Using satellite imagery to reveal the course of an extinct river below the Thar Desert in the Indo-Pak region

Abstract

Digitally processed satellite images have unearthed the hidden course of a major lost river below the sands of the Thar Desert, in the India–Pakistan (Indo-Pak) region. The great Himalayan river of the Vedic period (10 000–8000 BP) is mentioned in ancient Indian literature. It was called the ‘Saraswati’ in India and the ‘Hakra’ in Pakistan and it dried up during 4000–3500 BP. Large numbers of archaeological sites from the Harappan civilization occur along the dry river bed. The mapped course of the river is 4–10 km wide and conforms to the size described in the Rigveda. The newly described course is validated through the drilling of tube wells in the channels and through archaeological, hydrogeological and sedimentary data. An enormous quantity of potable water has been found along these channels. The path of the (main) river course, the likelihood of the river shift and the reasons for its disappearance are discussed.