Plateaus of India
From the Trans-Himalayan cold desert to the Deccan Trap: every plateau UPSC maps, with the traps it sets.
Asked in exams
Actual questions from UPSC and state PCS papers that this map answers. The key detail column carries the correct fact behind each question.
| Exam | Question | Key detail |
|---|---|---|
| UPPCS | Aksai Chin: part of the Ladakh Plateau | — |
| MPPCS 2008 | Plateau between the Aravalli and the Vindhya: Malwa | — |
| UPPCS | Lava soil is found in: Malwa plateau | — |
| UPSC 2016 | Nasik - Malwa ✗ | Nashik is in Maharashtra, on the Deccan plateau |
| UPSC 2024 | Dhuandhar - Malwa ✗ | Dhuandhar Falls is on the Narmada at Jabalpur, not the Malwa plateau; only the Hundru row was correct |
| UPSC 2016 | Khajuraho - Bundelkhand ✓ | Khajuraho is in Chhatarpur district, MP, on the Bundelkhand plateau |
| UPSC 2016 | Bodhgaya - Baghelkhand ✗ | Bodh Gaya is in Gaya district, Bihar |
| UPSC 2023 | Amarkantak = confluence of Vindhya and Sahyadri ✗ | Amarkantak is at the Vindhya-Satpura junction, in the Maikal Hills |
| UPPCS | Actual source of the Son: Amarkantak | — |
| UPPCS | Not a part of Chhotanagpur: Bihar | — |
| UPPCS | Dhanbad most crowded: minerals + mining + industry | all |
| UPSC 2024 | Hundru - Chota Nagpur - Subarnarekha ✓ | Hundru Falls is on the Subarnarekha river, in the Chota Nagpur plateau |
| UPSC 1997 | Map: rift valley, Chhattisgarh plain, Chhotanagpur, rain shadow | — |
| UPSC 1984 | Mica: Hazaribagh; coal: Jharia; lignite: Neyveli | — |
| UPPCS | Oraon - Ranchi Plateau ✓ | — |
| UPSC 2000 | Munda - Chhotanagpur ✓ | — |
| UPPCS | Meghalaya plateau is part of: the Peninsular range | — |
| UPSC 1987 | Khasi and Garo: Meghalaya | — |
| UPSC 2013 | Nokrek - Garo Hills ✓ | Nokrek is in the Garo Hills of Meghalaya |
| UPSC 2014 | Mikir Hills - North-East India ✓ | Mikir Hills are in Karbi Anglong, Assam |
| UPSC 2013 | Karbi - Himachal Pradesh ✗ | the Karbi tribe is in Karbi Anglong, Assam |
| UPSC 1997 | Deccan Traps: Cretaceous-Eocene | — |
| UPSC 2007 | Deccan higher in the west, slopes east ✓ | — |
| UPPCS | Maharashtra - rain-shadow state ✓ | — |
| UPSC 2016 | Shirdi - Vidarbha ✗ | Shirdi is in Ahmednagar district, Maharashtra, not in Vidarbha |
| UPPCS | Chhattisgarh - Chhattisgarh plain ✓ | — |
| UPSC 1997 | Map: B = Chhattisgarh plain | — |
| UPPCS | ‘Dandakaranya’ does not exist in: Madhya Pradesh | — |
| UPPCS | Mainly found in Dandakaranya: red and yellow soil | — |
| UPSC 1984 | Iron ore: Singhbhum, Mayurbhanj, Keonjhar | — |
| UPSC 2016 | Tirupati - Rayalaseema ✓ | Tirupati is in Chittoor district, in the Rayalaseema region of AP |
| UPPCS | Not a high-seismic zone: Karnataka Plateau | — |
| UPPCS | Andhra Pradesh - Malnad ✗ | Malnad is the hill region of Karnataka |
| UPPCS | Bundelkhand plateau: in MP and UP, drained by the Betwa and Ken | — |
| UPSC | Malwa plateau: in Madhya Pradesh, drained by the Chambal | — |
| UPSC | Deccan plateau: largest plateau of India, bounded by the Western and Eastern Ghats | — |
About this map
The plateaus and uplands of peninsular and central India, from Malwa to Meghalaya. Each marker notes the underlying rock and formation story: lava, ancient crystalline, or dissected upland.
The exam contrasts the Deccan Traps (lava) with the ancient southern block, and asks which plateau lies in which state. The Meghalaya plateau (Garo, Khasi, Jaintia hills) is asked as a detached fragment of the peninsular block.
Pair this with the minerals map: plateau geology explains the mineral belts sitting on them.