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{{Short description|River in India and Pakistan}}
{{other uses}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2017}}
{{Use Indian English|date=April 2017}}
{{Infobox river
| name = Satluj
| name_other =
| name_etymology =

| image = View of Sutlej River - panoramio.jpg
| image_size =
| image_caption = View of Sutlej River
| map =Sutlej.png
| map_size =
| map_caption = Path of the Sutlej
| pushpin_map =
| pushpin_map_size =
| pushpin_map_caption=

| subdivision_type1 = Country
| subdivision_name1 = [[China]], [[India]], [[Pakistan]]
| subdivision_type2 = State
| subdivision_name2 = [[Tibet Autonomous Region|Tibet]], [[Himachal Pradesh]], [[Punjab, India|Punjab (India)]], [[Punjab, Pakistan|Punjab (Pakistan)]]
| subdivision_type3 =
| subdivision_name3 =
| subdivision_type4 =
| subdivision_name4 =
| subdivision_type5 =
| subdivision_name5 =

| length = {{convert|1,450|km|mi|abbr=on}} approx.
| width_min =
| width_avg =
| width_max =
| depth_min =
| depth_avg =
| depth_max =
| discharge1_location= [[Ropar]]<ref>{{cite web | title = Sutlej valley| publisher = The Free Dictionary
| url = http://encyclopedia2.thefreedictionary.com/Sutlej+valley}}</ref>
| discharge1_min =
| discharge1_avg = {{convert|500|m3/s|cuft/s|abbr=on}}
| discharge1_max =

| source1 =Manasarovar-Rakas Lakes
| source1_location = [[Tibet Autonomous Region|Tibet]]
| source1_coordinates= {{coord|30|50|39|N|81|12|17|E|display=inline}}
| source1_elevation = {{convert|4,575|m|abbr=on}}
| mouth = Confluence with [[Chenab]] to form the [[Panjnad River]]
| mouth_location =Near [[Khairpur, Punjab|Khairpur]], [[Bahawalpur district]], [[Punjab, Pakistan|Punjab]], [[Pakistan]]
| mouth_coordinates = {{Coord|29|23|23|N|71|3|42|E|type:river_region:PK-PB|display=inline,title}}
| mouth_elevation = {{convert|102|m|abbr=on}}
| progression =
| river_system =
| basin_size = {{convert|395,000|km2|abbr=on}}approx.
| tributaries_left = [[Baspa River|Baspa]]
| tributaries_right = [[Spiti River|Spiti]], [[Beas River|Beas]], [[Chenab River|Chenab]]
| custom_label =
| custom_data =
| extra =
|discharge2_location=[[Panjnad River|Panjnad]], Confluence of [[Chenab River|Chenab]] (71 km upstream of mouth)|discharge2_avg={{convert|2,946.66|m3/s|cuft/s|abbr=on}}<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.riversnetwork.org/rbo/index.php/river-blogs/central-asia/itemlist/category/828-sutlej|title=Rivers Network|year=2020}}</ref>
{{convert|63.613|km3/year|m3/s|abbr=on}}}}
The '''Sutlej''' or '''Satluj River'''{{Needs IPA}} is the longest of the five rivers that flow through the historic crossroads region of [[Punjab region|Punjab]] in northern [[India]] and [[Pakistan]]. The Sutlej River is also known as ''Satadru''.<ref>{{cite book|title=Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bengal, Volume 17, Part 1|last1=Asiatic Society of Bengal|year=1848|page=210, paragraph two|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Tes2AQAAMAAJ&q=satadree&pg=PA210}}</ref> It is the easternmost [[tributary]] of the [[Indus River]]. The [[Bhakra Dam]] is built around the river Sutlej to provide irrigation and other facilities to the states of Punjab, Rajasthan and Haryana.

The waters of the Sutlej are allocated to India under the [[Indus Waters Treaty]] between India and Pakistan, and are mostly diverted to irrigation canals in India to include Sirhind canal, Bhakra Main Line and Rajasthan canal .<ref>http://wrmin.nic.in/responsibility/bbmb.htm {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20050831094205/http://wrmin.nic.in/responsibility/bbmb.htm |date=31 August 2005 }}</ref> The mean annual flow is 14 million acre feet (MAF) upstream of [[Sirhind Canal|Ropar barrage]], downstream of the Bhakra dam.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.cwc.gov.in/sites/default/files/Ravi-%20Beas%20Waters%20Tribunal%20Report%201987.pdf|access-date=15 February 2020|publisher=Central Water Commission|title= Page 290, The Ravi- Beas Water Tribunal Report (1987)}}</ref> It has several major hydroelectric points, including the 1,325 [[Watt#Megawatt|MW]] [[Bhakra Dam]], the 1,000 MW [[Karcham Wangtoo Hydroelectric Plant]], and the 1,500 MW [[Nathpa Jhakri Dam]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.power-technology.com/projects/nathpa |title= Nathpa Jhakri Hydroelectric Power Project, India|publisher=power-technology.com|access-date=14 May 2011}}</ref>{{Unreliable source?|reason=domain on WP:BLACKLIST|date=June 2016}} The [[drainage basin]] in India includes the states and union territories of Himachal Pradesh, Punjab, Ladakh and Haryana.<ref name="WRIS Lower Sutlej">{{cite web|url=http://india-wris.nrsc.gov.in/Publications/WatershedSubbasinAtlas/12.%20Satluj%20Lower.pdf |title= Lower Sutlej basin area|access-date=14 May 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180904011312/http://india-wris.nrsc.gov.in/Publications/WatershedSubbasinAtlas/12.%20Satluj%20Lower.pdf |archive-date=4 September 2018 }}</ref><ref name="WRIS geo-visualization"/>

==Sources==
The source of the Sutlej is west of the [[Drainage basin|catchment area]] of [[Lake Rakshastal]] in [[Tibet]], as springs in an [[Stream#Intermittent and ephemeral streams|ephemeral]] stream. Lake Rakshastal used to be part of the Sutlej river basin long ago and separated from the Sutlej due to tectonic activity. The nascent river flows at first west-northwest for about {{convert|260|km|mi}} under the Tibetan name ''[[#Langqên Zangbo|Langqên Zangbo]]'' (''Elephant River'' or ''Elephant Spring'') to the [[Shipki La]] pass, entering India in [[Himachal Pradesh]] state. It then has its main [[knee (geography)|knee]] heading west-southwest for about {{convert|360|km|mi}} to meet the [[Beas River]] near [[Harike]], [[Tarn Taran district]], [[Punjab, India|Punjab]] state. [[Ropar Wetland]] in [[Punjab, India|Punjab]] state is located on the Sutlej river basin. Evidence suggests [[Indus Valley Civilisation]] also flourished here. Ungti Chu and Pare Chu rivers which drain southeastern part of [[Ladakh]] are tributaries of Sutlej river.<ref name="WRIS Upper Sutlej">{{cite web|url=http://india-wris.nrsc.gov.in/Publications/WatershedSubbasinAtlas/13.%20Satluj%20Upper.pdf |title= Upper Sutlej basin area |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180107174927/http://india-wris.nrsc.gov.in/Publications/WatershedSubbasinAtlas/13.%20Satluj%20Upper.pdf |archive-date=7 January 2018}}</ref><ref name="WRIS geo-visualization">{{cite news|url=http://india-wris.nrsc.gov.in/GeoVisualization.html?UType=R2VuZXJhbA==?UName=|title= WRIS geo-visualization map|access-date=17 January 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170613130618/http://india-wris.nrsc.gov.in/GeoVisualization.html?UType=R2VuZXJhbA==?UName= |archive-date=13 June 2017}}</ref>

Continuing west-southwest, the Sutlej enters Pakistan about {{convert|15|km|mi}} east of [[Bhedian Kalan]], [[Kasur District]], [[Punjab, Pakistan|Punjab]] province, continuing southwest to water the ancient and historical former [[Bahawalpur (princely state)|Bahawalpur princely state]]. {{citation needed|date=February 2014}} Few centuries ago, Sutlej river was merging with the [[Ghaggar-Hakra river|Ghaggar river]] to discharge in to the Arabian sea. In approx. 1797 BC, the course of the Sutlej river moved towards north to join the [[Beas river]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.cwc.gov.in/sites/default/files/Ravi-%20Beas%20Waters%20Tribunal%20Report%201987.pdf|access-date=15 February 2020|publisher=Central Water Commission|title= Page 60, The Ravi- Beas Water Tribunal Report (1987)}}</ref>

About {{convert|17|km|mi}} north of [[Uch|Uch Sharif]], the Sutlej unites with the [[Chenab River]], forming the [[Panjnad River]], which finally flows into the Indus river about {{convert|100|km|mi}} west of the city of [[Bahawalpur]]. The area to the southeast on the Pakistani side of the Indian border is called the [[Cholistan Desert]] and, on the Indian side, the [[Thar Desert]].{{citation needed|date=February 2014}}

The Indus then flows through a [[gorge]] near [[Sukkur]] and the fertile plains region of [[Sindh]], forming a large delta region between the border of [[Gujarat]], India and Pakistan, finally terminating in the [[Arabian Sea]] near the [[seaport|port]] city of [[Karachi]], Pakistan. During floods, Indus river water flows in to Indian part of [[Great Rann of Kutch]]. Thus Gujarat state of India is also a riparian state of Indus river as [[Rann of Kutch]] area lying west of [[Kori Creek]] in the state is part of the [[Indus River Delta]].<ref>{{cite web|url= http://siteresources.worldbank.org/EXTINSPECTIONPANEL/Resources/PAKNDPProgressRepANNEXES.pdf|title=Evolution of the Delta, the LBOD outfall system and the Badin dhands - chapters 3 & 4|access-date=22 December 2015}}</ref>

== Puranic Mention and Etymology ==

In the Chaitra-Ratha Parva of [[Adi Parva]] of [[Mahābhārata]], when sage [[Vasishṭha]] wants to commit suicide he sees the river named Haimāvata (whose source is Himavat), flooded and full of crocodiles and other aquatic monsters. So he jumps into the river. The river thinking that Vasishṭha is a mass of unquenchable fire dilated itself and flew in a hundred different directions. Henceforth the river was named śatadra (or śatadru) which means the river of a hundred courses. So, Vasishṭha landed on dry land and was unharmed.<ref>Pratap Chandra Roy's Mahabharata Adi Parva, Chaitra-Ratha Parva Page:407</ref>

== Langqên Zangbo ==
{{Unreferenced section|date=April 2022}}
{{Infobox river
| name = Langqên Zangbo
| native_name = {{native name|bo|གླང་ཆེན་གཙང་པོ}}
| name_other = {{lang|zh|朗钦藏布}}
| name_etymology =

| image = Sutlej Langqên River.png
| image_size =
| image_caption = The Langqên Tsangpo (Sutlej River) seen from Tsaparang, Ngari, Tibet
| map =
| map_size =
| map_caption =
| pushpin_map =
| pushpin_map_size =
| pushpin_map_caption=

| subdivision_type1 = Country
| subdivision_name1 = [[China]]
| subdivision_type2 = State
| subdivision_name2 = [[Tibet Autonomous Region|Tibet]]
| subdivision_type3 = Region
| subdivision_name3 = [[Ngari Prefecture]]
| subdivision_type4 =
| subdivision_name4 =
| subdivision_type5 =
| subdivision_name5 =

| length = {{convert|309|km|mi|abbr=on}}
| width_min =
| width_avg =
| width_max =
| depth_min =
| depth_avg =
| depth_max =
| discharge1_location=
| discharge1_min =
| discharge1_avg =
| discharge1_max =

| source1 =
| source1_location = [[China]]
| source1_coordinates=
| source1_elevation =
| mouth =
| mouth_location =
| mouth_coordinates =
| mouth_elevation =
| progression =
| river_system = Sutlej
| basin_size =
| tributaries_left =
| tributaries_right =
| custom_label =
| custom_data =
| extra =
}}

''Langqên Zangbo'' ({{bo |t = གླང་ཆེན་གཙང་པོ |w = glang chen gtsang po}}; {{zh |c = 朗钦藏布 |p = Lăngqīn Zàngbù}}) is a river in [[Ngari Prefecture|Ngari]], [[Tibet Autonomous Region|Tibet]], [[China]]. The name ''Langqên'', Tibetan for "elephant", is because of a valley that resembles an elephant trunk. This river is the main source of the Sutlej, a tributary of [[Indus River]]. It enters [[India]] at [[Shipki La]] pass. The source is south of [[Transhimalaya|Gangdise Range]], in Ngari Prefecture. Its course is mainly in the [[Zanda County]]. The river drains an area of 22,760 km<sup>2</sup>, and covers a length of 309 km. The drop in height is 3,256 m. Historically, the river was the centre of the [[Zhangzhung]] Kingdom until its fall in the 8th century AD.

==Geology==
{{see also|Ghaggar-Hakra River}}

Sutlej is an [[Antecedent drainage stream|antecedent river]]. The Sutlej, along with all of the Punjab rivers, is thought to have drained east into the [[Ganges]] prior to 5 [[myr|mya]].<ref>{{cite journal
| last = Clift
| first = Peter D.
|author2=Blusztajn, Jerzy
| date = 15 December 2005
| title = Reorganization of the western Himalayan river system after five million years ago
| journal = Nature
| volume = 438
| pages = 1001–1003
| doi = 10.1038/nature04379
| pmid = 16355221
| issue = 7070
| bibcode = 2005Natur.438.1001C
| s2cid = 4427250
}}</ref>

There is substantial geologic evidence to indicate that prior to 1700 BC, and perhaps much earlier, the Sutlej was an important tributary of the [[Ghaggar-Hakra River]] (thought to be the legendary [[Sarasvati River]]) rather than the Indus, with various authors putting the redirection from 2500 to 2000 BC,<ref>Mughal, M. R. Ancient Cholistan. Archaeology and Architecture. Rawalpindi-Lahore-Karachi: Ferozsons 1997, 2004</ref> from 5000 to 3000 BC,<ref>Valdiya, K. S., in Dynamic Geology, Educational monographs published by J. N. Centre for Advanced Studies, Bangalore, University Press (Hyderabad), 1998.</ref> or before 8000 BC.<ref>*Clift et al. 2012. "U-Pb zircon dating evidence for a Pleistocene Sarasvati River and capture of the Yamuna River." Geology, v. 40. [http://geology.gsapubs.org/content/early/2012/01/23/G32840.1.abstract]</ref> Geologists believe that [[earthquake|tectonic activity]] created elevation changes which redirected the flow of Sutlej from the southeast to the southwest.<ref>K.S. Valdiya. 2013. "The River Saraswati was a Himalayan-born river". Current Science 104 (01). [http://www.currentscience.ac.in/Volumes/104/01/0042.pdf]</ref> {{citation needed|date=May 2015}} If the diversion of the river occurred recently (about 4000 years ago), it may have been responsible for the Ghaggar-Hakra (Saraswati) drying up, causing desertification of [[Cholistan Desert|Cholistan]] and the eastern part of the modern state of [[Sindh]], and the abandonment of [[Indus Valley Civilisation|Harappan settlements]] along the Ghaggar. However, the Sutlej may have already been [[stream capture|captured]] by the Indus thousands of years earlier.{{citation needed|date=May 2015}}

There is some evidence that the high rate of erosion caused by the modern Sutlej River has influenced the local faulting and rapidly exhumed rocks above [[Rampur, Himachal Pradesh|Rampur]].<ref>{{cite journal
| last = Thiede
| first = Rasmus
|author2=Arrowsmith, J. Ramón |author3=Bookhagen, Bodo |author4=McWilliams, Michael O. |author5=Sobel, Edward R. |author6= Strecker, Manfred R.
|date=August 2005
| title = From tectonically to erosionally controlled development of the Himalayan orogen
| journal = Geology
| volume = 33
| issue = 8
| pages = 689–692
| doi = 10.1130/G21483AR.1
}}</ref> This would be similar to, but on a much smaller scale than, the exhumation of rocks by the Indus River in [[Nanga Parbat]], Pakistan. The Sutlej River also exposes a doubled inverted [[metamorphic gradient]].<ref>{{cite journal
|first1=Bernhard
|last1=Grasemann
|first2=Harry
|last2=Fritz
|first3=Jean-Claude
|last3=Vannay
|title=Quantitative kinematic flow analysis from the Main Central Thrust Zone) NW-Himalaya, India: implications for a decelerating strain path and the extrustion of orogenic wedges
|doi=10.1016/S0191-8141(99)00077-2
|journal=Journal of Structural Geology
|volume=21
|issue=7
|date=July 1999
|pages=837–853
|bibcode=1999JSG....21..837G
}}</ref>

==Sutlej-Yamuna Link==
{{Main|Sutlej Yamuna link canal}}
There has been a proposal to build a {{convert|214|km|mi|adj=on}} long heavy freight and irrigation canal, to be known as the [[Sutlej-Yamuna Link]] (SYL) to connect the Sutlej and [[Yamuna]] rivers.<ref>http://india.gov.in/sectors/water_resources/sutlej_link.php Sutlej-Yamuna Link</ref> The project is intended to connect the Ganges, which flows to the east coast of the subcontinent, with points west, via Pakistan. When completed, the SYL would enable inland shipping from India's east coast to its west coast (on the Arabian sea) without having to round the southern tip of India by sea, vastly shortening shipping distances, alleviating pressures on seaports, avoiding sea hazards, creating business opportunities along the route, raising real estate values, raising tax revenue, and establishing important commercial links and providing jobs for north-central India's large population. However, the proposal has met with obstacles and has been referred to the [[Supreme Court of India]]. To augment nearly 100 [[tmcft]] water availability for the needs of this link canal, [[Tso Moriri]] lake/Lingdi Nadi (a tributary of Tso Moriri lake) waters can be diverted to the Sutlej basin by digging a 10 km long gravity canal to connect to the Ungti Chu river.<ref name="WRIS geo-visualization"/>

==History==
{{more citations needed section|date=August 2015}}
The Upper Sutlej Valley, called [[Langqên Zangbo]] in [[Tibet]], was once known as the [[Garuda]] Valley by the [[Zhangzhung]], the ancient civilization of western [[Tibet]]. The Garuda Valley was the centre of their empire, which stretched many miles into the nearby [[Himalayas]]. The Zhangzhung built a towering palace in the Upper Sutlej Valley called [[Kyunglung]], the ruins of which still exist today near the village of [[Moincêr]], southwest of [[Mount Kailash]] (Mount Ti-se). Eventually, the Zhangzhung were conquered by the [[Tibetan Empire]]. Sutlej river also formed the eastern boundary of the [[Sikh Empire]] under Maharajah [[Ranjit Singh]].

Today, the Sutlej Valley is inhabited by nomadic descendants of the Zhangzhung, who live in tiny villages of [[yak]] herders.{{citation needed|date=February 2014}}

The Sutlej was the main medium of transportation for the kings of that time. In the early 18th century, it was used to transport [[devdar]] woods for [[Bilaspur district, Himachal Pradesh|Bilaspur district]], [[Hamirpur district, Himachal Pradesh|Hamirpur district]], and other places along the Sutlej's banks.{{citation needed|date=February 2014}}

Of four rivers ([[Indus]], Sutlej, [[Brahmaputra]] and [[Karnali River|Karnali]]/[[Ganges]]) mythically flowing out of holy [[Lake Manasarovar]], the Sutlej is actually connected by channels that are dry most of the time. Earlier the river was also called as Shutudri or Zaradros river.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.britannica.com/place/Sutlej-River|title=Sutlej River | river, Asia | Britannica}}</ref>

==Gallery==
<gallery>
Image:Sutlej Valley from Rampur ca. 1857.jpg|Sutlej Valley from [[Rampur State|Rampur]] c. 1857
File:Crossing the Sutlej near Simla upon inflated animal skins.jpeg|Using inflated animal skins to cross the Sutlej River, c. 1905
File:Kinnaur 392.jpg|Sutlej River in [[Kinnaur]] Valley, Himachal Pradesh, India
File:Satluj P012.JPG|Cattle grazing on the banks of the river in [[Rupnagar]], Punjab, India
File:Satluj river.JPG|Satluj River near Shahkot, Punjab, India
File:"Hungarung Pass in the Himalayas" (nowadays called Shipki La, where the Sutlej River enters India from Tibet), from the Illustrated London News, 1856.jpg|Sutlej entering India from Tibet near [[Shipki La]], c. 1856
</gallery>

==See also==
* [[List of rivers of India]]
* [[List of rivers of Pakistan]]
* [[Cis-Sutlej states]]
* [[Sulemanki Headworks]]
* [[Geology of the Himalaya]]

== References ==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
{{Commons category|Sutlej River}}
* [https://www.openstreetmap.org/relation/1159578 Sutlej basin] marked on OpenStreetMap.
* [https://wissurge.com/the-battle-of-sutlej-yamuna-link-canal-project/ Sutlej-Yamuna Link Canal is So Controversial?] Wissurge,26 August 2020

{{Five rivers of the Punjab}}
{{Hydrography of Himachal Pradesh}}
{{Hydrography of Punjab, India}}
{{China Rivers}}
{{Waters of South Asia}}
{{Waters of Pakistan}}

{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Tributaries of the Indus River]]
[[Category:Indus basin]]
[[Category:Rivers of Tibet]]
[[Category:Rivers of Sindh]]
[[Category:International rivers of Asia]]
[[Category:Rivers of Himachal Pradesh]]
[[Category:Rivers of Punjab, India]]
[[Category:Rigvedic rivers]]
[[Category:India–Pakistan border]]
[[Category:Border rivers]]
[[Category:Rivers of India]]
[[Category:Rivers of Punjab (Pakistan)]]
[[Category:Rivers in Buddhism]]
[[Category:Rivers of Pakistan]]

Sutlej - Revision history

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