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Indian subcontinent
Physiographical region in southern Asia

The Indian subcontinent is a physiographic region of Asia below the Himalayas which projects into the Indian Ocean between the Bay of Bengal to the east and the Arabian Sea to the west. It is now divided between Bangladesh, India, and Pakistan. Although the terms "Indian subcontinent" and "South Asia" are often also used interchangeably to denote a wider region which includes, in addition, Bhutan, the Maldives, Nepal and Sri Lanka, the "Indian subcontinent" is more of a geophysical term, whereas "South Asia" is more geopolitical. "South Asia" frequently also includes Afghanistan, which is not considered part of the subcontinent even in extended usage.

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Name

Historically, the region surrounding and southeast of the Indus River was often simply referred to as "India" in many historical sources. Even today, historians use this term to denote the entire Indian subcontinent when discussing history up until the era of the British Raj. Over time, however, "India" evolved to refer to a distinct political entity that eventually became a nation-state (today the Republic of India).4

According to the Oxford English Dictionary, the term subcontinent signifies a "subdivision of a continent which has a distinct geographical, political, or cultural identity" and also a "large land mass somewhat smaller than a continent".56 Its use to signify the Indian subcontinent is evidenced from the early twentieth century when most of the territory was either part of the British Empire or allied with them.78 It was a convenient term to refer to the region comprising both British India and the princely states.910

The term has been particularly common in the British Empire and its successors,11 while the term South Asia is the more common usage in Europe and North America as well as in most countries in South Asia itself sometimes.1213 According to historians Sugata Bose and Ayesha Jalal, the Indian subcontinent has come to be known as South Asia "in more recent and neutral parlance".14 Indologist Ronald B. Inden argues that the usage of the term South Asia is becoming more widespread since it clearly distinguishes the region from East Asia.15 While South Asia, a more accurate term that reflects the region's contemporary political demarcations, is replacing the Indian subcontinent, a term closely linked to the region's colonial heritage, as a cover term, the latter is still widely used in typological studies.1617

Since the Partition of India, citizens of Pakistan (which became independent of British India in 1947) and Bangladesh (which became independent of Pakistan in 1971) often perceive the use of the Indian subcontinent as offensive and suspicious because of the dominant placement of India in the term.18 As such it is being increasingly less used in those countries.19 Meanwhile, many Indian analysts prefer to use the term because of the socio-cultural commonalities of the region.20 The region has also been called the "Asian subcontinent",2122 the "South Asian subcontinent",23242526 as well as "India" or "Greater India" in the classical and pre-modern sense.27282930

The sport of cricket, introduced to the region by the British, is notably popular in India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Nepal and Bangladesh. Within a cricket context, these countries are sometimes referred to simply as the subcontinent e.g. "Australia's tour of the subcontinent".31 The term is also sometimes used adjectivally in cricket e.g. "subcontinental conditions".3233

Physical geography and geology

See also: Indian plate, Geology of India, and Insular India

Physiographically, the Indian subcontinent it is a peninsular region in South Asia delineated by the Himalayas in the north, the Hindu Kush in the west, and the Arakanese in the east.3435 It extends southward into the Indian Ocean with the Arabian Sea to the southwest and the Bay of Bengal to the southeast.3637 Most of this region rests on the Indian Plate and is isolated from the rest of Asia by large mountain barriers.38 Laccadive Islands, Maldives and the Chagos Archipelago are three series of coral atolls, cays and Faroes on the Indian Plate along with the Chagos–Laccadive Ridge, a submarine ridge that was generated by the northern drift of the Indian Plate over the Réunion hotspot during the Cretaceous and early Cenozoic times.394041 The Maldives archipelago rises from a basement of volcanic basalt outpourings from a depth of about 2000 m forming the central part of the ridge between Laccadives and the Great Chagos Bank.42

The Indian Shield which forms the core of the subcontinent, includes several cratons which are some of the oldest remaining parts of the Earth's crust, dating to the Archean over 3 billion years ago. The central-west region is dominated by the Deccan Traps, a vast large igneous province covering 500,000 km2 (200,000 sq mi) formed at the Cretaceous-Paleogene boundary, approximately 66-65 million years ago. The Indo-Gangetic Plain in north is covered by Cenozoic sediments, with the northern, eastern and western terrestrial boundaries of the subcontinent being comprised of orogenic rocks formed during the Himalayas collision.43

The core of the Indian subcontinent was formerly part of Gondwana, a supercontinent formed during the late Neoproterozoic and early Paleozoic, around 650-500 million years ago.44 Gondwana began to break up during the Mesozoic, with Insular India separating from Antarctica 130–120 million years ago45 and Madagascar around 90 million years ago,46 during the Cretaceous. Insular India subsequently drifted northeastwards, colliding with the Eurasian Plate nearly 55 million years ago, during the Eocene, forming the Indian subcontinent. The zone where the Eurasian and Indian subcontinent plates meet remains geologically active, prone to major earthquakes.4748

See also

Notes

References

  1. "Indian subcontinent (noun)", Oxford English Dictionary, Oxford University Press, March 2025, retrieved 31 March 2025, The part of Asia south of the Himalayas which forms a peninsula extending into the Indian Ocean between the Arabian Sea and the Bay of Bengal, now divided between India, Pakistan, and Bangladesh. (subscription required) https://doi.org/10.1093/OED/1205710598 ↩

  2. "Indian subcontinent (noun)", Oxford English Dictionary, Oxford University Press, March 2025, retrieved 31 March 2025, (subsidiary remark) Also used with wider application to include Bhutan, Nepal, Sri Lanka, and the Maldives. The term is roughly equivalent to South Asia, esp. in the wider use, although Indian subcontinent is sometimes considered to be more of a geophysical description, and South Asia more geopolitical. https://doi.org/10.1093/OED/1205710598 ↩

  3. Jim Norwine & Alfonso González, The Third World: states of mind and being, pages 209, Taylor & Francis, 1988, ISBN 0-04-910121-8 Quote: ""The term "South Asia" also signifies the Indian Subcontinent""Raj S. Bhopal, Ethnicity, race, and health in multicultural societies, pages 33, Oxford University Press, 2007, ISBN 0-19-856817-7; Quote: "The term South Asian refers to populations originating from the Indian subcontinent, effectively India, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka;Lucian W. Pye & Mary W. Pye, Asian Power and Politics, pages 133, Harvard University Press, 1985, ISBN 0-674-04979-9 Quote: "The complex culture of the Indian subcontinent, or South Asia, presents a tradition comparable to Confucianism."Mark Juergensmeyer, The Oxford handbook of global religions, pages 465, Oxford University Press US, 2006, ISBN 0-19-513798-1Sugata Bose & Ayesha Jalal, Modern South Asia, page 3, Routledge, 2004, ISBN 0-415-30787-2 /wiki/ISBN_(identifier) ↩

  4. "Indian subcontinent Map, Countries, Population, & History". Encyclopædia Britannica. 20 September 2022. Retrieved 23 August 2023. https://www.britannica.com/place/Indian-subcontinent ↩

  5. Webster's Third New International Dictionary, Unabridged, Merriam-Webster, 2002. Retrieved 6 December 2016; Quote: "a large landmass smaller than a continent; especially: a major subdivision of a continent ! e Indian subcontinent | " http://unabridged.merriam-webster.com/ ↩

  6. "subcontinent - definition of subcontinent in English | Oxford Dictionaries". 20 December 2016. Archived from the original on 20 December 2016. Retrieved 26 September 2024. A large distinguishable part of a continent https://web.archive.org/web/20161220102611/https://en.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/subcontinent ↩

  7. Milton Walter Meyer, South Asia: A Short History of the Subcontinent, pages 1, Adams Littlefield, 1976, ISBN 0-8226-0034-X /wiki/ISBN_(identifier) ↩

  8. Baker Henry D. (1915). British India With Notes On Ceylon Afghanistan And Tibet (1915). p. 401. https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.236168/2015.236168.British-India?view=theater ↩

  9. "subcontinent". Oxford English Dictionary (Online ed.). Oxford University Press. (Subscription or participating institution membership required.) https://www.oed.com/view/Entry/192528 ↩

  10. "Indian subcontinent". Oxford English Dictionary (Online ed.). Oxford University Press. (Subscription or participating institution membership required.) https://www.oed.com/view/Entry/94389 ↩

  11. Milton Walter Meyer, South Asia: A Short History of the Subcontinent, pages 1, Adams Littlefield, 1976, ISBN 0-8226-0034-XJim Norwine & Alfonso González, The Third World: states of mind and being, pages 209, Taylor & Francis, 1988, ISBN 0-04-910121-8Boniface, Brian G.; Christopher P. Cooper (2005). Worldwide destinations: the geography of travel and tourism. Butterworth-Heinemann. ISBN 978-0-7506-5997-0.Judith Schott & Alix Henley, Culture, Religion, and Childbearing in a Multiracial Society, pages 274, Elsevier Health Sciences, 1996, ISBN 0-7506-2050-1Raj S. Bhopal, Ethnicity, race, and health in multicultural societies, pages 33, Oxford University Press, 2007, ISBN 0-19-856817-7Lucian W. Pye & Mary W. Pye, Asian Power and Politics, pages 133, Harvard University Press, 1985, ISBN 0-674-04979-9Mark Juergensmeyer, The Oxford handbook of global religions, pages 465, Oxford University Press US, 2006, ISBN 0-19-513798-1 978-0-7506-5997-0 ↩

  12. Judith Schott & Alix Henley, Culture, Religion, and Childbearing in a Multiracial Society, pages 274, Elsevier Health Sciences, 1996, ISBN 0750620501 /wiki/ISBN_(identifier) ↩

  13. Raj S. Bhopal, Ethnicity, race, and health in multicultural societies, pages 33, Oxford University Press, 2007, ISBN 0198568177 /wiki/ISBN_(identifier) ↩

  14. Bose, Sugata; Jalal, Ayeha (2004) [First published 1998]. Modern South Asia. Routledge. p. 3. ISBN 0415307872. 0415307872 ↩

  15. Ronald B. Inden, Imagining India, page 51, C. Hurst & Co. Publishers, 2000, ISBN 1850655200 /wiki/ISBN_(identifier) ↩

  16. McArthur, Tom (2003). The Oxford Guide to World English. Oxford University Press. p. 309. ISBN 9780198607717. 9780198607717 ↩

  17. Lange, Claudia (2012). "Standards of English in South Asia". In Raymond Hickey (ed.). Standards of English: Codified Varieties around the World. Cambridge University Press. p. 256. ISBN 9781139851213. 9781139851213 ↩

  18. B.H. Farmer, An Introduction to South Asia, page 1, Methuen and Co. Ltd., 1983, ISBN 9780416726008, "The 'Indian sub continent' is a term that certainly recognises the dominant position of India in both area and population. Since the partition of Indian Empire, use of this term becomes offensive to the Pakistanis and the Bangladeshis."Jona Razzaque, Public Interest Environmental Litigation in India, Pakistan, and Bangladesh, page 3, Kluwer Law International, 2004, ISBN 9789041122148 "Yet, because citizens of Pakistan (which was carved out of India in 1947 and has had recurring conflicts with India since then) and of Bangladesh (which became separated from Pakistan by civil war in 1971) might find offensive the dominant placement of India in the term "Indian subcontinent", many scholars today prefer the more recently adopted designation 'South Asia.'"Sushil Mittal and Gene Thursby, Religions of South Asia: An Introduction, page 3, Routledge, 2006, ISBN 9781134593224S K Shah, India and Its Neighbours: Renewed Threats and New Directions, page 26, Vij Books India Pvt Ltd, 2017, ISBN 9789386367501 "Indian analysts, who talk of the Indian sub-continent, wish to keep in mind, in their analyses, the common historical, political, religious and cultural heritage of these three countries. The term sub-continent is used less and less in Pakistan and Bangladesh. The political leadership and the policy-makers in these two countries do not wish to be reminded of this common heritage. Any highlighting of this common heritage by Indian analysts is viewed by them with suspicion—— as indicating a hidden desire to reverse history and undo the 1947 partition." /wiki/ISBN_(identifier) ↩

  19. For example, a history book intended for Pakistani B.A. students by K. Ali uses the term "Indo-Pakistan" instead.[19] ↩

  20. B.H. Farmer, An Introduction to South Asia, page 1, Methuen and Co. Ltd., 1983, ISBN 9780416726008, "The 'Indian sub continent' is a term that certainly recognises the dominant position of India in both area and population. Since the partition of Indian Empire, use of this term becomes offensive to the Pakistanis and the Bangladeshis."Jona Razzaque, Public Interest Environmental Litigation in India, Pakistan, and Bangladesh, page 3, Kluwer Law International, 2004, ISBN 9789041122148 "Yet, because citizens of Pakistan (which was carved out of India in 1947 and has had recurring conflicts with India since then) and of Bangladesh (which became separated from Pakistan by civil war in 1971) might find offensive the dominant placement of India in the term "Indian subcontinent", many scholars today prefer the more recently adopted designation 'South Asia.'"Sushil Mittal and Gene Thursby, Religions of South Asia: An Introduction, page 3, Routledge, 2006, ISBN 9781134593224S K Shah, India and Its Neighbours: Renewed Threats and New Directions, page 26, Vij Books India Pvt Ltd, 2017, ISBN 9789386367501 "Indian analysts, who talk of the Indian sub-continent, wish to keep in mind, in their analyses, the common historical, political, religious and cultural heritage of these three countries. The term sub-continent is used less and less in Pakistan and Bangladesh. The political leadership and the policy-makers in these two countries do not wish to be reminded of this common heritage. Any highlighting of this common heritage by Indian analysts is viewed by them with suspicion—— as indicating a hidden desire to reverse history and undo the 1947 partition." /wiki/ISBN_(identifier) ↩

  21. Crouch, Lizzie; McGrath, Paula (30 March 2014). "Humanity's global battle with mosquitoes". BBC News. Archived from the original on 20 January 2024. https://www.bbc.com/news/health-26724645 ↩

  22. Kronstadt, K. Alan (2011). Terrorist Attacks in Mumbai, India, and Implications for U. S. Interests. DIANE Publishing. p. 7. ISBN 978-1-4379-2953-9. 978-1-4379-2953-9 ↩

  23. Ahmad, Aijazuddin (2009). Geography of the South Asian Subcontinent: A Critical Approach. Concept Publishing Company. ISBN 978-81-8069-568-1. 978-81-8069-568-1 ↩

  24. Ayesha Jalal (2008). Partisans of Allah: Jihad in South Asia. Harvard University Press. p. xiii. ISBN 9780674028012. 9780674028012 ↩

  25. K. D. Kapur, Nuclear Non-proliferation Diplomacy: Nuclear Power Programmes in the Third World, page 365, Lancers Books, 1993, ISBN 9788170950363|Daya Nath Tripathi (ed), Discourse on Indo European Languages and Culture, page 193, Indian Council of Historical Research, 2005, ISBN 9788178271200 /wiki/ISBN_(identifier) ↩

  26. Khan, Muhammad Akram (1 January 2013). What Is Wrong with Islamic Economics?: Analysing the Present State and Future Agenda. Edward Elgar Publishing. ISBN 978-1-78254-415-9. 978-1-78254-415-9 ↩

  27. John McLeod (2002). The history of India. Greenwood Press. p. 1. ISBN 0-313-31459-4. Note: McLeod does not include Afghanistan in the Indian subcontinent or South Asia. 0-313-31459-4 ↩

  28. Jim Norwine & Alfonso González, The Third World: states of mind and being, pages 209, Taylor & Francis, 1988, ISBN 0-04-910121-8 Quote: ""The term "South Asia" also signifies the Indian Subcontinent""Raj S. Bhopal, Ethnicity, race, and health in multicultural societies, pages 33, Oxford University Press, 2007, ISBN 0-19-856817-7; Quote: "The term South Asian refers to populations originating from the Indian subcontinent, effectively India, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka;Lucian W. Pye & Mary W. Pye, Asian Power and Politics, pages 133, Harvard University Press, 1985, ISBN 0-674-04979-9 Quote: "The complex culture of the Indian subcontinent, or South Asia, presents a tradition comparable to Confucianism."Mark Juergensmeyer, The Oxford handbook of global religions, pages 465, Oxford University Press US, 2006, ISBN 0-19-513798-1Sugata Bose & Ayesha Jalal, Modern South Asia, page 3, Routledge, 2004, ISBN 0-415-30787-2 /wiki/ISBN_(identifier) ↩

  29. Mittal, Sushil; Thursby, Gene (18 April 2006). Religions of South Asia: An Introduction. Routledge. p. 3. ISBN 978-1-134-59322-4. 978-1-134-59322-4 ↩

  30. Baker, Kathleen M.; Chapman, Graham P. (11 March 2002). The Changing Geography of Asia. Routledge. p. 10. ISBN 978-1-134-93384-6. 978-1-134-93384-6 ↩

  31. "Khawaja in the subcontinent - unselectable to indispensable". ESPNcricinfo. 10 March 2023. Retrieved 19 September 2024. https://www.espncricinfo.com/story/usman-khawaja-in-the-subcontinent-unselectable-to-indispensable-border-gavaskar-trophy-1362704 ↩

  32. "Subcontinent lessons for Australia's youngsters". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 19 September 2024. https://www.espncricinfo.com/story/subcontinent-lessons-for-australia-s-youngsters-770361 ↩

  33. "A distinctly sub-continental wicket". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 19 September 2024. https://www.espncricinfo.com/story/a-distinctly-sub-continental-wicket-232597 ↩

  34. Baker, Kathleen M.; Chapman, Graham P. (11 March 2002), The Changing Geography of Asia, Routledge, pp. 10–, ISBN 978-1-134-93384-6, This greater India is well defined in terms of topography; it is the Indian sub-continent, hemmed in by the Himalayas on the north, the Hindu Khush in the west and the Arakanese in the east. 978-1-134-93384-6 ↩

  35. Dhavendra Kumar (2012). Genomics and Health in the Developing World. Oxford University Press. pp. 889–890. ISBN 978-0-19-537475-9. 978-0-19-537475-9 ↩

  36. "Indian subcontinent". New Oxford Dictionary of English (ISBN 0-19-860441-6) New York: Oxford University Press, 2001; p. 929: "the part of Asia south of the Himalayas which forms a peninsula extending into the Indian Ocean, between the Arabian Sea and the Bay of Bengal. Historically forming the whole territory of Greater India, the region is now divided into three countries named Bangladesh, India and Pakistan." /wiki/Oxford_Dictionary_of_English ↩

  37. McLeod, John (2002). The history of India. Greenwood Press. p. 2. ISBN 0-313-31459-4. 0-313-31459-4 ↩

  38. Pannell, Clifton W. (2009). "Asia". Encyclopædia Britannica. The paleotectonic evolution of Asia terminated some 50 million years ago as a result of the collision of the Indian subcontinent with Eurasia. Asia's subsequent neotectonic development has largely disrupted the continents pre-existing fabric. The neotectonic units of Asia are Stable Asia, the Arabian and Indian cratons, the Alpide plate boundary zone (along which the Arabian and Indian platforms have collided with the Eurasian continental plate), and the island arcs and marginal basins. https://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/38479/Asia ↩

  39. E. Bredow, R. Gassmöller, J. Dannberg and B. Steinberger, Geodynamic Models of Plume-Ridge Interaction in the Indian Ocean and its Effect on the Crustal Thickness of the Réunion Hotspot Track (abstract), Astrophysics Data System (ADS), Harvard–Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics https://ui.adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2016AGUFM.T13C2734B/abstract ↩

  40. T.R. McClanahan, C.R.C. Sheppard and D.O. Obura, Coral Reefs of the Indian Ocean: Their Ecology and Conservation, page 327, Oxford University Press, 2000, ISBN 9780195352177 /wiki/ISBN_(identifier) ↩

  41. Rudie H. Kuiter and Timothy Godfrey, Fishes of the Maldives – Indian Ocean, page 1, Atoll Editions, 2014, ISBN 9781876410971 /wiki/ISBN_(identifier) ↩

  42. Rudie H. Kuiter and Timothy Godfrey, Fishes of the Maldives – Indian Ocean, page 1, Atoll Editions, 2014, ISBN 9781876410971 /wiki/ISBN_(identifier) ↩

  43. Fareeduddin; Pant, N.C.; Gupta, Saibal; Chakraborty, Partha; Sensarma, Sarajit; Jain, A.K.; Prasad, G.V.R.; Srivastava, Pradeep; Rajan, S.; Tiwari, V. M. (1 March 2020). "The Geodynamic Evolution of the Indian Subcontinent- An Introduction". Episodes. 43 (1): 7–18. doi:10.18814/epiiugs/2020/020001. ISSN 0705-3797. http://www.episodes.org/journal/view.html?doi=10.18814/epiiugs/2020/020001 ↩

  44. Vérard, Christian (28 May 2021). "888–444 Ma Global Plate Tectonic Reconstruction With Emphasis on the Formation of Gondwana". Frontiers in Earth Science. 9. doi:10.3389/feart.2021.666153. ISSN 2296-6463.{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: unflagged free DOI (link) https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/feart.2021.666153/full ↩

  45. Gaina, Carmen; Müller, R. Dietmar; Brown, Belinda; Ishihara, Takemi; Ivanov, Sergey (July 2007). "Breakup and early seafloor spreading between India and Antarctica". Geophysical Journal International. 170 (1). Oxford Academic: 151–169. Bibcode:2007GeoJI.170..151G. doi:10.1111/j.1365-246X.2007.03450.x. https://doi.org/10.1111%2Fj.1365-246X.2007.03450.x ↩

  46. Torsvik, T.H.; Tucker, R.D.; Ashwal, L.D.; Carter, L.M.; Jamtveit, B.; Vidyadharan, K.T.; Venkataramana, P. (October 2000). "Late Cretaceous India-Madagascar fit and timing of break-up related magmatism". Terra Nova. 12 (5): 220–224. Bibcode:2000TeNov..12..220T. doi:10.1046/j.1365-3121.2000.00300.x. ISSN 0954-4879. S2CID 128896193. http://doi.wiley.com/10.1046/j.1365-3121.2000.00300.x ↩

  47. Bethany D. Rinard Hinga (2015). "Eurasian Plate". Ring of Fire: An Encyclopedia of the Pacific Rim's Earthquakes, Tsunamis, and Volcanoes. ABC-CLIO. pp. 89–90. ISBN 978-1-61069-297-7. 978-1-61069-297-7 ↩

  48. Alexander E. Gates; David Ritchie (2006). Encyclopedia of Earthquakes and Volcanoes. Infobase. pp. 116–118. ISBN 978-0-8160-7270-5. 978-0-8160-7270-5 ↩