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Indus River

"Indus Valley" redirects here. For the Bronze Age civilisation, see Indus Valley Civilisation.
For other rivers named Indus, see Indus (disambiguation) § Rivers.
"Indus" and "Sindhu" redirect here. For other uses, see Indus (disambiguation) and Sindhu (disambiguation).

Indus
Mehran, Sênggê Zangbo, Shiquan He, Sindhu[1]
The Indus Gorge is formed as the Indus River bends around the Nanga Parbat massif, shown towering behind, defining the western anchor of the Himalayan mountain range.
Course and major tributaries of the Indus
Location
Countries or regionsChina, Kashmir (disputed region), Pakistan[2][3]
States, provinces or administered regionsTibet Autonomous Region, Indian-administered Ladakh, Pakistani-administered Gilgit-Baltistan, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Punjab, and Sindh[2][3]
CitiesLeh, Kargil, Skardu, Dasu, Besham, Thakot, Swabi, Dera Ismail Khan, Mianwali, Bhakkar, Sukkur, Hyderabad, Karachi
Physical characteristics
SourceUpper Gê'gyai
 • locationNgari Prefecture
 • coordinates31°12′03″N 81°45′16″E / 31.20083°N 81.75444°E / 31.20083; 81.75444
 • elevation5,555 m (18,225 ft)
2nd sourceLake Manasarovar[4]
 • locationNgari Prefecture
 • coordinates30°35′35″N 81°25′25″E / 30.59306°N 81.42361°E / 30.59306; 81.42361
 • elevation4,600 m (15,100 ft)
Source confluence 
 • locationShiquanhe (confluence), Tibet Autonomous Region, People's Republic of China
 • coordinates32°29′54″N 79°41′28″E / 32.49833°N 79.69111°E / 32.49833; 79.69111
 • elevation4,255 m (13,960 ft)
MouthArabian Sea[5]
 • location
 • coordinates
23°59′42″N 67°26′06″E / 23.99500°N 67.43500°E / 23.99500; 67.43500
 • elevation
0 m (0 ft)
Length3,180 km (1,980 mi)[6]
Basin size1,120,000 km2 (430,000 sq mi)[6]
Discharge 
 • locationIndus Delta
 • average5,533 m3/s (195,400 cu ft/s)[7]
 • minimum1,200 m3/s (42,000 cu ft/s)
 • maximum58,000 m3/s (2,000,000 cu ft/s)
Discharge 
 • locationSukkur
 • average(Period: 1971–2000)5,673.5 m3/s (200,360 cu ft/s)[8]
Discharge 
 • locationMithankot
 • average(Period: 1971–2000)5,812.3 m3/s (205,260 cu ft/s)[8]
Discharge 
 • locationTarbela Dam
 • average(Period: 1971–2000)2,469 m3/s (87,200 cu ft/s)[8]
Basin features
ProgressionArabian Sea
River systemIndus River
Tributaries 
 • leftZanskar, Suru, Soan, Panjnad, Ghaggar
 • rightShyok, Hunza, Gilgit, Swat, Kunar, Kabul, Kurram, Gomal, Zhob
Map

The Indus (/ˈɪndəs/ IN-dəs) is a transboundary river of Asia and a trans-Himalayan river of South and Central Asia.[9] The 3,180 km (1,980 mi)[6] river rises in mountain springs northeast of Mount Kailash in the Western Tibet region of China, flows northwest through the disputed Kashmir region,[3] first through the Indian-administered Ladakh, and then the Pakistani administered Gilgit Baltistan,[a][11] bends sharply to the left after the Nanga Parbat massif, and flows south-by-southwest through Pakistan, before bifurcating and emptying into the Arabian Sea, its main stem located near the port city of Karachi.[12][13]

The Indus river has a total drainage area of circa 1,120,000 km2 (430,000 sq mi).[6] Its estimated annual flow is around 175 km3/a (5,500 m3/s), making it one of the 50 largest rivers in the world in terms of average annual flow.[14] Its left-bank tributary in Ladakh is the Zanskar River, and its left-bank tributary in the plains is the Panjnad River which is formed by the successive confluences of the five Punjab rivers, namely the Chenab, Jhelum, Ravi, Beas, and Sutlej rivers. Its principal right-bank tributaries are the Shyok, Gilgit, Kabul, Kurram, and Gomal rivers. Beginning in a mountain spring and fed with glaciers and rivers in the Himalayan, Karakoram, and Hindu Kush ranges, the river supports the ecosystems of temperate forests, plains, and arid countryside.

Geologically, the headwaters of the Indus and to their east those of the Yarlung Tsangpo (later in its course, the Brahmaputra) flow along the Indus-Yarlung suture zone, which defines the boundary along which the Indian plate collided with the Eurasian plate in the Early Eocene (approximately 50 Million years ago).[15] These two Eurasian rivers, whose courses were continually diverted by the rising Himalayas, define the western and eastern limits, respectively, of the mountain range.[15] After the Indus debouches from its narrow Himalayan valley, it forms, along with its tributaries, the Punjab region of South Asia. The lower course of the river ends in a large delta in the Sindh province of Pakistan.

Historically, the Indus was important to many cultures. The 3rd millennium BC saw the rise of Indus Valley Civilisation, a major urban civilization of the Bronze Age. During the 2nd millennium BC, the Punjab region was mentioned in the Rigveda hymns as Sapta Sindhu and in the Avesta religious texts as Hapta Həndu (both terms meaning "seven rivers"). Early historical kingdoms that arose in the Indus Valley include Gandhāra and Sindhu-Sauvīra. The Indus River came into the knowledge of the Western world early in the classical period, when King Darius of Persia sent his Greek subject Scylax of Caryanda to explore the river, c. 515 BC.[16]

  1. ^ Lodrick, Deryck; Ahmad, Nafis (12 November 2024). Indus River. Encyclopedia Britannica. Retrieved 25 November 2024.
  2. ^ a b "Indus River". Encyclopædia Britannica. Retrieved 8 March 2025. For about 200 miles (320 km) it flows northwest, crossing the southeastern boundary of the disputed Kashmir region at about 15,000 feet (4,600 meters). A short way beyond Leh, in the Indian-administered union territory of Ladakh, it is joined on its left by its first major tributary, the Zanskar River. Continuing for 150 miles (240 km) in the same direction into the Pakistani-administered areas of the Kashmir region, the Indus is joined by its notable tributary the Shyok River on the right bank. Below its confluence with the Shyok, as far as the Kohistan region of Pakistan's Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, it is fed by mighty glaciers
  3. ^ a b c (a) Kashmir, region Indian subcontinent, Encyclopaedia Britannica, archived from the original on 13 August 2019, retrieved 15 August 2019 (subscription required) Quote: "Kashmir, region of the northwestern Indian subcontinent ... has been the subject of dispute between India and Pakistan since the partition of the Indian subcontinent in 1947. The northern and western portions are administered by Pakistan and comprise three areas: Azad Kashmir, Gilgit, and Baltistan, the last two being part of a territory called the Northern Areas. Administered by India are the southern and southeastern portions, which constitute the state of Jammu and Kashmir but are slated to be split into two union territories.";
    (b) Pletcher, Kenneth, Aksai Chin, Plateau Region, Asia, Encyclopaedia Britannica, archived from the original on 2 April 2019, retrieved 16 August 2019 (subscription required) Quote: "Aksai Chin, Chinese (Pinyin) Aksayqin, portion of the Kashmir region, at the northernmost extent of the Indian subcontinent in south-central Asia. It constitutes nearly all the territory of the Chinese-administered sector of Kashmir that is claimed by India to be part of the Ladakh area of Jammu and Kashmir state.";
    (c) "Kashmir", Encyclopedia Americana, Scholastic Library Publishing, 2006, p. 328, ISBN 978-0-7172-0139-6, archived from the original on 17 January 2023, retrieved 6 November 2019 C. E Bosworth, University of Manchester Quote: "KASHMIR, kash'mer, the northernmost region of the Indian subcontinent, administered partly by India, partly by Pakistan, and partly by China. The region has been the subject of a bitter dispute between India and Pakistan since they became independent in 1947";
    (d) Osmańczyk, Edmund Jan (2003), Encyclopedia of the United Nations and International Agreements: G to M, Taylor & Francis, pp. 1191–, ISBN 978-0-415-93922-5, archived from the original on 17 January 2023, retrieved 12 June 2023 Quote: "Jammu and Kashmir: Territory in northwestern India, subject to a dispute between India and Pakistan. It has borders with Pakistan and China."
    (e) Talbot, Ian (2016), A History of Modern South Asia: Politics, States, Diasporas, Yale University Press, pp. 28–29, ISBN 978-0-300-19694-8 Quote: "We move from a disputed international border to a dotted line on the map that represents a military border not recognized in international law. The line of control separates the Indian and Pakistani administered areas of the former Princely State of Jammu and Kashmir.";
    (f) Skutsch, Carl (2015) [2007], "China: Border War with India, 1962", in Ciment, James (ed.), Encyclopedia of Conflicts Since World War II (2nd ed.), London and New York: Routledge, p. 573, ISBN 978-0-7656-8005-1, The situation between the two nations was complicated by the 1957–1959 uprising by Tibetans against Chinese rule. Refugees poured across the Indian border, and the Indian public was outraged. Any compromise with China on the border issue became impossible. Similarly, China was offended that India had given political asylum to the Dalai Lama when he fled across the border in March 1959. In late 1959, there were shots fired between border patrols operating along both the ill-defined McMahon Line and in the Aksai Chin.
    (g) Fisher, Michael H. (2018), An Environmental History of India: From Earliest Times to the Twenty-First Century, Cambridge University Press, p. 166, ISBN 978-1-107-11162-2 Quote: "Kashmir's identity remains hotly disputed with a UN-supervised "Line of Control" still separating Pakistani-held Azad ("Free") Kashmir from Indian-held Kashmir.";
  4. ^ Ahmad, Ijaz; Zhang, Fan; Tayyab, Muhammad; Anjum, Muhammad Naveed; Zaman, Muhammad; Liu, Junguo; Farid, Hafiz Umar; Saddique, Qaisar (15 November 2018). "Spatiotemporal analysis of precipitation variability in annual, seasonal and extreme values over upper Indus River basin". Atmospheric Research. 213: 346–60. Bibcode:2018AtmRe.213..346A. doi:10.1016/j.atmosres.2018.06.019. ISSN 0169-8095. S2CID 125980503.
  5. ^ a b Lodrick, Deryck; Ahmad, Nafis (12 November 2024). Indus River. Encyclopedia Britannica. Retrieved 25 November 2024. Near Tatta the Indus branches into distributaries that form a delta and join the sea at various points south-southeast of Karachi. The delta covers an area of 3,000 square miles (7,800 square km) or more (and extends along the coast for about 130 miles (210 km). The uneven surface of the delta contains a network of existing and abandoned channels. The coastal strip, from about 5 to 20 miles (8 to 32 km) inland, is flooded by high tides. The Indus delta has elongated protruding distributaries and low sandy beaches.
  6. ^ a b c d Shrestha AB, Agrawal NK, Alfthan B, Bajracharya SR, Maréchal J, van Oort B (eds.). The Himalayan Climate and Water Atlas: Impact of Climate Change on Water Resources in Five of Asia's Major River Basins. International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development. p. 58. ISBN 978-92-9115-357-2. Archived from the original on 17 August 2024. Retrieved 21 September 2022.
  7. ^ Amir, Khan; Naresh, Pant; Anuj, Goswami; Ravish, Lal; Rajesh, Joshi (December 2015). "Critical Evaluation and Assessment of Average Annual Precipitation in The Indus, The Ganges and The Brahmaputra Basins, Northern India – Himalayan Cryospheric Observations and Modelling (HiCOM)".
  8. ^ a b c "Indus".
  9. ^ Richardson, Hugh E.; Wylie, Turrell V.; Falkenheim, Victor C.; Shakabpa, Tsepon W. D. (3 March 2020). "Tibet". Encyclopedia Britannica. Archived from the original on 14 August 2021. Retrieved 9 August 2021. historic region and autonomous region of China that is often called "the roof of the world." It occupies a vast area of plateaus and mountains in Central Asia
  10. ^ "Indus River". Encyclopædia Britannica. Retrieved 8 March 2025.
  11. ^ "Kashmir: region, Indian subcontinent". Encyclopædia Britannica. Archived from the original on 13 August 2019. Retrieved 16 July 2016. Quote: "Kashmir, region of the northwestern Indian subcontinent. It is bounded by the Uygur Autonomous Region of Xinjiang to the northeast and the Tibet Autonomous Region to the east (both parts of China), by the Indian states of Himachal Pradesh and Punjab to the south, by Pakistan to the west, and by Afghanistan to the northwest. The northern and western portions are administered by Pakistan and comprise three areas: Azad Kashmir, Gilgit, and Baltistan, ... The southern and southeastern portions constitute the Indian state of Jammu and Kashmir. The Indian- and Pakistani-administered portions are divided by a "line of control" agreed to in 1972, although neither country recognizes it as an international boundary. In addition, China became active in the eastern area of Kashmir in the 1950s and since 1962 has controlled the northeastern part of Ladakh (the easternmost portion of the region)."
  12. ^ Ahmad, Nafis; Lodrick, Deryck (6 February 2019). "Indus River". Encyclopedia Britannica. Archived from the original on 7 May 2020. Retrieved 5 February 2021.
  13. ^ Natural Wonders of the World. Penguin Random House/DK & Smithsonian. 2017. p. 240. ISBN 978-1-4654-9492-4. Archived from the original on 17 August 2024. Retrieved 5 February 2021.
  14. ^ "Indus water flow data in to reservoirs of Pakistan". Archived from the original on 6 August 2017. Retrieved 15 August 2017.
  15. ^ a b Frisch, Meschede & Blakey 2011, p. 172.
  16. ^ Allchin, F.R.; Erdosy, G. (1995). The Archaeology of Early Historic South Asia: The Emergence of Cities and States. Cambridge University Press. p. 292. ISBN 978-0-521-37695-2.


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