Historical Geography of Ancient India c6.731

c6.731

Vitastā.—This river which is mentioned in the Rgveda (X. 75, 5; Nirukta, IX, 26; cf. Kāśika Vritti on Pāṇini, 1. 4. 31) is the most westerly of the five rivers of the Punjab. It is the Hydaspes of Alexander's historians and the Bidaspes of Ptolemy. Among the four main eastern tributaries of the Indus, the most western is the Vitastā (Pali: Vitamsā) or the Jhelum. It takes its rise in the Pir Pañjal range in the State of Kashmir and flows towards the west in a zigzag course below Punch, and then turns south to flow in a south-westerly direction. It turns west a little to the east of the town of Jhelum and to the west of Mirpur and flows southwards after forming a bulge between Pir Dadan in the north-east and Khosab in the south-west. It meets the Chenab below Jhang and Jhang Maghiana. This river is known in Kashmir under different local names, Virnag, Adpal and Sandran, and flows through Śrinagar. It was known to the Rgvedic Aryans (X, 75) by the name of Vitastā. The Bhāgavatapurāṇa (V, 19, 18) mentions it as a river.