The Cambridge History of India, Vol. I: Ancient India v1.c15.162

v1.c15.162

The ranges of the Vindhya system with their almost impenetrable forests have in all ages formed the great dividing line between Northern and Southern India. In early Brāhman literature they mark the limits beyond which Āryan civilisation had not yet penetrated, and at the present day the two great regions which they separate continue to offer the most striking contrasts in racial character, in language, and in social institutions. But the Vindhyas can be passed without difficulty at their western and eastern extremities, where lowlands form connecting links with the plains of the Indus and the Ganges. The coastal regions are therefore transitional. They have been more directly affected by movements from the north than the central plateau of the Deccan.