View source for Teesta, river

=Tista, 1908=
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This article has been extracted from <br/>

THE IMPERIAL GAZETTEER OF INDIA , 1908.<br/>

OXFORD, AT THE CLARENDON PRESS.
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[[Category:India|T]]
[[Category:Rivers|T]]
''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.