Saraswati River in northern India (Haryana) and its role in populating the Harappan civilization sites—A study based on remote sensing, sedimentology, and strata chronology

Abstract

The Saraswati River used to flow from the glaciated peaks of the Himalaya to the Arabian sea, covering a distance of about 1800 km. It possibly sustained the Harappan civilization in the Indian subcontinent. This river has been studied as a part of the Ghaggar-Satluj-Hakra-Nara channel system in India and Pakistan. This study investigated its independent existence and evolution in the Himalayan foothill terrain and the proximal alluvial plains. Use of satellite imagery, shuttle radar topography mission data, accelerator mass spectrometry 14 C dating and optically stimulated luminescence chronology is being made to identify the possible palaeo-path of this ancient river and to characterize the trench sediment log architecture of the Saraswati River palaeochannels in northern India (Haryana). Our investigations reveal that this river formed a dense web of interconnecting channels which are continuously networked for more than 2,984 km in Haryana and their individual floodplain width varies from 1.5 to 13 km. The Harappan settlements in Haryana and Rajasthan nucleated and prospered in the fertile channel bars and interfluves of this river system. Majority of these habitation sites were located within a radius of less than 500 m from these palaeo-water channel networks. Enormous amount of water was flowing through this channel network until BC 11,147. Sediment characteristics and their chronology reveal that flow of water in the river channel decreased with time as the glacial cover diminished. The varying thickness of clay beds in sediment logs is indicative of the fluctuations in water flow possibly as a consequence of terrain slope modifications and consequent gradual channel avulsion, climate change, and global drought events. The flow of water continued through the Himalayan foothill input channels of the palaeo-Saraswati River in Haryana until AD 1402.

Inter-University Accelerator Centre, New Delhi (Iuacd) Radiocarbon Date List Ii

“…Samples from various sites from Haryana, North India were submitted by Prof. A. R. Chaudhary, Centre of Excellence for Research on the Saraswati River, Kurukshetra University, Kurukshetra. Using radiocarbon dates, satellite imagery, shuttle radar topography mission data and optically stimulated luminescence dates, submitters identified the paleo path of ancient river (Saraswati) and also conclude that there was flow of water through this channel until AD 1402 (Chaudhri et al 2021). Twelve radiocarbon dates given blow (except for samples IUACD#17C1274 and IUACD#17C1275) were used for this study (Chaudhri et al 2021) Sediment and shell samples from different sites were submitted by Prof. Hema Achyuthan, Anna University, Chennai, India (Lone et al 2020;Shah et al 2020Shah et al , 2021.…”

Flood Perception from Local Perspective of Rural Community vs. Geomorphological Control of Fluvial Processes in Large Alluvial Valley (the Middle Vistula River, Poland)

“…The most significant urban civilizations of the ancient period of history developed their splendid cultures on alluvial plains, e.g., Sumer in southern Mesopotamia (from Greek: "between rivers") covering the Tigris and Euphrates floodplains [1,2], Ancient Egypt upon the Nile River [3,4], the Harappan in the Indo-Gangetic Plain, with the valleys of the Indus and Upper Ganges Rivers [5,6]. The highly developed cultures in more distant (from a European perspective) locations on the Earth were associated with alluvial plains as well, e.g., the Longshan and the Erlitou in China, in the valley bottoms of Yellow River and its tributaries, the Fen and the Qin Rivers [7,8]; the Mayan Lowlands on the Yucatán Peninsula in present-day Mexico (Usumacinta River floodplain [9]) and Belize [10] and the Olmec heartland of San Lorenzo on the interfluve plains of the Tatagapa and Chiquito Rivers in Veracruz state, Mexico [11,12].…”

Textural Characteristics and Depositional Environment of a Late Quaternary Alluvial Plain of Haryana

“…The Himalayan Mountains have been regularly supplying sediment to this foreland river basin similar to the present-day river systems as testified by the existence of a network of buried palaeochannels [11] [12] [13] [14] [15]. The current study focuses on characterization of the sediments of a palaeochannel of Quaternary alluvial plains of Haryana, which serves as good archives for understanding the role of earth surface processes.…”