Maarg Manthan · Topic 14.2

Peninsular Plateau and Minor Plateaus

Geography › India: Plains, Plateau, Coasts and Islands · Topic 14.2

The Peninsular Plateau is a stable block of ancient gneisses and schists covering about 1.6 million square kilometres, with an average height of 600 to 900 m, sloping from west to east. It is made of several smaller plateaus: Marwar, Central Highland, Bundelkhand, Malwa, Baghelkhand, Chotanagpur, Meghalaya and the Deccan plateau, with the Chhattisgarh plain as the one true plain.

6 min read · UPSC Prelims · Geography · India: Plains, Plateau, Coasts and Islands

At a Glance

Area About 16 lakh sq km
Average height 600 to 900 m
Rocks Archaean gneiss and schist, Gondwana, Deccan lava
General slope West to east
Rift rivers Narmada and Tapti flow west
Exam link UPSC Prelims, Geography: India: Plains, Plateau, Coasts and Islands

Where Does It Fit?

This is the second topic of the macro on India’s plains, plateau, coasts and islands. The previous topic described the northern plain, and this one covers the ancient plateau to its south. The next topic describes the hill ranges that rise from and around the plateau. Previous topic: Indo-Gangetic-Brahmaputra Plain. Next topic: Hill Ranges of the Peninsular Plateau.

What Is the Peninsular Plateau?

In short: the Peninsular Plateau is India’s oldest, most stable landmass, a patchwork of smaller plateaus separated by hills and river valleys.

The Peninsular Plateau is a tableland made mostly of ancient crystalline rocks, as in Archaean Rock System of India, and a part of the old Gondwanaland. It has not been submerged under the sea for hundreds of millions of years except in a few places. It covers about 16 lakh sq km, with an average height of 600 to 900 m, and slopes from west to east, as shown by the flow of most of its rivers to the Bay of Bengal. The Narmada and Tapti are exceptions that flow west in rift valleys. The Western Ghats form its steep western edge and the Eastern Ghats its broken eastern edge, as in Hill Ranges of the Peninsular Plateau. Weathering and erosion over a long time have reduced it to a rolling surface with residual hills.

What Are the Minor Plateaus of the Northern and Central Peninsula?

Plateau	Location and rocks	Features
Marwar (Mewar) Plateau	Eastern Rajasthan, east of the Aravallis; 250 to 500 m; Vindhyan sandstone, shale and limestone	Slopes east; drained by the Banas, which flows into the Chambal; rolling plain
Central Highland (Madhya Bharat Pathar)	East of Marwar; the basin of the Chambal	Rolling, rounded sandstone hills with forest; ravines or badlands of the Chambal in the north
Bundelkhand Upland	Between the Yamuna and the Vindhyas, in Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh; 300 to 600 m; granite and gneiss	Old, dissected, undulating land with senile topography, unfit for cultivation; drained by the Betwa, Dhasan and Ken
Malwa Plateau	Triangular, between the Aravallis, the Vindhyas and Bundelkhand; Deccan lava, black soil	Two drainages: the Narmada, Tapti and Mahi to the Arabian Sea, and the Chambal and Betwa to the Yamuna
Baghelkhand	North of the Maikal range; limestone and sandstone in the west, granite in the east	Water divide between the Son and the Mahanadi systems
Chotanagpur Plateau	Jharkhand, northern Chhattisgarh and Purulia in West Bengal; about 700 m; Gondwana rocks and gneiss	Radial drainage with the Damodar, Subarnarekha and Koel; the Damodar flows in a rift; main coal fields; Hazaribagh and Ranchi plateaus; monadnocks; Rajmahal hills of basalt in the north-east

What Are the Meghalaya and Deccan Plateaus?

Meghalaya (Shillong) Plateau: the Meghalaya Plateau is an eastward extension of the Peninsula, cut off from the main block by the Garo-Rajmahal gap, a fault depression later filled by Ganga and Brahmaputra sediments. It has the Garo, Khasi-Jaintia and Mikir hills, with Shillong at 1,961 m as the highest point, and the heaviest rainfall in India at Mawsynram and Cherrapunji, as in Precipitation and Types of Rainfall.
Deccan Plateau: a triangular plateau of about five lakh sq km, bounded by the Satpura and Vindhya in the north-west, the Mahadev and Maikal in the north, and the Western and Eastern Ghats. It has an average height of about 600 m, rising to 1,000 m in the south, and slopes eastward.
Maharashtra Plateau: the northern part of the Deccan, mostly Deccan Trap basalt with step-like flat-topped hills, and regur black soil in the wide valleys of the Godavari, Bhima and Krishna, as in Dravidian and Aryan Rock Systems of India.
Karnataka (Mysore) Plateau: 600 to 900 m, divided into the hilly, forested Malnad in the west and the rolling Maidan of low granite hills in the east. The Baba Budan Hills have Mullayanagiri, about 1,930 m, the highest peak in Karnataka.
Telangana Plateau: 500 to 600 m, drained by the Godavari, Krishna and Penneru, of gneiss with peneplains.
Chhattisgarh Plain: the saucer-shaped basin of the upper Mahanadi, between 250 and 330 m, and the only plain worth the name on the plateau, known as the rice bowl of central India.

The Peninsula is the mineral storehouse of India: iron ore, manganese, bauxite, mica, copper, gold, chromite and almost all of the Gondwana coal. The black soil of the north-west suits cotton, the hill regions grow tea, coffee and rubber, and the rivers of the Western Ghats provide hydropower. As an analytical point, the plateau is stable but not uniform: the same ancient block carries mineral-rich tribal uplands in Chotanagpur, the most fertile black soil in Maharashtra and the high rainfall of Meghalaya, so development questions of mining, forests and displacement are concentrated here, as in Iron Ore – Types and Distribution.

Why Is This Topic Important?

Map-based Plateau locations asked
Resources Minerals and black soil
Issues Mining and tribal areas

What Came Next?

The next topic describes the hill ranges of the Peninsular Plateau. Next topic: Hill Ranges of the Peninsular Plateau.

Key People and Terms

Tableland Elevated flat-topped land
Peneplain Almost flat surface left by erosion
Monadnock Isolated hill on a peneplain
Malnad Hill country of Karnataka
Maidan Rolling plain of Karnataka
Regur Black soil

Exam Corner

Points to Remember

Peninsular rivers flow west to east except the Narmada and Tapti.
Chotanagpur has the Damodar coal fields.
The Garo-Rajmahal gap separates Meghalaya from the Peninsula.
Malwa is covered by lava and black soil.
Chhattisgarh is the only true plain on the plateau.

Do Not Confuse With

Marwar plateau and Marwar plain East versus west of the Aravallis
Malnad and Maidan Hilly west versus rolling east
Deccan plateau and Deccan Trap The whole plateau versus its lava cover

Memory Hook

Marwar, Madhya, Bundel, Malwa, Baghel, Chotanagpur, Meghalaya, Deccan: the plateau in eight steps.

Mains Angle

Questions ask for physical features and resources. These points add depth.

Stability Ancient block
Wealth Minerals and soil
Issue Mining versus forests

A Question You May Face

An original practice question, not a past paper question.

“Describe the Peninsular Plateau of India and explain why it is the mineral base of the country.”

How to Answer

Nature Old stable block.
Plateaus North, central, east, Deccan.
Resources Minerals, soil, rivers.
Concerns Mining and displacement.

GS Relevance

Prelims: locations and features of the minor plateaus, rock types, rivers, Chotanagpur coal, Meghalaya gap. GS Paper 1: physical geography of India.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the Peninsular Plateau?

The Peninsular Plateau is the triangular tableland of southern and central India, one of the oldest and most stable land masses on Earth. It is made of ancient crystalline rocks, covers about 16 lakh square kilometres, and has an average height of 600 to 900 metres.

Why do most peninsular rivers flow from west to east?

The Peninsular Plateau slopes from the Western Ghats toward the east, so most of its large rivers, such as the Godavari, Krishna and Kaveri, flow eastward to the Bay of Bengal. The Narmada and Tapti are exceptions that flow west in rift valleys.

What is the Chotanagpur Plateau known for?

The Chotanagpur Plateau in Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh and West Bengal is known as the mineral heartland of India. It has the Gondwana coal fields of the Damodar valley, iron ore, mica and bauxite, and a radial drainage pattern, with the Damodar flowing in a rift valley.

What is the Garo-Rajmahal gap?

The Garo-Rajmahal gap is a fault depression between the Rajmahal Hills of the main Peninsular block and the Meghalaya Plateau. It was formed by down-faulting and later filled with sediments from the Ganga and Brahmaputra, and it explains why the Meghalaya Plateau is separated from the Peninsula.

What are Malnad and Maidan?

Malnad is the hilly, forested western part of the Karnataka Plateau, dissected by deep valleys, while Maidan is the rolling plain of low granite hills in the east. Malnad means hill country in Kannada and receives heavy rain from the monsoon.

PYQ Practice — Statement Analysis

1 The Narmada and the Tapti flow westward in rift valleys.

True

They are exceptions to the eastward drainage.

2 The Malwa Plateau is covered mainly with lava and black soil.