A History of South India from Prehistoric Times to the Fall of Vijayanagar c7.34

c7.34

The Malabar coast differs from the Konkan in many ways. The ghats recede much farther from the sea and the coastal strip is broader, and the Palghat gap relieves the country from the more or less complete isolation of the Konkan tracts and makes for easy communication with the Carnatic plain. The long, firm coastline of Bombay is lost here and replaced by inlets and backwaters that break across the dividing line of sea and shore creating the beautiful, and also typical, coastal scenery of Malabar. The backwaters, which are elongated parallel to the coast, provide easy and natural communication from north to south. The seaward scarp of the ghats has been opened up for the cultivation of tea, coffee, cardamom and cinchona; and natural forests of great commercial value containing bamboos, blackwood and teak grow with special luxuriance.