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IGNOU HISTORY NOTES : Modern India - INDIA:PHYSICAL FEATURES

IGNOU HISTORY Study Notes for IAS, UPSC Exams

India Earliest Times to the 8th Century A.D

INDIA:PHYSICAL FEATURES

Structure
1.0 Objectives
1.1 Introduction
1.2 Physical Geography and History
1.2.1 Environment and Human Settlements
1.2.2 Arguing Against Geographical Determinism
1.3 Basic Physiographical Divisions
1.4 Regional Physical Features
1.4.1 The Himalayas and the Western Frontier
1.4.2 The Indus Plains
1.4.3 Gangetic Northern India
1.4.4 Eastern, Western and Central India
1.4.5 Peninsular India
1.4.6 The Extreme South
1.5 Let Us Sum Up
1.6 Key Words
1.7 Answers to Check Your Progress Exercises

1.0 OBJECTIVES

After reading this Unit you should be able to explain :

Why in the study of the history of a country an understanding of its physical features is neccesary,
how we look at the physical features as students of history,
the relationship between environment, geography and history, and
the uneven pattern of historical growth in the Indian sub-continent.

1.1 INTRODUCTION

History without geography is largely incomplete and devoid of its vital substance for it loses focus in the absence of the concept of space. That is why history is regarded both as the history of mankind and the history of environment. It is difficult to separate the two. The history of humans and the history of environment mutually influence one another. Soil, rainfall, vegetation, climate and environment exercise considerable influence on the evolution of human cultures. In fact, the essence of human progress is the increasing emancipation of human beings from the clutches of nature or control of the vagaries of nature. In this regard technological progress helps human beings in conquering their environment. However, not until a very late stage in history were human beings able to control their environment effectively. Naturally, thus as we move back in time it becomes necessary to appreciate and understand the geography, environment and physical regions that had a bearing on Indian history. In this Unit, we shall try to acquaint you with the physical features of the Indian sub- continent, which have had an important bearing on historical developments.

1.2 PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY AND HISTORY

Variations of soils, topography, rainfall and climate have created a number of distinctly different regions, with their separate characteristics and identities. Physical regions often correspond Indla : Physical Features to culture zones or regions i.e., they tend to differ from one another at the level of language, food, dress, crop pattern, population density, caste structure, etc. For example, in some areas like Uttar Pradesh and northern Bihar-the fertile plains of the Ganga Valley-population concentration is very high, while the mountainous tribal central India is sparsely populated. Similarlv, certain areas like Magadha, Kosala, Avanti. Maharashtra. Andhra, Kalinga and the Chola country emerged earlier as developed pockets while others lagged behind. Historically, the emergence of regions has therefore been uneven, and different regions have been characterised by differential characteristics, which are largely related to and influenced by geography and environment. To give another example, we find that wheat is the staple food of people in Punjab, Haryana and western Uttar Pradesh, while rice is the principal crop and main component in the diet of people in eastern India viz. Bengal, Bihar and Orissa. Why is this so? This is so because :

different crops have different natural habitat zones,
they tend to grow in specific natural environments., and
in course of time they influence the dietary habits of people there.

Similarly, forms of irrigation differ from region to region :

rivers and canals have been the m'ost important form of ifrigation in northern India,
ponds have been very useful in eastern India, and tank irrigation has played a significant role in SouthIndian agriculture.

These variations do not mean that rivers are not important in eastern and southern regions. But what they reflect is that people take recourse to different methods to augment additional water sources in different regions, depending on what method is most suitable for a particular
region.

Geography and environment play a major role in the pattern of dresses also. For example, we can compare and contrast the dress styles of the people of Kashmir, Rajasthan and those living along the coasts. This again reflects the climatic and environmental effects. While the riverine plains and deltas have given birth to and sustained advanced cultures through the ages, the mountainous intermediate zone of central India has retained heavy concentration of tribal 8populqtion in various pockets. Thus, while the riverine plains are liberally endowed by nature and have lives of their own the isolated regions remained unaffected by advances made in other regions. The co-existence of different forms of dress, . food-habits and cultures in the sub-continent, therefore, can be largely explained with reference to physical geography.

Regional differences and related separate regional identities, greatly fostered bjr geography, have stood in the way of the rise of durable, pan-Indian states in Indian histdry. Never was the whole sub-continent a single political unit. This holds true for the Mauryan impire, the Delhi sultanate, the Moghul empire as well as British India. At the same time, it needs to be emphasised that though these differences between regions, which are geographically structured, have prevented the rise of pan-Indian states in our history, yet at no period have they created separate nationalities.