Indus

views updated May 29 2018

Indus River of s Asia. It rises in the Kailas mountain range in Tibet, and flows wnw through the Jammu and Kashmir region of India, then sw through Pakistan and into the Arabian Sea. Semi-navigable along its shallow lower part, the river is used chiefly for irrigation and hydroelectric power. In its lower valley, there are traces of an urban civilization that flourished in the 3rd millennium bc. Length: c.3060km (1900mi).

Indus

views updated May 14 2018

Indus a river of southern Asia, flowing from Tibet through Kashmir and Pakistan to the Arabian Sea. Along its valley an early civilization flourished from c.2600 to 1760 bc, whose economic wealth was derived from well-attested sea and land trade with the rest of the Indian subcontinent. In the early 2nd millennium its power declined, probably because of incursions by the Aryans.