The Cambridge History of India, Vol. I: Ancient India v1.c15.50

v1.c15.50

To the north the map shows the high tableland of Tibet, edged by the Himālaya range, whose southern slopes descend steeply, but with many foothills, to the level low-lying plains of the great rivers. Eastward of Bengal there is a mountainous belt, rising to heights of more than six thousand feet and densely forested, which separates the Irrawaddy valley of Burma from the plains of India. These mountains throw out a spur westward, which rises a little near its end into the Gāro hills. The deeply trenched, relatively narrow valley of the Brahmaputra, known as Assam, lies between the Gāro hills and the Himālayas. The southward drainage from the Gāro hills forms a deltaic plain, extending nearly to the port of Chittagong. This plain, traversed by the Meghnā river which gathers water from the Gāro and Khāsi range, is continuous with the delta of Bengal proper.