The Peninsular Plateau

What are the Northern Indian

Plains, and what is their significance
in terms of geography, agriculture,
and cultural history?
 The Peninsular Plateau
• Peninsular plateau is a triangular
shaped table land. It is part of
ancient land mass called
Gondwana level. It covers an area
of nearly 5 lakh sq.km. It is
spread over the states of Gujarat,
Maharashtra, Karnataka and
Andhra Pradesh.
• River Narmada divides the
peninsular plateau into two
parts:
• (i) The central highlands
• (ii)Deccan Plateau
 The central Highlands :
• Extends between Narmada river and the
northern plains. Lies East of Aravallis
mountain which extends from Gujrat
through Rajasthan to Delhi. - The Malwa
Plateau and Chhota Nagpur plateau,
Bundelkhand & Bhaghelkhand are parts
of the central highlands.

• - Important River Betwa, chambal and

Ken,The Narmada, Son, Wainganga,
Wardha, and Tapti rivers all have their
headwaters in the Central Indian
Highlands.

• The Central Highlands' typical height runs

between 700 and 1,000 metres above
mean sea level.
 1. Kaimur (MP) Malwa

2. Maikal (MP & Chhattisgarh)

Rajmahal hills
(Jharkhand) are the
important hills of Chota
Nagpur plateau.

3.Sonpar is north of Chota

Nagpur -
The valley of Narmada lies
between the Vindhyas and
the satpura which flows
east to west and joins the
Arabian sea.
The highest point of the
Vindhyas is the Sad-
bhawna Shikhar
("Goodwill Peak").

Mount Dhupgarh or
Dhoopgarh is the highest point
in the Satpura Range and in
Madhya Pradesh
• The Deccan Plateau: - The word
“Deccan” comes from the Sanskrit word
Dakshina, meaning “south”.

• Deccan plateau is separated by a fault

from Chota Nagpur plateau & fault
between vindhyas & Satpura. - The
black soil area in the Deccan plateau is
known as Deccan trap. - formed due to
volcanic eruptions and good for cotton,
sugarcane, millets, wheat, Oilseeds &
tobacco cultivation.
The Deccan plateau is broadly divided
into:
(a) The Western Ghats
(b) The Eastern Ghats
 Geographical Extent
• The Western Ghats extend from
the Satpura Range in the north, go south
past Goa, through Karnataka and
into Kerala and Tamil Nadu end at
Kanyakumari embracing Indian ocean.
• A chain of mountains runs parallel to
India’s western coast, approximately 30-
50 km inland.
• These mountains cover an area of around
140,000 km² in a 1,600 km long stretch.
• Western Ghats: (Western
Ghats, also known as
the Sahyadri Hills). The range is
called Sahyadri in northern
Maharashtra and Karnataka
& Sahya Parvatham in Kerala.
• The foothill region east of the
Ghats in Maharashtra is known
as Desh, while the eastern
foothills of central Karnataka
state is known as Malanadu.
• In the south the range is known
as the Nilgiri malai in Tamil
Nadu.
• It runs parallel to the western coast for
about 1600 km. - average elevation of the
Western Ghats is below 1000 metres. -
Peaks: Doda Betta (TN), Anaimudi (kerala).
• Western Ghats & Eastern Ghats meet @
Nilgiri.
• Rivers :Godavari, Bhima and Krishna flow
eastward while the river Tapti flows
westward.
The extreme northern parts of Western
Ghats fall in the Dangs district of Gujarat,
known for the Dang (Bamboo) forests.

• The mountains of the Western Ghats are

not true mountains, but are the faulted
edge of the Deccan Plateau.
Western ghats are continuous
and can be crossed through
passes like Pal Ghat (Kerala &
TN) , ThalGhat (nasik &
Mumbai) and BhorGhat.
( Pune - mumbai) .
Thamini Ghat ( Pune to Goa),
Palakkad Ghat, Naneghat
(goa & Junnar), Chorla Ghat
Pass (Goa, maharashtra &
karnataka)
 List of highest peak in western Ghats

No Name of peak state

1. Mullayanagiri in
1 Anamudi Kerala karnataka.
(Eravikulam
National Park) 2. Kalsubai in
2 Meesapulimala – Kerala Maharashtra.
Idukki.
3 Doddabetta ( Tamil Nadu 3. Don in Gujarat.
4 Kolaribetta Tamil Nadu
(Mukurthi
National Park)
 Hill Stations.
• Famous hill station: This range is
home to many hill stations like
Matheran, Lonavala-Khandala,
Mahabaleshwar, Panchgani, Amboli
Ghat, Kudremukh (Chikmagaluru
district, in Karnataka) and Kodagu.

• The Cardamom Hills or Yela Mala

are mountain range of southern
India and part of the southern
Western Ghats located in Idukki
district, Kerala.
 Rivers
• West flowing: The rivers that originate in
Western Ghats and flow towards west are
Periyar & Bharathappuzha (Kerala), This segment has
Netravati (Karnataka ) Sharavathi developed a
(Karnataka ) Mandovi (Goa) etc. waterfalls such as jog
The west flowing rivers of Western Ghats
Falls across
are fast-moving, owing to the short
the Sharavathi River
distance travelled and steeper gradient.
• This makes Western Ghats more useful in
terms of production of hydroelectricity.
 Eastern Ghats

• The Eastern Ghats: -

discontinuous low belt. -
elevation is 600 m. - They
run parallel to the east
coast from south of
Mahanadi valley to the
Nilgiri hills. - The famous
hills are Mahendragiri hills
& Nimaigiri hills in Orissa,
Nallamallai hills in Southern
Andhra Pradesh, Kollimalai
and Pachaimalai in
Tamilnadu. -
 The highest peak of
Javadi Hills (TN), PalKonda
Eastern Ghats is
range (AP), make some of the Jindhagada
the important peak (1690
mountainous hills of meters). It is also
Eastern Ghats known as Arma
Konda or Sitamma
Konda.
The area is drained
by the Mahanadi,
Godawari, Krishna
and Kaveri river
systems. The Nilgiri
hills join Western &
Eastern Ghats in
the south.
 Population of Deccan
The Deccan Plateau has a population
of over 200 million people.

The majority of the population is

Hindu, with sizable minority
populations of Muslims and Christians.

Telugu is the most widely spoken

language on the plateau, followed by
Marathi and Kannada.

The Deccan Plateau is home to a large

number of Indian tribes and languages.
The major tribes are the
Gonds, Bhils, Kols,
Santhals, and Munda.

Bhil and Gond people

speak languages from
both the Indo-Aryan and
Dravidian families.
The plateau’s huge expanses
of residual forest are still
home to a variety of grazing
species, like chinkara and
blackbuck, as well as the gaur
and wild water buffalo.

The plateau is home to a

variety of animal species,
including the Bengal tiger,
Indian leopard, Asiatic
elephant, and sloth bear.
 The Deccan Plateau: Economy
The Deccan Plateau is home to many
industries, including mining, steel
production, textiles, and chemicals.

Agriculture is also an important part of the

economy, with crops such as cereals,
oilseeds and pulses (legumes) being
grown on the plateau.

The Deccan Plateau is rich in mineral

resources. Coal, iron ore, manganese,
mica, bauxite, copper, limestone, and
chromite are found in abundance here.
Cotton textiles, sugar, foodstuffs, tobacco, paper,
machine tools, and medicines are produced at
industries located in Hyderabad, Warangal, and
Kurnool.

Forest-based cottage businesses (timber, firewood,

charcoal, bamboo goods) and mineral-based cottage
industries (asbestos, coal, chromite, iron ore, mica,
and kyanite).
 The Deccan Plateau: Tourism
The Deccan Plateau has a rich
cultural heritage.

The Deccan Plateau is home to

several historical sites, including the
Ajanta and Ellora caves, as well as
the temples at Hampi.

The city of Hyderabad is also a

popular tourist destination, with its
Charminar monument and Hussain
Sagar Lake.
 Significance of Deccan Plateau:
Minerals and precious stones abound
on the Deccan level.

Numerous kings, especially those of

the Mauryan (fourth second century
BCE) and Gupta (fourth sixth century
CE), fought for the level’s mineral
wealth.

Coal, iron metal, asbestos, chromite,

mica, and kyanite are among the
significant minerals identified here.
Rice is the most important
crop in high-precipitation
areas, whereas sorghum is
the most important crop in
low-precipitation areas.

Cotton, tobacco, oilseeds,

and sugarcane sticks are
examples of massive crops.
Espresso, tea, coconuts, •
areca, pepper, elastic,
cashew nuts, custard
apple, and cardamom are
all widely grown in the
Nilgiri Hills and the
Western Ghats.
 The Indian Desert:
• lies towards the western margin of
Aravali Hills. - called Thar Desert. - It is
the ninth largest desert in the world. -
Dotted with dunes and barchans - It
spreads over the states of Gujarat and
Rajasthan. - This region has semi-arid
and arid weather conditions. It
receives less than 150 mm of rainfall
per year. - The vegetation cover is low
with thorny bushes. - Luni is the main
river in this area.
The Thar Desert is an arid
region that covers over
2,00,000 sq km. It
forms a natural
boundary along the border
between India and
Pakistan.
The surface consists
of aeolian (wind-
deposited) sand that has
accumulated over the past Several playas (saline
1.8 million years. low
barren hills is lake beds), locally
called bhakars, which rise known as dhands, are
abruptly from the scattered throughout
surrounding plains the region..
 The Coastal Plains
• The coastal plains in India run parallel
to the Arabian Sea & Bay of Bengal
along the Peninsular Plateau. - The
western coastal plain is a narrow belt
along the Arabian sea of about 10-
20km wide. It stretches from Rann of
Kachchh to KanyaKumari.
• Western coastal plains comprises of
three sectors
• (i) Konkan Coast (Mumbai to Goa),
• (ii) Karnataka coast from Goa to
Mangalore
• (iii) Malabar Coast (Mangalore to
KanyaKumari).
 The eastern coast runs along Bay of
Bengal.
• It is wider than the
western coastal plain. Its
average width is about
120Kms. Its 1500 km
long. The northern part
of the coast is called
Northern Circar and the
southern part is called
Coromandal Coast.
• Eastern coastal plain is
marked by Deltas made
by the rivers Mahanadi,
Godavari, Krishna and
Kaveri
• The Chilka largest salt water lake in
India in Odisha is located to the
south of Mahanadi Delta.

• The coastal plains are belts for

growing spices, rice, coconut,
pepper etc. They are centres of
trade & commerce. The coastal
areas are known for fishing
activities, therefore large number
of fishing villages have developed
along the coasts. Vembanad is
famous lagoon which is located at
Malabar coast.
• . The Islands India has two main
groups of Islands. -There are 204
islands in Bay of Bengal called as
Andaman and Nicobar islands -The
Andaman & Nicobar island extend
from north to south in Bay of Bengal.
- They are bigger in size. An active
volcano is located on the Barren
Island in Andaman & Nicobar group
of islands. –

• 43 islands in Arabian Sea called as

Lakshadweep islands - Lakshadweep
islands are located near Malabar
coast of Kerala in the Arabian sea. -
They cover an area of 32 sq km. -
Kavarati is the capital of Lakshdweep.
-These islands are formed by corals
and endowed with variety of flora
and fauna.