The Vindhya Range (also known as Vindhyachal) () is a complex, discontinuous chain of mountain

ridge A ridge or a mountain ridge is a geographical feature consisting of a chain of mountains or hills that form a continuous elevated crest for an extended distance. The sides of the ridge slope away from the narrow top on either side. The line ...

s, hill ranges, highlands and plateau escarpments in west-central India. Technically, the Vindhyas do not form a single mountain range in the geological sense. The exact extent of the Vindhyas is loosely defined, and historically, the term covered a number of distinct hill systems in central India, including the one that is now known as the Satpura Range. Today, the term principally refers to the escarpment and its hilly extensions that runs north of and roughly parallel to the Narmada River in Madhya Pradesh. Depending on the definition, the range extends up to Gujarat in the west, Uttar Pradesh and Bihar in the north, and

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 ...

in the east. The Vindhyas have a great significance in Indian mythology and history. Several ancient texts mention the Vindhyas as the southern boundary of the ''

Āryāvarta Āryāvarta (Sanskrit: आर्यावर्त, lit. "abode of the Aryans, Aryas",Indo-Aryan peoples. Although today Indo-Aryan languages are spoken south of the Vindhyas, the range continues to be considered as the traditional boundary between north and south India. The former Vindhya Pradesh was named after the Vindhya Range.

Etymology and names

According to the author of a commentary on '' Amarakosha'', the word Vindhya derives from the Sanskrit word ''vaindh'' (to obstruct). A mythological story (see

below Below may refer to: *Earth *Ground (disambiguation) *Soil *Floor *Bottom (disambiguation) Bottom may refer to: Anatomy and sex * Bottom (BDSM), the partner in a BDSM who takes the passive, receiving, or obedient role, to that of the top or ...

) states that the Vindhyas once obstructed the path of the sun, resulting in this name. Ramayana from Valmiki states that the great mountain Vindhya that was growing incessantly and obstructing the path of the Sun stopped growing any more in obedience to Agastya's words. According to another theory, the name "Vindhya" means "hunter" in Sanskrit, and may refer to the tribal

hunter-gatherer A traditional hunter-gatherer or forager is a human living an ancestrally derived lifestyle in which most or all food is obtained by foraging, that is, by gathering food from local sources, especially edible wild plants but also insects, fungi, ...

s inhabiting the region. The Vindhya range is also known as "Vindhyachala" or "Vindhyachal"; the suffix ''achala'' (Sanskrit) or ''achal'' (Hindi) refers to a mountain. In the Mahabharata, the range is also referred to as ''Vindhyapadaparvata''. The Greek geographer Ptolemy called the range Vindius or Ouindion, describing it as the source of Namados ( Narmada) and Nanagouna ( Tapti) rivers. The "Daksinaparvata" ("Southern Mountain") mentioned in the

Kaushitaki Upanishad The ''Kaushitaki Upanishad'' ( sa, कौषीतकि उपनिषद्, ) is an ancient Sanskrit text contained inside the Rigveda. It is associated with the ''Kaushitaki'' shakha, but a Sāmānya Upanishad, meaning that it is "common" ...

is also identified with the Vindhyas.

Extent

The Vindhyas do not form a single range in the proper geological sense: the hills collectively known as the Vindhyas do not lie along an

anticlinal Anticlinal may refer to: *Anticline, in structural geology, an anticline is a fold that is convex up and has its oldest beds at its core. *Anticlinal, in stereochemistry, a torsion angle between 90° to 150°, and –90° to –150°; see Alkane_st ...

or synclinal ridge. The Vindhya range is actually a group of discontinuous chain of mountain

s, hill ranges, highlands and plateau escarpments. The term "Vindhyas" is defined by convention, and therefore, the exact definition of the Vindhya range has varied at different times in history.

Historical definitions

Vindhyas Mountain Range seen from Malwa Plateau Mandu Mandav Madhya Pradesh India 2009

Earlier, the term "Vindhyas" was used in a wider sense and included a number of hill ranges between 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 Deccan Plateau. According to the various definitions mentioned in the older texts, the Vindhyas extend up to Godavari in the south and Ganges in the north. In certain

Puranas Purana (; sa, , '; literally meaning "ancient, old"Merriam-Webster's Encyclopedia of Literature (1995 Edition), Article on Puranas, , page 915) is a vast genre of Indian literature about a wide range of topics, particularly about legends an ...

, the term Vindhya specifically covers the mountain range located between the Narmada and the Tapti rivers; that is, the one which is now known as the Satpura Range. The Varaha Purana uses the name "Vindhya-pada" ("foot of the Vindhyas") for the Satpura range. Several ancient Indian texts and inscriptions (e.g. the ''Nasik Prasasti'' of Gautamiputra Satakarni) mention three mountain ranges in Central India: Vindhya (or "Vindhya proper"), Rksa (also Rksavat or Riksha) and

Pariyatra Pariyatra Mountains is a range of mountains mentioned in the epic Mahabharata and the Puranas. Mahabharata 2.10.31 calls it "Paripatra" 3.85.69 ff. "Prayaga" (according to 3.85.75 also called "Jaghana", the according to 3.87.18 f. holy area betwee ...

(or Paripatra). The three ranges are included in the seven ''Kula Parvatas'' ("clan mountains") of Bharatavarsha i.e. India. The exact identification of these three ranges is difficult due to contrasting descriptions in the various texts. For example, the

Kurma Kurma ( sa, कूर्म; , 'Turtle', 'Tortoise'), is the second avatar of the Hindu preserver deity, Vishnu. Originating in Vedic literature such as the Yajurveda as being synonymous with the Saptarishi called Kashyapa, Kurma is most comm ...

, Matsya and Brahmanda Puranas mention Vindhya as the source of Tapti; while Vishnu and Brahma Puranas mention the Rksa as its source. Some texts use the term Vindhyas to describe all the hills in Central India. In one passage, Valmiki's Ramayana describes Vindhya as being situated to the south of Kishkindha (Ramayana IV-46. 17), which is identified with a part of the present-day Karnataka. It further implies that the sea was located just to the south of the Vindhyas, and

Lanka Lanka (, ) is the name given in Hindu epics to the island fortress capital of the legendary asura king Ravana in the epics of the ''Ramayana'' and the ''Mahabharata''. The fortress was situated on a plateau between three mountain peaks known ...

was located across this sea. Many scholars have attempted to explain this anomaly in different ways. According to one theory, the term "Vindhyas" covered a number of mountains to the south of the Indo-Aryan territories at the time Ramayana was written. Others, such as

Frederick Eden Pargiter Frederick Eden Pargiter (1852–18 February 1927) was a British civil servant and Orientalist. Born in 1852, Pargiter was the second son of Rev. Robert Pargiter. He studied at Taunton Grammar School and Exeter College, Oxford where he passed in ...

, believe that there was another mountain in South India, with the same name.

Madhav Vinayak Kibe Sardar Madhavrao Vinayak Kibe (Devanagari: माधव विनायक किबे; 1877–?) was a scholar from Indore State, India. He was from the Karhade Brahmin Kibe family founded by Vithalrao Mahadeo Kibe, known as Tantya Jog, the Pr ...

placed the location of Lanka in Central India. The Barabar Cave inscription of Maukhari Anantavarman mentions the Nagarjuni hill of Bihar as a part of the Vindhyas.

Present-day definition

Today, the definition of the Vindhyas is primarily restricted to the Central Indian escarpments, hills and highlands located to the north of the Narmada River. Some of these are actually distinct hill systems. The western end of the Vindhya range is located in the state of Gujarat, near the state's border with Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh, at the eastern side of the Kathiawar peninsula. A series of hills connects the Vindhya extension to the Aravalli Range near

Champaner Champaner is a historical city in the state of Gujarat, in western India. It is located in Panchmahal district, 47 kilometres from the city of Vadodara. The city was briefly the capital of the Sultanate of Gujarat. History Champaner is named ...

. The Vindhya range rises in height east of

Chhota Udaipur Chhota Udaipur is a town and a municipality in Chhota Udaipur district in the state of Gujarat, India. It is the headquarters of Chhota Udaipur district. History Chhota Udaipur was originally ruled by Bhil king , The last Bhil king of Chhota ...

. The principal Vindhya range forms the southern escarpment of the Central Indian upland. It runs roughly parallel to the Naramada river in the east-west direction, forming the southern wall of the Malwa plateau in Madhya Pradesh. The eastern portion of the Vindhyas comprises multiple chains, as the range divides into branches east of Malwa. A southern chain of Vindhyas runs between the upper reaches of the

Son A son is a male offspring; a boy or a man in relation to his parents. The female counterpart is a daughter. From a biological perspective, a son constitutes a first degree relative. Social issues In pre-industrial societies and some current c ...

and Narmada rivers to meet the Satpura Range in the Maikal Hills near Amarkantak. A northern chain of the Vindhyas continues eastwards as

Bhander Plateau The Bhander Plateau is a plateau in the state of Madhya Pradesh in India. It has an area of . It links the Deccan Plateau to the south with the Indo-Gangetic Plains and the Chota Nagpur Plateau to the north and east respectively. The plateau is pa ...

and Kaimur Range, which runs north of the Son River. This extended range runs through what was once Vindhya Pradesh, reaching up to the Kaimur district of Bihar. The branch of the Vindhya range spanning across

Bundelkhand Bundelkhand (, ) is a geographical and cultural region and a proposed state and also a mountain range in central & North India. The hilly region is now divided between the states of Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh, with the larger portion lyin ...

is known as the Panna range. Another northern extension (known as the Vindhyachal hills) runs up to Uttar Pradesh, stopping before the shores of

Ganga 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 ...

at multiple places, including Vindhyachal and Chunar ( Mirzapur District), near Varanasi. The Vindhyan tableland is a plateau that lies to the north of the central part of the range. The Rewa-

Panna Panna can refer to: * Paññā is Pali for "wisdom"; the Sanskrit version is ''Prajñā'' Food * Aam panna, an Indian drink made from mangoes * Panna cotta ("cooked cream"), an Italian dessert * Panna (water), an Italian bottled water Places * ...

plateaus are also collectively known as the Vindhya plateau.

Elevation

Different sources vary on the average elevation of the Vindhyas, depending on their definition of the range. M. C. Chaturvedi mentions the average elevation as . Pradeep Sharma states that the "general elevation" of the Vindhyas is , with the range rarely going over during its extent. The highest point of the Vindhyas is the Sad-bhawna Shikhar ("Goodwill Peak"), which lies above the sea level. Also known as the Kalumar peak or Kalumbe peak, it lies near

Singrampur Singrampur is a historical place where final battle fought between Rani Durgawati and Mughal king Akbar's Senapati Asaf Khan. The town in named after ''Sangram'' which in Hindi means war. Singrampur comes under district Damoh, Madhya Prades ...

in the Damoh district, in the area known as Bhanrer or Panna hills. Historical texts include Amarkantak (+) in the Vindhyas, but today, it is considered a part of the Maikal Range, which is considered as an extension of the Satpuras.

Cultural significance

The Vindhyas are regarded as the traditional geographical boundary between northern and southern India, and have a distinguished status in both mythology and geography of India. In the ancient Indian texts, the Vindhyas are seen as the demarcating line between the territories of the Indo-Aryans and that of the others. The most ancient Hindu texts consider it as the southern boundary of Aryavarta. The Mahabharata mentions that the Nishadas and other Mleccha tribes reside in the forests of the Vindhyas. Although the Indo-Aryan languages (such as

Marathi Marathi may refer to: *Marathi people, an Indo-Aryan ethnolinguistic group of Maharashtra, India *Marathi language, the Indo-Aryan language spoken by the Marathi people *Palaiosouda, also known as Marathi, a small island in Greece See also * * ...

and Konkani) spread to the south of Vindhyas later, the Vindhyas continued to be seen as the traditional boundary between the northern and the southern Indian nations. Vindhyas appear prominently in the Indian mythological tales. Although the Vindhyas are not very high, historically, they were considered highly inaccessible and dangerous due to dense vegetation and the hostile tribes residing there. In the older Sanskrit texts, such as the Ramayana, they are described as the unknown territory infested with cannibals and

demon A demon is a malevolent supernatural entity. Historically, belief in demons, or stories about demons, occurs in religion, occultism, literature, fiction, mythology, and folklore; as well as in media such as comics, video games, movies, ani ...

s. The later texts describe the Vindhya range as the residence of fierce form of Shakti (goddess Kali or Durga), who has lived there since slaying the demons. She is described as

Vindhyavasini Yogamaya (), also venerated as Vindhyavasini, Mahamaya, and Ekanamsha, is a Hindu goddess. In Vaishnava tradition, she is accorded the epithet Narayani, and serves as the personification of Vishnu's powers of illusion. The deity is regarded ...

("Vindhya dweller"), and a temple dedicated to her is located in the Vindhyachal town of Uttar Pradesh. The Mahabharata mentions the Vindhyas as the "eternal abode" of Kali. According to one legend, the Vindhya mountain once competed with the Mount Meru, growing so high that it obstructed the sun. The sage

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

then asked Vindhya to lower itself, in order to facilitate his passage across to the south. In reverence for Agastya, the Vindhya lowered its height and promised not to grow until Agastya returned to the north. Agastya settled in the south, and the Vindhya mountain, true to its word, never grew further. The Kishkindha Kanda of Valmiki's Ramayana mentions that Maya built a mansion in the Vindhyas. In '' Dashakumaracharita'', the King Rajahamsa of Magadha and his ministers create a new colony in the Vindhya forest, after being forced out of their kingdom following a war defeat. The Vindhyas are one of the only two mountain ranges mentioned in the

national anthem of India "" (Sanskrit: जन गण मन) is the national anthem of the Republic of India. It was originally composed as '' Bharoto Bhagyo Bidhata'' in Bengali by polymath Rabindranath Tagore. The first stanza of the song ''Bharoto Bhagyo Bidhat ...

, the other being the Himalayas.

Rivers

Several tributaries of the Ganga-Yamuna system originate from the Vindhyas. These include Chambal, Betwa, Dhasan, Ken,

Tamsa Tamsa is a town and commune in M'Sila Province, Algeria ) , image_map = Algeria (centered orthographic projection).svg , map_caption = , image_map2 = , capital = Algiers , coordinates ...

Kali Sindh The Kali Sindh, is a river in Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan in northern India. It is a tributary of the Chambal River in the Ganges Basin. The main tributaries of the Kali Sindh are the Parwan, Niwaj and Ahu rivers. The Kali Sindh River drains a ...

and

Parbati Parvati ( sa, पार्वती, ), Uma ( sa, उमा, ) or Gauri ( sa, गौरी, ) is the Hindu goddess of power, energy, nourishment, harmony, love, beauty, devotion, and motherhood. She is a physical representation of Mahadevi in ...

. The northern slopes of the Vindhyas are drained by these rivers. Narmada and

rivers drain the southern slopes of the Vindhyas. Both these rivers rise in the Maikal hills, which are now defined as an extension of the Satpuras, although several older texts use the term Vindhyas to cover them (see Historical definitions above).

Geology and palaeontology

The "Vindhyan Supergroup" is one of the largest and thickest sedimentary successions in the world. The earliest known multicellular fossils of

eukaryote Eukaryotes () are organisms whose cells have a nucleus. All animals, plants, fungi, and many unicellular organisms, are Eukaryotes. They belong to the group of organisms Eukaryota or Eukarya, which is one of the three domains of life. Bacte ...

s ( filamentous algae) have been discovered from Vindhya basin dating back to 1.6 to 1.7 billion years ago. Shelled creatures are documented to have first evolved at the start of the Cambrian 'explosion of life', about 550 million years ago.

References

{{Authority control Mountain ranges of India Ancient Indian mountains Geography of Malwa Landforms of Madhya Pradesh Geography of Ujjain Mountains in Buddhism