The Deccan Plateau is a large plateau in India, making up most of the southern part of the country. It rises a hundred meters high in the north, and more than a kilometer high in the south, forming a raised triangle 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 two mountain ranges, the Western Ghats and the Eastern Ghats. Each rises from its respective nearby coastal plain. They nearly meet at the southern tip of India. The Deccan Plateau 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 dakkhin,, meaning "south".
The Western Ghats Mountain Range is very 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 south. Most of the northern part of the plateau is drained by the Godavari River and its tributaries, including the Indravati River, starting from the Western Ghats and flowing east towards the Bay of Bengal. Most of the central plateau is drained by the Tungabhadra River, Krishna River and its tributaries, including the Bhima River, which also run east. The southernmost part 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 the island town of Shivanasamudra and then falls into Tamil Nadu at Hogenakal Falls 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 central India and flow into the Arabian Sea. All Deccan plateau rivers depend on rains and dry up in the summers.
The climate of the region varies from semi-arid 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 regularly exceeding 40°C. The Deccan plateau is a topographically variegated region located south of the Gangetic plains-the portion lying between the Arabian Sea and the Bay of Bengal-and includes a substantial area to the north of the Vindhya Range, which has popularly been regarded as the divide between northern India and the Deccan. The name derives from the Sanskrit daksina ("south"). The plateau is bounded on the east and west by the Ghats, while its northern extremity is the Satpura Range. The Deccan's average elevation is about 2,000 feet (600 m), sloping generally eastward; its principal rivers, the Godavari, Krishna, and Cauvery, flow from the Western Ghats eastward to the Bay of Bengal. The plateau's climate is drier than that on the coasts and is arid in places. Although sometimes used to mean all of India south of the Narmada River, the word Deccan relates more specifically to that area of rich volcanic soils and lava-covered plateaus in the northern part of the peninsula between the Narmada and Krishna rivers.
Having once constituted a segment of the ancient continent of Gondwanaland, this land is the oldest and most stable in India. The Deccan plateau consists of dry tropical forests that experiences only seasonal rainfall
On the western edge of the plateau lie the Sahyadri, the Nilgiri, the Annamalai and the Cardamon Hills, commonly known as Western Ghats. The average height of the Western Ghats, which run along the Arabian Sea, goes on increasing towards the south. Anamudi Peak in Kerala, with a height of 2,695 m above sea level, is the highest peak of peninsular India. In the Nilgiris lie Ootacamund, the well-known hill station of southern India. The western coastal plain is uneven and swift rivers flow through it that forms beautiful lagoons and backwaters, examples of which can be found in the state of Kerala. The east coast is wide with deltas formed by the rivers Godavari, Mahanadi and Kaveri. Flanking the Indian peninsula on the western side are the Lakshadweep Islands in the Arabian Sea and on the eastern side lies the Andaman and Nicobar Islands in the Bay of Bengal.
The eastern Deccan plateau, called Telangana, is made of vast sheets of massive granite rock, which effectively traps rainwater. Under the thin surface layer of soil is the impervious gray granite bedrock. It rains here only during some months.
Comprising the northeastern part of the Deccan Plateau, the Telangana Plateau has an area of about 148,000 km2, a north-south length of about 770 km, and an east-west width of about 515 km.
The plateau is drained by the Godavari River taking a southeasterly course; by the Krishna River, which divides the peneplain into two regions; and by the Penneru River flowing in a northerly direction. The plateau's forests are moist deciduous, dry deciduous, and tropical thorn.
Most of the population of the region is engaged in agriculture; cereals, oilseeds, cotton, and pulses (legumes) are the major crops. There are multipurpose irrigation and hydroelectric-power projects, including the Pochampad, Bhaira Vanitippa, and Upper Penneru. Industries (located in Hyderabad, Warangal, and Kurnool) produce cotton textiles, sugar, foodstuffs, tobacco, paper, machine tools, and pharmaceuticals. Cottage industries are forest-based (timber, firewood, charcoal, bamboo products) and mineral-based (asbestos, coal, chromite, iron ore, mica, and kyanite). There is a dense network of roads, as well as railways and waterways; Hyderabad, capital of Andhra Pradesh, is linked by air with major cities in India. The language of the plateau is Telugu of the Dravidian family. The plateau's important cities and towns are Hyderabad, Warangal, Kurnool, and Nizamabad.
The Deccan Trap
The northwestern part of the plateau is made up of lava flows or igneous rocks known as the Deccan Trap. The rocks are spread over the whole of Maharashtra and parts of Gujarat and Madhya Pradesh, thereby making it one of the largest volcanic provinces in the world. It consists of more than 2,000 metres (6,600 ft) of flat-lying basalt lava flows and covers an area of nearly 500,000 square metres (5,400,000 sq ft) in west-central India. Estimates of the original area covered by the lava flows are as high as 1,500,000 square metres (16,000,000 sq ft). The volume of basalt is estimated to be 512,000 cubic km. The thick dark soil (called regur) found here is suitable for cotton cultivation.
It extends over eight Indian states and encompasses a wide range of habitats, covering most of central and southern India.
It is located between two mountain ranges, the Western Ghats and the Eastern Ghats. Each rises from its respective nearby coastal plain. They nearly meet at the southern tip of India. The Deccan Plateau 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 dakkhin,, meaning "south".
The Western Ghats Mountain Range is very 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 south. Most of the northern part of the plateau is drained by the Godavari River and its tributaries, including the Indravati River, starting from the Western Ghats and flowing east towards the Bay of Bengal. Most of the central plateau is drained by the Tungabhadra River, Krishna River and its tributaries, including the Bhima River, which also run east. The southernmost part 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 the island town of Shivanasamudra and then falls into Tamil Nadu at Hogenakal Falls 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 central India and flow into the Arabian Sea. All Deccan plateau rivers depend on rains and dry up in the summers.
The climate of the region varies from semi-arid 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 regularly exceeding 40°C. The Deccan plateau is a topographically variegated region located south of the Gangetic plains-the portion lying between the Arabian Sea and the Bay of Bengal-and includes a substantial area to the north of the Vindhya Range, which has popularly been regarded as the divide between northern India and the Deccan. The name derives from the Sanskrit daksina ("south"). The plateau is bounded on the east and west by the Ghats, while its northern extremity is the Satpura Range. The Deccan's average elevation is about 2,000 feet (600 m), sloping generally eastward; its principal rivers, the Godavari, Krishna, and Cauvery, flow from the Western Ghats eastward to the Bay of Bengal. The plateau's climate is drier than that on the coasts and is arid in places. Although sometimes used to mean all of India south of the Narmada River, the word Deccan relates more specifically to that area of rich volcanic soils and lava-covered plateaus in the northern part of the peninsula between the Narmada and Krishna rivers.
Having once constituted a segment of the ancient continent of Gondwanaland, this land is the oldest and most stable in India. The Deccan plateau consists of dry tropical forests that experiences only seasonal rainfall
On the western edge of the plateau lie the Sahyadri, the Nilgiri, the Annamalai and the Cardamon Hills, commonly known as Western Ghats. The average height of the Western Ghats, which run along the Arabian Sea, goes on increasing towards the south. Anamudi Peak in Kerala, with a height of 2,695 m above sea level, is the highest peak of peninsular India. In the Nilgiris lie Ootacamund, the well-known hill station of southern India. The western coastal plain is uneven and swift rivers flow through it that forms beautiful lagoons and backwaters, examples of which can be found in the state of Kerala. The east coast is wide with deltas formed by the rivers Godavari, Mahanadi and Kaveri. Flanking the Indian peninsula on the western side are the Lakshadweep Islands in the Arabian Sea and on the eastern side lies the Andaman and Nicobar Islands in the Bay of Bengal.
The eastern Deccan plateau, called Telangana, is made of vast sheets of massive granite rock, which effectively traps rainwater. Under the thin surface layer of soil is the impervious gray granite bedrock. It rains here only during some months.
Comprising the northeastern part of the Deccan Plateau, the Telangana Plateau has an area of about 148,000 km2, a north-south length of about 770 km, and an east-west width of about 515 km.
The plateau is drained by the Godavari River taking a southeasterly course; by the Krishna River, which divides the peneplain into two regions; and by the Penneru River flowing in a northerly direction. The plateau's forests are moist deciduous, dry deciduous, and tropical thorn.
Most of the population of the region is engaged in agriculture; cereals, oilseeds, cotton, and pulses (legumes) are the major crops. There are multipurpose irrigation and hydroelectric-power projects, including the Pochampad, Bhaira Vanitippa, and Upper Penneru. Industries (located in Hyderabad, Warangal, and Kurnool) produce cotton textiles, sugar, foodstuffs, tobacco, paper, machine tools, and pharmaceuticals. Cottage industries are forest-based (timber, firewood, charcoal, bamboo products) and mineral-based (asbestos, coal, chromite, iron ore, mica, and kyanite). There is a dense network of roads, as well as railways and waterways; Hyderabad, capital of Andhra Pradesh, is linked by air with major cities in India. The language of the plateau is Telugu of the Dravidian family. The plateau's important cities and towns are Hyderabad, Warangal, Kurnool, and Nizamabad.
The Deccan Trap
The northwestern part of the plateau is made up of lava flows or igneous rocks known as the Deccan Trap. The rocks are spread over the whole of Maharashtra and parts of Gujarat and Madhya Pradesh, thereby making it one of the largest volcanic provinces in the world. It consists of more than 2,000 metres (6,600 ft) of flat-lying basalt lava flows and covers an area of nearly 500,000 square metres (5,400,000 sq ft) in west-central India. Estimates of the original area covered by the lava flows are as high as 1,500,000 square metres (16,000,000 sq ft). The volume of basalt is estimated to be 512,000 cubic km. The thick dark soil (called regur) found here is suitable for cotton cultivation.
