''Doab'' () is a term used in

South Asia South Asia is the southern subregion of Asia, which is defined in both geographical and ethno-cultural terms. The region consists of the countries of Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka.;;;;;;;; ...

Quote: "Originally and chiefly in South Asia: (the name of) a strip or narrow tract of land between two rivers; spec. (with) the area between the rivers Ganges and Jumna in northern India." for the tract Quote: "confluence, land between two rivers, used in India of the tongue of land between the Ganges and Jumna, and of similar tracts in the Punjab, etc., lit. ‘two waters’ " of land lying between two confluent rivers. It is similar to an interfluve. Quote: " a tract of land between two rivers : interfluve" In the ''Oxford Hindi-English Dictionary'',

R. S. McGregor Ronald Stuart McGregor, commonly R. S. McGregor (or Stuart McGregor) (24 October 1929 – 19 August 2013), was a philologist of the Hindi language. Best known as editor of the ''Oxford Hindi-English Dictionary'', a standard reference work p ...

defines it as from Persian ''do-āb'' (, literally "two odiesof water") "a region lying between and reaching to the confluence of two rivers.

The Doab

''The Doab'' designates the flat alluvial tract between the

Ganges The Ganges ( ) (in India: Ganga ( ); in Bangladesh: Padma ( )). "The Ganges Basin, known in India as the Ganga and in Bangladesh as the Padma, is an international river to which India, Bangladesh, Nepal and China are the riparian states." is ...

and

Yamuna The Yamuna (Hindustani language, Hindustani: ), also spelt Jumna, is the second-largest tributary river of the Ganges by discharge and the longest tributary in List of major rivers of India, India. Originating from the Yamunotri Glacier at a ...

rivers extending from the Sivalik Hills to the two rivers' confluence at

Prayagraj Allahabad (), officially known as Prayagraj, also known as Ilahabad, is a metropolis in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh.The other five cities were: Agra, Kanpur (Cawnpore), Lucknow, Meerut, and Varanasi (Benares). It is the administrat ...

. It is also called as ''Ganges-Yamuna Doab'' or ''Ganga Doab''. The region has an area of about 23,360 square miles (60,500 square km); it is approximately in length and in width.Ganges-Yamuna Doab

Encyclopedia Britannica An encyclopedia (American English) or encyclopædia (British English) is a reference work or compendium providing summaries of knowledge either general or special to a particular field or discipline. Encyclopedias are divided into articles ...

. The

British raj The British Raj (; from Hindi ''rāj'': kingdom, realm, state, or empire) was the rule of the British Crown on the Indian subcontinent; * * it is also called Crown rule in India, * * * * or Direct rule in India, * Quote: "Mill, who was himsel ...

divided the ''Doab'' into three administrative districts, viz., Upper Doab (Meerut), Middle Doab (Agra) and Lower Doab (Prayagraj). Currently the following states and districts form part of ''The Doab'':

Upper Doab

Uttarakhand Uttarakhand ( , or ; , ), also known as Uttaranchal ( ; the official name until 2007), is a state in the northern part of India. It is often referred to as the "Devbhumi" (literally 'Land of the Gods') due to its religious significance and ...

Dehradun Dehradun () is the capital and the most populous city of the Indian state of Uttarakhand. It is the administrative headquarters of the eponymous district and is governed by the Dehradun Municipal Corporation, with the Uttarakhand Legislative As ...

and

Haridwar Haridwar (; ) is a city and municipal corporation in the Haridwar district of Uttarakhand, India. With a population of 228,832 in 2011, it is the second-largest city in the state and the largest in the district. The city is situated on the righ ...

Uttar Pradesh Uttar Pradesh (; , 'Northern Province') is a state in northern India. With over 200 million inhabitants, it is the most populated state in India as well as the most populous country subdivision in the world. It was established in 1950 ...

Saharanpur Saharanpur is a city and a municipal corporation in Uttar Pradesh, India. It is also the administrative headquarters of Saharanpur district. Saharanpur city's name was given after the Saint Shah Haroon Chishti. Saharanpur is declared as on ...

, Shamli,

Muzaffarnagar Muzaffarnagar is a city under Muzaffarnagar District in the Indian State of Uttar Pradesh. It is situated midway on the Delhi - Haridwar/Dehradun National Highway (NH 58) and is also well connected with the national railway network. It is kno ...

, Baghpat, Meerut,

Ghaziabad Ghaziabad () is a city in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh and a part of Delhi NCR. It is the administrative headquarters of Ghaziabad district and is the largest city in western Uttar Pradesh, with a population of 1,729,000. Ghaziabad Muni ...

Hapur Hapur is a city in, as well as the headquarters of, Hapur district, in Uttar Pradesh, India. Located about east of New Delhi, the city is part of the Delhi National Capital Region (NCR). National Highway 9 passes through the city, connecting i ...

, Gautam Buddh Nagar and Bulandshahr *

Delhi Delhi, officially the National Capital Territory (NCT) of Delhi, is a city and a union territory of India containing New Delhi, the capital of India. Straddling the Yamuna river, primarily its western or right bank, Delhi shares borders w ...

Central or Middle Doab

Etah,

Kasganj Kasganj is a city and the district headquarters of Kasganj district in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. The district was formed by grouping three Tehsils at 17 April 2008 . History Kasganj, which lies in the historical region of Braj, was al ...

, Aligarh,

Agra Agra (, ) is a city on the banks of the Yamuna river in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh, about south-east of the national capital New Delhi and 330 km west of the state capital Lucknow. With a population of roughly 1.6 million, Agra is ...

Hathras Hathras is a historical city in Uttar Pradesh, India. It is also the headquarters of Hathras district, formed on 3 May 1997 by merging parts of Aligarh, Mathura and Agra. It is a part of the Aligarh Division. The primary spoken language is a ...

, Firozabad, Mainpuri and

Mathura Mathura () is a city and the administrative headquarters of Mathura district in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. It is located approximately north of Agra, and south-east of Delhi; about from the town of Vrindavan, and from Govardhan. ...

is in the trans-Yamuna region of

Braj Braj, also known as Vraj, Vraja, Brij or Brijbhoomi, is a region in India on both sides of the Yamuna river with its centre at Mathura-Vrindavan in Uttar Pradesh state encompassing the area which also includes Palwal and Ballabhgarh in Haryana ...

Lower Doab

Farrukhabad, Kannauj,

Etawah Etawah also known as Ishtikapuri is a city on the banks of Yamuna River in the state of Western Uttar Pradesh in India. It is the administrative headquarters of Etawah District. Etawah's population of 256,838 (as per 2011 population census) m ...

, Auraiya,

Kanpur Kanpur or Cawnpore ( /kɑːnˈpʊər/ pronunciation (help·info)) is an industrial city in the central-western part of the state of Uttar Pradesh, India. Founded in 1207, Kanpur became one of the most important commercial and military stations o ...

(Urban & Rural), Fatehpur, Kaushambi and

Allahabad Allahabad (), officially known as Prayagraj, also known as Ilahabad, is a metropolis in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh.The other five cities were: Agra, Kanpur (Cawnpore), Lucknow, Meerut, and Varanasi (Benares). It is the administrat ...

The Punjab Doabs

Each of the tracts of land lying between the confluent rivers of the

Punjab region Punjab (; Punjabi Language, Punjabi: پنجاب ; ਪੰਜਾਬ ; ; also Romanization, romanised as ''Panjāb'' or ''Panj-Āb'') is a geopolitical, cultural, and historical region in South Asia, specifically in the northern part of the I ...

of Pakistan and India has a distinct name, said to have been coined by Raja Todar Mal, a minister of the

Mughal Mughal or Moghul may refer to: Related to the Mughal Empire * Mughal Empire of South Asia between the 16th and 19th centuries * Mughal dynasty * Mughal emperors * Mughal people, a social group of Central and South Asia * Mughal architecture * Mug ...

emperor

Akbar Abu'l-Fath Jalal-ud-din Muhammad Akbar (25 October 1542 – 27 October 1605), popularly known as Akbar the Great ( fa, ), and also as Akbar I (), was the third Mughal emperor, who reigned from 1556 to 1605. Akbar succeeded his father, Hum ...

. The names (except for "Indus Sagar") are a combination of the first letters, in the Persian alphabet, of the names of the rivers that bound the Doab. For example, "Chaj" () = ''Ch''anāb (, "Chenab") + ''Jehlam'' (, "Jhelum"). The names are from east to west.

Indus Sagar Doab

The

Indus Sagar Doab Indus Sagar Doab ( Punjabi, ur, ) is the tract of land in Punjab, Pakistan, lying between the Indus River and the Jhelum River. It is one of the five major doabs of the Punjab and forms the north western portion of the Punjab plain. Districts ...

lies between the

Indus The Indus ( ) is a transboundary river of Asia and a trans-Himalayan river of South and Central Asia. The river rises in mountain springs northeast of Mount Kailash in Western Tibet, flows northwest through the disputed region of Kashmir, ...

and

Jhelum Jhelum ( Punjabi and ur, ) is a city on the east bank of the Jhelum River, which is located in the district of Jhelum in the north of Punjab province, Pakistan. It is the 44th largest city of Pakistan by population. Jhelum is known for p ...

rivers.

Chaj Doabs

The

Chaj Doab Chaj Doab ( pa, ) can be classified as one of the main regions of Punjab, Pakistan. Punjab historically has been divided into regions based on its various rivers, since the name Punjab is based on its five main rivers. The Chaj doab includes the ...

lies between the

and the Chenab rivers.

Rachna Doabs

The

Rachna Doab Rachna Doab ( pa, ) can be classified as one of the main regions of Punjab, Pakistan. Punjab historically has been divided into regions based on its various rivers, since the name Punjab is based on its five main rivers. Rachna doab includes a ...

(considerable portion of the Rechna Doab is Majha) lies between the Chenab and the

Ravi Ravi may refer to: People * Ravi (name), including a list of people and characters with the name * Ravi (composer) (1926–2012), Indian music director * Ravi (Ivar Johansen) (born 1976), Norwegian musical artist * Ravi (music director) (1926–201 ...

rivers.

Bari Doabs

The

Bari Doab Bari ( , ; nap, label=Barese dialect, Barese, Bare ; lat, Barium) is the capital city of the Metropolitan City of Bari and of the Apulia Regions of Italy, region, on the Adriatic Sea, southern Italy. It is the second most important economic ce ...

(considerable portion of the Bari Doab is MajhaKakshi, S.R.; Pathak, Rashmi; Pathak, S.R.Bakshi R. (2007-01-01). Punjab Through the Ages. Sarup & Sons. . Retrieved 12 June 2010.) lies between the

, Beas and

Sutlej The Sutlej or Satluj River () is the longest of the five rivers that flow through the historic crossroads region of Punjab in northern India and Pakistan. The Sutlej River is also known as ''Satadru''. It is the easternmost tributary of the Ind ...

rivers.

Bist Doab

The

Bist Doab Doaba also known as Bist Doab, is the region of Punjab, India that lies between the Beas River and the Sutlej River. People of this region are given the demonym "Doabia". The dialect of Punjabi spoken in Doaba is called "Doabi". Th ...

(or Doaba) - between the Beas and the

rivers.

Other doabs

Raichur Doab

The

Raichur Doab The Raichur Doab is a Doab, in this case the triangular region of land in the southern Indian states of Telangana and Karnataka lying between the Krishna River and its tributary, the Tungabhadra River. The doab is named for the town of Raichur ...

is the triangular region of

Andhra Pradesh Andhra Pradesh (, abbr. AP) is a state in the south-eastern coastal region of India. It is the seventh-largest state by area covering an area of and tenth-most populous state with 49,386,799 inhabitants. It is bordered by Telangana to the ...

and

Karnataka Karnataka (; ISO: , , also known as Karunāḍu) is a state in the southwestern region of India. It was formed on 1 November 1956, with the passage of the States Reorganisation Act. Originally known as Mysore State , it was renamed ''Karnat ...

states which lies between the Krishna River and it's tributary the Tungabhadra River, named for the town of Raichur.

Khadir, bangar, barani, nali and bagar

Since North India and Pakistan are coursed by a multiplicity of Himalayan rivers that divide the plains into ''doabs'' (i.e. regions between two rivers), the

Indo-Gangetic plains The Indo-Gangetic Plain, also known as the North Indian River Plain, is a fertile plain encompassing northern regions of the Indian subcontinent, including most of northern and eastern India, around half of Pakistan, virtually all of Bangla ...

consist of alternating regions of river, ''khadir'' and ''bangar''. The regions of the ''doabs'' near the rivers consist of low-lying,

floodplains A floodplain or flood plain or bottomlands is an area of land adjacent to a river which stretches from the banks of its channel to the base of the enclosing valley walls, and which experiences flooding during periods of high discharge.Goudi ...

, but usually, very fertile ''khadir'' and the higher-lying land away from the rivers consist of ''bangar'', less prone to flooding but also less fertile on average.Damage to Yamuna Khadar, Ravi Shankar's Art of Living Responsible: NGTKhas Khabar
7 Dec 2017. Khadir is also called nali or naili, specially in northern Haryana the fertile prairie tract between the

Ghaggar The Ghaggar-Hakra River is an intermittent river in India and Pakistan that flows only during the monsoon season. The river is known as Ghaggar in India, before the Ottu barrage, and as the Hakra in Pakistan, downstream of the barrage, ending ...

river and the southern limits of the Saraswati channel depression in that gets flooded during the rains."The imperial gazeteers of India, 1908"

British Raj The British Raj (; from Hindi ''rāj'': kingdom, realm, state, or empire) was the rule of the British Crown on the Indian subcontinent; * * it is also called Crown rule in India, * * * * or Direct rule in India, * Quote: "Mill, who was himsel ...

, page 288.] Within bangar area, the barani is any low rain area where the rain-fed dry farming is practiced, which nowadays are dependent on the tubewells for irrigation. Bagar tract, an example of barani land, is the dry sandy tract of land on the border of Rajasthan state adjoining the states of Haryana and Punjab.E. Walter Coward, 1980
"Irrigation and Agricultural Development in Asia: Perspectives from the social sciences"

Cornell University Cornell University is a private statutory land-grant research university based in Ithaca, New York. It is a member of the Ivy League. Founded in 1865 by Ezra Cornell and Andrew Dickson White, Cornell was founded with the intention to teach an ...

press, . Nahri is any

canal Canals or artificial waterways are waterways or engineered channels built for drainage management (e.g. flood control and irrigation) or for conveyancing water transport vehicles (e.g. water taxi). They carry free, calm surface flow un ...

-irrigated land, for example, the ''Rangoi tract'' which is an area irrigated by the ''Rangoi channel/canal'' made for the purpose of carrying flood waters of Ghagghar river to dry areas.1987
"gazetteer of India: Hisar District"
, page 7.1987
"Gazeteers of Hisar district, 1987"
, Government of Haryana, page 162.] Historically, villages in the ''doabs'' have been officially classified as ''khadir'', ''khadir-bangar'' (i.e. mixed) or ''bangar'' for many centuries, and different agricultural tax rates applied based on a tiered land-productivity scale.

Notes

References

* {{Uttarakhand Doabs of Punjab, Pakistan Geography of Haryana Geography of Madhya Pradesh Geography of Punjab, India Geography of Punjab, Pakistan Geography of Rajasthan Geography of Uttar Pradesh Regions of Haryana Regions of Madhya Pradesh Regions of Punjab, India Regions of Punjab, Pakistan Regions of Rajasthan Regions of Uttar Pradesh Persian words and phrases Natural regions

The Doab

Upper Doab

Central or Middle Doab

Lower Doab

The Punjab Doabs

Indus Sagar Doab

Chaj Doabs

Rachna Doabs

Bari Doabs

Bist Doab

Other doabs

Raichur Doab

Khadir, bangar, barani, nali and bagar

See also

Notes

References