Sutlej

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Sutlej River (Sanskrit: सुटुद्रि IAST: Suṭudri, Punjabi: ਸਤਲੁਜ, Urdu: ستلج‎, also known as Satluj), is the longest of the five rivers that flow through Indian Punjab in northern India. Its source is in Tibet near Mount Kailash and its terminus in Pakistani Punjab. It is the easternmost afluent of the Punjab, and it receives the Beas River in the state of Punjab, India and continues into Pakistan to join the Chenab River to form the Panjnad River, which further down its course joins the Indus River at Mithankot.

The Sutlej was known as Shatadru or Suṭudri to Indians in Vedic period and Zaradros or Hesidros to the Greeks, and Sydrus to the Romans.

Sutlej Valley from Rampur ca. 1857

The waters of the river are allocated to India under the Indus Waters Treaty between India and Pakistan. At present, most of its water is diverted to irrigation canals and used up in India. [1] The Bhakra-Nangal Dam is a huge multipurpose dam on the river.

There is substantial evidence to indicate that prior to 1700 B.C. the Sutlej was once an important tributary of the Sarasvati River, instead of the Indus River. It is believed that tectonic activity created elevation changes that redirected the Sutlej from southeast to southwest. Once flowing in its new westward direction, the river eventually joined the Beas river. As a result, the mighty Sarasvati River began to dry up, causing the desertification of Cholistan and Sindh, as well as the abandonment of numerous ancient human settlements along its banks.

A canal is being built between the Sutlej and Yamuna rivers, known as the SLY (Sutlej-Yamuna Link)

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Punjab Geography