Sarasvati, the mighty river extolled in the Vedas and revered as a goddess, originates from the snowy Himalayas, cascading down to the ocean. But where did she vanish? In Michel Danino's 'The Lost River: On the Trail of the Sarasvati', he meticulously traces her journey through history, spanning the annals of Vedas, epics, Puranas, folklore, surveys, and satellite images. The French-born historian leaves no stone unturned in unravelling the physical disappearance of the Sarasvati river, tracing its ancient course and exploring the mysteries surrounding its vanishing.

The Rigveda, the oldest Veda, dedicates three hymns to Sarasvati, alongside 75 hymns praising her river form. The Nadisukta in Rigveda mentions 19 rivers, with Indus and Sarasvati marking the western and eastern borders of the Sapt Sindhu, respectively. Subsequent Vedas, epics, Puranas, Brahmanas, and local legends offer diverse narratives about the river, which gradually faded from sight, leaving its banks and bed untraceable.

Danino sifts through these myriad references to craft a plausible narrative about the river, corroborated by later historical and scientific studies. Drawing extensively from historical accounts, he presents maps, graphs, illustrations, and images from surveys by British officials and scholars who saw India as a treasure trove of unexplored past, a paradise for curious minds. He weighs their observations through the lens of science, employing studies in isotope analysis, geology, hydrography, and tectonics.

Ambiguity shrouds the origin, course, and mouth of the Sarasvati River. Some even question its existence, dismissing it as a product of myth. Adding to the complexity, historical and legendary sources propose several contenders that could have been the Vedic Sarasvati. Danino meticulously examines these contenders, starting with the Sarsuti, which originates near the the Sarasvati. He also explores the Ghaggar, the Hakra/Mihran river, the Sutlej, and the Chautang (later known as the Drishadvati). Additionally, he explores Yamuna and its tributaries—Bata, Markanda, and Ton—in the quest to identify the Sarasvati. Danino also focuses on the five rivers carrying the name Sarasvati, adding further complexity to the quest.

The search for the lost river lands Danino on the controversial question of the 'Aryan invasion'. The fate of the Sarasvati is invariably the fate of the Indus Valley civilization to which the 'Aryan invasion' is intrinsically bound. Danino's delineation of the Indus Valley civilization, which he prefers to call the Indus Sarasvati civilization,challenges interpretations of icons like Max Muller, John Marshall, Edward Thomas, Romila Thapar, and Irfan Habib.

Michael Danino pieces together the ancient puzzle of a semi-mythical, actual river that emerged from Shivalik to reach the ocean, watering a thronging civilization for centuries before it disappeared. The striking simplicity of reason and lustre of scholarship highlights the conclusions as the trail of the lost river finally unravels.