The Cambridge History of India, Vol. I: Ancient India v1.c15.93

v1.c15.93

It would be difficult to exaggerate the importance to India of the existence of the great desert of Rājputāna. The ocean to the south-east and south-west of the peninsula was at most times an ample protection against overseas invasion, until the Europeans rounded the Cape of Good Hope. The vast length of the Himālaya, backed by the desert plateau of Tibet, was an equal defence on the north side. Only to the north-west does India lie relatively open to the incursions of the warlike peoples of Western and Central Asia. It is precisely in that direction that the Indian desert presents a waterless void extending north-eastward from the Rann of Cutch, for some 400 miles, with a breadth of 150 miles. In rear of the desert a minor bulwark is constituted by the Arāvalli range.