Soan River
Encyclopedia
Urdu
Urdu is a register of the Hindustani language that is identified with Muslims in South Asia. It belongs to the Indo-European family. Urdu is the national language and lingua franca of Pakistan. It is also widely spoken in some regions of India, where it is one of the 22 scheduled languages and an...
: سواں), Sawan or Sohan River is a river in Punjab
Punjab (Pakistan)
Punjab is the most populous province of Pakistan, with approximately 45% of the country's total population. Forming most of the Punjab region, the province is bordered by Kashmir to the north-east, the Indian states of Punjab and Rajasthan to the east, the Pakistani province of Sindh to the...
, Pakistan
Pakistan
Pakistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan is a sovereign state in South Asia. It has a coastline along the Arabian Sea and the Gulf of Oman in the south and is bordered by Afghanistan and Iran in the west, India in the east and China in the far northeast. In the north, Tajikistan...
.
Location and Geography
The Soan River is an important stream of the Pothohar region of PakistanPakistan
Pakistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan is a sovereign state in South Asia. It has a coastline along the Arabian Sea and the Gulf of Oman in the south and is bordered by Afghanistan and Iran in the west, India in the east and China in the far northeast. In the north, Tajikistan...
. It drains much of the water of Pothohar. It starts near a small village Bun in the foothills of Patriata
Patriata
Patriata also known as New Murree is a hill station in northern Punjab, Pakistan. It is situated 15 km south-east of Murree hill. - Location :Patriata is located in Murree Tehsil which is a subdivision of Rawalpindi District....
and Murree
Murree
Murree city is a popular hill station and a summer resort, especially for the residents of Rawalpindi/Islamabad, and for the cities of the province of Punjab, Pakistan...
. It provides water to Simly Dam
Simly Dam
Simly Dam is an 80m high earthen embankment dam on the Soan River, 30 km east of Islamabad and Rawalpindi. It is the largest reservoir of drinking water to people living in Islamabad, the capital of Pakistan. The water stored in this dam is fed by the melting snow & natural springs of Murree...
, which is the water reservoir for Islamabad
Islamabad
Islamabad is the capital of Pakistan and the tenth largest city in the country. Located within the Islamabad Capital Territory , the population of the city has grown from 100,000 in 1951 to 1.7 million in 2011...
. Near Pharwala
Pharwala
Pharwala is a historic fort located about 40 km from Rawalpindi in Punjab, Pakistan. It is naturally defended by one side by a small Himalayan range and the other by the Swaan River. It is a Gakhar fort built in the 15th century on the ruins of a 10th century Hindu Shahi Fort...
Fort it cuts through a high mountain range, a wonderful natural phenomenon called Soan Cut. No stream can cut such a high mountain, which proves that the Soan was there before the formation of this range. And as the mountain rose through millions of years, the stream continued its path by cutting the rising mountain. Ling stream
Ling stream
Ling stream flows in the Pothohar region of Northern Pakistan. It starts in the foothills of Lhetrar area near Kahuta and flowing and cutting its way through the hilly area it meets the Swaan River near Sehala. The road that joins Islamabad and Azad Kashmir passes it twice. Kingfisher hunts its fish....
, following a relatively long course through Lehtrar and Kahuta
Kahuta
Kahuta is a town and tehsil in the Rawalpindi District of Pakistan's Punjab Province. According to Pakistan's 2008 census, Kahuta tehsil has a population of approximately 160,000....
falls in the Soan near Sihala
Sihala
Sihala is a town and union council in the Islamabad Capital Territory of Pakistan, situated to the east of Islamabad, the Pakistani capital. This place is situated at geographical coordinates are 33° 42' 0" North, 73° 0' 0" East and its original name is Sihāla. The Soan River flows through Sihala...
on southern side of Village Gagri
Gagri
Gagri is a village in Sihala unian council of the Islamabad Capital Territory. The village is further divided into dhoks which are Gagri Mirzian, Gagri Jatal, Dhoke Shian, Pind Gagri, Bhandar, Dhoke Rajput, Dhoke Darzian and Nai Abadi Bhandar....
/Bhandar.
Islamabad Highway crosses this stream near Sihala
Sihala
Sihala is a town and union council in the Islamabad Capital Territory of Pakistan, situated to the east of Islamabad, the Pakistani capital. This place is situated at geographical coordinates are 33° 42' 0" North, 73° 0' 0" East and its original name is Sihāla. The Soan River flows through Sihala...
where the famous Cock Pull bridge is constructed over it. The Ling Stream joins the Soan river just before the Cock Pull. Another famous stream, the Lai stream, joins this stream near Soan Camp. After following a tortuous path along a big curve, the stream reaches Kalabagh
Kalabagh
Kalabagh a town and union council of Mianwali District in the Punjab province of Pakistan. It is located on the western bank of Indus River. It is the site of the proposed Kalabagh Dam. It is also famous for its red hills of the salt range and scenic view of the Indus River traversing through the...
where it falls into the Indus river
Indus River
The Indus River is a major river which flows through Pakistan. It also has courses through China and India.Originating in the Tibetan plateau of western China in the vicinity of Lake Mansarovar in Tibet Autonomous Region, the river runs a course through the Ladakh district of Jammu and Kashmir and...
. This relatively small stream is more than 250 kilometers long. Due to its mountainous course and shallow bed, it is hardly used for irrigation purposes. Rohu
Rohu
Rohi or Rohu is a fish of the carp family Cyprinidae, found commonly in rivers and freshwater lakes in and around South Asia and South-East Asia. It is a herbivore. It is treated as a delicacy in Bangladesh, Nepal and the Indian states of Orissa, Assam, West Bengal, Bihar and Uttar Pradesh...
is the main species of fish in this stream and Kingfisher
Kingfisher
Kingfishers are a group of small to medium sized brightly coloured birds in the order Coraciiformes. They have a cosmopolitan distribution, with most species being found in the Old World and Australia...
birds hunt here too.
History
The oldest evidence of human life (100,000 to 150,000 years ago) in PakistanPakistan
Pakistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan is a sovereign state in South Asia. It has a coastline along the Arabian Sea and the Gulf of Oman in the south and is bordered by Afghanistan and Iran in the west, India in the east and China in the far northeast. In the north, Tajikistan...
, Soan Culture, was found in the Soan River valley. The river has also been identified with the Sushoma River of the Rig Veda.
According to the major Vedic religious work Srimad Bhagavatam, the Sushoma is one of the many transcendental rivers flowing through the land of Bharata.