—_ — yr INDIA—A COMPREHENSIVE GEOGRAPHy INDIA A COMPREHENSIVE GEDGRAP EY access into India. The passes af Khyber, Malakond, Foch. Gomal and Kohat have their base in Badathshan province of Afghanistan and provide Passage from Afghanistan to the Indian subcontinent. ‘Towards the south, the highways o@fferar and Scistan ‘Converge at Quetta. It is worth ging that Quetta lies at the head of the Bi ides one of the most significant gateytys into the Indian Subcontinent, History regiMals that the barrier was at no time an insuperal(® one, and at all periods, invaders. settlers and traders have found their way over the high and desolate passes into India, while Indians have carried their ree and culture beyond her routes, India's isolation has » and the effect of loping her unique ited. People after into the Indian pa id changed the in India, Hordes of invaders civilisation has been over People, literally mations subcontinent threugh fate of various in the historic times, several , Parsees, Huns, Mughals and Mohammadans entered India mostly through these passes. In the east, the hills forming the boundary India and Myanmar gre comparatively low eae in elevation. But the half the year, difficult ‘of swift flowing rivers: fers between the two , Mekollliy Salween and in gaps being the Ann, Teju, Ayeyarwadi _ etc. Therefore, not many Manipur foes Teaching Ayeyarwadi valley in India, 19 eT india is much easier by sea than by Myanmar 70! ving, of a new trade route in 1995 ta, Te EL Manip tt Tamsin Momma conn: ting may help in developing trade and cultural relation, berween the two countries. The bus service propose in June 2014 between Imphal (Manipur) ung Mandalay covering a distance of 329 km may Further sirengiben ties between Ipdia ranmar. ising that ming, of Buoy from the sea; buillime were from India. Initiative jo the east really came from India, Hindu traders ang colonisers took their civilisation by sea to the south. i i wed in Indi st Asian countries. Buddhism originat . and spread to the whole of eastern Asia, The Cholas had an empire in the East Indies. Several other Hindy cultural traits are still found in large parts of the Far East, India is a land of great diversitics and contrasts. It is but natural that an area as vast as the Indian subcontinent should have considerable physical diversity, The extremes of physical and human seography of India are extreme indeed. In the south is. the Plateau which is one of the oldest and least disturbed land masses on the earth's surface. Its rocks have never been extensively covered by sea since their formation in the pre-cambrian period over 3,000 millioa years ago. In contrast to this, the Himalayan, mountain ranges and the Great Plains represent the ‘most recent formations. The denudational processes have mude these contrasts still sharper, While the mountain ranges in the north have very youthful AS such, Season due to snow melt ther and are i ol ‘hand, rivers ofthe Penin oda INTRODUCTION: ‘hy them decreases consider hey are, therefore, termed as seasonal rivers. Moeeav rivers of the Peninsular plateau have reached iat whereas the Himalayan rivers arc still in their youthful stage. Most of the Himalayan region is made y igneous and metamorphi between the Himalayas in the nerth and the Peninsular plateau in the south, liex enc of the largest alluvial plains of the world. This vast plain stretching in a great curve from Arabian Sea to the Bay of Bengal. consists of extremely fertile soils washed down by the streams and rivers for thousands of years. Climatic contrasts are no less. pronounced than the physiographic contrasts. Although a typical monsoonal realm, Indian climate exhibits a wide range of climatic variations. While the mercury may dip w (-) 40°C during winter nights at Dras or Kargil in Jammy and Kashmir, the temperature may stand at 4 fairly high level of 20°C to 25°C at Chennai. In summer, the day temperature at Barmer in Rajesthan may soar to 48°C-30°C while the higher reaches of the Himalayas may still remain snow covered. The differences are equally striking in rainfall patterns also. Mawsynram near Cherrapunji receives an annual rainfall of over 1.221 cm as compared to only 12 em received at Jaisalmer. Several places in Garo bills. receive more rainfall in a single day than received by Jaisalmer in a long span of ten years. The people of Mumbai experiencing maritime climate may not have any idea of extremes of climate, But Delinites tiving in continental climate have to pass through the entire eycle of seasonal changes. As a result of climatic ‘extremes, the natural vegetation varies from dense tropical evergreen forests of the Westem Ghats, North-Eastern states and Andaman and Nicobar islands to the scanty shrub bush vegetation of the ‘Thar Desert and its adjoining areas. and diversities of the physical features and climatic conditions have produced cultured heterogeneity of a high order. On ‘one end of the scale ‘are the vast uninhabited areas of Ladakh and the ‘Thar desert and on the other ead are the river valleys and deltas accounting fer some of the highest population densities in the world and that too based on purely qyvasian cocauiny. TM and breadth of the i ions. saic of Feligic’ ra js, thus. 1. All levels of From that of the stare age © fare acen in the COUBITY. purely tribal country 0 vie languages eterngencos in € cconomic development tthe wanelline and computer BEE he country. In lurge parts of ze agricultural, industrial amd commercial eco Me i ical and ceist simulaneously, Considering 15 physic: cain al diversities India fs often called the ‘epee af the work’. UNITY IN DIVERSITY Tt must not be forgotien that the above mentioned diversity of India is based on its underlying vRity- India has been able to project itself as a single territodal unit in the face of physical, political, social ‘and economic contrasts, The unifying role of the Great Plains between the Himalayan ranges on one fund and the Peninsular India on the other cam hardly besigmored. Climatically, the monsoonal shythm of seasons provides a strong clement of uniformity. The concentration of monsoonal rainfall ta a few months in a year and the associated agricultural activities are an ali India phenomena. Many of our cultural traditions are strongly tied to the monsoons. Our saints have spread the message of universal brotherhood which has helped a great deal in uniting different sections of society in India and making the country a united nation, The Ramayana and. the Mahabharata have provided themes even for tribal dances and music for thousands of years and still continue to do so. Although Hinduism is the way of life for majority of Indians, Hinduism and Islam are intertwined into & composite matrix on the Indian land, It is in this composite matrix that integration of i strongly rooted. In fact there are almost as many Muslims in India as in Pakistan. Centuries of forcign rule failed to disrupt our cultural ties. On economic front, the development of inter- regional linkage and the emergence of a national home market have played a significant role in uniting the country. For example, tea from Assam, wheat from Punjab and Haryana, minerals from Chotanagpar plateau and spices from the hill areas of the southern slules are used all over the country and in turn these momashtsin items required by them from other areas. pe) Process has been accelerated by rapid lopment of transportation and communication,