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

South Asia South Asia is the southern Subregion#Asia, subregion of Asia that is defined in both geographical and Ethnicity, ethnic-Culture, cultural terms. South Asia, with a population of 2.04 billion, contains a quarter (25%) of the world's populatio ...

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 refers to its Persian origin in defining it as ''do-āb'' (, literally "two odies ofwater") "a region lying between and reaching to the confluence of two rivers."

Khadir, bangar, barani, nali and bagar

Since North India and

Pakistan Pakistan, officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of over 241.5 million, having the Islam by country# ...

are coursed by a multiplicity of Himalayan rivers that divide the plains into ''doabs'' (i.e. regions between two rivers), the Indo-Gangetic plains consist of alternating regions of river, ''khadir'' and ''bangar''. The regions of the ''doabs'' near the rivers consist of low-lying, floodplains, 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 Prairies are ecosystems considered part of the temperate grasslands, savannas, and shrublands biome by ecologists, based on similar temperate climates, moderate rainfall, and a composition of grasses, herbs, and shrubs, rather than trees, as the ...

tract between the Ghaggar 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 Hindustani language, Hindustani , 'reign', 'rule' or 'government') was the colonial rule of the British The Crown, Crown on the Indian subcontinent, * * lasting from 1858 to 1947. * * It is also called Crown rule ...

, 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 university, private Ivy League research university based in Ithaca, New York, United States. The university was co-founded by American philanthropist Ezra Cornell and historian and educator Andrew Dickson W ...

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 ...

-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.

The Doab

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

Yamuna The Yamuna (; ) is the second-largest tributary river of the Ganges by discharge and the longest tributary in India. Originating from the Yamunotri Glacier at a height of about on the southwestern slopes of Bandarpunch peaks of the Low ...

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

Prayagraj Prayagraj (, ; ISO 15919, ISO: ), formerly and colloquially known as Allahabad, is a metropolis in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh.The other five cities were: Agra, Kanpur, Kanpur (Cawnpore), Lucknow, Meerut, and Varanasi, Varanasi (Benar ...

. 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

Encyclopædia Britannica The is a general knowledge, general-knowledge English-language encyclopaedia. It has been published by Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc. since 1768, although the company has changed ownership seven times. The 2010 version of the 15th edition, ...

. The

British raj The British Raj ( ; from Hindustani language, Hindustani , 'reign', 'rule' or 'government') was the colonial rule of the British The Crown, Crown on the Indian subcontinent, * * lasting from 1858 to 1947. * * It is also called Crown rule ...

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

Upper Doab

Main article : Upper Doab *

Uttarakhand Uttarakhand (, ), also known as Uttaranchal ( ; List of renamed places in India, the official name until 2007), is a States and union territories of India, state in North India, northern India. The state is bordered by Himachal Pradesh to the n ...

: Dehradun and Haridwar *

Uttar Pradesh Uttar Pradesh ( ; UP) is a States and union territories of India, state in North India, northern India. With over 241 million inhabitants, it is the List of states and union territories of India by population, most populated state in In ...

: Saharanpur, Shamli, Muzaffarnagar, Baghpat, Meerut, Ghaziabad, Hapur, 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, but spread chiefly to the west, or beyond its Bank (geography ...

Central or Middle Doab

Etah, Kasganj, 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 Delhi and 330 km west of the state capital Lucknow. With a population of roughly 1.6 million, Agra is the ...

, Hathras, Firozabad, Mainpuri and Mathura is in the trans-Yamuna region of Braj.

Lower Doab

Farrukhabad,

Kannauj Kannauj (Hindustani language, Hindustani pronunciation: ) is an ancient city, administrative headquarters and a municipal board or Nagar palika, Nagar Palika Parishad in Kannauj district in the Indian States and territories of India, state of Ut ...

, Etawah, Auraiya,

Kanpur Kanpur (Hindustani language, Hindustani: ), originally named Kanhapur and formerly anglicized as Cawnpore, is the second largest city of the Indian States and union territories of India, state of Uttar Pradesh after Lucknow. It was the primary ...

(Urban & Rural), Fatehpur, Kaushambi and

Allahabad Prayagraj (, ; ISO 15919, ISO: ), formerly and colloquially known as Allahabad, is a metropolis in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh.The other five cities were: Agra, Kanpur, Kanpur (Cawnpore), Lucknow, Meerut, and Varanasi, Varanasi (Benar ...

The Punjab Doabs

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

Punjab region Punjab (; ; also romanised as Panjāb or Panj-Āb) is a geopolitical, cultural, and historical region in South Asia. It is located in the northwestern part of the Indian subcontinent, comprising areas of modern-day eastern Pakistan and no ...

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

Sind Sagar Doab

The Sind Sagar Doab lies between the Indus and Jhelum rivers.

Chaj Doabs

The Chaj Doab lies between the Jhelum and the Chenab rivers.

Rachna Doabs

The Rachna Doab (considerable portion of the Rechna Doab is Majha) lies between the Chenab and the Ravi rivers.

Bari Doabs

The Bari Doab (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 Ravi, Beas and Sutlej rivers.

Bist Doab

The Bist Doab (or Doaba) - between the Beas and the Sutlej rivers.

Other doabs

Raichur Doab

The Raichur Doab is the triangular region of

Andhra Pradesh Andhra Pradesh (ISO 15919, ISO: , , AP) is a States and union territories of India, state on the East Coast of India, east coast of southern India. It is the List of states and union territories of India by area, seventh-largest state and th ...

and

Karnataka Karnataka ( ) is a States and union territories of India, state in the southwestern region of India. It was Unification of Karnataka, formed as Mysore State on 1 November 1956, with the passage of the States Reorganisation Act, 1956, States Re ...

states which lies between the Krishna River and its tributary the Tungabhadra River, named for the town of

Raichur Raichur, also pronounced as Rāyachūru (formerly Raichore), is a city and headquarters of eponymous Raichur district in the Karnataka state of India. Raichur, located between Krishna River, Krishna and Tungabhadra rivers. History Ancient His ...

Notes

References

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