Brahmaputra River (meaning “the son of Brahmā”). It is one of the longest rivers in Asia.
Origin
It originates in the Kubigangri glacier, near Mount Kailāsh, in the Himalayas , and runs east through Chinese territory, through the western part of Tibet, passing near Lhasa.
After a journey of 2,896 km it empties into the Bay of Bengal in Bangladesh, forming part of the Ganges Delta, the largest delta in the world.
The river is known as Tsangpo in Tibet and in central Bangladesh it divides into two branches, the main one being the Jamuna River, the name by which it is known in that region, and the other, with a smaller flow, the Shitalakshya River.
It is the Dyardanes or “Œdanes” of the ancient Greeks. Its course through the tropical zone makes its valley one of the richest in biological diversity in the world. Its main floods allow the fertilisation of the soil , although they are devastating. In its lower part, the river is considered sacred for the Hindus, and is used for the transport of agricultural products.
Place names
In Tibetan the river is known as Mazang, Damqog Zangbo or Yarlung Tsangpo.
History
The upper reaches of the river are the origins of the Yarlung dynasty of Tibetan kings, and the tombs of its principal kings are located in its valley (Yarlun Valley).
Course in Tibet
The Brahmaputra River, called Yarlung Tsangpo in Tibetan language , originates from the Angsi Glacier located on the northern side of the Himalayan range in Burang County of Tibet and not Chema-Yungdung Glacier, which was previously identified by geographer Swami Pranavananda in the year 1930 .
The river has an approximate length of 3,848 kilometers, and its drainage area is 712,035 square kilometers according to the new findings, while previous papers showed that its length varies from 2,900 to 3,350 km and its basin between 520,000 and 1.73 million square kilometers. This finding was made by Mr. Liu Shaochuang, a researcher with the Institute of Remote Sensing Applications under the Analysis of Satellite Imagery and Expeditions of the Chinese Academy of Sciences.
It flows eastwards through the plateau and mountain ranges of south-east Tibet, reaching north-east India and entering the state of Arunachal Pradesh. As it flows through Tibet from its source near Mount Kailash to its entry into Indian territory, the river provides an important transport route running from east to west for approximately 1,200 km, making it probably the highest waterway in the world.
Course in India and Bangladesh
The river joins the Ganges and Meghna to form the largest river delta in the world, mostly located in Bangladesh.
The delta region is known as the Sundarbans (“beautiful forests”), a region of dense mangrove forest and one of the main habitats of the Bengal tiger. It is home to the Sundarbans National Park and was declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 1997 , comprising a protected area of 1,395 km².
The Tsampo-Brahmaputra system is fully navigable for its last 1,290 km. It is one of the few rivers in the world that exhibits the phenomenon of lmacareo, which occurs when a single wave surges upriver during the highest tides.
It is navigable for most of its length and its shallow areas are sacred to Hindus. The river is prone to catastrophic flooding in spring when the Himalayan snows begin to melt.