The Personality of India: Pre- and Proto-historic Foundation of India and Pakistan c10.30

c10.30

Before we proceed further let us define the physical and cultural regions of the sub-continent. What is the criterion of this sub-division ? Various methods have been tried by different authors. This old concept of regions has received a new life in the hands of modern geographers. According to E.W. Gilbert, " Geography is the art of recognizing and describing the personalities of regions ".² Among the systems based on pure geo-morphological features, the most satisfactory one seems to be that of M.B. Pithawala.³ It is based on the main physiographic sub-divisions : Himalayan uplands, Indo-Gangetic plains and Peninsular India. These are again sub-divided on geological or morphological features. (Fig. 4). From the point of view of cultural studies, the first analysis of Indian geographic regions is that of Spate.⁴ But, since we have already explained the function of hill and jungle belts, we can proceed on that basis. It is very difficult to determine the linear boundaries, and hence an attempt is made here to determine the foci of the various zones. This system has the advantage of finding regions academically and not to suit the convenience of the politicians.