Why is India considered as a subcontinent? Elaborate your answer. UPSC IAS Mains 2021 General Studies (Paper – 1)
- The Indian subcontinent, or simply the subcontinent, is a physiographic region in South Asia. It is situated on the Indian Plate, projecting southwards into the Indian Ocean from the Himalayas.
- Geologically, the Indian subcontinent is related to the landmass that drifted from the supercontinent Gondwana during the Cretaceous and merged with the Eurasian landmass nearly 55 million years ago. Geographically, it is the peninsular region in South-Central Asia, delineated by the Himalayas in the north, the Hindu Kush in the west, and the Arakanese in the east.
- This natural physical landmass in South Asia has been relatively isolated from the rest of Eurasia. The Himalayas (from Brahmaputra River in the east to Indus River in the west), Karakoram (from Indus River in the east to Yarkand River in the west) and the Hindu Kush mountains (from Yarkand River westwards) form its northern boundary. The Indian Ocean, Bay of Bengal and Arabian Sea form the boundary of the Indian subcontinent in the south, south-east and south-west.
- Moreover, India’s high population and its multiple races, religions, castes, languages, customs make it look like a small continent like the subcontinent. The diversity is largely a result of physical aspects of the land itself, which in turn shaped historical events such as migrations and invasions. However, in spite of numerous differences, at the root there are numerous similarities in the socio-cultural-economic way of life.
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