ESSAY ON GEOGRAPHICAL UNITY OF INDIA

The Indian peninsula and vast plains are bounded by the ocean on three sides and the land stretches to the highest peaks of the Himalayas in the north. The vast sweep of the land ends in the East with the mountainous border with Burma. In the West, just past the Indus, the mountains come downwards towards the ocean again forming a natural boundary.

Early civilizations all developed on the banks of great river systems – Egypt on the Nile, Mesopotamia on the Tigris and Euphrates, the Chinese on the Yangste Kiang. Thus civilization developed on the great river systems of the Indus and the Gangetic plain – one of the richest river-soil-climate systems in the world; and on the Narmada and Cauvery. And because of the ease of access in this land throughout the ages, there was an enormous interchange of thought and ideas, people and customs, and there developed a culture that is distinctly Indian, and at the same time incredibly diverse.

The culture's distinctive nature evolved precisely because the unique geography facilitated it. The large mountains and bodies of water separated it from surrounding cultures to give it its distinctiveness. The low barriers to movement within this land mass ensured an ease of access to build a coherent whole. This ensured that the exchanges that took place within this large separated petri dish were much deeper and longer lasting than those that took place with those from without. Hence was created a unique and diverse civilization.

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In studying the cultural development of any country, the importance of its geography can hardly be minimized. In the early periods of human history, geography determined to a great extent the lives and activities of people, their thought and literature. History of India is no exception to this. Geographically, India remains a single unit, separated from the rest of the world by inviolable boundaries. The vastness of the country has led many to describe it as a sub-continent.

It is isolated from the world by Himalayas in the north, the Bay of Bengal in the east, the Arabian Sea in the west and the Indian Ocean in the south As a result, from the beginning the isolated region has developed an independent identity of its own. Geographic factors like the mountain ranges, the river systems, the monsoon winds, the climatic conditions all together act as unifying forces. The size and variety of India is no proof against its unity. On the contrary, it is a source of vitality, strength and richness even though it is difficult to discover 'One in Many¹, the Individual in the aggregate and 'the simple in the composite'.

In studying the cultural development of any country, the importance of its geography can hardly be minimized. In the early periods of human history, geography determined to a great extent the lives and activities of people, their thought and literature. History of India is no exception to this. Geographically, India remains a single unit, separated from the rest of the world by inviolable boundaries. The vastness of the country has led many to describe it as a sub-continent.

It is isolated from the world by Himalayas in the north, the Bay of Bengal in the east, the Arabian Sea in the west and the Indian Ocean in the south As a result, from the beginning the isolated region has developed an independent identity of its own. Geographic factors like the mountain ranges, the river systems, the monsoon winds, the climatic conditions all together act as unifying forces. The size and variety of India is no proof against its unity. On the contrary, it is a source of vitality, strength and richness even though it is difficult to discover 'One in Many¹, the Individual in the aggregate and 'the simple in the composite'.
 

In studying the cultural development of any country, the importance of its geography can hardly be minimized. In the early periods of human history, geography determined to a great extent the lives and activities of people, their thought and literature. History of India is no exception to this. Geographically, India remains a single unit, separated from the rest of the world by inviolable boundaries. The vastness of the country has led many to describe it as a sub-continent.

It is isolated from the world by Himalayas in the north, the Bay of Bengal in the east, the Arabian Sea in the west and the Indian Ocean in the south As a result, from the beginning the isolated region has developed an independent identity of its own. Geographic factors like the mountain ranges, the river systems, the monsoon winds, the climatic conditions all together act as unifying forces. The size and variety of India is no proof against its unity. On the contrary, it is a source of vitality, strength and richness even though it is difficult to discover ‘One in Many¹, the Individual in the aggregate and ‘the simple in the composite’.