Malkala Range

The southern Maikal hills rise between the Narmada basin and the Chhattisgarh plain. Their slopes are covered in forest, including stands of sal, and have been home to Baiga and Gond communities. Baiga cultivators practised a form of shifting cultivation known as bewar, clearing a patch of forest, planting it for a few years and then moving to another site. Farther northeast lies Amarkantak, where the Narmada and Son rise on the high plateau.