The Peninsular Plateaus-Central highlands

The Peninsular Plateaus-Central highlands

1. The plateau region lies to the south of the Great Northern Plains.
2. This is the largest physiographic division of our country.
3. It covers an area of about 16 lakh sq.km (about half of the total area of the country).
4. It is an old rocky plateau region.
5. The topography consists of a series of plateaus and hill ranges interspersed with river valleys.
6. Aravalli hills mark the north-western boundary of the plateau region.
7. Its northern and north-eastern boundaries are marked by the Bundelkhand upland, Kaimur, and Rajmahal hills.
8. The Western Ghats and the Eastern Ghats mark the western and eastern boundaries respectively.
9. The altitude of a large portion of the plateau is more than 600 m from mean sea level.
10. The peak of Anaimudi is the highest point in the plateau.
    1. Its height is 2,695 m and is located in Anaimalai.
11. The general slope of this plateau is towards the east.
12. The Great Plateau is a part of the Gondwana (very ancient one) land mass.
13. Due to the old age, the rivers in this region attained their base level and developed broad and shallow valleys.
14. The river Narmada divides the plateau region of India broadly into two parts.
    1. The region lying to the north of the Narmada is called the Central Highlands.
    2. The region lying to the south of Narmada is called the Deccan Plateau.
15. All the major rivers (Mahanadi, Godavari, Krishna, Kaveri, etc.) lying to the south of the Vindhyas flow eastwards and fall into the Bay of Bengal.
16. Narmada and Tapti are the two rivers situated to the south of the Vindhyas that flow westward.
17. Their movement towards the west is due to the presence of a rift valley in the region.

Central Highlands

1. The Central Highlands extend between the river Narmada and the Northern Great Plains.
2. The Aravallis form the west and northwestern edge of the Central Highlands.
   • These hills extend from Gujarat, through Rajasthan to Delhi in the northwesterly direction for a distance of about 700 km.
   • The height of these hills is about 1,500 m in the southwest while near Delhi the height is hardly 400 m.
   • Gurushikhar with 1,722 m is the highest peak of this range.
3. The western part of the Central Highlands is known as the Malwa Plateau.
   • It lies to the southeast of Aravallis and to the north of the Vindhyachal Range.
   • The rivers Chambal, Betwa, and Ken drain the Malwa Plateau before they join the river Yamuna.
   • The part of the Central Highlands which extends to the east of Malwa Plateau is known as Bundelkhand and its further extension is known as Bagelkhand.
4. The eastern part of the Central Highlands which lies in the north-eastern part of the Indian Plateau is known as Chhota-Nagpur Plateau.
   • It covers much of Jharkhand, adjacent parts of Odisha, West Bengal, Bihar, and Chhattisgarh.
   • This region is very rich in mineral resources, particularly iron ore and coal.