RAS question
The Brahmaputra River is known by which name in Tibet?
Correct answer: (A) Tsangpo.
In Tibet, the Brahmaputra River is known as Tsangpo, also referred to as Yarlung Tsangpo.
Explanation
The Brahmaputra is called Tsangpo, or Yarlung Tsangpo, in Tibet. India-WRIS gives Tsangpo as the river's Tibetan name and places its origin near Himalayan Lake Manasarovar at about 5,150 m in Tibet. This regional sequence matters: after flowing eastward in Tibet, the river enters Arunachal Pradesh, where its name changes from Tsangpo to Siang and Dehang. Farther downstream, it is known as the Brahmaputra in Assam, Jamuna in Bangladesh, and finally Meghna before the Bay of Bengal. So the Tibet-stage name, not the Indian or Bangladesh-stage names, is Tsangpo.
Why the other options are wrong
- (B) Meghna is a downstream Bangladesh-stage name used after the river system merges with the Padma, not the name used for the Brahmaputra in Tibet.
- (C) Dihang is associated with the river after it enters Arunachal Pradesh, whereas the Tibetan name is Tsangpo.
- (D) Jamuna is the name used in Bangladesh, so it refers to a later course of the river rather than its Tibetan stretch.
Concept
This tests Indian drainage geography, especially how a major trans-Himalayan river changes names across regions. RAS often revisits such naming sequences because they connect location, river course and map-based identification.