A History of South India from Prehistoric Times to the Fall of Vijayanagar c7.13

c7.13

‘South of Bombay the seaward face of the hills is clothed with dense forest, and passes inland from the coast are few. But in the north the interior plateau is approached by several roads, famous in history, from the level coast strip on the western side.’ Notable among these is Trimbak Pass at the source of the Godāvari. Vaitarna, the only considerable river draining into the Arabian Sea across northern Konkan, issues from a point almost opposite to the source of the Godāvari. The sacredness of its source and the importance of its valley made it one of the earliest trade routes between the sea and the north Deccan, and the beauty of the lower reaches of the river attracted to its banks some of the earliest Aryan settlements. The Thal Ghat is another historic pass carrying the road from Bombay to Agra and now the northern branch of the Western railway. Then we have the Pimpri Pass bearing an old route from Sopara and Kalyan to Nasik, and the Nana Pass between Junnar and the Konkan, guarded by Shivner, the fort of Junnar. Bhimsankar at the source of the Bhima river, and Chakan are important historic strongholds in this region. Perhaps the best known of the passes is the Bhor Ghat or Khandala Pass (about 2,000 feet) by which the Bombay-Poona road and the southern branch of the Western railway enter the Deccan; this ancient military road ‘has ever been regarded as the key to the Deccan’ and on or near it lie the historic caves of Kondane, Karle, Bhāja and Bedsa. The Amba Pass carrying the road from Ratnagiri to Kolhapur, and the passes providing less important routes from Vengurla to Belgaum, Karwar to Dharwar, and so on, need not be mentioned. The Shencottah Ghat and the Aramboli Pass form the two southernmost passes providing routes between Travancore and the Pāndya country.