Notes on the physical features of Bharata Varsa

India was the cradle of civilization, the Fertile Crescent .from which sprang up its rich cultural heritage that drew the attention of the world. Our country was known as Bharata Varsa (The land, of the Bharata) after the name of Bharata, the mighty legendary hero and the son of king Dushyanta and Shakuntala.

Historians also predict that perhaps after the name of a tribe called Bhatpara, the country has been so named. The Greeks called river Sindhu as Indus and Persians called it ‘Hidu or Hindu”. Thus this land of ours was known as Hind’ and ‘Ind’ to the Persians and Greeks, respectively. During the medieval time, India was known as Hindustan.

During British period it was famous as India, the name through which it is known to the world even today. This unique land of ours projects its peculiar feature- unity in diversity.

Physical Features of Bharat Varsa:

In the graphic language of Richard Hackly, “Geography and chronology are the sun and the moon, the right eye and left eye of history.’ Thus, it is very much essential to study the geographical features of India while going through its history and culture. The course of Indian history like other countries of the world has been determined by its geography. Geographically India has been divided into four natural divisions as such.’

(1) Mountain-ranges of the Himalayas as in the North.

(2) The great Indo-Genetic plane.

(3) The Deccan plateau.

(4) Coastal Ghats.

Mountain-ranges of the Himalayas in the North:

On the North of the Country are located the Himalayan mountains, which spread out both to the east as well as west. These mountains are roughly 1500 miles in length and stretch from Kashmir in the west to Assam in the east. The hills like Hindu Kush, Suleiman, Safedkoh and Kithara lie in the north-western region while the hills like Khasi, Jaintya, Patkoi, Lushai, etc. are located in the eastern part. It may be noted that the mountains located in the North are comparatively high. The eastern ranges though not quite high are covered with dense forests. This is mainly due to the excessive rains in these regions.

Till very recent times these ranges were considered as inaccessible. Dr. R.C. Majumdar observes.” The Himalaya is the most inaccessible frontier that nature has designed for any country, but even here there are roads from Tibet to Nepal that have carried for ages not merely peaceful missionaries of culture and religion, but on rare occasion’s even formidable hosts of soldiers as well.” This myth was exploded only when the Chinese attacked India from this side in 1962.

In the North-west mountainous ranges certain passes across the Hindu Kush served as channels of commercial and cultural exchange between India and countries on the other side. The most prominent passes are Khyber, Tochi. Kara, Kurram, Gomals, Bolan. It was through these passes that almost all the invaders right from the times of the Aryans came to India.

Some of the prominent invaders who entered India through these passes included Persians, Macedonians, Scythians, Parthians, Sakas, Kushanas, Hunas, Turks, Mongols, Mughals, Afghans, etc. Though these invaders came to this country mainly with a view to plunder the riches but they left a deep impact on the culture and institutions of the country. Some of the Indian missionaries, travelers also left through these passes to spread the Indian culture and civilization abroad.

In short, we can say that the Himalayans have not only cut off India from the outside world but have also constituted India into a world by itself. Some of the prominent rivers which have made our lands fertile also originate from the Himalayans. In the words of Dr. Ray Choudhury, “The stupendous maintain chain which fences this country from the rest of Asia, while it constituted India a world by itself favored the growth of a distinct type of civilization.

“Indo-Genetic Plain:

The Indo-Genetic Plain is spread from Bay of Bengal to the Arabian Sea and is roughly 200 miles long and 200 miles in bread. This plain embraces the valley of the Indus and its tributaries, the deserts of Sindh and Rajputana as well as regions watered by the Ganges, the Jamuna and the Brahmaputra. This plain was formed as a result of the deposits of rich soil washed clown the Himalayas and other hills of the south for a number of centuries. It is mainly because of these rivers and their tributaries that this plain became a very fertile and prosperous region.

This richness and fertility of the land resulted in the establishment of a number of big towns, centers of trade and capitals during all the periods of Indian history. Most of the important events worth recording took place in these plains. Its enormous wealth and resources were the sources of temptation for foreign invaders.

Most of the mighty kingdoms of ancient times like those of Chandra Gupta Maurya, Ashoka, Samudra Gupta, Chandra Gupta Vikramaditya, Harsh Vardhan, Ala- ud- din and Akbar, flourished in those regions. This region was also a centre for the great religious movements like Jainism and Buddhism. Due to the richness and the easy accessibility of the daily needs, the people of this region had enough time at then- disposal, which they fruitfully utilized for the development of art and literature. This explains the reaps-on why the people from this regio_n were able to create some of the highest specimens of art and literature right from the earliest times.

The prosperity of this region has also been responsible for the misery and sufferings of the inhabitants. A number of Muslim invaders like Mahmud Ghaznawi and Mohammad Ghori made repeated in various on India only with a -view to amass and plunder the rich booty which they could expect. But for the riches available in these plains. These invaders would not have attacked India. Some of the destructive wars since the earliest times of history were also fought in this region. Some of the- import ant battles which took place in these region include the battle of Mahabharata, Tarain, Karnal and Panipat. After the settlement of the Muslims in this region a cultural assimilation took place. It greatly enriched tiled Indian culture and civilization and exercised tremendous influence on the course of our history.

The Deccan Plateau:

The Deccan plateau lies to the south of the Genetic Plain and is separated by the Vindhyas arad Satpuras. This area stretches from Vindhyas to Cape Clamoring. On its west are situated the Western Ghats and in the east the Eastern Ghats. The important rivers running in this region are Mahanadi, Kaveri, Krishna, Godavari, Narmada and Tapti.

With the exception of Narmada and Tapti all other important rivers flow eastward into the day of Bengal. The rivers of the south are not as much useful as means of communication, as the rivers of the north. The Deccan Pennies ulna is a triangular table-land rising abruptly in the west loping -way towards the east. This area is considered to be the oldest part of India. The area lying to the South of Krishna and Tungha bhadra is known as Far-South. The present territories of Mysore and. Tamil Nadu constitute this region. This natural division of the north arced the south by the Vindhyas has completely kept the two regions apart and two separate cultures, which have no connection with each other, flourished in these two regions.

On the northern side of the Deccan Plateau, the Vindhyas and the Satpura ranges exist. These areas are covered with dense forests which are very difficult to cross.

The inaccessibility of these regions led to the conception of other different countries in India— Aryabrata and Dakshinapath in the ancient times. Most of the Indian rulers never made any attempt to combine these two regions into one political unit. Only some of the prominent rulers like Ashoka, Samudrgupta Alla-ud-din Khiliji, Muhaammad Tughldg and Aurangzeb tried to bring both these regions under their control. But they found it difficult to retain this control for nags.

As a result South India remained mostly cut off from the northern India and developed a culture and history its own. One of the advantage of these separation according to one historian has been that, “In difficult and trouble sometimes the culture of the north could always seek refuse in the Deccan. When Buddhism became dominant in the north, grammatical religion and culture made their way to the south, and thus were enabled to survive and later to regain power and ascendance in the north. Similarly, the Jains sought refuse in the south. The ‘refugee’ northern literature and culture were welcomed by the great Andhra, Chola, Chalukya, Yauhleyas and Hoysala rulers of the south.’ However, with the introduction of the modern scientific inventions these barriers have broken down and the two regions have been politically knit- together.

The Eastern and Western Ghats (Coastal Ghats):

The plain of the south extend from the eastern Sea-coast to the western sea-coast and contains some of the rich ports like Konkan and Malabai. The fertile deltas of Godavari, the Krishna and the Kaveri are also located here. Along with Deccan table-land a high mountainous wall runs parallel to the shores of the Arabian Sea which are popularly known as Western Ghats. Their length is roughly 700 miles. Similarly in the east, the region is known as Eastern Ghats.

The Western Ghats are 3,000 to 8,000 feet above sea-level and possess a number of flat-topped peaks. The Marathas build fortresses on these peaks and played an important role in the history of the country. The area between coast and the foot of the Ghats is highly productive and produces large quantity of rice and coconut. These regions are not easily accessible and therefore remained isolated from the rest of Deccan for a long time. As a result certain practices and customs developed in these regions which are not found elsewhere in India. The Eastern Ghats, however, are much broader and are easily accessible to communication. This resulted in the growth of number of important cities and kingdoms in those regions. The contact with the outside countries like Jawa, Sumatra, Burma, Siam and Indo-China was alsolfoihtained through the parts of the Eastern Ghats.

Thus, geography has influenced the course of Indian history to a great extent. It has created different local zones with political and cultural units. The primitive culture of this land was maintained by its forests, deserts, mountains and river valleys. The physical features of this land had created warrior races, facilitated maritime activities, cultural linkages and had contributed a lot for the growth of art and chitecture.