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| Snow-capped Great Himalaya (Photo: Himachal Pradesh government tourism department) |
Prabhash K Dutta
Geographically, the entire Himalayan region can be divided into three:
i. The Himalayan ranges
ii. The trans-Himalayan ranges
iii. The Eastern hill
The Himalayan ranges
The Himalayan ranges are not a single chain but
a series of more or less parallel or converging ranges. The ranges are
separated by deep-cut valleys. As in all young fold mountains, the Himalayas
are a densely dissected ridge-and-valley topography. Normally, the Himalayas
are divided into three chains
a.
The Great
Himalaya — Himadri
b.
The Middle
Himalaya — Himachal
c.
The Siwalik
The Great Himalaya is the northern-most and
loftiest range. It is about 2,400 km-long running from the Nanga Parvat in the
west to the Namcha Barwa in the east, where it bends abruptly. It is made up of
central crystalline rocks — granite and gneiss. The folds in this range are
asymmetrical having steep slope southwards and obscurantly merges with the
edges of the Tibetan Plateau.
The Great Himalaya boasts of the tallest peaks
of the world such as the Mt Everest (and its ancillary peaks), Kanchenjunga,
Makalu, Dhaulagiri, Annapurna Devi etc. Even the passes available in the Great
Himalaya range are at such great heights that they are very difficult to cross.
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| A pass in Great Himalaya (Photo: Ministry of Culture, GOI) |
Some of the famous passes are Burzil and Zoji
La in Jammu and Kashmir, Bara Lach La and Shipki La in Himachal Pradesh, Lipu
Lekh, Niti Lal and Thaga La in Uttarakhand, Jelep La and Nathu La in Sikkim.
Shipki La and Jelep La provide good connectivity between India and Tibet.
The Lesser Himalaya
The Lesser Himalaya range or the Middle
Himalaya runs almost parallel to the Greater Himalaya. It is more amicable and
attracts more people.. It consists of a few individual mountain ranges such as
the Pir Panjal, the Dhaulaldhar, the Mussoorie, the Naga Tibba and the
Mahabharata Lekh. Of these, the Pir Panjal is the longest range running from
River Jhelum to upper Beas for a distance of 300-400 km.
Pir Panjal range is separated from the Zaskar
range by the Valley of Kashmir. Its elevation is 5,000 metres and more, and
contains mostly volcanic peaks. Pir Panjal, Bidil, Gopalghar and Banihal passes
are important gaps in the range. The Jammu-Srinagar highway passes through the
Banihal pass.
South-east of Ravi, the Pir Panjal range is
continued by the Dhauladhar range passing through Dalhousie, Dharamshala and
Shimla. This range attains elevation higher than 4,000 metres.
Further east are situated the Mussoorie and the
Nag Tibba ranges. The Mussoourie range has an average elevation of less than
3,000 metres, and runs from Mussoorie to Lansdowne for about 120 km. Mussoorie,
Nainital, Chakrata and Ranikhet are important hill stations on the Mussoorie
range.
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| Great Himalaya (Photo: HP Tourism) |
The Kashmir Valley is
supposed to have been occupied by a lake during Pleistocene but later an uplift
and sedimentation did away with the lakh. It is generally believed to be a
synclinal valley which is floor3ed with a variety of alluvial deposits,
lacustrine [relating to or associated with lakes] fluvial and fluvo-glacial
depositis. River Jhelum meanders through it majestically.
The Kangra Valley is a strike valley, and runs
from the foot of the Dhauladhar range to the south of the Beas. Kulu Valley, on
the other hand, in the upper course of river Ravi, is a transverse valley.
The Trans-Himalayan ranges
The trans-Himalayan mountain consists of the
Zaskar, Ladakh, Kailash and Karakoram ranges. The Zaskar range separates at
80-degree East longitude from the Greater Himalaya and runs eastward. North of
it is situated the Ladakh range which continues eastward to give off the
Kailash range as an offshoot. River Indus originates from the northern slope of
the Kailash range.
The Karakoram Range is the northernmost
mountain range of India, and it has the highest peak of India as K-2 at 8,611
metres. It serves as the watershed between India and Tajikistan, and forms
India’s boundary with Afghanistan and China.
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| (Photo: Niti Aayog) |
The Eastern Hills
Beyond the Namcha Barwa-Brahmaputra Gorge, the
Himalayas make a sharp southward turn and goes into the Arakan Yoma mountain of
Myanmar. In between several small mountain ranges are situated. These are
Patkai Bum, Naga Hills, Manipur Hills, Mizo Hills, Barail Hills, Kohima Hills,
and Garo-Khasi-Jaintia Hills.
Patkai Bum is the northernmost among them and
forms the boundary between India and Myanmar. It is made up of strong
sandstone. Towards south, it merges with the Naga Hills. Patkai Bum and Naga
Hills together form the watershed between India and Myanmar. In the Naga Hills
is situated the highest peak of the Northeast India called the Saramati at
3,826 metres.
Further south is situated Manipur Hills forming
border with Myanmar. In the extreme south is situated Mizo Hills having the
highest peak in the southern NE India. It is called the Blue Mountain which
reaches up to 2,157 metres.
There are also some outcrop hills such as
Barail Range, which separates the Naga and the Manipur hills. Between the
Barail Range and the Manipur Hills is situated the Loktak basin.
Another range is the Kohima Hills situated west of the Naga Hills made up of sandstone and slate, and are very rough topography. Besides, there are three hills, ranges or plateaus in Meghalaya called Garo, Khasi and Jaintia. They are rather considered as a portion of the Peninsular Plateau detached by the Bengal Basin.
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