Malwa Plateau of Madhya Pradesh

Madhya Pradesh is a state which has a balanced division of land between Mountain, Plateaus and Plains. The main physical composition of Madhya Pradesh is Basalt and Gondwana rocks. The geography of Madhya Pradesh has been classified into three categories by the geographers and they are:

• Plateau of Madhya Pradesh


• Mountain range of Satpura


• Eastern Plateau

• Malwa Plateau


• Plateau of Madhya Bharat


• Bundelkhand Plateau


• Rewa Panna Plateau


• Narmada son valley


• Satpura Maikal Range


• Baghelkhand Plateau

Malwa Plateau

• Location -

  Malwa Plateau is located in the western part of Madhya Pradesh. This plateau lies between 20°17' N to 25°8' N latitude and 74°20' E to 79°20' E longitude.


(This image is taken from en.wikipedia.org)


• Height -

  Malwa Plateau lies 300 to 600 meter high above the sea level.



• Districts -

  In total Malwa Plateau wrap up 18 districts of Madhya Pradesh either in complete of in partial. The districts of Madhya Pradesh which comes under the area of Malwa Plateau are mentioned below:
  
  
  
  • Indore
  
  
  • Ujjain
  
  
  • Ratlam
  
  
  • Devas
  
  
  • Shajapur
  
  
  • Dhar
  
  
  • Jhabua
  
  
  • Alirajpur
  
  
  • Mandsaur
  
  
  • Sehore
  
  
  • Raisen
  
  
  • Sagar
  
  
  • Guna
  
  
  • Rajgarh
  
  
  • Vidisha
  
  
  • Bhopal etc.
  
  
  
  
  
  (This image is taken from mp.nic.in)
  

• Soil -

  Black cotton soil is found on this plateau. The reason behind the presence of Black soil on this plateau is that this plateau is made up of Basalt rocks of Deccan trap. Black soil is the result of the erosion of basalt rocks.


(This image is taken from upscportal.com)


• Highest Peak -

  The highest peak of Malwa Plateau is Sigar top which is 881 meter high. Sigar top is situated in south of Mhow. The second highest peak of this plateau is Janapav 854 meter high and the third highest peak is Ghajari 810 meter high.



• Rivers -

  There are various rivers which egresses from this plateau and they are:
  
  
  
  • Mahi
  
  
  • Chambal
  
  
  • Gambhir
  
  
  • Kshipra
  
  
  • Kalisindh
  
  
  • Parvati
  
  
  • Dhasan
  
  
  • Sonar
  
  
  • Betwa etc.
  
  
  
  All the above rivers flow from west to east direction due to the physical Slope of India.


(This image is taken from en.wikipedia.org)


• Climate -

  The climate of this plateau is temperate i.e neither there is exuberant heat during summer nor there is extravagant cold during winter.



• Temperature -

  During Summer the average temperature of this area is 40°C – 42.5°C. Ganjbausada of Vidisha district is the area of this plateau which attains highest temperature during summer.
  During winter the average temperature of this area is 10°C - 12°C.



• Rainfall -

  The dispersion of rainfall on this area is unequal. In the western part of Malwa the average rainfall use to be 75cm where as in eastern part the average is 75 – 125cm. Rainfall is mainly due to Arabian Sea i.e due to South east monsoon.



• Main Crops -

  Due to the presence of black soil the main crops of Malwa are:
  
  
  
  • Soyabean
  
  
  • Cotton
  
  
  • Wheat
  
  
  • Jwar
  
  
  • Groundnut etc.
  
  
  
  Madhya Pradesh produces maximum Soyabean due to the presence of black soil and that's the reason that Madhya Pradesh is also known as "Soyabean State".



• Forest -

  In western part of Malwa there is almost negligible forest but "Tropical Dry Deciduous Forest" is found in the eastern part of Malwa. Due to these forests the main trees are of:
  
  
  
  • Sagon
  
  
  • Salwood
  
  
  • Tendupatta etc.
  
  
  
  



• Industries -

  The chief industries of this area are based on agriculture and consumer based production. The list of industries along with their locations is mentioned below:
  
  
  
  • Synthetic Fiber Industry situated in Nagda.
  
  
  • Cotton & woolen cloth factory as well as electrical complex is in Indore.
  
  
  • Stainless steel complex is in Sagar.
  
  
  • Leather complex is in Dewas.
  
  
  
  Various other industries are also there in Malwa region.
  



• Tribes -

  The main tribes which are found in Malwa region are mentioned below:
  
  
  
  • Bhil
  
  
  • Bhilalas
  
  
  • Barelas
  
  
  • Meena
  
  
  
  



• Tourism -

  Mahakal Temple of Ujjain which is one of the Jyotirlingas among 12 is in Malwa region. Many other temples like Harisiddi, Chintaman ganesg, Bhairava temples are also here.