Question

What is the ancient name for the river Sutlej?
A. Askini
B. Vitasta
C. Shutudri
D. Parushni

Answer 1

Hint: Sutlej is one of the famous rivers in northern India. It is one of the five rivers which gives the name ‘Punjab’ which means the land of five rivers. Sutlej enters India near Shipki La Pass and after travelling through many Himalayan valleys, it joins with Beas River in Punjab and later with Chenab in Pakistan before landing into Indus.

Complete step by step answer:
Sutlej River is the longest of the five tributaries of the Indus River in Punjab (meaning “Five Rivers”) which gives it the name. It originates from the Himalayas, in Lake La’nga situated in southwestern Tibet, above 15,000 feet (4,600 meters) from sea level. Flowing in the northwest direction and later moving in the west-southwest through Himalayan gorges, it crosses Himachal Pradesh before starting its journey through the Punjab plain by entering near Nangal region. Later it joins with the Beas River and forms 65 miles (105 km) of the India-Pakistan border and enters Pakistan and flows another 220 miles (350 km) to join the Chenab River in Bahawalpur. All these combined rivers then form the Panjnad, a link between the Five Rivers and the Indus. There is proof to indicate that before 1700 BC the Sutlej was an important tributary of the Ghaggar-Hakra River (Sarasvati River) rather than the Indus. According to Geologists, tectonic activity produced changes in elevation which changed the direction of flow in Sutlej from the southeast to the southwest. This diversion of the river may have been responsible for the Ghaggar-Hakra (Saraswati) drying up; However, the Sutlej may have already been captured by the Indus thousands of years earlier. In Rigveda, the Sutlej river is mentioned as Sutudri, Shutudri river.

So, the correct answer is Option :

Note: Sutlej river houses one of the biggest and oldest hydropower projects in Bhakra Nangal in Himachal Pradesh. The reservoir is known as the Gobind Sagar reservoir. Karcham Wangtoo Hydroelectric Project near the villages of Karcham and Wangtoo is also situated in Sutlej river.