This section is from the book "Chambers's Concise Gazetteer Of The World", by David Patrick. Also available from Amazon: Chambers's Concise Gazetteer Of The World.
Indus (Sansk. Sindhu), a river of India, rising in an unexplored region in Tibet, near the sources of the Sutlej, in 32° N. lat. and 81° E. long., and at about 16,000 feet above sea-level. Its general course is at first north-westward, through Tibet and Cashmere, where it turns abruptly south-south-westward, and follows that direction right down to the sea. In the mountains its current is very rapid; the river passes through wild gorges (one in north-west Cashmere, having a depth of 10,000 feet), and is liable to tremendous floods. The Indus enters the Punjab 812 miles from its source. Near Attock (q.v.), 48 miles lower down, it receives the Kabul River from Afghanistan, and then becomes navigable; 450 miles below Attock it receives, on the left, the accumulated waters of the Punjab through the single channel of the Panjnad. Each of the ' five watercourses,' as well as the Kabul, is practicable for inland craft to the mountains. Below its confluence with the Panjnad the Indus, instead of increasing in volume, becomes gradually less. Its basin is narrow, and the affluents are insignificant, while there is a great loss by evaporation. The river also divides into numerous channels, many of which become lost in the sand, while others return much shrunken in volume. The delta of the river covers an area of about 3000 sq. m., and extends for 125 miles along the Arabian Sea. The main channel is constantly shifting. The delta is bare and not fertile. In both Punjab and Sindh the bed of the river is littered with islands and sandbanks. The cultivation of the arid plains through which the lower Indus passes is dependent upon the annual overflow of the river and artificial irrigation. The total length of the river is over 1800 miles, and the area of its drainage basin 372,700 sq. m. The Indus abounds with excellent fish, and is infested by crocodiles. Since the opening of the Indus Valley Railway in 1878 the navigation has been greatly superseded.
 
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