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X Welcome IAS Aspirant! Are you looking for IAS books? Find out the recommended Books for CSAT, Books for Pub Ad apart from other books for IAS preparation. [fblike style="button" showfaces="false" verb="like" font="arial"] [tweetmeme]
As I mentioned in the eBook on IAS preparation that map based questions can fetch you 10-15 marks quite easily in the Prelims provided you go through the atlas regularly. But not all books or atlases are equal. I always recommend the Oxford Student Atlas as the best atlas to refer for the civil services exam. As I said in Books for CSAT the Oxford Atlas is very detailed, accurate, has good colour contrast for readability and is the atlas of choice for UPSC as most of the map based questions in Prelims are asked from it. But so many aspirants find it difficult to prepare the atlas. Let me tell you, once you know how to read/see the atlas it will be a fun filled experience and you will actually look forward to exploring it more. So lets get started with preparing the atlas. Ive taken the Oxford Student Atlas as the reference for this guide, so if you have it beforehand it will be really beneficial and this article will make more sense to you. Note: Refer this IAS Preparation Guide to get started with IAS exam preparation.
Indias political map, fine. Or maybe you prefer the world map at a glance, even this is ok. Some people may be curious about the middle east countries, they can find more information about them. So to reaffirm start the way you want to, there are no rules. In this post I will cover the WHAT and HOW of atlas preparation. What to look for and How to look for. If you can master these two aspects youve mastered atlas preparation. Its this simple really.
Hills, Palni Hills etc. If you find it difficult to memorize the names think up some acronym like NPJS (first letters of the mountain ranges) or something of your own. Do the same for mountain ranges in the north-east. Rivers Flow with the Waves Many aspirants find it difficult to tackle questions based on rivers simply because there are so many rivers and different combinations of questions are possible. So you should prepare accordingly. First cover the important rivers of India. Their origin, flowing through which states, major tributaries and where do they meet the main river, place where the river meets the sea (its mouth) and so on. Next also focus on whether the river is east flowing or flowing westwards, understand the chronology of the major rivers from north to south. Also keep an eye on major dams or river disputes in news. For instance the Periyar river which is in focus owing to the Mullaperiyar dam dispute. Also look at the major rivers in a state or region. For instance in J&K, questions have been asked on north-south chronology of Shyok, Zaskar and Spiti. Some aspirants find it difficult to locate these rivers but if you look at the Oxford Atlas closely you can easily locate them. Tributaries of Ganga and Yamuna have been asked many times. When looking at the tributaries look at the left bank and right bank tributaries. That is, taking the flow of the river from west to east in the case of Ganga its major left bank tributaries (those rivers that meet from left) are Yamuna and Son while the major right bank tributaries include Rapti, Gandak and Kosi. Now take the case of the mighty Brahamaputra. Originating from the Mansoravar lake in Himalayas it flows through Tibet where it is known as the Tsangpo (pronounced Sangpo) and enters India in Arunachal Pradesh where is called Dihang then continues its journey through Assam and Bangladesh (where its name changes to Jamuna) before meeting the Bay of Bengal. The major towns that lie along its banks include Guwahati and Dibrugarh. Notice how I traced its origin, flow, different names, and major towns. Do the same for other important rivers. While on the topic of rivers locate the major dams on rivers. For example Govind Sagar dam on Satluj, Hirakud dam on Mahanadi and so on. Apart from rivers and dams also locate the important lakes on the map. Understanding Mountains and Glaciers Although Ive told to understand the north-south and west-east chronology of mountains, lets look at the mountain ranges in more detail. The Himalayas are by far the most important mountain ranges in India. They are classified into three parts northern (Greater), middle and eastern (Little). Locate the important mountain peaks like Karakoram, Kanchenjunga, Mt Everest etc. Further, in the northern Himalayas there
are a number of ranges like Karakoram, Ladakh, Zaskar, Dhaoladhar Shivalik, and Pir Panjal. Arrange them from north to south. Do the same for other groups of mountain ranges. Then in the northern Himalayas there are number of glaciers with their length indicated. Find out the biggest ones and determine their north-south chronology. While in the topic of mountains lets take a look at national parks. Although important national parks and wildlife and bird sanctuaries are indicated, not all are listed. And the reason is not too difficult to find out. With over 500 sanctuaries and national parks it is not possible to list all. Further the list is dynamic. New ones are getting added all the time. So you will find only the most prominent national parks and sanctuaries listed on the atlas. Find the location of all. If you want to know about more parks and sanctuaries look up on the internet or the Manorama Year Book. Finally, determine the important mountain passes and the states they are situated. Some prominent ones include Shipki La, Jelep La, Khardung La, Lipu Lekh, and Chang La.
Your curiosity is the key here. The more youre curious to know about places and things the more you can gain from the atlas. For instance the Adams Bridge lies in the Palk Bay in the Gulf of Mannar and not the Palk Strait. A question related to this was asked a few years back in the Prelims and candidates who werent aware chose Palk Strait which is obviously incorrect. The more often you go through the atlas the more places and facts you will discover. Keep discovering. Similarly locate the important ports along the east and west coasts. As you might now there are separate maps for waterways, highways, railway zones in the Oxford Atlas which is what makes it so useful for the prelims.