Page:Report of a Tour Through the Bengal Provinces of Patna, Gaya, Mongir and Bhagalpur; The Santal Parganas, Manbhum, Singhbhum and Birbhum; Bankura, Raniganj, Bardwan and Hughli in 1872-73.djvu/6

vi 4 miles to the south of Phulwâri, and near Maholi on the lower course of the Pûnpûn. Putting all these facts together, it would appear that the Son must formerly have flowed from a point close to Dâu̇dnagar to Siddhrâmpur, and thence to Sonbhadr on the Pûnpûn, from which it followed the present course of the Pûnpûn and Murhar rivers to Chilbil, south of Phulwâri, where it turned first to the east as far as Panch-Pahâri, and then to the south-east, finally joining the Ganges at Fatuha. The long tract of low ground in this direction is noticed by Buchanan. It is almost destitute of trees, and the inundation waters of the Son, Pûnpûn, and Murhar still find their way down this old bed to the Ganges. This is the old channel to which Buchanan gives the name of Mar-son, the "dead or deserted Son." The courses of the Ganges and Son would thus have been nearly parallel for many miles, and in this narrow tract, lying between the two rivers, was situated the famous city of Pâtaliputra or Palibothra, the capital of the Gangetic Provinces. The site was exactly similar to that of Hamirpur in the long narrow strip of land between the Jumna and Betwa rivers.

Connected with Palibothra Mr. Beglar has broached a theory that the Erannoboas of the Greeks was not identical with the Son, because "both Pliny and Arrian mention the Son and Erannoboas as distinct rivers" [p. 4]. But the very same objection holds good as to the Gandak being the other large river, as Pliny mentions the Condochates as well as the Erannoboas. There is another fatal objection to the identification of the Gandak with the Erannoboas, as the Ganḍak is a female river, while the Hiranyabáha (or Erannaboas) is a male river like the Sona, whose wooing of the Narbada river is a well-known legend. I may add that, according to Patanjali, the city of Pâṭaliputra was actually situated on the Son (Anu Gangam Pâṭaliputram); and as Mr. Beglar himself has shown in the previous