Number of words: 174

If the Aravallis are one of the oldest geological features, the Gangetic plains are among the  youngest. They started out as a marshy depression running between the Himalayas and an older mountain range called the Vindhyas. Silt brought down by the Ganga and its tributaries began to fill up this hollow and create a fertile alluvial plain. The Ganga changed course repeatedly and shifted southward leaving behind oxbow or curved lakes that can still be seen. Early humans would have seen it all happening. The Ganga continued to drift southward and was arrested only when it nudged into the Vindhyas near Chunar (close to Varanasi). It is the only place in the plains where a hill commands such a view over the river. And that is why the Chunar fort was considered a strategic location in the times of warring kingdoms. It was once said that he who controlled the Chunar fort also controlled the destiny of India!

Excerpted from Page 8 of ‘The Incredible History of the Geography of India’ by Saneev Sanyal