Shivaji and His Times c4.s2.2

c4.s2.2

precarious and averages only about 17 inches. Further east again, the S. W. monsoon is nearly spent, but the influence of the N. E. monsoon begins to be felt and the rainfall improves...South of Khandesh, we get the Deccan proper divided into three tracts [running parallel to the Ghats and called] the Dang or Maval to the west, the Transition in the centre, and the Desh, or black-soil plain to the east. The soil, however, is not fertile, and there are ranges of bare rocky hills running east and west, spurs so to speak of the Ghats, which neither store water for cultivation nor attract the rainfall... The Karnatak [i.e., the Dharwar, Belgaum, and Bijapur districts] has a more certain and more copious rainfall and more fertile soil." (Census of India, 1911, vii, pt. I, pp. 4-6.) The western hilly belt is called Dang in the north (i.e., Baglana), Maval in the centre (i.e., the Nasik, Puna and Satara districts), and Mallad in the south (i.e., Karnatak.) The Konkan, on the other hand, is an area of certain and heavy rainfall, with rice for the predominant crop, "and along the sea-coast, wherever there is any soil...a fringe of palms, mango-groves and plantain orchards add to the beauty of the landscape and the wealth of the inhabitants. Thana and Kanara are forest-clad districts." (Ibid.)