In Tibet, the Brahmaputra river is known as the:

In Tibet (China), the upper course of the Brahmaputra is called the Tsangpo or Yarlung Tsangpo, meaning "the purifier" in Tibetan.

Course in Tibet:

The river rises in the Kailash range of south-western Tibet, not far from Lake Mansarovar.

It flows eastward for about 1,200 km through southern Tibet, parallel to the Himalayas, at a very high altitude. It is one of the highest major rivers in the world.

Its valley is broad in many places, and important Tibetan towns such as Shigatse lie near it; Lhasa lies on one of its tributaries.

The Yarlung Tsangpo Grand Canyon:

• In the eastern Himalayas, the river makes a sharp bend and cuts through the mountains, forming the Yarlung Tsangpo Grand Canyon.
• This canyon is one of the deepest and longest canyons in the world, deeper than the Grand Canyon of the USA.
• The river then turns south and enters India in Arunachal Pradesh.

Names of the Brahmaputra in different regions:

• Tibet: Tsangpo.
• Arunachal Pradesh and Assam: it has other local names, covered in separate questions; in Assam, it is commonly called the Brahmaputra.
• Bangladesh: it has a different name, also covered separately.

Total length:

The Brahmaputra is about 2,900 km long, of which about 916 km flow through India.

Chinese dam projects:

In 2024-25, China began building a very large hydropower project on the lower Yarlung Tsangpo, near the Indian border. India has expressed concern about its possible effects on water flow and safety downstream.

India's planned Siang Upper Multipurpose Project in Arunachal Pradesh is partly a response to this.

Importance of the Brahmaputra:

• It carries a very large volume of water and sediment.
• It is one of the world's most braided rivers in Assam, where it forms many river islands.

Why not the other options?

• ✗The Meghna and Manas are rivers of the Brahmaputra-Meghna system, and the Sutlej is a separate river of the Indus system.