The Kūnaṛ River ( ps, د کونړ سيند), also known in its upper reaches as the Mastuj ( ps, مستوج سين), Chitral ( khw, کونڑ سين; ur, دریائے کونڑ), or Kama River ( khw, کامې سين), is about long, located in eastern

Afghanistan Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan,; prs, امارت اسلامی افغانستان is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. Referred to as the Heart of Asia, it is bord ...

( Nuristan, Kunar, Nangarhar) and northern

Pakistan Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 24 ...

(

Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (; ps, خېبر پښتونخوا; Urdu, Hindko: خیبر پختونخوا) commonly abbreviated as KP or KPK, is one of the Administrative units of Pakistan, four provinces of Pakistan. Located in the Geography of Pakistan, ...

). It emerges just south of the Broghil Pass, in the upper part of Chitral District of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa near the

Afghan border Afghan may refer to: *Something of or related to Afghanistan, a country in Southern-Central Asia *Afghans, people or citizens of Afghanistan, typically of any ethnicity **Afghan (ethnonym), the historic term applied strictly to people of the Pash ...

. The river system is fed by melting

glacier A glacier (; ) is a persistent body of dense ice that is constantly moving under its own weight. A glacier forms where the accumulation of snow exceeds its ablation over many years, often centuries. It acquires distinguishing features, such a ...

s and

snow Snow comprises individual ice crystals that grow while suspended in the atmosphere An atmosphere () is a layer of gas or layers of gases that envelop a planet, and is held in place by the gravity of the planetary body. A planet ...

of the Hindu Kush mountains. The Kunar River is a tributary of the Kabul River, which is in turn a tributary of the Indus River.

Origin and course of flow

The river rises in the far north glaciated Hindu Kush mountains of Chitral,

, Pakistan. Downstream as far as the town of Mastuj it is known as the "Mastuj River" from there to its confluence with the Lotkoh River just north of the important regional centre of Chitral. It is then called the "Chitral River", before flowing south into the upper Kunar Valley of Afghanistan. At the confluence in Asadabad, historically Chaga Sarai, it meets with Pech River and finally empties into the Kabul River just to the east of the city of

Jalalabad Jalalabad (; Dari/ ps, جلال‌آباد, ) is the fifth-largest city of Afghanistan. It has a population of about 356,274, and serves as the capital of Nangarhar Province in the eastern part of the country, about from the capital Kabul. Jal ...

in Afghanistan. The combined rivers then flow eastwards into Pakistan again, roughly following the Grand Trunk Road through the

Khyber Pass The Khyber Pass (خیبر درہ) is a mountain pass in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province of Pakistan, on the border with the Nangarhar Province of Afghanistan. It connects the town of Landi Kotal to the Valley of Peshawar at Jamrud by traversi ...

, and joining the Indus River at the city of Attock.

History

Before the political division of the area divided the Kunar and Chitral Valley between the modern nation states of Afghanistan and Pakistan, it had formed an important trade route, being the easiest way to travel from the Pamir Mountains' passes to the plains of the

Indian subcontinent The Indian subcontinent is a physiographical region in Southern Asia. It is situated on the Indian Plate, projecting southwards into the Indian Ocean from the Himalayas. Geopolitically, it includes the countries of Bangladesh, Bhutan, India ...

. While navigable in parts by expert kayakers, etc..., it is more precise to say its valley forms a trade route since, like nearly all of the rivers in Africa and Asia, it is not navigable for commerce or transport.

"At about six miles from Jellalabad, we quitted the valley of the Cabul river, and entered that of the Kama or Kooner river. I have not seen so fine a valley as this anywhere. The Kama is a large rapid stream, with about a mile of rich soil on either side, sometimes considerably more. The villages are large and well peopled." - Major - General Augustus Abbott, mid 19th century ''The Afghan War, 1838-1842: From the Journal and Correspondence of the Late Major-General Augustus Abbott'', editor Charles Rathbone Low, publisher R. Bentley & Son, 1879
Google Books
/ref>

Origin and course of flow

History

See also

References

Further reading