In its middle and upper reaches, it is respectively known as the Murghab and Aksu; it flows through the Wakhan in Afghanistan, then through the Rushon District of the Gorno-Badakhshan autonomous region, Tajikistan.

[1] The river rises in Chaqmaqtin Lake in the Little Pamir in the Wakhan, where it is known as the Aksu or Oksu ("white water").

It then flows east and crosses into Tajikistan, then turns north to the city of Murghab passing the village of Shaimak.

The Bartang traces a route down the western Pamir Mountains, flowing 132 kilometers (82 mi) before becoming a tributary to the Panj at the border of Tajikistan and Afghanistan.

There were three paths, one along the river, usable only in autumn when the water was low, the second along the cliffs and the third, much longer, where pack animals could be led along the mountain ridges.

On 18 February 1911, the 1911 Sarez earthquake, estimated at 7.4 on the Richter magnitude scale, caused a large landslide which completely blocked the flow of the Murghab and buried a local village.