372 H. G. Raverty —The Mihrdn of Sind and its Tributaries. [Ex. No. 
The Bia'h—the ancient Bipasha or Wipashah . 369 
Abu-l-Fazl, in the A’in-i-Akbari, says very little about this river, 
but mentions that its old name was Bipasba (b£U>). The Kkulasat-ut- 
Tawarikh says, “ It passes Hindann; and, after flowing beyond tlie 
villages dependent on Nur-pur, enters into the plain country of the 
Panj-ab. It then passes by Kano Wa-han (e^fj ^K), 370 where is the 
royal ferry, flows by Rahllah; and below the town of Gobind-Wal 
and the bounds of Dih-Wal, near the mauza ’ of Loh ( unites 
with the Sutlaj, after which it runs past Firuz-pur and Muhammad-ot. 37L 
Between this and Debal-pur, the united streams again separate into 
three branches, one of which is but a minor one. One of the two main 
branches turns towards the south, and is again known as the Sutlaj ; 
while the other, which continues its course towards Debal-pur, retains 
the name of Biah. The intermediate or minor branch, known as the 
Dandah, passes by Kabulah 372 [a little to the north of it], Kha’e 
Bulidhi, and north of Fath-pur, Kuliror, and Lodhran, tow r ards 
Jalal-pur, when it again unites with the other two, and near which, 
after having flowed apart for near one hundred huroh, the two main 
branches again unite into one stream, and receive the name of Ghallii- 
F69 Jt was probably out of this word that the Greeks made their name of 
“ Hyphasis.” 
The traditions current in the northern Panj-ab mention, what history confirms, 
that, until within comparatively recent times, the rivers Biah and Sutlaj ran separ¬ 
ately as far down as the extremity of the Multan province. Another tradition 
mentions that near the extremity of the Siwalikh hills, in the sub-district of Do- 
suhah (“ Doosooyuh ” of the maps) of the Hoshyar-pur district, where a high, rocky 
ridge juts out into the plain, which ridge is known as mandoi , the river Biah, in 
anoient times, flowed immediately under. 
870 When Babar Badshah orossed the Biah in 932 H. (November, 1526 A.D.) 
on his advance towards Mal-o^, also called Bhojpur Mal-ot, it flowed close to Kano 
Wk-han, where its high bank is well defined still, but the Biah now flows nearly five 
miles farther east. Kano Wa-han is some thirteen miles to the north-westwards of 
the ancient town of Do-suhah. It appears in our maps as “ Kanhwan” ! 
For the meaning of Wa-han see a note on the subject farther on. 
871 This place appears in the maps and Gazetteers as “Mumdot” and “Mara- 
dot.” The termination is the same as that in the name of Ohandan-ot or Oh,andani. 
o\ on the Ohin-6b The Hindi vEsjt— ot —signifying ‘protection,’ ‘shelter,’ ‘covering 
and the like, was, in this instanoe, affixed to a Musalman’s name. In Abu-l-Fazl’ 
time, Muhammad-ot belonged to the Khokhars (always mistaken for “ Gickers, 
“ Gukkurs,” and so on) and Bhatis, hence the compound word ; and it was the chief 
place giving name to one of the mahdlls of the Berun-i-Panch Nad district of the 
Debal-pur sarlcar of the Multan subah, as were, likewise, ’Alam-pur, Jalal-abad 
Firuz-pur, Lakhhi Kabulah, etc, 
87i See page 296. 
