Deccan Plateau

The Deccan Plateau is a large plateau in India, making up the majority of the southern part of the country. It rises a hundred meters high in the north, rising further to more than a kilometre high in the south, forming a raised triangle nested within the familiar downward-pointing triangle of the Indian subcontinent's coastline.

It extends over eight Indian states and encompasses a wide range of habitats, covering most of central and southern India.

It is located between three mountain ranges: the Western Ghats form its western boundary, and the Eastern Ghats its eastern boundary. Each rises from their respective nearby coastal plains and nearly meet at the southern tip of India. It is separated from the Gangetic plain to the north by the Satpura and Vindhya Ranges, which form its northern boundary.

The name Deccan is an anglicised form of the Prakrit word , itself derived from the Sanskrit word , meaning "south".

Geography

, Tamil Nadu]]

The Deccan Plateau lies south of the Indo-Gangetic plain. The Western Ghats Mountain Range is tall and blocks the moisture from the southwest monsoon from reaching the Deccan Plateau, so the region receives very little rainfall. The eastern Deccan Plateau is at a lower elevation spanning the southeastern coast of India. Its forests are also relatively dry but serve to retain the rain to form streams that feed into rivers that flow into basins and then into the Bay of Bengal.

Most Deccan plateau rivers flow from west to east. The Godavari River and its tributaries, including the Indravati River, drain most of the northern portion of the plateau, rising in the Western Ghats and flowing east towards the Bay of Bengal. The Tungabhadra River, Krishna River and its tributaries, including the Bhima River, which also run from west to east, drain the central portion of the plateau. The southernmost portion of the plateau is drained by the Kaveri River, which rises in the Western Ghats of Karnataka and bends south to break through the Nilgiri Hills at Hogenakal Falls into Tamil Nadu, then forming the Sivasamudram Falls at the island town of Shivanasamudra, the second-biggest waterfall in India and the sixteenth-largest in the world, before flowing into the Stanley Reservoir and the Mettur Dam that created the reservoir and finally emptying into the Bay of Bengal.

The two main rivers which do not flow into the Bay Of Bengal are the Narmada and Tapti. They start in the Eastern Ghats and flow into the Arabian sea. All Deccan plateau rivers depend on the rains and dry up in the summers.

The climate of the region varies from semi-arid climate in the north to tropical in most of the region with distinct wet and dry seasons. Rain falls during the monsoon season from about June to October. March to June can be very dry and hot with temperatures exceeding 40°C regularly.

Geology

The volcanic basalt beds of the Deccan were laid down in the massive Deccan Traps eruption, which occurred towards the end of the Cretaceous period between 67 and 65 million years ago. Some paleontologists speculate that this eruption may have accelerated the extinction of the dinosaurs. Layer after layer was formed by the volcanic activity that lasted many thousands of years, and when the volcanoes became extinct, they left a region of highlands with typically vast stretches of flat areas on top like a table.The volcanic hotspot that produced the Deccan traps is hypothesized to lie under the present day island of Réunion in the Indian Ocean.

Typically the Deccan Plateau is made up of basalt extending up to Bhor Ghat near Karjat. This is an extrusive igneous rock. Also in certain sections of the region, we can find granite, which is an intrusive igneous rock. The difference between these two rock types is: basalt rock forms on eruption of lava, that is, on the surface (either out of a volcano, or through massive fissures—as in the Deccan basalts—in the ground), while granite forms deep within the Earth. Granite is a felsic rock, meaning it is rich in potassium feldspar and quartz. This composition is continental in origin (meaning it is the primary composition of the continental crust). Since it cooled relatively slowly, it has large visible crystals. Basalt, on the other hand, is mafic in composition—meaning it is rich in pyroxene and, in some cases, olivine, both of which are Mg-Fe rich minerals. Basalt is similar in composition to mantle rocks, indicating that it came from the mantle and did not mix with continental rocks. Basalt forms in areas that are spreading, whereas granite forms mostly in areas that are colliding. Since both rocks are found in the Deccan Plateau, it indicates two different environments of formation.

The Deccan is rich in minerals. Primary mineral ores found in this region are mica and iron ore in the Chhota Nagpur region, and diamonds, gold and other metals in the Golconda region.

People

The Deccan is home to many languages and people. Bhil and Gond people live in the hills along the northern and northeastern edges of the plateau, and speak various languages that belong to both the Indo-European and Dravidian families of languages. Marathi, an Indo-Aryan language, is the main language of the north-western portion of the Deccan plateau in the state of Maharashtra. Speakers of Telugu and Kannada, the predominant languages of Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka respectively, occupy those states' portions of the plateau. Tamil is the main language of Tamil Nadu to the south of the plateau, and Malayalam that of the hills and coast to the south-west, in the state of Kerala. The city of Hyderabad is an important centre of Urdu language in the Deccan; its surrounding areas also host a notable population of Urdu speakers. The Urdu dialect spoken in this region is also known as Dakhni or Deccani.

The chief crop is cotton, however, sugarcane, rice, and other crops are also common.

Apart from the states already mentioned, the state of Chhattisgarh is found in the northeast corner of the plateau. The two large cities in the Deccan are Hyderabad the capital of Andhra Pradesh and Bangalore the capital of Karnataka. Other major cities include Pune, Nagpur and Aurangabad (in Maharashtra).

History

Of the early history the main facts established are the growth of the Mauryan empire (250 B.C.) and the invasion (A.D. 100) of the Scythic tribes known as the Sakas, Pahlavas and Yavanas, which led to the establishment of the power of the Kshaharata satraps in western India. Prominent dynasties of this time include the Cholas (3rd c. BC to 12th c. AD), Chalukyas (6th to 12th c.), Rashtrakutas (753–982), Hoysalas (10th to 14th c.), Kakatiya (1083 CE to 1323 CE) and Vijayanagara Empire (1336–1646). Ahir Kings once ruled over the deccan. In a cave inscription at Nasik, references is made to the reign of an Abhira prince named Ishwarsena,son od Shivadatta.

In 1294, Ala-ud-Din Khilji, emperor of Delhi, invaded the Deccan, stormed Devagiri, and reduced the Yadava rajas of Maharashtra to the position of tributary princes (see Daulatabad), then proceeding southward to conquer the Telangana and Carnatic. In 1307, a fresh series of Muslim incursions led by Malik Kafur began in response to unpaid tributes, resulting in the final ruin of the Yadava power; and in 1338 the conquest of the Deccan was completed by Sultan Muhammad bin Tughluq. The imperial hegemony was brief, as soon Telingana and Karnataka reverted to their former masters. These defections by the Hindu states was soon followed by a general revolt of the Muslim governors, resulting in the establishment in 1347 of the independent Muslim dynasty of Bahmani. The power of the Delhi sultanate evaporated south of the Narmada River.

In the power struggles which ensued, the Hindu kingdom of Telingana fell bit by bit to the Bahamani dynasty, who advanced their frontier to Golkonda in 1373, to Warangal in 1421, and to the Bay of Bengal in 1472. On the dissolution of the Bahmani empire in 1482, its dominions were distributed into the five Muslim states of Golkonda, Bijapur, Ahmednagar, Bidar and Berar, giving rise to the Deccan sultanates. In 1956, the States Reorganisation Act reorganized states along linguistic lines, leading to the states currently found on the plateau.

See also

Geography of India

South India

Mysore Plateau

Vijayanagara Empire

Kakatiya empire

Bayaluseemae

Notes

References

External links

Destruction along the Deccan plateau

Photos of Deccan Plateau

Dynasties of Deccan

The Deccan Peninsula

Central Deccan Plateau dry deciduous forests

Geology of Deccan Plateau

Deccan South Indian Online

Category:Plateaus of India Category:Landforms of India Category:Physiographic divisions