North India is a loosely defined region consisting of the northern part of

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

. The dominant geographical features of North India are 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 ...

and the

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 100 ...

, which demarcate the region from the

Tibetan Plateau The Tibetan Plateau (, also known as the Qinghai–Tibet Plateau or the Qing–Zang Plateau () or as the Himalayan Plateau in India, is a vast elevated plateau located at the intersection of Central, South and East Asia covering most of the Ti ...

and

Central Asia Central Asia, also known as Middle Asia, is a subregion, region of Asia that stretches from the Caspian Sea in the west to western China and Mongolia in the east, and from Afghanistan and Iran in the south to Russia in the north. It includes t ...

. The term North India has varying definitions. The

Ministry of Home Affairs An interior ministry (sometimes called a ministry of internal affairs or ministry of home affairs) is a government department that is responsible for internal affairs. Lists of current ministries of internal affairs Named "ministry" * Ministry ...

in its

Northern Zonal Council Northern Zonal Council is a zonal council that comprises the states and union territories of Chandigarh, National Capital Territory of Delhi, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir, Punjab, Rajasthan and Ladakh. The States have been gr ...

Administrative division Administrative division, administrative unit,Article 3(1). country subdivision, administrative region, subnational entity, constituent state, as well as many similar terms, are generic names for geographical areas into which a particular, ind ...

included the states of

Haryana Haryana (; ) is an Indian state located in the northern part of the country. It was carved out of the former state of East Punjab on 1 Nov 1966 on a linguistic basis. It is ranked 21st in terms of area, with less than 1.4% () of India's land ar ...

Himachal Pradesh Himachal Pradesh (; ; "Snow-laden Mountain Province") is a state in the northern part of India. Situated in the Western Himalayas, it is one of the thirteen mountain states and is characterized by an extreme landscape featuring several peaks ...

Punjab Punjab (; Punjabi: پنجاب ; ਪੰਜਾਬ ; ; also romanised as ''Panjāb'' or ''Panj-Āb'') is a geopolitical, cultural, and historical region in South Asia, specifically in the northern part of the Indian subcontinent, comprising ...

and

Rajasthan Rajasthan (; lit. 'Land of Kings') is a state in northern India. It covers or 10.4 per cent of India's total geographical area. It is the largest Indian state by area and the seventh largest by population. It is on India's northwestern si ...

and Union Territories of

Chandigarh Chandigarh () is a planned city in India. Chandigarh is bordered by the state of Punjab to the west and the south, and by the state of Haryana to the east. It constitutes the bulk of the Chandigarh Capital Region or Greater Chandigarh, which al ...

Delhi Delhi, officially the National Capital Territory (NCT) of Delhi, is a city and a union territory of India containing New Delhi, the capital of India. Straddling the Yamuna river, primarily its western or right bank, Delhi shares borders w ...

, Jammu and Kashmir and

Ladakh Ladakh () is a region administered by India as a union territory which constitutes a part of the larger Kashmir region and has been the subject of dispute between India, Pakistan, and China since 1947. (subscription required) Quote: "Jammu and ...

. The

Ministry of Culture Ministry of Culture may refer to: *Ministry of Tourism, Cultural Affairs, Youth and Sports (Albania) * Ministry of Culture (Algeria) *Ministry of Culture (Argentina) *Minister for the Arts (Australia) *Ministry of Culture (Azerbaijan) * Ministry of ...

in its ''North Culture Zone'' includes the state of

Uttarakhand Uttarakhand ( , or ; , ), also known as Uttaranchal ( ; the official name until 2007), is a state in the northern part of India. It is often referred to as the "Devbhumi" (literally 'Land of the Gods') due to its religious significance and ...

but excludes

whereas the

Geological Survey of India The Geological Survey of India (GSI) is a scientific agency of India. It was founded in 1851, as a Government of India organization under the Ministry of Mines, one of the oldest of such organisations in the world and the second oldest survey ...

includes

Uttar Pradesh Uttar Pradesh (; , 'Northern Province') is a state in northern India. With over 200 million inhabitants, it is the most populated state in India as well as the most populous country subdivision in the world. It was established in 1950 ...

and

but excludes

and

. Other states sometimes included are

Bihar Bihar (; ) is a state in eastern India. It is the 2nd largest state by population in 2019, 12th largest by area of , and 14th largest by GDP in 2021. Bihar borders Uttar Pradesh to its west, Nepal to the north, the northern part of West Be ...

Gujarat Gujarat (, ) is a state along the western coast of India. Its coastline of about is the longest in the country, most of which lies on the Kathiawar peninsula. Gujarat is the fifth-largest Indian state by area, covering some ; and the ninth ...

Jharkhand Jharkhand (; ; ) is a state in eastern India. The state shares its border with the states of West Bengal to the east, Chhattisgarh to the west, Uttar Pradesh to the northwest, Bihar to the north and Odisha to the south. It has an area of . It ...

Madhya Pradesh Madhya Pradesh (, ; meaning 'central province') is a state in central India. Its capital is Bhopal, and the largest city is Indore, with Jabalpur, Ujjain, Gwalior, Sagar, and Rewa being the other major cities. Madhya Pradesh is the seco ...

and

West Bengal West Bengal (, Bengali: ''Poshchim Bongo'', , abbr. WB) is a state in the eastern portion of India. It is situated along the Bay of Bengal, along with a population of over 91 million inhabitants within an area of . West Bengal is the fourt ...

. North India has been the historical centre of the

Mughal Empire The Mughal Empire was an early-modern empire that controlled much of South Asia between the 16th and 19th centuries. Quote: "Although the first two Timurid emperors and many of their noblemen were recent migrants to the subcontinent, the d ...

, the

Delhi Sultanate The Delhi Sultanate was an Islamic empire based in Delhi that stretched over large parts of the Indian subcontinent for 320 years (1206–1526).

and the

British Indian Empire The British Raj (; from Hindi language, Hindi ''rāj'': kingdom, realm, state, or empire) was the rule of the British The Crown, Crown on the Indian subcontinent; * * it is also called Crown rule in India, * * * * or Direct rule in India, * Q ...

. It has a diverse culture, and includes the

Hindu Hindus (; ) are people who religiously adhere to Hinduism.Jeffery D. Long (2007), A Vision for Hinduism, IB Tauris, , pages 35–37 Historically, the term has also been used as a geographical, cultural, and later religious identifier for ...

pilgrimage centres of

Char Dham The Char Dham (meaning: ''four abodes'') is a set of four pilgrimage sites in India. It is believed that visiting these sites helps achieve moksha (salvation). The four Dhams are, Badrinath, Dwarka, Puri and Rameswaram. It is believed that ev ...

Haridwar Haridwar (; ) is a city and municipal corporation in the Haridwar district of Uttarakhand, India. With a population of 228,832 in 2011, it is the second-largest city in the state and the largest in the district. The city is situated on the righ ...

Varanasi Varanasi (; ; also Banaras or Benares (; ), and Kashi.) is a city on the Ganges river in northern India that has a central place in the traditions of pilgrimage, death, and mourning in the Hindu world. * * * * The city has a syncretic t ...

Ayodhya Ayodhya (; ) is a city situated on the banks of holy river Saryu in the States and union territories of India, Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. Ayodhya, also known as Sāketa, Saketa, is an ancient city of India, the birthplace of Rama and ...

Mathura Mathura () is a city and the administrative headquarters of Mathura district in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. It is located approximately north of Agra, and south-east of Delhi; about from the town of Vrindavan, and from Govardhan. ...

Allahabad Allahabad (), officially known as Prayagraj, also known as Ilahabad, is a metropolis in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh.The other five cities were: Agra, Kanpur (Cawnpore), Lucknow, Meerut, and Varanasi (Benares). It is the administrat ...

Vaishno Devi Vaishno Devi (also known as Mata Rani, Trikuta, Ambe and Vaishnavi) is a manifestation of the Hindu Mother Goddess, Durga or Adi Shakti. The words "''Maa''" and "''Mata''" are commonly used in India for ''mother'', and thus are often heavily ...

and

Pushkar Pushkar is a city and headquarters of Pushkar tehsil in the Ajmer district in the Indian state of Rajasthan. It is situated about northwest of Ajmer and about southwest of Jaipur.Buddhist Buddhism ( , ), also known as Buddha Dharma and Dharmavinaya (), is an Indian religion or philosophical tradition based on teachings attributed to the Buddha. It originated in northern India as a -movement in the 5th century BCE, and ...

pilgrimage centres of

Sarnath Sarnath (Hindustani pronunciation: aːɾnaːtʰ also referred to as Sarangnath, Isipatana, Rishipattana, Migadaya, or Mrigadava) is a place located northeast of Varanasi, near the confluence of the Ganges and the Varuna rivers in Uttar Pr ...

and

Kushinagar Kushinagar ( Hindustani: or ; Pali: ; Sanskrit: ) is a town in the Kushinagar district in Uttar Pradesh, India. It is an important and popular Buddhist pilgrimage site, where Buddhists believe Gautama Buddha attained ''parinirvana''. Etym ...

, the

Sikh Sikhs ( or ; pa, ਸਿੱਖ, ' ) are people who adhere to Sikhism, Sikhism (Sikhi), a Monotheism, monotheistic religion that originated in the late 15th century in the Punjab region of the Indian subcontinent, based on the revelation of Gu ...

Golden Temple as well as world heritage sites such as the

Nanda Devi Biosphere Reserve The Nanda Devi National Park or Nanda Devi Biosphere Reserve, established in 1982 is a List of national parks of India, national park situated around the peak of Nanda Devi (7816 m) in Chamoli district, Chamoli Garhwal district of Uttarakhand, ...

, Khajuraho temples,

Hill Forts of Rajasthan The North Western Indian State of Rajasthan has over one hundred fortifications on hills and mountainous terrain. Six Hill Forts of Rajasthan, spread across Rajasthan state in northern India, have been clustered as a series and designated UNESCO ...

Jantar Mantar (Jaipur) The Jantar Mantar, Jaipur is a collection of 19 astronomical instruments built by the Rajput king Sawai Jai Singh II, the founder of Jaipur, Rajasthan. The monument was completed in 1734.Qutb Minar The Qutb Minar, also spelled Qutub Minar and Qutab Minar, is a minaret and "victory tower" that forms part of the Qutb complex, which lies at the site of Delhi’s oldest fortified city, Lal Kot, founded by the Tomar Rajputs. It is a UNESCO Worl ...

Red Fort The Red Fort or Lal Qila () is a historic fort in Old Delhi, Delhi in India that served as the main residence of the Mughal Emperors. Emperor Shah Jahan commissioned construction of the Red Fort on 12 May 1638, when he decided to shift ...

Agra Fort The Agra Fort is a historical fort in the city of Agra in India also known as the Red Fort. Rebuilt by the Mughal emperor Akbar in 1565 and completed in 1573, it served as the main residence of the rulers of the Mughal Dynasty until 1638, when t ...

Fatehpur Sikri Fatehpur Sikri () is a town in the Agra District of Uttar Pradesh, India. Situated 35.7 kilometres from the district headquarters of Agra, Fatehpur Sikri itself was founded as the capital of Mughal Empire in 1571 by Emperor Akbar, serving th ...

and the

Taj Mahal The Taj Mahal (; ) is an Islamic ivory-white marble mausoleum on the right bank of the river Yamuna in the Indian city of Agra. It was commissioned in 1631 by the Mughal emperor Shah Jahan () to house the tomb of his favourite wife, Mu ...

. North India's culture,

Ganga-Jamuni tehzeeb ''Ganga–Jamuni Tehzeeb'' ( Hindustani for ''Ganges–Yamuna Culture''), also spelled as ''Ganga-Jamni Tehzeeb'' or just Hindustani Tehzeeb, is the high culture that arose in the Yamuna-Gangetic plains of northern India, the Hindustan region ...

, developed as a result of interaction between these Hindu and Muslim religious traditions. North India has the third-largest gross domestic product than any other region in India. The languages that are official in one or more of the states and union territories located in North India are

Hindi Hindi (Devanāgarī: or , ), or more precisely Modern Standard Hindi (Devanagari: ), is an Indo-Aryan language spoken chiefly in the Hindi Belt region encompassing parts of northern, central, eastern, and western India. Hindi has been de ...

Urdu Urdu (;"Urdu"
''

Punjabi,

Kashmiri Kashmiri may refer to: * People or things related to the Kashmir Valley or the broader region of Kashmir * Kashmiris, an ethnic group native to the Kashmir Valley * Kashmiri language, their language People with the name * Kashmiri Saikia Baruah ...

Dogri Dogri ( Name Dogra Akkhar: ; Devanagari: डोगरी; Nastaliq: ; ) is an Indo-Aryan language primarily spoken in the Jammu region of Jammu and Kashmir, India, with smaller groups of speakers in adjoining regions of western Himachal Prad ...

, and

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

Definitions

Different authorities and sources define North India differently.

Government of India definitions

The

is one of the advisory councils, created in 1956 by the

States Reorganisation Act The States Reorganisation act, 1956 was a major reform of the boundaries of India's States and territories of India, states and territories, organising them along linguistic lines. Although additional changes to India's state boundaries have b ...

to foster interstate co-operation under the

, which included the states of

, Jammu and Kashmir,

and

The

established the ''North Culture Zone'' in

Patiala Patiala () is a city in southeastern Punjab, India, Punjab, northwestern India. It is the fourth largest city in the state and is the administrative capital of Patiala district. Patiala is located around the ''Qila Mubarak, Patiala, Qila Mubarak ...

on 23 March 1985. It differs from the North Zonal Council in its inclusion of

and the omission of

. In contrast, the

(part of the Ministry of Mines) included

and

in its ''Northern Region'', but excluded

and

, with a regional headquarters in

Lucknow Lucknow (, ) is the capital and the largest city of the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh and it is also the second largest urban agglomeration in Uttar Pradesh. Lucknow is the administrative headquarters of the eponymous district and division ...

Wider definition

Indian press definition

The Hindu ''The Hindu'' is an Indian English-language daily newspaper owned by The Hindu Group, headquartered in Chennai, Tamil Nadu. It began as a weekly in 1878 and became a daily in 1889. It is one of the Indian newspapers of record and the secon ...

newspaper puts Bihar, Delhi and Uttar Pradesh related articles on its ''North'' pages. Articles in the Indian press have included the states of Bihar, Gujarat, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, and West Bengal in North India as well.

Latitude-based definition

The

Tropic of Cancer The Tropic of Cancer, which is also referred to as the Northern Tropic, is the most northerly circle of latitude on Earth at which the Sun can be directly overhead. This occurs on the June solstice, when the Northern Hemisphere is tilted toward ...

, which divides the

temperate zone In geography, the temperate climates of Earth occur in the middle latitudes (23.5° to 66.5° N/S of Equator), which span between the tropics and the polar regions of Earth. These zones generally have wider temperature ranges throughout t ...

from the

tropical zone The tropics are the regions of Earth surrounding the Equator. They are defined in latitude by the Tropic of Cancer in the Northern Hemisphere at N and the Tropic of Capricorn in the Southern Hemisphere at S. The tropics are also referred ...

in the

Northern Hemisphere The Northern Hemisphere is the half of Earth that is north of the Equator. For other planets in the Solar System, north is defined as being in the same celestial hemisphere relative to the invariable plane of the solar system as Earth's Nort ...

, runs through India, and could theoretically be regarded as a geographical dividing line in the country.Ram Nath Dubey, "Economic Geography of India", Kitab Mahal, 1961. ''... The Tropic of Cancer divides India roughly into two equal parts: the Warm Temperate and Tropical ... '' Indian states that are entirely above the

are

and

and most of

North East India , native_name_lang = mni , settlement_type = , image_skyline = , image_alt = , image_caption = , motto = , image_map = Northeast india.png , ...

n states. However that definition would also include major parts of

and

and minor regions of

Chhattisgarh Chhattisgarh (, ) is a landlocked state in Central India. It is the ninth largest state by area, and with a population of roughly 30 million, the seventeenth most populous. It borders seven states – Uttar Pradesh to the north, Madhya Prade ...

and

Anecdotal usage

Mumbai Mumbai (, ; also known as Bombay — the official name until 1995) is the capital city of the Indian state of Maharashtra and the ''de facto'' financial centre of India. According to the United Nations, as of 2018, Mumbai is the second- ...

, the term "North Indian" is sometimes used to describe migrants from eastern Uttar Pradesh and Bihar, often using the term ''bhaiya'' (which literally means 'elder brother') along with it in a derogatory sense, however these very people are not considered North Indian by the inhabitants of Punjab, Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Haryana and Rajasthan. In Punjab, they are often referred to as ''Purabias'', meaning Easterners. The

Government of Bihar The Government of Bihar, known locally as the State Government, is the supreme governing authority of the Indian state of Bihar and its 9 divisions which consist of 38 districts . It consists of an executive, led by the Governor of Bihar, a jud ...

official site places the state in the eastern part of India. Within Uttar Pradesh itself, "the cultural divide between the east and the west is considerable, with the ''purabiyas'' (easterners) often being clubbed with Biharis in the perception of the westerners."Susheela Raghavan, "Handbook of Spices, Seasonings, and Flavorings", CRC Press, 2007, . ''... Maharashtra, in North India, has kala masala in many versions ... ''

History

The empires and dynasties that have ruled parts or all of North India include: *

Maurya Empire The Maurya Empire, or the Mauryan Empire, was a geographically extensive Iron Age historical power in the Indian subcontinent based in Magadha, having been founded by Chandragupta Maurya in 322 BCE, and existing in loose-knit fashion until 1 ...

, 326 – 187 BCE *

Indo-Greek Kingdom The Indo-Greek Kingdom, or Graeco-Indian Kingdom, also known historically as the Yavana Kingdom (Yavanarajya), was a Hellenistic-era Greek kingdom covering various parts of Afghanistan and the northwestern regions of the Indian subcontinent ( ...

, c.150 BCE – 10 CE (

Menander I Menander I Soter ( grc, Μένανδρος Σωτήρ, Ménandros Sōtḗr, Menander the Saviour; pi, मिलिन्दो, Milinda), was a Greco-Bactrian and later Indo-Greek King (reigned c.165/155Bopearachchi (1998) and (1991), respectivel ...

conquered Punjab) *

Northern Satraps The Northern Satraps (Brahmi: , ''Kṣatrapa'', "Satraps" or , ''Mahakṣatrapa'', "Great Satraps"), or sometimes Satraps of Mathura, or Northern Sakas, are a dynasty of Indo-Scythian rulers who held sway over the area of Eastern Punjab and Math ...

, 1st century BCE to 1st century CE *

Gupta Empire The Gupta Empire was an ancient Indian empire which existed from the early 4th century CE to late 6th century CE. At its zenith, from approximately 319 to 467 CE, it covered much of the Indian subcontinent. This period is considered as the Gol ...

, during the reign of Samudragupta, c.335 – c.550 CE *

Empire of Harsha Harshavardhana (IAST Harṣa-vardhana; c. 590–647 CE) was a Pushyabhuti emperor who ruled northern India from 606 to 647 CE. He was the son of Prabhakaravardhana who had defeated the Alchon Huna invaders, and the younger brother of Rajyava ...

, 606 to 647 CE *

Pala Empire The Pāla Empire (r. 750-1161 CE) was an imperial power during the post-classical period in the Indian subcontinent, which originated in the region of Bengal. It is named after its ruling dynasty, whose rulers bore names ending with the suffi ...

, 770 to 810 CE *

Pratihara Empire The Gurjara-Pratihara was a dynasty that ruled much of Northern India from the mid-8th to the 11th century. They ruled first at Ujjain and later at Kannauj. The Gurjara-Pratiharas were instrumental in containing Arab armies moving east of the ...

, mid-7th to the 11th century *

Delhi Sultanate The Delhi Sultanate was an Islamic empire based in Delhi that stretched over large parts of the Indian subcontinent for 320 years (1206–1526).

, 1206–1526 *

, 1526–1540, then 1555–1857, interrupted briefly by the Sur Empire, *

Sur Empire The Sur Empire ( ps, د سرو امپراتورۍ, dë sru amparāturəi; fa, امپراطوری سور, emperâturi sur) was an Afghan dynasty which ruled a large territory in the northern part of the Indian subcontinent for nearly 16 year ...

1540–1556 *

Sikh Empire The Sikh Empire was a state originating in the Indian subcontinent, formed under the leadership of Maharaja Ranjit Singh, who established an empire based in the Punjab. The empire existed from 1799, when Maharaja Ranjit Singh captured Lahor ...

1799–1849 *

Maratha Empire The Maratha Empire, also referred to as the Maratha Confederacy, was an early modern Indian confederation that came to dominate much of the Indian subcontinent in the 18th century. Maratha rule formally began in 1674 with the coronation of Shi ...

1714–1818 *

1858–1947 The Delhi Sultanate, Mughal and British Indian Empires had Delhi as their capital from time to time.

"North of the Vindhyas"

One demarcation between northern and southern nations has been the

Vindhya The Vindhya Range (also known as Vindhyachal) () is a complex, discontinuous chain of mountain ridges, hill ranges, highlands and plateau escarpments in west-central India. Technically, the Vindhyas do not form a single mountain range in the ...

mountain range. In centuries past this sometimes formed a border during periods of imperial expansion, such as the one ruled by the

Gupta Gupta () is a common surname or last name of Indian origin. It is based on the Sanskrit word गोप्तृ ''goptṛ'', which means 'guardian' or 'protector'. According to historian R. C. Majumdar, the surname ''Gupta'' was adopted by se ...

emperor

Samudragupta Samudragupta (Gupta script: ''Sa-mu-dra-gu-pta'', (c. 335–375 CE) was the second emperor of the Gupta Empire of ancient India, and is regarded among the greatest rulers of the dynasty. As a son of the Gupta emperor Chandragupta I and the Li ...

. The Vindhyas also find mention in the narrative of

Rishi ''Rishi'' () is a term for an accomplished and enlightened person. They find mentions in various Vedic texts. Rishis are believed to have composed hymns of the Vedas. The Post-Vedic tradition of Hinduism regards the rishis as "great yogis" or ...

Agastya Agastya ( kn, ಅಗಸ್ತ್ಯ, ta, அகத்தியர், sa, अगस्त्य, te, అగస్త్యుడు, ml, അഗസ്ത്യൻ, hi, अगस्त्य) was a revered Indian sage of Hinduism. In the I ...

as a dividing feature between North and South India. Varadaraja V. Raman, "Glimpses of Indian Heritage", Popular Prakasan, 1989. The

Manusmṛti The ''Manusmṛiti'' ( sa, मनुस्मृति), also known as the ''Mānava-Dharmaśāstra'' or Laws of Manu, is one of the many legal texts and constitution among the many ' of Hinduism. In ancient India, the sages often wrote thei ...

also describes the southern limit of Aryavarta (i.e. the abode of the Aryans) as being defined by the Vindhya range.

Foreign influences

Several sources consider sizeable Muslim populations and deep-seated Islamic, Central Asian and Afghan influences to be defining characteristics of North Indian culture, both linguistically and culturally.

Christopher Alan Bayly Sir Christopher Alan Bayly, FBA, FRSL (18 May 1945 – 18 April 2015) was a British historian specialising in British Imperial, Indian and global history. From 1992 to 2013, he was Vere Harmsworth Professor of Imperial and Naval History at t ...

, "Rulers, Townsmen, and Bazaars: North Indian Society in the Age of British Expansion, 1770-1870", CUP Archive, 1983, . Some of these influences are pre-Islamic, such as the

Bactria Bactria (; Bactrian: , ), or Bactriana, was an ancient region in Central Asia in Amu Darya's middle stream, stretching north of the Hindu Kush, west of the Pamirs and south of the Gissar range, covering the northern part of Afghanistan, southwe ...

n-originated

Kushan Empire The Kushan Empire ( grc, Βασιλεία Κοσσανῶν; xbc, Κυϸανο, ; sa, कुषाण वंश; Brahmi: , '; BHS: ; xpr, 𐭊𐭅𐭔𐭍 𐭇𐭔𐭕𐭓, ; zh, 貴霜 ) was a syncretic empire, formed by the Yuezhi, i ...

(modern day

Afghanistan Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan,; prs, امارت اسلامی افغانستان is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. Referred to as the Heart of Asia, it is bordere ...

) that maintained twin capitals in

(now in Uttar Pradesh) and

Peshawar Peshawar (; ps, پېښور ; hnd, ; ; ur, ) is the sixth most populous city in Pakistan, with a population of over 2.3 million. It is situated in the north-west of the country, close to the International border with Afghanistan. It is ...

(in the present-day Pakistani

Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (; ps, خېبر پښتونخوا; Urdu, Hindko: خیبر پختونخوا) commonly abbreviated as KP or KPK, is one of the Administrative units of Pakistan, four provinces of Pakistan. Located in the Geography of Pakistan, ...

province), as well as the Hun confederacies that periodically asserted their rule over large parts of North India.

Romila Thapar Romila Thapar (born 30 November 1931) is an Indian historian. Her principal area of study is ancient India, a field in which she is pre-eminent. Quotr: "The pre-eminent interpreter of ancient Indian history today. ... " Thapar is a Professor ...

, "Early India: From the Origins to AD 1300", University of California Press, 2003, .

Geography

A sunset on the dunes of the Great Indian Thar Desert Rajasthan India

North India lies mainly on continental India, north of peninsular India. Towards its north are the Himalayas which define the boundary between the

Indian subcontinent The Indian subcontinent is a list of the physiographic regions of the world, physiographical region in United Nations geoscheme for Asia#Southern Asia, Southern Asia. It is situated on the Indian Plate, projecting southwards into the Indian O ...

and the

Tibetan plateau The Tibetan Plateau (, also known as the Qinghai–Tibet Plateau or the Qing–Zang Plateau () or as the Himalayan Plateau in India, is a vast elevated plateau located at the intersection of Central, South and East Asia covering most of the Ti ...

. To its west is the

Thar desert The Thar Desert, also known as the Great Indian Desert, is an arid region in the north-western part of the Indian subcontinent, Subcontinent that covers an area of and forms a natural boundary between India and Pakistan. It is the world's Li ...

, shared between North India and

Pakistan Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 24 ...

and the

Aravalli Range The Aravalli Range (also spelled ''Aravali'') is a mountain range in Northern-Western India, running approximately in a south-west direction, starting near Delhi, passing through southern Haryana, Rajasthan, and ending in Ahmedabad Gujarat. ...

, beyond which lies the state of

. The

mountains are, in some interpretations, taken to be the southern boundary of North India. The predominant geographical features of North India are: *the Indo-Gangetic plain, which spans the states and union territories of Chandigarh, Delhi, Punjab, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, West Bengal and Jharkhand. *the Himalayas and sub-Himalayan belt, which lie in the states of Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir and West Bengal; *the Thar desert, which lies mainly in the state of Rajasthan. The states of Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, and Jammu and Kashmir also have a large forest coverage.

General climate

India and South Asia Köppen climate map with legend

North India lies mainly in the north

of the

Earth Earth is the third planet from the Sun and the only astronomical object known to harbor life. While large volumes of water can be found throughout the Solar System, only Earth sustains liquid surface water. About 71% of Earth's surfa ...

. Though cool or cold winters, hot summers and moderate monsoons are the general pattern. North India is one of the most climatically diverse regions on Earth. During summer, the temperature often rises above 35 °C across much of the Indo-Gangetic plain, reaching as high as 50 °C in the Thar desert, Rajasthan and up to 49 in Delhi. During winter, the lowest temperature on the plains dips to below 5 °C, and below the freezing point in some states. Heavy to moderate snowfall occurs in Himachal Pradesh, Ladakh, J&K and Uttarakhand. Much of North India is notorious for heavy fog during winters. Extreme temperatures among inhabited regions have ranged from in Dras, Ladakh to 50.6 °C (123 °F) in

Alwar Alwar (Pronunciation: Help:IPA/Hindi and Urdu, �lʋəɾ is a city located in India's National Capital Region (India), National Capital Region and the administrative headquarters of Alwar district, Alwar District in the state of Rajasthan. ...

, Rajasthan. Dras is claimed to be the second-coldest inhabited place on the planet (after

Siberia Siberia ( ; rus, Сибирь, r=Sibir', p=sʲɪˈbʲirʲ, a=Ru-Сибирь.ogg) is an extensive geographical region, constituting all of North Asia, from the Ural Mountains in the west to the Pacific Ocean in the east. It has been a part of ...

), with a recorded low of -60 °C.Sarina Singh, "India: Lonely Planet Guide", Lonely Planet, 2003, .

Precipitation

The region receives heavy rain in plains and light snow on Himalayas precipitation through two primary weather patterns: the Indian

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 ...

and the

Western Disturbance A western disturbance is an extratropical storm originating in the Mediterranean region that brings sudden winter rain to the northern parts of the Indian subcontinent, which extends as east as up to northern parts of Bangladesh and South easte ...

s. The Monsoon carries moisture northwards from the

Indian Ocean The Indian Ocean is the third-largest of the world's five oceanic divisions, covering or ~19.8% of the water on Earth's surface. It is bounded by Asia to the north, Africa to the west and Australia to the east. To the south it is bounded by th ...

, occurs in late summer and is important to the Kharif or autumn harvest.Vidya Sagar Katiyar, "Indian Monsoon and Its Frontiers", Inter-India Publications, 1990, .Ajit Prasad Jain and Shiba Prasad Chatterjee, "Report of the Irrigation Commission, 1972", Ministry of Irrigation and Power, Government of India, 1972. Western Disturbances, on the other hand, are an extratropical weather phenomenon that carry moisture eastwards from the

Mediterranean Sea The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean Basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Western and Southern Europe and Anatolia, on the south by North Africa, and on the ea ...

, the

Caspian Sea The Caspian Sea is the world's largest inland body of water, often described as the world's largest lake or a full-fledged sea. An endorheic basin, it lies between Europe and Asia; east of the Caucasus, west of the broad steppe of Central Asia ...

and the

Atlantic Ocean The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's five oceans, with an area of about . It covers approximately 20% of Earth's surface and about 29% of its water surface area. It is known to separate the " Old World" of Africa, Europe ...

.Bin Wang, "The Asian Monsoon", Springer, 2006, .R.K. Datta (Meteorological Office, Dum Dum) and M.G. Gupta (Meteorological Office, Delhi), "Synoptic study of the formation and movements of Western Depressions", Indian Journal of Meteorology & Geophysics, India Meteorological Department, 1968.A.P. Dimri, "Models to improve winter minimum surface temperature forecasts, Delhi, India", ''

Meteorological Applications ''Meteorological Applications'' is a peer-reviewed scientific journal of meteorology published four times per year since 1994. It is published by John Wiley & Sons on behalf of the Royal Meteorological Society. Abstracting and indexing The journ ...

'', 11, pp 129-139, Royal Meteorological Society, Cambridge University Press, 2004. They primarily occur during the winter season and are critically important for the Rabi or spring harvest, which includes the main staple over much of North India,

wheat Wheat is a grass widely cultivated for its seed, a cereal grain that is a worldwide staple food. The many species of wheat together make up the genus ''Triticum'' ; the most widely grown is common wheat (''T. aestivum''). The archaeologi ...

. The states of Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand receive some snowfall in winter months.

Traditional seasons

Northern Indian tradition recognises six distinct seasons in the region: summer (''grishma'' or ''garmi'', May–June), rainy (''varsha'', July–August), cool (''sharad'', September–October, sometimes thought of as 'early autumn'), autumn (''hemant'', November–December, also called ''patjhar'', lit. ''leaf-fall''), winter (''shishir'' or ''sardi'', January–February) and spring (''vasant'', March–April). The literature, poetry and folklore of the region uses references to these six seasons quite extensively and has done so since ancient times when

Sanskrit Sanskrit (; attributively , ; nominally , , ) is a classical language belonging to the Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European languages. It arose in South Asia after its predecessor languages had diffused there from the northwest in the late ...

was prevalent.Geography
Yash Pal Singh, pp. 420, FK Publications, , ''... The sequence of the six traditional seasons is correct only for northern and central parts of India ...''The Life of a Text: Performing the Rāmcaritmānas of Tulsidas
Philip Lutgendorf, pp. 22, University of California Press, 1991, , ''... likening the major episodes of the narrative to various features of the river and its banks, and to the appearance of the river in each of the six seasons of the North Indian year ...''Essays on North Indian Folk Traditions
Susan Snow Wadley, pp. 226, Orient Blackswan, 2005, , ''... Yet another cultural division of the year views it as six seasons ... This cycle of six seasons, while known and referred to today, is more widely recognised in Sanskrit literature ...'' In the mountainous areas, sometimes the winter is further divided into "big winter" (e.g.

''chillai kalaan'') and "little winter" (''chillai khurd'').Systematic Geography Of Jammu And Kashmir
S.A. Qazi, pp. 25, APH Publishing, 2005,

Demographics

The people of North India mostly belong to the Indo-Aryan ethno linguistic branch, and include various social groups such as

Brahmins Brahmin (; sa, ब्राह्मण, brāhmaṇa) is a varna as well as a caste within Hindu society. The Brahmins are designated as the priestly class as they serve as priests (purohit, pandit, or pujari) and religious teachers (guru o ...

Rajput Rajput (from Sanskrit ''raja-putra'' 'son of a king') is a large multi-component cluster of castes, kin bodies, and local groups, sharing social status and ideology of genealogical descent originating from the Indian subcontinent. The term Ra ...

Banias Banias or Banyas ( ar, بانياس الحولة; he, בניאס, label=Modern Hebrew; Judeo-Aramaic, Medieval Hebrew: פמייס, etc.; grc, Πανεάς) is a site in the Golan Heights near a natural spring, once associated with the Greek g ...

Jats The Jat people ((), ()) are a traditionally agricultural community in Northern India and Pakistan. Originally pastoralists in the lower Indus river-valley of Sindh, Jats migrated north into the Punjab region in late medieval times, and subse ...

, Rors,

Gurjar Gurjar or Gujjar (also transliterated as ''Gujar, Gurjara and Gujjer'') is an ethnic nomadic, agricultural and pastoral community, spread mainly in India, Pakistan and Afghanistan, divided internally into various clan groups. They were tra ...

Kolis The Koli is an Indian caste found in Rajasthan, Himachal Pradesh, Gujarat, Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh, Haryana, Karnataka, Odisha and Jammu and Kashmir states in India. Koli is an agriculturist caste of Gujarat but in coastal areas the ...

, Yadavs,

Khatri Khatri is a caste of the Indian subcontinent that is predominantly found in India, but also in Pakistan and Afghanistan. In the subcontinent, they were mostly engaged in mercantilistic professions such as banking and trade, they were the d ...

Kamboj The Kamboj ( pa, ਕੰਬੋਜ ''Kamboj'', hi, कंबोज ''Kamboj''), also Kamboh ( ur, ALA-LC: ), is a cultivating community of the Punjab region of Pakistan and India, spanning a region from the Sutlej Valley to the north, the M ...

s and

Dalit Dalit (from sa, दलित, dalita meaning "broken/scattered"), also previously known as untouchable, is the lowest stratum of the Caste system in India, castes in India. Dalits were excluded from the four-fold Varna (Hinduism), varna syste ...

s.Sarat Chandra Roy and Ral Bahadur, "Man in India", A.K. Bose, 1996.Kumool Abbi, "Discourse of Zindaginama: A semio-anthropological critique", Harman Publishing House, 2002.Kiran Prem, Haryana Gazetteers Organization, "Haryana District Gazetteers", Government of Haryana, 1970. Other minority ethno-linguistic communities such as Dravidian,

Tibeto-Burman The Tibeto-Burman languages are the non- Sinitic members of the Sino-Tibetan language family, over 400 of which are spoken throughout the Southeast Asian Massif ("Zomia") as well as parts of East Asia and South Asia. Around 60 million people spea ...

and

Austroasiatic The Austroasiatic languages , , are a large language family A language family is a group of languages related through descent from a common ''ancestral language'' or ''parental language'', called the proto-language of that family. The te ...

exist throughout the region.

Religion

Hinduism Hinduism () is an Indian religion or '' dharma'', a religious and universal order or way of life by which followers abide. As a religion, it is the world's third-largest, with over 1.2–1.35 billion followers, or 15–16% of the global p ...

is the dominant religion in North India. Other religions practiced by various ethnic communities include

Islam Islam (; ar, ۘالِإسلَام, , ) is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic Monotheism#Islam, monotheistic religion centred primarily around the Quran, a religious text considered by Muslims to be the direct word of God in Islam, God (or ...

Sikhism Sikhism (), also known as Sikhi ( pa, ਸਿੱਖੀ ', , from pa, ਸਿੱਖ, lit=disciple', 'seeker', or 'learner, translit=Sikh, label=none),''Sikhism'' (commonly known as ''Sikhī'') originated from the word ''Sikh'', which comes fro ...

Jainism Jainism ( ), also known as Jain Dharma, is an Indian religions, Indian religion. Jainism traces its spiritual ideas and history through the succession of twenty-four tirthankaras (supreme preachers of ''Dharma''), with the first in the current ...

Zoroastrianism Zoroastrianism is an Iranian religions, Iranian religion and one of the world's History of religion, oldest organized faiths, based on the teachings of the Iranian peoples, Iranian-speaking prophet Zoroaster. It has a Dualism in cosmology, du ...

Judaism Judaism ( he, ''Yahăḏūṯ'') is an Abrahamic, monotheistic, and ethnic religion comprising the collective religious, cultural, and legal tradition and civilization of the Jewish people. It has its roots as an organized religion in the ...

, Baháʼí,

Christianity Christianity is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth. It is the world's largest and most widespread religion with roughly 2.38 billion followers representing one-third of the global pop ...

, and

Buddhism Buddhism ( , ), also known as Buddha Dharma and Dharmavinaya (), is an Indian religion or philosophical tradition based on teachings attributed to the Buddha. It originated in northern India as a -movement in the 5th century BCE, and gra ...

. The states of

, and

are overwhelmingly Hindu.

is also majority Hindu, but it boasts a large Muslim minority as well. The union territories of Jammu and Kashmir and

have a slight Muslim plurality, Jammu and Kashmir is 35% Hindu with Ladakh having a significant Buddhist minority of around 40%. The state of

has a

plurality 55% and is considered to be the homeland of Sikhism.

Languages

Linguistically, North India is dominated by

Indo-Aryan languages The Indo-Aryan languages (or sometimes Indic languages) are a branch of the Indo-Iranian languages in the Indo-European languages, Indo-European language family. As of the early 21st century, they have more than 800 million speakers, primarily ...

. It is in this region, or its proximity, that

and the various

Prakrit The Prakrits (; sa, prākṛta; psu, 𑀧𑀸𑀉𑀤, ; pka, ) are a group of vernacular Middle Indo-Aryan languages that were used in the Indian subcontinent from around the 3rd century BCE to the 8th century CE. The term Prakrit is usu ...

s are thought to have evolved. The most widely spoken language in this region is

. It has official status in the states of

and

as well as in the union territory of

. Punjabi has predominance in the state of

where it is the official language. It also has significant presence in the nearby regions.

Urdu Urdu (;"Urdu"
''

, Jammu and Kashmir and

. Further north in Jammu and Kashmir, major languages are

and

. Languages like

Bengali Bengali or Bengalee, or Bengalese may refer to: *something of, from, or related to Bengal, a large region in South Asia * Bengalis, an ethnic and linguistic group of the region * Bengali language, the language they speak ** Bengali alphabet, the w ...

, Bhili and Nepali are also spoken in notable numbers throughout the region. A large part of North India is taken up by the so-called

Hindi Belt The Hindi Belt, also known as the Hindi Heartland, is a linguistic region encompassing parts of northern, central, eastern and western India where various Central Indo-Aryan languages subsumed under the term 'Hindi' (for example, by the In ...

, which here subsumes most of the

Rajasthani languages Rajasthani (Devanagari: ) refers to a group of Indo-Aryan languages and dialects spoken primarily in the state of Rajasthan and adjacent areas of Haryana, Gujarat, and Madhya Pradesh in India. There are also speakers in the Pakistani provinces ...

, dialects of

Western Hindi The Central Indo-Aryan languages or Hindi languages are a group of related language varieties Spoken across North India and Central India. These language varieties form the central part of the Indo-Aryan language family, itself a part of the ...

Awadhi Awadhi (; ), also known as Audhi (), is an Indo-Aryan language spoken in northern India and Nepal. It is primarily spoken in the Awadh region of present-day Uttar Pradesh, India. The name ''Awadh'' is connected to Ayodhya, the ancient city, w ...

Bhojpuri Bhojpuri (;Bhojpuri entry, Oxford Dictionaries
, Oxford U ...

Garhwali Garhwali may refer to: * Garhwali people, an ethno-linguistic group who live in northern India * Garhwali language, the Indo-Aryan language spoken by Garhwali people * anything from or related to: **Garhwal division, a region in state of Uttarakhan ...

and Kumaoni. Several

Sino-Tibetan languages Sino-Tibetan, also cited as Trans-Himalayan in a few sources, is a family of more than 400 languages, second only to Indo-European in number of native speakers. The vast majority of these are the 1.3 billion native speakers of Chinese languages. ...

are spoken in the Himalayan region like

Kinnauri Kinnauri, also known as Kanauri, Kanor, Koonawur, Kanawari or Kunawar (Takri: 𑚊𑚮𑚝𑚵𑚤𑚯/𑚊𑚝𑚵𑚤𑚯/𑚊𑚝𑚵𑚤/𑚊𑚱𑚝𑚭𑚦𑚰𑚤/𑚊𑚰𑚝𑚦𑚤, Tibetan:ཀིནཽརཱི), is a Sino-Tibet ...

, Ladakhi, Balti, and

Lahuli–Spiti languages The Lahuli–Spiti languages are a subgroup of the Tibetic languages spoken in the Lahaul and Spiti region of Himachal Pradesh, India, belonging to the South-Western group of Tibetic languages, earlier classified as Western Innovative Tibetan ...

Austro-Asiatic languages The Austroasiatic languages , , are a large language family in Mainland Southeast Asia and South Asia. These languages are scattered throughout parts of Thailand, Laos, India, Myanmar, Malaysia, Bangladesh, Nepal, and southern China and are t ...

like Korwa/Kodaku is also spoken in some parts of this region.

Culture

The composite culture of North India is known as

, a result of the amicable interaction of Hindus and Muslims there.

Dance

Dance of North India too has diverse ''folk'' and ''classical'' forms. Among the well-known folk dances are the '' bhangra'' of the

, Ghoomar of Rajasthan, Nati of

and ''rouf'' and '' bhand pather'' of Kashmir. Main dance forms, many with narrative forms and

mythological Myth is a folklore genre consisting of narratives that play a fundamental role in a society, such as foundational tales or origin myths. Since "myth" is widely used to imply that a story is not objectively true, the identification of a narrat ...

elements, have been accorded classical dance status by India's '' National Academy of Music, Dance, and Drama'' such as

Kathak Kathak ( hi, कथक; ur, کتھک) is one of the eight major forms of Indian classical dance. It is the classical dance from of Uttar Pradesh. The origin of Kathak is traditionally attributed to the traveling bards in ancient northern Ind ...

''.

Clothing

Each state of North India has its own regional forms of clothing: #

: Chikan Suit, Pathani Salwar, Kurta Paijama, Sari . # Jammu: Kurta/Jammu dress, Dogri suthan and kurta/churidar pajama and kurta. # Kashmir: Phiran, Phiran and poots. #

: Shalwar kameez, Kurta, Churidar, Dhoti, Himachali cap and angarkha. #

: Salwar (Punjabi) Suit, Patiala salwar, Punjabi Tamba and Kurta, Dastar, Sikh Dastar, Phulkari, Punjabi Ghagra #

: Rangwali Phichora

Flora and fauna

North Indian vegetation is predominantly Tropical evergreen and Montane . Of the evergreen trees Hollong Gurjan, Shorea robusta, sal, teak, Mahogany, Sheesham delbergia, sheesham (Indian rosewood) and Populus, poplar are some which are important commercially.N.C. Saxena, "The Saga of Participatory Forest Management in India", Center for International Forestry Research, 1997, . The Western Himalayan region abounds in chir pine, chir, pine, Cedrus deodara, deodar (Himalayan cedar), blue pine, spruce, various firs, birch and junipers.R.L. Singh, "India: A Regional Geography", National Geographical Society of India, 1971.Bansi Lal Kaul, "Ecodegradation of Himalayas", Vinod Publishers & Distributors, 1995.S.S. Negi, "Himalayan Forests and Forestry", Indus Publishing, 2002, . Snippet:''... Important Himalayan trees are sal, chir pine, deodar, oaks, fir, spruce, rhododendrons, and the giant evergreen trees of the Eastern Himalayas ...''R.P. Sharma, "The Indian Forester", v.72:6-12 (Jan-June 1946). The birch, especially, has historical significance in Indian culture due to the extensive use of birch paper ( sa, bhurja patra) as parchment for many ancient Indian texts.Sanjukta Gupta, "Lakṣmī Tantra: A Pāñcarātra Text", Brill Archive, 1972, . Snippet:''... the text recommends that the bark of the Himalayan birch tree (bhurja-patra) should be used for scribbling mantras ...''Amalananda Ghosh, "An Encyclopaedia of Indian Archaeology", BRILL, 1990, . Snippet:''... Bhurja-patra, the inner bark on the birch tree grown in the Himalayan region, was a very common writing material ...'' The Eastern Himalayan region consists of oaks, laurels, maples, rhododendrons, alder, birch and dwarf willows. Reflecting the diverse climatic zones and terrain contained in the region, the floral variety is extensive and ranges from Alpine to Cloud forests, coniferous to evergreen, and thick tropical rainforests to cool temperate woods.Casey A. Wood, "Through Forest and Jungle in Kashmir and Other Parts of North India: The Annual Smithsonian Institution Report, 1932", Government Printing Office, Washington, D.C., 1933. There are around 500 varieties of mammals, 2000 species of birds, 30,000 types of insects and a wide variety of fish, amphibians and reptiles in the region. Animal species in North India include elephant, bengal tiger, indian leopard, snow leopard, Sambar (deer), sambar (Asiatic stag), Chital, chital (spotted deer), Kashmir stag, hangul (red deer), hog deer, Chinkara, chinkara (Indian gazelle), blackbuck, Nilgai, nilgai (blue bull antelope), porcupine, wild boar, Indian fox, Tibetan sand fox, rhesus monkey, langur, jungle cat, striped hyena, golden jackal, Himalayan bear, black bear, Himalayan brown bear, sloth bear, and the endangered caracal. Reptiles are represented by a large number of snake and lizard species, as well as the ghariyal and crocodiles. Venomous snakes found in the region include king cobra and krait. Various scorpion, spider and insect species include the commercially useful honeybees, silkworms and lac insects. The strikingly coloured Trombidiidae, bir bahuti is also found in this region. The region has a wide variety of birds, including peafowl, parrots, and thousands of immigrant birds, such as the Siberian crane. Other birds include pheasants, goose, geese, ducks, mynahs, parakeets, pigeons, crane (bird), cranes (including the celebrated sarus crane), and hornbills. Great hornbill, great pied hornbill, Pallas's fish-eagle, Pallas's fishing eagle, Grey-headed fish eagle, grey-headed fishing eagle, red-thighed Microhierax, falconet are found in the Himalayan areas. Other birds found here are Tawny fish-owl, tawny fish owl, scale-bellied woodpecker, red-breasted parakeet, Himalayan swiftlet, stork-billed kingfisher and White-tailed rubythroat, Himalayan or white-tailed rubythroat.

Wildlife parks and reserves

Important national parks and tiger reserves of North India include: Corbett View

Sunrise in Kishtwar National Park, Jammu and Kashmir, India

Corbett National Park: It was established in 1936 as Hailey National Park along the banks of the Ramganga River. It is India's first National Park, and was designated a Project Tiger Reserve in 1973. Situated in Nainital district of Uttarakhand, the park acts as a protected area for the critically endangered Bengal tiger of India. Cradled in the foothills of the Himalayas, it comprises a total area of 500 km² out of which 350 km² is core reserve. This park is known not only for its rich and varied wildlife but also for its scenic beauty. Nanda Devi National Park and Valley of Flowers National Park: Located in West Himalaya, in the state of Uttarakhand, these two national parks constitute a biosphere reserve that is in the UNESCO World Network of Biosphere Reserves since 2004. The Valley of Flowers is known for its meadows of endemic alpine flowers and the variety of flora, this richly diverse area is also home to rare and endangered animals. Dachigam National Park: Dachigam is a higher altitude national reserve in the state of Jammu and Kashmir that ranges from 5,500 to 14,000 feet above sea level. It is home to the Kashmir stag, hangul (a red deer species, also called the Kashmir stag). Great Himalayan National Park: This park is located in Himachal Pradesh and ranges in altitude from 5,000 to 17,500 feet. Wildlife resident here includes the snow leopard, the Himalayan brown bear and the musk deer. Desert National Park: Located in Rajasthan, this national reserve features extensive sand dunes and dry salt lakes. Wildlife unique to the region includes the desert fox and the great Indian bustard. Kanha National Park: The sal and bamboo forests, grassy meadows and ravines of Kanha were the setting for Rudyard Kipling's collection of stories, "The Jungle Book". The Kanha National Park in Madhya Pradesh came into being in 1955 and forms the core of the Kanha Tiger Reserve, created in 1974 under Project Tiger. Vikramshila Gangetic Dolphin Sanctuary: Located in the state of Bihar, it is the only protected zone for the endangered Ganges and Indus river dolphin. Bharatpur Bird Sanctuary: It is one of the finest bird parks in the world, it is a reserve that offers protection to faunal species as well. Nesting indigenous water birds as well as migratory water birds and waterside birds, this sanctuary is also inhabited by sambar, chital, nilgai and boar. Dudhwa National Park: It covers an area of 500 km² along the Indo-Nepal border in Lakhimpur Kheri District of Uttar Pradesh, is best known for the barasingha or swamp deer. The grasslands and woodlands of this park, consist mainly of sal forests. The barasingha is found in the southwest and southeast regions of the park. Among the big cats, tigers abound at Dudhwa. There are also a few leopards. The other animals found in large numbers, are the Indian rhinoceros, elephant, jungle cats, leopard cats, fishing cats, jackals, civets, sloth bears, sambar, otters, crocodiles and chital. Ranthambhore National Park: It spans an area of 400 km² with an estimated head count of thirty two tigers is perhaps India's finest example of Project Tiger, a conservation effort started by the government in an attempt to save the dwindling number of tigers in India. Situated near the small town of Sawai Madhopur it boasts of variety of plant and animal species of North India. Kalesar National Park: Kalesar is a Sal tree, sal forest in the Shivalik Hills of eastern Haryana state. Primarily known for birds, it also contains a small number of tigers and panthers.

Places of interest

Nature

The Indian

, the Thar desert and the Indo-Gangetic plain dominate the natural scenery of North India. The region encompasses several of the most highly regarded hill destinations of India such as Srinagar, Shimla, Manali, Himachal Pradesh, Manali, Nainital, Mussoorie, Kausani and Mount Abu. Several spots in the states of Uttarakhand and Himachal Pradesh provide panoramic views of the snow-clad Himalayan range. The Himalayan region also provides ample opportunity for adventure sports such as mountaineering, trekking, river rafting and skiing. Camel or jeep safaris of the Thar desert are also popular in the state of Rajasthan. North India includes several national parks such as the

, Jim Corbett National Park, Keoladeo National Park and Ranthambore National Park.

Pilgrimage

North India encompasses several of the holiest pilgrimage centres of Hinduism (

, Rishikesh,

/Vrindavan,

Pushkar Pushkar is a city and headquarters of Pushkar tehsil in the Ajmer district in the Indian state of Rajasthan. It is situated about northwest of Ajmer and about southwest of Jaipur.Sarnath Sarnath (Hindustani pronunciation: aːɾnaːtʰ also referred to as Sarangnath, Isipatana, Rishipattana, Migadaya, or Mrigadava) is a place located northeast of Varanasi, near the confluence of the Ganges and the Varuna rivers in Uttar Pr ...

and

), the most regarded pilgrimage centres of Sikhism (Amritsar and Hemkund) and some of the highly regarded destinations in Sufi Islam (Ajmer and

). The largest Hindu temple, Akshardham (Delhi), Akshardham Temple, the largest Buddhist temple in India, Mahabodhi Temple, Mahabodhi, the largest mosque in India, Jama Masjid, Delhi, Jama Masjid, and the largest Sikh shrine, Golden Temple, are all in this region.

Historical

North India includes some highly regarded historical, architectural and archaeological treasures of India. The

, an immense mausoleum of white marble in Agra, is one of the universally admired buildings of world heritage. Besides Agra,

and

also carry some great exhibits from the Mughal architecture. In Punjab,

is known for being the city of royalty while Amritsar is a city known for its Sikh architecture and the Golden Temple.

has the famous Awadhi Nawab culture while Kanpur reflects excellent British architecture with monuments like Kanpur Memorial Church, All Souls Cathedral, Kanpur Sangrahalaya, King Edward Memorial, Police Quarters, British India Corporation, Cawnpore Woollen Mills, Portuguese Cemetery, Kanpur, Cutchery Cemetery etc. Khajuraho temples constitute another famous world heritage site. The state of Rajasthan is known for exquisite List of palaces in Rajasthan, palaces and Hill Forts of Rajasthan, forts of the

clans. Historical sites and architecture from the ancient and medieval History of Hinduism, Hindu and History of Buddhism, Buddhist periods of Indian history, such as Jageshwar, Deogarh, Uttar Pradesh, Deogarh and Sanchi, as well as sites from the Bronze Age Indus Valley civilisation, such as Manda, Jammu, Manda and Alamgirpur, can be found scattered throughout northern India.

, on the banks of the River Ganga, is considered one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities in the world and the second oldest in India after Nalanda. Bhimbetka is an archaeological site of the Paleolithic era, exhibiting the earliest traces of human life on the Indian subcontinent.

Universities

North India has several universities, including * Agra University * Alakh Prakash Goyal University * All India Institute of Medical Sciences * Allahabad University * Aligarh Muslim University * Ashoka University * Avadh University * Baba Farid University of Health Sciences * Babasaheb Bhimrao Ambedkar University * Bahra University * Banaras Hindu University * Bhagat Phool Singh Mahila Vishwavidyalaya * Birla Institute of Technology and Science * Central University of Punjab * Central University of Rajasthan * Chandigarh University * CT University * DAV University * Deenbandhu Chhotu Ram University of Science and Technology * Deen Dayal Upadhyay Gorakhpur University * Delhi University * Delhi Technological University * Desh Bhagat University * Dr. A.P.J. Abdul Kalam Technical University * Dr. B.R. Ambedkar National Law University * Gautam Buddha University * GNA University * Govind Ballabh Pant University of Agriculture & Technology * Gurukul Kangri Vishwavidyalaya, Gurukul Kangri University * Guru Jambheshwar University of Science & Technology * Guru Nanak Dev University * Guru Gobind Singh Indraprastha University * Haryana Agricultural University * Himachal Pradesh University * Himachal Pradesh National Law University * Jai Narain Vyas University * Jawaharlal Nehru University * Jiwaji University * Kanpur University * Kumaon University * Kurukshetra University * Lovely Professional University * Maharaja Ganga Singh University * Maharana Pratap University of Agriculture and Technology * National Law University, Sonipat * O. P. Jindal Global University * Panjab University * Punjabi University * Punjab Agricultural University * Punjab Technical University * South Asian University * Sher-e-Kashmir University of Agricultural Sciences and Technology * SRM University, Haryana * Sri Guru Granth Sahib World University * Thapar University * University of Jammu * University of Kashmir * University of Kota * University of Lucknow * University of Rajasthan * Uttarakhand Technical University * Vardhaman Mahaveer Open University * World University of Design The Indian Institute of Technology, National Institute of Technology and Indian Institute of Management have campuses in several cities of North India such as

, Amritsar, Kanpur, Jalandhar, Roorkee, Ropar, Rohtak,

and Kashipur, Uttarakhand, Kashipur. One of the first great universities in recorded history, the Nalanda University, is in the state of

. There has been Nalanda#Plans for revival, plans for revival of this ancient university, including an effort by a multinational consortium led by Singapore, China, India and Japan.

Economy

The economy of North India is predominantly agrarian, but is changing fast with rapid economic growth that has ranged above 8% annually. Several parts of North India have prospered as a consequence of the Green Revolution in India, Green Revolution, including Punjab, Haryana and Western Uttar Pradesh, and have experienced both economic and social development.Mohamad Riad El-Ghonemy, "The Dynamics of Rural Poverty", Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, 1986. ''... Haryana and West Uttar Pradesh recorded spectacular production increases ...''V. G. Rastyannikov, "Agrarian Evolution in a Multiform Structure Society: Experience of Independent India", Routledge & Kegan Paul, 1981, .B. M. Bhatia, "Food Security in South Asia", Oxford & IHB Pub. Co., 1985. The eastern areas of East Uttar Pradesh, however, have laggedRobert E. B. Lucas, Gustav Fritz Papanek, "The Indian Economy: Recent Development and Future Prospects", Westview Press, 1988, .Gilbert Etienne, "Rural Development in Asia: Meetings With Peasants", Sage Publications, 1985, . and the resulting disparity has contributed to a demand for separate statehood in West Uttar Pradesh (the Harit Pradesh movement).Gyanesh Kudaisya, "Region, Nation, Heartland: Uttar Pradesh in India's Body Politic", Sage Publications, 2006, . In 2004, the state with the highest GDP per capita in North India was Punjab followed by Haryana. Chandigarh has the highest per-capita State Domestic Product (SDP) of any Indian union territory. The National Capital Region of Delhi has emerged as an economic power house with rapid industrial growth along with adjoining areas of Uttar Pradesh, Haryana and Rajasthan. According to a 2009-10 report, a large number of unskilled and skilled workers have moved to southern India and other nations because of the unavailability of jobs locally. The technology boom that occurred in the past three decades in southern India has helped many Indians from the northern region to find jobs and live prosperous lives in southern cities. An analysis by Multidimensional Poverty Index creators reveals that acute poverty prevails in eight Indian states including the northern states of Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh.

Best Food Items

The best-known North-Indian food items are: *Tandoori chicken *Reshmi kabab *Kadhai Paneer *Chole bhature *Aloo paratha *Butter chicken

Notes

References

External links

North Indian temple architecture

Geographia.com: India

Tourist places in North India
{{Authority control Regions of India North India,

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Universities

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Best Food Items

See also

Notes

References

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