1 TOE BIAS AND THE SUTLIJ. 9
2 massive quay of masonry constructed for upwards of three miles along the
3 banks, ‘he remains of this huge bulwark exist to this day to the north-
4 west of the town.
5 THE BIAS.
6 The Bids* or Bidh, the Hyphasis of Greek geographers, ranks sixth among
7 the Panjab rivers including the Indus. It rises in the southern slope of the
8 Ritanka Pass, among the snows in Lahoul, in the north-east of the Panjab, at
9 a point 13,326 feet above the level of the sea, in lat. 32°24’ N., long. 77°11’ E.
10 Abul Fazal, in the Aytnté Akbari, names the source of the Bids Abye Kund,
11 Yising in the mountains of Kulu, in the Sultanpur parganah of Akbar’s time.
12 Taking a southerly course, from the Ritanka Pass, for about forty miles, it flows
13 with a rapid current to the west and, skirting Mandi and Nadaun, enters the
14 Kangra District at Sanghol, at an elevation of 1,920 feet above the sea
15 level, forming the main channel for the drainage of Kangra. Then, taking a
16 north-westerly course for about 80 miles, it debouches into the plains of the
17 Panjab at Mfr-thot Ghat, in 32°5’ N. lat, 70°25’ E. long., being still
18 1,000 feet above the sea level. Winding round the base of the Siwalik hills
19 in the Hoshiarptr District, the river takes a southerly and then a south-
20 westerly direction, for a further distance of 80 miles, and, flowing first between
21 the districts of Hoshiarpur and Gardaspir, touching Amritsar District for a few
22 miles and then forming the boundary between Amritsar and the Kapurthala
23 State, its bright blue waters mingle with those of the turbid Sutlej, 35 miles
24 south-south-east of Amritsar, and three miles above Hari ka Pattan, after a
25 total course of 290 miles from its source, It is crossed by a railway bridge
26 at Wazir Bholar Ghat.
27 The river is subject to periodical rises and falls, but is fordable in most
28 places during the cold weather. There are many quicksands in its bed, and,
29 when the waters are low, many islands and sandbanks are left exposed.
30 The Bias and the Sutlej, at their junction, are of nearly the same size, the
31 latter being rather the larger of the two. The sources of both the Ravi arid the
32 Bids are west of that of the Chinab, though, in the plains, they flow to the
33 east of that river, which, with the Ravi, forms a crescent, or segment of a
34 circle. Near the junction of the Bids with the Sutlej the Kangar, a tribu-
35 tary of the former, forms a jhél, or shallow lake, where the Emperor Akbar
36 built a beautiful and cool summer-house, or shooting-box, with underground
37 apartments, the neighbouring jungle then abounding with beasts of prey and
38 of the chase—tigers, leopards, deer and wild hog. The river is memorable in
39 ancient history as forming the limit of the great Macedonian conqueror’s
40 advance in the East, for here he had to turn his back on the inauspicious
41 gods of India, after erecting twelve massive pillars to commemorate the
42 event. In more recent times the British General, Lord Lake, made his
43 famous march to the Bids, in pursuit of Jaswant Rad Holkar, when he sued
44 for peace in 1805, and concluded a treaty on 24th December of that year.
45 THE SUTLEJ.
46 , The Sutlej, or Setlej,f the Hesudrus of the ancients, is the most easterly
47 of the rivers of the Panjab. Like the Indus, it rises on the slopes of the
48 * The Bibasis of Ptolemy, the Hypasis of Pliny, the Hypasis of Arrian, and the Vyasa of
49 the Sanskrit, being the name of a Rishi, or sage, celebrated in the classical literature of the
50 ett The local name is Vipasd, or Beypdsha, Beascha, Bihasis, or Bipasis, Beand and Beah,
51 or Viah. re
52 + The Saranges of Arrian, the Zaradrus, Zadadris, or Zapddpos of Ptolemy, the Sydrus or
53 Kesidrus of Pliny, the Hypanis of Strabo, the Sheturder and Seteluj of the Ayint Akbari, and
54 the Sittoda, Satadru, or Suitrudra of Sanskrit. The lower mountaineers called it Satadru, the
55 natives of Khanower, Zagti, and the Tartars, Lanying Kamp‘ (Kampa signifying river in general).
56 The source of the
57 Bids.
58 Its course.
59 The summer-house
60 of Akbar,
61 Historical associa.
62 tions,
63 The source of the
64 Sutilej.
65 Sri Satguru J agjit Singh Ji eLibrary NamdhariElibrary@ gmail.com