Central Highlands

North of the Narmada lie the Central Highlands; they are also called the Madhya Bharat Pathar and Marwar/Malwa.

Aravalli Range

• About 800 km from Delhi (Delhi ridge) to Palanpur (Gujarat) via Rajasthan; the oldest fold mountains in India (Pre-Cambrian; eroded down to stumps).
• Highest peak: Guru Shikhar (1,722 m) near Mount Abu, Rajasthan. Other places: Jaipur, Ajmer, Udaipur, Alwar, Nathdwara lie along or in it.
• Divides the Thar desert from the fertile east; Luni and Sabarmati rise here.
• Minerals: copper (Khetri), zinc-lead (Zawar), mica, marble (Makrana).

Marwar and Mewar

The Marwar plain (Rajasthan, west of the Aravalli) merges with the desert; Mewar is the plateau of the Udaipur region.

Malwa Plateau

• Between the Aravalli and Vindhya; lava soils; rivers Chambal, Betwa, Kali Sindh, Parbati.
• Ujjain, Indore, Bhopal; opium, cotton, soybean; the Chambal ravines at its north.

Bundelkhand

• Plateau of granite and gneiss in UP and MP between the Yamuna and Vindhya; Betwa, Ken; Jhansi, Chhatarpur, Banda; semi-arid, drought-prone.

Baghelkhand

• Rewa plateau, between Bundelkhand and Chotanagpur; Son river; coal (Singrauli).

Vindhya Range

• A broken chain of hills of about 1,200 km from Jobat (Gujarat-MP) to Sasaram (Bihar); Kaimur is its eastern part.
• Highest peaks are only about 700-800 m; Vindhyachal; Panna hills (diamonds).
• Water divide between the Ganga basin and the Narmada-Tapi-Deccan basin; sandstone and limestone; Chambal, Betwa, Ken, Son rise or pass here.

Satpura Range

• Seven hills (sat-pura) from Rajpipla (Gujarat) through Mahadeo (Pachmarhi) and Maikal to Amarkantak; Narmada flows north of and Tapi south of it.
• Dhupgarh (1,350 m, near Pachmarhi) is the highest peak of the Satpura and of Madhya Pradesh. Amarkantak (about 1,048 m) is the source of the Narmada and the Son (and the Johila).
• Pachmarhi is the hill station and biosphere reserve; Satpura tiger reserve (Madhya Pradesh).

Chotanagpur Plateau

• Jharkhand, parts of Odisha, Chhattisgarh and West Bengal; about 65,000 sq km; average 700 m; Parasnath (1,365 m) is the highest peak (Jharkhand).
• Radial drainage: Damodar, Subarnarekha, North Koel, South Koel, Barakar and others flow out in all directions.
• The "Ruhr of India": coal (Jharia, Bokaro, Giridih), iron ore, mica, bauxite, copper, uranium (Jaduguda). Cities Ranchi, Jamshedpur, Dhanbad, Bokaro.
• Hundru falls (Subarnarekha, near Ranchi).

Meghalaya (Shillong) Plateau and Karbi Anglong

• A detached piece of the Peninsula, separated from the main block by the Garo-Rajmahal gap (also called the Malda gap), a fault filled with Gangetic alluvium. Hills: Garo, Khasi, Jaintia. Shillong Peak (1,961 m). Rain-rich; Cherrapunji, Mawsynram. Karbi Anglong plateau continues east.
• Coal, limestone, sillimanite, uranium reserves.

Rajmahal Hills

• Basalt hills of Jharkhand on the Ganga's right bank, the north-eastern edge of the plateau.

Map practice

Mark Aravalli, Guru Shikhar, Vindhya, Satpura, Dhupgarh, Amarkantak, Chotanagpur, Parasnath, Meghalaya plateau, Rajmahal.