ABSTRACT
The Punjab plain is divided up into a number of doabs , or stretches of land lying between two rivers or tributaries. The elevated land in the centre of the doab is referred to as the bar, which consists of old alluvial soil and is the oldest level of deposition of the existing drainage system. East Pakistan has a humid, hot climate, with a very heavy rainfall which causes the rivers to flood and saturate hundreds of square miles of surrounding land. The soil is kept fertile by the silt which is deposited each year; and the fresh land areas, formed by the deposits of silt and sand in the river beds, are called chars or diaras , or flood-plain islands. The oils obtained from the great variety of oil-seeds which are grown are used for various purposes, from fuel in lamps to essential ingredients in cooking and in the manufacture of sweets.
