| Kabul River | |
|---|---|
 Aerial photo of Kabul River flood-plain east of Kabul, Afghanistan | |
 Interactive Map | |
| Etymology | Kabul's River inDari/Persian |
| Native name | د کابل سیند (Da Kābul Sīnd) (Pashto) |
| Location | |
| Countries | Afghanistan andPakistan |
| Cities | Kabul,Surobi,Jalalabad (Afghanistan); Peshawar,Charsadda,Nowshera (Pakistan) |
| Physical characteristics | |
| Source | Hindu Kush Mountains |
| • location | NearMaidan Shar,Maidan Wardak,Afghanistan |
| • coordinates | 34°21′25″N68°50′21″E / 34.357°N 68.8392°E /34.357; 68.8392 |
| • elevation | 2,400 m (7,900 ft) |
| Mouth | Indus River |
• location | NearKund Park,Attock,Punjab,Pakistan |
• coordinates | 33°55′0″N72°13′56″E / 33.91667°N 72.23222°E /33.91667; 72.23222 |
| Length | 700 km (430 mi) |
| Basin size | 70,500 km2 (27,200 sq mi) |
| Basin features | |
| Tributaries | |
| • left | Panjshir River,Alingar River,Kunar River,Swat River |
| • right | Logar River,Surkhab River,Bara River |
TheKabul River (Urdu:دریائے کابل;Dari:دریای کابل;Pashto:د کابل سیند), the classicalCophen/ˈkoʊfeɪn/, is a 700-kilometre-long (430 mi) river that emerges in theSanglakh Range of theHindu Kush mountains in the northeastern part ofMaidan Wardak Province, Afghanistan. It is separated from the watershed of theHelmand River by theUnai Pass. The Kabul River empties into theIndus River nearAttock,Pakistan. It is the main river in eastern Afghanistan and theKhyber Pakhtunkhwa province of Pakistan.
The Kabul River, which measures 700 kilometres or 435 miles long, passes through the cities ofKabul andJalalabad in Afghanistan. Its largedrainage basin covers the eastern provinces of Nangarhār, Kunar, Laghmān, Lōgar, Kabul, Kāpisā, Parwān, Panjshēr, and Bāmyān before it flows intoKhyber Pakhtunkhwa in Pakistan some 25 kilometres (16 mi) north of theDurand Line border crossing atTorkham.[1] In Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, the river passes through the cities ofPeshawar,Charsadda, andNowshera. A majority of the Kabul River’s water originates from the snow and glaciers ofChitral District of Pakistan, out of which it flows into Afghanistan. In its upper reaches it is known as theSarchashma. The majortributaries of the Kabul River are theLogar,Panjshir,Alingar,Surkhab,Kunar,Bara, andSwat rivers.[2]
The Kabul River is little more than a trickle for most of the year, but swells in summer due to melting snows in the Hindu Kush Range. Its largest tributary is the Kunar River, which starts out as theMastuj River, flowing from the Chiantar glacier in Brughil valley inChitral, Pakistan and after flowing south into Afghanistan it is met by the Bashgal river flowing fromNurestan. The Kunar meets the Kabul near Jalalabad. In spite of the Kunar carrying more water than the Kabul, the river continues as the Kabul River after this confluence, mainly for the political and historical significance of the name.
The Kabul River is impounded by several dams that were constructed in the 20th century. Three dams are located in theKabul andNangarharprovinces of Afghanistan, including theSurobi dam, a hydroelectric source for Kabul constructed 1957 with assistance by Germany, theNaghlu and theDarunta dams which were built bySoviet scientists in the 1960s. TheWarsak Dam is also in theValley of Peshawar in Pakistan, approximately 20 km northwest of the city ofPeshawar.[1]
InArrian'sThe Campaigns of Alexander, the River Kabul is referred to as ΚωφήνKōphēn (Latin spellingCophen).[3][4][5][6]
Since the 1990s, the river has experienced substantial droughts in summer.[1] In approximately March 2019, ten of thousands of gallons of untreated sewage from the Makroyan Waste Water Treatment Plant has been dumped into the Kabul River each month, reportedly causing gastrointestinal issues among the 3,000 families that live along the river.[7]
The wordKubhā which is the ancient name of the river is both a Sanskrit and Avestan word. The word later changed toKābul.[8][9]
Al-Biruni, a Persian polymath, also called it "the River of Ghorwand".[10]
The Kabul River later gave its name to the region and to the settlement ofKabul.[10]
Kabul River Basin (KRB) is a government authority under the Ministry of Energy and Water (MEW) of the Government of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan (GoIRA). Based on the Water Law it was created. The recent Director General of this major water institution was Jalal Naser Faqiryar, who brought positive changes, contributed a lot to the transparency, basin development, and applicable policies, especially river basin management which had positive impacts and results.
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The Kubha is the modern Kabul river which flows into theIndus a little aboveAttock and receives atPrang the joint flow of its tributaries theSwat (Swastu) and Gauri
{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)'In the older parts of theRigved the Indian people appear to be settled on the north western border of India, in thePunjab and even beyond the Punjab on the borders of the Kubha river the Kowpher inKabul. The gradual diffusion of these people from this point towards the east, beyond theSaraswati andHindustan as far as the Ganges, can be traced almost step by step in the later portions of the Vedic writings
33°55′0″N72°13′56″E / 33.91667°N 72.23222°E /33.91667; 72.23222
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