Rivers in Ancient India (study)

by Archana Sarma | 2019 | 49,356 words

This page relates ‘Introduction (changing pattern of the rivers)’ of the study on the rivers in ancient India as reflected in the Vedic and Puranic texts. These pages dicsusses the elements of nature and the importance of rivers (Nadi) in Vedic and Puranic society. Distinctive traits of rivers are investigated from descriptions found in the Vedas (Samhitas), Brahmanas, Aranyakas, Upanishads and Puranas. The research is concluded by showing changing trends of rivers from ancient to modern times.

Introduction (changing pattern of the rivers)

It is observed that the mention or description of several rivers of Northern India in ancient Sanskrit literature has generated much interest among the scientific community of India since the nineteen century A.D. These curiosities led ultimately to the correct identification of many of those streams with the streams of present day and to the unveiling of the cultural history of the region in the remote past. The most notable example is the Sarasvatī river which was identified by Oldham (1893) with the Ghaggar, from whose banks subsequent generation of scientists unearthed the remains of ancient civilizations, some of them known from ancient Indian literature. Attempts were also made to describe the dynamics of those streams, their earlier courses, changes in those courses, processes responsible for such changes and a host of other related matters. The investigations were, however, confined to only a few major streams like the Sarasvatī, or the Ghaggar, the Śatadru (or the Sutlej) and the Sindhu (or the Indus). Other streams received either very scant attention from the investigators or none at all. Some rivers are lost and some are existing with the same name or the other. In due course of time, some of the rivers changed their courses. Though some rivers are lost, in present time some organizations are trying to discover the reasons and have taken some steps to dig such rivers once again.

In our previous chapters, the rivers are already discussed at length. Here, in this chapter, an attempt has been made to discuss the various reasons of the changing pattern of the rivers and will try to find out its present status.

Climatic change and neotectonic movements have led to migration and abandonment of several rivers and drainage systems. Some of them are lost because of the overburden of silt. But several evidences led by the Geologists usually help in proving the existence of a geomorphic feature in a particular location which attract the attention of the interested people to discover the past. In India, the river Sarasvatī reflects such a fascinating history, supported by geological, hydrological and archaeological evidences as well as the records of the most modern tools, such as remote sensing and GIS. With the aid of remote sensing through orbiting satellites, the mystery of the river is more or less solved.

The river Sarasvatī was obliterated within a short span, in the Quaternary period of the Cenozoic era, through a combination of destructive catastrophic events. The decline of the river appears to have commenced between 5000 and 3000 B.C, probably precipitated by a major tectonic event in the Siwalik Hills of Sirmur region. Geological studies reveal that the massive landslides and avalanches were caused by destabilizing tectonic events which occurred around the beginning of Pleistocene, about 1.7 million years ago in the entire Siwalik domain. Those disturbances, linked to uplift of the Himalayas, continued intermittently. Presumably, one of these events must have severed the glacier connection and cut off the supply of melt water from the glacier to these rivers; as a result, the Sarasvatī became non perennial and dependent on monsoon rains. The diversion of the river water through separation of its tributaries led to the conversion of the river as disconnected lakes and pools, ultimately it was reduced to a dry channel bed. Therefore, the river Sarasvatī has not disappeared but only dried up in some stretches.[1]

Footnotes and references:

[1]:

cf., www.geospatial world.net Saraswati where lies the mystery

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