Gomal River ( ur, , ps, ګومل سیند، ګومل دریاب) is a river in

Afghanistan Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan,; prs, امارت اسلامی افغانستان is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. Referred to as the Heart of Asia, it is bordere ...

and

Pakistan Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 243 million people, and has the world's second-lar ...

. It rises in the northern part of Afghanistan's

Paktika Province Paktika ( Pashto/Dari: ) is one of the 34 provinces of Afghanistan, located in the eastern part of the country. Forming part of the larger Loya Paktia region, Paktika has a population of about 789,000, mostly ethnic Pashtuns. The town of Sharan ...

. It joins the

Indus River The Indus ( ) is a transboundary river of Asia and a trans-Himalayan river of South and Central Asia. The river rises in mountain springs northeast of Mount Kailash in Western Tibet, flows northwest through the disputed region of Kashmir ...

20 miles south of

Dera Ismail Khan Dera Ismail Khan (; bal, , Urdu and skr, , ps, ډېره اسماعيل خان), abbreviated as D.I. Khan, is a city and capital of Dera Ismail Khan District, located in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan. It is the 37th largest city of Pakistan ...

Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (; ps, خېبر پښتونخوا; Urdu, Hindko: خیبر پختونخوا) commonly abbreviated as KP or KPK, is one of the four provinces of Pakistan. Located in the northwestern region of the country, Khyber Pakhtunkhw ...

. The river lends its name to the Gomal University in Dera Ismail Khan and the like-named Gomal District in Paktika Province.

Etymology

The name ''Gomal'' is thought to have derived from the river ''Gomati'', which is mentioned in the ''

Rigveda The ''Rigveda'' or ''Rig Veda'' ( ', from ' "praise" and ' "knowledge") is an ancient Indian collection of Vedic Sanskrit hymns (''sūktas''). It is one of the four sacred canonical Hindu texts (''śruti'') known as the Vedas. Only one Sh ...

''.

Course

Gomal River's headwaters are located in the northern part of

, southeast of the city of

Ghazni Ghazni ( prs, غزنی, ps, غزني), historically known as Ghaznain () or Ghazna (), also transliterated as Ghuznee, and anciently known as Alexandria in Opiana ( gr, Αλεξάνδρεια Ωπιανή), is a city in southeastern Afghanistan ...

. The springs which form the headwaters of the Gomal's main branch emerge above the fort at Babakarkol in Katawaz, a district in Paktika inhabited by

Ghilji The Ghiljī ( ps, غلجي, ; fa, خیلجی, Xelji) also spelled Khilji, Khalji, or Ghilzai or Ghilzay (), are one of the largest Pashtun tribes. Their traditional homeland is Ghazni and Qalati Ghilji in Afghanistan but they have also settle ...

Pashtuns from the

Kharoti The Kharoti (Pashto: خروټی) are a Pashtun tribe of Ghilji origin, originating in the central part of Paktika Province, Afghanistan, but can be also found in other parts of the country. The Kharoti settled in Kharotabad in Quetta, British In ...

and

Sulaimankhel The Sulaimankhel ( ps, سليمان خېل), or Suleiman Khel, are a Pashtun sub-tribe of the Ghilji tribe of Bettani confederation of Pashtuns, Mostly Nomadic People. In the early 20th century, the tribe was recognised as generally pastoral. ...

clans. The Gomal's other branch, the "Second Gomal", joins the main channel about 14 miles below its source. The Gomal flows southeast through the eastern Ghilji country before entering Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan.MacGregor, pp. 308-9''Gazetteer of Afghanistan VI'' (Farah), fourth ed., Calcutta, 1908, p. 238 Within Pakistan, the Gomal River forms the boundary between

South Waziristan South Waziristan District ( ps, سويلي وزیرستان ولسوالۍ, ur, ) was a district in Dera Ismail Khan Division of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa before splitting in to Lower South Waziristan District and Upper South Waziristan District and ...

and

Balochistan Balochistan ( ; bal, بلۏچستان; also romanised as Baluchistan and Baluchestan) is a historical region in Western and South Asia, located in the Iranian plateau's far southeast and bordering the Indian Plate and the Arabian Sea coastline ...

. After approximately 110 miles from its source, it merges with the

Zhob River Zhob River ( ps, ږوب سيند; ) is located in Balochistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan. The total length of the Zhob River is 410 km, and it flows on a generally northeasterly course. Etymology In the Pashto language, ''Zhob'' means ...

, its major tributary, near Khajuri Kach. It is about 100 miles from the Zhob River to the

. The river enters the Gomal Valley in

Tank District Tank District ( ps, ټانک ولسوالۍ, ur, '; skr, ') is a district in Dera Ismail Khan Division of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province in Pakistan. The city of Tank is the capital of the district, which consists of Union Council City I and U ...

at a place known as Girdavi, which is inhabited by the Miani Pashtuns. It is mainly here that the water of Gomal is used to cultivate the lands in the Gomal Valley through Zam System (

Rod Koh Rod Koh or Rod Kohi ( fa, راد کوہ) is a form of irrigation system in Pakistan. ''Rod'' means ''channel'' and ''Koh'' means ''mountain'' in Persian. The Rod Kohi system based on Kulyat Riwajat (Fromulae and Traditions) which governed the irri ...

i). The river passes then through the Damaan plain in

Kulachi Tehsil Kulachi Tehsil is a tehsil located in Dera Ismail Khan District, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan.Dera Ismail Khan Tehsil Dera Ismail Khan Tehsil is a tehsil located in Dera Ismail Khan District, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan.Dera Ismail Khan Dera Ismail Khan (; bal, , Urdu and skr, , ps, ډېره اسماعيل خان), abbreviated as D.I. Khan, is a city and capital of Dera Ismail Khan District, located in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan. It is the 37th largest city of Pakistan ...

Gomal Zam Dam

The daming of this river at Khajuri Kachh was envisaged as back as 1898, even after its administrative approval by the Government of Pakistan in 1963. Work on the

Gomal Zam Dam Gomal Zam Dam ( ur, ) is a multi-purpose gravity dam in South Waziristan Tribal District of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan. The dam impounds the Gomal River, a tributary of the Indus River, at Khjori Kach, where the Gomal River passes through a na ...

was stopped in 1965; not to restart till 2001 during the rule of

Pervez Musharraf General Pervez Musharraf ( ur, , Parvez Muśharraf; born 11 August 1943) is a former Pakistani politician and four-star general of the Pakistan Army who became the tenth president of Pakistan after the successful military takeover of the ...

.The Nation, Lahore, August 28; 2001 and Tareekh i Sarzameen i Gomal ; National Book Foundation Islamabad P- 433-34 while it was opened and inaugurated in 2013. There is also a street in E-7,

Islamabad Islamabad (; ur, , ) is the capital city of Pakistan. It is the country's ninth-most populous city, with a population of over 1.2 million people, and is federally administered by the Pakistani government as part of the Islamabad Capital ...

called the "Gomal Road".

Notes

External links

Gomal River
marked on the OpenStreetMap *https://web.archive.org/web/20071026033718/http://www.khyber.org/places/2005/TheGomalRiver.shtml {{- Rivers of Afghanistan Rivers of Balochistan (Pakistan) Rivers of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Tributaries of the Indus River International rivers of Asia Rigvedic rivers Landforms of Ghazni Province Landforms of Paktika Province Rivers of Pakistan

Etymology

Course

Gomal Zam Dam

See also

Notes

Further reading

External links