राज्य एवं नदियाँ

हिंदी में पढ़ें

States & Rivers — the Map in Your Head

◆ In December 1952, Potti Sriramulu died after a long fast demanding a separate state for Telugu-speaking people. Within days the country was shaken, and on 1 October 1953 Andhra State was born — the first state made on the basis of language. Three years later the whole map of India was redrawn. So the map you see today is not an accident; it was argued for, fought for and drawn line by line. And every one of those lines sits next to a river. Let's learn both together.

What you will master today (Learning Objectives)

How India's states and Union Territories were formed, and the dates exams love

Capitals, borders and "largest / smallest" facts without confusion

The three Himalayan river systems — Indus, Ganga, Brahmaputra — and their tributaries

The peninsular rivers — east-flowing and west-flowing — with sources, dams and cities

The examiner's favourite traps on this chapter, and simple hooks to beat them

PART A — THE STATES

1. India Today: 28 States and 8 Union Territories

Since 26 January 2020, India has 28 states and 8 Union Territories (UTs).

How we reached this number:

31 October 2019 — the state of Jammu & Kashmir was reorganised into two UTs: Jammu & Kashmir, and Ladakh (Jammu and Kashmir Reorganisation Act, 2019). States fell from 29 to 28.

26 January 2020 — Dadra & Nagar Haveli and Daman & Diu were merged into one UT. UTs became 8.

The 8 UTs: Andaman & Nicobar Islands, Chandigarh, Dadra & Nagar Haveli and Daman & Diu, Delhi, Jammu & Kashmir, Ladakh, Lakshadweep, Puducherry.

Largest state by area: Rajasthan. Smallest: Goa.
Largest UT by area: Ladakh. Smallest UT: Lakshadweep.
Most populous state (Census 2011): Uttar Pradesh. Least populous: Sikkim.

🧠 Active Recall: Which state is the smallest by area, and which is the smallest by population? (Goa by area, Sikkim by population — two different answers!)

2. How the Map Was Drawn — Reorganisation of States

After Independence, the demand for states based on language grew strong. After Andhra State (1953), the government set up the States Reorganisation Commission in 1953 under Justice Fazl Ali (members: K. M. Panikkar and H. N. Kunzru). On its report, the States Reorganisation Act was passed in 1956, creating 14 states and 6 Union Territories.

Then the map kept changing:

1960 — Bombay State split into Maharashtra and Gujarat (1 May 1960).
1963 — Nagaland (1 December 1963), carved out of Assam.
1966 — Haryana carved out of Punjab (1 November 1966).
1971 — Himachal Pradesh becomes a full state (25 January 1971).
1972 — Manipur, Tripura and Meghalaya become states (21 January 1972).
1975 — Sikkim becomes the 22nd state (36th Constitutional Amendment).
1987 — Mizoram and Arunachal Pradesh (20 February), Goa (30 May).
2000 — Chhattisgarh (1 Nov), Uttarakhand (9 Nov), Jharkhand (15 Nov).
2014 — Telangana, the 29th state (2 June 2014).

Name changes that exams ask:
Madras → Tamil Nadu (1969); Mysore → Karnataka (1973); Uttaranchal → Uttarakhand (2007); Orissa → Odisha (2011).

Mnemonic for the 2000 trio, in order of birth: "CUJ" — Chhattisgarh (1st), Uttarakhand (9th), Jharkhand (15th). Think "Cute Ugly Joker" arriving in the same month.

🧠 Active Recall: Which came first, Nagaland or Haryana? (Nagaland, 1963; Haryana, 1966.)

3. Capitals and Borders

North-East capitals (most confused set):
Arunachal Pradesh – Itanagar | Assam – Dispur | Meghalaya – Shillong | Nagaland – Kohima | Manipur – Imphal | Mizoram – Aizawl | Tripura – Agartala | Sikkim – Gangtok

Two states, one capital: Chandigarh (a UT) is the capital of both Punjab and Haryana.

UT capitals: Lakshadweep – Kavaratti | Andaman & Nicobar – Sri Vijaya Puram (renamed from Port Blair in September 2024) | Puducherry – Puducherry | Dadra & Nagar Haveli and Daman & Diu – Daman.

Borders with neighbours:
Bangladesh — 5 states: West Bengal, Assam, Meghalaya, Tripura, Mizoram (West Bengal has the longest stretch).
Myanmar — 4 states: Arunachal Pradesh, Nagaland, Manipur, Mizoram.
Nepal — 5 states: Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, West Bengal, Sikkim.
Bhutan — 4 states: Sikkim, West Bengal, Assam, Arunachal Pradesh.
Sikkim touches three countries: Nepal, China and Bhutan (West Bengal touches Nepal, Bhutan and Bangladesh; Arunachal Pradesh touches Bhutan, China and Myanmar).

The Tropic of Cancer passes through 8 states: Gujarat, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, West Bengal, Tripura, Mizoram.

Mnemonic (west to east): "Good Rice Makes Children Jump With Tasty Mango" — Gujarat, Rajasthan, MP, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, West Bengal, Tripura, Mizoram.

Longest coastline: Gujarat. Coastal states: 9 (Gujarat, Maharashtra, Goa, Karnataka, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Odisha, West Bengal).

🧠 Active Recall: Which state borders Bangladesh AND Myanmar AND lies on the Tropic of Cancer? (Mizoram.)

PART B — THE RIVERS

4. Two Families of Rivers

India's rivers come in two families:

Himalayan rivers — perennial (water all year from melting snow + rain), long courses, deep gorges in the mountains, big meanders and deltas in the plains. Example: Indus, Ganga, Brahmaputra.

Peninsular rivers — mostly seasonal (depend on rain), shorter and shallower, flowing over old, hard rock. Example: Godavari, Krishna, Kaveri, Narmada.

Water divides: The Western Ghats are the main water divide of the Peninsula — that is why most big peninsular rivers flow east to the Bay of Bengal. Ambala lies on the water divide between the Indus and Ganga systems.

🧠 Active Recall: Why are Himalayan rivers perennial? (Snow-melt + rain.)

5. The Indus System

The Indus rises in Tibet near Lake Mansarovar, enters India in Ladakh and flows into Pakistan. Its length is about 2900 km (NCERT).

Its five Punjab tributaries, west to east: Jhelum, Chenab, Ravi, Beas, Sutlej.
Jhelum — rises at Verinag spring, flows through Srinagar and the Wular Lake.
Chenab — formed by the Chandra and the Bhaga at Tandi (Himachal Pradesh).
Beas — joins the Sutlej at Harike (Punjab); the Pong Dam is on the Beas.
Sutlej — rises near Mansarovar (Tibet), enters India at Shipki La; the Bhakra Dam (reservoir: Gobind Sagar) is on the Sutlej.

Indus Waters Treaty (1960): India got the eastern rivers (Ravi, Beas, Sutlej); the western rivers (Indus, Jhelum, Chenab) went mainly to Pakistan. NCERT notes India can use only about 20% of the total water of the Indus system.

Mnemonic (west to east): "Jo Chalega Raste Bina Sahara" — Jhelum, Chenab, Ravi, Beas, Sutlej.

6. The Ganga System

The Bhagirathi rises from the Gangotri glacier (Gaumukh). The Alaknanda meets it at Devprayag — from here the river is the Ganga. The Ganga leaves the mountains at Haridwar.

The Alaknanda's five Prayags (upstream to downstream): Vishnuprayag (Dhauliganga), Nandprayag (Nandakini), Karnaprayag (Pindar), Rudraprayag (Mandakini), Devprayag (Bhagirathi). Hook: "Vi-Na-Ka-Ru-De".

Right-bank tributaries (from the south): Yamuna, Son.
Left-bank tributaries (from the Himalayas): Ramganga, Gomti, Ghaghara, Gandak, Kosi, Mahananda.

The Yamuna rises at Yamunotri and joins the Ganga at Prayagraj (the Sangam). Its southern tributaries — Chambal, Betwa, Ken — come from the Malwa plateau and Vindhyan uplands. The Chambal (source near Mhow) is famous for its badlands.

The Kosi is the "Sorrow of Bihar"; the Damodar is the "Sorrow of Bengal".

The Ganga flows through Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Jharkhand and West Bengal. At Farakka (West Bengal) it splits: the Bhagirathi-Hooghly flows south past Kolkata, and the main stream enters Bangladesh as the Padma. The Ganga–Brahmaputra delta is the Sundarbans, named after the Sundari tree.

🧠 Active Recall: Where do the Bhagirathi and Alaknanda meet? Where does the Yamuna meet the Ganga? (Devprayag; Prayagraj.)

7. The Brahmaputra

It rises in Tibet, east of Mansarovar, and flows east as the Tsangpo. Near the Namcha Barwa peak it takes a U-turn and enters Arunachal Pradesh as the Dihang (Siang). In Assam the Dibang and Lohit join it and it becomes the Brahmaputra. Majuli, a huge inhabited river island, lies in it. In Bangladesh it is called the Jamuna.

Name ladder: Tsangpo (Tibet) → Dihang/Siang (Arunachal) → Brahmaputra (Assam) → Jamuna (Bangladesh).

8. The Peninsular Rivers

East-flowing (to the Bay of Bengal), north to south:
Mahanadi — rises in the highlands of Chhattisgarh (Sihawa); Hirakud Dam and Cuttack in Odisha; about 860 km.
Godavari — rises near Trimbakeshwar, Nashik (Maharashtra); largest peninsular river (about 1500 km), the "Dakshin Ganga"; tributaries Wainganga, Wardha, Penganga, Manjra, Indravati; delta in Andhra Pradesh.
Krishna — rises near Mahabaleshwar; about 1400 km; tributaries Koyna, Bhima, Tungabhadra, Ghatprabha, Musi (Hyderabad); Nagarjuna Sagar Dam; Vijayawada.
Kaveri — rises in the Brahmagiri range (Talakaveri, Kodagu, Karnataka); about 760 km; tributaries Kabini, Bhavani, Hemavati, Amaravati; Sivasamudram falls; Krishnaraja Sagar (Karnataka) and Mettur (Tamil Nadu) dams; Tiruchirappalli.

West-flowing (to the Arabian Sea):
Narmada — rises at Amarkantak (MP), flows west in a rift valley between the Vindhya and Satpura; Marble Rocks and Dhuandhar falls near Jabalpur; Sardar Sarovar Dam in Gujarat; about 1312 km.
Tapi — rises near Multai (Betul district, MP), flows past Surat; about 724 km.
Mahi — crosses the Tropic of Cancer twice. Sabarmati — Ahmedabad. Luni — rises near Ajmer, ends in the Rann of Kutch.
Narmada and Tapi form estuaries, not deltas.

Mnemonic for east-coast river mouths, north to south: "My Good Kind Kitten" — Mahanadi, Godavari, Krishna, Kaveri.

🧠 Active Recall: Name the source of each — Godavari, Krishna, Kaveri, Narmada, Tapi. (Trimbakeshwar, Mahabaleshwar, Brahmagiri, Amarkantak, Multai.)

9. Rivers and Cities — Quick Map

Delhi, Agra, Mathura – Yamuna | Kanpur, Varanasi, Patna – Ganga | Lucknow – Gomti | Ayodhya – Sarayu (Ghaghara) | Srinagar – Jhelum | Ludhiana – Sutlej | Kota – Chambal | Ujjain – Shipra | Jabalpur – Narmada | Surat – Tapi | Ahmedabad – Sabarmati | Cuttack – Mahanadi | Nashik, Rajahmundry – Godavari | Vijayawada – Krishna | Hyderabad – Musi | Tiruchirappalli – Kaveri | Madurai – Vaigai | Kolkata – Hooghly | Guwahati – Brahmaputra

Summary Table

⏰ Review this chapter after 2 days.

⚠️ Caution: Examiner's Trap

Trap 1 — "Almost True Statement": "Sardar Sarovar Dam is on the Tapi." Narmada and Tapi are twin west-flowing rivers, so the wrong one looks right. Sardar Sarovar is on the Narmada.

Trap 2 — "Similar Name": "Krishnaraja Sagar Dam is on the Krishna." It is on the Kaveri. Likewise, Jamuna (Brahmaputra in Bangladesh) vs Yamuna; Padma (Ganga in Bangladesh) vs Jamuna.

Trap 3 — "Chronological Confusion": Himachal Pradesh received areas from Punjab in 1966 but became a full state only in 1971; Mysore was reorganised in 1956 but became "Karnataka" only in 1973.

Trap 4 — "Negative Phrasing": "Which state does NOT border Bangladesh?" Read the word NOT twice; then count the five states (WB, Assam, Meghalaya, Tripura, Mizoram).

🔁 Linguistic Bridge: In Hindi we say this, in English we say that

अपवाह तंत्र — Drainage system
जल-विभाजक — Water divide
सहायक नदी — Tributary
वितरिका — Distributary
ज्वारनदमुख — Estuary
भ्रंश घाटी — Rift valley
गोखुर झील — Ox-bow lake
बारहमासी नदी — Perennial river
संगम — Confluence
केंद्र शासित प्रदेश — Union Territory
राज्य पुनर्गठन आयोग — States Reorganisation Commission

🔗 Static-Dynamic Link

Ganga: declared India's National River on 4 November 2008; the Gangetic river dolphin was declared the National Aquatic Animal on 5 October 2009.

Indus Waters Treaty (1960): on 23 April 2025, after the Pahalgam terror attack, India announced that it was holding the treaty in abeyance.

Andaman & Nicobar: the capital Port Blair was renamed Sri Vijaya Puram in September 2024.

📅 Revision Planner: Three-Level Blurting

🔢 High-Yield Facts & Figures (Quick Glance)

You now carry India's map in your head — states on one layer, rivers on the next. Every time you see a river name in a question, picture where it starts and where it ends. That one habit will win you marks again and again.