Plateaus of India

26 plateaus and uplands — Malwa to Meghalaya, lava vs ancient rock, and the ‘NOT in Bihar / NOT in MP’ traps.

On this map (26)

Ladakh Plateau (Aksai Chin) · Ladakh — Trans-Himalaya · cold high plateau. A cold, dry high plateau of the Trans-Himalaya — not part of the peninsular block
Marwar / Mewar Upland · Rajasthan — East of the Aravalli · Rajasthan. Rocky upland of sandstone, shale and limestone east of the Aravalli; the Banas drains it
Malwa Plateau · Madhya Pradesh — Central Highlands · lava (black soil). Bounded by the Aravalli (north), Vindhya (south) and Bundelkhand (east) — about 530 × 390 km
Bundelkhand Upland · Uttar Pradesh — Central Highlands · granite–gneiss. Old granite and gneiss upland of UP (Jhansi, Banda, Mahoba) and MP (Sagar, Chhatarpur); dry, ravined, drought-hit
Baghelkhand Plateau · Madhya Pradesh — Central Highlands · Rewa. East of Bundelkhand, around Rewa and Satna; limestone and sandstone with coal at Singrauli
Amarkantak Plateau (Maikal) · Madhya Pradesh — Where Vindhya meets Satpura. High point of the Maikal range where the Vindhya and Satpura meet
Chhotanagpur Plateau · Jharkhand — Mineral heart of India. Ancient Gondwana block: coal (Jharia, Bokaro), iron ore (Singhbhum), mica (Hazaribagh), copper, bauxite
Hazaribagh Plateau · Jharkhand — Upper step of Chhotanagpur. Upper step of the Chhotanagpur, north of the Damodar
Ranchi Plateau · Jharkhand — Lower step · waterfalls. Southern step of the Chhotanagpur; rivers fall off its edge — Hundru, Dassam, Jonha falls
Pat Region (Netarhat) · Jharkhand — Highest flat tops of Chhotanagpur. “Pats” are the flat, highest tablelands of the western Chhotanagpur (~1,100 m) — Netarhat
Rajmahal Hills · Jharkhand — NE edge of the peninsula · lava. North-eastern edge of the peninsular plateau; Jurassic lava flows
Malda (Garo–Rajmahal) Gap · West Bengal — The break to the NE block. A down-faulted gap between the Rajmahal hills and the Garo hills, filled by Ganga–Brahmaputra alluvium
Meghalaya (Shillong) Plateau · Meghalaya — Peninsular block in the NE. Part of the PENINSULAR block, not the Himalaya (UPPCS)
Karbi Anglong Plateau (Mikir Hills) · Assam — Peninsular block · Assam. Eastward piece of the same peninsular block, in Assam
North Cachar Hills (Dima Hasao) · Assam — Peninsular block · Assam. With Meghalaya and Karbi Anglong, the third piece of the peninsular block in the north-east
Kathiawar (Saurashtra) Plateau · Gujarat — Lava upland · Gujarat. Deccan-lava peninsula of Gujarat between the Gulfs of Kutch and Khambhat
Maharashtra Plateau (Deccan Trap) · Maharashtra — Deccan lava · black soil. Flat-topped basalt steps of the Deccan Trap → black cotton soil
Vidarbha (Wardha–Wainganga basin) · Maharashtra — NE Maharashtra · coal, cotton. North-eastern Maharashtra: Nagpur, Wardha; coal of the Wardha valley, cotton
Telangana Plateau · Telangana — Old gneiss · Godavari–Krishna. Ancient granite–gneiss plateau between the Godavari and the Krishna
Chhattisgarh Plain (Mahanadi basin) · Chhattisgarh — A plain inside the plateau. A saucer-shaped lowland of the upper Mahanadi, ringed by plateaus — the “rice bowl”
Dandakaranya (Bastar Plateau) · Chhattisgarh — Forest plateau · red & yellow soil. Forested plateau of Bastar and Koraput, about 89,000 sq km, over Chhattisgarh, Odisha, Andhra, Telangana, Maharashtra
Odisha Plateau (Garhjat Hills) · Odisha — Iron, manganese, bauxite. Southern extension of the Chhotanagpur into northern Odisha (Garhjat hills)
Rayalaseema Plateau · Andhra Pradesh — Rain-shadow upland · AP. Dry, rain-shadow upland of southern Andhra (Kurnool, Kadapa, Anantapur, Chittoor)
Karnataka (Mysore) Plateau · Karnataka — Old gneiss · Maidan. Ancient Dharwar rocks; the open eastern part is called the Maidan
Malnad (Hill country) · Karnataka — Western Ghats side of Karnataka. “Hill country”: the rainy, forested western strip of the Karnataka plateau along the Ghats
Tamil Nadu Uplands (Coimbatore) · Tamil Nadu — Southern end of the Deccan. The southern tail of the Deccan, below the Nilgiris — Coimbatore and Salem uplands

Asked in exams

UPPCSAksai Chin → part of the Ladakh Plateau
MPPCS 2008Plateau between the Aravalli and the Vindhya → Malwa
UPPCSLava soil is found in → Malwa plateau
UPSC 2016Nasik – Malwa ✗
UPSC 2024Dhuandhar – Malwa ✗ (only Hundru row correct)
UPSC 2016Khajuraho – Bundelkhand ✓
UPSC 2016Bodhgaya – Baghelkhand ✗
UPSC 2023Amarkantak = confluence of Vindhya and Sahyadri ✗
UPPCSActual source of the Son → Amarkantak
UPPCSNot a part of Chhotanagpur → Bihar
UPPCSDhanbad most crowded → minerals + mining + industry (all)
UPSC 2024Hundru – Chota Nagpur – Subarnarekha ✓
UPSC 1997Map: rift valley, Chhattisgarh plain, Chhotanagpur, rain shadow
UPSC 1984Mica → Hazaribagh; coal → Jharia; lignite → Neyveli
UPPCSOraon – Ranchi Plateau ✓
UPSC 2000Munda – Chhotanagpur ✓
UPPCSMeghalaya plateau is part of → the Peninsular range
UPSC 1987Khasi and Garo → Meghalaya
UPSC 2013Nokrek – Garo Hills ✓
UPSC 2014Mikir Hills – North-East India ✓
UPSC 2013Karbi – Himachal Pradesh ✗
UPSC 1997Deccan Traps → Cretaceous–Eocene
UPSC 2007Deccan higher in the west, slopes east ✓
UPPCSMaharashtra – rain-shadow state ✓
UPSC 2016Shirdi – Vidarbha ✗
UPPCSChhattisgarh – Chhattisgarh plain ✓
UPSC 1997Map: B = Chhattisgarh plain
UPPCS‘Dandakaranya’ does not exist in → Madhya Pradesh
UPPCSMainly found in Dandakaranya → red and yellow soil
UPSC 1984Iron ore → Singhbhum, Mayurbhanj, Keonjhar
UPSC 2016Tirupati – Rayalaseema ✓
UPPCSNot a high-seismic zone → Karnataka Plateau
UPPCSAndhra Pradesh – Malnad ✗

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