The Rann of Kutch (alternately spelled as Kuchchh) is a large area of

salt marsh A salt marsh or saltmarsh, also known as a coastal salt marsh or a tidal marsh, is a coastal ecosystem in the upper coastal intertidal zone between land and open saltwater or brackish water that is regularly flooded by the tides. It is domin ...

es that span the border between India and Pakistan. It is located in

Gujarat Gujarat (, ) is a state along the western coast of India. Its coastline of about is the longest in the country, most of which lies on the Kathiawar peninsula. Gujarat is the fifth-largest Indian state by area, covering some ; and the ninth ...

(primarily the Kutch district),

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area, the List of countries and dependencies by population, second-most populous ...

, and in Sindh,

Pakistan Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 24 ...

. It is divided into the Great Rann and Little Rann.

Geography

The Rann of Kutch is located mostly in the Indian state of

, specifically Kutch district, for which it is named. Some parts extend into the Pakistani province of Sindh. The word ''Rann'' means "desert". The Rann of Kutch covers around 26,000 square kilometres (10,000 square miles). The Great Rann of Kutch is the larger portion of the Rann. It extends east and west, with the

Thar Desert The Thar Desert, also known as the Great Indian Desert, is an arid region in the north-western part of the Subcontinent that covers an area of and forms a natural boundary between India and Pakistan. It is the world's 20th-largest desert, ...

to the north and the low hills of Kutch to the south. The

Indus River Delta The Indus River Delta ( ur, سندھ ڈیلٹا, sd, سنڌو ٽِڪور), forms where the Indus River flows into the Arabian Sea, mostly in the southern Sindh province of Pakistan with a small portion in the Kutch Region of India. The delta ...

lies to the west in southern Pakistan. The Little Rann of Kutch lies southeast of the Great Rann, and extends southwards to the Gulf of Kutch. Many rivers originating in

Rajasthan Rajasthan (; lit. 'Land of Kings') is a state in northern India. It covers or 10.4 per cent of India's total geographical area. It is the largest Indian state by area and the seventh largest by population. It is on India's northwestern ...

and Gujarat flow into the Rann of Kutch, including the Luni, Bhuki,

Bharud Eknath (IAST: Eka-nātha, Marathi pronunciation: knath (1533–1599), commonly known as Sant Eknath was an Indian Hindu saint, philosopher and poet. He was a devotee of the Hindu deity Vitthal and is a major figure of the Warkari movement. ...

, Nara,

Kharod Kharod is a town and a nagar panchayat in Janjgir-Champa district in the Indian state of Chhattisgarh Chhattisgarh (, ) is a landlocked state in Central India. It is the ninth largest state by area, and with a population of roughly 30 m ...

, Banas,

Saraswati Saraswati ( sa, सरस्वती, ) is the Hindu goddess of knowledge, music, art, speech, wisdom, and learning. She is one of the Tridevi, along with the goddesses Lakshmi and Parvati. The earliest known mention of Saraswati as a g ...

, Rupen, Bambhan, and Machchhu.

Kori Creek The Kori Creek is a tidal creek in the Kutch region of the Indian state of Gujarat. It lies just to the west of the Great Rann of Kutch area of India. This region belonging to India is a part of the Indus River Delta, which lies across Guja ...

and Sir Creek, tidal creeks which are part of the Indus River Delta, are located at the western end of the Great Rann. The surface is generally flat and very close to sea level, and most of the Rann floods annually during the monsoon season. There are areas of sandy higher ground, known as ''bet''s or s, which lie two to three metres above flood level. Trees and shrubs grow on the bets, and they provide refuges for wildlife during the annual floods.

Climate

The climate of the ecoregion is subtropical. Temperatures average 44 °C during the hot summer months, and can reach highs of 50 °C. During the winter the temperature can drop to or below freezing. Rainfall is highly seasonal. The Rann of Kutch is dry for most of the year, and rainfall is concentrated in the June to September monsoon season. During the monsoon season, local rainfall and river runoff flood much of the Rann to a depth of 0.5 metres. The waters evaporate during the long dry season, leaving the Rann dry again by the start of the next monsoon season.

Ecology

The Rann of Kutch is the only large flooded grasslands zone in the Indomalayan realm. The area has desert on one side and the sea on the other enables various ecosystems, including

mangroves A mangrove is a shrub or tree that grows in coastal saline or brackish water. The term is also used for tropical coastal vegetation consisting of such species. Mangroves are taxonomically diverse, as a result of convergent evolution in sever ...

and desert vegetation. Its grassland and deserts are home to forms of wildlife that have adapted to its often harsh conditions. These include

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also found else ...

and

endangered An endangered species is a species that is very likely to become extinct in the near future, either worldwide or in a particular political jurisdiction. Endangered species may be at risk due to factors such as habitat loss, poaching and in ...

animal and plant species.

Flora

The predominant vegetation in the Rann of Kutch is grassland and thorn scrub. Common grass species include '' Apluda aristata'', ''

Cenchrus ''Cenchrus'' is a widespread genus of plants in the grass family. Its species are native to many countries in Asia, Africa, Australia, the Americas, and various oceanic islands. Common names include buffelgrasses, sandburs, and sand spur “st ...

'' spp., ''

Pennisetum ''Pennisetum'' is a widespread genus of plants in the grass family, native to tropical and warm temperate regions of the world. They are known commonly as fountaingrasses (fountain grasses).Cymbopogon'' spp., '' Eragrostis'' spp., and '' Elionurus'' spp. Trees are rare except on the bets which rise above the flood zone. The non-native tree '' Prosopis juliflora'' has become established on the bets, and its seed pods provide year-round food for the wild asses.

Fauna

The Rann of Kutch is home to about 50 species of mammals. They include several large herbivores, including

Indian wild ass The Indian wild ass (''Equus hemionus khur''), also called the Indian onager or, in the local Gujarati language, Ghudkhur and Khur, is a subspecies of the onager native to South Asia. It is currently listed as Near Threatened by IUCN. The prev ...

(''Equus hemionus khur''),

chinkara The chinkara (''Gazella bennettii''), also known as the Indian gazelle, is a gazelle species native to Iran, Afghanistan, Pakistan and India. Taxonomy The following six subspecies are considered valid: * Deccan chinkara (''G. b. bennettii ...

(''Gazella bennettii''),

nilgai The nilgai (''Boselaphus tragocamelus'') (, literally meaning "blue cow") is the largest Asian antelope and is ubiquitous across the northern Indian subcontinent. It is the sole member of the genus ''Boselaphus'' and was described by Peter Si ...

(''Boselaphus tragocamelus''), and blackbuck (''Antilope cervicapra''), and the large predators wolf (''Canis lupus''), striped hyena (''Hyaena hyaena''), desert wildcat (''Felis lybica''), and

caracal The caracal (''Caracal caracal'') () is a medium-sized wild cat native to Africa, the Middle East, Central Asia, and arid areas of Pakistan and northwestern India. It is characterised by a robust build, long legs, a short face, long tufted ...

(''Felis caracal''). The Indian wild ass once had a wider distribution but is now limited to the Rann of Kutch. The nilgai and blackbuck are threatened species. There are over 200 bird species in the Rann of Kutch, including the threatened species lesser florican (''Sypheotides indicus'') and

houbara bustard The houbara bustard (''Chlamydotis undulata''), also known as African houbara, is a relatively small bustard native to North Africa, where it lives in arid habitats. The global population is listed as Vulnerable on the IUCN Red List since 2014. ...

(''Chlamydotis undulata''). The seasonal wetlands provide habitat for many water birds, including the demoiselle crane (''Grus virgo'') and lesser flamingo (''Phoeniconaias minor'').

History and culture

The history of the Rann of Kutch began with early

neolithic The Neolithic period, or New Stone Age, is an Old World archaeological period and the final division of the Stone Age. It saw the Neolithic Revolution, a wide-ranging set of developments that appear to have arisen independently in several pa ...

settlements. It was later inhabited by the Indus Valley civilization as well as the Maurya and

Gupta empire The Gupta Empire was an ancient Indian empire which existed from the early 4th century CE to late 6th century CE. At its zenith, from approximately 319 to 467 CE, it covered much of the Indian subcontinent. This period is considered as the Gold ...

s of

Indus Valley Period

The people of the Indus civilization appear to have settled in the Rann of Kutch around 3500 BCE. The Indus city of

Dholavira Dholavira ( gu, ધોળાવીરા) is an archaeological site at Khadirbet in Bhachau Taluka of Kutch District, in the state of Gujarat in western India, which has taken its name from a modern-day village south of it. This village is ...

, the largest Indus site in India, is located in the Rann of Kutch. This city was built on the

Tropic of Cancer The Tropic of Cancer, which is also referred to as the Northern Tropic, is the most northerly circle of latitude on Earth at which the Sun can be directly overhead. This occurs on the June solstice, when the Northern Hemisphere is tilted towa ...

, possibly indicating that Dholavira's inhabitants were skilled in astronomy. Dholavira East Gate

The Rann of Kutch also contained the industrial site of Khirasara, where a warehouse was found. Many Indologists such as A. S. Gaur and Mani Murali hold the view that the Rann of Kutch was, rather than the salt marsh that it is today, a navigable archipelago at the time of the Indus Civilization. The Indus Civilization was known to have an extensive maritime trade system, so it has been proposed by Gaur et al. that there were perhaps ports in the Rann of Kutch.

Imperial Indian Period

The Rann of Kutch was a part of both the Maurya and

Gupta Gupta () is a common surname or last name of Indian origin. It is based on the Sanskrit word गोप्तृ ''goptṛ'', which means 'guardian' or 'protector'. According to historian R. C. Majumdar, the surname ''Gupta'' was adopted by sev ...

empires of India.

Colonial and Modern periods

The Rann of Kutch came under the control of the British Raj, who imposed a ban on salt harvesting. This ban was protested and overturned by Indian activist

Mahatma Gandhi Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi (; ; 2 October 1869 – 30 January 1948), popularly known as Mahatma Gandhi, was an Indian lawyer, anti-colonial nationalist Quote: "... marks Gandhi as a hybrid cosmopolitan figure who transformed ... anti- ...

. More recently, the residents of the Rann of Kutch began holding the Rann Utsav festival, a three-month long carnival, which marks the peak tourist season.

Conservation and protected areas

A 2017 assessment found that 20,946 km², or 76%, of the ecoregion is in protected areas. They include the

Kutch Desert Wildlife Sanctuary Kutch Desert Wildlife Sanctuary is situated in the Great Rann of Kutch, Kutch district, Gujarat, India. It was declared a sanctuary in February 1986. It is the largest Wildlife Sanctuary in India areawise. It is one of the largest seasonal sal ...

(7506.22 km²), which was established in 1986 and covers much of the Great Rann, and the

Indian Wild Ass Sanctuary Indian Wild Ass Sanctuary also known as the Wild Ass Wildlife Sanctuary is located in the Little Rann of Kutch in the Gujarat state of India. It is spread over an area of 4954 km². The wildlife sanctuary was established in 1972 and came u ...

(4953.71 km²), which was established in 1973 and covers much of the Little Rann.UNEP-WCMC (2020). Protected Area Profile for India from the World Database of Protected Areas, August 2020. Available at: www.protectedplanet.net Pakistan's Rann of Kutch Wildlife Sanctuary protects the northern portion of the Great Rann and adjacent Thar Desert.

References

External links

Quick run to the Rann
. Rann of Kutch, TPTC Blog *
Global Species : Ecoregion : Rann of Kutch seasonal salt marsh
- Kuch Tour Guide {{Coord, 24, 05, 11, N, 70, 38, 16, E, display=title, region:IN_type:waterbody_source:nlwiki Indomalayan ecoregions Flooded grasslands and savannas Ecoregions of India Ecoregions of Asia Ecoregions of Pakistan Geography of Kutch district Geography of Sindh