Amu Darya - Wikipedia

The Amu Darya (/ˌ ɑː m uː ˈ d ɑːr j ə / AH-moo DAR-yə),[ a] (Persian: آمو دریا ) also shortened to Amu and historically known as the Oxus (/ˈ ɒ k s ə s / OK -səss),[ 2] [ b] is a major river in Central Asia, which flows through Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan and Afghanistan. Rising in the Pamir Mountains, north of the Hindu Kush, the Amu Darya is formed by the confluence of the Vakhsh and Panj rivers, in the Tigrovaya Balka Nature Reserve on the border between Afghanistan and Tajikistan, and flows from there north-westwards into the southern remnants of the Aral Sea. In its upper course, the river forms part of Afghanistan's northern border with Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, and Turkmenistan. In ancient history, the river was regarded as the boundary of Greater Iran with Turan, which roughly corresponded to present-day Central Asia.[ 3] The Amu Darya has a flow of about 70 cubic kilometres per year on average.[ 4]

In classical antiquity, the river was known as the Ōxus in Latin and Ὦξος (Ôxos ) in Greek — a clear derivative of Vakhsh, the name of the largest tributary of the river.[ 5] In Sanskrit texts, the river is also referred to as Vakṣu (वक्षु ). The Brahmanda Purana refers to the river as Chaksu which means 'an eye'.[citation needed ] The Avestan texts too refer to the river as Yakhsha/Vakhsha (and Yakhsha Arta ('Upper Yakhsha'), referring to the Jaxartes/Syr Darya twin river to Amu Darya). In Middle Persian sources of the Sasanian period the river is known as Wehrōd [ 3] (lit. 'good river').

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