TAMILNAD UPLANDS

hilly region in central Tamil Nadu state, southern India, extending over an area of about 15,200 sq mi (38,000 sq km) and bounded by the Eastern Ghats on the west, the Sahyadris (Western Ghats) on the south, the Tamilnad Plain on the east, and the Telangana Plateau on the north. In the 4th century BC, the region was known as Tamilagam and was ruled successively by the Cera, Cola, and Pandya kingdoms. A number of temples constructed during the Middle Hindu Period (AD 8001300) became the nuclei of towns such as Vellore, Krishnagiri, Dindigul, Coimbatore, and Erode. The Muslim rule extended from about 1650 to about 1800, when the region came under the domain of the British. The Cauvery, Palar, Vaigai, Tambraparni, and Periyar rivers flow from west to east and drain into the Bay of Bengal. The Cauvery and its tributaries have diversified the terrain, by erosion, into the Tamil Nadu Hills, the CoimbatoreMadurai Uplands, and the Middle Cauvery Valley. The Tamilnad Uplands have an average elevation of 1,485 ft (450 m) in the west, decreasing to about 500 ft in the east. Cauvery Valley is approximately 1,000 ft above sea level. The soils are mostly loamy and clayey. Forests are almost nonexistent; scattered woodlands and scrub are found in the northern upland region. Agriculture is the principal occupation of most of the population; crops include rice, millet, oilseeds, pulse (legumes), cotton, and sugarcane. The region is one of the better developed industrial areas in India and produces textiles, machine tools, and chemicals. There are coffee, tea, cinchona, and cardamom plantations. Iron ore, magnesite, beryl, and zinc are mined. Roads and railways link Madurai, Coimbatore, Salem, Vellore, Dindigul, and Erode.