📖 Introduction

The Peninsular Plateau is India's oldest, most stable and hardest landmass, once part of Gondwanaland. It is a triangular landmass made of residual mountains and plateaus.

📏 Extent & Features

• Area: approx. 16 lakh sq km (India's largest physical division)
• Base: Archean crystalline rocks (granite, gneiss) — extremely ancient and hard
• Neither folded nor seismically active — Stable Shield/Craton
• Separated from the plains in the north by Aravali, Vindhyan and Satpura

1️⃣ Aravali Range

• World's oldest fold mountain range (residual mountain)
• Extent: Gujarat (Palanpur) to Delhi, approx. 800 km
• Highest peak: Guru Shikhar (1,722 m) — Mount Abu, Rajasthan
• Separates the Thar Desert from the fertile eastern region

2️⃣ Vindhyan Range

• Not a block mountain but a plateau escarpment made of sedimentary rocks
• Extent: Gujarat to Bihar (east-west direction)
• Considered the watershed line between North Indian plains and the southern plateau
• Average height: 300-650 m

3️⃣ Satpura Range

• A Block/Horst Mountain — between the Narmada-Tapi rift valley
• Extent: along Madhya Pradesh-Maharashtra border, east-west direction
• Highest peak: Dhupgarh (1,350 m) — near Pachmarhi
• Acts as a watershed between the Narmada and Tapi rivers

4️⃣ Western Ghats (Sahyadri)

• Fault Scarp running parallel to the Arabian Sea coast
• Extent: Tapi river to Kanyakumari, approx. 1,600 km
• Highest peak: Anaimudi (2,695 m, Kerala) — highest peak of Peninsular India
• Source of Godavari, Krishna, Kaveri rivers
• UNESCO World Heritage Site & biodiversity hotspot

5️⃣ Eastern Ghats

• Parallel to the Bay of Bengal, but discontinuous
• Extent: Mahanadi to the Nilgiris
• Highest peak: Jindhagada (1,690 m, Andhra Pradesh)
• Lower and less continuous than Western Ghats
• The two Ghats meet at the Nilgiri Hills

1️⃣ Central Highlands

• Extent: east of the Aravalis — part of Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan
• Sub-divisions: Bundelkhand, Baghelkhand, Malwa Plateau
• Rivers like Chambal, Betwa, Ken originate here
• Slopes northward — rivers join the Yamuna

2️⃣ Deccan/South Plateau

• India's largest plateau, covered by black soil (Regur) — Deccan Trap (volcanic basalt)
• Extent: south of the Vindhyas to Kanyakumari
• General slope: west to east — rivers flow into the Bay of Bengal
• Sub-divisions: Maharashtra, Telangana, Karnataka (Mysore) plateaus

3️⃣ Kathiawad Plateau

• Location: Gujarat — on the Saurashtra Peninsula
• Formed from Deccan Trap basalt rocks
• Girnar Hills are the main highland here (Gir Forest — famous for Asiatic Lions)

4️⃣ Meghalaya Plateau (Shillong Plateau)

• An extended part of the Peninsular Plateau — originally connected to the Malwa Plateau
• Separated from the mainland by the Rajmahal-Garo Gap
• Sub-divisions: Garo, Khasi and Jaintia Hills
• Mawsynram and Cherrapunji — among the wettest places in the world

🌦️ Economic Importance

• Vast mineral wealth — coal, iron ore, manganese, mica, bauxite
• Black soil of the Deccan Trap highly suited for cotton cultivation
• Development of hydroelectric power and mining-based industrial centers