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Brahmaputra River RIVER, ASIA Brahmaputra River RIVER, ASIA WRITTEN BY: Nafis Ahmad, Deryck O. Lodrick, LAST UPDATED: 12-9-2015 See Article History Alternative Titles: Jamuna, Tsangpo, Ya-lu-tsang-pu Chiang, Yarlung Zangbo Jiang Brahmaputra River, Bengali Jamuna, Tibetan Tsangpo, Chinese (Pinyin) Yarlung Zangbo RELATED TOPICS Jiang or (Wade-Giles romanization) Ya-lu- · river tsang-pu Chiang, major river of Central and · Tibet South Asia. It flows some 1,800 miles (2,900 km) from its source in the Himalayas to its · India confluence with the Ganges (Ganga) River, after · list of cities and towns in India which the mingled waters of the two rivers · Asia empty into the Bay of Bengal. · Ganges-Brahmaputra delta cyclone · Assam · Bangladesh · China · Arunachal Pradesh Brahmaputra River. Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc. Along its course the Brahmaputra passes through the Tibet Autonomous Region of China, the Indian states of Arunachal Pradesh and Assam, and Bangladesh. For most of its length, the river serves as an important inland waterway. It is not, however, navigable between the mountains of Tibet and the plains of India. In its lower course the river is both a creator and a destroyer—depositing huge quantities of fertile alluvial soil but also causing disastrous and frequent floods. Tsangpo (Brahmaputra) River flowing through the Himalayas in the Tibet Autonomous Region of China. © Dmitriy Sarbash/Fotolia PHYSICAL FEATURES Physiography The Brahmaputra’s source is the Chemayungdung Glacier, which covers the slopes of the Himalayas about 60 miles (100 km) southeast of Lake Mapam in southwestern Tibet. The three headstreams that arise there are the Kubi, the Angsi, and the Chemayungdung. From its source the river runs for nearly 700 miles (1,100 km) in a generally easterly direction between the Great Himalayas range to the south and the Kailas Range to the north. Throughout its upper course the river is generally known as the Tsangpo (“Purifier”); it is also known by its Chinese name (Yarlung Zangbo) and by other local Tibetan names. The Brahmaputra and Ganges river basins and their drainage network. In Tibet the Tsangpo receives a number of tributaries. The most important left-bank tributaries are the Raka Zangbo (Raka Tsangpo), which joins the river west of Xigazê (Shigatse), and the Lhasa (Kyi), which flows past the Tibetan capital of Lhasa and joins the Tsangpo at Qüxü. The Nyang Qu (Gyamda) River joins the river from the north at Zela (Tsela Dzong). On the right bank a second river called the Nyang Qu (Nyang Chu) meets the Tsangpo at Xigazê. Shoals in the Tsangpo (Brahmaputra) River, Tibet Autonomous Region, China. © Lukas Hlavac/Shutterstock.com After passing Pi (Pe) in Tibet, the river turns suddenly to the north and northeast and cuts a course through a succession of great narrow SIMILAR TOPICS gorges between the mountainous massifs of · Godavari River Gyala Peri and Namjagbarwa (Namcha Barwa) · Narmada River in a series of rapids and cascades. Thereafter, · Euphrates River the river turns south and southwest and flows · Mekong River through a deep gorge (the “Grand Canyon” of · Ganges River the Tsangpo) across the eastern extremity of the · Indus River Himalayas with canyon walls that extend · Yangtze River upward for 16,500 feet (5,000 metres) and more · Huang He on each side. During that stretch the river · Jordan River enters northern Arunachal Pradesh state in · Krishna River northeastern India, where it is known as the Dihang (or Siang) River, and turns more southerly. The Dihang, winding out of the mountains, turns toward the southeast and descends into a low-lying basin as it enters northeastern Assam state. Just west of the town of Sadiya, the river again turns to the southwest and is joined by two mountain streams, the Lohit and the Dibang. Below that confluence, about 900 miles (1,450 km) from the Bay of Bengal, the river becomes known conventionally as the Brahmaputra (“Son of Brahma”). In Assam the river is mighty, even in the dry season, and IN THE NEWS · SPOTLIGHT · DEMYSTIFIED · QUIZZES · GALLERIES · LISTS Search Britannica... ' during the rains its banks are more than 5 miles View All Media CONTENTS Brahmaputra River # $ % & ! " (10 Images) RIVER,(8 km) ASIA apart. As the river follows its braided 450- Print Cite Share Feedback mile (700-km) course through the valley, it Introduction receives several rapidly rushing Himalayan Physical features streams, including the Subansiri, Kameng, Physiography Bhareli, Dhansiri, Manas, Champamati, Climate Saralbhanga, and Sankosh rivers. The main Hydrology tributaries from the hills and from the plateau Plant and animal life to the south are the Burhi Dihing, the Disang, People the Dikhu, and the Kopili. Economy Irrigation and flood control Navigation and transport Study and exploration Shaiva temple at Sibsagar near the Brahmaputra River, Assam, India. Foto Features The Brahmaputra enters the plains of Bangladesh after turning south around the Garo Hills below Dhuburi, India. After flowing BRITANNICA STORIES past Chilmari, Bangladesh, it is joined on its IN THE NEWS / SOCIETY right bank by the Tista River and then follows a Obama Acts to Protect the 150-mile (240-km) course due south as the Arctic Jamuna River. (South of Gaibanda, the Old DEMYSTIFIED / PHILOSOPHY & Brahmaputra leaves the left bank of the main RELIGION Why Is Christmas in stream and flows past Jamalpur and December? Mymensingh to join the Meghna River at SPOTLIGHT / SOCIETY Bhairab Bazar.) Before its confluence with the The International Criminal Ganges, the Jamuna receives the combined Court (ICC) waters of the Baral, Atrai, and Hurasagar rivers IN THE NEWS / MUSIC on its right bank and becomes the point of 2017 Rock Hall Inductees departure of the large Dhaleswari River on its Announced left bank. A tributary of the Dhaleswari, the Buriganga (“Old Ganges”), flows past Dhaka, the capital of Bangladesh, and joins the Meghna River above Munshiganj. Tista River, a major tributary of the Brahmaputra River, flowing through the Siwalik Hills, … Anupam Manur The Jamuna joins TEST YOUR KNOWLEDGE with the Ganges All About Asia north of Goalundo Ghat, below which, as the Padma, their combined waters flow to the southeast for a distance of about 75 miles (120 km). After several smaller channels branch off to feed the Ganges-Brahmaputra delta to the south, the main body of the Padma reaches its confluence with the Meghna River near Chandpur and then enters the Bay of Bengal through the Meghna estuary and lesser channels flowing through the delta. The Meghna forms the eastern limit of the Sundarbans, a vast tract of forest and saltwater swamp that constitutes much of the Ganges- Brahmaputra delta. The growth of the delta is dominated by tidal processes. The Ganges-Brahmaputra system has the third greatest average discharge of the world’s rivers— roughly 1,086,500 cubic feet (30,770 cubic metres) per second; approximately 700,000 cubic feet (19,800 cubic metres) per second of the total is supplied by the Brahmaputra alone. The rivers’ combined suspended sediment load of about 1.84 billion tons per year is the world’s highest. Climate The climate of the Brahmaputra valley varies from the harsh, cold, and dry conditions found in Tibet to the generally hot and humid conditions prevailing in Assam state and in Bangladesh. Tibetan winters are severely cold, with average temperatures below 32 °F (0 °C), while summers are mild and sunny. The upper river valley lies in the rain shadow of the Himalayas, and precipitation there is relatively light: Lhasa receives about 16 inches (400 mm) annually. The Indian and Bangladeshi parts of the valley are governed by the monsoon (wet, dry) climate, though it is somewhat modified there CONNECT WITH BRITANNICA compared with other parts of the subcontinent; ! " # $ % the hot season is shorter than usual, and the average annual temperature ranges from 79 °F (26 °C) in Dhuburi, Assam, to 85 °F (29 °C) in Dhaka. Precipitation is relatively heavy, and humidity is high throughout the year. The annual rainfall—between 70 and 150 inches (1,780 and 3,810 mm)—falls mostly between June and early October; however, light rains also fall from March to May. Hydrology The course of the Brahmaputra has changed continually over time. The most spectacular of these changes was the eastward diversion of the Tista River and the ensuing development of the new channel of the Jamuna, which occurred in 1787 with an exceptionally high flood in the Tista. The waters of the Tista suddenly were diverted eastward into an old abandoned course, causing the river to join the Brahmaputra opposite Bahadurabad Ghat in Mymensingh district. Until the late 18th century the Brahmaputra flowed past the town of Mymensingh and joined the Meghna River near Bhairab Bazar (the path of the present-day Old Brahmaputra channel). At that time a minor stream called the Konai-Jenai—probably a spill channel of the Old Brahmaputra—followed the course of today’s Jamuna River (now the main Brahmaputra channel). After the Tista flood of 1787 reinforced it, the Brahmaputra began to cut a new channel along the Konai-Jenai and gradually converted it after 1810 into the main stream, now known as the Jamuna. Satellite image of the Ganges-Brahmaputra delta cyclone, November 12, 1970. NOAA Along the lower courses of the Ganges and Brahmaputra and along the Meghna, the land undergoes constant erosion and deposition of silt because of the shifts and changes in these active rivers. Vast areas are subject to inundation during the wet monsoon months. The shifts in the course of the Jamuna since 1787 have been considerable, and the river is never in exactly the same place for two successive years. Islands and sizable newly deposited lands (chars) in the river appear and disappear seasonally.
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