Bhabar or Bhabhar ( Kumaoni: bhābar) is a region south of the Lower

Himalayas The Himalayas, or Himalaya (; ; ), is a mountain range in Asia, separating the plains of the Indian subcontinent from the Tibetan Plateau. The range has some of the planet's highest peaks, including the very highest, Mount Everest. Over 10 ...

and the

Sivalik Hills The Sivalik Hills, also known as the Shivalik Hills and Churia Hills, are a mountain range of the outer Himalayas that stretches over about from the Indus River eastwards close to the Brahmaputra River, spanning the northern parts of the India ...

Kumaon Kumaon or Kumaun may refer to: * Kumaon division, a region in Uttarakhand, India * Kumaon Kingdom, a former country in Uttarakhand, India * Kumaon, Iran, a village in Isfahan Province, Iran * , a ship of the Royal Indian Navy during WWII See also ...

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area, the List of countries and dependencies by population, second-most populous ...

, containing some of the largest cities of Kumaon, Haldwani and Ramnagar, both in Nainital District. It is the alluvial apron of sediments washed down from the Sivaliks along the northern edge of the

Indo-Gangetic Plain The Indo-Gangetic Plain, also known as the North Indian River Plain, is a fertile plain encompassing northern regions of the Indian subcontinent, including most of northern and eastern India, around half of Pakistan, virtually all of Bangla ...

Etymology

The name ''Bhabar'' refers to a local tall-growing grass, ''

Eulaliopsis binata ''Eulaliopsis binata'', the sabaigrass or Chinese alpine rush, is a perennial plant belonging to the grass family that is grown in many Asian countries like China, Nepal, India, Pakistan, Bhutan, Myanmar, Thailand, Malaysia and Philippines. It i ...

'', used for the manufacture of paper and rope.

Overview

Bhabar plains are located in Kumaon. Bhabar is the gently-sloping coarse

alluvial Alluvium (from Latin ''alluvius'', from ''alluere'' 'to wash against') is loose clay, silt, sand, or gravel that has been deposited by running water in a stream bed, on a floodplain, in an alluvial fan or beach, or in similar settings. ...

zone below the Sivalik Hills (outermost foothills of the

) where streams disappear into permeable

sediment Sediment is a naturally occurring material that is broken down by processes of weathering and erosion, and is subsequently transported by the action of wind, water, or ice or by the force of gravity acting on the particles. For example, sand ...

s. The underground water level is deep in this region, then rises to the surface in the

Terai , image =Terai nepal.jpg , image_size = , image_alt = , caption =Aerial view of Terai plains near Biratnagar, Nepal , map = , map_size = , map_alt = , map_caption = , biogeographic_realm = Indomalayan realm , global200 = Terai-Duar savanna a ...

below where coarse alluvium gives way to less permeable

silt Silt is granular material of a size between sand and clay and composed mostly of broken grains of quartz. Silt may occur as a soil (often mixed with sand or clay) or as sediment mixed in suspension with water. Silt usually has a floury feel ...

and

clay Clay is a type of fine-grained natural soil material containing clay minerals (hydrous aluminium phyllosilicates, e.g. kaolin, Al2 Si2 O5( OH)4). Clays develop plasticity when wet, due to a molecular film of water surrounding the clay pa ...

. The

Ganges River The Ganges ( ) (in India: Ganga ( ); in Bangladesh: Padma ( )). "The Ganges Basin, known in India as the Ganga and in Bangladesh as the Padma, is an international river to which India, Bangladesh, Nepal and China are the riparian states." is ...

lies to the west and Sharda to the east. Being at the junction of Himalayas and the Indo-Gangetic Plain, Bhabar contains almost all the important trade and commerce hubs of Kumaon, including its largest city

Haldwani Haldwani ( Kumaoni: ''Haldvānī'') is the largest city of Kumaon. It is also the third most populous city and largest commercial market in the Indian state of Uttarakhand. Haldwani is said to be the financial capital of Uttarakhand, having the ...

. Due to the top-soil replenishment every

monsoon A monsoon () is traditionally a seasonal reversing wind accompanied by corresponding changes in precipitation but is now used to describe seasonal changes in atmospheric circulation and precipitation associated with annual latitudinal oscil ...

, It is also a fertile area with large yields per unit area.

History

In 1901 Bhabar was also one of four division of

Nainital district Nainital district is a district in Kumaon division which is a part of Uttarakhand state in India. The headquarters is at Nainital. Nainital District is located in Kumaon Division, and is located in the lower Himalayas. Haldwani is the larges ...

.1857
The Imperial Gazetteer of India 1909, v. 18, p. 325. It included 4 towns and 511 villages with a combined population of 93,445 (1901), spread over .Nainital District
The Imperial Gazetteer of India 1909, v. 18, p. 326. It corresponded to the current subdivision of

. Bhabar lands were used by Gujjar Cattle herders of Kumaon and Garhwal. They spend their winters in bhabars.

References

External links

at ''

wikispecies Wikispecies is a wiki-based online project supported by the Wikimedia Foundation. Its aim is to create a comprehensive open content catalogue of all species; the project is directed at scientists, rather than at the general public. Jimmy Wale ...

'' {{Uttarakhand Uttarakhand Geography of Uttarakhand Himalayas