The Theory of Everything : Indus River

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Indus River

• Indus river also known as Sindhu river or Abasin & it is also one of the major river flowing in South Asia. In Tibet Indus is known by Sengge Zangbo.
• The river is the greatest river on the western side of the subcontinent, and is one of the seven sacred rivers of Hindus.
• In Ancient time period Greeks used the word Indos for Indus River but at the time of Hindus they were not able to pronounce which changed its name to Indus.

River basin

1. Around 60% of the total area of the Indus drainage basin is in Pakistan administered Kashmir.
2. India-Administered Kashmir has about 15%, Tibet has about 10% and the Republic of India and Afghanistan each have about 7% of the Indus basin catchment area.
3. Around 3,84,000 square miles covers an entire basin of open land out of which 204,000 lie in Pakistan.

Economy

The Indus is the most important resource of water resources to the Punjab and Sindh plains – it is the backbone of agriculture and food production in Pakistan. The river is Special since rainfall is limited in the lower Indus valley.

Origin of Indus

Indus River Originates from the northern slopes of the Kailash range near Mansarovar Lake in Tibet.

Length of Indus

The total length of Indus River is 3200 km.

Depth of Indus

The Indus passes gigantic gorges 4,500–5,200 metres (15,000–17,000 feet) deep near the Nanga Parbat massif.

Ending & starting point of Indus

Indus River flows from Tibet near Mansarovar Lake, passes through & finally falls in Arabian Sea near Karachi.

Tributaries of Indus

Left:  Zanskar River, Chenab River, Sutlej River, Soan River

Right:  Shyok River, Gilgit River, Kabul River, Kurram River, Gomal River

The Kabul & Kurram River joins the Indus soon after it leaves the mountains, and the others lower down in the plains. The whole of the Beas and the head reaches of the Ravi and Sutlej are in the Republic of India, while those of the Chenab and Jhelum lie mostly in the disputed Kashmir state.

Island on Indus

Bukkur is an island located in rohri, sukkur district, Pakistan with length 730 km & width 270km.

Bridge on Indus

The Lansdowne Bridge Rohri at Sukkur is a bridge over the Indus River between Sukkur city and Rohri town of Sindh, Pakistan

Railway Lines

In the past there was a railway line passing through Indus River linked with Karachi to Sindh but now it has been discontinued & no more railway line exists.

National Highways

1. NH55

• National Highway 55 is the Highway which runs along with the Indus River & is 1264 KM long with four lanes in Pakistan. Cities linked with this Highway are Peshawar, Darra Adam Khel, Kohat, Dera Ghazi Khan, Dera Ismail Khan, Shikarpur, Sindh, Larkana, Kotri and Haiderabad,

2. NH5

• National Highway 5 is the longest Highway running along with the Indus River from port city Karachi to Torkham with length of 1756 Km & linked with Karachi, Moro, Khairpur, Hyderabad, Multan, Sahiwal, Lahore, Sheikhupura District, Gujranwala, Gujrat, Rawalpindi, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Attock Khurd, Nowshera, Peshawar, torkham.

Note: It is one of the major river which flows from India to Pakistan

Some Interesting Facts of Indus River

• The Term Indus came from Ancient Greek Indos borrowed from the word Hindus which in Sanskrit means Sindhu.
• The name India is derived from Indus, which originates from the Old Persian word Hindus. The term originates from the Sanskrit word Sindhu, which was the historical local appellation for the Indus River. The ancient Greeks referred to the Indians as Indoi, which translates as “the people of the Indus”.
• The Indus River supports many heavy industries & it is the main supply for those industries of Potable water.
• Indus is also determined by season as in winter diminish greatly while the banks are flooding during the Monsoon season from July to September.

Battle of Indus

Battle of Indus was fought between jalal ad-din Mingburnu, the head (sultan) of Khwarezmid Empire & The Mongolian army of Genghis Khan in 1221 near Pakistan. The battle was held with the thirty thousand forces of jalal ad-din Mingburnu & two hundred thousand forces of Genghis Khan. In this war Genghis khan got defeated by jalal.

Indus Valley Civilisation

• Indus Civilisation also known as Harappan civilisation is one of the four earliest civilisations of the world along with the civilisations of Mesopotamia (Tigris & Euphrates), Egypt (Nile) & China (Hwang Ho).
• The Civilisation Forms part of Pro-history of India & Belongs to the Bronze Age.
• The most accepted period is 2500 – 1700 BC, Harappa was situated on the banks of Ravi River.
• Harappa Civilisation was named by John Marshall.
• This Civilisation covers the Part of Sind, Baluchistan, Afghanistan, West Punjab, Gujarat, Uttar Pradesh, Haryana, Rajasthan, Jammu & Kashmir, Punjab & Maharastra.
• Mundighak & Shortughai are the two sites located in Afghanistan.
• West-Sutkagendor on Makran coast (Pak-Iran Border) East-Alamgirpur in Uttar Pradesh (River Hindon).
• North-Manda in Jammu (River Chenab). South-daimabad in Maharastra (River Pravara) is major sites.

Interesting Facts of Indus Valley Civilisation

• Mohanjo Daro was discovered by Rakal das Banerjee in 1922 & was situated on the banks of the Indus River. From Rakshastal Lake in Tibet there is an origin of 3 Rivers Indus, Satluj & Bhramputra.
• People of Harappan Civilisation were not familiar of Iron but they knew how to make bronze with the combination of copper & tin.
• This Society was maternal & worshipped mother Goddess, they worshipped peepal tree, duck & bull.
• Core city of lothal which is now situated in Gujarat, Iraq was earlier known as Mesopotamia, also the evidence of Dam was found from dola vera which is now in Gujrat.
• The city was divided in two parts in rectangular form the upper part & lower part. The upper part was for Public Buildings & member of ruling class, & the lower part was for common people.
• Underground Drainage System connected to all houses to the street drains made of mortar, lime & Gypsum.
• The Great Bath(Mohenjo Daro ) was used as a religious bathing , there were changing rooms alongside.
• Houses in that Era were made up of Burnt Bricks. There were often multi storeyed Building. Lamposts were introduced & were erected after some interval which indicates the existence of street lightning.

Agriculture

• Agriculture was the backbone of the civilisation, the soil was fertile due to the Indus river & Flooding. They used wodden plough share & Stone sickles for harvesting.
• Wheat, barley, dates, peas, sesanum, mustard, millet, ragi, bajra & Jowar were the crops produced near Indus River.
• Harappan was the first in the world to introduce Cotton. A Piece of woven cotton cloth was found at mohanjo daro.

Domestication of Animals

Animal rearing was practised mainly during that Era. Mostly domestic buffaloes, oxen, sheep, goats, pigs, dogs, cats etc. Bullock carts were introduced in the same time period

Trade & Transportation

1. Agriculture, Industry & forest produce the basis for internal & external trade. Trade was based on barter system. Bullock carts, pack animals & boats were used for transportation. Foreign trade flourished with Mesopotamia or sumeria(Iraq) , central Asia, Persia , Afghanistan & Bahrain.
2. Lothal (Artificial Dockyard), Surkotada, Sutkagendor, prabspattan, Bhatrao, Kalibangan, Dholavira, Dainabad were coastal towns of the Civilisation.

Major Exports: Agricultural products, cotton goods, terracotta, figurines, pottery, Steatite beads, (from chainhudro), conch-shell (from Lothal), ivory products, copper etc.

Major Imports:

Art & Craft

• Harrapan used Stone tools & both men & women were fond of ornaments & dressing up.
• Jewellery of gold, silver, precious stones & bead making was practised with cotton fabrics.
• Pottery were made of both type plain as well as painted. They were decorated with human figures, plants , animals & geometrical patterns.
• Seals were used to define the ownership of the property, these seals were made of steatite pictures, of one horned bull etc. Most important one is pashupati seal.
• Metal images of woman dancing & bearded man were obtained from Mohenjo daro.
• Fire baked clays was used to make toys, objects of Worship also they played dice game.

Rulers during this Civilisation

Some archaeologists are of the opinion that Harappan society had no rulers, and that everybody enjoyed equal status. Others feel there was no single ruler but several, that Mohenjodaro had a separate ruler, Harappa another, and so forth.

Decline of the Civilisation

The harappan culture flourished about 1800 BC, then it began to decline. There is no unanimity among historians regarding reason for the declining of this urban civilisation. There are many different theories that shows the decline of the Indus culture.

Main cause of decline of Harappan Civilisation

• Flood
• Drought
• Ecological Imbalance
• Epidemic
• Aryan attack

IndusInd Bank

IndusInd Bank Is an Incorporated Bank & came into existence in April 1994 & derived its name from Indus Valley Civilisation. The Bank was the vision of Srichand P Hinduja, who was Non-Resident Indian Businessman & head of the Hinduja Group.

Important Facts: 

 Harappan civilization : The Indus Valley Civilization (also known as the Harappan culture) has its earliest roots in cultures such as that of Mehrgarh, approximately 6000 BCE. The two greatest cities, Mohenjo-daro and Harappa, emerged circa 2600 BCE along the Indus River valley in Punjab and Sindh.

Discovery of the city – Harappa : Dayaram Swami & Madhav Swaroop discovered Harappa in 1921. Though the first Harappan sites were discovered way backing 1920-21, by archaeologists Dr. D.R. Sahni and Dr. R.D. Banerjee (Harappa in Punjab and Mohenjo-Daro in Sind – both in Pakistan now) fresh sites are still being unearthed, ading insight into the rich culture of the Harappan civilization.

Religion of Indus river valley : Reconstructing Indus Valley religion is impossible, but there are intriguing indications of continuity between the religion of this civilization and the later religions of ancient India. Some Indus Valley seals show swastikas, which are also found in Hinduism and its offshoots, Buddhism and Jainism.

Festival is celebrated on Indus River : Sindhu Darshan festival is the only festival celebrated on the banks of Indus River in India at Leh in Ladakh, District of Jammu & Kashmir. This festival is celebrated continously for 3 days in the month of june on full moon day also known as Guru Purnima. It was started in October 1997. Sindhu Darshan is a movement, which rediscovered the flowing legend of Ladakh. It is realted an old history of around 5000 years ago which has enriched humankind for ages.

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