India Physical Map
The geography of a country shapes its history and culture, and this is particularly true for India. The country’s physical configuration, including its mountains and rivers, has had a significant impact on its development. The Himalayan range, which towers over the northern border, has played a particularly important role in shaping India’s history.
India has always been a country with a dominant interest in the sea, and it is isolated by the waters of the Indian Ocean, which wash its three sides. The fact that the country is cut off by mountains on its land frontiers in the North, East, and West, has made India isolated in its evolution. However, it has also given India a continental character capable of generating the forces of action and reaction that lead to the development of civilization.
The climate in India varies widely, from the scorching heat of the deserts of Rajasthan to the snowy heights of the Himalayan ranges, from dry rocky tablelands of the Deccan to the moist tropical luxuriance of Bengal and Malabar. This continental character of India is an essential factor in its history.
The Himalayas are the supreme mountains of the earth, tossed high in some convulsion of the primeval age and stricken immobile, a frozen ocean of lava waves. The incalculable influence of the Himalayas on India may be imagined from the fact that the Indus and its great tributaries, the Ganges and its major tributaries, and the Brahmaputra, the three river systems on which the life of Hindustan depends, take their rise on the Himalayas.
The protective wall of the Himalayas has given India the continuity of its civilization and social structure from the earliest times to the present day. The society described in the Mahabharata is not essentially different from what holds its sway today in India. The life that the Buddha witnessed 2,500 years ago continues over the continent with no fundamental modifications. The rules of marriage, the rituals of burial, and the organization of social relationships are not basically different. This continuity of Indian life is the supreme gift of the Himalayan range.
The great Indo-Gangetic plain lies to the south of the Himalayas. The Panchanad and the Jumna and the Ganges are the five rivers that have always been the core of the Indian continent. The fertilizing waters of these rivers led early to the development of agriculture and the consequent growth of population in this area. Town and village communities grew up along the river valleys and converted this area into a seat of civilization. Aryavarta has always been the center of Indian life, and its gradual expansion to cover the whole continent is the central fact of Indian history. It is the true making of India.
The Vindhya range, which divides the Deccan from Aryavarta, is the next important feature in the physical configuration of India. Geographically, the Vindhya range divides India into two, and normally there is no reason why the separation should not have led to two different evolutions. If the Vindhyan range does not now separate, and the unity of India and its culture is undeniable, it is due to Agastya, the great saint and missionary, who bridged the gulf between the Aryan and Dravidian civilizations.
In conclusion, India’s physical configuration, including its mountains and rivers, has greatly influenced its history and culture. The Himalayan range, in particular, has played a significant role in shaping India’s development, protecting it from external influences and allowing it to maintain a continuity of civilization and social structure for thousands of years. The great Indo-Gangetic plain and the Vindhya range are also essential features of India’s geography, which have contributed to the making of India as we know it today.
Peninsular India, despite being considered a part of Hindustan, possesses distinctive features of its own. Its perspective is fundamentally maritime, as the ocean not only divides but also facilitates the pathways of trade and communication. Since ancient times, the ports situated in the South, from Bhrigu Kacha to Cranganore on the west coast, have had extensive commercial connections with the civilization of the Middle East. Similarly, the ports located on the eastern coast have maintained relations with the nations of the East for countless years.
