The Source of Brahmaputra

The Brahmaputra is one of the world’s biggest rivers, ranking sixth in average flow. At 5300 metres, the river begins in the Himalayan Kailash mountains. Starting from Tibet, it flows into the Indian states of Arunachal Pradesh and Assam, then enters Bangladesh and finally falls into the Bay of Bengal. It is significant for irrigation and transportation in the area. The upper course of the Brahmaputra remained unknown for a long time, and its connection to the Yarlung Tsangpo was only confirmed in 1884–86. The river is also known by the name of Tsangpo-Brahmaputra. The Brahmaputra is a Sanskrit word that means ‘son of god’.

Source of the Brahmaputra River

The river starts from the Angsi Glacier in Burang County, Tibet, in the north of the Himalayas. The Chemayungdung glacier, which spans the Himalayan slopes approximately 97 kilometres southeast of Lake Manasarovar in southwestern Tibet, was once assumed to be the river’s source. The river flows east between the mountain range of the Himalayas to the south and the Kailash Range to the north for almost 1,100 kilometres from its source. 

According to the latest data, the river is 3,969 kilometres long with a drainage area of 712,035 km2. However, previous papers indicated that its length ranged from 2,916 to 3,364 kilometres, with a drainage area of 520,000 to 1.73 million km2.

Brahmaputra River Map

After flowing through Tibet’s Pi (Pe), the river abruptly swings north and northeast, cutting a path through a series of enormous and narrow valleys between the steep ranges of Gyala Peri and Namcha Barwa. The river then swings south and southwest, flowing through a valley (the “Yarlung Tsangpo Grand Canyon”) that cuts through the Himalayas’ eastern extremity, with canyon walls extending upward for 5,000 metres and more on either side. 

The Tsangpo receives a number of tributaries in Tibet, primarily the Raka Zangbo and the Lhasa. During that section, the river crosses the real control line between China and India, entering northern Arunachal Pradesh as the Dihang river and turning southerly. 

As it flows into Assam, it moves from the highlands, turning southeast and descending into a valley. The river bends southwest again about west of Sadiya, where it is joined by two mountain streams, the Lohit and the Dibang. The river receives multiple quickly flowing Himalayan tributaries during its 700 km run across the valley. From the mountainside, the Burhi Dihing, the Disang, the Dikhu, and the Kopili are the primary tributaries.

Between Dibrugarh and Lakhimpur Districts, the river is separated into the northern Kherkutia channel and the southern Brahmaputra channel. About 100 kilometres downstream, the two channels reunite, making Majuli Island the world’s biggest river island. The Brahmaputra flows through the Shillong Plateau rocks in Guwahati. It runs near the Hajo pilgrimage site and is at its narrowest at 1 km bank-to-bank.

One of the Brahmaputra’s main tributaries, the Teesta River, joins it in Bangladesh. The Brahmaputra separates into two distributary branches below the Tista. The Jamuna, which carries most of the river’s flow, continues south before merging with the lower Ganga, known as the Padma River. The lower or Old Brahmaputra is the eastern branch, which was formerly the bigger but is now considerably smaller. Near Dhaka, it turns southeast to join the Meghna River. Near Chandpur, the Padma and Meghna confluence runs into the Bay of Bengal.

Brahmaputra Basin

The Brahmaputra river has a basin area of around 651 km2, and it is a braided river that meanders a lot and regularly generates temporary sand bars. The Jamuna River has generated a zone of intense tectonic activity linked to Himalayan uplift and the creation of the Bengal foredeep. 

The underlying structural control on the placement of Bangladesh’s major river systems has been suggested by several scholars. The deepening of the Bengal Basin has resulted in massive sediment accumulations fed by Himalayan erosion, with the thickness of sediment above the Precambrian bedrock growing from a few hundred metres in the shelf region to over 18 kilometres in the Bengal foredeep to the south. The continuous subsidence in the Bengal Basin, along with high rates of Himalayan uplift, established the geological and climatic environment for substantial water and sediment flows in Bangladesh’s rivers. 

The regulation of uplift and subsidence, on the other hand, is obvious. Because the raised terraces of the Barind and Madhupur tracts have the greatest impact on the Jamuna and Ganga Rivers, they are first-order controls. The Brahmaputra sub-basin covers 580,000 square kilometres and is shared by Tibet, Bhutan, India, and Bangladesh. India’s drainage area is approximately 5.9% of the country’s entire geographical area.

Conclusion

The Brahmaputra is one of the world’s largest rivers, with an average flow of 6 million cubic metres per second. The river starts in the Himalayan Kailash mountains, at an elevation of 5300 metres. After running through Tibet’s Pi, the river rapidly turns north and northeast, forging a course between the rocky massifs of Gyala Peri and Namcha Barwa through a series of massive narrow gorges. As the Dihang river, it enters Arunachal Pradesh and goes south. 

The Dihang weaves its way out of the hills as it reaches Assam, turning southeast and sinking into a low-lying valley. Between the districts of Dibrugarh and Lakhimpur, the river splits into two channels. In Bangladesh, one of the Brahmaputra’s main tributaries, the Teesta River, joins it.