The Peninsular Plateau is the largest and oldest physiographic division of India. It lies to the south of the Northern Great Plains and covers and area of about 161 lakh sq km. The elevation of this upland varies from 600 to 90 m. This is in inverted triangle shape, with wide base lying in the north and the apex formed in the south, with tilt towards south eat.
It is bounded by the Aravallis in the North West, Bundelkhand plateau in the north, Rajmahal hills in the north east, the Western Ghats in the west and the Eastern Ghats in the east. The highest peak of Peninsular plateau is Anaimudi (2695 m) situated in Annamali hills of Kerala.
On the basis of relief features the peninsular plateau is divided into two main divisions. They are, The Central high lands: This is a smaller region of peninsular plateau situated to the north of the Narmada river. It is slightly tilted towards north. It include the Aravallies, the Malwa plateau, the Vindhya range, the Bundelkhand, the Baghelkhand and Chotanagpur plateau and Rajmahal hills.
The Aravallies runs from north east to south west for about 8900 km between Delhi to Gujarat. It is one of the oldest folded mountains of the world. Its highest peak is Guru Shikar (1722m). It separates Rajasthan- upland and agricultural region. The Aravallis are composed of quatizetes, gneisses and schists.
Rivers like the Luni, Sabarmati and the mahi flow from Aravalli ranges. The Malwa plateau is bordered by the Aravallis in the north and the vindyan range in the south. This plateau has to drainage systems i) Narmada and Mahi towards the Arabian Sea ii) Chambal, Sind, Betwa and Ken towards the Bay of Bengal. ’
The vindyan range extends in ease west direction for about 1050km. The kaimur hills lies in the east of Vindhya range and the Maikala range forms a link between the Vindhya and Satpura ranges.
The Deccan Plateau: this is a triangular plateau situated to the south of the river Tapi or Tapti. The Deccan trap is the crystalline core of the lava effusions forming this plateau are believed to have occurred through a fissure volcano and this region is considered a lava shield. It occupies the areas of Maharashtra, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh and parts of Chhattisgarh, Odisha and Tamil Nadu.
Eastern Ghats: They form eastern boundary of the Deccan Plateau. They are “separated by the river valleys. The Eastern Ghats stretch to 800 km from Mahanadi valley in the north to Nilgiri hills in the south. Its average height is around 600m.Nallamalla, Kallamalai, B.R.Hills and M.M.Hilis are the important hills of Eastern Ghats.
The important peaks are Aramakonda, Singaraju, Nimalgiri, Mahendra giri etc. Aramakonda is considered as the highest peak of the Eastern Ghats. These zones are rich in Iron ore, Manganese ore, Limestone, Coal, Mica etc.
Western Ghats: It is also known as Sahyadris. They are almost continuous mountain system running parallel to west coast for about 1600km., from north-west to south direction. The Western Ghats meet the Eastern Ghats in Nilgiri hills.
The Western Ghats form a watershed of the peninsular rivers. Important rivers like the Godavari, Krishna, Kaveri, Sharavati, Periyar etc, rise in this zone. They are sources of hydro¬electricity. They are covered with dense evergreen and monsoon forest and rich bio-diversity zones.
