Jhelum
This article has been extracted from THE IMPERIAL GAZETTEER OF INDIA , 1908. OXFORD, AT THE CLARENDON PRESS. |
Note: National, provincial and district boundaries have changed considerably since 1908. Typically, old states, ‘divisions’ and districts have been broken into smaller units, and many tahsils upgraded to districts. Some units have since been renamed. Therefore, this article is being posted mainly for its historical value.
Jhelum
Jehlam
River in Kashmir and the Punjab, being the most westerly of the five rivers from which the Punjab derives its name. It was known to the Muhammadan historians as the Bihat, Wihat, or Bihatab, corruptions of its Sanskrit name Vitasta (which Alexander's historians graecized into Hydaspes , but Ptolemy more correctly as Bidaspes), while its modern Kashmiri name is Veth. It may be said to have its source in a noble spring of deep-blue water, which issues from the bottom of a high scarp of a mountain spur. The spring is known as Vernag ; and at Khanabal, 15 miles north, its waters join the streams of Adpat, Bring, and Sandran, and form the starting- point of navigation. The river is navigable without a single lock from Khanabal to Baramula, 102 miles. In its course to the Wular Lake, which may be regarded as a delta of the river, the fall is 165 feet in the first 30 miles and 55 feet in the next 24 miles. From the Wular Iake to Baramula the fall is very slight.
The Jhelum river has many tributaries. On its right bank it receives the Liddar or Lambodri, which comes down from the everlasting snows overhanging the head of the Liddar valley, and from the mountain lake of Tarsar. Below Srinagar at Shadlpur — the place of the marriage of the two rivers— the Sind river joins the Jhelum ; and beyond the Wular Lake the Pohru stream, which drains the Lolab valley, merges in the great river. On the left bank the chief tributaries are the Vishav, the Rembiara, the Ramshi, the Dudganga, the Suknag, and the Ferozepura. The Dudganga joins the Jhelum at the lower end of Srinagar city.
Below Baramula (5,000 feet) the placid Jhelum leaves the fertile banks of the valley, and rushes headlong down a deep gorge between lofty mountains of the Kazinag range on the north and an extension of the Pir Panjal on the south to Kohala, 2,000 feet. At Muzaffarabad the Kishanganga river joins the Jhelum on its right bank, while a few miles lower down, and on the same side, the Kunhar river, which drains the Hazara country, adds no inconsiderable volume of water. Between Khanabal and Baramula there are many bridges, but between Baramula and Domel, where the Kishanganga river joins the Jhelum, the bridges are scarce and primitive. Much of the internal commerce of Kashmir depends on the Jhelum. An account of the various descriptions of boats used is given in the article on Srinagar.
Below its junction with the Kishanganga the Jhelum forms the boun- dary between the Kashmir State and the British Districts of Hazara and Rawalpindi, flowing in a narrow rocky bed, shut in by mountains on either side. Numerous rapids here render navigation impossible, though large quantities of timber are floated down from Kashmir. A handsome suspension bridge at Kohala, in Rawalpindi District, connects Kashmir with British territory. Below Dangalli, 40 miles east of Rawalpindi, the Jhelum becomes navigable. Passing into Jhelum District, it skirts the outlying spurs of the Salt Range, receiving the waters of the Kahan, and finally debouches upon the plains a little above the town of Jhelum, about 250 miles from its source. Below the town, inundation of the lowlands begins to be possible, and sandy islands stud the wide bed of the stream.
The Bunha, in the rains a roaring torrent which sometimes spreads over a mile of country, joins the Jhelum at Darapur. After a south-westerly course of more than
100 miles, during which the river divides the District of Jhelum from
Gujrat and Shahpur, it enters the latter District entirely, and trends
thenceforth more directly southward. The width in this portion of its
course averages 800 yards in flood, dwindling during the winter months
to less than half that size. Sudden freshes occur after heavy rains, and
cause frequent inundations over the lowlands, greatly increasing the
productive power of the soil. The Jhelum next enters the District of
Jhang, where it preserves the same general characteristics, but with
a wider valley, bounded by the high uplands known as the Bar. It
finally joins the Chenab at Trim mu, in 31 degree 11’ N. and 72 degree 12' E.,
10 miles to the south of Maghiana, after a total course of not less than
450 miles, of which about 200 lie within British territory. The current
in the plains has an average rate of 4 miles per hour. The wedge of
land between the Jhelum and the Chenab is known as the Chaj Doab ;
while the tract stretching westward to the Indus bears the name of the
Sind Sagar Doab.
The principal towns upon the Jhelum are Kashmir or Srinagar, Jhelum, Pind Dadan Khan, Miani, Bhera, and Khushab. According to General Cunningham, the point where Alexander crossed the Hydaspes may be identified with Jalalpur in Jhelum District; while nearly opposite, on the Gujrat bank, stands the modern battle-field of Chilianwala. Other writers hold that the passage was effected near Jhelum town. A bridge of boats crosses the river at Khushab. The permanent railway bridge of the North-Western Railway also crosses it at the town of Jhelum, and the Sind-Sagar line at Haranpur. The Lower Jhelum Canal takes off at Mong Rasuul in Gujrat District.
