The river Asikni, mentioned in the Rigveda as part of the Sapta Sindhu, is the ancient name of the:

The early Vedic Aryans lived mainly in the region called "Sapta Sindhu", meaning "the land of seven rivers". This corresponds roughly to present-day Punjab (in India and Pakistan), Haryana and parts of Afghanistan. The Rigveda mentions about 40 rivers, and the Nadistuti Sukta (hymn in praise of rivers) in the tenth mandala lists many of them.

The Rigvedic names of rivers and their modern names are:

Sindhu: Indus. It is the most frequently mentioned river in the Rigveda.

Saraswati: identified by many scholars with the present-day Ghaggar-Hakra; it is described as the holiest river (Naditama, "best of rivers") in the Rigveda.

Drishadvati: Chautang (Ghaggar tributary).

Gomati: Gomal (in Afghanistan); Kubha: Kabul; Krumu: Kurram; Suvastu: Swat.

The Ganga is mentioned only once in the Rigveda, and the Yamuna three times. This shows that the early Vedic people lived mainly in the north-west. In the later Vedic period (about 1000-600 BCE), they moved eastward into the Ganga-Yamuna doab and beyond, and the Ganga became more important.

The Battle of Ten Kings, described in the seventh mandala of the Rigveda, was fought on the banks of the Parushni (Ravi). King Sudas of the Bharata clan, advised by the sage Vasishtha, defeated a confederacy of ten tribes. India's name "Bharat" is believed to come from the Bharata clan.

The Asikni (Chenab) gets its modern name from "Chandra" + "Bhaga", the two streams that join to form it in Himachal Pradesh. It is the largest tributary of the Indus.

Why not the other options?

• ✗The Jhelum was called the Vitasta.
• ✗The Ravi was called the Parushni or Iravati.
• ✗The Beas was called the Vipas.