Beas River
river in north India
The Beas River, anglicized from Vyas River (Hindi: व्यास नदी) in India, is a river in northwestern India, flowing through the states of Himachal Pradesh and Punjab, and is the smallest of the five major rivers of the Punjab region. Rising in the Himalayas in central Himachal Pradesh, the river flows for approximately 470 kilometres (290 mi) into the Sutlej River in Punjab. Its total length is 470 kilometres (290 mi) and its drainage basin is 20,303 square kilometres (7,839 sq mi) large.
As of 2017, the river is home to a tiny isolated population of the Indus dolphin.
Etymology
Rig-veda calls the river Vipāś, which means unfettered,
in later Sanskrit texts it's been called Vipāśā विपाशा. Yāska identifies it with Argrikiya.
According to legends,Veda Vyasa, the author of the Indian epic Mahabharata, is the eponym of the river Beas; he is said to have created it from its source lake, the Beas Kund.
According to other legends, before Veda Vyasa, the Vipasa river was known as Saraswati. Rishi Vashishta, the great-grandfather of Vyasa, tried to jump into this river from an overlooking hillock, to sacrifice his soul. He tied himself with several cords to drown himself.
The public source identifies “Beas River” as river in north India. This brief keeps that definition visible, then builds a research path around Beas, River and river.
Why this record matters
A short description can identify a subject without explaining its stakes. For “Beas River”, the useful work is to connect “river in north India” to the records capable of establishing context and consequence.
Place names and jurisdictional language are key evidence: both can reveal earlier catalogue descriptions and overlooked record series. The source revision retrieved here is dated Aug 16, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q319590. VIAF identifies the subject as 315527839. The Library of Congress control number is sh94001828. Authority coordinates are 32.353, 77.091. 3 of 5 selected statements include explicit references; 3 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 2017.
A single description cannot reconcile every naming convention, rebuilding phase or administrative transfer associated with a place. The source lead contains qualifying language; that uncertainty should survive quotation, summary and reuse. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
How to read it
Treat names, boundaries and functions as historically changeable. Maps, plans, inventories and administrative records can clarify what the place meant at different dates.
- Historic place names
- Jurisdictional context
- Routes into maps and plans
Contemporary maps, plans, listed-building records, estate papers and the responsible local or national archive.
Three-step research path
- Establish the record: confirm the title “Beas River”, its source revision and the description used here.
- Expand the search: follow Beas River primary sources, Beas River archive and Beas research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
- Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.
Questions for further research
- Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Beas River”?
- Which earlier names or jurisdictions may reveal additional records?
- What physical evidence or contemporary plan supports the description?
Search terms from this dossier
This entry incorporates text from “Beas River” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.