Northern Himalayas

The North and North-eastern Mountains are part of the Northern Himalayas. It includes a series of parallel mountain ranges such as the Greater Himalayan range, which includes the Himalayas and the Shiwalik

• The general orientation of the Northern Himalayas: 

• The north-western part of India: Northwest to the southeast direction

• The Himalayas in the Darjeeling and Sikkim regions: East-west direction

• Arunachal Pradesh: From southwest to the northwest direction

• Nagaland, Manipur and Mizoram: North-south direction

• The Great Himalayan Range spans over 2,500 km from east to west, along its central axis, with its width varying anywhere from 160 to 400 kilometres from north to south
• Physical Barrier:

• The Northern Himalayas form a strong and long wall between the Indian subcontinent and the Central and East Asian countries
• They also form climatic, drainage and cultural barriers

Division of Himalayas: The Himalayan Division

The division of the Northern Himalayas (Himalayan Division)  is based on relief, alignment of ranges and other geomorphological features

• Kashmir or North-Western Himalayas

• Himachal HimalayasHimalayas and Uttarakhand Himalayas

• Darjeeling and Sikkim Himalayas

• Arunachal Himalayas

• Eastern Hills and Mountains

Kashmir or North-Western Himalayas: 

• The Kashmir or North-Western Himalayas consists of a number of ranges like the Karakoram range, the Ladakh range, Zaskar and Pir Panjal

• The cold desert is situated in its northeastern part between the Greater Himalayas and the Karakoram range

• The Kashmir valley lies between the Great Himalaya and Pir Panjal range

• Important glaciers of south Asia such as the Baltoro and Siachen are found in this range

• It is famous for Karewa formations, which are useful for the cultivation of Zafran, a local variety of saffron

• Important Passes of this region: Zoji La on the Great Himalayas, Banihal on the Pir Panjal, Photu La on the Zaskar and Khardung La on the Ladakh range

• Important freshwater lakes such as Dal and Wular and saltwater lakes such as Pangong Tso and Tso Moriri are also in this region
• The Indus river drains this region, along with its tributaries – Jhelum and Chenab
• This region is known for beautiful scenic features and picturesque landscape and this landscape is an important attraction for adventure tourists
• The Vaishno Devi temple, the Amarnath Cave and the Charar-e-Sharif are important pilgrimage sites that mark this region
• Srinagar, the summer capital of Jammu & Kashmir. is located on the banks of the river Jhelum
• The Jhelum valley of Kashmir is still considered to be in its youth stage. Despite that, it forms meanders, a feature that is typically associated with fluvial landforms in the mature stage of evolution
• The southernmost part consists of “duns” like the Jammu dun and the Pathankot dun. Duns are nothing but longitudinal valleys

Himachal Himalayas and Uttarakhand Himalayas:

• The Himachal Himalayas is bordered by the river Ravi in the west and the river Kali (a tributary of the river Ghaghara) in the east
• It is drained by two major river systems of India namely the Indus and the Ganga
• Tributaries of the Indus: Ravi, Beas and Satluj
• Tributaries of Ganga: Yamuna and Ghaghara
• The Northernmost part of the Himachal Himalayas region  is nothing but an extension of the Ladakh cold desert,  in the Lahaul and Spiti district (Spiti subdivision)
• This region contains peaks from all three Himalayan ranges. From North to South, these are:
  • The Great Himalayan ranges
  • The Lesser Himalayas: also called Dhauladhar and Nagtibha in Himachal Pradesh Uttarakhand respectively
  • The Shiwalik ranges
• The altitude is between 1,000-2,000m
• The Himachal Himalayas were particularly favoured by the British Colonial administration. The British colonial administration has established various areas there like:
  • Famous Hill Stations: Shimla, Dharamshala, Kaosani, Mussoorie
  • Cantonment Towns and Health Resorts: Almora, Mussoorie, Kasauli, Ranikhet and Lansdowne, etc. were developed in this region
• This region is distinguished by two prominent features – the Shiwalik and the Dun formations
  • The Chandigarh-Kalka dun, the Nalagarh dun, the Dehra Dun, the Harike dun and the Kota dun, are examples of some of the most important duns in the region
  • DehraDun is the single largest dun, spanning over a length of 45 kilometres, and a width of 25 kilometres
  • In the Great Himalayan range, the valley is mostly inhabited by Bhotia’s – these are nomadic groups that tend to migrate to the summer grasslands (Bugyals) in the summer, and return to the northern valleys during the winter
• The Valley of Flower is located in this region
•  Gangotri, Yamunotri, Kedarnath, Badrinath and Hemkund Sahib are some of the most important places of pilgrimage that are located in this region
• The Five famous river confluences (Prayags) are also located in this region

Conclusion

The Northern Himalayas includes a series of parallel mountain ranges such as the Greater Himalayan range, which includes the Himalayas and the Shiwalik. With immense tourism potential and sheer beauty of the mountains, the Northern Himalayas add such beauty and richness to India and its culture. It can be fascinating to learn more about the mountain range, or just visit and go on a trek.