A 'Doab', meaning "two waters" or "two rivers" in
Persian, is a term used in
India and
Pakistan for a "tongue" or tract of land lying between two confluent rivers.
[ Oxford English Dictionary. 2nd Edition. 1989. ]
In Pakistan and Northern India
The Punjab region

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.
Uttar Pradesh
'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, extending from the
Shiwalik Range to the rivers' confluence at
Allahabad. This well-irrigated region is the greatest wheat growing area of the state.
The Doab has an area of about 23,360 square miles (60,500 square km). It lies between the Ganges and Yamuna rivers. The doab is about 500 miles (800 km) in length and 60 miles (100 km) in width.
The Doab can be described as the cradle of the Indian civilisation. It figures strongly in
Vedic history and myth. When the Aryans advanced from Punjab, they first settled in the Doab along the Ganga river till Prayag. The Doab is the home of many of the earliest Vedic cities and states; the epic
Mahabharata is set in the Doab, revolving around the city of
Hastinapur. And the holy city of Prayag is also situated here at the confluence of the holiest rivers for Hindus, the Ganga and Yamuna.
The following districts form part of the Doab:
Dehradun,
Rishikesh,
Saharanpur,
Muzaffarnagar,
Meerut,
Delhi,
Ghaziabad,
Gautam Buddha Nagar,
Bulandshahar,
Mathura,
Aligarh,
Etah,
Agra,
Mainpuri,
Etawah,
Farrukhabad,
Kanpur,
Fatehpur,
Kaushambi and
Allahabad.
In 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.