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There
are seven major mountain ranges in
India :
 Himalayas
, the highest mountain
system in the world, is also one of
the world's youngest mountain ranges.
It extends practically uninterrupted
for the distance of some 2500
kilometers and covers an area about
500,000 sq. kilometers. It contains
the world's highest mountain peak, the
Everest and some ten peaks rising
above 7,500 meters. It appears to
have risen as a result of a collision
between the drifting Indian
(peninsular) plate of South Asia about
50 million years ago. The Himalayas
reached their present heights much
later.
Patkai
and allied mountain ranges
run along the Indo-Bangladesh-Myanmar
border and may collective be called Purvanchal
or eastern mountains.
These ranges forming an arc must have
come into existence along with
Himalayas.
Aravalli
Range in the north-western
India is one of the oldest mountain
systems in the world. The present
Aravalli Range is only a remnant of
the gigantic system that existed in
prehistoric times with several of its
summits rising above the snow line and
nourishing glaciers of stupendous
magnitude which in turn fed many great
rivers.
Vindhyan
Range traverses nearly the
whole width of Peninsular India-a
distance of 1050 kilometers with an
average elevation of 300 meters. The
Vindhyan Range appears to have been
formed by weathered products of the
ancient Aravalli Ranges.
Satpura
Range, another ancient
mountain system , extends for a
distance of 900 kilometers with many
of its peak rising above 1000 meters.
It is triangular in shape, with its
apex at Ratnapuri and two sides
running parallel to the Narmada
and Tapti rivers.
 Sahyadri
, or Western
Ghats
with an average height of
1200 meters, is about 1600 kilometers
long and runs along the western border
of the Deccan Plateau, from the mouth
of the river Tapti to Kanya
Kumari, the southern most point of
India. It overlooks the Arabian Sea,
and catches the full force of monsoon
winds, thus precipitating on the west
Coast.
Eastern Ghats
, bordering the east coast
of India , is cut up by the powerful
rivers into discontinuous blocks of
mountains. In its northern part
between Godavari and Mahanadi
rivers it rises above 1000 meters.
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