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Kuru kingdom, and pre-Harappan Hakra/Shutudri-Yamuna paleochannels as proposed by and .1 = ancient river2 = today's river3 = today's Thar desert4 = ancient shore5 = today's shore6 = today's town7 = dried-up Harappan Hakra course, and pre-Harappan Sutlej paleochannels (). Identification of Rigvedic hydronyms has engaged multiple historians; it is the single most important way of establishing the geography and chronology of the early
Vedic period. Rivers with certain identifications stretch from
Hindu Kush to the western
Gangetic plain, clustering in the Sapta Sindhu region (modern day
Punjab and surrounding regions). The Rigveda mentions the
sapta-sindhavaḥ (, seven rivers), along with other rivers: {{Blockquote
Sapta-sindhavaḥ is cognate with
Avestan hapta həndu, and is interpreted as referring to Punjab. The region's name comes from پنج,
panj, 'five' and آب,
āb, 'water' thus "
five waters", a Persian calque of the
Sanskrit Pancha-nada meaning "five rivers". The same names were often imposed on different rivers as the Vedic culture migrated
Hindu Kush (where they stayed for a considerable time) to the subcontinent via Sapta Sindhu. ==List of rivers==