The
Vindhya Range is a range of older rounded mountains and hills in the west-central
IndiaIndia, officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the south, the Arabian Sea on the west, and the Bay of Bengal...
n subcontinent, which
geographicallyGeography is the study of the Earth and its lands, features, inhabitants, and phenomena. A literal translation would be "to describe or write about the Earth". The first person to use the word "geography" was Eratosthenes...
separates the
Indian subcontinentThe Indian subcontinent, also Indian Subcontinent and other terms, is a region of the Asian continent on the Indian tectonic plate south of the Himalayas, forming a peninsula which extends southward into the Indian Ocean...
into northern India (the
Indo-Gangetic plainThe Indo-Gangetic Plain also known as the Northern plains and the North Indian River Plain is a large and fertile plain encompassing most of northern and eastern India, the most populous parts of Pakistan, parts of southern Nepal and virtually all of Bangladesh. The region is named after the Indus...
) and Southern India.
The western end of the range is in the state of
GujaratGujarat is the westernmost state in India. It is home to the Gujarati speaking people of India. The state encompasses major sites of the Indus Valley Civilization such as Lothal and Dholavira. Gujarat played an important role in the economic history of India throughout the history of India...
at the eastern side of the Gujarat peninsula, near the border with the modern states of
RajasthanRājasthān is the largest state of the Republic of India in terms of area. It encompasses most of the area of the large, inhospitable Great Indian Desert , which has an edge paralleling the Sutlej-Indus river valley along its border with Pakistan...
and
Madhya PradeshMadhya Pradesh , often called the Heart of India, is a state in central India. Its capital is Bhopal. Madhya Pradesh was originally the largest state in India until November 1, 2000 when the state of Chhattisgarh was carved out...
. Reaching the sub-continent proper, the range runs east and north nearly to the
Ganges RiverThe Ganges is one of the major rivers of the Indian subcontinent, flowing east through the Gangetic Plain of northern India into Bangladesh. The river rises in the western Himalayas in the Uttarakhand state of India, and drains into the Sunderbans delta in the Bay of Bengal...
at
Mirzapur. The area to the north and west of the range are arid and inhospitable, located in the shadow of both the Vindhya and the higher
Aravalli rangeThe Aravalli Range literally meaning 'line of peaks' , is a range of mountains in western India running approximately 800 km from northeast to southwest across states of Rajasthan, Haryana, and Gujarat. -Features:...
to the south blocking the prevailing winds.
The southern slopes of the range are drained by the
Narmada RiverThe Narmada the Periplus Maris Erythraei calls it the Nammadus.. The British Raj called it the Nerbudda or Narbada[] is a river in central India and the fifth largest river in the Indian subcontinent. Narmada is a Sanskrit word meaning 'the Giver of Pleasure'...
, which proceeds westward to the
Arabian SeaThe Arabian Sea is a region of the Indian Ocean bounded on the east by India, on the north by Pakistan and Iran, on the west by Arabian Peninsula, on the south, approximately, by a line between Cape Guardafui, the north-east point of Somalia, Socotra, Kanyakumari in India, and the western coast...
in the wide valley between the Vindhya Range and the parallel
Satpura RangeThe Satpura Range is a range of hills in central India. The range rises in eastern Gujarat state near the Arabian Sea coast, running east through Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh to Chhattisgarh. The range parallels the Vindhya Range to the north, and these two east-west ranges divide the...
farther to the south. The northern slopes of the range are drained by tributaries of the
GangesThe Ganges is one of the major rivers of the Indian subcontinent, flowing east through the Gangetic Plain of northern India into Bangladesh. The river rises in the western Himalayas in the Uttarakhand state of India, and drains into the Sunderbans delta in the Bay of Bengal...
, including the
Kali SindhKali Sindh is a river in the Malwa region of Madhya Pradesh, that joins the Chambal River at downstream of Sawai Madhopur in Rajasthan. It belongs to the Ganga Basin. Kalisindh originates from Bagli in Madhya Pradesh. It crosses the State Highway No 18 connecting Indore and state capital Bhopal...
,
ParbatiParbati River is a river in Madhya Pradesh, India that flows into the Chambal River. The river rises at a height of 610 m in the Vindhya Range and runs for 436 km....
,
BetwaThe Betwa is a river in Northern India, and a tributary of the Yamuna. Also known as the Vetravati, the Betwa rises in the Vindhya Range just north of Hoshangabad in Madhya Pradesh and flows north-east through Madhya Pradesh and flow through Orchha to Uttar Pradesh. Nearly one-half of its course,...
, and
KenThe Ken River is one the major rivers of the Bundelkhand region of central India, and flows through two states, Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh...
. The
SonSon River of central India is the largest of the Ganges' southern tributaries. A British 1850s diary shows that the river was written in English as Soane.-Course:...
, a tributary of the Ganges, drains the southern slopes of the range at its eastern end.
The earliest known multicellular
fossilFossils are the preserved remains or traces of animals, plants, and other organisms from the remote past. The totality of fossils, both discovered and undiscovered, and their placement in fossiliferous rock formations and sedimentary layers is known as the fossil record...
s of
eukaryoteA eukaryote is an organism whose cells contain complex structures enclosed within membranes. The defining membrane-bound structure that sets eukaryotic cells apart from prokaryotic cells is the nucleus, or nuclear envelope, within which the genetic material is carried...
s (filamentous algae) have been discovered from Vindhya basin dating back to 1.6 to 1.7 billion years ago.
The
Vindhyan tableland is a plateau that lies to the north of the central part of the range. The cities of
BhopalBhopāl is the capital of the Indian state of Madhya Pradesh and the administrative headquarter of Bhopal District and Bhopal Division. Bhopal is known as the Lake city as its landscape is dotted with a number of natural lakes.Bhopal is also one of the greenest cities of India.Historically, Bhopal...
, the capital of Madhya Pradesh, and
IndoreIndore is the largest city and commercial capital of the Indian state of Madhya Pradesh . It is also known as The City of Holkars. The city was built by a holkar, Rani Ahilya Bai, one of the famous queens of India. Located in the Narmada river valley in the western part of the state of Madhya...
lie on the tableland, which rises higher than the
Indo-Gangetic plainThe Indo-Gangetic Plain also known as the Northern plains and the North Indian River Plain is a large and fertile plain encompassing most of northern and eastern India, the most populous parts of Pakistan, parts of southern Nepal and virtually all of Bangladesh. The region is named after the Indus...
to its north.
Legend
Hindu legends say that the Vindhya mountains once showed a tendency to grow so high as to obstruct the usual trajectory of the sun. This was accompanied by increasing vanity on the part of that mountain range, which demanded that
SuryaIn Hinduism, Sūrya is the chief solar deity, one of the Adityas, son of Kasyapa and one of his wives, Aditi; of Indra; or of Dyaus Pitar . The term Surya also refers to the Sun, in general. Surya has hair and arms of gold...
, should circum-ambulate the Vindhyas in the same way as he does Mount Meru. The need arose to subdue, by guile, the Vindhyas, and
AgastyaAgathiyar was a Vedic Siddhar or sage. Agathiyar and his clan are also credited to have "authored" many mantras of the Rig Veda, the earliest and most revered Hindu scripture, in the sense of first having the mantras revealed in his mind by the Supreme Brahman. Agathiyar is also the author of...
was chosen to do that.
Agastya journeyed from north to south, and on the way encountered the now impassible Vindhya mountains. He asked the mountain range to facilitate his passage across to the south. In reverence for Agastya, the Vindhya mountains bent low enough to enable the sage and his family to cross over and enter south India. The Vindhya range also promised not to increase in height until Agastya and his family returned to the north. Agastya settled permanently in the south, and the Vindhya range, true to its word, never grew further.