The Ancient Geography of India. I. The Buddhist Period, including the Campaigns of Alexander, and the Travels of Hwen-Thsang c5.s4.t19: 4. Multán Province.
The Ancient Geography of India. I. The Buddhist Period, including the Campaigns of Alexander, and the Travels of Hwen-Thsang c5.s4.t19
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4. Multán Province.
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The southern province of the Panjáb is Multán. According to Hwen Thsang it was 4000 *li*, or 667 miles, in circuit, which is so much greater than the tract actually included between the rivers, that it is almost certain the frontier must have extended beyond them. In the time of Akbar no less than seventeen districts, or separate *parganahs*, were attached to the province of Multán, of which all those that I can identify, namely, *Uch*, *Diráwal*, *Moj*, and *Marot*, are to the east of the Satlej. These names are sufficient to show that the eastern frontier of Multán formerly extended beyond the old bed of the Ghagar river, to the verge of the Bikaner desert. This tract, which now forms the territory of Bahâwalpur, is most effectually separated from the richer provinces on the east by the natural barrier of the Great Desert. Under a strong government it has always formed a portion of Multân; and it was only on the decay of the Muhammadan empire of Delhi that it was made into a separate petty state by Bahâwal Khân. I infer, therefore, that in the seventh century the province of Multân must have included the northern half of the present territory of Bahâwalpur, in addition to the tract lying between the rivers. The northern frontier has already been defined as extending from Dera Din-panáh, on the Indus, to Pák-pattan on the Satlej, a distance of 150 miles. On the west the frontier line of the Indus, down to Khânpur, is 160 miles. On the east, the line from Pâk-pattan to the old bed of the Ghagar river, is 80 miles; and on the south, from Khânpur to the Ghagar, the distance is 220 miles. Altogether, this frontier line is 610 miles. If Hwen Thsang's estimate was based on the short kos of the Panjâb, the circuit will be only 2/3 of 667 miles, or 437 miles, in which case the province could not have extended beyond Mithankot on the south.
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In describing the geography of Multân it is necessary to bear in mind the great changes that have taken place in the courses of all the large rivers that flow through the province. In the time of Timur and Akbar the junction of the Chenâb and Indus took place opposite Uchh, 60 miles above the present confluence at Mithankot. It was unchanged when Rennell wrote his ‘Geography of India,’ in A.D. 1788, and still later, in 1796, when visited by Wilford's surveyor, Mirza Mogal Beg. But early in the present century the Indus gradually changed its course, and leaving the old channel at 20 miles above *Uchh*, continued its course to the south-south-west, until it rejoined the old channel at Mithankot.
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The present junction of the Râvi and Chenâb takes place near *Diwána Sanand*, more than 30 miles above Multân; but in the time of Alexander the confluence of the Hydraotes and Akesines was at a short distance below the capital of the Malli, which I have identified with Multân. The old channel still exists, and is duly entered in the large maps of the Multân division. It leaves the present bed at Sarai Siddhû, and follows a winding course for 30 miles to the south-south-west, when it suddenly turns to the west for 18 miles, as far as Multân, and, after completely encircling the fortress, continues its westerly course for 5 miles below Multân. It then suddenly turns to the south-south-west for 10 miles, and is finally lost in the low-lying lands of the bed of the Chenâb. Even to this day the Râvi clings to its ancient channel, and at all high floods the waters of the river still find their way to Multân by the old bed, as I myself have witnessed on two different occasions. The date of the change is unknown; but it was certainly subsequent to the capture of Multân by Muhammed bin Kâsim in A.D. 713; and from the very numerous existing remains of canals drawn from the old channel, I infer that the main river must have continued to flow down it within a comparatively recent period, perhaps even as late as the time of Timur. The change, however, must have taken place before the reign of Akbar, as Abul Fazl¹ describes the distance from the confluence of the Chenâb and Jhelam to that of the Chenâb and Râvi as 27 kos, and the distance of the latter from the confluence of the Chenâb and Indus as 60 kos, both of which measurements agree with the later state of these rivers.
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¹ ‘Ayin Akbari,’ ii. 3.
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The present confluence of the Biâs and Satlej dates only from about A.D. 1790, when the Satlej finally deserted its old course by Dharmkot, and joined the Biâs at Hariki-pattan. For many centuries previously the point of junction had remained constant just above the ferry of Bhao-ki-pattan, between Kasûr and Firuzpur. This junction is mentioned by Jauhar in A.D. 1555,* and by Abul Fazl in 1596.† But though the confluence of the two rivers near Firuzpur had been long established, yet even at the latter date the waters of the Biâs still continued to flow down their old channel, as described by Abul Fazl:—"For the distance of 12 kos near Firuzpur the rivers Biâh and Satlej unite, and these again, as they pass on, divide into four streams, the Húr, Haré, Dand, and Núrni, all of which rejoin near the city of Multân." These former beds of the Biâs and Satlej still exist, and form a most complicated network of dry channels, covering the whole of the Doâb between the Satlej and the high bank of the old Biâs. None of the names given in Gladwyn's translation of the 'Ayin Akbari' are now to be found; but I am inclined to attribute this solely to the imperfection of the Persian alphabet, which is a constant source of error in the reading of proper names. The Har I would identify with the Para, the Hari with the Raghi, and the Nurni with the *Sûk-Nai*, all dry beds of the Biâs river to the south of Harapa. The *Dand* is probably the Dhamak, or *Dank*, an old channel of the Satlej, which in its lower course takes the name of Bhatiyâri, and passing by Mailsi, Kahror, and Lodhran, joins the present channel just above its confluence with the Chenâb. In most of our maps the Old Biâs is conducted into the lower course of the Bhatiyâri, whereas its still existing and well-defined channel joins the Chenâb 20 miles below Shujâhabad, and its most southerly point is 10 miles distant from the nearest bend of the Bhatiyâri.
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∗ 'Memoirs of Humâyun,' p. 113.
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† 'Ayin Akbari,' ii. 108.
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The changes just described are only the most prominent fluctuations of the Panjâb rivers, which are constantly shifting their channels. The change in the Biâs is the most striking, as that river has altogether lost its independent course, and is now a mere tributary of the Satlej. But the fluctuations of the other rivers have been very remarkable. Thus, the valley of the Chenâb below Kalowal is nearly 30 miles broad, and that of the Râvi, near Gugera, is 20 miles, the extreme limits of both rivers being marked by well-defined high banks, on which are situated many of the most ancient cities of the Panjâb. In the Multân division these old sites are very numerous, but they are now mostly deserted and nameless, and were probably abandoned by their inhabitants as the rivers receded from them. This was certainly the case with the old town of Tulamba, which is said to have been deserted so late as 150 years ago, in consequence of a change in the course of the Râvi, by which the water supply of the town was entirely cut off. The same cause, but at a much earlier date, led to the desertion of Atâri, a ruined town 20 miles to the west-south-west of Tulamba, which was supplied by a canal from the old bed of the Râvi. The only places which I think it necessary to notice in the present account are the following:—
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| Bâri Doâb . . . | 1. Tulamba. |
| | 2. Atâri. |
| | 3. Multân. |
| Jâlandhar Pith . . | 4. Kahror. |
| At junction . . . | 5. Uchh. |
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Four of these places are celebrated in the history of India, and the second, named Atâri, I have added on account of its size and position, which would certainly have attracted the notice of Alexander and other conquerors of the Panjâb.