A Doab (Persian, Urdu: dō, lit. "two" + āb, lit. "water" or "river") is a term used in India and Pakistan for a "tongue" or tract of land lying between two confluent rivers.^[1]

India

A map of the Doab, shows the sub-regions, "Upper Doab," "Central or Middle Doab," and "Lower Doab."

The Doab, unqualified by the names of any rivers, designates the flat alluvial tract between the Ganges and Yamuna rivers in western and southwestern Uttar Pradesh state in India, extending from the Shiwalik range to the two rivers' confluence at Allahabad.

The Doab has an area of about 23,360 square miles (60,500 square km); it is approximately 500 miles (805 kilometers) in length and 60 miles (97 kilometers) in width.

The Doab figures prominently in history and myths of Vedic period; the epic Mahabharata, for example, is set in the Doab, around the city of Hastinapur.

The following districts form part of the Doab:

Upper Doab

Dehradun, Rishikesh, Saharanpur, Muzaffarnagar, Meerut, Delhi, Ghaziabad, Gautam Buddha Nagar, Bulandshahar

Central of Middle Doab

Mathura, Aligarh, Etah, Agra, Mainpuri, Etawah, Farrukhabad, Kanpur,

Lower Doab

Fatehpur, Kaushambi and Allahabad.

India

A map of the Punjab region from 1947 showing the different doabs.

Each of the tracts of land lying between the confluent rivers of the Punjab region of Pakistan and India (the Indus basin) has a distinct name, said to have been coined by Raja Todar Mal, a minister of the Mughal emperor Akbar. The names (except for 'Sindh Sagar') are a combination of the first letters, in the Persian alphabet, of the names of the rivers that bound the Doab. For example, Jech = 'Je'(Jhelum) + 'Ch'(Chenab). The names are (from west to east):

• Sind Sagar Doab - lies between the Indus and Jhelum River rivers.
• Jech Doab (also Chaj) Doab - between the Jhelum and the Chenab River.
• Rechna Doab - between the Chenab and the Ravi River.
• Bari Doab or Majha - between the Ravi and the Beas River.
• Bist Doab (also Jullundur Doab or Doaba) - between the Beas and the Sutlej River.

In addition, the tract of land lying between the Sutlej and the Yamuna river is sometimes called the Delhi doab, although, strictly speaking, it is not a doab, since its two bounding rivers, the Yamuna and Sutlej, are not confluent.

Southern India

The Raichur Doab is the triangular region of Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka states which lies between the Krishna River and its tributary the Tungabhadra River, named for the town of Raichur.

References

1. Oxford English Dictionary. 2nd Edition. 1989.