Rivers and Mountains of India: A Study Guide

Physical geography questions are mostly about three things: where a river starts, where it ends, and which direction it flows. Learn India's rivers in two groups, Himalayan and Peninsular, and the mountains in the same pattern: the young Himalayas to the north and the old, worn plateau ranges of the peninsula.

Himalayan rivers

These rivers are perennial: they are fed by snow and by rain, so they flow throughout the year.

The Indus system

• Indus: rises near Lake Mansarovar in Tibet and flows through Ladakh into Pakistan, ending in the Arabian Sea.
• Its tributaries include the Jhelum, Chenab, Ravi, Beas and Sutlej, which together with the Indus give Punjab its name ("five waters"). The Indus Waters Treaty (1960) allocates the use of these rivers between India and Pakistan.

The Ganga system

• Ganga: formed at Devprayag where the Bhagirathi and Alaknanda meet. The Bhagirathi starts at the Gangotri glacier. The river enters the plains at Haridwar, flows through Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and West Bengal, and in Bangladesh joins the Brahmaputra before reaching the Bay of Bengal. Together with the Brahmaputra it builds the world's largest delta, home to the Sundarbans mangroves.
• Yamuna: rises at Yamunotri and joins the Ganga at Prayagraj (Allahabad).
• Right-bank tributaries (from the peninsula): Son, Chambal, Betwa.
• Left-bank tributaries (from the Himalayas): Ghaghara, Gandak, Kosi. The Kosi is known as the "Sorrow of Bihar" for its floods.
• Brahmaputra: rises in Tibet as the Tsangpo, enters India in Arunachal Pradesh as the Dihang/Siang, and flows through Assam. It carries more water than any other Indian river system, and its island Majuli in Assam is one of the largest river islands in the world.

Peninsular rivers

Peninsular rivers are mostly seasonal, fed by rain, and flow through rocky, ancient land in fairly stable courses.

East-flowing (to the Bay of Bengal), forming deltas:

• Mahanadi (Chhattisgarh and Odisha)
• Godavari: the longest peninsular river, called the "Dakshin Ganga" (Ganga of the south); rises at Trimbakeshwar in Maharashtra
• Krishna: rises near Mahabaleshwar in the Western Ghats
• Kaveri: rises at Talakaveri in the Brahmagiri hills of Karnataka West-flowing (to the Arabian Sea), forming estuaries, not deltas:
• Narmada and Tapti: flow through rift valleys, between the Vindhya and Satpura ranges. The Narmada rises at Amarkantak.
• Sabarmati, Mahi, Luni (a river that does not reach the sea)
• Short, fast rivers of the Western Ghats such as the Mandovi and Zuari in Goa

Quick facts about rivers

Mountains

The Himalayas have three parallel ranges from north to south: the Himadri (Greater Himalayas, the highest peaks), the Himachal (Lesser) and the Shiwaliks (outer foothills).

• Highest peak in India: Kanchenjunga (about 8,586 m), on the Sikkim-Nepal border. It is the third highest in the world. Mount Everest and K2 are not in India's territory.
• Passes: Khardung La in Ladakh (a famous high motorable pass), Nathu La in Sikkim, Shipki La in Himachal Pradesh, Zoji La in Jammu and Kashmir, and Rohtang in Himachal Pradesh.
• Young fold mountains, still rising and prone to earthquakes.

The Aravallis: among the oldest fold mountains in the world; run from Gujarat through Rajasthan to Delhi. Guru Shikhar on Mount Abu is the highest peak.

The Vindhya and Satpura ranges divide north and south India; the Narmada flows between them.

The Western Ghats (Sahyadri) run along the west coast and are a biodiversity hotspot. Anamudi in Kerala is the highest peak in South India (about 2,695 m). The Eastern Ghats are lower and broken by the rivers that cross them.

Lakes and glaciers worth knowing

• Siachen Glacier in the Karakoram is one of the longest glaciers outside the polar regions and is often called the world's highest battlefield.
• Wular Lake (Jammu and Kashmir) is among India's largest freshwater lakes; Chilika in Odisha is the largest brackish-water lagoon in India; Sambhar in Rajasthan is a salt lake.

Common traps

• The Godavari is the longest peninsular river, but the longest river in India overall is the Ganga (within Indian territory).
• Narmada and Tapti flow west in spite of the peninsula's general eastward slope.
• Kanchenjunga is the highest peak in India; Mount Everest is in Nepal and Tibet.
• West-flowing rivers form estuaries, east-flowing rivers form deltas.