river of northern India and western Nepal. It rises as the Kali River in far northern Uttarakhand state in the Great Himalayas (Himalayas) on the eastern slopes of the Nanda Devi massif. The river then flows generally south-southwest, where it constitutes the border between Uttarakhand state and Nepal. Descending from the mountains, it enters the Indo-Gangetic Plain at Barmdeo Mandi (Nepal), widening there above the Sarda Barrage. Below that point it is known as the Sarda River. The Sarda then continues southeastward into India through northern Uttar Pradesh state before joining the Ghaghara River (Ghāghara River) southwest of Bahraich, after a course of about 300 miles (480 km).

Its major tributaries are the Dhauliganga, Goriganga, and Sarju. The Sarda Barrage (dam), near Banbasa (Uttarakhand), is the source of the Sarda Canal (completed 1930), one of the longest irrigation canals in northern India.