Chenab River

{{Short description|River in India and Pakistan}} {{About|the river|the river valley|Chenab Valley}} {{other uses|Chenab (disambiguation)}} {{Use dmy dates|date=April 2017}} {{Use Oxford English|date=June 2025}} {{Infobox river | name = Chenab | other_name = Chandrabhaga | image = River Chenab Ramban.jpg | image_size = | image_caption = The Chenab river at Ramban, Jammu and Kashmir, India | map = | map_size = | map_caption = | pushpin_map = | pushpin_map_size = | pushpin_map_caption = | mapframe = yes | mapframe-zoom = 5  | subdivision_type1 = Country | subdivision_name1 = India, Pakistan | subdivision_type2 = Flows through (areas in India) | subdivision_name2 = Himachal Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir | subdivision_type3 = Flows through (areas in Pakistan) | subdivision_name3 = Punjab | subdivision_type4 = | subdivision_name4 = | subdivision_type5 = | subdivision_name5 =  | length = {{convert|974|km|mi|abbr=on}} | width_min = | width_avg = | width_max = | depth_min = | depth_avg = | depth_max = | discharge1_location = Marala Headworks, Gujrat district, Punjab, Pakistan<ref>{{Cite FTP |url=ftp://daac.ornl.gov/data/rivdis/STATIONS.HTM |server=daac.ornl.gov |url-status=dead |title=FTP link }}, ORNL, Retrieved 8 Dec 2016</ref> | discharge1_min = {{convert|310.53|m3/s|cuft/s|abbr=on}} | discharge1_avg = {{convert|977.3|m3/s|cuft/s|abbr=on}} | discharge1_max = {{convert|31148.53|m3/s|cuft/s|abbr=on}} | source1 = Baralacha La pass | source1_location = Lahul and Spiti district, Himachal Pradesh, India | source1_coordinates = {{coord|32|38|09|N|77|28|51|E|display=inline}} | source1_elevation = | mouth = Confluence with Sutlej to form the Panjnad River | mouth_location = Bahawalpur district, Punjab, Pakistan | mouth_coordinates = {{coord|29|20|57|N|71|1|41|E|display=inline,title}} | mouth_elevation = | progression = | river_system = Indus River | basin_size = | tributaries_left = Tawi River, Ravi River | tributaries_right = Marusudar River,<ref>{{cite news|title=Construction of power projects over Chenab|url=http://epaper.brecorder.com/story2pdf.php?id=372759&ed=2013-08-26|access-date=16 March 2017|work=Business Recorder|date=26 August 2013|language=en}}</ref> Jhelum River, Neeru river and Kalnai River | custom_label = | custom_data = | extra = }} The '''Chenab River'''{{Efn|{{IPAc-en|tʃ|ɪ|ˈ|n|æ|b}}; {{IPA|ur|ˈt͡ʃə.nɑːb}}; {{IPA|pa|ˈt͡ʃə˨.nä̃ː˦}}); {{IPA|skr|ˈt͡ʃə.nʱɑ̃ː}}}} is a major river in India and Pakistan, and one of the five major rivers associated with the Punjab region. It is formed by the union of two headwaters, the '''Chandra''' and '''Bhaga''', which rise in the upper Himalayas in the Lahaul region of Himachal Pradesh, India. The Chenab then flows through the Jammu region of Jammu and Kashmir, India, into the plains of Punjab, Pakistan, where it joins the Sutlej River to form the Panjnad, which ultimately flows into the Indus River at Mithankot.

The waters of the Chenab were allocated to Pakistan under the terms of the Indus Waters Treaty. India is allowed non-consumptive uses such as power generation. The Chenab River is extensively used in Pakistan for irrigation. Its waters are also transferred to the channel of the Ravi River via numerous link canals.<ref name=Naqvi/><ref> {{cite web |title=River Chenab |url=http://waterinfo.net.pk/pdf/riverchenab.PDF |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070927024646/http://waterinfo.net.pk/pdf/riverchenab.PDF |archive-date=27 September 2007 |df=dmy-all}} </ref><ref> {{cite web |url=http://web.worldbank.org/WBSITE/EXTERNAL/COUNTRIES/SOUTHASIAEXT/0,,contentMDK:20320047~pagePK:146736~piPK:583444~theSitePK:223547,00.html |title=Indus Waters Treaty |publisher=The World Bank |access-date=8 Dec 2016 }} </ref>

== Name == The Chenab river was called ''{{IAST2|Asikni}}'' ({{langx|sa|असिक्नी}}) in the Rigveda (VIII.20.25, X.75.5). The name meant that it was seen to have dark-coloured waters.<ref name=Kapoor>{{citation |last=Kapoor |first=Subodh |title=Encyclopaedia of Ancient Indian Geography |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=JggZAQAAIAAJ |year=2002 |publisher=Cosmo Publications |isbn=978-81-7755-298-0 |page=80}}</ref>{{sfn|Kaul, Antiquities of the Chenāb Valley in Jammu|2001|p=1}} The term Krishana is also found in the Atharvaveda.{{sfn|Kaul, Antiquities of the Chenāb Valley in Jammu|2001|p=2}} A later form of Askikni was ''{{lang|grc-Latn|Iskamati}}'' ({{langx|sa|इस्कामति}}){{citation needed|date=July 2018}} and the Greek form was {{langx|grc|Ἀκεσίνης}} – ''Akesínes''; Latinized to ''Acesines''.<ref name=Kapoor/>{{sfn|Kaul, Antiquities of the Chenāb Valley in Jammu|2001|p=1}}<ref name=DGRG>{{Cite DGRG|title=Acesines}}</ref>

In the Mahabharata, the common name of the river was ''Chandrabhaga'' ({{langx|sa|चन्द्रभागा}}) because the river is formed from the confluence of the Chandra and the Bhaga rivers.{{sfn|Kaul, Antiquities of the Chenāb Valley in Jammu|2001|p=2}}<ref name="HandaHāṇḍā1994">{{citation|last1=Handa|first1=O. C.|author2=Omacanda Hāṇḍā|title=Buddhist Art & Antiquities of Himachal Pradesh, Upto 8th Century A.D.|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=6Cqgb9pL3L4C&pg=PA126|year=1994|publisher=Indus Publishing|isbn=978-81-85182-99-5|pages=126–}}</ref> This name was also known to the Ancient Greeks, who Hellenised it in various forms such as ''Sandrophagos'', ''Sandabaga'' and ''Cantabra''.{{sfn|Kaul, Antiquities of the Chenāb Valley in Jammu|2001|p=1}}

The simplification of Chandrabhaga to 'Chenab', with evident Persianate influence, probably occurred in early medieval times and is witnessed in Alberuni.<ref>{{citation |last=Kazmi |first=Hasan Askari |title=The makers of medieval Muslim geography: Alberuni |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ggOAAAAAMAAJ |year=1995 |publisher=Renaissance |page=124|isbn=9788185199610 }}</ref>

== Course ==

=== Present course === [[File:Bhaga River in Keylong, Lahaul, Himachal Pradesh.jpg|thumb|Bhaga River in Keylong, Lahaul, Himachal Pradesh]][[File:Confluence Chandra Bhaga Lahaul Oct22 A7C 03346.jpg|thumb|left|Confluence of the Chandra (left) and Bhaga (right), the two main headstreams of the Chenab, at Tandi, Himachal Pradesh, India.]] The river is formed by the confluence of two rivers, Chandra and Bhaga, at Tandi, {{convert|8|km|abbr=on|}} southwest of Keylong, in the Lahaul and Spiti district of the Indian state of Himachal Pradesh.<ref name=Naqvi/>

The Bhaga River originates from Surya taal lake, which is situated a few kilometers west of the Bara-lacha la pass in Himachal Pradesh. The Chandra River originates from glaciers east of the same pass (near Chandra Taal).<ref name=Naqvi> {{citation |last=Naqvi |first=Saiyid Ali |title=Indus Waters and Social Change: The Evolution and Transition of Agrarian Society in Pakistan |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=45bcAgAAQBAJ&pg=PA13 |date=2012 |publisher=Oxford University Press Pakistan |isbn=978-0-19-906396-3 |page=13}} </ref><ref name="Gosal"> {{cite journal |last=Gosal |first=G.S. |year=2004 |title=Physical Geography of the Punjab |publisher=Center for Sikh and Punjab Studies, University of California |journal=Journal of Punjab Studies |volume=11 |issue=1 |page=31 |issn=0971-5223 |url=http://www.global.ucsb.edu/punjab/journal_11_1/3_gosal.pdf |access-date=2009-08-06 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120608214642/http://www.global.ucsb.edu/punjab/journal_11_1/3_gosal.pdf |archive-date=8 June 2012 |url-status=dead }} </ref> This pass also acts as a water-divide between these two rivers.<ref name="Pant"> {{cite journal |author=R. K. Pant |author2=N. R. Phadtare |author3=L. S. Chamyal |author4=Navin Juyal |name-list-style=amp |date=June 2005 |title=Quaternary deposits in Ladakh and Karakoram Himalaya: A treasure trove of the palaeoclimate records |journal=Current Science |volume=88|issue=11|pages=1789–1798 |url=http://www.ias.ac.in/currsci/jun102005/1789.pdf |access-date=2009-08-06 }} </ref> The Chandra river transverses {{convert|115|km|mi|abbr=on}} while the Bhaga river transverses {{convert|60|km|mi|abbr=on|}} through narrow gorges before their confluence at Tandi.<ref> {{Cite web |url=http://www.hill-stations-india.com/lahaul-spiti.html |title=Lahaul & Spiti |access-date=7 August 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190416151413/http://www.hill-stations-india.com/lahaul-spiti.html |archive-date=16 April 2019 |url-status=dead }} </ref>

[[File:Trimmu_Head_where_Jhelum_and_Chenab_meet_in_Jhang.jpg|thumb|Trimmu Barrage, where Jhelum River flows into the Chenab, in Jhang, Punjab, Pakistan]]

[[File:River_Chenab_bank_view32.jpg|thumb|Chenab River's bank at Multan, Punjab, Pakistan]]

The Chandra-Bhaga then flows through the pangi valley of Chamba district in Himachal Pradesh before entering the Jammu division of Jammu and Kashmir, where it flows through the Kishtwar, Doda, Ramban, Reasi and Jammu districts. It enters Pakistan and flows through the Punjab province before emptying into the Sutlej, forming the Panjnad River.

=== Historical course === Historically, the Chenab River used to flow east of Multan prior to 1245, after which the Beas River occupied its old bed that went by Dipalpur.<ref name=":0">{{Cite book |last=Krishnan |first=M. S. |title=Geology of India and Burma |publisher=Higginbothams |year=1956 |edition=3rd |pages=22–25 |chapter=The Indus System}}</ref> The Jhelum, Chenab, and Ravi rivers met in the northeastern direction of Multan, then flowing east together until they met the Beas River near Uchh in the southern direction of Multan.<ref name=":0" /> However, by 1397 the flow of the Chenab River shifted so that it flows west of Multan.<ref name=":0" />

== History == The river was known to Indians in the Vedic period.<ref>{{cite book |last1 = Yule |first1=Henry |first2=Arthur Coke |last2=Burnell |first3=William |last3=Crooke | title = Hobson-Jobson: A glossary of Anglo-Indian colloquial words & phrases and of kindred terms |year = 1903 |page=[https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_6Z5iAAAAMAAJ/page/n788 741] |publisher =Murray|url=https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_6Z5iAAAAMAAJ|quote = chenab ancient name. }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.britannica.com/place/Chenab |title=River, Chenab River on Encyclopædia Britannica |access-date= 8 Dec 2016}}</ref><ref>Encyclopædia Britannica article on the Chenab</ref> In 325 BCE, Alexander the Great allegedly founded the town of Alexandria on the Indus (present-day Uch Sharif or Mithankot or Chacharan in Pakistan) at the confluence of the Indus and the combined streams of Punjab rivers (currently known as the Panjnad River).<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.livius.org/a/pakistan/uch/alexandria.html |title=Alexandria (Uch) |access-date=26 March 2020 |archive-date=10 May 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080510153840/http://www.livius.org/a/pakistan/uch/alexandria.html |url-status=dead }}</ref> Arrian, in the Anabasis of Alexander, quotes the eyewitness Ptolemy Lagides as writing that the river was {{convert|2|mi|km}} wide where Alexander crossed it.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Arrian |title=The Landmark Arrian : the Campaigns of Alexander; Anabasis Alexandrous : a new translation |date=2010 |publisher=Pantheon Books |location=New York |isbn=9780375423468 |page=222 |url-access = registration |url=https://archive.org/details/isbn_9780375423468/page/222/mode/1up |access-date=9 July 2023 | author-link1 = Arrian | translator = Mensch, Pamela | editor = Romm, James | oclc = 515405268}}</ref>

The Battle of Chenab was fought between Sikhs and Afghans on the bank of the river.<ref>{{cite book|title=^ Jump up to:a b VSM, D. S. Saggu (2018-06-07). Battle Tactics And War Manoeuvres of the Sikhs. Notion Press. ISBN 978-1-64249-006-0.}}</ref>

==Dams== [[File:Salaldam.jpg|thumb|The Salal Dam near Reasi, Jammu and Kashmir in India.]] The river has rich power generation potential in India. There are many dams built, under construction or proposed to be built on the Chenab for the purpose of hydroelectric power generation in the country, including: {{columns-list|colwidth=30em| * Baglihar Hydroelectric power project (900 MW) near Ramban * Salal Dam – 690 MW hydroelectric power project near Reasi * Dul Hasti Hydroelectric Plant – 390 MW type power project in Kishtwar District * Ratle Hydroelectric Plant – an under-construction power station near Drabshalla in Kishtwar District * Pakal Dul Dam – a proposed dam on a tributary Marusadar River in Kishtwar District * Kiru Hydroelectric Project (624 MW proposed) located in Kishtwar district * Kwar Hydroelectric Project (540 MW proposed) located in Kishtwar district }}

[[File:Sunset at Head Marala.jpg|thumb|The Chenab river at the Marala Headworks.]] All of these are "run-of-the-river" projects as per the Indus Waters Treaty of 1960. The Treaty allocates the waters of Chenab to Pakistan. India can use its water for domestic and agricultural uses or for "non-consumptive" uses such as hydropower. India is entitled to store up to {{Convert|1.2|e6acre-ft|e9m3|lk=on|sigfig=2|abbr=off}} of water in its projects. The three projects completed {{as of|2011|lc=y}}, Salal, Baglihar and Dul Hasti, have a combined storage capacity of {{Convert|260|e3acre-ft|e6m3|sigfig=2|abbr=off}}.<ref>{{citation |first1=Gitanjali |last1=Bakshi |first2=Sahiba |last2=Trivedi |title=The Indus Equation |publisher=Strategic Foresight Group |url=http://www.strategicforesight.com/publication_pdf/10345110617.pdf |date=2011 |access-date=28 October 2014 |page=29}}</ref>

Pakistan has four headworks on the Chenab: {{columns-list|colwidth=30em| * Marala Headworks – located near Sialkot and Gujrat District * Khanki Headworks – located in Gujranwala District * Qadirabad Headworks – located in Mandi Bahauddin District * Trimmu Barrage – located in Jhang District }}

==See also== {{columns-list|colwidth=22em| *Rivers of Jammu and Kashmir *Kalnai River *Beas River *Indus River *Jhelum River *Ravi River *Satluj River }}

==Notes== {{notelist}}

==References== {{reflist}}

==Bibliography== * {{cite book |last=Kaul |first=P. K. |title=Antiquities of the Chenāb Valley in Jammu: Inscriptions-copper Plates, Sanads, Grants, Firmāns & Letters in Brāhmi-Shārdā-Tākri-Persian & Devnāgri Scripts |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=5ZFuAAAAMAAJ |year=2001 |publisher=Eastern Book Linkers |isbn=9788178540061 |ref={{sfnref|Kaul, Antiquities of the Chenāb Valley in Jammu|2001}}}}

==External links== {{EB1911 poster|Chenab}} {{commons category}}

{{Waters of India}} {{Waters of Pakistan}} {{Five rivers of the Punjab}} {{Geo HP}} {{PunjabGeography}} {{Hydrography of Jammu and Kashmir}} {{Waters of South Asia}}

Category:Rivers of Himachal Pradesh Category:Rigvedic rivers Category:Rivers of Jammu and Kashmir Category:Indus basin Category:International rivers of Asia Category:Rivers of Punjab, Pakistan Category:Rivers in Buddhism Category:Rivers of Pakistan