Question

How did the rivers of Punjab affect the course of its history?

Answer 1

Punjab means “five rivers.” The region in northern Pakistan is named for the great rivers that branch through the landscape, creating an ancient cradle of civilization and a modern agricultural breadbasket. But two geologists have found strong evidence that it was not always so.

The Sutlej, Ravi, Chennab, and Jellum Rivers flow westward to join the Indus River and drain into the Arabian Sea, west of Pakistan. But the rivers once flowed eastward into the Ganges River and drained into the Bay of Bengal, east of India, the scientists say. The rivers were rerouted 5 million years ago, probably as the ongoing collision of the Indian and Eurasian tectonic plates bulldozed the terrain, tilting it westward or lifting up river-diverting mountains.