Mountain Ranges, Deserts and Landforms of India

Geography

India accounts for the bulk of the Indian subcontinent, lying atop the Indian tectonic plate, a part of the Indo-Australian Plate. India's defining geologic processes began approximately 70 million years ago, when the Indian Plate, then part of the southern supercontinent Gondwana, began a north-eastward drift caused by seafloor spreading to its south-west, and later, south and south-east. Simultaneously, the vast Tethyan oceanic crust, to its northeast, began to subduct under the Eurasian Plate. The Indian continental crust was obstructed and was sheared horizontally; while its lower crust and mantle slid beneath Eurasia, the upper layer piled up in sheets ahead of the subduction zone. This mountain-building orogeny created the Himalayas.

History

Based on coalescence of Mitochondrial DNA and Y Chromosome data, the earliest extant lineages of modern humans on the Indian subcontinent had reached there from Africa between 80,000 and 50,000 years ago, and with high likelihood by 55,000 years ago. Neolithic and chalcolithic cultures arose in the western margins of the Indus river basin around Mehrgarh in Balochistan, Pakistan after 7000 BCE. These gradually evolved into the Indus Valley Civilisation, which flourished during 2500–1900 BCE in Pakistan and western India. Centred around cities such as Mohenjo-daro, Harappa and Dholavira, its characteristic features included steatite seals, a written script, urban planning, terracotta human figures and animal statuettes.

Economy

After independence in 1947, India shifted from the colonial economic model to a focus on industrialisation and poverty reduction. This transition brought a large expansion of government authority. Government spending as a share of gross domestic product (GDP) increased from 3 to 5 per cent in 1931 to 22 per cent by 1981. Public administration and state-owned enterprises became major employers. To manage this market intervention, India developed—during the 1950s—a comprehensive, federally managed statistical system to conduct large-scale sample surveys for monitoring and assessing living standards or effects of interventions.

Geology and geological history

The geological history of the Tibetan Plateau is closely related to that of the Himalayas. The Himalayas belong to the Alpine orogeny and are among the younger mountain ranges on the planet, consisting mostly of uplifted sedimentary and metamorphic rock. Their formation is a result of a continental collision or orogeny along the convergent boundary between the Indo-Australian plate and the Eurasian plate.

India began drifting northward from Gondwana in the Upper Cretaceous, about 70 million years ago (Mya), moving at about 15 cm (6 in) per year; its collision with the Eurasian plate is most commonly dated to around 55–50 Mya, near the Paleocene–Eocene boundary, though the exact timing remains debated.

Human history

Archaic Denisovans lived on the plateau from around 200,000 to 40,000 years ago, according to a study published in Nature. Archaeological evidence suggests that the earliest human occupation of the plateau occurred between 30,000 and 40,000 years ago.

Since the plateau's earliest settlement, Tibetan culture has adapted and flourished in the western, southern, and eastern regions. The Changtang is generally too high and cold to support permanent population. The Tibetan Empire existed from the 7th century to the 9th century AD. Nomadic pastoralism, once practiced widely across Asia and Africa, has persisted among these communities on the plateau. Pastoral nomads constitute about 40% of the ethnic Tibetan population.

Description

The Tibetan Plateau is surrounded by the massive mountain ranges of high-mountain Asia. The plateau is bordered to the south by the inner Himalayan range, to the north by the Kunlun Mountains which separate it from the Tarim Basin, and to the northeast by the Qilian Mountains, which separate it from the Hexi Corridor and Gobi Desert. To the east and southeast are the Salween, Mekong, and Yangtze rivers in northwest Yunnan, western Sichuan, and southwest Qinghai. In the west, the rugged Karakoram range of northern Kashmir curves around the plateau's edge. The Indus River originates in the western Tibetan Plateau in the vicinity of Lake Manasarovar.

Geography

Historians have used the term Deccan differently across various time periods. Firishta (16th century), R. G. Bhandarkar (1920), and Richard Eaton (2005) demarcate the region based on linguistic lines. K. M. Panikkar (1969) defines it as the entire Indian peninsula south of the Vindhyas. Stewart Gordon (1998) notes that Deccan is a "relational term" and historically the border of Deccan has varied from Tapti River to the Godavari River, depending on the southern boundary of the northern empires and is used to denote "the area beyond the southern border of a northern-based kingdom" of India.

Geographers have defined the extent of Deccan region using various physical features and indices such as rainfall, vegetation, or soil type.

Geology

The Deccan Plateau is one of the oldest and most stable land formations in the Indian subcontinent. The plateau is marked by rocky terrain with an average of about 600 m (2,000 ft). The Deccan Traps consist of multiple layers of igneous rocks, which are more than 2 km (1.2 mi) in thickness. These rocks were laid down by basaltic lava flows which emerged from deep inside the Earth's crust following a massive volcanic eruption.

The eruption event occurred during the end of the Cretaceous period (66 mya) and is the second largest volcanic eruption ever recorded on land. Scientists state that the volcanic event would have released large amounts of ash, dust and carbon dioxide into the atmosphere.

History

Carbon dating shows that ash mounds associated with Neolithic cultures in region date back to 8000 BCE. Towards the beginning of 1000 BCE, iron technology spread through the region, though geological evidence does not point to a fully developed Bronze Age in existence prior to the Iron Age. Since at least 1st century BCE, the region has been connected to the Silk Road and was involved in trade with the Mediterranean and East Asia.

Economy

Agriculture is often difficult in low rainfall areas, which require additional irrigation facilities while it is more Easy to do in the river valleys. Agriculture is still the primary occupation in the region. Rice is the staple food and major crop in the region. Others crops cultivated include sugarcane, banana, cotton, turmeric, millets, pulses, and spices. The urban centres are significant contributors to the Indian and global Information Technology economy. The presence of these hubs has spurred economic growth and attracted foreign investments and job seekers from other parts of the country. Manufacturing and textiles are other major industries in the region.

Geography

The Thar Desert is located in the north-western part of the Indian subcontinent stretching across the border between India and Pakistan, and is the eastern most extension of the Sahara–Arabian desert formation. It is spread across an area of 264,091 km2 (101,966 sq mi), with 195,091 km2 (75,325 sq mi) of the desert area lying in India, with the remaining in Pakistan. The desert forms about six percent of the geographical area of India, with the majority of the desert lying in the state of Rajasthan, with portions extending into Gujarat, Haryana, and Punjab.

Towards the west, it extends into the provinces of Sindh and Punjab in Pakistan.

Topography and geology

The eastern part of the Thar Desert, that lies in the western foothills of the Aravallis, consists of sandy plains intercepted by eroded hills of low elevation. It rises to about 325 m (1,066 ft) in elevations as it reaches the Aravallis, which continue as the plateau of the central India beyond the range. The sandy plains extend across to the west, with the altitude dropping to 150 m (490 ft) at the India-Pakistan border. Much of the desert area is covered by sand dunes that are formed due to accumulation of wind blown sand deposited over the sediments from the alluvial plains. The sand is highly mobile due to the strong winds that rise each year before the onset of the monsoon. Much of the bedrock is composed of igneous and metamorphic rocks.

Climate and hydrography

The region has a desert climate. In the summer months of April to June, average maximum temperature ranges 40–42 °C (104–108 °F) with average minimum of 23–27 °C (73–81 °F). The maximum temperature often reaches above 50 °C (122 °F) during the peak summer. In the winter months of December to February, the minimum temperature reaches −2 °C (28 °F), with average maximum of 18–24 °C (64–75 °F) with average minimum of 3.5–10 °C (38.3–50.0 °F).

The region receives most of the rainfall during the southwest monsoon from June to September. Average annual rainfall ranges from 100–300 mm (3.9–11.8 in), and occurs during the short July-to-September southwest monsoon. The distribution of rainfall also varies significantly across years.

History

Lithic tools belonging to the prehistoric Aterian culture of the Maghreb from the Middle Paleolithic era have been found in the Thar Desert. The Indus Valley Civilization flourished along the vicinity of the Ghaggar-Hakra River between 3300 BCE to 1300 BCE. After the collapse of the Indus Valley Civilisation, which occurred around 1900 BCE, groups of Indo-Aryan peoples migrated into north-western India and started to inhabit the region.

During the Vedic period (1500 BCE to 500 BCE), various tribes inhabited the region, and the Kuru kingdom, the earliest Vedic state was formed by a super-tribe which joined several tribes in a new unit.

Geography

The Eastern Ghats extend from north of the Mahanadi River and run approximately 1,750 km (1,090 mi) to the Vaigai basin in the south of Indian peninsula. It covers an area of 160,000 km2 (62,000 sq mi), traversing across the Indian states of Odisha (25%), Telangana (5%), Andhra Pradesh (40%), Karnataka (5%), and Tamil Nadu (25%).

The Eastern Ghats form a discontinuous chain of mountains with an average elevation of 600 m (2,000 ft) and run parallel to the eastern coast of India along the Bay of Bengal. The Eastern coastal plains are the 100–130 km (62–81 mi) wide region between the Eastern Ghats and the Bay of Bengal. The average width of the mountains range from 100–200 km (62–124 mi) with the mountains wider in the north and narrower in the south.

Geology

The Eastern Ghats are an ancient orogenic belt which started forming during the collision of crustal rocks during the archeozoic era. Geologic evidence indicates that these became part of the Indian subcontinent following the break-up of the super-continent of Rodinia and the creation of Gondwana. The mountains were formed over millions of years through metamorphism, and erosion and are significantly older than the Western Ghats. The rock layers were largely formed during the mid-proterozoic era by the accumulation of silt, carbonates and basalt which later became khondalite and calcium silicate rocks. The major rock types found are charnockite, granite, khondalite, metamorphic, and quartzite.

In the mesoproterozoic era, the range was compacted and re-aligned north-east.

Climate

As the mountains are discontinuous and have a lower elevation, they have a considerably lesser influence than the Western Ghats on the weather patterns in India. However, orography studies indicate that the range does play a role in rainfall patterns along the coast. The range blocks winds at the low level which brings rainfall to the eastern coastal plains. The Eastern Ghats region has a tropical climate and receives rainfall from the monsoon. It is hot in the summers with temperatures reaching 44 °C (111 °F) during summer with humidity levels of 65–75%. The northern region receives 120–150 cm (47–59 in) of rainfall and the lower regions receive 60–110 cm (24–43 in) of rain. The temperature is lowest in the winter month of January with an average of 20–25 °C (68–77 °F).

Geography

The three highest mountains in the Pamirs core are Ismoil Somoni Peak (known from 1932 to 1962 as Stalin Peak, and from 1962 to 1998 as Communism Peak), 7,495 m (24,590 ft); Ibn Sina Peak (still officially known as Lenin Peak in Kyrgyzstan), 7,134 m (23,406 ft); and Peak Korzhenevskaya (Russian: Пик Корженевская, Pik Korzhenevskoi), 7,105 m (23,310 ft). In the Eastern Pamirs, China's Kongur Tagh is the highest at 7,649 m (25,095 ft).

Remark: The summits of the Kongur and Muztagata Group are in some sources counted as part of the Kunlun, which would make Peak Ismoil Somoni the highest summit of the Pamir.

There are many glaciers in the Pamir Mountains, including the 77 km (48 mi) long Vanch-Yakh Glacier, the longest in the former USSR and the longest glacier outside the polar regions.

Tourism

In December 2009, the New York Times featured articles on the possibilities for tourism in the Pamir area of Tajikistan. 2013 proved to be the most successful year ever for tourism in the region and tourism development continues to be the fastest growing economic sector.

Geology and palaeontology

The "Vindhyan Supergroup" is one of the largest and thickest sedimentary successions in the world.

What may be the earliest known multicellular fossils of eukaryotes (filamentous algae) have been discovered from Vindhya basin, possibly as much as 1.6 to 1.7 billion years old. Shelled creatures are documented to have first evolved in the late Ediacaran, near the start of the Cambrian 'explosion of life,' about 550 million years ago.

Geography

The eastern portion of the range receives more rainfall than the western portion, and the eastern range, together with the Eastern Ghats, constitute the eastern highlands moist deciduous forests ecoregion. The seasonally dry western portion of the range, together with the Narmada valley and the western Vindhya Range, are within the Narmada valley dry deciduous forests ecoregion.

This mountain range serves as a natural border between Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh states.

The Narmada and the Tapti are major rivers that drain into the Arabian Sea. The Narmada originates in eastern Madhya Pradesh (India) and flows west across the state, through a narrow valley between the Vindhya Range and spurs of the Satpura Range. It flows into the Gulf of Khambhat.

Ecology

Most of the Satpura range was heavily forested; but the area has been subject to gradual deforestation in recent decades, although significant stands of forests remain. These forest enclaves provide habitat to several at risk and endangered species, including the Bengal tiger (Panthera tigris tigris), Barasingha, gaur (Bos gaurus), dhole (Cuon alpinus), sloth bear (Melursus ursinus), chousingha (Tetracerus quadricornis), and blackbuck (Antilope cervicapra).

However, Satpura is now famous for numerous tiger reserves. Once upon a time, it was ruled by wild Indian elephants and lion and Asiatic cheetahs.

Tourism

Amarkantak (NLK Amarakaṇṭaka), also called "Teerthraj" (the king of pilgrimages) is a pilgrim town and a Nagar Panchayat in Anuppur, Madhya Pradesh, India. The Amarkantak region is a unique natural heritage area and is the meeting point of the Vindhya and the Satpura Ranges, with the Maikal Hills being the fulcrum. This is where the Narmada River, the Son River and Johila River emerge. Popular 15th-century Indian mystic and poet Kabir is said to have meditated on Kabir Chabutra, also called the platform of Kabir situated in the town of Amarkantak.

Bandhavgarh National Park, is one of the popular national parks in Madhya Pradesh located near satpura range in the Umaria district of Madhya Pradesh, located north of Amarkantak.

Geography

Naga Hills are a northern extension of the Arakan Mountains. The highest point of the Naga Hills is Mount Saramati at 3,826 m (12,552 ft).

The hills stretch along the India-Myanmar border. They form part of the Indian state of Nagaland and the Naga Self-Administered Zone of the Burmese region of Sagaing. A part of the Naga Hills under the British India was coalesced into a district in 1866. The boundaries were extended later, and the district became part of Assam Province in 1912. Following the Indian independence, it was part of Assam till 1961 and became part of the state of Nagaland was created in 1963.

Geology

Ophiolite occurs in the central part of the hills. The Naga Hills Ophiolite is an example of oceanic lithosphere obducted onto continental crust, consisting of Mesozoic–Cenozoic magmatic and sedimentary rocks, along the Indo–Burma convergence zone. The Ophiolites occurring near Pungro in Kiphire district of Nagaland has been declared a National Geological Monument of India by the Geological Survey of India.

Geography

The Sivalik Hills are a mountain range of the outer Himalayas that stretches over about 2,400 km (1,500 mi) from the Indus River eastwards close to the Brahmaputra River; they are 10–50 km (6.2–31.1 mi) wide with an average elevation of 1,500–2,000 m (4,900–6,600 ft). Between the Teesta and Raidāk Rivers is a gap of about 90 km (56 mi).

Geology

Geologically, the Sivalik Hills belong to the Tertiary deposits of the outer Himalayas. They are chiefly composed of sandstone and conglomerate rock formations, which are the solidified detritus of the Himalayas to their north; they are poorly consolidated. The sedimentary rocks comprising the hills are believed to be 16–5.2 million years old.

They are bounded on the south by a fault system called the Main Frontal Thrust, with steeper slopes on that side. Below this, the coarse alluvial Bhabar zone makes the transition to the nearly level plains. Rainfall, especially during the summer monsoon, percolates into the Bhabar, then is forced to the surface by finer alluvial layers below it in a zone of springs and marshes along the northern edge of the Terai or plains.

Geography

The highest peak in the Chin Hills is Khonu Msung, Nat Ma Taung, or Mount Victoria, in southern Chin State, which reaches 3,053 metres (10,016 ft). The Chin Hills–Arakan Yoma montane forests ecoregion has diverse forests with pine, camellia, and teak. Falam is the largest town in the Chin Hills, lying at their southern edge.

The Chin Hills are the eastern part of the Patkai Range, which includes the Lushai Hills and runs through Nagaland in India, as well as part of Burma. The Lushai Hills are frequently discussed with the Chin Hills as the topography, people's culture and history are similar. The southern prolongation of the Chin Hills is the Arakan Range (Arakan Yoma), stretching as well from north to south.

History

Historically, the area of the range has been populated by the Chin people who like their neighbours to the west are a Laimi people. In addition to subsistence agriculture, the Chin raided the villages of the Burman on the plains of the Myittha and Chindwin rivers, as well as each other. In 1888, the British began a military campaign to end these raids which resulted in pacification of the province by 1896, and it was administratively added to Burma as a special division.

In the Second World War, the hills formed a point of armed conflict between Japanese forces and a combined British and Indian force.

Geography and key features

The Himalayas consists of four parallel mountain ranges from south to north: the Sivalik Hills on the south; the Lower Himalayan Range; the Great Himalayas, which is the highest and central range; and the Tibetan Himalayas on the north. The Karakoram are generally considered separate from the Himalayas.

In the middle of the great curve of the Himalayan mountains lie the 8,000 m (26,000-foot) peaks of Dhaulagiri and Annapurna in Nepal, separated by the Kali Gandaki Gorge. The gorge splits the Himalayas into Western and Eastern sections, both ecologically and orographically – the pass at the head of the Kali Gandaki, the Kora La, is the lowest point on the ridgeline between Everest and K2 (the highest peak of the Karakoram range).

Geology

Tectonics, the recurring physical changes that affect the arrangement of the Earth's crust, and plate tectonics, the movement of large regions of the Earth's crust in the manner of planar rigid bodies, are key to understanding the formation of the Himalayas. The Earth's crust rests directly on its mantle. Tectonic plates, comprising the crust and the upper portions of their underlying mantle, are moved around by convection in the asthenosphere. The oceanic crust, found beneath oceans, is, on average, seven kilometres (4.3 mi) thick. It is created from upwelling magma at mid-ocean ridges and predominantly consists of basalt, the principal igneous rock on Earth.

Climate

The physical factors determining the climate in any location in the Himalayas include latitude, altitude, and the relative motion of the Southwest monsoon. From north to south, the mountains cover more than eight degrees of latitude, spanning temperate to subtropical zones. The colder air of Central Asia is prevented from blowing down into South Asia by the physical configuration of the Himalayas. This causes the tropical zone to extend farther north in South Asia than anywhere else in the world. The evidence is unmistakable in the Brahmaputra valley as the warm air from the Bay of Bengal bottlenecks and rushes up past Namcha Barwa, the eastern anchor of the Himalayas, and into southeastern Tibet.

Ecology

The flora and fauna of the Himalayas vary with climate, rainfall, altitude, and soils. The climate ranges from tropical at the base of the mountains to permanent ice and snow at the highest elevations. The amount of yearly rainfall increases from west to east along the southern front of the range. This diversity of altitude, rainfall, and soil conditions, combined with the very high snow line, supports a variety of distinct plant and animal communities. The extremes of high altitude (low atmospheric pressure), combined with extreme cold, favor extremophile organisms.

At high altitudes, the elusive and previously endangered snow leopard is the main predator.

Geography and topography

The Ganges Delta has the shape of a triangle and is considered to be "arcuate" (arc-shaped). It covers more than 105,000 km2 (41,000 sq mi) and lies mostly in Bangladesh and India, with rivers from Bhutan, Tibet, and Nepal draining into it from the north. 67% of the delta is inside Bangladesh and only 33% belongs to West Bengal. Most of the delta is composed of alluvial soils made up of small sediment particles that finally settle down as river currents slow in the estuary. Rivers carry these fine particles with them, even from their sources at glaciers as fluvio-glacial. Red and red-yellow laterite soils are found as one heads farther east. The soil has large amounts of minerals and nutrients, which are good for agriculture.

Geology

The Ganges Delta lies at the junction of three tectonic plates: the Indian Plate, the Eurasian Plate, and the Burma Plate. The edge of the Eocene paleoshelf runs approximately from Kolkata to the edge of the Shillong Plateau. The edge of the paleoshelf marks the transition from the thick continental crust in the northwest to the thin continental or oceanic crust in the southeast. The enormous sediment supply from the Himalayan collision has extended the delta about 400 kilometres (250 mi) seaward since the Eocene. The sediment thickness southeast of the edge of the paleoshelf beneath the Ganges Delta can exceed 16 km (9.9 mi).

Climate

The Ganges Delta lies mostly in the tropical wet climate zone, and receives between 1,500 to 2,000 mm (59 to 79 in) of rainfall each year in the western part, and 2,000 to 3,000 mm (79 to 118 in) in the eastern part.. Hot, dry summers and cool, dry winters make the climate suitable for agriculture.

In November 1970, the deadliest tropical cyclone of the twentieth century hit the Ganges Delta region. The 1970 Bhola cyclone killed 500,000 people (official death toll), with another 100,000 missing. The Guinness Book of World Records estimated the total loss of human life from the Bhola cyclone at 1,000,000.

Another cyclone hit the delta in 1991, killing about 139,000 people. It also left many people homeless.

Environmental history

From the late 1600s, the delta was colonized by the East India Company, whose governance relied on zamindars. Whereas the inhabitants used to build temporary levees, which were breached each monsoon season, colonial rule promoted the construction of permanent levees. This increased agricultural productivity in the short run, but interfered with sedimentation, which naturally fertilizes and raises the land, compensating subsidence. In the 19th century, the British state promoted the construction of railroads, which led to more levees, fewer forests, more stagnant wetland, and the spreading of malaria.

Geography

The Kashmir Valley lies between latitude 33° and 35°N, and longitude 73° and 76°E. The valley is 100 km (62 mi) wide and covers 15,520.3 km2 (5,992.4 sq mi) in area. It is bounded by sub-ranges of the Western Himalayas: the Great Himalayas bound it in the northeast and separate it from the Tibetan Plateau, whereas the Pir Panjal Range in the Lesser Himalayas bounds it on the west and the south, and separates it from the Punjab Plain. The valley has an average elevation of 1,850 metres (6,070 ft) above sea-level, but the surrounding Pir Panjal range has an average elevation of 10,000 feet (3,000 m).

Climate

The Kashmir Valley has a moderate climate, which is largely defined by its geographic location, with the towering Karakoram Range in the north, Pir Panjal Range in the south and west, and Zanskar Range in the east. It can be generally described as cool in the spring and autumn, mild in the summer and cold in the winter. As a large valley with significant differences in geo-location among various districts, the weather is often cooler in the hilly areas compared to the flat lower parts.

Summer is usually mild and fairly dry, but relative humidity is generally high and the nights are cool. Precipitation occurs throughout the year, mainly from western disturbance and monsoon, and no month is particularly dry.

Geography

Geographically, the Malabar Coast can be divided into three climatically distinct regions: the eastern highlands; rugged and cool mountainous terrain, the central mid-lands; rolling hills, and the western lowlands; coastal plains.

The Western Ghats mountain range lie parallel to the coast on the eastern highland and separate the plains from the Deccan Plateau. These mountains are recognised as one of the world's eight "hottest hotspots" of biological diversity and are listed among UNESCO World Heritage Sites. The peak of Anamudi in Kerala, at an elevation of 2,695 m (8,842 ft), is the highest peak in India outside the Himalayas. The chain's forests are considered to be older than the Himalaya mountains.

History

A substantial portion of the Malabar Coast including the western coastal lowlands and the plains of the midland may have been under the sea in ancient times. Marine fossils have been found in an area near Changanassery, thus supporting the hypothesis. Pre-historical archaeological findings include dolmens of the Neolithic era in the Marayur area of the Idukki district, which lie on the eastern highland made by Western Ghats. Rock engravings in the Edakkal Caves, in Wayanad date back to the Neolithic era around 6000 BCE.

The Malabar Coast has been a major spice exporter since 3000 BCE, according to Sumerian records and it is still referred to as the "Garden of Spices" or as the "Spice Garden of India".

History

By late 1530 the Coromandel Coast was home to three Portuguese settlements at Negapatão, São Tomé de Meliapore, and Paliacate. In the 17th and 18th centuries, the Coromandel Coast was the scene of rivalries among European powers for control of the India trade. The British established themselves at Fort St George (Madras) and Masulipatnam, the Dutch at Pulicat, Sadras, the Belgians at Covelong, the French at Pondicherry, Karaikal and Nizampatnam, the Danish in Dansborg or Tranquebar.

The Coromandel Coast supplied Indian Muslim eunuchs to the Thai palace and court of Siam (modern Thailand). The Thai at times asked eunuchs from China to visit the court in Thailand and advise them on court ritual since they held them in high regard.

Geology

The Salt Range starts from the Bakralla and Tilla Jogian ridges in the east and extends to the west of River Jhelum. The Salt Range is the youngest and the most southern part of the western Himalayan Ranges in Pakistan. The range is unlike other Himalaya type, thrusting due to the mechanical strength of the Eocambrian salt near the base of the sedimentary strata overlying Indian basement rock. The mechanical difference between the salt and other sedimentary rock that have collided elsewhere in the greater Himalaya mountain range is that salt acts like a lubricant, not allowing friction between thrust sheets to build up higher topography. Instead, the thrust sheets slide easy on the salt and do not build high topographic relief.

History

An inscription found at Kura in the Salt Range records the building of a Buddhist monastery by a person named Rotta Siddhavriddhi during the reign of the Huna ruler Toramana. The donor expresses the wish that the religious merit gained by his gift be shared by him with the king and his family members.

The history of the Salt Range from the thirteenth century CE onwards has been a record of continuous conflict between various landowning and ruling Punjabi Muslim clans, including the Awan, Khokhar, Minhas, Gakhar, and Janjua, for sovereignty over the Salt Range and political ascendancy. According to emperor Babar, the Jud and the Janjua were "two races descended from the same father," who from old times had been rulers of the hills between Nilab and Bhera, that is, of the Salt Range.

Geography

The Sundarban forest lies in the vast delta on the Bay of Bengal formed by the super-confluence of the Hooghly, Padma (both are distributaries of Ganges), Brahmaputra and Meghna rivers across southern Bangladesh. The seasonally flooded Sundarbans freshwater swamp forest lies inland from the mangrove forests on the coastal fringe. The forest covers 10,277 km2 (3,968 mi2) of which about 6,517 km2 (2,516 mi2) are in Bangladesh. The Indian part of Sundarbans is estimated to be about 4,260 km2 (1,640 mi2), of which about 1,700 km2 (660 mi2) is occupied by water bodies in the forms of river, canals and creeks of width varying from a few metres to several kilometres.

Climate change impact

The physical development processes along the coast are influenced by a multitude of factors, comprising wave motions, micro and macro-tidal cycles and long shore currents typical to the coastal tract. The shore currents vary greatly along with the monsoon. These are also affected by cyclonic action. Erosion and accretion through these forces maintains varying levels, as yet not properly measured, of physiographic change whilst the mangrove vegetation itself provides a remarkable stability to the entire system. During each monsoon season almost all the Bengal Delta is submerged, much of it for half a year. The sediment of the lower delta plain is primarily advected inland by monsoonal coastal setup and cyclonic events.

History

The history of human settlement in the Sundarbans area can be traced back to Mauryan era (4th-2nd century BCE). A ruin of an abandoned city was found in the Baghmara Forest Block that is attributed to Chand Sadagar, a pre-Mauryan semi-historical figure in Bengali folklore. Archaeological excavation at Kapilmuni, Paikgacha Upazilla, north of the Sundarbans in Bangladesh, revealed ruins of urban settlement dating back to the early middle ages. During the Mughal period, forest tracts were leased out by the local rulers for establishing settlements. In 1757, The British East India Company obtained proprietary rights over Sundarbans from the Mughal Emperor Alamgir II and completed mapping the area in 1764. However, systematic forest management started a century later.

Economy

The forest has immense protective and productive functions. Constituting 51% of the total reserve forest of Bangladesh, it contributes about 41% of total forest revenue and accounts for about 45% of all timber and fuel wood output of the country.

Part of the Sundarbans is shielded from tidal inflow by leaves and there one finds villages and agriculture. During the monsoon season, the low lying agricultural lands are waterlogged and the summer kharif crop is therefore mainly deepwater rice or floating rice. In the dry winter season, the land is normally uncropped and used for cattle grazing.

Geography and ecosystem

The natural vegetation on most of the peninsula is xeric scrub. A range of low hills known as the Gir Hills occupies the south-central portion of the peninsula. The highest of these is Girnar. The hills are home to an enclave of tropical dry broadleaf forest.

Gir National Park and its surroundings host the last remaining Asiatic lion population. Other national parks in Kathiawar are Blackbuck National Park, Velavadar on the Gulf of Cambay, and Marine National Park, Gulf of Kutch, near Jamnagar.

History

Referred to as Saurashtra and by some other names over time, this region has been mentioned since the Mahabharata and Vedic period. In the first century CE, it is referred to as Surastrene, or Saraostus in the Periplus of the Erythraean Sea: "Beyond the gulf of Baraca is that of Barygaza and the coast of the country of Ariaca, which is the beginning of the Kingdom of Nambanus and of all India. That part of it lying inland and adjoining Scythia is called Abiria, but the coast is called Syrastrene. It is a fertile country, yielding wheat and rice and sesame oil and clarified butter, cotton and the Indian cloths made therefrom, of the coarser sorts. Very many cattle are pastured there, and the men are of great stature and black in colour.

Etymology and history

The name Kathiawad seems to have been derived from the early settlements of Kathikas or Kathis Kshatriya caste who entered Gujarat from Sindh in early centuries of the Common Era.

The name "Saurashtra" itself is from Sanskrit सौराष्ट्र (saurāṣṭra, transl. from Saurashtra), the vṛddhi form of सुराष्ट्र (surāṣṭra, transl. Saurashtra), derived from सु (su, transl. good) + राष्ट्र (rāṣṭra, transl. nation). Thus the name literally means "good nation."

Location

Saurashtra peninsula is bound on the south and south-west by the Arabian Sea, on the north-west by the Gulf of Kutch and on the east by the Gulf of Khambhat. From the apex of these two gulfs, the Little Rann of Kutch and Khambhat, waste tracts half salt morass half sandy desert, stretch inland towards each other and complete the isolation of Kathiawar, except one narrow neck which connects it on the north-east with the mainland of Gujarat.