Sutlej
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Overview
The Sutlej rises near Rakas Tal in Tibet, close to Mansarovar, and enters India at Shipki La. It flows through Himachal Pradesh and Punjab and receives the Beas at Harike; the Bhakra dam is built on it.
It is one of the three eastern rivers allotted to India under the Indus Waters Treaty (1960). The Himalaya between the Indus and the Sutlej is called the Punjab (Kashmir) Himalaya, and between the Sutlej and the Kali the Kumaon Himalaya. In history, Ranjit Singh accepted the Sutlej as the boundary of his kingdom by the Treaty of Amritsar (1809), and Ropar, a Harappan site, lies on it.
Geography and key facts
- Source: near Rakas Tal (Tibet); enters India at Shipki La
- Bhakra dam is on the Sutlej
- Joined by the Beas at Harike
- Treaty of Amritsar (1809): boundary of Ranjit Singh's kingdom
Why it matters for UPSC
Asked in the Indus river system (2021), rivers that do not rise in India (2009) and two 2026 questions, one identifying a river from clues and one on old river courses in the Pleistocene.
Note for UPSC
Rises near Rakas Tal in Tibet and enters India at Shipki La; Bhakra dam is on it.
Prelims asks about tributaries, the states a river flows through, its basin and the projects on it, so trace the course on the map.
Asked in PYQs
- UPSC Prelims 2026 · Q1Consider the following assertion : In the Pleistocene period either the Yamuna once flowed into the Indus, or the Sutlej flowed into the Yamuna and one major tributary of…
- UPSC Prelims 2026 · Q35Identify the river of the Indian sub-continent on the basis of the following information : Select the answer from the following :…
- UPSC Prelims 2021 · Q53With reference to the Indus river system, of the following four rivers, three of them pour into one of them which joins the Indus direct. Among the following, which one i…
- UPSC Prelims 2009 · Q41Which one of the following rivers does not originate in India ?…
- UPSC Prelims 2009 · Q133The Dul Hasti Power Station is based on which one of the following rivers ?…
Questions from our Prelims bank whose text names Sutlej.
Key facts
- Type
- River
- States / UTs on its course
- Himachal Pradesh, Punjab
- River system
- Himalayan
- Basin
- Indus
- Extent on map
- 29.4°–31.8°N, 71.1°–81.1°E
- Asked in Prelims
- 5 questions · 2026, 2021, 2009
From the Map Explorer data; positions are for orientation.
In the lessons
- Physical Features and Drainage of India
- India–Pakistan and India–Afghanistan Relations
- Harappan Civilisation: Sites, Town Planning and Phases
- British Expansion: Mysore, Marathas, Sikhs and the Policies of Annexation
- Physiographic Divisions of India in Depth
- Drainage Systems of India: Himalayan and Peninsular Rivers