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Indo-Gangetic Plain

Coordinates: 27°15′N 80°30′E / 27.25°N 80.5°E / 27.25; 80.5
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Indo-Gangetic Plain

The Indo-Gangetic Plain, also known as the Northern Plain or North Indian River Plain, is a fertile plain spanning 700,000 km2 (270,000 sq mi) across the northern and north-eastern part of the Indian subcontinent. It encompasses northern and eastern India, eastern Pakistan, southern Nepal, and almost all of Bangladesh. It is named after the two major river systems that drain the region–Indus and Ganges.

Its stretches from the Himalayas in the north to the northern edge of the Deccan plateau in the south, and extends from North East India in the east to the Iranian border in the west. The region is home to many major cities and nearly one-seventh of the world's population. As the region was formed by the deposits of the three major rivers–Indus, Ganges and Brahmaputra, the plains consists of the world's largest expanse of uninterrupted alluvium. Due to its rich water resources, it is one of the world's most densely populated and intensely farmed areas.

History

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The region was home to the Indus Valley civilisation in 3000 BCE, which was one of the earliest human settlements in the Indian subcontinent.[1] During the Vedic period (c. 1500 – 600 BCE), the region was referred to as "Aryavarta" (Land of the Aryans). According to Manusmṛti (2.22), 'Aryavarta' is "the tract between the Himalaya and the Vindhya ranges, from the Eastern Sea (Bay of Bengal) to the Western Sea (Arabian Sea)".[2][3] The region was part of what was historically referred to as Hindustan, a term used to refer to the whole of the Indian subcontinent.[4] The term "Hindustani" is also commonly used to refer to the people, music, and culture of the region.[5][6]

The fertile terrain facilitated the rise and expansion of various empires such as the Mauryas, Kushan, Guptas, all of whom had their demographic and political centers in the Indo-Gangetic plain. The Maurya Empire existed from 4th to 2nd century BCE and unified most of the Indian subcontinent into one state, and was the largest empire ever to exist on the Indian subcontinent.[7] The Kushan Empire expanded out of what is now Afghanistan into the northwest of the Indian subcontinent in the middle of the 1st century CE.[8] Maritime trade along the Silk Road flourished during the period.[9] The Gupta period existed from the 4th to 7th century CE and is noted for its arts, architecture and science.[10]

In the 12th century CE, much of the region was ruled by the Rajputs.[11] Most prominent of them were Chauhans of Ajmer along with Gahadavals Or Rathores of Varanasi and many petty Rajput kingdoms.[11] In 1191, the Rajput king Prithviraj Chauhan, unified several Rajput states and defeated the invading army of Shihabuddin Ghori in the First Battle of Tarain.[12] But Shihabuddin returned, and defeated the Rajputs in the Second Battle of Tarain.[13] The defeat of the Rajputs led to the Delhi Sultanate becoming prominent in the region in the 13th century CE.[14]

In 1526 CE, Babur swept across the Khyber Pass and established the Mughal Empire, which ruled for almost the next three centuries.[15] The Maratha Empire founded by Chatrapati Shivaji, briefly captured the region in the early 18th century CE.[16][17][18] The Sikh Empire was established by Ranjit Singh around the same time in the north western part of the region.[19][20] The Europeans arrived in the end of the 15th century CE in peninsular India.[21] The The English East India company's in the Battle of Plassey (1757) and Battle of Buxar (1767) consolidated the company's power in the lower Gangetic plain. With the defeat of the Marathas, the entire region came under the control of British Raj and remained same until the Indian Independence in 1947.[22]

Geography

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Eastern part of the Indo-Gangetic Plain over Northern, Central and Eastern India.

The Indo-Gangetic Plain is divided into two drainage basins by the Delhi Ridge; the western part drains to the Indus, and the eastern part consists of the Ganga–Brahmaputra drainage systems. This divide is only 350 metres above sea level, causing the perception that the Indo-Gangetic Plain appears to be continuous from Sindh in the west to Bengal and Assam in the east.

A thin strip between the foothills of the Himalayas and the plain, the Bhabar is a region of porous ground consisting of boulders and pebbles that have washed down from the mountains. It is not suitable for crops and is forested. The streams disappear underground here.[23][better source needed]

Below the Bhabar lie the grasslands of Terai and Dooars.[24]

The many tributaries of the Indus river and the Ganga river divide the plain into doabs, tongues of land that extend to where the tributaries meet. Close to the rivers is khadar land of new alluvium that is subject to flooding. Above the flood limit, bangar land is older alluvium deposited in the middle Pleistocene.[23][better source needed]

The annual rainfall increases from west towards the east.[25] The Lower Ganges Plains and the Assam Valley are more verdant than the middle Ganga plain. The lower Ganga is centered in West Bengal, from which it flows into Bangladesh. After joining the Jamuna, a distributary of Brahmaputra, both rivers form the Ganges Delta. The Brahmaputra rises in Tibet as the Yarlung Zangbo River and flows through Arunachal Pradesh and Assam, before crossing into Bangladesh.

Some geographers subdivide the Indo-Gangetic Plain into several parts: the Gujarat, Sindh, Punjab, Doab, Rohilkhand, Awadh, Bihar, Bengal and Assam regions.

Area depicting the Ganga-Yamuna Doab in the Indo-Gangetic Plains.

Roughly, the Indo-Gangetic Plain stretches across:

the Jammu Plains in the north;
the Punjab Plains in eastern Pakistan and northwestern India;
the Sindh Plains in southern Pakistan;
the Indus Delta in southern Pakistan and western India;
the Ganga-Yamuna Doab;
the Rohilkhand (Katehr) Plains;
the Awadh Plains;
the Purvanchal Plains;
the Bihar Plains;
the North Bengal plains;
the Ganges Delta in India and Bangladesh;
and the Brahmaputra Valley in the east.

The fertile Terai region is spread across southern Nepal and northern-eastern India along the foothills of the Himalayas. The rivers encompassed are the Beas, the Chambal, the Chenab, the Ganga, the Gomti, the Indus, the Ravi, the Sutlej and the Yamuna. The soil is rich in silt, making the plain one of the most intensely farmed areas of the world. Even rural areas here are densely populated.

The Indus–Ganga plains, also known as the "Great Indian Plains", are large floodplains of the Indus, Ganga and Brahmaputra river systems. They run parallel to the Himalaya mountains, from Jammu and Kashmir and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa in the west to Assam in the east and draining most of Northern and Eastern India. The plains encompass an area of 700,000 km2 (270,000 sq mi) and vary in width through their length by several hundred kilometres. The major rivers of this system are the Ganga and the Indus along with their tributaries; Beas, Yamuna, Gomti, Ravi, Chambal, Sutlej and Chenab.

The Indus-Ganga belt is the world's most extensive expanse of uninterrupted alluvium formed by the deposition of silt by the numerous rivers. The plains are flat and mostly treeless, making it conducive for irrigation through canals. The area is also rich in ground water sources. The plains are the world's most intensely farmed areas. The main crops grown are rice and wheat that are grown in rotation. Others include maize, sugarcane and cotton.[citation needed]

Sustaining 9% to 14% of the global population across various studies, the Indo-Gangetic plains rank among the world's most densely populated areas.[26][27]

Fauna

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Until recent history, the open grasslands of the Indus-Ganga Plain were inhabited by several large species of animal. The open plains were home to large numbers of herbivores which included all three of the Asian rhinoceros (Indian rhinoceros, Javan rhinoceros, Sumatran rhinoceros). The open grasslands were in many ways similar to the landscape of modern Africa. Gazelle, buffalo, rhinos, elephants, lions, and hippo roamed the grasslands as they do in Africa today. Large herds of Indian elephants, gazelles, antelopes and horses lived alongside several species of wild cattle including the now-extinct aurochs. In the forested areas there were several species of wild pig, deer and muntjac. In the wetter regions close to the Ganga, there would have been large herds of water buffalo grazing on the riverbanks along with extinct species of hippopotamus.

So many large animals would have supported a large population of predators as well. Indian wolves, dholes, striped hyenas, Asiatic cheetahs and Asiatic lions would have hunted large game on the open plains, while Bengal tigers and leopards would stalk prey in the surrounding woods and sloth bears hunt for termites in both of these areas. In the Ganges there were large concentrations of gharial, mugger crocodile and river dolphin controlling fish stocks and the occasional migrating herd crossing the river.

Agriculture

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Farming on the Indus-Ganga Plain primarily consists of rice and wheat grown in crop rotation. Other crops include maize, millets, barley, sugarcane, and cotton.

The main source of rainfall is the southwest monsoon which is normally sufficient for general agriculture. The many rivers flowing out of the Himalayas provide water for major irrigation works.

Due to a rapidly growing population (as well as other factors), this area is considered at high risk for water shortages in the future.

The area constitutes the land between the Brahmaputra River and the Aravalli Range. The Ganga and other rivers such as the Yamuna, the Ghaghara and the Chambal River flow through the area.

Administrative divisions

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Because it is not fully possible to define the boundaries of the Indo-Gangetic Plain, it is also difficult to give an exact list of which administrative areas are part of the plain.

The areas that are completely or more than half in the plain are:

See also

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References

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  1. ^ Mark, Joshua J. "Indus Valley Civilization". World History Encyclopedia. Retrieved 22 April 2024.
  2. ^ Gopal, Madan (1990). K.S. Gautam (ed.). India through the ages. Publication Division, Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, Government of India. p. 70.
  3. ^ Michael Cook (2014), Ancient Religions, Modern Politics: The Islamic Case in Comparative Perspective, Princeton University Press, p. 68: "Aryavarta ... is defined by Manu as extending from the Himalayas in the north to the Vindhyas of Central India in the south and from the sea in the west to the sea in the east."
  4. ^ Kapur, Anu (2019). Mapping Place Names of India. Taylor & Francis. ISBN 978-0-429-61421-7.
  5. ^ "India". CIA – The World Factbook. Retrieved 14 December 2007.
  6. ^ "Hindustani Classical Music". Indian Melody. Archived from the original on 11 December 2007. Retrieved 14 December 2007.
  7. ^ Turchin, Peter; Adams, Jonathan M.; Hall, Thomas D. (December 2006). "East–West Orientation of Historical Empires". Journal of World-Systems Research. 12 (2): 223. ISSN 1076-156X. Retrieved 12 September 2016.
  8. ^ Loewe, Michael; Shaughnessy, Edward L. (1999). The Cambridge History of Ancient China: From the Origins of Civilization to 221 BC. Cambridge University Press. pp. 87–88. ISBN 978-0-521-47030-8. Retrieved 1 November 2013.
  9. ^ Los Angeles County Museum of Art; Pratapaditya Pal (1986). Indian Sculpture: Circa 500 B.C.–A.D. 700. University of California Press. pp. 151–. ISBN 978-0-520-05991-7.
  10. ^ "Gupta dynasty: empire in 4th century". Britannica. Archived from the original on 30 March 2010. Retrieved 16 May 2010.
  11. ^ a b Jadunath Sarkar 1960, p. 32.
  12. ^ Jadunath Sarkar 1960, pp. 32, 34.
  13. ^ Satish Chandra 2006, pp. 25–26.
  14. ^ Jadunath Sarkar 1960, pp. 38.
  15. ^ "The Islamic World to 1600: Rise of the Great Islamic Empires (The Mughal Empire)". University of Calgary. Archived from the original on 27 September 2013.
  16. ^ Pearson, M.N. (February 1976). "Shivaji and the Decline of the Mughal Empire". The Journal of Asian Studies. 35 (2): 221–235. doi:10.2307/2053980. JSTOR 2053980. S2CID 162482005.
  17. ^ Capper, J. (1918). Delhi, the Capital of India. Asian Educational Services. p. 28. ISBN 978-81-206-1282-2. Retrieved 6 January 2017.
  18. ^ Sen, S.N. (2010). An Advanced History of Modern India. Macmillan India. p. 1941. ISBN 978-0-230-32885-3. Retrieved 6 January 2017.
  19. ^ Singh, Gulcharan (July 1981). "Maharaja Ranjit Singh and the Principles of War". USI Journal. 111 (465): 184–192.
  20. ^ Grewal, J.S. (1990). The Sikhs of the Punjab. The New Cambridge History of India. Vol. II.3. Cambridge University Press. pp. 101, 103–104. ISBN 978-0-521-26884-4.
  21. ^ Glenn Ames (2012). Ivana Elbl (ed.). Portugal and its Empire, 1250–1800 (Collected Essays in Memory of Glenn J. Ames).: Portuguese Studies Review, Vol. 17, No. 1. Trent University Press. pp. 12–15 with footnotes, context: 11–32.
  22. ^ Markovits, Claude, ed. (2004) [First published 1994 as Histoire de l'Inde Moderne]. A History of Modern India, 1480–1950 (2nd ed.). London: Anthem Press. pp. 271–. ISBN 978-1-84331-004-4.
  23. ^ a b "Indo-Gangetic plains: Geography, Facts, Divisions and Importance". General Knowledge Today. 3 April 2016. Retrieved 30 May 2019.
  24. ^ Dinerstein, E., Loucks, C. (2001). "Terai-Duar savanna and grasslands". Terrestrial Ecoregions. World Wildlife Fund.
  25. ^ Ramaswamy R Iyer, ed. (11 April 2009). Water and the Laws in India. SAGE Publications. pp. 542–. ISBN 978-81-321-0424-7.
  26. ^ Mogno, Caterina; Palmer, Paul I.; Knote, Christoph; Yao, Fei; Wallington, Timothy J. (20 July 2021). "Seasonal distribution and drivers of surface fine particulate matter and organic aerosol over the Indo-Gangetic Plain" (PDF). Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics. 21 (14): 10881–10909. Bibcode:2021ACP....2110881M. doi:10.5194/acp-21-10881-2021. ISSN 1680-7316. S2CID 237688850. Retrieved 20 June 2023.
  27. ^ Ojha, Narendra; Sharma, Amit; Kumar, Manish; Girach, Imran; Ansari, Tabish U.; Sharma, Som K.; Singh, Narendra; Pozzer, Andrea; Gunthe, Sachin S. (3 April 2020). "On the widespread enhancement in fine particulate matter across the Indo-Gangetic Plain towards winter". Scientific Reports. 10 (1): 5862. Bibcode:2020NatSR..10.5862O. doi:10.1038/s41598-020-62710-8. ISSN 2045-2322. PMC 7125076. PMID 32246046.

Bibliography

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27°15′N 80°30′E / 27.25°N 80.5°E / 27.25; 80.5

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