Riyaz al-salatin 4.7

4.7

Rivers, small and large, are plenty in this country, and the practice of digging tanks is very common. People in this country seldom drink the water of wells, because everywhere the water of tanks and rivers is found in abundance. And generally the water of wells is salt, but with a little digging of the soil water comes out. And the best of rivers is the Ganges (Gang), which rises from the northern mountains of Hindustan at the point called Goumukhah, flows through the provinces of Hindustan, Farrakhabad, Alahabad, and Behar into Bengal, and in Bengal at a place called Qazihata, within the Sarkar of Barbakabad, it is named Padda. From this place, a branch of the Ganges separates, flows down Murshidabad, and at Nadiah joins the Jalangi river, and then flows into the sea. This branch is called Bhagriati, and it goes towards Chittagong, flowing through the sea. The Ganges at Alahabad joins the rivers Joun (or Jamna) and Sursati, and near Hajipur it unites also with the Gandak, the Saru and the Son, and becomes very broad. And the place where the three rivers unite is called Tirbini by Hindus, and its sanctity in the eye of the Hindus is immeasurable. And the Ganges, Sarsati, and Joun or (Jamna), in flowing towards Chittagong and the sea, branch off in a thousand rivulets. And Hindus have written volumes on the sanctity of these rivers. Considering the water of these rivers sacred, they fancy that bathing there washes off the sins of a lifetime ;