Indian Rivers — Where Each One Rises, Ends and Which City Sits on It

Two River Families, One Map

India's rivers split into two families, and most questions are really asking which family a river belongs to.

Himalayan rivers — Indus, Ganga, Brahmaputra. Fed by glacier melt *and* monsoon rain, so they flow all year (perennial). They are geologically young, still cutting deep gorges, and they carry huge loads of silt that build large deltas.

Peninsular rivers — Mahanadi, Godavari, Krishna, Kaveri, Narmada, Tapi. Fed by rain alone, so they shrink sharply in summer (seasonal). They sit in fixed, shallow valleys because the peninsula is old, hard rock that no longer erodes easily.

The Western Ghats act as the water divide. Rivers rising there mostly run east across the Deccan into the Bay of Bengal. Only a few run west into the Arabian Sea — and those few are the exam's favourite trap.

Learn every river as three facts: where it rises, where it ends, and which city sits on it.

1. The Bhagirathi and the Alaknanda meet to form the Ganga at which place?

2. Which river flows westward through a rift valley and drains into the Gulf of Khambhat?

3. Which is the longest river of peninsular India?

4. The river known as Tsangpo in Tibet is known in India as:

5. Vijayawada is situated on the banks of which river?

6. Which of the following is NOT a left-bank tributary of the Ganga?

7. Talakaveri in the Brahmagiri hills of Karnataka is the source of which river?

8. The Hirakud Dam is built on which river?