The Cambridge History of India, Vol. I: Ancient India v1.c15.60

v1.c15.60

The Rangīt river drains from the hills of Darjeeling, and from the snow mountains beyond, into a tributary of the Ganges. Several hundred such torrents burst in long succession through deep portals in the Himālayan foot hills and feed the great rivers of the plain. These torrents are perennial, for they originate in the melting of the glaciers, and the Himālayan glaciers cover a vast area, being fed by the monsoon snows. Nearly all the agricultural wealth of northern India owes its origin to the summer or oceanic monsoon, which beats against the Himālayan mountain edge. That edge, gracefully curving upon the map, extends through fifteen hundred miles. The streams which descend from it in long series gather into the rivers Brahmaputra, Ganges, and Indus.