sutlej

Earlier the river was also called Shutudri or Zaradros river, a name which was mentioned in the Hindu texts. In the Chaitra-Ratha Parva of Adi Parva of Mahābhārata, when sage Vasishtha wanted to commit suicide he saw the river named Haimāvata (whose source is Himavat), flooded and full of crocodiles and other aquatic monsters. So he jumped into the river. The river thinking that Vasishtha was a mass of unquenchable fire dilated itself and flew in a hundred different directions. Henceforth the river was named śatadra (or śatadru) which means the river of a hundred courses. So, Vasishtha landed on dry land and was unharmed.Pratap Chandra Roy's Mahabharata Adi Parva, Chaitra-Ratha Parva Page:509

{{more citations needed section|date=August 2015}}

The Upper Sutlej Valley, called Langqên Zangbo in Tibet, was once known as the Garuda Valley by the Zhangzhung, the ancient civilization of western Tibet. The Garuda Valley was the centre of their empire, which stretched many miles into the nearby Himalayas. The Zhangzhung built a towering palace in the Upper Sutlej Valley called Kyunglung, the ruins of which still exist today near the village of Moincêr, southwest of Mount Kailash (Mount Ti-se). Eventually, the Zhangzhung were conquered by the Tibetan Empire. The Sutlej River also formed the eastern boundary of the Sikh Empire under Maharajah Ranjit Singh.

Today, the Sutlej Valley is inhabited by nomadic descendants of the Zhangzhung, who live in tiny villages of yak herders.{{citation needed|date=February 2014}}

The Sutlej was the main medium of transportation for the kings of that time. In the early 18th century, it was used to transport devdar woods for Bilaspur district, Hamirpur district, and other places along the Sutlej's banks.{{citation needed|date=February 2014}}

Of four rivers (Indus, Sutlej, Brahmaputra and Karnali/Ganges) mythically flowing out of holy Lake Manasarovar, the Sutlej is actually connected to the Lake Manasarovar by channels that are dry most of the time.{{Cite web|url=https://www.britannica.com/place/Sutlej-River|title=Sutlej River | river, Asia | Britannica}}

The source of the Sutlej is west of the catchment area of Lake Rakshastal in Tibet, as springs in an ephemeral stream. Lake Rakshastal used to be part of the Sutlej river basin long ago and separated from the Sutlej due to tectonic activity. The nascent river flows at first west-northwest for about {{convert|260|km|mi}} under the Tibetan name Langqên Zangbo (Elephant River or Elephant Spring) to the Shipki La pass, entering India in Himachal Pradesh state. It then has its main knee heading west-southwest for about {{convert|360|km|mi}} to meet the Beas River near Harike, Tarn Taran district, Punjab state. Ropar Wetland in Punjab state is located on the Sutlej river basin. Evidence suggests Indus Valley civilisation also flourished here. Ungti Chu and Pare Chu rivers which drain the southeastern part of Ladakh are tributaries of Sutlej river.{{cite news|url=http://india-wris.nrsc.gov.in/GeoVisualization.html?UType=R2VuZXJhbA==?UName=|title= WRIS geo-visualization map|access-date=17 January 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170613130618/http://india-wris.nrsc.gov.in/GeoVisualization.html?UType=R2VuZXJhbA==?UName= |archive-date=13 June 2017}}

Continuing west-southwest, the Sutlej enters Pakistan about {{convert|15|km|mi}} east of Bhedian Kalan, Kasur District, Punjab province, continuing southwest to water the ancient and historical former Bahawalpur princely state.{{citation needed|date=February 2014}} Few centuries ago, Sutlej river was merging with the Ghaggar river to discharge in to the Arabian sea. In approx. 1797 BC, the course of the Sutlej river moved towards the north to join the Beas river.{{Cite web|url=http://www.cwc.gov.in/sites/default/files/Ravi-%20Beas%20Waters%20Tribunal%20Report%201987.pdf|access-date=15 February 2020|publisher=Central Water Commission|title= Page 60, The Ravi- Beas Water Tribunal Report (1987)}}

About {{convert|17|km|mi}} north of Uch Sharif, the Sutlej unites with the Chenab River, forming the Panjnad River, which finally flows into the Indus river about {{convert|100|km|mi}} west of the city of Bahawalpur. The area to the southeast on the Pakistani side of the Indian border is called the Cholistan Desert and, on the Indian side, the Thar Desert.{{citation needed|date=February 2014}}

The Indus then flows through a gorge near Sukkur and the fertile plains region of Sindh, forming a large delta region between the border of Gujarat, India and Pakistan, finally terminating in the Arabian Sea near the port city of Karachi, Pakistan. During floods, Indus river water flows into the Indian part of the Great Rann of Kutch. Thus Gujarat state of India is also a riparian state of the Indus river as the Rann of Kutch area lying west of Kori Creek in the state is part of the Indus River Delta.{{cite web|url= http://siteresources.worldbank.org/EXTINSPECTIONPANEL/Resources/PAKNDPProgressRepANNEXES.pdf|title=Evolution of the Delta, the LBOD outfall system and the Badin dhands - chapters 3 & 4|access-date=22 December 2015}}

{{see also|Ghaggar-Hakra River | Geology of the Himalaya}}

Sutlej is an antecedent river, which existed before the Himalayas and entrenched itself while they were rising. The Sutlej, along with all of the Punjab rivers, is thought to have drained east into the Ganges prior to 5 mya.{{cite journal

| last = Clift

| first = Peter D.

|author2=Blusztajn, Jerzy

| date = 15 December 2005

| title = Reorganization of the western Himalayan river system after five million years ago

| journal = Nature

| volume = 438

| pages = 1001–1003

| doi = 10.1038/nature04379

| pmid = 16355221

| issue = 7070

| bibcode = 2005Natur.438.1001C

| s2cid = 4427250

}}

There is substantial geologic evidence to indicate that prior to 1700 BC, and perhaps much earlier, the Sutlej was an important tributary of the Ghaggar-Hakra River (thought to be the legendary Sarasvati River) rather than the Indus, with various authors putting the redirection from 2500 to 2000 BC,Mughal, M. R. Ancient Cholistan. Archaeology and Architecture. Rawalpindi-Lahore-Karachi: Ferozsons 1997, 2004 from 5000 to 3000 BC,Valdiya, K. S., in Dynamic Geology, Educational monographs published by J. N. Centre for Advanced Studies, Bangalore, University Press (Hyderabad), 1998. or before 8000 BC.* Clift et al. 2012. "U-Pb zircon dating evidence for a Pleistocene Sarasvati River and capture of the Yamuna River." Geology, v. 40. [http://geology.gsapubs.org/content/early/2012/01/23/G32840.1.abstract] Geologists believe that tectonic activity created elevation changes which redirected the flow of Sutlej from the southeast to the southwest.K.S. Valdiya. 2013. "The River Saraswati was a Himalayan-born river". Current Science 104 (01). [http://www.currentscience.ac.in/Volumes/104/01/0042.pdf]{{citation needed|date=May 2015}} If the diversion of the river occurred recently (about 4000 years ago), it may have been responsible for the Ghaggar-Hakra (Saraswati) drying up, causing desertification of Cholistan and the eastern part of the modern state of Sindh, and the abandonment of Harappan settlements along the Ghaggar. However, the Sutlej may have already been captured by the Indus thousands of years earlier.{{citation needed|date=May 2015}}

There is some evidence that the high rate of erosion caused by the modern Sutlej River has influenced the local faulting and rapidly exhumed rocks above Rampur.{{cite journal

| last = Thiede

| first = Rasmus

|author2=Arrowsmith, J. Ramón |author3=Bookhagen, Bodo |author4=McWilliams, Michael O. |author5=Sobel, Edward R. |author6= Strecker, Manfred R.

|date=August 2005

| title = From tectonically to erosionally controlled development of the Himalayan orogen

| journal = Geology

| volume = 33

| issue = 8

| pages = 689–692

| doi = 10.1130/G21483AR.1

}} This would be similar to, but on a much smaller scale than, the exhumation of rocks by the Indus River in Nanga Parbat, Pakistan. The Sutlej River also exposes a double inverted metamorphic gradient.{{cite journal

|first1=Bernhard

|last1=Grasemann

|first2=Harry

|last2=Fritz

|first3=Jean-Claude

|last3=Vannay

|title=Quantitative kinematic flow analysis from the Main Central Thrust Zone (NW-Himalaya, India): implications for a decelerating strain path and the extrustion of orogenic wedges

|doi=10.1016/S0191-8141(99)00077-2

|journal=Journal of Structural Geology

|volume=21

|issue=7

|date=July 1999

|pages=837–853

|bibcode=1999JSG....21..837G

}}

Major dams and hydroelectric powerplants are as follows, from upstream to downstream:

• Karcham Wangtoo Hydroelectric Plant, 1,000 MW, no MCM as it is run-of-the-river project in Kinnaur district of Himachal Pradesh, was completed in 2011.{{cite web|title=Karcham Wangtoo Hydroelectric Project|url=http://globalenergyobservatory.org/geoid/42131|publisher=Global Energy Observatory|accessdate=14 June 2013}}{{Cite web|url=http://www.business-standard.com/article/companies/cea-restricts-capacity-of-jp-hydro-plant-sold-to-jsw-115042200973_1.html|title=CEA restricts capacity of JP hydro plant sold to JSW|last=Jai|first=Shreya|access-date=2016-05-28}}

• Nathpa Jhakri Dam, 1,500 MW, no MCM as it is run-of-the-river project in Kinnaur district of Himachal Pradesh was completed in 2004.{{cite web|title=Nathpa - Jhakri Hydroelectric Project, Himachal Pradesh, India|url=http://www.portal.gsi.gov.in/gsiDoc/pub/cs_nathpajhakri_hep.pdf|publisher=Geological Survey of India|accessdate=7 August 2011|url-status=dead|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20111002202512/http://www.portal.gsi.gov.in/gsiDoc/pub/cs_nathpajhakri_hep.pdf|archivedate=2 October 2011|df=dmy-all}}

• Koldam Dam, 800 MW, in Bilaspur district of Himachal Pradesh was completed in 2015.{{Cite news|title = BHEL starts NTPC's 800-MW Koldam hydro power plant - The Economic Times|url = http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/industry/energy/power/bhel-starts-ntpcs-800-mw-koldam-hydro-power-plant/articleshow/47674211.cms|website = The Economic Times|access-date = 2016-01-09}}

• Bhakra Dam 1,325 MW, 9621 MCM, in Bilaspur district of Himachal Pradesh, is the third largest reservoir in India, the first being Indira Sagar dam in Madhya Pradesh with capacity of 12.22 billion cubic meters and the second being Nagarjunasagar Dam in Telangana.

• Sulemanki Headworks, in Bahawalnagar District of Punjab, completed in 1927.{{Cite book |url=https://www.abhilekh-patal.in/jspui/handle/123456789/2823537 |title=Opening of the Sulemanke Weir by H. E. the Viceroy. 2.Visit of H. E. the Viceroy to Lahore (April 1926). 3. Attendance of H. H. the Nawab of Bahawalpur on the occasion of the opening ceremony of Sulemanke Weir by H. H. the Viceroy. 4. Protest of H. H. the Nawab of Bahawalpur that as a partner in the S. V. Project, he should have been consult about the arrengement for H. E. the Viceroy's visit to Sulemanke. 5. Protest of H. H. the Nawab of Malerkotla regarding invitation by the Punjab Government to Khan Ihsan Ali Khan of Malerkotla (sic) |publisher=Punjab States Agency |year=1926 |location= |pages=86–89 |chapter=Programme for the 12th of April |access-date=2 February 2023 |url-access=registration |via=National Archives of India}} It was an irrigation scheme to develop the neighbouring areas.{{Cite web |url=http://www.bahawalnagar.net/History.aspx |title=History of Bahawalnagar |access-date=2015-02-02 |archive-date=2015-02-03 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150203051605/http://bahawalnagar.net/History.aspx |url-status=dead }}

• Islam Headworks, in Bahawalpur district of Punjab, completed in 1927.{{cite news|author1=Ahmad Ahmadani|title=Lack of funds threatens Islam Headworks|url=http://nation.com.pk/national/03-Nov-2010/Lack-of-funds-threatens-Islam-Headworks|accessdate=27 May 2017|work=The Nation|date=3 November 2010|location=Islamabad|language=en}}

{{Main|Sutlej Yamuna link canal}}

There has been a proposal to build a {{convert|214|km|mi|adj=on}} long heavy freight and irrigation canal, to be known as the Sutlej-Yamuna Link (SYL) to connect the Sutlej and Yamuna rivers.http://india.gov.in/sectors/water_resources/sutlej_link.php Sutlej-Yamuna Link The project is intended to connect the Ganges, which flows to the east coast of the subcontinent, with points west, via Pakistan. When completed, the SYL would enable inland shipping from India's east coast to its west coast (on the Arabian sea) without having to round the southern tip of India by sea, vastly shortening shipping distances, alleviating pressures on seaports, avoiding sea hazards, creating business opportunities along the route, raising real estate values, raising tax revenue, and establishing important commercial links and providing jobs for north-central India's large population. However, the proposal has met with obstacles and has been referred to the Supreme Court of India. To augment nearly 100 tmcft (some 2.832 × 10¹² L) water availability for the needs of this link canal, Tso Moriri lake/Lingdi Nadi (a tributary of Tso Moriri lake) waters can be diverted to the Sutlej basin by digging a 10 km long gravity canal to connect to the Ungti Chu river.

File:Sutlej Valley from Rampur ca. 1857.jpg|Sutlej Valley from Rampur c. 1857

File:Crossing the Sutlej near Simla upon inflated animal skins.jpeg|Using inflated animal skins to cross the Sutlej River, c. 1905

File:Kinnaur 392.jpg|Sutlej River in Kinnaur Valley, Himachal Pradesh, India

File:Satluj P012.JPG|Cattle grazing on the banks of the river in Rupnagar, Punjab, India

File:Satluj river.JPG|Satluj River near Shahkot, Punjab, India

File:"Hungarung Pass in the Himalayas" (nowadays called Shipki La, where the Sutlej River enters India from Tibet), from the Illustrated London News, 1856.jpg|Sutlej entering India from Tibet near Shipki La, c. 1856

• List of rivers of India
• List of rivers of Pakistan
• Rivers of Jammu and Kashmir

{{notelist}}

{{reflist}}

{{Commons category|Sutlej River}}

• [https://www.openstreetmap.org/relation/1159578 Sutlej basin] marked on OpenStreetMap.
• [https://wissurge.com/the-battle-of-sutlej-yamuna-link-canal-project/ Sutlej-Yamuna Link Canal is So Controversial?] Wissurge,26 August 2020

{{PunjabGeography}}

{{Five rivers of the Punjab}}

{{Hydrography of Himachal Pradesh}}

{{Hydrography of Punjab, India}}

{{China Rivers}}

{{Waters of South Asia}}

{{Waters of Pakistan}}

{{Authority control}}

Category:Tributaries of the Indus River

Category:Indus basin

Category:Rivers of Tibet

Category:Rivers of Sindh

Category:International rivers of Asia

Category:Rivers of Himachal Pradesh

Category:Rivers of Punjab, India

Category:Rigvedic rivers

Category:India–Pakistan border

Category:Border rivers

Category:Rivers of Punjab, Pakistan

Category:Rivers in Buddhism

Category:Rivers of Pakistan