An Encyclopaedia of Indian Archaeology v2.c40.249

v2.c40.249

**Narmada valley.** The Narmada, originating in the Amarkantak plateau (approximately 22°40'; 81°45'), is one of the two major rivers in peninsular India, the other being the TAPTI, which rise in the hills of c. India and proceed w.wards to meet the Arabian Sea in the Gulf of Cambay. Neither of them flows in valleys of their own erosion; both occupy the fault planes or deep alluvium-filled rifts in the rocks running parallel to the Vindhyan hills. These faults are ascribed to the same tectonic activity as caused the upheaval of the Himalayas. The Narmada traverses a length of nearly 1300 km before entering the sea near Bharuch, crossing varied geological formations—sedimentary Vindhyans, Archaeans, volanic Deccan Trap basalt, laterite, etc. The longitudinal profile brings out clearly the irregular character of its gradient, which is marked by the waterfalls like Kapildhara, Dhuandhar, Mandhar and Punasa; steep gorges near Jabalpur and Onkareshwar; broad valleys filled with thick alluvial deposits occurring between Hoshangabad and Narsinghpur; and wide flood and tidal plains in its lower course in Gujarat. The relative steepness of the river from Handia in Madhya Pradesh to the sea shows a recent origin of this tract. There is a view that probably the Narmada once flowed out through the Burhanpur-Khandwa gap into the present Tapti river. Some of the major tributaries of the Narmada are the Sher, Shakkar, Dudhi, Tawa in the upper reaches, the Man, Uri Nahall and Borad in the middle part, and the Orsang and Karjan in the lower reaches.