| Ghaggar-Hakra River | |
|---|---|
 Aerial view of Ghaggar river near Chandigarh | |
 Present-day Gagghar-Hakra river-course, with (pre-)Harappan paleochannel as proposed by Clift et al. (2012).[1] 1 = ancient river | |
| Location | |
| Country | India, Pakistan |
| Physical characteristics | |
| Source | |
| • location | Shivalik Hills, Himachal Pradesh, India |
| Mouth | |
• location | Ottu, Haryana, India |
• coordinates | 29°17′23″N 74°08′11″E / 29.28972°N 74.13639°E |
| Discharge | |
| • location | [2] |
| Basin features | |
| Tributaries | |
| • left | Kaushalya river |
| • right | Markanda river, Sarswati river, Tangri river, Chautang |
| Waterbodies | Kaushalya Dam, Ottu barrage |
The Ghaggar-Hakra River is an intermittent river in India and Pakistan that flows only during the monsoon season. The river is known as Ghaggar before the Ottu barrage at 29°29′15″N 74°53′33″E / 29.4875°N 74.8925°E, and as Hakra downstream of the barrage in the Thar Desert.[3][4] In pre-Harappan times the Ghaggar was a tributary of the Sutlej. It is still connected to this paleochannel of the Sutlej, and possibly the Yamuna, which ended in the Nara River, presently a delta channel of the Indus River joining the sea via Sir Creek.[3][5][6]
The Sutlej changed its course about 8,000-10,000 years ago, leaving the Ghaggar-Hakra as a system of monsoon-fed rivers terminating in the Thar Desert.[3][5] The Indus Valley Civilisation prospered when the monsoons that fed the rivers diminished around 5,000 years ago, and a large number of sites from the Mature Indus Valley Civilisation (2600-1900 BCE) are found along the middle course of the (dried-up) Hakra in Pakistan.[note 1] Around 4,000 years ago, the Indus Valley Civilisation declined when the monsoons further diminished, and the Ghaggar-Hakra dried up, becoming a small seasonal river.[7][8][note 2]
Nineteenth and early 20th century scholars, but also some more recent authors, have suggested that the Ghaggar-Hakra might be the defunct remains of the Sarasvati River mentioned in the Rig Veda, fed by Himalayan-fed rivers, despite the fact that the Ghaggar-Hakra had dried up by that time.[9]
- ^ See Clift et al. (2012) map Archived 11 October 2021 at the Wayback Machine and Honde te al. (2017) map Archived 14 November 2020 at the Wayback Machine.
- ^ Political Economy of the Punjab: An Insider's Account. MD Publications, New Delhi. 1997. ISBN 978-81-7533-031-3.
- ^ a b c Singh et al. 2017.
- ^ Britannica, Dale Hoiberg, Indu Ramchandani (2000). Students' Britannica India, Volumes 1-5. Popular Prakashan, 2000. ISBN 978-0-85229-760-5.
The Ghaggar River rises in the Shiwalik Range, northwestern Himachal Pradesh State, and flows about 320 km southwest through Haryana State, where it receives the Saraswati River. Beyond the Ottu Barrage, the Ghaggar River is known as the Hakra River which loses itself in the Thar Desert. Just southwest of Sirsa it feeds two irrigation canals that extend into Rajasthan.
{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) - ^ a b Clift et al. 2012.
- ^ Khonde et al. 2017.
- ^ Giosan et al. 2012.
- ^ Maemoku et al. 2013.
- ^ Sanyal, Sanjeev (10 July 2013). Land of the seven rivers : a brief history of India's geography. Penguin Books. ISBN 978-0-14-342093-4. OCLC 855957425.
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