Teesta, river
Tista, 1908
This article has been extracted from THE IMPERIAL GAZETTEER OF INDIA , 1908. OXFORD, AT THE CLARENDON PRESS. |
Note: National, provincial and district boundaries have changed considerably since 1908. Typically, old states, ‘divisions’ and districts have been broken into smaller units, units, and many tahsils upgraded to districts.Many units have since been renamed. Therefore, this article is being posted mainly for its historical value.
River of Bengal and Eastern Bengal and Assam. It rises in the Chatamu Lake, Tibet, in 28° 2' N. and 88° 44' E., though it is said to have another source below Kinchinjunga, in Sikkim, and, after traversing North Bengal in a generally south-east direction, falls into the Brahmaputra in Rangpur District, in 25° 24' N. and 89° 42' E. Its length within British territory is about 168 miles. The Sanskrit names for the Tista are Trishnd and Trisroia, the former implying ' thirst,' and the latter ' three springs.' The Kalika Purana gives the following account of its origin : The goddess ParvatT, wife of Siva, was fighting with a demon (Asur), whose crime was that he would worship her husband and not herself. The monster, becoming thirsty during the combat, prayed to his patron deity for drink ; and in conse- quence Siva caused the river Tista to flow from the breast of the god- dess in three streams, and thus it has ever since continued to flow.
After draining Sikkim, the Tista forms the boundary between that State and Darjeeling District for some distance, till it receives the waters of the Great Rangit, when it turns to the south, and, threading its way through the mountains of Darjeeling District, debouches on the plains through a gorge known as the Sivok Gola Pass. In Darjeeling the principal tributaries of the Tista are : on its left bank, the Rangpo and the Rilli ; and on its right, the Great Rangit, the Rangjo, the Rayeng, and the Sivok. The Tista in this portion of its course is a deep mountain torrent not fordable at any time of the year. In the dry season its waters are sea-green, but after rain the admix- ture of calcareous detritus gives them a milky hue. The scenery along the river banks is here grand and beautiful. The lower slopes of the mountains are clothed with dense forest overhanging its waters, which now gurgle in their rocky bed and anon form deep still pools, while in the background rise in tier above tier the great snowy masses of the Himalayas. The Tista is not navigable by trading boats in its course through the hills, although canoes, roughly cut from the sal timber on its banks, have been taken down the river from a point some 8 miles above the plains. Where it enters the plains it has a width of 700 or 800 yards, and becomes navigable by boats of 2 tons burden ; but for some distance navigation is very difficult and precarious, owing to the rapids and the numerous rocks and boulders in the bed of the river.
After a short course through the Darjeeling tarai the Tista passes into Jalpaigurl District at its north-western corner, and, flowing in a south-easterly direction, forms the boundary between the Western Duars and the permanently settled portion of the District. Here its principal tributaries, all on the left or east bank of the river, are the Lisu or Lish, the Ghish, and the Saldanga. The Tista then traverses a small portion of the western extremity of the Cooch Behar State, and flows across Rangpur District to join the Brahma- putra. In this District it receives numerous small tributary streams from the north-west and throws off many offshoots of more or less importance, the largest being the Ghaghat, which probably marks an old bed of the main river. Another branch is the Manas, which rejoins the parent stream after a winding course of about 25 miles. In the lower part of its course the Tista has a fine channel, from 600 to 800 yards wide, with a large volume of water at all times of the year and a rapid current. Although it is capable of floating large trading boats between 3 and 4 tons burden at all seasons, navigation becomes difficult in the cold season, owing to the shoals and quicksands which form at its junction with the Brahmaputra, and the small islands and sandbanks thrown up by the current. The lower reaches, from Kapasia to Nalganj Hat, are called the Pagla (' mad ') river, owing to the frequent and violent changes in its course. Old channels abound, such as the Chota (' small '), Burhi (' old '), and Mara (' dead ') Tista, each of which must at one time have formed the main channel of the river, but which are now deserted and only navigable in the rains.
At the time of Major Rennell's survey (towards the close of the eighteenth century) the main stream of the Tista flowed south down the bed of the Karatoya, instead of south-east as at present, and, joining the Atrai in Dinajpur, finally fell into the Ganges. But in the destructive floods of 1787, which form an epoch in the history of Rangpur, the main stream swelled by incessant rains suddenly forsook its channel and forced its way into the Ghaghat. This latter stream was unable to carry off such a vast accession to its waters ; and the Tista spread itself over the District, causing widespread de- struction to life and property, till it succeeded in cutting for itself a new and capacious channel by which it found its way to the Brahmaputra. In the early part of the nineteenth century the river again altered its course, forsaking a westward loop about 40 miles in length for a more direct course eastwards. It has since adhered to the course then formed, but with numerous encroachments on its banks, which have left in the west of Rangpur District a maze of old watercourses and stagnant marshes. These render it almost impossible to trace the former course of these rivers, and have caused at the same time great confusion in their nomenclature. In parts of its course the Karatoya is known as the Burhi ('old') Tista, and its broad sandy channel in many places indicates the route followed by the Tista according to Major Rennell's survey.
