River System of India – Brahmaputra River System

There is 3 prime Watershed of River Origin in India namely:

• Himalayas and Karakoram ranges
• Vindhya, Satpura ranges, and Chota Nagpur Plateau
• Western Ghats

The rivers of India can be categorized into 4 categories on the basis of their origin which are:

• Himalayan Rivers
• Deccan Rivers
• Coastal Rivers
• Rivers of the inland Drainage basin

Ganga is the largest river in India followed by the Godavari. The top 5 largest rivers of India are: Ganga > Godavari > Krishna > Yamuna > Brahmaputra.

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Brahmaputra River System

It originates from Chemayungdung Glacier (Kailash Range, Tibet). It forms Grand Canyon in Tibet and it turns southward near Namcha – Barwa.

• It is known as TSANG – PO in Tibet
• It is known as YARLUNG ZANBO in China

It enters Arunachal Pradesh as Dihang River at Sadiya, emerging from the mountains. Then, it is joined by the Dibang river from the north & the Lohit river from the south and came to be called the Brahmaputra.



• It turns at Dhubri to enter Bangladesh
• It is known as Jamuna in Bangladesh after joining Teesta
• It joins with Ganga & Meghna and merges with the Bay of Bengal
• It forms many river islands out of which Majuli is the world 2nd largest one

Its Major tributaries are - Dihang, Lohit, Subansiri, Teesta, Meghna (Barack in Assam), Manas

1 Teesta

It is a major tributary of the Brahmaputra. It rises from Sikkim.

• It is known as the lifeline of Sikkim

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2 Lohit

Another major tributary of Brahmaputra. It flows through Arunachal Pradesh.

• It along with river Dihang merges into the Brahmaputra, at Sadia town (Arunachal Pradesh)