Himalayas UPSC : A Comprehensive Guide on Himalayas

Table of Contents

Introduction

Himalayas are the young fold mountains which stand as a grand barrier guarding India’s frontiers against both cold winds arising from central Asia and foreign invasions from the central Asian rulers.

Recent News –

The International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD) has issued a warning, calling for “bold action” and “urgent finance” to prevent the collapse of nature in high Mountain Asia.

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Study of Himalayas

There are two ways to study Himalayas

Longitudinal study
Cross sectional

Longitudinal study

According to this study, Himalayas are divided into 4 parts from north to south.

Trans-Himalayas

These are composed of 4 mountain ranges

Kailash ranges – Located completely in Tibetan Region. The most important and sacred mountain here is Mt Kailash. At the foothills of Kailash is Mansarovar.
Karakoram ranges – These are northern most ranges of Himalayas. Highest peak here is K2.
Ladakh range- Highest peaks here are Gasherbrum 1 and 2.
Zaskar range – They extend southeastward for some 400 miles (640 km) from the Karcha (Suru) River to the upper Karnali River. Kamet Peak is the highest point, and the most important passes are Shipki, Lipu Lekh (Lipulieke), and Mana.

Important Plains – Aksai chin and soda plains

Important valleys- Nubra

Glaciers – Siachen, Baltora, biafo

Rivers- Indus

Great Himalayas (Himadri)

These are a continuous chain of mountains extending from Nanga Parbat to Namcha Barua for a stretch of 2400 kms.
Most of the highest peaks are located here. Some of the peaks include Mt Everest, Mt Kanchenjunga, Mt Makalu, Mt Manaslu etc.
At the extremes of the Himalayas, the mountains have a bend called a syntaxial bend. In the western end leading to 2 ranges – Kirthar and Suleiman and towards the east leading to Peru yoma and Arkan Yoma.

Middle Himalayas (Himachal)

These are located between greater Himalayas and shivaliks.
They are highly polluted ranges
All the major hill stations are restricted here. Ex- Darjeeling, Kullu, Manali, Dalhousie etc.
It consists for 5 broken hill ranges- Pir panjal, Dhauladhar, Kumaon, Gahrwal and Mahabharat ranges.

Outer Himalayas (Shivalik)

Average height of the mountains is between 700-1500m.
They are low lying hills.

Cross sectional study

Kashmir Himalayas

Important peaks- K2, Gasherbrum 1 and 2

Important Passes

Passes	Banihal, Zojila pass, Burzil pass	Leh pass, Khardungla pass
State/UT	Jammu and Kashmir	Ladakh

Important duns – Jammu doon, Patli doon

Formation of mergs is important feature here- ex- Sonmarg, gulmarg

Rivers flowing – Indus and its tributaries

Lakes located here- Dal lake, Wular lake, Tso moriri, Tang Pang Tso

Important cultivation – Apple, Saffron, Peaches, Berries etc.

Uttarakhand Himalayas

They extend between Sutlej and Kali for about 320 km.

Important duns- Dehradun

Important Passes

Passes	Niti pass, mana pass, lipulekh pass	Shipki la, rohtang, baralacha pass
States	Uttarakhand	Himachal Pradesh

Important hot springs- Manikaran, Jwala Mukhi

Lakes present – Renukatal, Chandratal, nainital

Valleys – Valley of flowers (Uttarakhand), Lahaul spiti valley (HP)

Nomadic groups present here- Bhotiyas and Bhugiyal

Nepal Himalayas

These Himalayas extend between Kali to Teesta for about 800 km. Nepal is located in these ranges hence its name.

Tallest peaks like Mt Everest, Mt Makalu, Mt Annapoorna etc are located here.

Here the eastern part us dominated by tea plantations and western by horticulture plantation.

Assam Himalayas

They extend between Teesta river and Dihang river for about 700 kms.

Important feature include duar formation

Important peaks- Kanchenjunga

Important Passes –

Nathu la pass, Jelep la pass – Sikkim
Bum la, Bomdi la, Tawang, Tunga, Diphu, Yangyap – Arunachal Pradesh

Important cultivation – Tea

Assam Himalayas are further divided into 2 sets of Himalayas – Poorvanchal and Shivaliks.

Poorvanchal range includes Mizo hills, Patkai Bhum, Naga hills, Manipur hills, Tripura hills, Khasi, Garo, Jaintia, Rengma and Mikir hills and Buril ranges.
Shivalik ranges includes Miri hills, mishmi hills, Abhor hills, and Dafla hills.