Old and New River Names

[Narayan R. Joshi]

Does anybody have any comment on the older name "VaishambhalyA" for the
river "SarasvtI" discussed by Prof Witzel (p.11-Substrate languages in Old
Indo-Aryan)? Could this name be an epithet describing some atrribute of the
river or could it be the name of some segment of the river? Giving two or
more names to the same river to focus attention on some historical events
occurred in the vicinity is not uncommon in the ancient history of the sub-
continent.Two rivers from Central Asia flowing northwest towards Aral Sea
are Jaxartes or Iaxartes (modern Syr Darya of north) and Oxus (modern Amu
Darya of south).Are there ancient Aryan (or Sanskrit) names to these rivers
also? It is suggested that Haroyu, Harahvati, GangA and YamunA(p.94 and
p.131 of Vedic People by Dr.Kochhar)were the ancient names of rivers from
Afghanistan and they were transferred subsequently by Aryans to the rivers
of the North India.Sometimes ago in Indology postings it was suggested that
the river names "AverI"and "GodAvarI" of the South India could be ancient
Dravidian names.What is the story about the river names "NarmadA" and
"Tapti"from the Middle India?Are these names also transferred to Indian
rivers from the Afghan river names by Aryans moving south? If yes, what are
the present names of these rivers in Afghanistan? The ancient name(500 BCE)
of one of the rivers from north of Chennai was "TAmraparNI". Is this an
Aryan or Dravidian name? Thanks.