mahipalrathore

mahipalrathore

mahipalrathore

mahipalrathore

Dr. Mahipal Singh Rathore

 ABOUT ME

Dr. MAHIPAL SINGH RATHORE

I teach History, Polity and

Current Affairs for UPSC CSE
6 Years of teaching Experience.
Mentor for UPSC aspirants
Follow me on @mahipalsir

@mahipalrathore
Pathfinder Telegram : https://t.me/pathfinder_upsc
OR
Scan QR Code:
• The Sarasvati River is
mentioned in the Rig Veda
and later Vedic and post-
Vedic texts, as the "great and
holy river in north-western
India".

• It played an important role in

the Vedic religion.
The Saraswati river was
spatially sandwiched
between Yamuna and
Sutlej rivers.

It went into oblivion

while all other rivers
mentioned in the Rig
Veda still exist.
• Since the late 19th Century, scholars
have proposed to identify the Rig
Vedic Saraswati river with the
modern day Ghaggar-Hakra
River system.

• However, both Vedic descriptions

of Saraswati and recent geophysical
data contradict the course and
water flow of Ghaggar-Hakra.
• Recently, a research study was conducted by the Centre of
Excellence for Research on the Saraswati River (CERSR) in
Kurukshetra University (KU).

• The study has established that the Saraswati river flowed in

Haryana till the early 15th Century, i.e., 1402 AD.

• CERSR team is working in close coordination with the Oil

and Natural Gas Corporation Limited who have a
memorandum of understanding with Haryana Sarasvati
Heritage Development Board (HSHDB), which funds CERSR.
• The government of Haryana established CERSR at KU in
2017, with the aim to scientifically validate the Saraswati
River System and its associated heritage.

• CERSR is being funded by HSHDB, Panchkula, whose

chairman is Haryana chief minister (CM) Manohar Lal
Khattar.

• Presently, HSHDB is cleaning the channel of Saraswati River,

with a motive to flow water in this channel from Adi Badri,
Yamunanagar to Pehowa, Kurukshetra and further
possibility in Haryana.
The study now
The findings of this study have been published in United Kingdom’s
peer reviewed SCI International Journal of Archeological Prospection
by John Wiley Publishing Group.
• The motive of this study is to comprehend the chronology of
events of the probable Saraswati River, especially the cause
and the time period when the water stopped flowing in this
river system in the foothills of Yamunanagar in Haryana.

• In the study conducted by CERSR, it has been claimed that

nearly all the paleo-channels of the Saraswati River system in
Haryana and adjoining Rajasthan have been traced.

• A paleochannel is a deposit of sediment, filling the course of

an ancient river.
Yamuna Nagar
 How was the research conducted?
• As per the research paper, six trenches varying in depth from 3
meters to 10 metres, were excavated on the identified paleo-
channels – covering a distance of about 120 km from foothill region
of Yamunanagar to Pehowa in the Yamuna and Markanda rivers
interfluve.

• A total of 270 sediment samples were collected.

Out of these, nearly two dozen sediment samples were selected for
optical simulation luminescence (OSL) dating and accelerator mass
spectroscopy (AMS) based Carbon 14 dating.
Pehowa
• The age of the sediments was evaluated in conjunction with
the textural and mineralogical characteristics of sediments.

• This study found that the Saraswati River was flowing in

Haryana from before 14±5 thousand years, to as late as
1402 AD.

Around 1402, there was a sudden absence of flow in the

channel.
• The research has revealed that Saraswati River paleo-
channels form a dense web of interconnecting channels.

• The channels of Saraswati are continuously networked for

more than 2,984 kilometres (km) in Haryana.

• The individual floodplain width of these channels varies

from 1.5 to 13 km.
• Saraswati River system has two major paleo-channels.

• One passes through Yamunanagar, Ambala, Kurukshetra,

Pehowa, Kaithal, Jind, Fatehabad and Sirsa before entering
Hanumangarh in Rajasthan.

• The second channel represents the Drishadwati river, which

is a Vedic time tributary of the Saraswati River.

This channel passes through Yamunanagar, Karnal, Panipat,

Sonepat, Jind and Hisar districts before passing through
Rawatsar in Rajasthan.
The exploratory wells along Saraswati paleo-channel at Uncha
Chandna yielded water which is more than 10,000 years old and
the well at Pabni Kalan yielded water which is around 7000 years
old.
• At both these locations, based upon stable isotope O-16
(oxygen 16) and O-18 ratios, the water is of glacial origin.

This points towards the glacial origin of the Saraswati River

and also of its perennial character.

• It is observed that one of the trenches which were dug near

Bhadrakali Temple in Kurukshetra documented the
continuous fluvial activity of Saraswati River for more than
5,000 years.
This study revealed the old bathing ghats (banks) at:

1. Bilaspur and Saraswati Nagar in Yamunanagar district,

2. Bhadrakali Temple in Kurukshetra,
3. Saraswati Tirtha, Thehpolar and Satora in Pehowa,
4. Thana in Kaithal.

All these old bathing ghats are located on the same

Saraswati paleo-channel which goes from Adi Badri in
Yamunanagar to Sirsa in Haryana and further beyond into
Rajasthan.
 Indus Valley connection?
• All the major archaeological sites in Haryana –
Siswal, Rakhigarhi, Banawali, Bhirrana, Kunal, Balu,
Thana – are located at a radial distance of less than
500m from the Saraswati or the Drishadwati River
paleo-channels.
It has been found that the
Harappan settlements in
Haryana and Rajasthan
nucleated and prospered in the
fertile channel bars and
interfluves of this river system.
• In this study, the authors have concluded that there is a
continuity in culture from the Mesolithic cultural phase
dating 6500 to 5500 BC, through the Neolithic, the Early
Harappan.

• The Mature Harappan and further ahead time period in

Rakhigarhi and Bhirrana is a testimony of the role of the
Saraswati River system in sustaining the Harappan
settlements in Haryana.
Recent research shows that
the humped bull from the
Indus Valley spread to Middle
East around 2000 BC.

This coincided with the

drought that led to the
collapse of the Harappan cities
& final drying of the Saraswati
river.

Proponents of the “Out-of-

India” theory argue that this
shows migration of Indo-
Europeans from India to
Turkey and Europe.
 Why did it disappear?
• The presence of significant clay beds indicate that around
14000 years, 6000 years and 4000 years ago there was a
weakening of monsoons and drought conditions which resulted
in near absence of flow in the channels.

• This abrupt change appears to be the consequence of sudden

modification/diversion of contributing channels by constructing
five canals (Old Mughal Canal ~ modern day - the Western
Yamuna Canal – 325 km long).

• The channels of the Drishadvati River and the Chautang streams

have been extensively utilized for routing this canal.
Natural factors also led to the drying up of the
Saraswati river, such as:

1. weakened Indian summer monsoon,

2. shrinkage of glacial cover and meltwaters,
3. channel avulsion and channel capture,
4. climate change and
5. tectonic disruption of the input channels in the lesser
Himalayas.
 But why do we say Ganga, Yamuna &
Saraswati meet at Prayag?
• Yamuna once flowed into the Saraswati river.

• The capture of Yamuna by Ganga and the capture of Sutlej

by Indus (vedic Sindhu), are the main reasons for the doom
of the great Saraswati river system.

• This event is mythicized at Prayag – water and life shifted to

the Ganges.
Telegram Link:

For PDFs Download

Telegram Channels : pathfinder_upsc
OR
mahipalrathore
Get 10% Discount

MAHIPAL
Like, Share, and
Subscribe!