Doab — Mediated Wiki

{{short description|Land between two converging, or confluent, rivers}} {{Other uses|Do Ab (disambiguation){{!}}Do Ab|DOAB}} {{Use Indian English|date=June 2016}} {{Use dmy dates|date=May 2016}} {{Infobox settlement | name = Doab | native_name = | native_name_lang =  | settlement_type = Natural region | image_skyline = Punjabdoabs1.jpg | image_alt = | image_caption = A map showing the different ''doabs'' in the northern subcontinent | image_flag = | flag_alt = | image_seal = | seal_alt = | image_shield = | shield_alt = | nickname = | motto = | image_map = | map_alt = | map_caption = | pushpin_map = | pushpin_label_position = | pushpin_map_alt = | pushpin_map_caption = | coordinates = | coor_pinpoint = | coordinates_footnotes = | subdivision_type = Region | subdivision_name = [[Indian subcontinent]] | subdivision_type1 = | subdivision_name1 = | subdivision_type2 = | subdivision_name2 = | subdivision_type3 = | subdivision_name3 =   | area_footnotes = | area_urban_footnotes =  | area_rural_footnotes =  | area_metro_footnotes =  | area_magnitude =  | area_note = | area_water_percent = | area_rank = | area_blank1_title = | area_blank2_title =  | area_total_km2 = | area_land_km2 = | area_water_km2 = | area_urban_km2 = | area_rural_km2 = | area_metro_km2 = | area_blank1_km2 = | area_blank2_km2 =  | area_total_ha = | area_land_ha = | area_water_ha = | area_urban_ha = | area_rural_ha = | area_metro_ha = | area_blank1_ha = | area_blank2_ha = | length_km = | width_km = | dimensions_footnotes = | elevation_footnotes = | elevation_m = | population_footnotes = | population_total = | population_as_of = | population_density_km2 = auto | population_demonym = | population_note = | timezone1 = | utc_offset1 = | timezone1_DST = | utc_offset1_DST = | website =  | footnotes = }} '''''Doab''''' ({{IPAc-en|lang|ˈ|d|oʊ|ɑː|b}}) is a term used in [[South Asia]]<ref name=oed-doab-cite-1>{{citation|title=doab or duab, n.|publisher=OED Online, Oxford University Press |date=March 2014|url=http://www.oed.com/view/Entry/56229|access-date=24 April 2019}} Quote: "Originally and chiefly in South Asia: (the name of) a strip or narrow tract of land between two rivers; spec. (with) the area between the rivers Ganges and Jumna in northern India."</ref> for the tract<ref name=oed-doab-cite-2>{{citation|title=doab or duab, n.|publisher=OED Online, Oxford University Press |date=March 2014|url=http://www.oed.com/view/Entry/56229|access-date=24 April 2019}} Quote: "confluence, land between two rivers, used in India of the tongue of land between the Ganges and Jumna, and of similar tracts in the Punjab, etc., lit. ‘two waters’ "</ref><ref name=oed-doab-cite-1/> of land lying between two [[confluence|confluent]] rivers. It is similar to an [[interfluve]].<ref name=doab-websters-unabridge>{{citation|title=Doab.|publisher=Webster's Third New International Dictionary, Unabridged.|year=2013|url=http://www.merriam-websterunabridged.com/unabridged/doab|access-date=24 April 2019}} Quote: " a tract of land between two rivers : interfluve"</ref> In the ''Oxford Hindi-English Dictionary'', [[R. S. McGregor]] refers to its Persian origin in defining it as ''do-āb'' ({{lang|fa|{{nq|دوآب}}}}, literally "two [bodies of] water") "a region lying between and reaching to the confluence of two rivers." As per J. S. Grewal, a ''doab'' is "the inter-fluvial area between any two rivers".<ref name=":2">{{Cite book |last=Grewal |first=Jagtar Singh |title=The Sikhs of the Punjab |publisher=Cambridge University Press |year=1999 |isbn=8175960701 |edition=2nd |pages=1–2}}</ref>

=={{anchor| Khadir | Bangar | Barani | Bagar| Nali | Nalli | Naali| khadir | bangar | barani | nali | nalli | naali| bagar}} Khadir, bangar, barani, nali and bagar== {{main|Khadir and Bangar}}

{{See also|Bagar tract|Dhani_(settlement_type)|Chak_(village)|label 2=Dhani|label 3=Chak}}

[[File:Khadir-and-bangar.jpg|thumb|150px|In any ''doab'', ''khadir'' land (green) lies next to a river, while ''bangar'' land (olive) has greater elevation and lies further from the river]] Since [[North India]] and [[Pakistan]] are coursed by a multiplicity of Himalayan rivers that divide the plains into ''doabs'' (i.e. regions between two rivers), the [[Indo-Gangetic plains]] consist of alternating regions of river, ''khadir'' and ''bangar''. The regions of the ''doabs'' near the rivers consist of low-lying, [[floodplains]], but usually, very fertile ''khadir'' and the higher-lying land away from the rivers consist of ''bangar'', less prone to flooding but also less fertile on average.<ref name="encybritt2010">{{Citation | title=Pakistan: Soils | publisher=Encyclopædia Britannica, 2010 | url=https://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/1404392/bhangar | quote=''... khaddar soils. Away from the river, toward the middle of the doabs, older alluvial soils (called bangar) are widely distributed ...''}}</ref><ref name=ravi1>[https://translate.google.com/translate?hl=en&sl=hi&tl=en&u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.khaskhabar.com%2Flocal%2Fdelhi-ncr%2Fdelhi-news%2Fnews-art-of-living-responsible-to-damage-yamuna-khadar-said-ngt-news-hindi-1-277190-KKN.html Damage to Yamuna Khadar, Ravi Shankar's Art of Living Responsible: NGT], [http://www.khaskhabar.com Khas Khabar]. 7 Dec 2017.</ref>

Khadir may also be called '''nali''' or '''naili''' in northern [[Haryana]], where it refers to the fertile [[prairie]] tract between the [[Ghaggar-Hakra River|Ghaggar]] river and the southern limits of the [[Drishadvati river|Saraswati channel depression]], which gets flooded during the rainy season.<ref name=nali1>[https://archive.org/stream/imperialgazettee14grea/imperialgazettee14grea_djvu.txt "The imperial gazeteers of India, 1908"], [[British Raj]], page 288.</ref>

Within bangar area, the '''barani''' is any low rain area where the rain-fed dry farming is practiced, which nowadays are dependent on the tubewells for irrigation.<ref name=bag1/> '''[[Bagar tract]]''', an example of barani land, is the dry sandy tract of land on the border of Rajasthan state adjoining the states of Haryana and Punjab.<ref name=bag1>E. Walter Coward, 1980, [https://books.google.com.sg/books?isbn=0801498716 "Irrigation and Agricultural Development in Asia: Perspectives from the social sciences"], [[Cornell University]] press, {{ISBN|0801498716}}.</ref> '''Nahri''' is any [[canal]]-irrigated land,<ref name=nali1/> for example, the ''Rangoi tract'' which is an area irrigated by the ''Rangoi channel/canal'' made for the purpose of carrying flood waters of Ghagghar river to dry areas.<ref name=rangoi1>1987, [http://revenueharyana.gov.in/html/gazeteers/gazetteer_india_hisar.pdf "gazetteer of India: Hisar District"] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140501213030/http://revenueharyana.gov.in/html/gazeteers/gazetteer_india_hisar.pdf |date=1 May 2014 }}, page 7.</ref><ref name=landtypes1>1987, [http://revenueharyana.gov.in/html/gazeteers/hisar_1987/Revenue_Administration.pdf "Gazeteers of Hisar district, 1987"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171107072120/http://revenueharyana.gov.in/html/gazeteers/hisar_1987/Revenue_Administration.pdf |date=7 November 2017 }}, [[Government of Haryana]], page 162.]</ref>

Historically, villages in the ''doabs'' have been officially classified as ''khadir'', ''khadir-bangar'' (i.e. mixed) or ''bangar'' for many centuries, and different agricultural tax rates applied based on a tiered land-productivity scale.<ref name="ref81pifip">{{Citation | title=Land Revenue Settlement of the Gurgaon District | author=F.C. Channing | year=1882 | publisher=Government of India | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=75kIAAAAQAAJ | quote=''... The rates here applied were the same as those applied in the Bangar and Khadar circles and the same comparisons hold good ...''}}</ref><ref name="ref23qixic">{{Citation | title=Final report on the settlement of land revenue in the Delhi District | author=Oswald Wood, R. Maconachie | year=1882 | publisher=Government of India, 1882 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=23EIAAAAQAAJ | quote=''... The Khadar-Bangar chak lies along the river; 37 villages are purely Khadar and 39 partly Khadar partly Bangar. The villages nearest the river are subject to inundations, but where the water runs off in time, the natural fertility of the ...''}}</ref>

==<span class="anchor" id="The Doab"></span><span class="anchor" id="Ganges-Yamuna Doab"></span> Ganga-Yamuna Doab== {{multiple image | align = right | header_background = #FDF5E6 | header = The Doab | direction = vertical | footer_align = center | image_style = border:none; | total_width = 300 | image1 = Ganga-Yamuna Doab.png | image2 = DoabUnitedProvincesIGI1908.jpg | caption1 = Area depicting the Ganges-Yamuna Doab. | caption2 = A 1908 map of the Doab, [[United Provinces of Agra and Oudh|United Provinces]] }}

The Ganga-Yamuna Doab,<ref name=":0">{{Cite book |url=https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.14564/page/36/ |title=The Gazetteer of India: Indian Union |publisher=Government of India Press |year=1965 |volume=I: Country and People |pages=36–37}}</ref><ref>"Ganges-Yamuna Doab". Encyclopedia Britannica, 3 Nov. 2023, <nowiki>https://www.britannica.com/place/Ganges-Yamuna-Doab</nowiki>. Accessed 31 March 2026.</ref><ref name=":1">{{Cite book |last=Mishra |first=Shyam Manohar |title=Yaśovarman of Kanauj: A Study of Political History, Social, and Cultural Life of Northern India During the Reign of Yaśovarman |publisher=Abhinav Publications |year=1977 |pages=88}}</ref> also known simply as ''The Doab'', designates the flat alluvial tract between the [[Ganges]] and [[Yamuna]] rivers extending from the [[Sivalik Hills]] to the two rivers' confluence at [[Prayagraj]]. It is also called as ''Ganges-Yamuna Doab'' or ''Ganga Doab''. The region has an area of about 23,360 square miles (60,500 square km); it is approximately {{convert|500|mi|km|0}} in length and {{convert|60|mi|km|0}} in width.<ref name=ymd1>[https://www.britannica.com/place/Ganges-Yamuna-Doab Ganges-Yamuna Doab], [[Encyclopædia Britannica]].</ref> In ancient times, it was known as ''Antarvedi''.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Singh |first=Rewant Vikram |title=Settlements in the Yamuna-Hindon Doab: An Archaeological Perspective |publisher=B.R. Publishing Corporation |year=2003 |isbn=9788176463584 |pages=8}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Sharma |first=Deo Prakash |title=Archaeology of Lower Ganga-Yamuna Doab (circa 1200 B.C. to 1200 A.D.) |publisher=Bharatiya Kala Prakashan |isbn=9788180900334 |volume=I |pages=13}}</ref><ref name=":1" /> It is the most populated and largest of the doabs of India and can be divided into three sections: Upper ([[Haridwar]] to [[Aligarh]]), Middle, and Lower.<ref name=":0" />

The [[British Raj]] divided the ''Doab'' into three administrative districts, viz., [[Upper Doab]] (Meerut), Middle Doab (Agra) and Lower Doab (Allahabad).<ref name=ymd1/>{{failed verification|reason=The source says that the doab "can be divided" into these parts but does not say anything about the British administration.|date=April 2026}}

Currently the following states and districts form part of ''The Doab'':<ref name=ymd1/>

===Upper Doab=== Main article : [[Upper Doab]] *'''[[Uttarakhand]]''': [[Dehradun district|Dehradun]] and [[Haridwar district|Haridwar]]

*'''[[Delhi]]'''{{citation needed|date=September 2013}}

===Lower Doab=== [[Farrukhabad district|Farrukhabad]], [[Kannauj district|Kannauj]], [[Etawah district|Etawah]], [[Auraiya district|Auraiya]], [[Kanpur district (disambiguation)|Kanpur]] (Urban & Rural), [[Fatehpur district|Fatehpur]], [[Kaushambi district|Kaushambi]] and [[Allahabad district|Allahabad]].<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.indiamart.com/proddetail/archaeology-of-lower-ganga-yamuna-doab-2-volumes-2007703973.html|title=Archaeology Of Lower Ganga-Yamuna Doab 2 Volumes}}</ref>

==Punjab Doabs== [[File:Lower Bari Doab canal.jpg|thumb|View of a canal in the lower Bari Doab of the Punjab Doabs]]{{Punjabis}}

Each of the tracts of land lying between the confluent rivers of the [[Punjab region]] of Pakistan and India has a distinct name, said to have been coined by Raja [[Todar Mal]], a minister of the [[Mughal Empire|Mughal]] emperor [[Akbar]]. The names (except for "Sindh Sagar") are a combination of the first letters, in the Persian alphabet, of the names of the rivers that bound the Doab. For example, "Chaj" ({{lang|fa|چج}}) = '''''Ch'''''anāb ({{lang|fa|چناب}}, "Chenab") + '''''Je'''hlam'' ({{lang|fa|جہلم}}, "Jhelum"). The names are from east to west.{{Citation needed|date=December 2017}} The practice of dividing regions of Punjab into ''doabs'' dates to the reign of Akbar.<ref name=":2" /> The ''doabs'' of Punjab are not to be confused with its ''[[Bar Region|bārs]]'', which according to Grewal (1999) refers to the upland section between two river valleys in the [[Punjab Plain|Punjab plains]].<ref name=":22">{{Cite book |title=The Sikhs of the Punjab|last=Grewal|first=Jagtar Singh|publisher=Cambridge University Press|year=1999|isbn=8175960701|edition=2nd|pages=xv|chapter=Glossary}}</ref> The introduction of artificial irrigation by well (''[[Saqiyah]]'') in the 11th century in Punjab after the Turkic conquest of the area allowed for an increased population in the northern sections of the region's ''doabs''.<ref name=":222">{{Cite book |title=The Sikhs of the Punjab|last=Grewal|first=Jagtar Singh|publisher=Cambridge University Press|year=1999|isbn=8175960701|edition=2nd|pages=3|chapter=}}</ref>

Another way of dividing up the regions of Punjab (which is not well demarcated and often confusing) is based upon ''bet'' (area prone to flooding and comes into the flow of rivers), ''dhaha'' (old-bed of a river which are high and sandy but still at risk of flooding), and ''dakar'' (far-away from river-banks and usually safe from flooding).<ref name=":322">{{Cite book |last=Bhatti |first=H. S. |title=Folk Religion: Change and Continuity |publisher=Rawat Publications |year=2000 |isbn=9788170336082 |pages=27–29}}</ref>

===Sind Sagar Doab=== {{main article|Sind Sagar Doab}}

The [[Sind Sagar Doab]] lies between the [[Indus River|Indus]] and [[Jhelum River|Jhelum]] rivers.<ref name=":2" />

===Chaj Doab=== {{main article|Chaj Doab}}

The [[Chaj Doab]] lies between the [[Jhelum River|Jhelum]] and the [[Chenab River|Chenab]] rivers.<ref name=":2" />

===Rachna Doab=== {{main article|Rachna Doab}}

The [[Rachna Doab]] lies between the [[Chenab River|Chenab]] and the [[Ravi River|Ravi]] rivers.<ref name=":2" /> A considerable portion of the Rechna Doab is in the [[Majha]] region.<ref name="majhaArea">Kakshi, S.R.; Pathak, Rashmi; Pathak, S.R.Bakshi R. (2007-01-01). Punjab Through the Ages. Sarup & Sons. {{ISBN|978-81-7625-738-1}}. Retrieved 12 June 2010.</ref>

===Bari Doab=== {{Main|Bari Doab}}

{{See also|Bar Region}} The [[Bari Doab]] lies between the [[Ravi River|Ravi]] and [[Beas River|Beas]] rivers.<ref name=":2" /> A considerable portion of the Bari Doab is in the [[Majha]] region.<ref name="majhaArea" />

===Bist Doab=== {{main article|Bist Doab}}

The [[Bist Doab]] (or [[Doaba]]) - between the [[Beas River|Beas]] and the [[Sutlej]] rivers. Also known as the Bist Jalandhar Doab.<ref name=":2" />

==Other doabs==

===Raichur Doab=== {{main article|Raichur Doab}}

The [[Raichur Doab]] is the triangular region of [[Andhra Pradesh]] and [[Karnataka]] states which lies between the [[Krishna River]] and its tributary the [[Tungabhadra River]], named for the town of [[Raichur]].{{Citation needed|date=December 2017}}

==See also== * [[Ap (water)]] * [[Interamnia (disambiguation)|Interamnia]], an ancient Latin placename, meaning "between rivers" * [[Mesopotamia]], in {{langx|grc|links=no|Μεσοποταμία}} '[land] between rivers'.

== Notes == {{reflist|2}}

==References== *{{citation|last=McGregor|first=Ronald Stuart|author-link=R. S. McGregor|title=The Oxford Hindi-English Dictionary|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=MILAQgAACAAJ&pg=PA513|access-date=11 September 2013|year=1993|publisher=Oxford University Press|page=513|isbn=978-0-19-864339-5}} {{Hydrography of Uttar Pradesh}} {{GeoSouthAsia}} {{PunjabGeography}} {{Historical regions of North India|state=expanded}}

[[Category:Doab| ]] [[Category:Geography of Haryana]] [[Category:Geography of Madhya Pradesh]] [[Category:Doabs of Punjab, Pakistan| ]] [[Category:Geography of Rajasthan]] [[Category:Geography of Uttar Pradesh]] [[Category:Regions of Haryana]] [[Category:Regions of Madhya Pradesh]] [[Category:Regions of Punjab, India]] [[Category:Regions of Rajasthan]] [[Category:Regions of Uttar Pradesh]] [[Category:Persian words and phrases]] [[Category:Natural regions of India]] [[Category:Landforms]]