The Chiknai River ( bn, চিকনাই), also known as the Dangha, is located in

Bangladesh Bangladesh (}, ), officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh, is a country in South Asia. It is the eighth-most populous country in the world, with a population exceeding 165 million people in an area of . Bangladesh is among the mos ...

. It is located in the beels west of Chatmohor in

Pabna District Pabna District ( bn, পাবনা জেলা) is a district in central Bangladesh. It is an economically important district in Bangladesh. Its administrative capital is the eponymous Pabna town. History Archeologist Cunningham conjectured ...

Early history

The Chiknai receives an excess of flood water from the

Padma The Padma ( bn, পদ্মা ''Pôdma'') is a major river in Bangladesh. It is the main distributary of the Ganges, flowing generally southeast for to its confluence with the Meghna River near the Bay of Bengal. The city of Rajshahi is sit ...

during the rains and falls into the Baral near the village of Faridpur in Pabna district. It is navigable in the rainy season, and in the dry season it forms a good fishery, supplying

Pabna Pabna ( bn, পাবনা) is a city of Pabna District, Bangladesh and the administrative capital of the eponymous Pabna District. It is on the north bank of the Padma River and has a population of about . Etymology * According to the histo ...

and other places with fish. The Jamuna forms the eastern boundary of the district for a length of , separating Pabna from the districts of

Mymensingh Mymensingh ( bn, ময়মনসিংহ) is the capital of Mymensingh Division, Bangladesh. Located on the bank of Brahmaputra River, about north of the national capital Dhaka, it is a major financial center and educational hub of north- ...

Tangail Tangail ( bn, টাঙ্গাইল, ), is a major city within the Dhaka Division in central Bangladesh. It sits on the bank of the Louhajang River, north-west of Dhaka, the nation's capital. It is considered to be the main urban area of ...

and

Dhaka Dhaka ( or ; bn, ঢাকা, Ḍhākā, ), formerly known as Dacca, is the capital and largest city of Bangladesh, as well as the world's largest Bengali-speaking city. It is the eighth largest and sixth most densely populated city i ...

. The present channel of the Jamuna is of comparatively recent origin and is due to the diversion of the

Brahmaputra The Brahmaputra is a trans-boundary river which flows through Tibet, northeast India, and Bangladesh. It is also known as the Yarlung Tsangpo in Tibetan, the Siang/Dihang River in Arunachali, Luit in Assamese, and Jamuna River in Bangla. I ...

through the Jenai which was a small river, more or less, at the present position of the Jamuna. When Rennell compiled his map of

Bengal Bengal ( ; bn, বাংলা/বঙ্গ, translit=Bānglā/Bôngô, ) is a geopolitical, cultural and historical region in South Asia, specifically in the eastern part of the Indian subcontinent at the apex of the Bay of Bengal, predom ...

towards the close of the 18th century, the main stream of the Brahmaputra bent sharply round the range of the

Garo Hills The Garo Hills (Pron: ˈgɑ:rəʊ) are part of the Garo-Khasi range in Meghalaya, India. They are inhabited by the Garo people. It is one of the wettest places in the world. The range is part of the Meghalaya subtropical forests ecoregion. De ...

and flowed in a south-easterly direction across the district of Mymensingh to join the

Meghna The Meghna River ( bn, মেঘনা নদী) is one of the major rivers in Bangladesh, one of the three that form the Ganges Delta, the largest delta on earth, which fans out to the Bay of Bengal. A part of the Surma-Meghna River System, ...

just below Bhairab Bazar. About the beginning of the 19th century the Brahmaputra having raised its bed and lost its velocity was no longer able to hold its own course against the Meghna mentioned above. So it left its old channel and broke to the west, capturing the waters of the

Teesta Teesta River is a long river that rises in the Pauhunri Mountain of eastern Himalayas, flows through the Indian states of Sikkim and West Bengal through Rangpur, and enters the Bay of Bengal. It drains an area of . In India, it flows through ...

on the way and cut out a new channel for itself, which is practically its present channel. Even at the beginning of the 19th century, the original channel through the Mymensingh district had become of secondary importance, and at the present time, though it bears the name of Brahmaputra, it has dwindled into a mere watercourse navigable only during the rainy season. In 1850 British explorer

Joseph Dalton Hooker Sir Joseph Dalton Hooker (30 June 1817 – 10 December 1911) was a British botanist and explorer in the 19th century. He was a founder of geographical botany and Charles Darwin's closest friend. For twenty years he served as director of ...

, while travelling to Dhaka, described this great change as follows:

References

{{Coord, 24.1233, N, 89.3479, E, region:BD_type:river, display=title Rivers of Bangladesh Rivers of Rajshahi Division