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INDIA


A REGIONAL GEOGRAPHY


Editor


R.L. Singh
Professor and Head of the Department of Geography
Banaras Hindu University


National Geographical Society of India
VARANASI-5


©1971 National Geographical Society of India, Varanasi


Reprinted January 1987


>» a Yl. West teanga;
Bate la Re. R
Aac. No.. 2823S _ Be a


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EDITORIAL BOARD


Prof. R. L. Singh, Department of Geography, B. H. U.
Dr. S. L. Kayastha, Department of Geography, B. H. U.
Dr. Kashi Nath Singh, Department of Geography, B. H. U.
Dr, Kailash Nath Singh, Department of Geography, B. H. U.


List of Authors (A), Contributors (C) and Research
Assistants (R. A.)


Chapters


AR GS aa


Introduction : The Editors
Rajasthan Plain : A—J. Singh (Gorakhpur University), R. L. Singh and Kashi Nath Singh
(B. H. U.); C and R. A.—I. D. Singh (B. H. U.
Punjab Plain : A—A. S. Jauhari (B. H. U.); R. A.-M. S. Verma (B. H. U.)
Upper Ganga Plain : A—Editors, U. Singh (Gorakhpur University) and R. V. Verma (Kan-
pur); C—S. P. Singh; R. A.—Hira Lal (B. H. U.)
Middle Ganga Plain : A—R. L. Singh and. Kashi Nath Singh (B. H. U.); C—A. Saran
(Patna) on a Sample Village; R. A.—S. C. Singh and B. Mandal (B. H. U.)
Lower Ganga Plain : A—Kailash Nath Singh (B. H. U.) and B. K. Roy (Delhi); C—A. B.
Chatterjee and his team—Hooghly-Side Towns (Presidency College, Calcutta); R. A—
Bithika Das (B. H. U.)
Assam Valley : A—Editors, H. P. Das, D. K. Singh and H. N. Sharma (Gauhati Univer-
sity); R. A.—R. S. Singh (B. H. U.)
Kashmir Region : A—Editors, A. N. Raina (Jammu), N. Prasad (B. H. U.) and Om Prakash,
also R. A. (B. H. U.); C—A. K. Abrol (Growth of Jammu Town)
Himachal Region : A—S, L. Kayastha (B. H. U.); R. A—S. N. Mishra (B. H. Us)
U. P. Himalaya : A and R. A—S, C. Kharkwal (B. H. U.); C—Nityanand (Dehra Dun)
Eastern Himalaya : A and R. A.—Jyotsna Prasad (BH. U) ma ae
Purvanchal Region : A and R. A.—Onkar Singh (B. H. U.), and S. N. Mukherjee on Naga-
land (NAO, Calcutta)
Udaipur-Gwalior Region : A—A, N. Bhattacharya (Udaipur University) and his team—
D. N. Chaturvedi, R. S. Rathore, M. Khan, L. N. Verma, D. C. Bharadwaj, D. K. Kothari,
S. L. Hiran and B. L. Kumawat—on Udaipur Region and L, R. Singh (Allahabad)—on
Gwalior Region; R. A.—A. K. Pandey (B. H. U.)
Malwa Region : A—N. P, Ayyar—on $. Malwa (Sagar), K. N. Verma (Bhopal), R. K. Nigam
(Kanpur) and R. Y. Singh, also R. A. (B. H. U.)
Bundelkhand Region : A—J. P. Saxena (Gwalior); R. A—K. K. Lal (B. H. U.)
Vindhyanchal—Baghelkhand Region : A—Kashi Nath Singh and Kailash Nath Singh (B. H. U.);
C—G. K. Dutt—on Rohtas Plateau (NAO; Calcutta); R. A.—Jagdish Singh (B. H. U.)

H


` Chotanagpur Region : A—J. Singh (Gorakhpur); R. A.—Deepa Thapan (B. H. U.)~


Méghalaya-Mikir Region : A—H. P. Das, D. K. Singh and H. N. Sharma (Gauhati);
R. A.—B. Mandal and S. C. Kharkwal (B. H. U.

Maharashtra Region : A—K. R. Dikshit (Poona); R. A.—Kanhaiya Singh (B. H. U.)
Chhattisgarh Region : A—P. C. Agrawal (Raipur); R. A.—Bajrang Bahadur Singh (B.H.U.)
Orissa Highland Region : A—H. H. Singh (B. H. U.); C—B. C. Acharya and N. Prusti (Cuttack);
R. A.—Santwana Ghosh (B, H. U.) i `

Dandakaranya : A—K. K. Dube (B. H. U.); R. A.—Ghanshyam Singh (B. H. U.) i
Karnataka Plateau : A—R. L. Singh, Kashi Nath Singh, Kailash Nath Singh, M. S. Vishwa-
nath and S. N. Singh, also R. A. (B. H. U.

Andhra Plateau : A—N. Prasad and Onkar Singh (B. H. U.); R. A.—Aruna Gupta (B.H.U.)
Tamilnadu Uplands and South Sahyadri : A—A. Ramesh (Madras) and K. S. Gopalakrishnan,
also R. A. (B. H. U.)

Gujarat Region : A—R.-P. Singh (Magadh); R. A—R. P. Sinha (Bhagalpur) and S. N.
Bhatt (B. H. U.) i

West Coast Region : A—N. K. P. Sinha (B. H. U.); C and R; A.—Babban Singh (B.H.U.)
East Coastal Plains: A—N. A. Padmanabhan (Tamilnadu Coast), Daksha C. Barai, also R. A.
(B. H. U.) and B. N. Sinha on Utkal Coast (Bhubaneshwar)

The Indian Islands : A—P. N. Lal (Anthropological Survey of India) and Om Prakash
Shrivastava, also R. A. (B. H. U.) : 3 ;


———_.


PREFACE


While cditing ‘India—Regional Studies’ for the 21st International Geographical Congress
(New Delhi, 1968), it was felt that a comprehensive volume on the regional geography of India could
be brought out in the near future to fulfil a long-felt gap in Indian geography. Meanwhile, the
decision of the National Geographical Society of India and the Department of Geography, B. H. U.
to celebrate their Silver Jubilee in 1971 prompted us to associate the preparation and publication
of the volume with this auspicious occasion.

A detailed plan of work was formulated with a great deal of deliberations amongst the collea-
gues and research workers. and cooperation of almost all institutions concerned with geographic
teaching and research in the country was sought. The regional scheme from macto-to-micto
level was circulated by October, 1969, The Kharagpur venue of the Indian Science Congress
(1970) was utilized to explain the objective and scope of the work. By March, 1970 it was ex-
pected to complete at least a quarter of the preparation work. To our surprise, the response was
rather poor and for completion of the work a major reshuffle had to be made. With the coopera-
tion of the research assistants and colleagues (mostly local), however. it could be possible to complete
the work within the target period.

In a country like India with its complex physical and cultural characteristics and -powerful
traditional impact where regional personality is yet to emerge in most regions in the context of
modern developments, it was indeed a stupendous task to distinguish and designate regions on the
hierarchical basis. The various attempts and considerations involved in regional delineafions have
been reviewed in the introductory chapter which also presents general geographic background of
the country in the light of which the regional characteristics could be correctly visualized. It“ was
also baffling to integrate the scale of treatment with the diverse size of the regions within their
historico-physical framework. Under the circumstances, it could be possible to outline 28 meso
level, 67 first order, 192 second order and as;many as 485 third order regions, with indications for
further lower order regions at places. There are different kinds of regions at all devels, Chota-
nagpur in the Peninsular Uplands, the Assam Valley in the Great Plains, the Kashmir Region in the
Himalaya and Gujarat Region in the Indian Coasts and Islands are examples of the traditional types,
while Dandakaranya, Tamilnadu and South Sahyadri, Purvanchal, etc. are physico-culturally inte-
grated regions; whereas the Vindhyanchal-Baghelkhand, though considerably disintegrated, would
emerge as a distinct region around a ‘growth pole’ involving harnessing of power-potential of the
region to the advantage of even the contiguous areas; regions like Chhattisgarh and Himachal or
Eastern Himalaya are distinct by physical impact of the basins or the mountains.

Attempt has been made to set a pattern of treatment and coverage with a view to projecting
the regional personality vividly. The historico-cultural factors influencing the regional patterning
have been evaluated as much as the physical factors of relief, structure and climate etc., while the pro-
cesses and patterns of resource utilization have also been analysed, highlighting their role in - regional
differentiation at different levels. The stage of economic development and the growth potentials
have been evaluated as much as possible within our limited resources. However. from the regional
analyses the picture to emerge in future is visvalized. The overall objective has been to draw the
attention of all concerned to the inherent strength and weakness of the regions in the totality of
their geographic perspective. Particular attention has been paid to make the regions of various
orders as much precise as possible by going down to the biock.or shana level administrative units.
with a view to making them serviceable as well as feasible for planning and development purposes.


While elaborating the meso-level and first order regional characteristics it could not be possi-


ble to deal, in any considerable detail, with the micro-regional characteristics, particularly due to limi- _


tations of time as also of resources. However, with the help of research and field assistants, `


+ village-level data could be processed and incorporated wherever possible, and rural as well.as urban


landscapes as sample studies have been delineated for most regions.

Owing to very limited response from various quarters entrusted with the work, over 60%
of the work’ had to be penned by the editors themselves (rather a new task) in order to attain the
completion within the target period. The editors are fully conscious of the failings and limitations


viii


arising therefrom in the work. Moreover, over 600 cartographic illustrations had to be desi ned
and processed for reproduction within the scheduled time, which was a stupendous task in eed,
and the editors could not help incorporating some of the illustrations even though not being up
to the mark. The editors take full responsibility for some of the errors and discrepancies which
might have crept in.

It is intended to bring out a Hindi Edition of the present work within the Silver Jubilee
Year (1971), while another volume, ‘India Through Maps’ might also see light with the materjals
in hand. -In course of working on this volume it was fae that Regional Monographs on each of the
meso level regions could also be brought out in the sequel though it would involve further Áetailed field
-work by trained geographers, It goes without saying that each of the 485 micro-regions delineated
would offer necessary regional frame for detailed work on varied aspects of Indian geography,

We are sure, inspite of the aforesaid limitations, the present volume would be able to serve
the students, researchers, and regional planners in particular and administrators and the public in
geol, by providing integrated picture of the regional personality of Bharat from Kashmir to Kanya-

umari and from Dwarka to Kamrup.

In the * eget of the book, help and materials, both published and unpublished, have
been drawn from diverse sources, organizations and individual workers, and to acknowledge them
all individually is not possible thou f it would have been a pleasant task. However, the tempta-

dei to several of them cannot be resisted such as to the National Atlas Organi-
zation, Survey of India, Geological Survey of India, Oil and Natural Gas Commission, Central
Water and Power Commission, Registrar General and Census Superintendents, National Council of Ap-
plied Economic Research, Directorates of Town and Country Planning, of Information and Statistics,


We are particularly grateful to a large number of researchers for providing access to their un-
blished Ph. D, and M.A./M.Se. dissertations and Village and Town Survey Reports, especially


gath, Jodhpur, Sagar, Punjab, etc. We will be failing in our duty if we do not express our gratitude
to Dr. K; L. Srimali, the Vice-Chancellor, Banaras Hindu University, for providing generous finan-
cial assistance towards the Preparation as well as publication of the work. Special mention also
need be made of the assistance received by our research assistants in the field from the district and
block-level officers, particularly in Andhra Pradesh, Dandakaranya and Tamilnadu, Acknowledge-
ment is also due to the P, R. O., Rajasthan State Government, for supplying required photographs.

if scholars, without whose


research assistants. General acknowled ement of the help rendered by the colleagues will not be out of
place. We are articularly grateful to k
and R. P. Singh for doing the instaking work of proof-reading; to V. R. Singh for arranging the
Dios Nath Singh, K. K. Lal and Bajrang Bahadur Singh for Preparing
index an glossary; to the entire office staff, Bali Ram Singh, Bachchan Singh, Uma Nath Singh,
Narendra Singh, Ram Nagina Singh, Banwari Ram Yadava, Hari Bansh Singh, Chhabi Nath and
to Nathu Ram for typing etc., and to the Annapurna and Saraswati Block Works, Varanasi
for Prompt work in the reproduction of illustrations. Last but not the least important are the
Services rendered by the Bhargava Bhushan Press, and we are particularly grateful to Surendra
va, the proprietor, for his extra-keen interest in bringing out this publication in the shor-
test possible time,
All constructive criticisms and Suggestions will be gratefully acknowledged and looked into
and attempt would be made to incorporate the materials in the next edition to follow soon.


Varanasi. R. L. Singh
Jan. 2, 1971.


Synge Sg


Page
Preface vii
List of Illustrations xi
Chapters
India : An Introduction Pe 1
Rajasthan Plain é 49
Punjab Plain 3 3
Upper Ganga Plain 2 124
Middle Ganga Plain 183
Lower Ganga Plain 252
Assam Valley 303
Kashmir Region 347
Himachal Region 390
U. P. Himalaya 443
Eastern Himalaya a 480
Purvanchal 493
Udaipur-Gwalior Region 517
Malwa Region 565
Bundelkhand Region - 597
Vindhyanchal Baghelkhand Region 622
Chotanagpur Region 649
Meghalaya-Mikir Region 676
Maharashtra Region 698
Chhattisgarh Region 735
Orissa Highland Region 754
Dandakaranya 775
Karnataka Plateau 791
Andhra Plateau a5 ee H ote 821
Tamilnadu Uplands and South PERR a S ee fee 851
Gujarat Region mi Cas eH mas 879
West Coast Region - 907
East Coastal Plains A . 932
The Indian Islands 967
APPENDIX A oe 984
AppENDIx B 985
re 988


INDEX


CONTENTS


LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS


Page


37
49
52
53


55


Fig. No Title
1.1. India : Political Divisions
1.2 India : Geology (Inset : Seismic
Zones)
1.3 India : Physiography (Inset :
Physiographic Divisions)
1.4 India: Drainage (Inset : Ground
; Water Provinces)
1.5 Schematic Geological Sections
1.6 India : Climatic Conditions (Inset :
Degree offWater Need) :
1.7 India : -pois (Inset : Forest Types)
1.8 India : Distribution of Populaion
(Inset :. Density of Population)
1.9 India : Population/Resource Re-
gions, 1961 (Inset : India Ponula-
tion, Growth)
1.10 India: Crop Combination Regions
unset: Climatic Zones)
1.11 India : Industries (Inset : Important
Minerals)
1.12 India : Electric Power Stations, 1970
(Inset : Navigable Streams)
1.13 India : Railways (Inset : Railway
i Zones with Hedaquarters)
1.14 India : Major Roads (Inset: Air
Routes) ‘
15 India : Levels of Economic Develop-
ment (Inset : Urban Concentration)
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