The Dynasties of the Kanarese Districts of the Bombay Presidency from the Earliest Historical Times to the Musalman Conquest c10.189

c10.189

LITTLE is known of the territories included in Ahmadnagar Násik and Khándesh previous to the Musalmán invasions at the close of the thirteenth century. The ancient remains, the rock temples of Ajanta, Ellora, of Pátna in the Sátmála hills, of Násik and Junnar with their elaborate carvings and paintings, and the fine old wells and temples which are found throughout these districts and known by the name of Hemádpanti, show that at different periods before the arrival of the Musalmáns the inhabitants had risen to a considerable height of civilization and prosperity. The author of the Periplus (A.D. 247) mentions that Dachanabades that is the Dakhan, from its two cities, Tagara whose site is doubtful and Plithana the modern Paithan on the Godávari, carried on trade with Barygaza or Broach. In Khándesh traditions of the shepherd kings or Gauli rájás, to whom are attributed some old remains, such as a tank hewn out of the solid rock in the Songir fort and the walls of the Turan Mal fort, probably chiefly belong to the Devgiri Yádavs. The old dam to the lake of Turan Mal is attributed to the god Goraknáth. Hiuen Thsang, the Chinese Buddhist pilgrim who visited Maháráshtra early in the seventh century of the Christian era, talks of its great capital near a great river, probably Násik on the Godávari, and its warlike inhabitants governed by a Kshatriya king.