Punjab means “land of five waters.” Its five great rivers also carve out five separate strips of fertile land, each with its own name.
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Indian Geography · IndGeo0065
The Doab Region of Punjab
Five rivers, five fertile strips of land between them
SUTLEJ
Bist
(Doaba)
BEAS
Bari
RAVI
Rechna
CHENAB
Chaj
(Jech)
JHELUM
Sind Sagar
INDUS
do + ab = doab
Persian for “two waters” — land between two rivers.
panj + ab = Punjab
Persian for “five waters” — the land of five rivers.
Two extremes, one state
Bist Doab (Doaba) is Punjab’s Green Revolution heartland, with rich alluvial soil. Sind Sagar Doab, the largest and most rugged, has sandy, semi-arid soil that sharply limits farming.
Must Know
- A doab is a tract of fertile land lying between two rivers.
- The word comes from Persian: “do” means two, and “ab” means water.
- Punjab’s own name follows the same pattern: “panj” means five, so Punjab means “land of five waters.”
- Punjab has five main doabs, formed by its five rivers.
Good to Know
- Bist Doab lies between the Beas and Sutlej rivers.
- Bari Doab lies between the Ravi and Beas rivers.
- Rechna Doab lies between the Chenab and Ravi rivers.
- Chaj Doab, also called Jech Doab, lies between the Jhelum and Chenab rivers.
- Sind Sagar Doab lies between the Indus and Jhelum rivers.
- These five doabs were formally named during Emperor Akbar’s Mughal administration.
Test Yourself
Great to Know
- Bist Doab is also known as Doaba, and it is Punjab’s Green Revolution heartland.
- Its rich alluvial soil and intensive irrigation made it one of India’s most productive wheat-growing belts.
- Sind Sagar Doab tells a very different story.
- It is the largest of the five doabs, and also the most rugged.
- Its sandy, stony, semi-arid soils sharply limit how much of it can be farmed.
- So even within one small state, the five doabs span two extremes: some of India’s richest farmland, and some of its least fertile.
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