Chenab River is formed by the confluence of the Chandra and Bhaga rivers at Tandi located in the upper Himalayas, in the Lahaul district of Himachal Pradesh, India. In its upper reaches it is also known as the Chandrabhaga. It flows through the Jammu region of Jammu and Kashmir into the plains of the Punjab, forming the boundary between the Rechna and Jech interfluves (Doabs in Farsi). It is joined by the Jhelum River at Trimmu, and then by the Ravi River. It then merges with the Sutlej River at Uch Sharif to form the Panjnad ('Five Rivers'), which joins the Indus at Mithankot. The total length of the Chenab is approximately 960 kilometers. The waters of the Chenab are allocated to Pakistan under the terms of the Indus Waters Treaty.
The river was known to Indians in Vedic period as Asikni or Iskmati and as Acesines to the Ancient Greeks. In 325 BC, Alexander the Great allegedly founded the town of Alexandria on Indus (present day Uch Sharif or Mithankot or Chacharan) at the confluence of the Indus and the combined stream of Punjab rivers (currently known as the Panjnad River).
The Chenab has the same place in the consciousness of the people of the Punjab, as, say the Rhine holds for the Germans, or the Danube for the Austrians and the Hungarians. It is the iconic river around which Punjabi consciousness revolves, and plays a prominent part in the tale of Heer Ranjha, the Punjabi national epic.