The Deccan Plateau is a plateau encompassing most of Central and Southern India. It lies south of the Indo-Gangetic plain. It is bounded by The Western Ghats in the west, Eastern Ghats in the east, the Nilgiris in the south and the Satpura and Vindhya ranges in the north.
The plateau elevation is about 500m on average. It is composed of black volcanic basalt soil. The chief crop is cotton, however sugarcane, rice and other crops also common.
The name Deccan is anglicized form of of the Prakritdakkhin, itself derived from the Sanskritdakshin, meaning south.
