Editing Vindhya Range (section)

== 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 [[anticline|anticlinal]] or [[syncline|synclinal]] ridge.<ref name="WWHunter1908" /> The Vindhya range is actually a group of discontinuous chain of mountain [[ridge]]s, hill ranges, highlands and plateau [[escarpment]]s. 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 ===
[[File:Vindhyas Mountain Range seen from Malwa Plateau Mandu Mandav Madhya Pradesh India 2009.jpg|thumb|upright=1.25|Vindhya range seen from Mandav, Madhya Pradesh]]
Earlier, the term "Vindhyas" was used in a wider sense and included a number of hill ranges between the [[Indo-Gangetic plain]] and the [[Deccan Plateau]]. According to the various definitions mentioned in the older texts, the Vindhyas extend up to the [[Godavari River|Godavari]] in the south and the [[Ganges River|Ganges]] in the north.<ref name="HHW_Meghaduta_1843" />

In certain [[Puranas]], the term Vindhya specifically covers the mountain range located between the [[Narmada River|Narmada]] and the [[Tapti River|Tapti]] rivers; that is, the one which is now known as the [[Satpura Range]].<ref name="Edward1885">{{cite book |author=Edward Balfour |title=The Cyclopædia of India and of Eastern and Southern Asia, Commercial Industrial, and Scientific: Products of the Mineral, Vegetable, and Animal Kingdoms, Useful Arts and Manufactures |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=iU0OAAAAQAAJ&pg=PA1017 |year=1885 |publisher=Bernard Quaritch |pages=1017–1018 }}</ref><ref name="James1853">{{cite book |author=James Outram |title=A few brief Memoranda of some of the public services rendered by Lieut.-Colonel Outram, C. B.: Printed for private circulation |url=https://archive.org/details/fewbriefmemorand00outr |year=1853 |publisher=Smith Elder and Company |page=[https://archive.org/details/fewbriefmemorand00outr/page/31 31] }}</ref> 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"), [[Riksha Mountains|Rksa]] (also Rksavat or Riksha) and [[Pariyatra Mountains|Pariyatra]] (or Paripatra). The three ranges are included in the seven ''Kula Parvatas'' ("clan mountains") of [[Bharatavarsha]], that is, India. The exact identification of these three ranges is difficult due to contrasting descriptions in the various texts. For example, the [[Kurma Purana|Kurma]], [[Matsya Purana|Matsya]] and [[Brahmanda Purana|Brahmanda]] Puranas mention Vindhya as the source of [[Tapti River|Tapti]]; while [[Vishnu Purana|Vishnu]] and [[Brahma Purana|Brahma]] Puranas mention the Rksa as its source.<ref name="Panda2007">{{cite book |author=Harihar Panda |title=Professor H.C. Raychaudhuri, as a Historian |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=f1XMtc2Q97IC&pg=PA130 |year=2007 |publisher=Northern Book Centre |isbn=978-81-7211-210-3 |pages=128–130}}</ref> Some texts use the term Vindhyas to describe all the hills in Central India.{{Citation needed|date=July 2023}}

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]] 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]], believe that there was another mountain in South India, with the same name.<ref name="Vasudev1975">{{cite book |author=Vasudev Vishnu Mirashi |title=Literary and Historical Studies in Indology |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=X0JUwf2BXVAC&pg=PA212 |date=1 January 1975 |publisher=Motilal Banarsidass |isbn=978-81-208-0417-3 |page=212 }}</ref> [[Madhav Vinayak Kibe]] placed the location of Lanka in [[Central India]].<ref>{{cite book |title=Location of Lanka |author=Madhav Vinayak Kibe |publisher=Manohar Granthamala |location=Pune |year=1947 |oclc=33286332 |page=16 |author-link=Madhav Vinayak Kibe }}</ref>

The [[Gopika Cave Inscription|Barabar Cave inscription]] of the [[Maukhari]] ruler Anantavarman mentions the Nagarjuni hill of [[Bihar]] as a part of the Vindhyas.<ref name="PKB" />

=== Present-day definition ===
[[File:Indiahills.png|thumb|upright=1.36|Map of prominent mountain ranges in India, showing Vindhyas in central India]]
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]].<ref name="Edward1885" /> Some of these are actually distinct hill systems.<ref name="WWHunter2013">{{cite book |author=W.W. Hunter |title=The Indian Empire: Its People, History and Products |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Vdv7AQAAQBAJ&pg=PA35 |year=2013 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-1-136-38301-4 |page=35 }}</ref>

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]]. The Vindhya range rises in height east of [[Chhota Udaipur]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://guj-nwrws.gujarat.gov.in/downloads/phy_geology_gujarat_eng.pdf |title=Physical Geology of Gujarat |author=VN Kulkarni |publisher=Public Works Department, Government of Gujarat |access-date=20 June 2014 }}</ref>

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 River|Son]] and Narmada rivers to meet the Satpura Range in the [[Maikal Range|Maikal Hills]] near [[Amarkantak]]. A northern chain of the Vindhyas continues eastwards as [[Bhander Plateau]] and [[Kaimur Range]], which runs north of the [[Son River]].<ref name="Pradeep2007">{{cite book |author=Pradeep Sharma |title=Human Geography: The Land |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=RxCzONmxUp0C&pg=PA209 |year=2007 |publisher=Discovery Publishing House |isbn=978-81-8356-290-4 |page=209 }}</ref> 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]] is known as the Panna range.<ref name="PKB">{{cite book |title=Historical Geography of Madhya Pradesh from Early Records |author=PK Bhattacharya |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=njYpsvmr2dsC&pg=PA60 |publisher=[[Motilal Banarsidass]] |isbn=978-81-208-3394-4 |year=1977 |pages=60–69}}</ref> Another northern extension (known as the Vindhyachal hills) runs up to [[Uttar Pradesh]], stopping before the shores of [[Ganges|Ganga]] at multiple places, including [[Vindhyachal]] and [[Chunar]] in [[Mirzapur District]]. 

The '''Vindhyan tableland''' is a plateau that lies to the north of the central part of the range. The [[Rewa Plateau|Rewa]]-[[Bijawar-Panna Plateau|Panna]] plateaus are also collectively known as the Vindhya plateau.