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Hindustan Times
05-05-2025
- Hindustan Times
HistoriCity: How the Indus river shaped geography, history, and culture
The Indus Waters Treaty (IWT) obligates both India and Pakistan to ensure that rivers under this treaty continue to flow unobstructed. The Indus originates from near Mount Kailash in Tibet Autonomous Region (TAR) in China and shares its headwaters with the Brahmaputra. While the latter flows to the east along the Himalayas and empties into the Bay of Bengal, the Indus flows west, taking a sharp turn around Nanga Parbat, entering India at Demchok, reaching Leh where the Zanskar and Shyok river join. The river then enters the Pakistan occupied Kashmir, descending into the plains of Punjab after Attock, before eventually draining into the Arabian sea through the Sindh province of Pakistan. Beginnings of a River The Indus is an antecedent river, which means it has existed for over 50 million years, since the Indian plate first collided with Asia and gave rise to the Himalayas. Geologist Peter Clift, who has extensively researched on the river, wrote: 'the Indus River rises in eastern Tibet near Mount Kailas, and follows the North-West-South-East trend of the Karakoram Fault, before cutting orthogonally through the Himalaya in North-West Pakistan and running south to the Arabian Sea. In contrast, the Ganges and Brahmaputra, follow the High Himalaya', and enter the Bay of Bengal. The Indus has defined the inhabitants of regions east of the Indus since at least the last 4000 years. In Avestan, the word Hendu denotes a natural frontier, a river, and Hapta Hendu was an eastern province of the Achaemenid empire which was founded by king Cyrus around 550 BCE. The Hapta Hendu region–later known as undivided Punjab –was territory most familiar to western visitors in the ancient world. In the Rigveda, considered the oldest of the four Vedas, the region of seven rivers is described as the Sapta Sindhavah or Sapta Sindhu, a cognate of the Avestan Hapta Hendu. Today, the river is known as Sindhu to Indians or Darya-i-Sindh to Pakistanis. Indus Valley Civilisation The basis of labelling the Harappa Civilisation as the Indus Valley Civilisation is simple: the earliest sites discovered were situated along and around the course of the river, which contributed immensely to the beginning of urbanisation in the subcontinent. The importance of the Indus to Pakistan is difficult to overstate: without the sediment-rich silt-laden waters of the Indus river, much of Punjab and particularly the Sindh province, being rain-deprived, would remain infertile. AA Michel, wrote in his seminal work, The Indus Rivers: A Study of the Effects of Partition: 'As in most subhumid regions of the earth, water in the Indus Basin is more valuable than land. Had it not been for the modern irrigation network developed after the anneration of Sind and the Puniab to British India in the 1840s, much of what is now the economic heart of West Pakistan sould have remained essentially a semidesert'. Between 3300 -1300 BCE, along the Indus and the Ghagar-Hakra rivers a civilization emerged. It is believed to have peaked between 2600-1900 BCE. Eminent historian Irfan Habib wrote in The Indus Civilisation: 'Harappa, in Sahiwal district of west Punjab, Pakistan, had long been known to archaeologists as an extensive site on the Ravi river, but its true significance as a major city of an early great civilization remained unrecognized until the discovery of Mohenjo Daro near the banks of the Indus, in the Larkana district of Sindh, by R.D. Banerji in 1922. Sir John Marshall, then Director General of the Archaeological Survey of India, used the term 'Indus civilization' for the culture discovered at Harappa and Mohenjo Daro, a term doubly apt because of the geographical context implied in the name 'Indus' and the presence of cities implied in the word 'civilization''. At Harappa, according to historian Jonathan Mark Kenoyer, author of Ancient Cities of The Indus Valley Civilisation, archeologists have traced the development of settlement from agricultural villages to large cities. 'The precise time when the settlement changed from village to city is hard to define, just as it is difficult to determine…But recent excavations at Harappa indicate that the earliest city may have been formed prior between 2800 and 2600 BCE'. He added that most of the 1500 settlements found in the Indus region can be classified as small villages with a few larger towns and cities. Each settlement sought to support and maintain the larger urban centres, growing along major trade routes. Five large cities identified as the major urban centers of the Indus Valley civilization include Mohenjo Daro, Harappa, Ganweriwala and Rakhigarhi, and Dholavira). 'The first four are inland centers located at approximately equivalent distances in a zigzag pattern that covers the Indus and Saraswati river plain. The fifth. Dholavira, is situated on a small island in the Rann of Kutch, where it would have controlled the movement of goods between the resource areas of Gujarat and the core areas of the Indus plain', Kenoyer asserts. The Indus river system enable transportation of people and goods. Habib wrote, '...this might explain the importance of Dholavira, a notable town, placed in what is today an isolated island in the Rann. Carts and pack-oxen could cover some land sections of long-distance routes, for example, between Harappa and Kalibangan, but such transport must have been more expensive than that by boats'. Changing Course of the River and History History also shows us that the Indus river has undergone major changes over time, evidenced both by geological and archeological findings: over five million years ago, it was not connected to the Punjab rivers (Sutlej, Ravi, Chenab, etc.). These Punjab rivers instead flowed eastward into the Ganges river system. These rivers were soon 'captured' by the Indus drainage system, significantly increasing the river's discharge. During the period of the Harappan Civilization, a major branch of the Indus emptied into the Great Rann of Kutch. The most recent recorded change in the course of this mighty river occurred in 1819 due to the over 7 .7 magnitude earthquake centred in the Rann of Kutch(a marsh of alluvium brought down by the rivers). The mega tremblor caused tsunamis and destroyed life and property at a large scale. But, it also created a 3-6 metre high and 80 kms long ridge that acted as a natural barrier to the Kori river, a major distributary of the Indus. Consequently, the Kutch dried up and the Indus too shifted its course westwards. However, it was not the first time that an earthquake altered the Indus or drained out the Kutch. According to well-known geoscientist C P Rajendran, 'About 1000 years ago, the northern parts of the Rann were fed by perennial streams, primarily by the eastern branch of the Indus River known as the Nara (Puran) River. Further upstream, the eastern Nara and the Hakra joined the Indus River. The exact coastline at that time extended from Karachi to the mouth of the Nara and Hakra Rivers. The small town of Patala (close to Brahminabad) was accessible through the river channels, and it was the centre of Alexander's activities. During the 1000 years following the Alexander's campaign, the coastline must have gradually migrated southward, but the shallow inlet remained somewhat navigable. Interestingly, by A.D. 1361 the whole region had turned into a 'howling desert,' according to Arab historians'. According to Rajendran, the desertification process was triggered by another major earthquake between the 8th century and 14th century. This is borne out by, 'ruins of an ancient settlement excavated in the city of Brahminabad', which was a flourishing city in Sindh and renamed Al Mansurah by Arabs. Rajendran added: 'From the disposition of human skeletons crushed in the act of crouching in the corners of well-built brick structures and rows of skeletons of cattle in their sheds, Frere(1870) inferred the cause of the destruction to be an earthquake that occurred about 700–800 years ago. Significant changes in the landscape appear to have occurred in the Rann of Kutch about the same time (i.e., around the mid-eleventh century A.D. ). The course of Indus River is reported to have shifted far to the west and the level of the Rann was raised, making navigation difficult'. HistoriCity is a column by author Valay Singh that narrates the story of a city that is in the news, by going back to its documented history, mythology and archaeological digs. The views expressed are personal.
Time of India
03-05-2025
- Science
- Time of India
‘Tectonics pushed up the Himalayas — they brought monsoons, creating the Indus 50 million years ago'
Peter Clift Part of Peter Clift's research is based 66 million years ago — but the geologist conveys an excitement which makes you feel his subject emerged just yesterday. In fact, it didn't, as Clift explains, 'I'm interested in the Indus river, when it was born and how it developed. Recently, I've studied the evolution of the river over the last 10,000 years,' — a blink in the eye of geophysical time — 'To see how it may have interacted with human societies. More broadly, I'm interested in the Indus as a way to look at evolving environment and climate in South Asia.' Fifty Shades of Blue How old is the river after whom our very civilisation is named, TE asks? Clift outlines, 'The Indus seems to have been formed when the Indian continent collided with mainland Asia — it's probably at least 50 million years old. The big eastern tributaries in Punjab joined the mainstream coming out of Tibet and flowing through Ladakh around then. But there's some discussion about how much material also came from the East — in particular, there's a question about the Yamuna.' Clift pauses here, like he's unveiling a detective story. He says, 'Now, 50,000 years ago, the Yamuna, which flows east into the Ganges today, was flowing west into the Indus. We think that stopped about 20,000 years ago. But it used to join the Sutlej and Beas once.' The Yamuna wasn't the only enigmatic river. Clift says, ' Rivers are constantly evolving and meandering, maybe not a lot but with implications for the people they interact with. Rivers also interact with geophysical entities — the Thar desert moved a little bit east and west through time. That pushed some rivers to the west — when the Thar moved, so did the Sutlej.' The Elements Cloud: Indus, hill and cloud There are further forces at play. TE asks Clift about how South Asia's tectonic landscape shaped the Indus — and vice versa. He replies, 'It's a chicken and egg story. Essentially, when India and mainland Asia collided, the first large mountains formed — they attracted rainfall. Those early rains allowed the Indus to form. That was also a trigger for making the Jhelum, Ravi, Sutlej and Beas. As the monsoon grew stronger, those got bigger. There's a feedback effect then — these rivers cut into the mountains. When they scooped out rock and sediment, high peaks rose and became even taller. So, there's a virtuous circle between rainfall and tectonic activity — tectonic activity makes the Himalayas, Karakoram and the Tibetan plateau. Those strengthen the monsoon — as the Himalayas go up, the monsoon grows stronger and the rivers get bigger.' Times Evoke Fascinatingly, these rivers are intricately linked to erosion. Clift elaborates, 'The greater Himalayas are made of deep buried rocks, brought to the surface by shallower rocks being eroded away. This is why there are high mountains on the south side of the Tibetan plateau but not on the north side. There are no mountains like these in the Tarim Basin in western China — that's because it doesn't rain there and the monsoons cause the erosion. There's even a feedback here,' he points out, 'As you smash up Himalayan rocks into small sand grains, they break down into clay material which is washed into the Indian Ocean. As the Himalayas are so big, there's a lot of sediment. This process of breaking down these minerals removes carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. So, erosion by the big Himalayan river systems, including the Indus, is possibly one reason Earth grew cooler.' Did this combination, red earth to falling rain, as it were, also shape the ecologies of the Indus? 'Oh, yes,' replies Clift, 'That certainly influenced animal life, especially fish and the famous dolphins that live in the Indus and Ganges. Ecology in South Asia is more strongly linked to rain than rivers. About eight million years ago, the monsoon got weaker — with a strong shift in ecology. It changed from forests to a lot more grassland and drier conditions in northwest India and Pakistan.' Indus Dolphin: Echolocating in the swirl As the Indus shifted shape, how did its civilisation manage? Clift answers, 'The Harappans had phases of activity, and then, just around 4,000 years ago, the population mostly moved away from the cities they had built along the Indus. There's been some argument about whether that was caused by the monsoon becoming weaker. I myself have been interested in whether some of this might have been caused by movements of the rivers. One of the tributaries of the Indus is the Ghaggar-Hakra, which now pieces out in the Thar desert. There were Indus Valley sites close to this channel. We wondered if maybe these people sustained themselves in a desert, given a nice water supply from a small river? If you live by a big river and it keeps flooding, that makes your life hard, but a smaller river is simpler to control and easier to grow crops next to. That could have been something the Indus Valley civilisation used. Of course,' Clift adds, just as you settle comfortably into the thought of a happy little Harappan farming community, 'As the climate got drier, the Ghaggar no longer held enough and communities were left with no water.' Town & Gown Were there crops which survived such ebbs and flows? Clift replies, 'There were certainly more drought-tolerant crops like millets. Farmers across Asia always adapted. Rice is very water-intensive, wheat, a little less, hence millets were likely a more sustainable choice. There are lessons here as with global warming, the monsoon could grow stormier and crops will need to be rethought.' Readers write Finally, TE asks what sources Clift uses to study the Indus, born millions of years ago? 'I've worked with marine sediment cores from the Indian Ocean and Arabian Sea. We collected a long record offshore Mumbai with a consortium of countries. I also have shorter cores, like one kilometre deep under the ocean floor. I'm working on sediment from the continental margin offshore the Indus river mouth now. We also work onshore, drilling into the floodplain to collect sediment pores, etc.' Clift chuckles, 'Sometimes you can use things which other people have dug — we've had good luck with quarries where people made bricks. There, the mining company had dug a pit and we didn't have to drill. We could just go right in.' Perhaps 'dive in' would be quite accurate as well.
