Write short notes on The Central Highlands.

Indian Peninsula is another name of the peninsular plateau. Over 200 years ago, it was part of Gondwana land. The peninsular plateau was formed by faulting of Gondwana land. Roughly, the shape of the peninsular plateau is triangular. The average height of the plateau is 600-900 m above sea level. Its two main divisions are Central Highlands and Deccan Plateau.

Its characteristics are as follows:

i. Central Highlands lies in the north of Narmada River.

ii. It is also known as Madhya Bharat Pathar or Madhya Bharat Plateau.

iii. The direction of slope of central highlands is west to east and that of Deccan plateau is southwest to northeast.

iv. Central Highlands is bounded by Aravalli and Chhotanagpur and Deccan plateau is bounded by the Western Ghats in the west and the Eastern Ghats in the east.

v. The highest peak of central highlands is Dhupgarh (1350m).

vi. Most of the plateau comprises the basin of the Chambal River which flows in a rift valley. A rift valley is a low-land region which is formed when tectonic plates move apart (divergent boundary).

vii. It is a rolling plateau composed of sandstone which is a sedimentary rock.