Indian subcontinent has been blessed with the greatest of gifts of natural wealth, be it the protective northern mountains or the jungles of central India, mineral rich plateaus or the vibrant coastlines. But, when it comes to the treasures we as a civilization have lost, Saraswati River arguably is the most precious. Saraswati River, which was flowing with full majesty around 6000 BCE, which gave birth to the great Indus- Saraswati Civilization and inspired the creation of several scholarly and religious works on its banks, suddenly disappeared around 3000 BCE.
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As per the ancient scriptures and available scientific evidences, Saraswati River was once a mighty and perennial river with its source in higher Himalayas. It flowed through the western part of Indo-Gangetic plains, before finally discharging into the Arabian Sea near Rann of Kutch.
The Saraswati River System lay between the Indus and Ganga River system. And the Saraswati River used to flow between the Sutlej and Yamuna Rivers, roughly parallel to Indus River. In fact, both Sutlej and Yamuna were the tributaries of Saraswati, along with two other major tributaries – Chautang and Drishadvati.
The river dried up in around 3000 BCE, due to climatic and tectonic changes in Himalayan region. The tectonic movements during this period led to the diversion of its major tributaries such as Sutlej and Yamuna. Devoid of its major tributaries, Saraswati river further dried up due to climatic reasons and abrupt decrease in rainfall. However, the remnants of this lost river are still present in the form of palaeochannels (old channels of a dried up river).
Today the Saraswati River is represented by the Ghaggar River which flows on palaeochannel of Saraswati, located in the western part of the Haryana state. The Ghaggar is a seasonal/monsoonal river, which raises in the Siwaliks from the Morni hills and enters the plains near Ambala (Haryana).
Saraswati River: Mother of Indus – Saraswati (Harappan) civilization
With the discovery of some of the oldest Harappan sities like Bhirana and Rakhigarhi in Haryana state of North western India, now it is widely accepted that the Indus – Saraswati (Harappan) civilization , was born in the Saraswati basin, around 5,000 BCE. River Saraswati and its numerous tributaries made the area fertile and facilitated agriculture. This laid the foundation of agrarian Early Harappan phase. The civilization then gradually diffused to Indus basin with sites like Harappa, Mohenjodaro etc.
The Indus-Saraswati civilization prospered and flourished for about 2500 years on the banks of Saraswati River. However, the river dried up around 3000 BCE due to climatic change and tectonic movements of Earth’s crust. This led to shifting of population towards other areas and the Saraswati basin gradually turned into dry and arid area of land known as Thar desert and Rann of Kuttch.
A number of archaeological sites belonging to Harappan culture, such as Kalibangan, Rakhigarhi, Banawali etc. have been discovered in and around the palaeochannels of Saraswati, some of them even of 5th century BCE. This indicates that Harappan civilization originated and flourished in the Saraswati river basin for about 2500 years (around 5000 BCE to 2500 BCE). Further, spatial distribution of Early, Mature and Late Harappan sites in Haryana shows the shifting pattern of population from southwest to northeast, in tandem with drying up of River Saraswati.
Saraswati River in Ancient Literature
Saraswati river is considered the holiest river in India as it is mentioned in various ancient scriptures such as Rigveda, Yajurveda, Mahabharata and Puranas. The Rigveda, which is the oldest ancient scripture of the subcontinent, written somewhere around 6,000 BCE, contains maximum information about the river Saraswati. The Saraswati is described in the Rigvedic literature as the ‘Ambitame, Naditame, Devitame’ that is the ‘best of mothers, best of rivers and the best of Goddess’. Notably, Saraswati was in existence prior to Ganga River system as per evidences in Rigveda.
However, in the later Vedic literature and epics like Mahabharat, Saraswati is shown as a dried and shriveled river, and Ganga assumes prominence. For e.g. it is described in Mahabharata that Shri Balaram travelled along the dry banks of Saraswati and then along the banks of Yamuna, to reach from Somnath to Mathura. This also shows the gradual drying up of Saraswati River.
Some of the verses from ancient scriptures, which mention and give information about Saraswati River:
In Rigveda
‘ambitame nadi tame devitame Sarasvati,
aprasasta iva smasi prasastimamba naskridhi’
Translation: Best of mothers, best of rivers, best of goddesses, Saraswati, we are ignorant & untrained, give us wisdom & knowledge.
In Yajurveda
‘pancanadhyah Sarasvatimapi yanti sasrotasah,
Sarasvati tu pancadhaa so deshe abhavat sarit’
Translation: The five equally celebrated rivers, merged with the mighty Saraswati. The same Saraswati got divided into five glorified flows in the country. Thus it mentions about five major tributaries and five distributaries of Saraswati.
In Mahabharat
In Mahabharat, Saraswati was referred as Mother of Vedas, as ‘Vedanam mataram pusya’
In Purana
Vamana Purana gives vivid description of the place of origin of the Saraswati as
‘Markandeya manina santapta paramam tapah,
Yatra samayata plakshashajata sarasvati,
Sa sabhajya stuta ten munina dharmikena ha,
Sarah sannihitam plavya pascima prasthita disam’
Translation: Rishi Markandeya, close to the place where he meditated and offered sacrifices saw Saraswati rising from the Plaksha tree (Pipal tree). The sage prayed and worshiped the rising river. There from the Saraswati River flowing down and occupying the Sannihitasar Lake, followed a westward course.
Saraswati River shown in old maps
Various maps of Indian subcontinent were prepared by Italians, Dutch and British during 14th to 18th century, to study the old and contemporary drainage pattern of the region. These maps show a river flowing roughly parallel to Indus and forming a delta in the Arabian sea. Presence of a stream parallel to Indus in the maps of these centuries indicate the presence of dry channels of Saraswati, along which occasionally water flowed during heavy monsoon or flood events.
Why Saraswati River Disappeared
The diversion of the Sutlej and Yamuna is considered as the main cause of loss of River Saraswati by most of the researchers.
From the studies by the various eminent researchers for the past several years, it has been clear that the Yamuna as well as the Sutlej were tributaries of the Saraswati River. Around 3700 B.C tectonic disturbances (mostly related to the uplift of Himalayas ) in the area have caused diversion of the Sutlej and Yamuna. Sutlej turned westwards and joined Beas-Indus system, and Yamuna migrated east to join Ganga.
According to experts, one of these events must also have severed the glacier connection and cut off the supply of glacier melt-waters to Saraswati river. As a result, Saraswati became non-perennial and dependent on monsoon rains.
This was accompanied by climatic changes from humid to sudden decrease in rainfall and increase in aridity.
Thus, geotectonic movements and climatic changes led to the gradual drying of Saraswati, which totally got disappeared around 3000 BCE.
Controversy surrounding Saraswati River
Even though enough literary and archaeological evidences are available to prove the existence and might of ancient Saraswati River, debates surrounding the existence of Saraswati, its course, and reasons for its disappearance, are widespread.
Also, there was (and still is) a propaganda being run by some quarters to identify River Saraswati as a ‘Mythological’ river, and hence unreal. Even though Rigveda refers to ‘Saptasindhu’ (the land of seven rivers) – Indus, its five tributaries, and Saraswati – it naturally comes to a rational mind that why would the composers of Rigveda include six real rivers and one mythological river. This is clear case of Saraswati being existent at the time of composition of this scripture, and it’s drying up in later stages.
Also, since Saraswati River was flourishing around 6000 BCE, which is mentioned in Rigveda at multiple occasions, it also proves that Rigveda was composed around 6000 BCE. This clearly debunks the Aryan Invasion theory, which says Aryans came around 1500 BCE and created the Vedic Literature.
ISRO study on Saraswati River
In the backdrop of all the debates and controversies surrounding the Saraswati River, ISRO undertook a comprehensive study to gather concrete scientific evidences, to bring out the truth about Saraswati River.
In the integrated study, ISRO used Remote Sensing and GIS techniques to delineate the entire course of Saraswati River from Man Sarovar Lake (Higher Himalayas ) to Gulf of Kutch (Arabian Sea), using the Saraswati palaeochannels. This mapped course is validated with a variety of ground data such as archaeological sites, drilling and hydrogeological data.
Archaeological Analysis
The archaeological studies carried out in and around the Saraswati palaeochannels revel the information that there is fairly good distribution of Early Harappan and Mature Harappan sites along the Ghaggar– Hakra bed. Also, no Late Harappan sites are found in Rajasthan along the Saraswati bed which must have dried up during that period, which forced outward migration from that region.
Drilling (Litholog) Data Analysis
Exploration of paleochannels in the desert areas of Rajasthan, by Ground Water Department (GWD), Rajasthan, has revealed the presence of several zones of less saline and fresh water aquifers. This subsurface evidence of fresh water, in an area otherwise dotted with various saline lakes, proves the existence of an earlier active drainage system in these areas.
Further, analysis of sediments of Saraswati palaeochannels by Ground Water Departments of Rajasthan and Central Governments, revealed that the palaeochannels most often consist of the alternating layers of fine to medium and coarse grained sand and sometimes have gravel columns, indicating presence of a fluvial regime.
Hydrological Data Analysis
Analysis of sediments and water samples from different wells along the palaeochennels in Western Rajasthan and Haryana indicate that the water quality is quite good for most of the drilled wells, as compared to tube wells / dug wells away from the channel.
In spite of very low rainfall (less than 150 mm) and extreme weather conditions in the northwestern part of Jaisalmer district, groundwater is available at a depth of about 50-60 m along the course. Further, despite being intensively used for 35-40 years there is no indication of any decline in the discharge of tube wells or of lowering of water table.
Age of Saraswati River
Radiocarbon dating of ground water and sediment samples all along the palaeochannels suggests that the age of Saraswati River may be as old as 28,000 years and it flourished during 8000 to 5000 years ago (6000 BCE to 3000 BCE).
Conclusions from ISRO study
An integrated scientific study conducted by ISRO and the multidisciplinary evidences conclude that like present day Indus River system, a sub-parallel river system known as `Saraswati River’ was flowing with full majesty around 6000 B.C. The river dried up subsequently and disappeared around 3000 B.C. due to climatic and tectonic changes in Himalayan region. The relict of this lost river is still found as palaeochannels in the above states.
One hopes that this comprehensive study by ISRO, as well as several others in the past, shall put an end to all the debates and controversies surrounding the Saraswati River. As its ancient existence is firmly established and its course mapped, steps are being taken by government agencies for the revival of Saraswati River, which shall be a major boon for the parched land of states like Haryana, Rajasthan.
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