The Ancient Geography of India. I. The Buddhist Period, including the Campaigns of Alexander, and the Travels of Hwen-Thsang c6.s1.t10.7

c6.s1.t10.7

From this discussion I conclude that the northern channel of the Ghâra was the western branch of the Indus, which was navigated by Alexander and Nearchus; and that before A.D. 200, its waters found another channel more to the south, in the southern Ghâra, which joins the main stream of the Indus just below Lâri-bandar. By this channel, in the time of the author of the ‘Periplus,’ the merchant vessels navigated the Indus up to Barbarike, where the goods were unloaded, and conveyed in boats to Minnagar, the capital of the country. But after some time this channel also failed, and in the beginning of the eighth century, when the Arabs invaded Sindh, Debal had become the chief port of the Indus, and altogether supplanted Bhambúra, or the ancient Barbarike. But though the Ghâra river was no longer a navigable channel, its waters still continued to flow past the old town down to the thirteenth century, about which time it would appear to have been finally deserted.