2 Geographical factors in Indian History

P. Bhaskar Reddy

1. Introduction

The life and habits of the people and the history of the country are largely determined by its physical features. It is generally said that history has two eyes – one is Chronology and the other is Geography. In other words time and space are significant factors in determining the historical process. The history of India is also largely influenced by its Geography. Hence, the study of Indian Geographical features contributes to the better understanding of its history.

Both the fundamental unity and internal diversity of Indian culture accurately reflect the geographical factors. India’s cultural frontiers have proved to be remarkably constant and closely defined, partly because of her physical frontiers are correspondingly marked clearly.

On the south, south-east and south-west she is effectively contained by wide expanses of ocean which, although they have sometimes felicitated trade, have always tended to isolate her culturally.

On the north-west, north and north-east, massive mountain ranges, including many of the highest mountains in the world, divide her dramatically from the rest of Asia. These mountains have always prevented the easy passage of traders and travelers and acted as barriers to human contact, but they also screen India from the arctic winds and air currents of Central Asia.

These northern mountains therefore form not only cultural frontiers, but also responsible for a series of major climatic frontiers. Within the subcontinent itself almost every type of tropical or non-tropical climate can be found, ranging from the arid expanses of the Thar Desert to the dense forests of the Eastern and Western Ghats.

2. Indian Subcontinent

India is a land of great physical and socio – cultural contrasts and identified as a distinctive geographical unit and often described as a subcontinent. The Indian subcontinent is comparable in size to Western Europe, but it is more decisively isolated from the rest of the world and not quite so clearly divided within. Its total area is 42,02,500 square kilometers. The subcontinent is divided into Six countries- India, Bangladesh, Nepal, Bhutan, Pakistan and Sri Lanka. When exploring the history of south-east Asia, it is necessary to ignore modern political boundaries and treat the Indian subcontinent and its many regions and sub-regions as one unit. The various geographical zones of the subcontinent have never been isolated units. From very early times, human interaction took place through routes cutting across mountains, rivers and regions, dictated by geographical features and human needs. The history of the subcontinent is really about the historical trajectories and interactions of these regions and sub regions, which during the Maurya, Mughal and British empires attained some measure of political unity.

The Indian subcontinent has fairly well defined geographical frontiers but enormous ecological diversity. The structure of the subcontinent as a whole is the basis from which all regional distinctions spring. It depends upon the interrelationship of the peninsula, a stable and extremely ancient land–mass, with the young folded mountains which form the northern frontiers. These mountains are considered by many authorities to be still in the process of active formation, and weathering and erosion are certainly taking place at great speed. As a result the mountain zone is far from stable and vast quantities of alluvium are continually being carried down into the plains. These plains have formed in two great river basins, that of the Indus and Ganges, one flowing towards north-west and the other to the east.

The young folded mountains of the north-west, north and north -east may be said to form a single major zone, but the variation in rainfall, from the west, where it is low, to the east where it is high, is so great that this alone divides it into a number of minor zones. Due to successive phases of folding and uplift of the Himalayas, the whole region is geologically extremely complicated.

Central India, the northern edge of the block, is an area of hills and broken country, which divide the great reverie plains from the plateau to the south and also partly divides them from each other. It consists of deep valleys and steep hills and escarpments, running from east to west, which are wild and, inaccessible but of no great height.

The plateau itself slopes greatly from west to east, on the west it ends abruptly with the escarpment of the Western Ghats, which falls away to the narrow coastal plain and the sea. On the east, the Western Ghats consist of a rather irregular series of ranges of hills which separate the plateau from the eastern coastal plain. The Nilgiris, the Cardamom Hills and the Island of Ceylon are outlying blocks of the same Archean rocks, which form the main body of peninsular India.

The instability of the mountain zones in recent geological times also means that each valley tends to have unique features. In human terms such mountainous country lends itself to the development of many small distinct communities, each valley being a micro –region, both in geographical and in human terms, whose habitants form largely a self- contained economic and cultural entity. Much of the area has a high rainfall, and the population is concentrated in the valleys. India has been subjected to the influence from South-East Asia and south China both in prehistoric and in historic times.

The vast spatial extent of the land mass of Indian subcontinent is characterized by diversified physical features. India is found with marked geomorphologic features like great mountains, plains, plateaus, coastal and others. Broadly, India may be divided into four geographical components namely –

• The Himalayas
• The Indo-Gangetic Plains
• The Peninsular India
• The coastal plains

These major divisions exhibit striking contrasts in structure, altitude, drainage, climate, soil and flora and fauna. Himalayas on the north, Indian Ocean on the South, Arabian seas on the west and Bay of Bengal on the East are the nature boundaries.

India, being a vast country, has been divided into number of states and union territories. While dividing the country into a number of states and union territories, the history and geography as well as cultural heritage and language have been taken into consideration. At present, India is a union of 29 states and 7 Union territories. The population of India is more than 1.25 billion in 2015.

3. The Himalayas

The Himalayan Mountains are situated on the north of India. Starting from the Pamir in the extreme north-west of India, the mighty Himalayan range extends towards the north-east. It has a length of nearly 2560 kms; with an average breadth of 240 to 320 kms. it has many peaks. The highest peak of the Himalayas is known as ‘Mount Everest’ with its height being 8869 meters. The Himalayas can be divided into the Western, Central and Eastern zones, each with their own specific characteristics. In no other country that mountain ranges shaped the life of the country so much than the Himalayas of India. The Himalayas affected the course of our history in many ways.

• They made India a separate geographical unit from the rest of Asia. Hence, India developed a distinct type of civilization and culture.
• It acts as a natural wall and protects the country against the cold arctic winds blowing from Siberia through central Asia.
• They stop the monsoon rising from the Indian Ocean and provide a lot of rain fall into India.
• Further, the rivers originating in the glaciers of these mountains resulted in the perennial flow of water which ultimately had significance on the economic development of the great plains.
• It was considered a long time that the Himalayas stood as natural barrier to protect India against invasions.
• The western Himalayas have been the trade routes throughout prehistoric and historic times and invaders have many times poured into India through these routes.
• Among the great routes from Iran into the plains of India, the Gomal pass leading down from northern Baluchistan, the Bolan pass leading down from the fertile region of Kandahar and the Quetta valley, the Kurram river and the Kyber pass leading from Kabul to the north, and the routes of southern Baluchistan through the river valleys of Kej and Dasht. These passes are situated in the Hindukush, Sulaiman and Kirthar ranges. These passes from the western mountains come down into the plains of the Indus basin of Sind and Punjab. Many people came to India through these passes as invaders and immigrants. The Indo-Aryans, Indo-Greeks, Parthians, Sakas, Kushanas, Hunas and Turks entered India through this passes. With trade and military conquests, all kinds of external influences have also come to India.
• The Swat valley in this region formed another important route, where Alexander of Macedon came to India. Therefore these passes in the north-west Mountains facilitated trade as well as socio-cultural contacts between India and the Central Asia.
• The Himalayas are also known for having some beautiful valleys like Kashmir, Kulu, Kangra, Katmandu and others and some famous hill stations. These beautiful valleys and hill stations have been attracting people from all over the world and promoted ‘Tourism”.

4.  Indo-Gangetic Plain

The fertile northern alluvial plain of the Ganga and its tributaries is another major Geographical zone of the subcontinent. The Indo-Gangetic Plains are spread in Intervening space between the Peninsular plateau and the Himalayan Mountains. The rivers rising from the Himalayas brought an immense amount of detrial material and deposited it in this depression. The deposition of the alluvium, that is fine silt, throughout the Pleistocene period upto the present has led to the formation of a great plain. The great plains are named after the two major Himalayan river systems – the Indus and the Ganges which drain the entire plain covering an area of 7 lakh, sq. km. These plains constitute one of the largest aggradation surfaces in the world. Larger share of the northern plains of India is constituted by Ganges and the Brahmaputra rivers.

The Ganga River rises in the Himalayas, flows south and then East. The Yamuna River flows almost parallel to the Ganga and then joins it. The Ganges plains fall into three regions, the Doab of Ganges and Yamuna rivers in the west, corresponding to Uttara Pradesh, the central region corresponding to Bihar, and the eastern region consists of the Ganges–Brahmaputra delta and its hinterland–Bengal.

The first two regions have supported city life and had been centres of trade and culture of north India since the time of Buddha in 6th century BCE.

The river Brahmaputra rises beyond the Himalayas and flows across Tibet and then through the plain of North western India.

The Indus River and its major tributaries are the Jhelum, Chenab, Ravi, Sutlej and Beas. The five rivers of Indus and their tributaries flow across a vast alluvial plain from their source in the Himalayas, carrying water from the melting snows and monsoon rains.The bulk of the Indus basin falls within the territory of Pakistan leaving a small share of Punjab – Haryana plains in India.

The region of Sind and Punjab, which enjoys a higher rainfall and good irrigation facilities, has produced the Harappan culture consisting of two major cities of Harappa and Mohenjodaro and other important sites during the third millennium BCE

The Thar Desert and Aravalli hills are situated in between the Indus and Gangetic plains. Thar Desert is the largest desert of the Indian subcontinent covering an area of 2,00,000 Sq. Km. It occupies much of the Rajasthan and part of Haryana in India and a fringe of Pakistan. Mount Abu is the highest point of 5650 ft in the Aravalli Hills.

The Vindhyan ranges separate the Northern plains from peninsular India, while the Aravalli divide the Thar Desert from Central India. The Indo Gangetic plains were the pivot of Indian History and Culture. Its effects are as follows:

It is on the banks of the river Indus that the famous Indus valley Civilization flourished.

The Vedic Culture prospered in the western Gangetic plain, the post Vedic literature was mainly based on the use of iron, thrived in the middle Gangetic basin. The lower Gangetic Valley and north Bengal really came to limelight in the age of Guptas. The Brahamaputra Valley covering Assam gained importance in early medieval times.

The Rivers served as arteries of commerce and communication. The importance of Rivers for communication continued till the time of the East Indian Company.

The Indo-Gangetic plain contributed to the rise of urban centres, particular on the river banks or at the confluence of rivers.

Prayaga, Varanasi, Hastinapur, Pataliputra, Lahore and others were the important towns and cities situated on the banks of the Gangetic plain.

The city of Pataliputra situated at the confluence of the Son River with Ganges, had remained the cradle of great empires like Mauryas, Sungas, Guptas and other kingdoms.

The prosperity of the basin attracted the foreigners to conquer India from the time of Aryans to Mughals. Most of the decisive Battles of Indian History such as Kurukshetra, Tarain, Panipat, Plassy and Buxar were fought on this soil.

5. The Peninsular India

The Peninsular plateau is situated to the south of Great Plains, covering an area of 16 lakh sq. km. This plateau constitutes the largest physiographic component of the country. The Peninsular is an old and relatively stable geographical formation. Its landscape is marked by plateau, plains and fertile valleys of rivers. The Peninsular plateau can be broadly categorized into

• Central Highlands (the Malwa Plateau)
• The Deccan Plateau.

5.1 Central Highlands

Passing from the plain of the first escarpment of the Vindhya hills one may move into a different world. Central India consists of a wide, fattened triangle of hilly country. The hills are nowhere very high, but they are steep and broken with many escarpments and intersected by precipitous valleys. The Vindhyan hill ranges tend to run in east- west direction, except for the north- western extension of Central India, where the Aravalli hills runs from south- west to north- east. Due to its inaccessibility, and also to the low fertility of its soil, Central India has the resort of people who represent ancient ethnic tribal elements in the Indian population, and also preserve archaic ways of life.

The Central India is crossed by a number of routes, which link the more advanced regions surrounding it. Along these routes are settlement sites and small enclaves of village agriculture, many of which, like Tripuri on the Narmada near Jabalpur, go back to Chalcolithic times.

The Malwa plateau, with its two major rivers Namada, Tapti lies between the Aravalli and central Indian Mountains. In between the Indus and the Gangetic systems in the north and Vindhyan Mountains on the south lies a vast stretch of land, which is divided into two units by the Aravalli Hills. The area west of Aravalli is covered by Thar Desert although a part of Rajasthan also lies in this region. Settlements of the Chalcolithic period have been distributed there, and it is regarded as a separate sub-region. Its geographical position also means that it must have played an important role in the interrelationship of the Harappan culture with the Chalcolithic cultures of other regions, both to the south and the east.

The plateau stretches further to the west, but it cuts across by the sandy and rocky deserts of Rajasthan. The Eastern part is known as Bundelkhand and Bhagelkhand in Southern Uttar Pradesh. In the South Bihar it is called Chota Nagapur plateau.

On the east the Chattisgarh plain is another region contained within the forest belt of Central India and consists of the fertile basin of the Mahanadi. The plain, which is surrounded by broken forest country, is almost entirely covered with paddy fields augmented by canal and lift irrigation.

Gujarat, lying at the western end of the Central Indian belt of hills, is another region of ancient settlement and is rich in sites of every period from the Harappan onwards. It has always had considerable agricultural wealth and is centered upon the Gulf of Cambay consisting of low-lying plain which is enriched by the alluvium brought down from the hills of Central India by four rivers like Sabarmati, Mahi, Narmada and Tapti together with the two Peninsulas of Kathiawar and Cutch (Kutch). Unlike the rivers which originate in Himalayas and carry water from the melting snow and monsoon rains, the rivers of Central India and the Peninsula carry water of the monsoon rains. As a result of its sheltered position on the Gulf of Cambay it always had a number of sea-ports through which both coastal and external trade have passed. The famous Harappan site of Lothal and other sites are located in this plain. Therefore, since ancient times Gujarat has been famous for its coastal and foreign trade, and its people have provided to be enterprising traders.

Orissa at the extreme eastern end of the Central Indian hills includes the coastal plains to the south-west of Ganges delta and the delta of Mahanadi together with their hinterland which extends back into the hills of Central India and in the eastern Deccan, as far south along the coast as Mahendragiri. Isolated from the outside world between the hills of Central India and the sea, it has remained socially and economically backward and is regarded as a separate minor region within Central India.

5.2 The Deccan Plateau

The great Indian Peninsular plateau, also known as the plateau of the Peninsular India, is a vast plateau comprising most of the southern part of the country.

The Vindhya and Satpura mountains along with Narmada and Tapti rivers form the great dividing line between northern and southern India. The plateau of the south of the Vindhya Mountains is known as Deccan Plateau. This plateau is a very old land surface sloping gently from west to east, with mature graded rivers. The Deccan Plateau, formed by the lava flows from very ancient Volcanoes, constitutes the dominant part of the Peninsula. All these rocks are easier to cut into and we find a number of rock-cut-monasteries and temples in the Deccan. The Ghats with flat summits provided excellent opportunities to build hill forts.

The Deccan plateau is flanked by the Eastern Ghats and Western Ghats. The Coromandel Coast stands between Eastern Ghats and the Bay of Bengal. The Western Ghats runs along the Arabian Sea and the land between these are known as Konkan upto Goa and beyond that as Kanara. The southern most part is known as Malabar Coast. The passes in the Western Ghats like Junnar, Kanheri and Karle linked the trade routes of the western ports. In the southern end remains the famous Palghat Mountains. It is the passage across the Ghats from Kaveri Valley to the Malabar Coast. It is an important trade route for the Indo Roman trade in the Ancient Times.

In the north and north-western part of Deccan lies the Maharashtra plateau. It is made up of a lava flows or the igneous lock called basalt which is a typical characteristic feature of Deccan Trap topography. The corresponding section of the western coastal plain is included as the part of the state of Maharashtra, but it is totally different and ecologically too small to form a separate political unit. It provides Maharashtra with ports, making the whole a more viable economic and administrative unit.

The Kannada speaking present state of Karnataka was a part of the Deccan plateau. A section of the Western Ghats and the western coastal plains are included in the plateau. One-third of eastern plateau is predominantly a granite region, but it has somewhat higher rainfall than any of the western parts. Major dynasties like Badami Chalukyas, Rashtrakutas, Kalyani Chalukyas, Hoyasalas, Vijayanagara rulers, Bahmanis, Adilshahis, Bareedshahis, and Mysore Wadeyars have left behind them magnificent monuments to testify the glory of the area.

Andhra, a part of the Deccan plateau, includes a number of sub regions, particularly in the Eastern Ghats and other hilly tracks, each with its own character. In the wilder parts of Andhra also a number of tribal groups are found, such as the Chenchus of the lower Godavari hills, some of whom live only by hunting and gathering. This region was ruled by major dynasties like the Satavahanas, Eastern Chalukyas, Kakatiyas, Vijayanagara kings, Gajapathis of Orissa, Qutubshahis, Asafjahis.

The Deccan plateau breaks down into isolated blocks of hills in the extreme south, the chief of which are the Nilgiris and the Cardamom hills, which still partially divide the eastern and western coastal plains. The eastern coastal plain, which widens out towards the south, together with its immediate hinterland, forms a separate lowland region, known as Tamilnadu. The western coastal plains also widen out to form a separate region which has much in common with the Tamilnadu. This is known as Malabar, and it now forms the state of Kerala.

Both Tamilnadu and Kerala are heavily populated like the Ganges plains. The two states are primarily rice-producing, but also grow considerable amounts of millets, pulses and other crops. Kerala also produces pepper and spices, which have been exported to the west since Roman times through the ports. The region was ruled by Major dynasties like Cheras, Pallavas, Cholas, Pandyas, Nayaks of Madhurai and Tanjore, Arcot Nawabs who have contributed several magnificent monuments to the art and architecture at several places in both these states.

The Kaveri Delta constitutes another distinct geographical zone in the south. It became the seat of power for Cholas.

The Rivers make the plateau into fertile rice producing soil. The major rivers of the Southern Peninsula are Mahanadi, Krishna, Godavari, Penna and Kaveri. Throughout the history the region between Krishna and Tungabhadra (Raichur doab) remained a bone of contention between the major kingdoms of south. A number of towns and ports flourished in these plains in the beginning of Christian era.

The Deccan plateau is flanked by the coastal plains of varying with all along the Arabian Sea and the Bay of Bengal. The long coast line of Southern Peninsula provided the opportunity to carry brisk maritime activities with South East Asian and Roman countries. Apart from trade, they spread Indian Art, Religion and Culture in these parts of the World.

6. The impact of geographical factors

The impact of geographical factors like mountains, rivers, forests, plains, rainfalls, weather, different cultures of various regions have deep influences on the history of India. The people of each of the regions of India have their own character, which is as clearly marked as constant as that of the country in which they live. Naturally their character derives largely from the country, and their mode of life in it, which has developed over the course of time as they discovered ways of making their living from the resources it offered. Many features of such regional culture, therefore, are clearly related to practical day today needs, and to the materials locally available. Anyone who travels in India will quickly become aware of those cultural differences, many of which have great force and vitality and which leave one in no doubt when one passed a regional frontier. There are not only changes in the countryside, but the dress and bearing of the people is different, and frequently their language to for many but by no means all geographical and cultural frontiers correspond with linguistic frontiers.

Although most regions had well defined natural frontiers, not every region possessed the resources necessary to keep life going. Therefore, from pre-historic time onwards the common need for metals and other resources had produced a network of interactions between the regions of the country. The exploitation of natural resources of the country had an important bearing on its history. The early human settlements are naturally founded India in the hilly area and those river valleys which are situated between the hills.

Each one of the areas bounded by rivers and in some cases by mountains, and sometimes identical with deltas and plateaus, constituted a political and administrative unit in which different ruling dynasties rose and fell. On account of difficult communication in a vast country and the defensibility of the Natural frontiers, it was not easy for the ruling class of one region to establish its rule over other regions. In course of time every region grew into a distinct culture unit having its own style of life and language.

From the point of view of the Archaeologist the different regions of India have two fold interests. Firstly many of their distinctive features are capable of being traced back in time and the development and the differentiation of regional cultures is the very stuff of archaeology. Secondly certain regions have advanced far more rapidly than others, and the more backward often preserve many features which elsewhere belong only to a distant past.

8. Summary

The geographical features of India consisting of mountains, forests, rivers, deserts, Plateau, Plains, thick forest cover, crops, people with different cultures and traditions have established deep roots on the political, social and religious history of India right from the prehistoric times to the present days. India’s cultural frontiers have proved to be remarkably constant and closely defined, partly no doubt because her physical frontiers are correspondingly defined and marked clearly. In short, all most all the peculiarities of the Indian people and their history may be explained with reference to the physical features of the country.

Web links

• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geography_of_India
• https://books.google.co.in/books?id=MKWWu7TLAb8C&pg=PA126&lpg=PA126&dq=geographical+factors+in+indian+history&source=bl&ots=ngtXJ90bHY&sig=FXYnnHvcn6aS9eS_BU47xbFqOw&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0CBsQ6AEwADgKahUKEwjzpOLI1qXIAhVCkY4KHU4yAWM#v=onepage&q=geographical%20factors%20in%20indian%20history&f=false
• http://www.historydiscussion.net/history-of-india/geographical-features-of-india/2981
• http://www.culturalindia.net/indian-history/ancient-india/ancient-geography.html