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Rise and fall of the river Saraswati

The Rig Veda, no doubt, is the most ancient epic in the world. A large fluctuations in the behaviour of the river Srasuti (Vedic name of the Saraswati) have been described in the Rig Veda in about sixteen shlokas, in which its heavy flow, low flow to no flow and even changes in its course have been mentioned.

I read the article, ‘Vedic Saraswati and the Arabian Sea’, authored by RV Karanth, PS Thakkar, MS Gadhvi, DA Sant and JG Negi, in Organiser March 21, 2010, with keen interest. No doubt all the authors are experts in their respective fields. So it is hard to swallow, they might not be knowing the answers to the questions rather doubts, about the very existence of the river Saraswati, its period, its course and the reasons behind vanishing of the river Saraswati. Hoping, the readers will find satisfactory answers to all the above mentioned question, I am putting before the readers a little knowledge of mine, about the river Saraswati.

During the last glacial period (11,000-11,000 BP) even the lower Himalaya was covered with snow. Here it is necessary to know that the monsoon cycle does not depend only on the temperature changes in the Indian subcontinent, but on the average Surface Temperature (ST) of the Northern Hemisphere (NH) also. To know this fact is also necessary, because the agriculture and water resources, of the Indian subcontinent mainly depend upon the monsoons. The glacial period ended around 11,000 BP and in the following 1,000 years the ST of the NH rose from 11oC to 15oC. With the rising temperature of the glacier, snow melted and gave birth to several rivulets, one of which was the mighty river, the Saraswati.

The origin of the river Saraswati has been found near Shimla in Himachal Pradesh according to the IMD (Indian Meteorological Department). It flowed through the present day Punjab, Rajasthan and Gujarat almost parallel to the Indo-Pak border, and debouched on to the Arabian Sea through Gulf of Kutch and Gulf of Cambay.

The Rig Veda, no doubt, is the most ancient epic in the world. A large fluctuations in the behaviour of the river Srasuti (Vedic name of the Saraswati) have been described in the Rig Veda in about sixteen shlokas, in which its heavy flow, low flow to no flow and even changes in its course have been mentioned. This confirms that previously the Saraswati was a perennial river flowing throughout the year. And a prosperous civilisation flourished near the banks of the Saraswati. The period of the Vedas has been estimated at 6,000-5,000 BP. This civilisation may be none other than the Vedic Civilisation. The period of existence of the river Saraswati can be traced from the pre-Vedic period to the Ramayana and Mahabharata period. So there should not be any doubt in anyone’s mind, whether the river Saraswati existed or not. It is as true as God, that the river Saraswati do existed.

As it has been already told that the river Saraswati was a perennial river flowing throughout the year, and not be a tributary to any other river. Infact the rivers like Shatadru (Satluj), Vipasha (Beas), Prushrni (Irawati or Ravi) and the Yamuna too were the tributaries to the river Saraswati. Yamuna was the tributary to the Saraswati upto Mahabharata period . Afterwards, due to climatic changes Yamuna changed its course and became a tributary to the river Ganga. The last description of the Yamuna is available in mythological scriptures is found when a pilgrimage by name Balram from Dwarka to Mathura is mentioned in the texts, along with the rivers Saraswati and Yamuna.

As described earlier that the monsoons and the climate of the Indian subcontinent depended upon the ST of the NH due to persisting temperature of about 15oC the snow cover was exhausted in the lower as well as the middle Himalayas, and the Saraswati turned into a dry channel around 8,000 BP. People migrated towards the east along the banks of the river Ganga, and towards the south. In due course the Vedic Civilisation that existed for more than 1,000 years waned to an end.

After the collapse of the Vedic Civilisation river Ganga rose to prominence. The temperature now ranged between 15oC to 15.5oC, the monsoon cycle and rainfall being almost similar to the present day. The entire Indian subcontinent including Sri Lanka was inhabited except the North-West parts. This period is known as the Ramayana period. The Ramayana culture flourished in the Indo-Gangetic planes for about 1,000 years i.e-around 7,000 BP, the temperature started rising above 15.5oC. Intense rainfall shifted westward due to a westward shift in two important components of summer monsoon circulation i.e. surface ‘heat low’ and the Tibetan Anticyclones in the upper troposphere. The area between Delhi and Kandhar experienced much greater rainfall compared to the present day, and the Gangatic plains faced frequent draughts. People from Ganga belt started migrating towards the west, and the Ramayana culture started waning.

During the period 7,000-6,000 BP, the temperature rose higher than 16oC. The atmosphere was the hottest as compared to other parts of the Halocene period (past 11,000 years) and the monsoon was intense due to the heating to the Afro-Eurasian dry province and the Tibetan Himalayan highlands. The NW Indian subcontinent experienced a much wetter monsoon compared to the present day, with perennial rivers and thick vegetation proliferating in the region.

Two incidents of heavy rains during this period are found in the epic Mahabharata. Once when the Sri Krishna was born and the river Yamuna was overflowing and the other one is when the people of Gokul denied worship to the Lord Indra. There was re-emergence of the Saraswati, but this time it was a rain fed river. Around 6,000 BP, the temperature started falling sharply and was below 15oC. Due to frequent monsoon failures and droughts, the river Saraswati became a dry channel. This condition prevailed for about 1,000 years and the people started migrating eastward and southward, with the Mahabharata culture coming to an end.

Around 4500 BP the NH temperature rose to around 16oC and NW Indian subcontinent again started experiencing ample monsoon rainfall. The river Saraswati started flowing a third time, but now as a seasonal river. This emergence might have changed the drainage pattern of the river Saraswati. Hence the LANSAT imageries can only decipher the drainage pattern of the Saraswati during the Indus Valley Period. Afterwards too, Indian sub continent suffered monsoon failures and droughts due to the temperature changes is the NH. During 2600-2300 BP the NH atmosphere was cooler (<14oC) and the Indian monsoon drier with frequent and severe droughts occurring over the Gangetic Plains. The longest drought of reportedly a 100 years, occurred around 2,400 BP. (The first rain gauge was invented by Chanakya during this period) And in this vicious cycle of monsoon failures and droughts the river Saraswati vanished from the map of the Indian subcontinent.

This is how the climatic changes in the Indian subcontinent and the NH decided the fate of once a mighty and perennial river the Saraswati. Here one thing is crystal clear that the river Saraswati never migrated from east to the west, as claimed by the authors. Secondly, neither the rise and fall in the Sea water level nor the tectonic activities had any impact on the rise and fall of the river Saraswati.