In "The Empire and Expeditions of Alexander the Great" (1833. Retrieved 2013) there is a discussion of the The Beas River (in north India) which marks the eastern-most border of Alexander the Great's conquests in 326 BC.
The Beas River is a powerful river, a river to behold!! Said I when I felt it gushing past me and all around me: "such an angry river this is" and angry it was!!
The Beas rises in the Himalayas in central Himachal Pradesh, India, and flows for some 470 kilometres!!! Just imagine!! (290 mi) to the Sutlej River in the Indian state of Punjab.
Interestingly the Beas was the river which created problems in Alexander's invasion of India. His troops mutinied here in 326 BCE, refusing to go any further; they had been away from home for eight years. Alexander shut himself in his tent for three days, but when his men did not change their desires he gave in.
In the 20th Century, it is this same Beas river which was developed under the Beas Project for irrigation and hydroelectric power generation purposes.The second-phase Pong Dam was completed in 1974 followed by the first-phase 140 km (87 mi) upstream,Pandoh Dam in 1977. I got a chance to see this dam just recently. And here it is, the absolutely fantastic Pandoh Dam in all it's glory:
How minuscule one feels in the splendor of nature.......More soon, from the glorious land of the glorious River Beas....the capital in the river as it is not just a river it is a River and the emphasis it deserve like no other!!
