GUJARAT PLAINS

vast plains area of central Gujarat state, western India, extending over about 12,800 square miles (33,000 square km) and bounded by the Arabian Sea on the south, the desert fringe of Rajasthan state on the north, the hills of eastern Gujarat on the east, and the Kathiawar peninsula on the west. It is a projection of the alluvial Sindhu-Ganges Plains sloping from north to south and has an average elevation of about 80 feet (25 m). First settled by Dravidians and later by Aryans, the region was ruled successively in ancient times by Hindu dynasties and Sakas from Bactria. It passed to Muslim rule at the close of the 13th century AD, was later part of the Maratha kingdom, and then came under British control in the 19th century. The plains are the outcome of extensive Pleistocene sedimentation and are drained by the Sabarmati, Mahi, Narmada, Tapi (Tapti), and Ambika rivers. Heavy flooding is common. Black soils occur in the west; elsewhere there are alluvium and sandy loams. Forests consist mostly of acacia and teak. Agriculture is the economic mainstay; about one-sixth of India's cotton and about two-fifths of its tobacco are grown in the plains. Other crops include cereals, peanuts (groundnuts), and oilseeds. Dairy farming is also important. It is one of the most industrially developed areas in the country (after West Bengal and Maharashtra states) and produces textiles, diesel and gasoline engines, pumps, electrical equipment, iron and steel, petrochemicals, pharmaceuticals, cement, and clay building products. Ahmadabad is a centre of the cotton-textile industry; Vadodara has a petroleum refinery and produces petrochemicals.