historical importance of river indus
Answers
The Indus geographically separated the Indian sub continent from the Iranian plains. Most conquerors in ancient times crossed this river to get to India. Though this river is called Sindhu in India, it was called the Indus by Westerners.
In the plains of Pakistan, the five rivers of Punjab (Ravi, Beas, Sutlej, Chenab, and Jhelum), Kabul from Afghanistan, and the Indus are together called the Sapta-Sindhu or the Seven Sindhus. Occasionally, the river that disappeared, Saraswathi, is included and Kabul is dropped.
As this was an extremely fertile and well-irrigated area, it interested many conquerors. In the 10th century AD, Mirkshah ruled Thatta. He was a tyrant, who was easily swayed by the people surrounding him. He once called the ‘panch’, representatives of local Sindhis who were Hindus and ordered them to convert to Islam or accept death. The Sindhis begged for lenience and were given forty days.
The Sindhis begged Varuna, the God of Water to come to their aid. For forty days, all of them did penance. They prayed, fasted, sang songs in praise of Lord Varuna, grew their hair and wore no new clothes. After forty days, the Lord was pleased. A voice from the heavens declared that he would save them from the tyrant Mirkshah, by taking birth as a mortal in Mata Devki’s womb. Mata Devki lived in Ratanchand Lohano’s house in Nasarpur.This day is remembered every year as ‘Thanksgiving Day’ and it comes after 40 days of fasting.
After three months, to the Sindhis great joy they heard that Mata Devki would soon be having a baby. One day, unseasonal dark clouds gathered and torrential rains poured. Like a ray of happiness in this dark atmosphere, Mata Devki’s baby was born. A miracle happened – the baby opened its mouth and a vision of the Sindhu flowing, with an old man sitting cross-legged on a pala-fish was seen.
The pala-fish was found locally, tasted good, and swam against the current. The baby was named Udaichand and was also called Uderolal. Residents of Nasarpur called him Amarlal. Funnily, the cradle in which the baby slept would sway to and fro on its own and from this came the very famous name ‘Jhulelal’.
Mata Devki passed away and Ratanchand married again. Soon, Mirkshah called the ‘Panch’ again and asked them for their decision. He had heard about the birth of the child and so had the people who gave him bad advice. Confident now, the ‘panch’ asked for more time. Mirkshah was amused by the very thought of a child defeating him in some way. He allowed them time against the advice he got, but he did ask his minister Ahirio to give him a first-hand account of things in Nasarpur.
After his father Ratanchand watched this miracle, he knew Uderolal was the saviour. Mirkshah’s advisers pushed him to get the Hindus to covert to Islam. But now, Mirkshah knew it would be wrong to force people to do something against their will. To solve his problem, he asked Ahirio to arrange a meeting with Uderolal.
Ahirio was a cautious man and so though he expected no trouble from a baby, he did take along a rose dipped in poison. The child bedazzled him. When offered the flower, the child blew it at his feet in one puff of breath. And then the unimaginable happened – the baby changed into an old man with a flowing white beard, then the image morphed to that of a young sixteen year old boy and soon it was Uderolal with a blazing sword in his hand and a column of warriors behind him.A ‘qaba’ was to be built by the Muslim followers and the Hindu followers wanted to build a ‘samadhi’. As they debated and fought, rains poured and a voice from the heavens said: Make a shrine acceptable to both Hindus and Muslims. One face like that of a temple and another like a dargah’s: I belong to all of you.
Ever since then, for a Sindhi, irrespective of the religious affiliation, the greeting always has been “Jhulelal – Bera Hee paar”, which roughly translates to “Jhulelal-obstacles have been crossed”. Jhulelal epitomizing Lord Sindhu or Varuna, goes to show the unifying spirit of water.
Tributaries: Sutlej, Chenab River, Jhelum River, Ravi River, Zanskar River, Beas River, MORE
Sources: Sênggê Zangbo, Tibetan Plateau, Gar River