by no other than that o f Bharata *. The difcovery is-
new, but we have preferved the antient name o f Hindoojlan„
given it by the Perjians, and that o f India by the Grecians, who-
gave that o f Hindoos to the aboriginal people of the country,.,
and Stan a region.
T h is vaft peninfula was formerly divided into two parts,,
Hindoojlan Proper, which was bounded on the fouth by the
rivers Nerbudda and Soane, and the fouthern borders o f Bengal,.
and b y the Barrampooter on the eaft.
T he other divifion is the Deccan, which fignifies the fouth,
and under that meaning comprehends all the reft o f the peninfula,
as far as Cape Comorin. This name and this divifion feem
at prefent fcarcely known, except in the mention o f the great
Soubahjbip, poflefled b y Nizam al Muluck and his fucceflors.
* Rennel X X . and the attendant note.
This
This is now greatly altered in its limits, and abridged in
jts extent.
Hindoojlan tends to a conoid form. The northern part
fpreads into a large irregular bafe. Hurdwar, the moft northern
place in the province o f Delhi, is nearly in Lat. 30°, Long.
78° 15'. Cape Comorin is the moft fouthern extremity, the point
in Lat. 8°, Long. 770 36' 50" E. The length therefore o f this
country is thirteen hundred and eighty three Britijh miles;
the breadth at the bafe from Tatta, in the Delta of the Indus, to
S'tlhet, on the eaftern extremity of Bengal, is thirteen hundred
and ninety.
It is neceflary to be obferved, that India is bounded on the
north by a range o f moft lofty mountains, rocky, and frequently
precipitous and inacceflible. Thefe were the Hcentodus
and Paropamifus o f the antients; and thofe which are interrupted
by the Indus forcing its way through the chain, are
called tht lmaus or the fnowy ; but the flatterers of Alexander in
compliment to him,, bellowed on the weftern part of that out-let
the name of Caucafus, as if, fays Arrian (Exped. Alex. p. 318)
they had been a continuation of his dominions : in maps they
ftill are called the Indian Caucafus. Pliny, Lib. vi. c. 17. gives
authority for this, by faying they were Caucaf partes..
A N T I E N T R O A D S T O I N D I A .
T he earlieft notice we have o f commerce with this great
empire, was in. the hook of Gene/is, Ch. 37, where we find
mention o f the IJhmaelites carrying, on a trade with Egypt, in
fpices, balm, and myrrh; the two laft might have been, productions
o f Arabia, or of Gilead, but the fpices were confined to
India. They travelled at that time in caravans, and carried
B a their
P a t r i a r c h a l ,