Important Hill Ranges of India

• Aravalli hills
• Vindhyan range
• Satpura range
• Western Ghat
• Eastern Ghat

Aravalli hills

• Aravallis originate in Gujarat (at Palanpur) and extend till Haryana, terminating in the Delhi ridge.
• They are one of the oldest tectonic mountains in the world, with rocks more than 2 billion years old.
• Aravallis are old fold mountain ranges with a maximum extent of 800 km.
• Unlike other fold mountains, they have an average elevation of 400-600m only, with few peaks reaching above 1000m like Mt. Gurushikhar (1722m) and Mt.Abu (1158m).
• They are mainly made up of Dharwar igneous and metamorphic rocks, containing the largest marble deposits in India.
• Rivers Banas, Luni, Sabarmati are born in Aravallis, with Banas being a tributary of Chambal and Luni terminating in the Rann of Kutch.
• Several passes cut through them, especially between Udaipur and Ajmer like Piplighat, Dewair, Desuri, etc.
• They contain several lakes such as Lake Sambhar (largest inland saline water body in India), Lake Dhebar (south of Aravallis), Lake Jaisamand (in the Jaisamand wildlife sanctuary), etc.

Vindhyan range

• These mountains are non-tectonic and were formed due to the downward faulting of the Narmada Rift Valley (NRV) to their south.
• They extend for 1200km from Bharuch in Gujarat to Sasaram in Bihar and are younger than Aravallis and Satpura hills.
• Their average height is in the range of 300-650m and they are made up of older Proterozoic rocks.
• Kimberlite piles (diamond deposits) cut across them.
• They are known by local names such as Panna, Kaimur, Rewa, etc.
• They rise from the NRV as steep, sharp slopes called escarpments, which are well developed in Kaimur and Panna regions.

Satpura range

• Satpura range is a combination of Satpura, Mahadeo, and Maikala hills.
• Satpura hills are tectonic mountains formed about 1.6 billion years ago, running for about 900km as a Horst landform.
• Mahadeo hills lie to the east of Satpura hills, with Pachmarhi being the highest point of the Satpura range, and Dhupgarh (1350m) being the highest peak of Pachmarhi.
• Maikala hills lie to the east of Mahadeo hills, with Amarkantak plateau being a part of the Maikala hills and about 1127m in height.
• The plateau has the drainage systems of Narmada and Son, with drainage into the Bay of Bengal as well as the Arabian sea.
• These hills are mostly situated in the States of Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh.
• These hills are rich in bauxite due to the presence of Gondwana rocks.
• Dhuandhar waterfalls over the Narmada is situated in MP.

Maikal Range	Eastern part of the Satpuras range (MP)
Kaimur Range	Eastern portion of the Vindhya Range in MP, UP & Bihar, Parallel to river son
Mahadeo Range	forms the central part of the Satpura Range, located in MPHighest peak: Dhoopgarh
Ajanta Range	Maharashtra, south of river Tapi, sheltering caves of  world famous paintings of Gupta period
Rajmahal Hills	In Jharkhand made up of lava basaltic rocksPoint of Ganges bifurcation
Garo Khasi Jaintia Hills	Continuous mountain range in Meghalaya
Mikir Hills	a group of hills located to the south of the Kaziranga National Park (Assam) a part of the Karbi Anglong Plateau
Abor Hills	Hills of Arunachal Pradesh, near the border with China, bordered by Mishmi and Miri Hills drained by Dibang River, a tributary of the Brahmaputra
Mishmi Hills	in Arunachal Pradesh with its northern & eastern parts touching  ChinaSituated at the junction of Northeastern Himalaya and Indo-Burma ranges
Patkai Range	Also known as Purvanchal Range, consist of three major hills The Patkai-Bum, the Garo-Khasi-Jaintia, and Lushai Hillssituated on India’s north-eastern border with Burma
Koubru Hill	also known as Mount Koupalu is one of the highest mountains in Manipur, and the abode of the god Lainingthou Koubru and the goddess Kounu in Manipuri mythology.
Mizo Hills (Lushai Hills)	part of the Patkai range in Mizoram and partially in Tripura
Dalma Hills	Located in Jamshedpur, famous for Dalma national park & minerals like iron ore & manganese.
Dhanjori Hills	Jharkhand
Girnar Hills	Gujrat
Baba Budan Giri	Karnataka
Harishchandra	At Pune, acts as a water divide bw Godavari & KrishnaHills made up of lava
Balaghat range	Bw MP & Maharashtra, famous for manganese deposits
Chilpi series	MP
Talcher series	Odisha, rich in bituminous coal
Champion series	Karnataka, Dharawar period, rich in gold (contains kolar mines)
Nilgiri Hills	Referred as Blue mountains, a range of mountains in the westernmost part of Tamil Nadu at the junction of Karnataka and Kerala Hills are separated from the Karnataka plateau to the north by the Moyar River and from the Anaimalai Hills & Palni Hills to the south by the Palghat Gap
Palani Hills	The eastward extension of the Western Ghats rangesadjoin the high Anamalai range on the west, and extend east into the plains of Tamil Nadu
Anamalai Hills	Also known as Elephant Hill, a range of mountains in the Western Ghats in Tamil Nadu and Kerala with the highest peak Anamudi
Cardmom Hills	Part of the southern Western Ghats located in southeast Kerala and southwest Tamil Nadu
Pachamalai Hills	also known as the Pachais, The Eastern Ghats in Tamil Nadu
Parasnath Hill	Parasnath is a mountain peak in the Parasnath Range. It is located towards the eastern end of the Chota Nagpur Plateau in the Giridih district of Jharkhand.