Indus river.svg
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

The Indus ( ) is a
transboundary river A transboundary river is a river that crosses at least one political border, either a border within a state or an international boundary. Bangladesh has the highest number of these rivers, including two of the world's largest rivers, the Ganges and ...
of Asia and a trans-
Himalaya The Himalayas, or Himalaya (; ; ), is a mountain range in Asia, separating the plains of the Indian subcontinent from the Tibetan Plateau. The range has some of the planet's highest peaks, including the very highest, Mount Everest. Over 100 ...
n river of South and
Central Asia Central Asia, also known as Middle Asia, is a subregion, region of Asia that stretches from the Caspian Sea in the west to western China and Mongolia in the east, and from Afghanistan and Iran in the south to Russia in the north. It includes t ...
. The river rises in mountain springs northeast of
Mount Kailash Mount Kailash (also Kailasa; ''Kangrinboqê'' or ''Gang Rinpoche''; Tibetan: གངས་རིན་པོ་ཆེ; ; sa, कैलास, ), is a mountain in the Ngari Prefecture, Tibet Autonomous Region of China. It has an altitude of ...
in
Western Tibet The geography of Tibet consists of the high mountains, lakes and rivers lying between Central, East and South Asia. Traditionally, Western (European and American) sources have regarded Tibet as being in Central Asia, though today's maps show a t ...
, flows northwest through the disputed region of Kashmir, Quote: "Kashmir, region of the northwestern Indian subcontinent. It is bounded by the Uygur Autonomous Region of Xinjiang to the northeast and the Tibet Autonomous Region to the east (both parts of China), by the Indian states of Himachal Pradesh and Punjab to the south, by Pakistan to the west, and by Afghanistan to the northwest. The northern and western portions are administered by Pakistan and comprise three areas: Azad Kashmir, Gilgit, and Baltistan, ... The southern and southeastern portions constitute the Indian state of Jammu and Kashmir. The Indian- and Pakistani-administered portions are divided by a "line of control" agreed to in 1972, although neither country recognizes it as an international boundary. In addition, China became active in the eastern area of Kashmir in the 1950s and since 1962 has controlled the northeastern part of Ladakh (the easternmost portion of the region)." bends sharply to the left after the
Nanga Parbat Nanga Parbat ( ur, ) (; ), known locally as Diamer () which means “king of the mountains”, is the ninth-highest mountain on Earth, its summit at above sea level. Lying immediately southeast of the northernmost bend of the Indus River in ...
massif In geology, a massif ( or ) is a section of a planet's crust that is demarcated by faults or flexures. In the movement of the crust, a massif tends to retain its internal structure while being displaced as a whole. The term also refers to a ...
, and flows south-by-southwest through
Pakistan Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 243 million people, and has the world's second-lar ...
, before emptying into the
Arabian Sea The Arabian Sea ( ar, اَلْبَحرْ ٱلْعَرَبِيُّ, Al-Bahr al-ˁArabī) is a region of the northern Indian Ocean bounded on the north by Pakistan, Iran and the Gulf of Oman, on the west by the Gulf of Aden, Guardafui Channel ...
near the port city of
Karachi Karachi (; ur, ; ; ) is the most populous city in Pakistan and 12th most populous city in the world, with a population of over 20 million. It is situated at the southern tip of the country along the Arabian Sea coast. It is the former c ...
. The river has a total
drainage area A drainage basin is an area of land where all flowing surface water converges to a single point, such as a river mouth, or flows into another body of water, such as a lake or ocean. A basin is separated from adjacent basins by a perimeter, t ...
of circa . Its estimated annual flow is around , making it one of the 50 largest rivers in the world in terms of average annual flow. Its left-bank
tributary A tributary, or affluent, is a stream or river that flows into a larger stream or main stem (or parent) river or a lake. A tributary does not flow directly into a sea or ocean. Tributaries and the main stem river drain the surrounding drai ...
in Ladakh is the
Zanskar River The Zanskar River is the first major tributary of the Indus River, equal or greater in volume than the main river, which flows entirely within Ladakh, India. It originates northeast of the Great Himalayan range and drains both the Himalayas and ...
, and its left-bank tributary in the
plains In geography, a plain is a flat expanse of land that generally does not change much in elevation, and is primarily treeless. Plains occur as lowlands along valleys or at the base of mountains, as coastal plains, and as plateaus or uplands. In ...
is the
Panjnad River The Panjnad River (Punjabi and ur, ) is a river at the extreme end of Bahawalpur district in Punjab, Pakistan. The name ''Panjnad'' means "five rivers", from Persian ''panj'' ("five") and Sanskrit ''nadī́'' ("river").The Panjnad River is form ...
which is formed by the successive confluences of the five Punjab rivers, namely the
Chenab The Chenab River () is a major river that flows in India and Pakistan, and is one of the 5 major rivers of the Punjab region. It is formed by the union of two headwaters, Chandra and Bhaga, which rise in the upper Himalayas in the Lahaul ...
, Jhelum, Ravi,
Beas Beas is a riverfront town in the Amritsar district of the Indian state of Punjab. Beas lies on the banks of the Beas River. Beas town is mostly located in revenue boundary of Budha Theh with parts in villages Dholo Nangal and Wazir Bhullar. ...
, and Sutlej rivers. Its principal right-bank tributaries are the
Shyok The Shyok River is a tributary of the Indus River that flows through northern Ladakh and enters Gilgit–Baltistan, spanning some . The Shyok River originates at the Rimo Glacier, one of the tongues of Siachen Glacier. Its alignment is very ...
, Gilgit,
Kabul Kabul (; ps, , ; , ) is the capital and largest city of Afghanistan. Located in the eastern half of the country, it is also a municipality, forming part of the Kabul Province; it is administratively divided into 22 municipal districts. Acco ...
, Kurram, and Gomal rivers. Beginning in a mountain spring and fed with
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 as ...
s and rivers in the Himalayan, Karakoram, and
Hindu Kush The Hindu Kush is an mountain range in Central and South Asia to the west of the Himalayas. It stretches from central and western Afghanistan, Quote: "The Hindu Kush mountains run along the Afghan border with the North-West Frontier Province ...
ranges, the river supports the
ecosystem An ecosystem (or ecological system) consists of all the organisms and the physical environment with which they interact. These biotic and abiotic components are linked together through nutrient cycles and energy flows. Energy enters the syste ...
s of
temperate forest A temperate forest is a forest found between the tropical and boreal regions, located in the temperate zone. It is the second largest biome on our planet, covering 25% of the world's forest area, only behind the boreal forest, which covers abou ...
s, plains, and
arid A region is arid when it severely lacks available water, to the extent of hindering or preventing the growth and development of plant and animal life. Regions with arid climates tend to lack vegetation and are called xeric or desertic. Most ...
countryside. The northern part of the Indus Valley, with its tributaries, forms the
Punjab Punjab (; Punjabi: پنجاب ; ਪੰਜਾਬ ; ; also romanised as ''Panjāb'' or ''Panj-Āb'') is a geopolitical, cultural, and historical region in South Asia, specifically in the northern part of the Indian subcontinent, comprising a ...
region of South Asia, while the lower course of the river ends in a large delta in the southern Sindh province of Pakistan. The river has historically been important to many cultures of the region. The 3rd millennium BC saw the rise of
Indus Valley civilisation The Indus Valley Civilisation (IVC), also known as the Indus Civilisation was a Bronze Age civilisation in the northwestern regions of South Asia, lasting from 3300  BCE to 1300 BCE, and in its mature form 2600 BCE to 1900& ...
, a major urban civilization of the Bronze Age. During the 2nd millennium BC, the Punjab region was mentioned in the
Rigveda The ''Rigveda'' or ''Rig Veda'' ( ', from ' "praise" and ' "knowledge") is an ancient Indian collection of Vedic Sanskrit hymns (''sūktas''). It is one of the four sacred canonical Hindu texts ('' śruti'') known as the Vedas. Only one ...
hymns as ''Sapta Sindhu'' and in the
Avesta The Avesta () is the primary collection of religious texts of Zoroastrianism, composed in the Avestan language. The Avesta texts fall into several different categories, arranged either by dialect, or by usage. The principal text in the lit ...
religious texts as ''Saptha Hindu'' (both terms meaning " seven rivers"). Early historical kingdoms that arose in the Indus Valley include
Gandhāra Gandhāra is the name of an ancient region located in the northwestern region of the Indian subcontinent, more precisely in present-day north-west Pakistan and parts of south-east Afghanistan. The region centered around the Peshawar Val ...
, and the Ror dynasty of Sauvīra. The Indus River came into the knowledge of the
Western world The Western world, also known as the West, primarily refers to the various nations and states in the regions of Europe, North America, and Oceania.
early in the classical period, when King Darius of
Persia Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkmeni ...
sent his Greek subject
Scylax of Caryanda Scylax of Caryanda ( el, Σκύλαξ ὁ Καρυανδεύς) was a Greek explorer and writer of the late 6th and early 5th centuries BCE. His own writings are lost, though occasionally cited or quoted by later Greek and Roman authors. The peri ...
to explore the river, c. 515 BC.


Etymology and names

This river was known to the ancient Indians in
Sanskrit Sanskrit (; attributively , ; nominally , , ) is a classical language belonging to the Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European languages. It arose in South Asia after its predecessor languages had diffused there from the northwest in the late ...
as ''Sindhu'' and the Persians as ''Hindu'' which was regarded by both of them as "the border river". The variation between the two names is explained by the Old Iranian sound change ''*s'' > ''h'', which occurred between 850 and 600 BCE according to
Asko Parpola Asko Parpola (born 12 July 1941, in Forssa) is a Finnish Indologist, current professor emeritus of South Asian studies at the University of Helsinki. He specializes in Sindhology, specifically the study of the Indus script. Biography Parpola i ...
. From the Persian Achaemenid Empire, the name passed to the
Greeks The Greeks or Hellenes (; el, Έλληνες, ''Éllines'' ) are an ethnic group and nation indigenous to the Eastern Mediterranean and the Black Sea regions, namely Greece, Cyprus, Albania, Italy, Turkey, Egypt, and, to a lesser extent, oth ...
as ''Indós'' (Ἰνδός). It was adopted by the
Romans Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy * Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *''Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lette ...
as ''Indus''. The name India is derived from Indus. The
Indigenous peoples of the Americas The Indigenous peoples of the Americas are the inhabitants of the Americas before the arrival of the European settlers in the 15th century, and the ethnic groups who now identify themselves with those peoples. Many Indigenous peoples of the A ...
are commonly called "Indians" or "Indios", a misnaming that dates to
Christopher Columbus Christopher Columbus * lij, Cristoffa C(or)ombo * es, link=no, Cristóbal Colón * pt, Cristóvão Colombo * ca, Cristòfor (or ) * la, Christophorus Columbus. (; born between 25 August and 31 October 1451, died 20 May 1506) was a ...
's erroneous belief that he had landed near India in 1492, when he actually landed in the Americas. In Sindhi, this river is also known as ''Mehran''. The
Ladakhis Ladakhis or Ladakhi people or Ladakspa are an ethnic group and first-language speakers of the Ladakhi language living in the Ladakh region in the northernmost part of India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country ...
and
Tibetans The Tibetan people (; ) are an East Asian ethnic group native to Tibet. Their current population is estimated to be around 6.7 million. In addition to the majority living in Tibet Autonomous Region of China, significant numbers of Tibetans liv ...
call it ''Senge Tsangpo'' (སེང་གེ་གཙང་པོ།),
Baltis Baltis was an ancient Arabian goddess. She was revered at Carrhae and identified with the planet Venus. Isaac of Antioch mentions Baltis in a text written in the middle of the 5th century CE as a deity worshipped by the Arabs. Baltis here is e ...
call it ''Gemtsuh'' and ''Tsuh-Fo'',
Pashtuns Pashtuns (, , ; ps, پښتانه, ), also known as Pakhtuns or Pathans, are an Iranian ethnic group who are native to the geographic region of Pashtunistan in the present-day countries of Afghanistan and Pakistan. They were historically r ...
call it ''Nilab'', ''Sher Darya'' and ''Abbasin'', while
Sindhis Sindhis ( sd, سنڌي Perso-Arabic: सिन्धी Devanagari; ) are an Indo-Aryan ethnic group who speak the Sindhi language and are native to the province of Sindh in Pakistan. After the partition of British Indian empire in 1947, man ...
call it ''Purali'' and ''Samundar''. The modern name in
Urdu Urdu (;"Urdu"
'' Hindi Hindi ( Devanāgarī: or , ), or more precisely Modern Standard Hindi (Devanagari: ), is an Indo-Aryan language spoken chiefly in the Hindi Belt region encompassing parts of northern, central, eastern, and western India. Hindi has been ...
is ''Sindh'' ( ur, , hi, सिंध), a semi-learned borrowing from the Sanskrit.


Description

The Indus River provides key water resources for Pakistan's economy – especially the ''breadbasket'' of Punjab province, which accounts for most of the nation's agricultural production, and Sindh. The word Punjab means "land of five rivers" and the five rivers are Jhelum,
Chenab The Chenab River () is a major river that flows in India and Pakistan, and is one of the 5 major rivers of the Punjab region. It is formed by the union of two headwaters, Chandra and Bhaga, which rise in the upper Himalayas in the Lahaul ...
, Ravi,
Beas Beas is a riverfront town in the Amritsar district of the Indian state of Punjab. Beas lies on the banks of the Beas River. Beas town is mostly located in revenue boundary of Budha Theh with parts in villages Dholo Nangal and Wazir Bhullar. ...
and Sutlej, all of which finally flow into the Indus. The Indus also supports many heavy industries and provides the main supply of potable water in Pakistan. The total length of the river varies in different sources. The length used in this article is , taken from the ''Himalayan Climate and Water Atlas'' (2015). Historically, the 1909 ''
The Imperial Gazetteer of India ''The Imperial Gazetteer of India'' was a gazetteer of the British Indian Empire, and is now a historical reference work. It was first published in 1881. Sir William Wilson Hunter made the original plans of the book, starting in 1869.< ...
'' gave it as "just over 1,800 miles". A shorter figure of has been widely used in modern sources, as has the one of . The modern ''Encyclopedia Britannica'' was originally published in 1999 with the shorter measurement, but was updated in 2015 to use the longer measurement. Both lengths are commonly found in modern publications; in some cases, both measurements can be found within the same work. An extended figure of circa was announced by a Chinese research group in 2011, based on a comprehensive remeasurement from satellite imagery, and a ground expedition to identify an alternative source point, but detailed analysis has not yet been published. The ultimate source of the Indus is in
Tibet Tibet (; ''Böd''; ) is a region in East Asia, covering much of the Tibetan Plateau and spanning about . It is the traditional homeland of the Tibetan people. Also resident on the plateau are some other ethnic groups such as Monpa, Taman ...
, but there is some debate about the exact source. The traditional source of the river is the ''Sênggê Kanbab'' (
Sênggê Zangbo Sengge Zangbo, Sengge Khabab () or Shiquan He () is a river in the Ngari Prefecture in the Tibet Autonomous Region, China that is the source stream of the Indus river, one of the major trans-Himalayan rivers of Central and South Asia. The river ...
) or "Lion's Mouth", a perennial spring not far from the sacred
Mount Kailash Mount Kailash (also Kailasa; ''Kangrinboqê'' or ''Gang Rinpoche''; Tibetan: གངས་རིན་པོ་ཆེ; ; sa, कैलास, ), is a mountain in the Ngari Prefecture, Tibet Autonomous Region of China. It has an altitude of ...
, marked by a long low line of Tibetan
chortens A stupa ( sa, स्तूप, lit=heap, ) is a mound-like or hemispherical structure containing relics (such as ''śarīra'' – typically the remains of Buddhist monks or nuns) that is used as a place of meditation. In Buddhism, circumambu ...
. There are several other tributaries nearby, which may possibly form a longer stream than Sênggê Kanbab, but unlike the Sênggê Kanbab, are all dependent on
snowmelt In hydrology, snowmelt is surface runoff produced from melting snow. It can also be used to describe the period or season during which such runoff is produced. Water produced by snowmelt is an important part of the annual water cycle in many par ...
. The
Zanskar River The Zanskar River is the first major tributary of the Indus River, equal or greater in volume than the main river, which flows entirely within Ladakh, India. It originates northeast of the Great Himalayan range and drains both the Himalayas and ...
, which flows into the Indus in Ladakh, has a greater volume of water than the Indus itself before that point.Albinia (2008), p. 307. An alternative reckoning begins the river around 300 km further upstream, at the confluence of the Sengge Zangbo and
Gar Tsangpo Gar Tsangpo (; ), also called Gartang or Gar River, is a headwater of the Indus River in the Ngari Prefecture, Tibet, China. It merges with other headwater, Sênggê Zangbo, near the village of Tashigang to form the Indus River. The combined r ...
rivers, which drain the Nganglong Kangri and Gangdise Shan (Gang Rinpoche, Mt. Kailash) mountain ranges. The 2011 remeasurement suggested the source was a small lake northeast of Mount Kailash, rather than either of the two points previously used. The Indus then flows northwest through
Ladakh Ladakh () is a region administered by India as a union territory which constitutes a part of the larger Kashmir region and has been the subject of dispute between India, Pakistan, and China since 1947. (subscription required) Quote: "Jammu ...
(Indian-administered Kashmir) and Baltistan and Gilgit (Pakistan-administered Kashmir), just south of the Karakoram range. The
Shyok The Shyok River is a tributary of the Indus River that flows through northern Ladakh and enters Gilgit–Baltistan, spanning some . The Shyok River originates at the Rimo Glacier, one of the tongues of Siachen Glacier. Its alignment is very ...
,
Shigar Shigar () is the headquarter of its namesake district and tehsil in the Baltistan division of Gilgit–Baltistan in northern Pakistan. It is located at the bank of Shigar River in the most remote and dramatic part of the region. It is a popula ...
and Gilgit rivers carry glacial waters into the main river. It gradually bends to the south and descends into the Punjab plains at
Kalabagh Kalabagh ( ur, ) is a town and union council of Mianwali District in the Punjab province of Pakistan. It is part of Isakhel Tehsil. It is located on the western bank of the Indus River. It was the seat of the ''nawab'' of Kalabagh, who lived i ...
, Pakistan. The Indus passes gigantic gorges deep near the
Nanga Parbat Nanga Parbat ( ur, ) (; ), known locally as Diamer () which means “king of the mountains”, is the ninth-highest mountain on Earth, its summit at above sea level. Lying immediately southeast of the northernmost bend of the Indus River in ...
massif In geology, a massif ( or ) is a section of a planet's crust that is demarcated by faults or flexures. In the movement of the crust, a massif tends to retain its internal structure while being displaced as a whole. The term also refers to a ...
. It flows swiftly across Hazara and is dammed at the Tarbela Reservoir. The Kabul River joins it near
Attock Attock ( Punjabi and Urdu: ), formerly known as Campbellpur (), is a historical city located in the north of Pakistan's Punjab Province, not far from the country's capital Islamabad. It is the headquarters of the Attock District and is 61st lar ...
. The remainder of its route to the sea is in the plains of the Punjab and Sindh, where the flow of the river becomes slow and highly braided. It is joined by the
Panjnad The Panjnad River ( Punjabi and ur, ) is a river at the extreme end of Bahawalpur district in Punjab, Pakistan. The name ''Panjnad'' means "five rivers", from Persian ''panj'' ("five") and Sanskrit ''nadī́'' ("river").The Panjnad River is for ...
at
Mithankot Mithankot ( ur, ) also known as Kotmithan, is a city in Rajanpur District in Punjab, Pakistan. Mithankot is located on the west bank of the Indus River The Indus ( ) is a transboundary river of Asia and a trans-Himalayan river of South ...
. Beyond this confluence, the river, at one time, was named the ''Satnad River'' (''sat'' = "seven", ''nadī'' = "river"), as the river now carried the waters of the Kabul River, the Indus River and the five Punjab rivers. Passing by
Jamshoro Jamshoro ( sd, ڄام شورو, ur, ) is a city and the capital of Jamshoro District, located in Sindh, Pakistan. It is located on the right bank of the Indus River, approximately northwest of Hyderabad and northeast from the provincial cap ...
, it ends in a large delta to the South of
Thatta Thatta ( sd, ٺٽو; ) is a city in the Pakistani province of Sindh. Thatta was the medieval capital of Sindh, and served as the seat of power for three successive dynasties. Thatta's historic significance has yielded several monuments in and ...
in the Sindh province of Pakistan. The Indus is one of the few rivers in the world to exhibit a
tidal bore Tidal is the adjectival form of tide. Tidal may also refer to: * ''Tidal'' (album), a 1996 album by Fiona Apple * Tidal (king), a king involved in the Battle of the Vale of Siddim * TidalCycles, a live coding environment for music * Tidal (serv ...
. The Indus system is largely fed by the snow and glaciers of the
Himalayas The Himalayas, or Himalaya (; ; ), is a mountain range in Asia, separating the plains of the Indian subcontinent from the Tibetan Plateau. The range has some of the planet's highest peaks, including the very highest, Mount Everest. Over 10 ...
, Karakoram and the
Hindu Kush The Hindu Kush is an mountain range in Central and South Asia to the west of the Himalayas. It stretches from central and western Afghanistan, Quote: "The Hindu Kush mountains run along the Afghan border with the North-West Frontier Province ...
ranges. The flow of the river is also determined by the seasons – it diminishes greatly in the winter, while flooding its banks in the
monsoon A monsoon () is traditionally a seasonal reversing wind accompanied by corresponding changes in precipitation but is now used to describe seasonal changes in atmospheric circulation and precipitation associated with annual latitudinal osci ...
months from July to September. There is also evidence of a steady shift in the course of the river since prehistoric times – it deviated westwards from flowing into the
Rann of Kutch The Rann of Kutch (alternately spelled as Kuchchh) is a large area of salt marshes that span the border between India and Pakistan. It is located in Gujarat (primarily the Kutch district), India, and in Sindh, Pakistan. It is divided into ...
and adjoining
Banni grasslands Banni Grasslands Reserve or Banni grasslands form a belt of arid grassland ecosystem on the outer southern edge of the desert of the marshy salt flats of Rann of Kutch in Kutch District, Gujarat State, India. They are known for rich wildlife a ...
after the 1816 earthquake. , Indus water flows in to the
Rann of Kutch The Rann of Kutch (alternately spelled as Kuchchh) is a large area of salt marshes that span the border between India and Pakistan. It is located in Gujarat (primarily the Kutch district), India, and in Sindh, Pakistan. It is divided into ...
during its floods breaching flood banks.


History

The major cities of the Indus Valley Civilisation, such as Harappa and Mohenjo-daro, date back to around 3300 BC, and represent some of the largest human habitations of the ancient world. The Indus Valley Civilisation extended from across northeast Afghanistan to Pakistan and northwest India, with an upward reach from east of Jhelum River to Ropar on the upper Sutlej. The coastal settlements extended from Sutkagan Dor at the Pakistan, Iran border to Kutch in modern Gujarat, India. There is an Indus site on the Amu Darya at Shortughai in northern Afghanistan, and the Indus site Alamgirpur at the Hindon River is located only from Delhi. To date, over 1,052 cities and settlements have been found, mainly in the general region of the Ghaggar-Hakra River and its tributaries. Among the settlements were the major urban centres of Harappa and Mohenjo-daro, as well as Lothal, Dholavira, Ganeriwala, and Rakhigarhi. Only 40 Indus Valley sites have been discovered on the Indus and its tributaries. However, it is notable that majority of the Indus script, Indus script seals and inscribed objects discovered were found at sites along the Indus river. Most scholars believe that settlements of Gandhara grave culture of the early Indo-Aryans flourished in Gandhara from 1700 BC to 600 BC, when Mohenjo-daro and Harappa had already been abandoned. The
Rigveda The ''Rigveda'' or ''Rig Veda'' ( ', from ' "praise" and ' "knowledge") is an ancient Indian collection of Vedic Sanskrit hymns (''sūktas''). It is one of the four sacred canonical Hindu texts ('' śruti'') known as the Vedas. Only one ...
describes Rigvedic rivers, several rivers, including one named "Sindhu". The Rigvedic "Sindhu" is thought to be the present-day Indus river. It is attested 176 times in its text, 94 times in the plural, and most often used in the generic sense of "river". In the Rigveda, notably in the later hymns, the meaning of the word is narrowed to refer to the Indus river in particular, e.g. in the list of rivers mentioned in the hymn of ''Nadistuti sukta''. The Rigvedic hymns apply a feminine gender to all the rivers mentioned therein, except for the Brahmaputra. The word Etymology of India, "India" is derived from the Indus River. In ancient times, "India" initially referred to those regions immediately along the east bank of the Indus, where are Punjab, Pakistan, Punjab and Sindh now but by 300 BC, Greek writers including Herodotus and Megasthenes were applying the term to the entire subcontinent that extends much farther eastward. The lower basin of the Indus forms a natural boundary between the Iranian Plateau and the Indian subcontinent; this region embraces all or parts of the Pakistani provinces Balochistan (Pakistan), Balochistan, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Punjab region, Punjab and Sindh and the countries Afghanistan and India. The first West Eurasian empire to annex the Indus Valley was the Achaemenid Empire, Persian Empire, during the reign of Darius the Great. During his reign, the Greek explorer
Scylax of Caryanda Scylax of Caryanda ( el, Σκύλαξ ὁ Καρυανδεύς) was a Greek explorer and writer of the late 6th and early 5th centuries BCE. His own writings are lost, though occasionally cited or quoted by later Greek and Roman authors. The peri ...
was commissioned to explore the course of the Indus. It was crossed by the invading armies of Alexander the Great, Alexander, but after his Macedonians conquered the west bank—joining it to the Ancient Greece, Hellenic world, they elected to retreat along the southern course of the river, ending Alexander's Asian campaign. Alexander's admiral Nearchus set out from the Indus Delta to explore the Persian Gulf, until reaching the Tigris River. The Indus Valley was later dominated by the Maurya Empire, Mauryan and Kushan Empires, Indo-Greek Kingdoms, Indo-Scythians and Huna people, Hepthalites. Over several centuries Muslim armies of Muhammad ibn al-Qasim, Mahmud of Ghazni, Muhammad of Ghor, Timur and Babur crossed the river to invade Sindh and
Punjab Punjab (; Punjabi: پنجاب ; ਪੰਜਾਬ ; ; also romanised as ''Panjāb'' or ''Panj-Āb'') is a geopolitical, cultural, and historical region in South Asia, specifically in the northern part of the Indian subcontinent, comprising a ...
, providing a gateway to the Indian subcontinent.


Geography


Tributaries

*Gar Tsangpo, Gar River *Gilgit River *Gomal River *Hunza River * Kabul River *Kunar River *Kurram River *
Panjnad River The Panjnad River (Punjabi and ur, ) is a river at the extreme end of Bahawalpur district in Punjab, Pakistan. The name ''Panjnad'' means "five rivers", from Persian ''panj'' ("five") and Sanskrit ''nadī́'' ("river").The Panjnad River is form ...
**Chenab River ***Jhelum River ***Ravi River **Satluj River ***Beas River *Shyok River *Soan River *Suru River (Indus), Suru River *Swat River *
Zanskar River The Zanskar River is the first major tributary of the Indus River, equal or greater in volume than the main river, which flows entirely within Ladakh, India. It originates northeast of the Great Himalayan range and drains both the Himalayas and ...
*Zhob River


Geology

Indus is an Antecedent drainage stream, antecedent river, meaning that it existed before the Himalayas and Entrenched river, entrenched itself while they were rising. The Indus river feeds the Indus submarine fan, which is the second largest sediment body on the Earth. It consists of around 5 million cubic kilometres of material eroded from the mountains. Studies of the sediment in the modern river indicate that the Karakoram, Karakoram Mountains in northern Pakistan and India are the single most important source of material, with the Himalayas providing the next largest contribution, mostly via the large rivers of the Punjab (Jhelum, Ravi, Chenab, Beas and Sutlej). Analysis of sediments from the Arabian Sea has demonstrated that prior to five million years ago the Indus was not connected to these Punjab region, Punjab rivers which instead flowed east into the Ganges, Ganga and were captured after that time. Earlier work showed that sand and silt from western Tibet was reaching the Arabian Sea by 45 million years ago, implying the existence of an ancient Indus River by that time. The delta of this proto-Indus river has subsequently been found in the Katawaz Basin, on the Afghan-Pakistan border. In the
Nanga Parbat Nanga Parbat ( ur, ) (; ), known locally as Diamer () which means “king of the mountains”, is the ninth-highest mountain on Earth, its summit at above sea level. Lying immediately southeast of the northernmost bend of the Indus River in ...
region, the massive amounts of erosion due to the Indus river following the capture and rerouting through that area is thought to bring middle and lower crustal rocks to the surface. In November 2011, satellite images showed that the Indus river had re-entered India, feeding Great Rann of Kutch, Little Rann of Kutch and a lake near Ahmedabad known as Nal Sarovar Bird Sanctuary, Nal Sarovar. Heavy rains had left the river basin along with the Lake Manchar, Lake Hemal and Keenjhar Lake, Kalri Lake (all in modern-day Pakistan) inundated. This happened two centuries after the Indus river shifted its course westwards following the 1819 Rann of Kutch earthquake. The Induan Age at start of the Triassic Period of geological time is named for the Indus region.


Wildlife

Accounts of the Indus valley from the times of Alexander's campaign indicate a healthy forest cover in the region. The Mughal Emperor Babur writes of encountering rhinoceroses along its bank in his memoirs (the Baburnama). Extensive deforestation and human interference in the ecology of the Shivalik Hills has led to a marked deterioration in vegetation and growing conditions. The Indus valley regions are arid with poor vegetation. Agriculture is sustained largely due to irrigation works. The Indus river and its watershed has a rich biodiversity. It is home to around 25 amphibian species.


Mammals

The Indus river dolphin (''Platanista indicus minor'') is found only in the Indus River. It is subspecies of the South Asian river dolphin. The Indus river dolphin formerly also occurred in the tributaries of the Indus river. According to the World Wildlife Fund it is one of the most threatened cetaceans with only about 1,000 still existing. There are two otter species in the Indus River basin: the Eurasian otter in the northeastern highland sections and the smooth-coated otter elsewhere in the river basin. The smooth-coated otters in the Indus River represent a subspecies found nowhere else, the Sindh otter (''Lutrogale perspicillata sindica'').


Fish

The Indus River basin has a high diversity, being the home of more than 180 freshwater fish species, including 22 which are found nowhere else. Fish also played a major role in earlier cultures of the region, including the ancient Indus Valley Civilisation where depictions of fish were frequent. The Indus script has a commonly used fish sign, which in its various forms may simply have meant "fish", or referred to stars or gods. In the uppermost, highest part of the Indus River basin there are relatively few genera and species: ''Diptychus'', ''Ptychobarbus'', ''Schizopyge'', ''Schizopygopsis'' and ''Schizothorax'' snowtrout, ''Triplophysa'' loaches, and the catfish ''Glyptosternon reticulatum''. Going downstream these are soon joined by the golden mahseer ''Tor putitora'' (alternatively ''T. macrolepis'', although it often is regarded as a synonym of ''T. putitora'') and ''Schistura'' loaches. Downriver from around Thakot, Tarbela, the
Kabul Kabul (; ps, , ; , ) is the capital and largest city of Afghanistan. Located in the eastern half of the country, it is also a municipality, forming part of the Kabul Province; it is administratively divided into 22 municipal districts. Acco ...
–Indus river confluence, Attock Khurd and Peshawar the diversity rises strongly, including many cyprinids (''Amblypharyngodon'', ''Aspidoparia'', ''Barilius'', ''Chela (fish), Chela'', ''Cirrhinus'', ''Crossocheilus'', ''Cyprinion'', ''Danio'', ''Devario'', ''Esomus'', ''Garra'', ''Labeo'', ''Naziritor'', ''Osteobrama'', ''Pethia'', ''Puntius'', ''Rasbora'', ''Salmophasia'', ''Securicula'' and ''Systomus''), true loaches (''Botia'' and ''Lepidocephalus''), stone loaches (''Acanthocobitis'' and ''Nemacheilus''), ailiid catfish (''Clupisoma''), bagridae catfish (''Batasio'', ''Mystus'', ''Rita (fish), Rita'' and ''Sperata''), airsac catfish (''Heteropneustes''), schilbid catfish (''Eutropiichthys''), silurid catfish (''Ompok'' and ''Wallago''), sisorid catfish (''Bagarius'', ''Gagata'', ''Glyptothorax'' and ''Sisor''), gouramis (''Trichogaster''), nandid leaffish (''Nandus''), snakeheads (''Channa''), spiny eel (''Macrognathus'' and ''Mastacembelus''), knifefish (''Notopterus''), glassfish (''Elongate glassy perchlet, Chanda'' and ''Parambassis''), clupeids (''Gudusia''), needlefish (''Xenentodon'') and gobies (''Glossogobius''), as well as a few introduced species. As the altitude further declines the Indus basin becomes overall quite slow-flowing as it passes through the Punjab Plain. Major carp become common, and chameleonfish (''Badis (fish), Badis''), mullet (''Sicamugil'') and swamp eel (''Monopterus'') appear. In some upland lakes and tributaries of the Punjab region snowtrout and mahseer are still common, but once the Indus basin reaches its lower plain the former group is entirely absent and the latter are rare. Many of the species of the middle sections of the Indus basin are also present in the lower. Notable examples of genera that are present in the lower plain but generally not elsewhere in the Indus River basin are the ''Aphanius'' pupfish, ''Aplocheilus'' killifish, Tenualosa ilisha, palla fish (''Tenualosa ilisha''), catla (''Labeo catla''), rohu (''Labeo rohita'') and ''Cirrhinus mrigala''. The lowermost part of the river and its delta are home to freshwater fish, but also a number of brackish and marine species. This includes pomfret and prawns. The large delta has been recognized by conservationists as an important ecological region. Here, the river turns into many marshes, streams and creeks and meets the sea at shallow levels. Palla fish (''Tenualosa ilisha'') of the river is a delicacy for people living along the river. The population of fish in the river is moderately high, with Sukkur,
Thatta Thatta ( sd, ٺٽو; ) is a city in the Pakistani province of Sindh. Thatta was the medieval capital of Sindh, and served as the seat of power for three successive dynasties. Thatta's historic significance has yielded several monuments in and ...
, and Kotri being the major fishing centres – all in the lower Sindh course. As a result, damming and irrigation has made fish farming an important economic activity.


Economy

The Indus is the most important supplier of water resources to the
Punjab Punjab (; Punjabi: پنجاب ; ਪੰਜਾਬ ; ; also romanised as ''Panjāb'' or ''Panj-Āb'') is a geopolitical, cultural, and historical region in South Asia, specifically in the northern part of the Indian subcontinent, comprising a ...
and Sindh plains – it forms the backbone of agriculture and food production in Pakistan. The river is especially critical since rainfall is meagre in the lower Indus valley. Irrigation canals were first built by the people of the
Indus Valley civilisation The Indus Valley Civilisation (IVC), also known as the Indus Civilisation was a Bronze Age civilisation in the northwestern regions of South Asia, lasting from 3300  BCE to 1300 BCE, and in its mature form 2600 BCE to 1900& ...
, and later by the engineers of the Kushan Empire and the Mughal Empire. Modern irrigation was introduced by the British East India Company in 1850 – the construction of modern canals accompanied with the restoration of old canals. The British supervised the construction of one of the most complex irrigation networks in the world. The Guddu Barrage is long – irrigating Sukkur, Jacobabad, Larkana and Kalat District, Kalat. The Sukkur Barrage serves over . After Pakistan came into existence, a Indus Waters Treaty, water control treaty signed between India and Pakistan in 1960 guaranteed that Pakistan would receive water from the Indus River and its two tributaries the Jhelum River & the Chenab River independently of upstream control by India. The Indus Basin Project consisted primarily of the construction of two main dams, the Mangla Dam built on the Jhelum River and the Tarbela Dam constructed on the Indus River, together with their subsidiary dams. The Pakistan Water and Power Development Authority undertook the construction of the Chashma-Jhelum link canal – linking the waters of the Indus and Jhelum rivers – extending water supplies to the regions of Bahawalpur and Multan. Pakistan constructed the Tarbela Dam near Rawalpindi – standing long and high, with an long reservoir. It supports the Chashma Barrage near Dera Ismail Khan for irrigation use and flood control and the Taunsa Barrage near Dera Ghazi Khan which also produces 100,000 kilowatts of electricity. The Kotri Barrage near Hyderabad, Sindh, Hyderabad is long and provides additional water supplies for Karachi. The extensive linking of tributaries with the Indus has helped spread water resources to the valley of Peshawar, in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. The extensive irrigation and dam projects provide the basis for Pakistan's large production of crops such as cotton, sugarcane and wheat. The dams also generate electricity for heavy industries and urban centers.


People

Indus river is sacred to Hindus. Sindhu Darshan Festival is held on every Guru Purnima on the banks of Indus. The ethnicities of the Indus Valley (Pakistan and Northwest India) have a greater amount of ANI (or West Eurasian) admixture than other South Asians, including inputs from Western Steppe Herders, with evidence of more sustained and multi-layered migrations from the west.


Modern issues


Indus delta

Originally, the delta used to receive almost all of the water from the Indus river, which has an annual flow of approximately , and is accompanied by of silt. Since the 1940s, dams, barrages and irrigation works have been constructed on the river. The Indus Basin Irrigation System is the "largest contiguous irrigation system developed over the past 140 years" anywhere in the world. This has reduced the flow of water and by 2018, the average annual flow of water below the Kotri barrage was , and annual amount of silt discharged was estimated at . As a result, the 2010 Pakistan floods were considered "good news" for the ecosystem and population of the river delta as they brought much needed fresh water. Any further utilization of the river basin water is not economically feasible. Vegetation and wildlife of the Indus delta are threatened by the reduced inflow of fresh water, along with extensive deforestation, industrial pollution and global warming. Damming has also isolated the delta population of Indus river dolphins from those further upstream. Large-scale diversion of the river's water for irrigation has raised far-reaching issues. Sediment clogging from poor maintenance of canals has affected agricultural production and vegetation on numerous occasions. Irrigation itself is increasing soil salinization, reducing crop yields and in some cases rendering farmland useless for cultivation.


Effects of climate change on the river

The Tibetan Plateau contains the world's third-largest store of ice. Qin Dahe, the former head of the China Meteorological Administration, said the recent fast pace of melting and warmer temperatures will be good for agriculture and tourism in the short term, but issued a strong warning:
Temperatures are rising four times faster than elsewhere in China, and the Tibetan glaciers are retreating at a higher speed than in any other part of the world... In the short term, this will cause lakes to expand and bring floods and mudflows.. In the long run, the glaciers are vital lifelines of the Indus River. Once they vanish, water supplies in Pakistan will be in peril.
"There is insufficient data to say what will happen to the Indus," says David Grey, the World Bank's senior water advisor in South Asia. "But we all have very nasty fears that the flows of the Indus could be severely, severely affected by glacier melt as a consequence of climate change," and reduced by perhaps as much as 50 percent. "Now what does that mean to a population that lives in a desert [where], without the river, there would be no life? I don't know the answer to that question," he says. "But we need to be concerned about that. Deeply, deeply concerned." U.S. diplomat Richard Holbrooke said, shortly before his death in 2010, that he believed that falling water levels in the Indus River "could very well precipitate World War III."


Pollution

Over the years factories on the banks of the Indus River have increased levels of water pollution in the river and the atmosphere around it. High levels of pollutants in the river have led to the deaths of endangered Indus river dolphin. The Sindh Environmental Protection Agency has ordered polluting factories around the river to shut down under the Pakistan Environmental Protection Act, 1997. Death of the Indus river dolphin has also been attributed to fishermen using poison to kill fish and scooping them up. As a result, the government banned fishing from Guddu Barrage to Sukkur. The Indus is second among a group of ten rivers responsible for about 90% of all the plastic pollution, plastic that reaches the oceans. The Yangtze is the only river contributing more plastic.


2010 floods

Frequently, Indus river is prone to moderate to severe flooding. In July 2010, following abnormally heavy
monsoon A monsoon () is traditionally a seasonal reversing wind accompanied by corresponding changes in precipitation but is now used to describe seasonal changes in atmospheric circulation and precipitation associated with annual latitudinal osci ...
rains, the Indus River rose above its banks and started flooding. The rain continued for the next two months, devastating large areas of Pakistan. In Sindh, the Indus burst its banks near Sukkur on 8 August, submerging the village of Mor Khan Jatoi. In early August, the heaviest flooding moved southward along the Indus River from severely affected northern regions toward western Punjab, Pakistan, Punjab, where at least of cropland was destroyed, and the southern province of Sindh. , over two thousand people had died and over a million homes had been destroyed since the flooding began.


2011 floods

The 2011 Sindh floods began during the Pakistani monsoon season in mid-August 2011, resulting from heavy monsoon rains in Sindh, eastern Balochistan, and southern Punjab. The floods caused considerable damage; an estimated 434 civilians were killed, with 5.3 million people and 1,524,773 homes affected. Sindh is a fertile region and often called the "breadbasket" of the country; the damage and toll of the floods on the local agrarian economy was said to be extensive. At least of arable land were inundated. The flooding followed the previous year's floods, which devastated a large part of the country. Unprecedented torrential monsoon rains caused severe flooding in 16 districts of Sindh.Government of Pakistan Pakmet.com.pk Retrieved on 19 September 2011


Barrages, bridges, levees and dams

In Pakistan currently there are six barrage (dam), barrages on the Indus: Guddu Barrage, Sukkur Barrage, Kotri Barrage (also called Ghulam Muhammad barrage), Taunsa Barrage, Chashma Barrage and Jinnah Barrage. Another new barrage called "Sindh Barrage" is planned as a terminal barrage on the Indus River. There are some bridges on river Indus, such as, Dadu Moro Bridge, Larkana Khairpur Indus River Bridge, Thatta-Sujawal bridge, Jhirk-Mula Katiar bridge and recently planned Kandhkot-Ghotki bridge. The entire left bank of Indus river in Sind province is protected from river flooding by constructing around 600 km long levees. The right bank side is also leveed from Guddu barrage to Lake Manchar. In response to the levees construction, the river has been Aggradation, aggrading rapidly over the last 20 years leading to breaches upstream of barrages and inundation of large areas. Tarbela Dam in Pakistan is constructed on the Indus River, while the controversial Kalabagh Dam, Kalabagh dam is also being constructed on Indus river. Pakistan is also building Munda Dam.


Gallery

File:River Indus at Kotri Barrage Jamshoro.webm, Video of River Indus at Kotri Barrage, Sindh, Pakistan. File:Rohri.jpg, Lansdowne Bridge and Ayub Bridge connecting the cities of Rohri and Sukkur in Sindh, Pakistan. File:Frozen Indus, Near Nyoma.jpg, Frozen Indus, Near Nyoma File:Indus at Skardu (1).jpg, Indus at Skardu File:Indus River Dera Ismail Khan.jpg, Indus near Dera Ismail Khan


See also

*Baglihar Dam *Geology of the Himalayas *Ghaggar-Hakra River *HMS Indus *Indus River Delta *Indus Sagar Doab *Indus Valley Civilisation *Indus Waters Treaty *List of rivers of Pakistan *Rigvedic rivers *Rivers of Jammu and Kashmir *Sarasvati River *Sindhology *Sindhu Darshan Festival *Sindhu Pushkaram


Explanatory notes


Citations


General and cited references

* Albinia, Alice. (2008) ''Empires of the Indus: The Story of a River''. First American Edition (20101) W. W. Norton & Company, New York. . * Alexander Burnes, ''A voyage on the Indus'', London, 1973 * :fr:Philippe Fabry, Philippe Fabry, ''Wandering with the Indus'', with Yusuf Shahid (text) Lahore, 1995 * Jean Fairley, ''The Lion River: The Indus'', London, 1975 * * D. Murphy, ''Where the Indus is Young'', London, 1977 * Samina Quraeshi, ''Legacy of the Indus'', New York, 1974 * Schomberg, ''Between Oxus and Indus'', London, 1935 * Francine Tissot, ''Les Arts anciens du Pakistan et de l'Afghanistan'', Paris, 1987 * Sir M. Wheeler, ''Civilisations of the Indus Valley and Beyond'', London, 1966 * World Atlas, Millennium Edition, p. 265.


External links

* The origins of Indus: ** **
Northern Areas Development Gateway
* - covered parts of the Indus River
Indus River watershed map (World Resources Institute)
* * {{Authority control Indus River, Indus basin, History of Sindh Indus Valley civilisation International rivers of Asia Rigvedic rivers Rivers of China Rivers of Gilgit-Baltistan Rivers of India Rivers of Jammu and Kashmir Rivers of Pakistan Rivers of Sindh Rivers of Tibet Sacred rivers Rivers in Buddhism Rivers of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Rivers of Punjab (Pakistan) Induan,