Deccan Plateau
Deccan Peninsula | |
|---|---|
Geographical region | |
 The Deccan Plateau (cyan) forms a major part of Peninsular India | |
| Coordinates: 15°N 77°E / 15°N 77°E | |
| Country | India |
| States | |
| Area | |
| • Total | 422,000 km2 (163,000 sq mi) |
The Deccan is a plateau extending over an area of 422,000 km2 (163,000 sq mi) and occupies the majority of the Indian peninsula. Shaped like an inverted triangle, it stretches from the Satpura and Vindhya Ranges in the north to the northern fringes of Tamil Nadu in the south. It is bound by the mountain ranges of the Western Ghats and the Eastern Ghats on the sides, which separate the region from the Western and Eastern Coastal Plains respectively. It covers most of the Indian States of Maharashtra, Telangana, Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh excluding the coastal regions, and minor portions of Tamil Nadu and Kerala.
The plateau is marked by rocky terrain with an average of about 600 m (2,000 ft). It is subdivided into Maharashtra Plateau, Karnataka Plateau, and Telangana Plateau. The Deccan Traps in the north west were formed by multiple layers of igneous rocks laid down by basaltic lava flows following a massive volcanic eruption that occurred during the end of the cretaceous period (66 mya). The underlying bed consists of granite and sedimentary rocks formed during the precambrian era and the formation of Gondwana.
The region forms one of the major watersheds of India, with many perennial river systems such as Godavari, Krishna, and Kaveri flowing through the region. The plateau slopes gently from the west to east, resulting in most of the principal rivers flowing eastwards towards the Bay of Bengal. As the Western Ghats blocks the rain bearing winds, the plateau region is drier than the coastal region of South India and has a semi-arid climate.
The Deccan plateau region was ruled by several kingdoms in the Indian history such as Pallavas, Cholas, Pandyas, Satavahanas, Chalukyas, Rashtrakutas, Hoysalas, Kadambas, Kakatiyas, and Western Gangas. In the later medieval era, the lower plateau was ruled by the Vijayanagara empire, and the upper portion by the Bahmani kingdom, and its successors, the Deccan sultanates. It later housed the Kingdom of Mysore, Maratha confederacy, and Nizam's dominions. It was under the control of British Raj for nearly two centuries before the Indian Independence in 1947. The Reorganisation of Indian states in the 1950s resulted in the creation of states on linguistic lines.