The Thar Desert, also known as the Great Indian Desert, is an
arid region in the north-western part of the
Indian subcontinent that covers an area of 200,000 km2 (77,000 sq mi) in
India and
Pakistan. It is the world's
18th-largest desert, and the world's 9th-largest hot subtropical desert.
About 85% of the Thar Desert is in India, and about 15% is in Pakistan.[3] The Thar Desert is about 4.56% of the total geographical area of India. More than 60% of the desert lies in the Indian state of
Rajasthan; the portion in India also extends into
Gujarat,
Punjab, and
Haryana. The portion in Pakistan extends into the provinces of
Sindh[4] and
Punjab (the portion in the latter province is referred to as the
Cholistan Desert). The
Indo-Gangetic Plain lies to the north, west and northeast of the Thar desert, the
Rann of Kutch lies to its south, and the
Aravali Range borders the desert to the east.
The most recent
paleontological discovery in 2023 from the Thar Desert in India, dating back to 167 million years ago, pertains to a
herbivorous dinosaur group known as
dicraeosaurids. This discovery marks the first of its kind to be unearthed in India and is also the oldest specimen of the group ever recorded in the global
fossil record.[5]
History of desertification
Ice-age desertification
During the
Last Glacial Maximum 20,000 before present, an approximately 2,400,000 square kilometres (930,000 sq mi) ice sheet covered the
Tibetan Plateau,[6][7][8] causing excessive
radiative forcing i.e. the ice in Tibet reflected at least four times more radiation energy per unit area into space than ice at higher
latitudes, which further cooled overlying atmosphere at that time.[9] This impacted the regional climate. Without the
thermal low pressure caused by the heating, there was no
monsoon over the
Indian subcontinent. This lack of monsoon caused
extensive rainfall over the
Sahara, expansion of the Thar Desert, more dust deposited into the
Arabian Sea, a lowering of the
biotic life zones on the Indian subcontinent, and animals responded to this shift in climate with the
Javan rusa deer migrating into India.[10]
Desertification due to drying up of Sarasvati river
4,000 years ago when monsoons diminished even further, the dried-up Harkra become an intermittent river, and the urban Harappan civilisation declined, becoming localized in smaller agricultural communities.[11][c][13][12][14]
Geography
The northeastern part of the Thar Desert lies between the
Aravalli Hills. The desert stretches to Punjab and Haryana in the north, to the
Great Rann of Kutch along the coast, and to the alluvial plains of the
Indus River in the west and northwest. Much of the desert area is covered by huge, shifting sand dunes that receive
sediments from the alluvial plains and the coast. The sand is highly mobile due to the strong winds that rise each year before the onset of the
monsoon. The
Luni River is the only river in the desert.[16] Rainfall is 100 to 500 mm (4 to 20 in) per year, almost all of it between June and September.[3]
Saltwater lakes within the Thar Desert include the
Sambhar, Kuchaman,
Didwana,
Pachpadra, and
Phalodi in Rajasthan and
Kharaghoda in Gujarat. These lakes receive and collect rainwater during monsoon and evaporate during the dry season. The salt comes from the weathering of rocks in the region.[17]
Lithic tools belonging to the prehistoric
Aterian culture of the
Maghreb have been discovered in
Middle Paleolithic deposits in the Thar Desert.[18]
Climate
The climate is arid and subtropical. Average temperature varies with season, and extremes can range from near-freezing in the winter to more than 50 °C in the summer months. Average annual rainfall ranges from 100 to 500 mm, and occurs during the short July-to-September southwest monsoon.[1]
The desert has both a very dry part (the Marusthali region in the west) and a semidesert part (in the east) that has fewer sand dunes and slightly more precipitation.[19]
Desertification control
The soil of the Thar Desert remains dry for much of the year, so it is prone to
wind erosion. High-velocity winds blow soil from the desert, depositing some of it on neighboring fertile lands, and causing
sand dunes within the desert to shift. To counteract this problem, sand dunes are stabilised by first erecting micro
windbreak barriers with scrub material and then by
afforestation of the treated dunes—planting the seedlings of shrubs (such as
phog,
senna, and
castor oil plant) and trees (such as
gum acacia, Prosopis juliflora, and
lebbek tree). The 649-km-long
Indira Gandhi Canal brings fresh water to the Thar Desert.[3] It was built to halt any spreading of the desert into fertile areas.
Some
wildlife species that are fast vanishing in other parts of India are found in the desert in large numbers, including the
blackbuck (Antilope cervicapra),
chinkara (Gazella bennettii), and
Indian wild ass (Equus hemionus khur) in the
Rann of Kutch. This may be partly because they are well adapted to this environment: they are smaller than similar animals that live in other environments, and they are mainly nocturnal. It may also be because
grasslands in this region have not been transformed into cropland as fast as in other regions, and because a local community, the
Bishnois, has made special efforts to protect them.
Other mammals in the Thar Desert include a subspecies of
red fox (Vulpes vulpes pusilla) and the
caracal, and a number of reptiles dwell there too.
The
Indian peafowl is a resident breeder in the Thar region. The peacock is designated as the national bird of India and the provincial bird of the
Punjab (Pakistan). It can be seen sitting on khejri or
pipal trees in villages or Deblina.
The chinkara or Indian gazelle is found across the Thar Desert.
Flora
The natural vegetation of this dry area is classified as
northwestern thorn scrub forest (i.e. small, loosely-scattered patches of greenery).[28][29] The densities and sizes of these green patches increase from west to east, following an increase in rainfall. The primary vegetation of the Thar Desert is composed of trees,
shrubs, and
perennial herb species, including:[30]
The
Thar people are the natives of the area. The Thar Desert is the most widely populated desert in the world, with a population density of 83 people per km2.[21] In India, the inhabitants comprise
Hindus,
Jains,
Sikhs, and
Muslims. In Pakistan, inhabitants include both Muslims and Hindus.[32]
About 40% of the total population of
Rajasthan lives in the Thar Desert.[33] The main occupations of the inhabitants are agriculture and
animal husbandry.
Jodhpur, the largest city in the region, lies in the scrub forest zone at the desert's perimeter.
Bikaner and
Jaisalmer are the largest cities located entirely in the desert.
In the true desert areas, the only sources of water for animals or humans are small, scattered ponds - some that are natural (tobas) and some that are human-made (johads). The persistence of
water scarcity heavily influences life in all areas of the Thar, prompting many inhabitants to adopt a
nomadic lifestyle.[citation needed] Most of the permanent human settlements are located near the two seasonal streams of the Karon-Jhar hills. Potable groundwater is also rare in the Thar Desert. Much of it tastes sour due to dissolved minerals. Potable water is mostly available only deep underground. When wells are dug that happen to yield sweet tasting water, people tend to settle near them, but such wells are difficult and dangerous to dig, sometimes claiming the lives of the well-diggers.[citation needed]
Crowded housing conditions are common in some areas.
The Thar is one of the most heavily populated desert areas in the world with the main occupations of its inhabitants being agriculture and animal husbandry.
P. cineraria wood is reported to contain high calorific value and provide high-quality fuel wood. The lopped branches are good as fencing material. Its roots also encourage
nitrogen fixation, which produces higher crop yields.
Desert safaris on camels have become increasingly popular around Jaisalmer. Domestic and international tourists frequent the desert seeking adventure on camels for one to several days. This
ecotourism industry ranges from cheaper backpacker treks to plush Arabian night-style campsites replete with banquets and cultural performances. During the treks, tourists are able to view the fragile and beautiful ecosystem of the Thar Desert. This form of tourism provides income to many operators and camel owners in Jaisalmer, as well as employment for many camel trekkers in the desert villages nearby. People from various parts of the world come to see the Pushkar ka Mela (Pushkar Fair) and oases.
Camel ride in the Thar Desert near Jaisalmer, India
Sunrise in the desert
Industry
The government of India initiated departmental exploration for oil in 1955 and 1956 in the Jaisalmer area,[37] Oil India Limited discovered natural gas in 1988 in the
Jaisalmer basin.[38]
Jaisalmer State's historical foundations are in the large empire ruled by the Bhati dynasty. The empire stretched from what is now
Ghazni[39] in modern-day Afghanistan to what is
Sialkot,
Lahore and
Rawalpindi in modern-day Pakistan[40] to the region that is
Bhatinda and
Hanumangarh in modern-day India.[41] The empire crumbled over time because of continuous invasions from central Asia. According to Satish Chandra, the Hindu Shahis of Afghanistan made an alliance with the Bhatti rulers of Multhan because they wanted to end the slave raids that were made by the Turkic ruler of Ghazni, but the alliance was broken apart by Alp Tigin in 977 CE. Bhati dominions continued to shift southwards: they ruled Multan, then finally got pushed into Cholistan and Jaisalmer, where Rawal Devaraja built
Dera Rawal / Derawar.[42] Jaisalmer was founded as the new capital in 1156 by
Maharawal Jaisal Singh and the state took its name from the capital. On 11 December 1818 Jaisalmer became a
British protectorate through the
Rajputana Agency.[43][44]
Because the kingdom's main source of income had long been levies on
caravans, its economy suffered after
Bombay became a major port, and sea trade largely replaced trade along the traditional land routes. Maharawals Ranjit Singh and Bairi Sal Singh tried to reverse the economic decline, but the kingdom nevertheless became impoverished. To make matters worse, there was a severe
drought and a resulting
famine from 1895 to 1900, during the reign of Maharawal Salivahan Singh, which caused the widespread loss of the livestock upon which the increasingly agriculturally based kingdom had come to rely.
In 1965 and 1971, population exchanges took place in the Thar between India and Pakistan; 3,500 Muslims shifted from the Indian section of the Thar to Pakistani Thar, whilst thousands of Hindu families also migrated from Pakistani Thar to the Indian section.[45][46][47]
"Contrary to earlier assumptions that a large glacier-fed Himalayan river, identified by some with the mythical Sarasvati, watered the Harappan heartland on the interfluve between the Indus and Ganges basins, we show that only monsoonal-fed rivers were active there during the Holocene."
"Numerous speculations have advanced the idea that the Ghaggar-Hakra fluvial system, at times identified with the lost mythical river of Sarasvati (e.g., 4, 5, 7, 19), was a large glacier fed Himalayan river. Potential sources for this river include the Yamuna River, the Sutlej River, or both rivers. However, the lack of large-scale incision on the interfluve demonstrates that large, glacier-fed rivers did not flow across the Ghaggar-Hakra region during the Holocene
"The present Ghaggar-Hakra valley and its tributary rivers are currently dry or have seasonal flows. Yet rivers were undoubtedly active in this region during the Urban Harappan Phase. We recovered sandy fluvial deposits approximately 5;400 y old at Fort Abbas in Pakistan (SI Text), and recent work (33) on the upper Ghaggar-Hakra interfluve in India also documented Holocene channel sands that are approximately 4;300 y old. On the upper interfluve, fine-grained floodplain deposition continued until the end of the Late Harappan Phase, as recent as 2,900 y ago (33) (Fig. 2B). This widespread fluvial redistribution of sediment suggests that reliable monsoon rains were able to sustain perennial rivers earlier during the Holocene and explains why Harappan settlements flourished along the entire Ghaggar-Hakra system without access to a glacier-fed river."
Valdiya (2013) dispute this, arguing that it was a large perennial river draining the high mountains as late as 3700–2500 years ago.
Giosan et al. (2013) have responded to, and rejected, Valdiya's arguments.
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