Indo-Gangetic Plain

The Indo-Gangetic Plain, also known as the North Indian River Plain, is a fertile plain encompassing northern regions of the Indian subcontinent, including most of northern and eastern India, most of eastern-Pakistan, virtually all of Bangladesh and southern plains of Nepal. Also known as the Indus–Ganga Plain, the region is named after the Indus and the Ganges rivers and encompasses a number of large urban areas. The plain is bound on the north by the Himalayas, which feed its numerous rivers and are the source of the fertile alluvium deposited across the region by the two river systems. The southern edge of the plain is marked by the Deccan Plateau. On the west rises the Iranian Plateau. Many developed cities like Delhi, Dhaka, Kolkata, Lahore, Islamabad and Karachi are located in the Indo-Gangetic Plain. The region is known for the Indus Valley civilization, which was responsible for the birth of ancient culture of the Indian subcontinent. The flat and fertile terrain has facilitated the repeated rise and expansion of various empires, including the Maurya Empire, Kushan Empire, Gupta Empire, Pala Empire, Imperial Kannauj, Dogra Dynasty, Delhi Sultanates, the Mughal Empire and Maratha Empire – all of which had their demographic and political centers in the Indo-Gangetic plain. During the Vedic and Epic eras of Indian history, this region was referred to as "Aryavarta" (Land of the Aryans). According to Manusmṛti (2.22), 'Aryavarta' is "the tract between the Himalaya and the Vindhya ranges, from the Eastern Sea (Bay of Bengal) to the Western Sea (Arabian Sea)". The region is also referred to historically as "Hindustan" or the Land of the Hindus. The name ‘Hindustan’ (हिन्दुस्तान) is Persian; it means literally ‘country of the Hindus/Indians’. Its first member, Hindu (हिन्दु), was borrowed from the Sanskrit word sindhu (सिन्धु) m./f. ‘river’, while stān is a cognate of the Sanskrit word sthāna (स्थान) n. ‘a place’. The term was later used to refer to the whole of the Indian subcontinent.