Indian Physiography : Northern Plains of India - Indo Gangetic Plain

India having a wide diversity in the context of physiography. Mountains, plateau, plain land, coastal land, etc. act as ornaments of Indian physiography. The vast plain region of North India lies between the Himalayan mountain region in the north and the peninsular plateau region in the south. This wide plain region has formed by the deposition of the sediment of the river Ganga and the Brahmaputra, and its tributaries. The great plain is extended from east to west direction from the Brahmaputra in the east to the arid plain of Rajasthan in the West. Total length of the plane is 2400 km. and with varies between 145 km. to 480 km. It occupies about 7 lakh sq.km. area to total land area of India. General slope of this region is form west to east (basically it is from north-west to south-east).

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Fig.: Great Plain of North India

This fertile plains formed by the two types of alluvium deposition. They are as follows :

• Khadar : The new alluvium that is deposited near the river bank is known as Khadar. New silt content is relatively higher in this soil. Generally this is located in the flood prone areas beside the river banks. Sometimes this include the former river beds which become available for agricultural purpose especially when river course changes.
• Bhangar : It is the old aluminium that deposits away from the bank of the river. It is made up of gravel and course sand. Sandy loam content is relatively higher than of Khadar. Bhangar region is generally located away from the flood plains.

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The marshy land of this region is called 'Terai' or 'No Man's Land', because this region has dense forest cover. The great north Indian plain is classified into four subdivisions :

1. Rajasthan plain,
2. Punjab-Haryana plain,
3. The Ganga plain,
4. Brahmaputra plain.

This physiographic division occupies a large part of Indian land mass. For being rich in fertile alluvial soil, this vast region acts as the heart of agricultural activities.