The Indus System

The Indus System It is one of the world's largest river systems. It comprises the following rivers.
The Indus (Sanskrit name: Sindhu) The Indus is the westernmost of the Himalayan rivers. It is one of the mightiest rivers of the world draining the glaciers and mountain slopes of many famous peaks like Masherbrum (7,821 m), Nanga Parbat (7,114 m), Rakaposhi (7,788 m), Tirich Mir (7,690 m) and receiving various great rivers as its tributaries. It has' a total length of over 2,900 km (709 km in India) and the drainage basin is estimated to have an area of 117,884 sq km in India.

Rising in Tibet at a height of 5,000 m, it flows for about 290 km over a flat country along the inner (northern) flank of the Ladakh Range. Then it cuts across that range at Thangra and flows along the outer flank fur another 480 km. Near Skardu (altitude 2,610 m), it cuts the Ladakh Range again, resuming the general trend of its course on the other side. After circling round the Nanga Parbat (8,114 m) it flows south-west through Hazara towards the plains of the Punjab. It passes through Gut in Chitral and then traverses 200 km of the wild territory of Kohistan entering the North West Frontier Province near Darband. At Attock, 1,385 km from. the source and 1,515 km from the mouth, it receives the Kabul tributary flowing in from Afghanistan and then flows due south. Below Attock, the Haroh and Sohan (Soan) rivers join the Indus. It falls into the Arabian Sea near Karachi.

The chief tributaries of the Indus are the Zanskar which rises on the Zanskar Range and joins the Indus below Leh; the Dras River which comes from the northern side of Zojila Pass and the plains of Deosai; the Shyok which rises on the northern side of the Karakoram range and cuts across to the south and joins the Indus near Kiris; the Shigar which drains the southern slopes of K2 and the Biafo and Baltoro glaciers; and the Gilgit which rises behind and cuts through the Karakoram range