Chenab River - History

History

The river was known to Indians in the Vedic period as Chandrabhaga (Sanskrit: चंद्रभाग), also Ashkini (Sanskrit: अश्किनि) or Iskmati (Sanskrit: इस्कामति) and as Acesines to the Ancient Greeks. In 325 BC, Alexander the Great allegedly founded the town of Alexandria on the Indus (present day Uch Sharif or Mithankot or Chacharan in Pakistan) at the confluence of the Indus and the combined stream of Punjab rivers (currently known as the Panjnad River).

The Chenab has the same place in the consciousness of the people of the Punjab as, say, the Rhine holds for the Germans, or the Danube for the Austrians and the Hungarians. It is the iconic river around which Punjabi consciousness revolves, and plays a prominent part in the tale of Heer Ranjha, the Punjabi national epic and the legend of Sohni Mahiwal.

Chandraseniya Kayastha Prabhu (abbreviated as CKP) is a prominent community in India from Maharashtra. Their historical roots can be traced from the area around Chenab river in Kashmir.

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