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[[File:Babur crossing the Indus in the heat of battle.jpg|thumb|250px|[[Babur]] crossing the Indus River.]]

The '''Indus River''' is the greatest river on the western side of the south Asian [[subcontinent]]. It is one of the seven sacred rivers for The [[Brahmans]] of [[Vedic period]].<ref>{{citeweb|url=https://ia801805.us.archive.org/32/items/195.1996-sapta-sindhvas-the-landof-seven-rivers/195.1996_SaptaSindhvas-TheLandofSevenRivers.pdf|title=Sapta Sindvas The Land of Several Rivers|work=Professor Aslam Khan}}</ref> It was the birthplace of the early [[Indus Valley civilization]]. It flows through China (Western Tibet), India and Pakistan. It is one of the main rivers of the [[Indo-Gangetic Plain]].

The river is 3180 km long. It is Pakistan's longest river. The river has a total drainage area exceeding 1,165,000 km2 (450,000 sq mi). Its estimated annual flow stands at around 207 km3 (50 cu mi), making it the twenty-first largest river in the world in terms of annual flow. It discharges about 6,600 cubic meters per second.

The word ''Indus'' and the cognate<ref>"Cognate" means descended from a common ancestor, of the same family, coming from the same stock or root. ''Shorter Oxford English Dictionary'', vol 1, p337.</ref> word "Hindu" are derived from ''Sapta Sindhu'' (Sanskrit for "seven rivers") for the region is ancient. The [[Ancient Greek]]s used the word ''Indós''; ''Hinduš'' was [[Old Persian]]; ''Sindhu'' in [[Sanskrit]]. Modern languages on the sub-continent use either ''Sindh'' (modern Sindhi) or ''Sindhu'' (ancient Sanskrit) or very similar words. The river's region's name came to be the name of the country [[India]].<ref>''Shorter Oxford English Dictionary'' vol 2, p989.</ref>

== River basin ==
Over 47% of the total area of the Indus [[drainage basin]] is in [[Pakistan]] and [[Pakistan-administered Kashmir]]. [[Jammu and Kashmir|India]] has about 39%, [[Tibet]] has 8% and [[Afghanistan]] has 6% of the Indus basin catchment area.

The Indus water system of rivers comprises the main Indus and its major tributaries: the [[Kabul River]] and [[Kurram River]] on the right bank, and the [[Jhelum River]], [[Chenab River]], [[Ravi River]], [[Beas River]] and the [[Sutlej]] on the left. The first two join the Indus soon after it leaves the mountains, and the others lower down in the plains. The whole of the Beas and the head reaches of the Ravi and Sutlej are in the Republic of India, while those of the Chenab and Jhelum lie mostly in the disputed Kashmir state.

The entire basin covers an area of about 384,000 square miles of open land, of which 204,000 lie in Pakistan. In addition, there are about 29,000 square miles which lie outside the Indus basin but are dependent on the Indus river system for their water requirements and irrigation supplies.

Without the Indus waters, agriculture in Pakistan would be very uncertain, because there is not much [[rain]]. Even now when Pakistan is being rapidly industrialised, it needs its water resources, because much of its industry uses agriculture produce for its raw materials. Almost all of the basin in Pakistan receives an overall rainfull of less than 15 inches, 60% of its area receiving less than 10 inches, while, 16% receives less than 5 inches. The rainfull is not evenly distributed throughout the year but is concentrated during the [[monsoon]]s.

== Course ==
Rising in western Tibet, the Indus runs at first across a high plateau, then the ground falls away and the river, dropping rapidly, gathering momentum and rushing north-west, collects the waters from innumerable glacier-fed streams, and runs north-west between the world's greatest mountain ranges, the Karakoram and the Himalayas. In [[Kashmir]] it crosses the [[United Nations]] cease-fire line and, in [[Baltistan District]], enters [[Azad Kashmir]]. From here on it is Pakistan's river; Pakistan's first town on the upper Indus, Skardu, at 7,500 feet above sea-level, stands on a bluff near the junction of the Indus and one of its great right-bank tributaries, the Shigar. The majority of the people live in Skardu town; others inhabit small and scattered villages along the Indus and Shigar valleys, or tiny hamlets high on the surrounding mountains.

== References ==
{{reflist}}

== Other websites ==
{{Commonscat|Indus River}}
* [http://blankonthemap.free.fr Blankonthemap] The Northern Kashmir WebSite
* [http://www.kotaddu.110mb.com/ All About Indus River Pakistan] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090418052324/http://www.kotaddu.110mb.com/ |date=2009-04-18 }}
* [http://www.ppl.nl/bibliographies/all/?bibliography=water Bibliography on Water Resources and International Law] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110209113341/http://www.ppl.nl/bibliographies/all/?bibliography=water |date=2011-02-09 }} See '''Indus River'''. Peace Palace Libray
* [http://www.northernareas.org.pk/ Northern Areas Development Gateway] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080511194625/http://www.northernareas.org.pk/ |date=2008-05-11 }}
* [http://www.macp-pk.org/home.asp The Mountain Areas Conservancy Project] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160303190239/http://www.macp-pk.org/home.asp |date=2016-03-03 }}
* [http://earthtrends.wri.org/maps_spatial/maps_fullscale.cfm?mapID=355&theme=2 Indus River watershed map (World Resources Institute)]
* [http://wrmin.nic.in/international/industreaty.htm Indus Treaty] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20051220042511/http://wrmin.nic.in/international/industreaty.htm |date=2005-12-20 }}
* [http://www.hindu.com/2005/06/03/stories/2005060303651500.htm Baglihar Dam issue]
* [http://www.redtailcanyon.com/items/3755.aspx Indus]
* [http://www.worldwildlife.org/wildworld/profiles/g200/g156.html Indus Wildlife]
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Indus - Revision history

CleanupBot at 09:05, 25 February 2022