Age of the Nandas and Mauryas c9.s2.t1.4

c9.s2.t1.4

The history of the region cannot be properly understood without a reference to its river-system. The central stream of the Indus, taking its rise in the heights of the Tibetan Plateau, meanders its course through the whole length of the land. It has not only given its name to our country but, according to some Greek writers, formed sometimes its north-western boundary. Near Attock in the north-western part of the Punjab it receives the combined waters of the Kabul and its confluents, including the Swat, the Panjkora, the Kunar and the Panjshir. The rivers which contribute most to the stream of the Indus, however, lie to the east and sweep through the plains of the Punjab proper, the “Land of the Five Rivers.” The nearest among the “Five Streams” is the Jhelum or Vitastā, the Hydaspes of the Greeks. It adds to the wealth and beauty of the sunny vale of Kashmir and unites with the next stream, the Chenab, the ancient Chandrabhāgā or Asiknī, the Akesines of the Greek writers, near Jhang. The whirling of waters produced by the confluence threatened to spell disaster to a flotilla of Alexander in the fourth century B. C. The next of the sister torrents, the Rāvi, ancient Paruṣṇī or Irāvatī, the Hydraotis of the Greeks, rises in the Chamba State and falls into the united waters of the Jhelum and the Chenab. To the east of the Rāvi flows the Beas, ancient Vipāś or Vipāśā, the Hyphasis of the Greeks, which is now an affluent of the Sutlej, Sutudri, or Śatadru, the Hesidrus or Zaradros of the Greeks. The five streams mingle their waters into the Panjnad and join the Indus above Mithankot. The mighty river then sweeps on into the Arabian sea through a number of shifting channels. Traces of old river beds are found in several directions and remains of ancient cities stud the neighbourhood.