Rajasthan State Exam Study Notes: Physiography of Rajasthan

Physiography of Rajasthan

Location and Expansion

• Rajasthan state is located in the North-Western part of India.
• It is located in between 23^o3’ to 30^o12’ Northern Latitude to 69^o29’ to 78^o17’ Eastern Longitude.
• Tropic of Cancer passes from Banswara-Dungarpur district.
• The western border of the state is an International border (India-Pakistan) which is 1070 Km long.
• It shares the border with Punjab and Haryana from North and North-east side, Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh from Eastern side and Gujarat and Madhya Pradesh from South and South-western border.
• Area of Rajasthan is 3, 42,239 km² which is 10.41 % of the total area of the country. Thus, it is the biggest in terms of area.
• Length of the state from North to South is 826 km whereas its breadth from East to West is 869 km.

Administrative Units

• After Independence, Unification of Rajasthan completed in 1956.
• Administratively, the State has been divided into 7 divisions and 33 Districts, comprising 295 Panchayat Samities, 9,891 Village Panchayats, and 43,264 inhabited villages.
• Following are the seven divisions and district included in it.
• Jaipur Division: - Jaipur, Dausa, Sikar, Alwar and Jhunjhunu
• Jodhpur Division: - Jodhpur, Jalore, Pali, Barmer, Sirohi and Jaisalmer
• Bharatpur Division: - Bharatpur, Dhaulpur, Karauli and Sawai Madhopur
• Ajmer Division: - Ajmer, Bhilwara, Tonk and Nagaur
• Kota Division: - Kota, Bundi, Baran and Jhalawara
• Bikaner Division: - Bikaner, Ganganagar, Hanumangarh and Churu
• Udaipur Division: - Udaipur, Rajsamand, Dungarpur, Banswara, Chittorgarh and Pratapgarh

Relief of Rajasthan

• Rajasthan is the biggest state of India, thus it has diversity in its physical divisions.
• Following are the nature of the reliefs of Rajasthan.

1. High Peaks

• Under this, those mountain peaks are included which are more than 900 meters in height.

1. Mountain Range

• Under this, the region having a height of 600 to 900 meter are included.
• Most of the Aravalli range falls under this.
• It is 6% of the total area of Rajasthan

1. Highlands and Plateaus

• This region has a height of 300 to 600 meter above from sea level.

1. Plains

• It is more than 51% of the total land in the state.
• It has a height of 150 to 300 meters above sea level.
• It is further divided into two parts: Desert region of Western Rajasthan and Eastern Plain.
• Eastern plains are suitable lands for agriculture

Physical Division of Rajasthan

• Rajasthan is divided into 4 physical divisions which have further sub-division.

1. Plains of Western Desert

• It is a special geographical region which is also called ‘The Great Indian Desert’ or ‘Thar Desert’.
• It covers the districts like Barmer, Jaisalmer, Bikaner, Jodhpur, Pali, Jalore, Nagaur, Sikar, Churu, Jhunjhunu, Hanumangarh and Ganganagar.
• It is further divided into 4 subcategories.

Sandy Arid Region

• This is a dry region having annual rainfall of less than 25 centimetres.
• Barmer, Bikaner and western part of Jodhpur and Churu are included in this region.
• Sand Dunes are mostly found in this region.

Luni-Jawai Basin

• It is a semi-arid plain.
• Luni and its tributaries rivers flow in this region.
• Pali, Jalor, Jodhpur and Nagaur are included in this region.
• It is a river-based plain; hence it is called Luni Basin.

Shekhawati Region

• It is also called ‘Banger Region’.
• Jhunjhunu, Sikar and Churu and Northern part of Nagaur are included in it.
• This is a sandy region having sand dunes of less height.
• Here the sand dunes are of the transverse type.

Plain of Ghaghhar

• Plains of Ganganagar and Hamumangarh are formed by the flow of Ghaghhar River.
• Presently, this river is considered dead because it doesn’t have a flowing way.
• Ghaghhar River is the ancient river Saraswati which is disappeared.
• Thus it became a plain suitable for agriculture.

1. Aravalli Range

• It is the oldest mountain range in the world.
• It has a length of 692 km from Delhi to Palanpur in Gujarat.
• It is expanded in seven districts of Rajasthan: - Sirohi, Udaipur, Rajsamand, Ajmer, Jaipur, Dausa and Alwar.
• It is divided into three subcategories.

Southern Aravalli Range

• Sirohi, Udaipur and Rajsamand districts are included in it.
• There are many high peaks located in this region which include Gurushikhar (1722 mt), the highest peak of Rajasthan, located in Sirohi district of Abu region.
• Other famous peaks of these regions are Ser (1597 mt), Delwara (1442 mt), Achalgarh (1380 mt), Abu (1295 mt) and Rishikesh (1017 mt).
• The highest peak of Udaipur-Rajsamand region is Jaraga (1431 mt). Other famous peaks of this region are Kumbhalgarh (1224 mt), Lilagarh (874 mt), Hills of Kamalnath (1001 mt) and Sajjangarh (938 mt).
• Plateau of Bhorat is located between Kumbhalgarh and Godunda located northwest of Udaipur.
• Following table shows the top 5 tallest peaks of this range.

Central Aravalli Range

• It is mainly expanded in the Ajmer district.
• In the southwest of Ajmer, Taragarh (870 mt) and in west Naag Pahaad (795mt), is located.
• There are four Passes of Aravalli Range in the Beawar Tehsil. They are Bar, Parveriya and Shivpur Ghat, Sura Ghat and Debari pass.
• Following are some tallest peaks of this range.

Northern Aravalli Range

• It is expanded in Jaipur, Dausa and Alwar district.
• The common height of the hills in this region is 450 to 750 meters.
• Some famous peaks of this range are Raghunathgarh (1055 mt) of Sikar district, Bairath (792 mt) of Alwar district and Khoh (920 mt) of Jaipur.
• Following are some tallest peaks of this range

1. Eastern Plain

• This region is in the east side of Aravalli region which includes districts like Bharatpur, Alwar, Dhaulpur, Karauli, Sawai Madhopur, Jaipur, Dausa, Tonk and Bhilwara.
• This region is the River Basin region which is formed by the collection of soil by rivers.
• This region has three sub-regions.

Banas-Baanganga Basin

• This plain is formed by Banas River and its tributaries like Baanganga, Bedach, Kothari, Den, Sohadra, Manasi, Dhundha, Bandi, Morel, Vaagan, Gambhir, etc.
• This plain has the height between 150 to 300 metres above the sea level and its slope is towards east.

Chambal Basin

• This region includes districts like Kota, Sawai Madhopur, Karauli and Dhaulpur.
• Ravines (Bihad) of Chambal are located in Sawai Madhopur, Karauli and Dhaulpur.

Central Mahi Basin or Chhappan Plain

• It is expanded in the district of Dungarpur, Banswara and Pratapgarh.
• Mahi River began its journey from Madhya Pradesh and flowing through Rajasthan and Gujrat falls in the Arabian Sea.
• In Rajasthan, it flows through ‘Vagad’ (Local name for Laciniated land) region.
• In between Pratapgarh and Banswara, a group of 56 villages is located, thus it is also called Chhappan Plain.

1. South-Eastern Plateau Region or Hadoti Region

• It is expanded in the districts like Kota, Bundi, Jhalawar and Baran.
• This region has many mountains ranges having an average height of 500 meters.
• Mukundara Hills and Bundi Hills are famous spots.
• Chambal and its tributaries like Kalisindh, Paravan and Parvati flow in this region which is boon for agriculture in this region.