APakistani author, Anjum Sultan Shahbaz, recorded some stories of the name Jhelum in his bookTareekh-e-Jhelum:
'Many writers have different opinions about the name of Jhelum. One suggestion is that in ancient days Jhelumabad was known as Jalham. The word Jhelum is reportedly derived from the words Jal (pure water) and Ham (snow). The name thus refers to the waters of a river (flowing beside the city) which have their origins in the snow-cappedHimalayas.[7]
A passenger traversing the river precariously seated in a small suspended cradleCirca 1900
The river Jhelum was originally recognized by the name Vitasta. The river was calledHydaspes (Greek:Ὑδάσπης) by theancient Greeks.
According to Greek sources,Alexander III of Macedon and his army crossed the Jhelum River in 326 BCE and defeated the Indian KingPorus at theBattle of the Hydaspes.[12] After the battle, Alexander founded two cities:Nikaia, on the site where the battle was fought, andBucephala, located at the site where he first crossed the River Hydaspes and subsequently named in honor of his recently deceased horse,Bucephalas.[13]
The modern-day town ofJalalpur Sharif, outside Jhelum, is said to be where Bucephalus is buried.[14] Residents of the nearbyMandi Bahauddin district believe that theirtehsil, the town ofPhalia, is named after Alexander's horse, saying that the namePhalia was a distortion ofBucephala.[citation needed]
The waters of the Jhelum are allocated toPakistan under the terms of theIndus Waters Treaty. India is working on ahydropower project on a tributary of Jhelum river to establish first-use rights on the river water over Pakistan as per theIndus Waters Treaty.[15]
The creation of the Jhelum river according to Hindu theology
According to Hindupuranas, the goddessParvati was requested by the sageKashyapa to come toKashmir to purify the land from the evil practices and impurities of thepishachas living there. Parvati assumed the form of a river in thenetherworld. Her consortShiva struck with his spear near the abode of Nila, (Verinag spring). With this stroke of the spear, Parvati emerged from the netherworld. He excavated a ditch measuring onevitasti using the spear,[16] through which the river, originating from the netherworld, came out, and so he gave her the nameVitástā.[17]
Theancient Greeks also regarded the river as agod, as they did most mountains and streams. The poetNonnus in theDionysiaca[18] calls theHydaspes atitan-descended god, the son of the sea-godThaumas and the cloud-goddessElektra, the brother ofIris, goddess of therainbow, and half-brother to theharpies, the snatching winds. Since the river is in a foreign country, it is not clear whether they named the river after the god, or whether the godHydaspes was named after the river.
The river Jhelum rises from Verinag spring at the foot of thePir Panjal in the southeastern Kashmir Valley administered by India. It is joined by its tributaries
The Jhelum may have once flowed in a southeastern direction into the Chenab valley, which is the opposite of its present course.[20] Some evidence of this is that some of the present tributaries of the Jhelum join it in a direction opposite to the present course of the river and the greater topographical maturity of the Chenab valley compared to the Jhelum valley.[20]
Victoria Bridge,Haranpur, constructed in 1973, approximate 5 km fromMalakwal nearChak Nizam village. Its length is 1 km, mainly used byPakistan Railways, but there is a passage for light vehicles, motorcycles, cycles and pedestrians on one side.
The river has rich power generation potential in India. Water control structures are being built as a result of theIndus Basin Project, including the following:
Karot Hydropower Project, 720 MW, concrete-core rockfill gravity large dam in Pakistan was completed in 2022.[33]
Mangla Dam, 1070 MW, 7278 MCM, completed in 1967, is one of the largestearth-fill dams in the world.
Rasul Barrage, 22 MW, constructed in 1967, has a maximum flow of 850,000 ft³/s (24,000 m³/s).
Trimmu Barrage, 1263 MW, constructed in 1939 20 km from Jhang city at the confluence with the Chenab, has maximum discharge capacity of 645,000 ft³/s (18,000 m³/s).
^Shahbaz, Anjum Sultan (2003).Tārīkh-i Jihlam (in Urdu). Main Bazar, Jhelum: Buk Kārnar [Book Corner].OCLC60589679.
^Vedakumārī (1991).Studies in phonetics and phonology: with special reference to Dogri (1. publ ed.). New Delhi: Ariana Publ. House. pp. 45–47.ISBN978-81-85347-20-2.
^"Punjab Portal". Retrieved12 June 2024.or Vehat, the latter name being more common towards the south of the district.
^(a particular measure of length defined either as a long span between the extended thumb and little finger, or as the distance between the wrist and the tip of the fingers, and said to be about 9 inches
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