Jhang District
Jhang District is a district of Faisalabad division in the Punjab province, Pakistan. Jhang is the capital and administrative seat of the district.
Geography
Jhang District has a triangle-like shape, with its apex at the narrow southwestern corner and its base on the northeastern side. The district is traversed by two major rivers, the Jhelum and the Chenab. The Chenab, generally flowing towards the southwest, runs right down the middle of the district, practically dividing the district into two equal parts. The Jhelum enters Jhang District to the west of the Chenab and flows almost due south until it meets the Chenab at a place called Domel. The combined river takes the name Chenab, and leaves the district just to the east of the far southwestern corner of that triangle.The geography of the Jhang district can be divided into several regions, based on the course of its two major rivers. First is the Hithar, or lowland areas that get flooded annually by the rivers. Next, there are three distinct upland areas: the Sandal Bar, to the east of the Chenab, the Kirana Bar, between the rivers, and the Thal, which is to the west of the Jhelum. These are high plateaus which slope down to the river valleys on either side. Finally, between the Hithar lowlands and the Bar and Thal uplands, there is an intermediate zone called the Utar. Each of these zones — Hithar, Utar, and the uplands — represent a different period of geological formation, with the uplands being the oldest, and they are all of alluvial origins.
Uplands
Historically, the upland zones were mostly inhabited by pastoralists who grazed their herds on the wide plains here. They lived in temporary habitations of thatched huts and moved around frequently. Under the British Raj, most of this land was held directly by the government.The [Sandal Bar]
The easternmost upland area is the Sandal Bar. In the northern parts of the district, the Sandal Bar "rises abruptly from the Utar, and the summit of the dividing ledge is from 10 to 30 feet above the plain below." This sudden rise gradually lessens further south, until eventually there is no clear distinction between the Bar and the Utar. The quality of the soil generally decreases towards the south, with Kallar plains more frequent, and the better types of grass such as dhaman also become rarer.The [Kirana Bar]
The Kirana Bar, which is named after the Kirana Hills, is part of the Chaj Doab between the Chenab and Jhelum rivers. Like the Sandal Bar, the Kirana Bar is generally separated from the Utar by a distinct ridge, called the Nakka. The flora is also similar between the two regions. However, the Kirana Bar has more fertile land than the Sandal Bar, and light rain showers can leave the Kirana Bar "carpeted with grass". The soil quality deteriorates to the west of the Kirana Hills, towards the Jhelum river, and more kallar soil is found.The Thal">Thal Desert">Thal
Not much of the Thal is included in Jhang District, although the district boundary juts out further to include more of it south of the road connecting Jhang with Dera Ismail Khan. The Thal is an elevated plateau like the Bars but with one major difference — it is almost completely covered in sand dunes, and the underlying soil only pokes out in patches. The main colour of the soil here is a light reddish brown. Well-based agriculture is done in other parts of the Thal closer to the Indus, but due to the lack of access to water, there is little to no cultivation in the parts of the Thal included in Jhang district. For the most part, this part of the Thal is a wasteland, dominated by rolling sand hills that run parallel to each other. These are interspersed with occasional patches of good soil studded with pilu bushes, which along with some trees form just about the only greenery in sight. Grass does grow abundantly after a good rain, but good rains only happen rarely.Utar
The Utar zone is very important from a human perspective because it contains most of the district's settlements. The characteristics of this zone vary somewhat between several different areas:Utar of the Sandal Bar
This area varies in width from 4 to 16 miles, with the average usually being about 8 miles wide. As with the Sandal Bar and the district as a whole, the soil gradually gets worse towards the south. In general, the area closest to the river bank is the most fertile, with almost continuous areas of cultivation. There are lots of wells for irrigation, each one surrounded by a cluster of trees. Going further east, the wells become less frequent and they are interspersed by patches of wasteland. Beyond this is the area where cattle graze. Closest to the border with the Bar, the distance to water is far, and the fertility of this area varies heavily depending on rainfall. Farmers try to bring rainwater down from the Bar uplands.Towards the southern end of the district, good grassland becomes less common, and trees become mostly absent except in some depressions where water collects when it rains. The Chenab itself widens out in the south, and the Utar becomes more narrow. Traces of river action are more common here, with more depressions and sand dunes. At the far southern end of the district is a distinct area formed by relatively recent river activity; the soil here is light and sandy, and the water table is very high and close to the surface. Areas here that are not under cultivated are covered by a dense growth of sar grass.
Utar of the Kirana Bar
For the most part, the Utar on the west side of the Chenab is the same as the Utar on the east. There is a similar band of well-based agriculture on this side. Further west, in the Shah Jiwana taluka, the landscape changes to become either partially covered by sparse sar grass or otherwise bare kallar plains.The lowest part of the triangle between the Jhelum and the Chenab is called the Vichanh, which "may be described as a dorsal ridge, covered with efflorescent saltpetre, between the fertile low-lying alluvial lands of the two rivers." This area has exceptionally sour soil and it extends as far south as Kadirpur Bakhsha.
The Utar between the Jhelum and the Kirana Bar, in the area around Kot Isa Shah, is arguably the most fertile part of the district. Agriculture flourishes here, and there are plenty of trees for some distance away from the river. To the east, farther away from the Jhelum, is an infertile zone with lots of kallar, and then comes the Kirana Bar. No clear high ridge separates this part of the Kirana Bar from the Utar. The kallar plains of the border area are interspersed by some patches of fertile soil, such as the one around the village of Bhairo.
Thal-Jhelum Utar (aka the Kachhi)
The Utar between the Thal and the Jhelum is also called the Kachhi, which refers to "a country that is contained within some strongly marked boundary, here the Thal." The name is unrelated to the Urdu word kachcha meaning "unripe" or "unformed". The Kachhi only really exists south of the village of Sherowana — north of here, the Jhelum flows right next to the Thal. South of Sherowana, though, the Kachhi is about 9 miles wide and does not get inundated by the Jhelum's floods.A distinct feature of the Kachhi is the absence of grass. The soil is clayey, and water does not penetrate it but instead drains off into depressions. The salts left behind prevent the growth of plants, and the surface is barren as a result. The Kachhi does, however, support a "stunted forest" of jal bushes close to the Thal, and karir closer to the river.
Hithar
The upper Chenab valley
The upper Chenab Valley, before receiving the waters of the Jhelum at the Domel, is "a broad shallow stream, with a sluggish current and a licentious course. Its deposits are sandy, but its flood is extensive, and from the loose texture of the soil on its banks, the moisture penetrates far inland." The upper Chenab is contained between two well-defined banks and it rarely spills over them except at certain known points. The width between these two banks varies significantly throughout the river's course. In areas where the banks are fairly close together, the whole area between them is reliably flooded each year. In areas where the river has eroded more of the Utar and the banks are farther apart, however, the flood patterns are less predictable. In these places, in order to ensure that the water floods fields, people set up embankments across the nalas to raise the water level. The deposits left behind by the Chenab are usually very sandy, and they usually require successive deposits of silt in order to become good for agriculture. This tendency has led to a saying, "it takes gold and gives copper." The upper Chenab has "enormous powers of erosion" but it works slowly, and its flooding is fairly regular.The Jhelum valley
Compared to the Chenab River, the Jhelum River contains a much smaller volume of water, and it flows in a much narrower channel. Since it is a fairly narrow river, islands are uncommon. The Jhelum floods a smaller area than the Chenab, but its deposits are much richer: more mud and less sand. A deposit of Jhelum silt can yield a good rice crop in its first year, unlike the Chenab. The zone on the banks of the Jhelum is "fertile, well wooded, densely cultivated, and supports a larger population than any other portion of the district."The lower Chenab valley
Immediately downstream from the Domel, the lower Chenab begins to flood a much larger area. Large islands form much more frequently than they do upstream. There are many channels of the river that are dry during cold weather and fill up with water whenever the water level rises. A thick lai jangal grows along the riverbank, mixed with patches of cropland. Between this band and the boundary of the Utar zone is the alluvial plain flooded by the river each year. This area is heavily cultivated, mostly for Rabi crops — generally only higher, lighter soils are used to grow autumn crops. The soil in this zone ranges from stiff clay to sand, but usually tends to be a light loam, "easily worked and retentive of moisture."Below Shorkot, the Utar recedes, and instead of a relatively narrow band of Hithar lowlands, there is a wide floodplain with many channels that carry floodwaters inland. There is a narrow band of rich sailab land along the riverbank. Beyond this, higher ground and patches of sandy sar-covered wasteland become common. Wells for irrigation also become more common farther away from the river.