BRAHMAPUTRA, a river in the N.E. of India, flowing into the Bay of Bengal. It has not been traced from its source, but is generally believed to rise among gigantic glaciers to the 8.E. of lake Manaaarowara. An old Lama told Aids! Desgodius that in his youth he had visited nearly the whole of Tibet, and had followed the great river from its source, in or near the lakes of Too-ma-pang, in the western part of the province of Nogar6, the most western of Tibet, and the Lama said that some days to the east of the river turns towards the south, making a long bend, and traverses the 'Tibetan district of flia-yul, a rich and well-peopled district just to the north of ',hoist. The river enters the country of the wild Lhopa tribe, and winds its way among steep and rugged bare rocks, without roads, and which can be passed only by means of wretched ladders made of lianas. After a certain course among the Lhopa, the river falls over a high rock into a valley which is not known. The height of the fall is so great that the Lama said it made hint giddy to look down. At this place, he said, the river is almost as considerable as the Kin-sha-kiang at Bathang.
The Imperial Gazetteer says that the Dihang is believed to be the continuation of the Sangpu or Narichu Sangpu of Tibet, which rises on the further side of the Himalayas, in about N. and 83° E., and flows past Lassa eastwards through the whole of Tibet, but the continuity has not been verified, owing to the difficulties of the mountainous region and to the inhospitable character of its occupants. The main stream in the Assam valley is made up by the confluence of three swift rivers, the Dibang, Dihang, and Brah maputra proper, in fat~ 27° 70' N. and long. 95° 50' E.; the two latter are supposed to penetrate the Himalaya by a rocky gorge.
On entering the valley of Assam, the united stream rolls for 450 miles from the N.E. to the S.S.W. through the plain, with a vast expanse of water, broken by innumerable islands. On leav ing A&S1111 near Dhubri, it turns sharply clue S., sweeping round the spurs of the Caro hills, and runs S. for 180 miles through the plain of Eastern Bengal as far as its confluence with the Padilla, or main stream of the Ganges at Goalanda. Here the conjoint delta of the two rivers com mences. The great bulk of the waters of the Brahnsaputra flow toward the S.W., and ultimately reaches tho sea by the broad estuary known as the Megna. Shortly after leaving Assam, what is at present (1882) the chief channel of the Brahmaputra takes the name of Jamuna, the bed along which it flowed in the middle of the 18th century running past Mairnansinh further to the east, and, retaining the original name, to re-unite with tho larger body of water by means of tho Megna. After the confluence of the Brahma putra, Dibang, and Dihang, as it rolls to the sea it receives successively the Subansiri, 180 ; Blioroli, Manes, 189 ; Gadadhar or Sankas, 160 ; Dharla and Tista, 313, on the right bank ; and the Noa Dating, 100 ; Burl Dihing, 150; Di Sang, Dhansiri, and Kapili, on the left. All of these are
navigable by country boats of the largest size.
The Bralnakund, a place of Hindu pilgrim age, is a very deep basin-shaped enlargement of the river, just before it emerges from the mountains to descend into the plains of Assam. The velocity of the current, which both above and below the Bralimakund is very great, suffers a great diminution at this point. In its S.W. course, along the whole length of the left shore of the Brahmaputra, and nearly parallel to the broad valley through which it runs, we meet with a longitudinal range of secondary hills, inhabited by the various scattered tribes of the Naga, Khassya, Jaintia, and Garo, in the Patkoi, Khassya, and Garo hills. These latter hills run south-east, skirting the rice-fields of Maimansinh, Comillah, and Noa Colly, and forming the greater part of Chittagong and Arakan down to the Irawadi. The level of the Brahmaputra at Sadia is 210 feet, the fall from Sadia to the delta consequently amounting to half a foot per mile. Sadia is situated near the spot where the most considerable of its affluents join the Brahmaputra, viz. the Dihang, a river seemingly identical with the Tibetan Zambu, or Sang-pu. The ebb and flood of the tide extend, in the season when theriver is low, upwards beyond Dacca. The branches of the Brahmaputra, together with those of the Ganges, intersect Lower Bengal in such a variety of direc tions as to form a complete system of inland navi gation. The Brahmaputra begins to rise in April, owing to the melting of the snow at its alpine sources. About the 1st July it is at full flood, and all the level country is submerged; herds of buffa loes, deer, and hogs then swim for refuge to the hills. The Brahmaputra drains Assam in every direction. It is known in Assam by the name Hiranyo or golden. In the rainy season it rises 30 or 40 feet above its lowest level, overflows its banks, and inundates the country like an inland sea. In the dry season it is a labyrinth of half-filled channels, rendering the navigation intricate, and fit only for steamers of light draught. It is not navigable for steamers higher than Dibrugarh ; 800 miles. As seen from Ogri hill, near Tezpur, the river is sweeping along in a bed of from ten to twelve miles in breadth, with numerous islands, covered with canes and shrubs. The chief towns on the banks of the river are Bishnath, Durrung, Gow batty, Goalpara, Nasseerabad. It is navigable from the Bay of Bengal to Dibrugarh near the head of the Assam valley, within 500 miles of Pengshaw, on the Yang-tze-kiang river. Of these 500 miles, 300 are known, and if this route can be opened, the rich province of the Yang-tze-kiang may hereafter be opened to India.—Schlagentweit's General Hypsometry of ii. p. 98 ; Imperial Gazetteer. See Assam ; Megna.