History of Orissa from the Earliest Times to the British Period v1.c8.13

v1.c8.13

The Bastar State forms a continual boundary of Kaliṅga Proper, now represented by the Vizagapatam district towards the west. To the north-west of that part of the Godāvarī-Kṛṣṇa Doāb, which lies at the foot of the Eastern Ghats, are to be found the districts of Khammamet and Nalgonda of the Nizam's dominions. The country between Bezwada on the Kṛṣṇa and Rājamahendrī on the Godāvarī had been the battlefield between the armies of the North and the South from very ancient times. This part of the country is much more readily accessible from the plateau of the Deccan than any other part of Kaliṅga or Orissa. In this area the net-work of rivers of the Deltas of the Kṛṣṇā and Godāvarī have rendered it extremely fertile and it is very densely populated. The great fortress of Koṇḍaviḍu, near Guntur, to the south of the Kṛṣṇā and Rājamahendri to the north of the Godāvarī have been the sites of numerous battles. Another great fortress, that of Koṇḍapalle, was regarded as the key to the Doāb up to the end of the 18th century.