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The Early History of the Deccan (Parts I–XI) v1: Volume 1

The Early History of the Deccan (Parts I–XI) v1

Language
English

Contents

Volume 1

Front matter

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LAKSHMI BOOK STORE 42, Janpath Market, NEW DELHI Phone: 40061

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THE

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THE DECCAN

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PARTS I-VI

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THE DECCAN

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PARTS I-VI

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EDITED BY G. YAZDANI M.A., LITT.D., O.B.E.

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PUBLISHED UNDER THE AUTHORITY OF THE GOVERNMENT OF ANDHRA PRADESH BY THE OXFORD UNIVERSITY PRESS LONDON BOMBAY NEW YORK

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OXFORD UNIVERSITY PRESS LONDON

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© Government of Andhra Pradesh, 1960

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PRINTED IN GREAT BRITAIN AT THE UNIVERSITY PRESS, OXFORD BY VIVIAN RIDLER PRINTER TO THE UNIVERSITY

Preface

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IN 1922 appeared the first volume of the *Cambridge History of India*, under the able editorship of the late Professor E. J. Rapson. It was welcomed in India as a model work of its kind, because of the vast scholarship and sound judgement of Professor Rapson and his learned collaborators. A certain group of Indian historians, however, looked at the work with indifference, for their national pride was touched and they thought that the accurate history of a country could be written only by its own people. This view of theirs was in a certain manner proved correct by the subsequent volumes of the *Cambridge History*, which betrayed the prejudiced mind of the editors on the one hand, and their lack of historical vision and penetrating research on the other. As a result of this impression several schemes were drawn up for the compilation and publication of a new comprehensive history of India, to be written from the Indian point of view by Indian scholars. The most notable of these proposals have been the Bharatiya Itihas Parisad Scheme, the Indian History Congress Scheme, and the Aligarh Historical Research Institute Scheme. The last two schemes were united in a single plan only a few years after their formulation, whilst the third, sponsored by the Indian History Congress, has also been amalgamated recently with the reconstituted Bharatiya Itihas Parisad Scheme, the reason for this being that the aims and objects of all three schemes have proved to be substantially the same, that is to promote the production of a comprehensive history of India written from the Indian point of view.

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Simultaneously with the emergence of the three original suggestions for a history of the whole of India, some universities sponsored schemes for the detailed histories of their respective provinces, based upon up-to-date discoveries made by Indian scholars in the fields of Epigraphy and Archaeology, as well as on the interpretation given by them of extant religious texts and contemporary records, and on the correct appreciation of the artistic and iconographic significance of Indian sculpture throughout the period. In this respect Dacca University was the first to publish an authoritative history of Bengal under the able editorship of Dr. R. C. Majumdar. In Hyderabad Professors Haroon Khan Shirwani and 'Ali Yar Khan (now Nawab 'Ali Yavar Jung Bahadur) submitted to the Government a plan for the publication of a comprehensive history of the Deccan in five volumes. This scheme was temporarily shelved by the Government because there was at the time a heavy drain on the finances of the State owing to the outbreak of the Second World War. About the same time Dr. Yazdani independently submitted a note to the late Sir Akbar Hydari, the then President of the Executive Council, in which he described the rich contribution made by the Southern Peninsula to the economic, religious, social, and cultural life of India. He also referred in this note to the abundance of material which is available here in the South in the form of contemporary inscriptions, archaeological monuments, and continuous authoritative histories and documents for a comprehensive history of the Deccan from the earliest period up to modern times. Sir Akbar had appreciated fully the importance of the 'Ali-Shirwani scheme, and after the perusal of Dr. Yazdani's note he advised all three proposers to submit a joint scheme to the Government, and assured them of his strong support when the case should come up before the Executive Council. But shortly afterwards Sir Akbar Hydari retired abruptly from the service of the State and the only source of satisfaction remaining to the sponsors of the joint scheme was that one of them—Nawab 'Ali Yavar Jung Bahadur—was just then appointed to the high post of Secretary to the Government in the Department of Constitutional Affairs, and he thereupon immediately determined to use all his influence to secure the sanction of the scheme by the Government. The previous objection that owing to War conditions sufficient funds were not available was again raised by the Council when the case came up for decision before them, and it was with great difficulty and only by dint of much patient argument and persistence by Nawab 'Ali Yavar Jung that they finally agreed to sanction the scheme on condition that:

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(i) As a beginning only the compilation of the first volume of the proposed work should be undertaken, the question of the publication of the remaining volumes to be decided after the termination of the war.

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(ii) The cost of the publication should be met from the fixed provisions of such departments as were interested in the scheme and were willing to set apart funds for the purpose.

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The Council further appointed a Board of Editors, consisting first of the sponsors of the scheme who were empowered to co-opt scholars both from within the State and from outside it to collaborate with them. The Council also approved the appointment of Dr. Yazdani as the Editor of the first volume which was to deal with the Ancient period, and also the appointment of Professors Haroon Khan Shirwani and Nawab 'Ali Yavar Jung as Editors of the volumes for the Medieval and Modern periods respectively. These decisions of the Council were later confirmed by a Firman of His Exalted Highness. This First Editorial Board was subsequently enlarged at the recommendation of the Government, the names of Dr. Yusuf Husain Khan, Dr. P. M. Joshi, and Professor Nilakanta Sastri being added to those of the original three members.

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The Education Department, the Osmania University, and the Constitutional Affairs Department made suitable donations from their own budgeted grants to meet the cost of Volume I, as originally estimated, and when these proved inadequate owing to the sudden rise in the prices of printing material and the wages of craftsmen, the Hyderabad State Government and the Osmania University in equal shares made good the difference between the original estimate and the revised estimate received from the Oxford University Press, to whom the printing of the volume was entrusted.

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The Editorial Board, in pursuance of the principles laid down in the scheme regarding the scope and general arrangement of the book, have allowed Dr. Yazdani, the Editor of the present volume, to consult well-known historians both in the Hyderabad State and outside it, and to choose such among them as had already done conspicuous research work on the early ruling dynasties of the Deccan to collaborate with him in the compilation of the volume. In this connexion the Editor would like to acknowledge with thanks the valuable counsels of Professor S. Hanumant Rao of the Nizam College and of the late Professor D. B. Bhandarkar, which were so willingly given and of which full advantage has been taken. Professor Bhandarkar had also agreed to write the chapters on the Pre-Sātavāhanas and Sātavāhanas, but owing to his failing health and subsequent lamented death this undertaking could not be fulfilled. The Editor has been fortunate in securing the co-operation and help of several eminent historians of the country in the execution of the task which lay before him, and the fact that the volume was as thoroughly appreciated as it was by competent authorities with regard to both its general and its particular merits is largely due to the eminent scholars who have each contributed to the volume on subjects pertaining to their own special studies. The reader will notice in the book that the First Part dealing with the Geography of the Deccan is by Professor Hemchandra Raychaudhuri, that the Second Part on Pre-Sātavāhanas and Sātavāhanas has been compiled by Professor Gurty Venket Rao, and that Parts III–VIII on the Vākāṭakas, the Chālukyas of Bādāmi, the Rāshṭrakūṭas, the Chālukyas of Kalyāṇī, the Eastern Chālukyas, and the Yādavas are from the pens of Professor A. S. Altekar and Professor K. A. Nilakanta Sastri respectively. In compiling Part VII, on the Eastern Chālukyas, Professor Nilakanta Sastri has been helped by Dr. N. Venkataramanayya; similarly the latter, who has contributed Part IX on the Kākatīyas, has availed himself of the scholarly assistance of Mr. M. Somasekhara Sarma. Part X, on the Fine Arts of the Deccan, has been written by the Editor himself, and the XIth or concluding part of the volume, which is on the Coins and the Currency System of the Deccan, is by Professor A. S. Altekar, a recognized authority on this subject.

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In describing the ruling dynasties of the Deccan a chronological order has been kept, but as some of these dynasties were contemporary and fought against one another for independence, or for the integrity of their territories, the accounts of some political events have been repeated, a proceeding which was inevitable in following the general plan of the work according to which the histories of these dynasties have each been given separately in special chapters, and not in association.

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The main sources for the history of the period are inscriptions, generally in the form of land-grants for religious and other purposes, in which the virtues and military triumphs of the donors have been recorded often in exaggerated rhetorical terms. Great care, however, has been taken, in gleaning the necessary information, to present an authentic account in each case. Further, notwithstanding the limited nature of the sources, no pains have been spared to compile the history in all its aspects, political, social, religious, cultural, and economic. The reader will find that there are separate sections under these headings in the account of each ruling dynasty.

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The work has been compiled after taking into consideration the requirements both of the serious student and of the general reader; thus an attempt has been made to present a complete picture of all such events as are necessarily included in order to enable the student to acquire a thorough grasp of the subject, whilst minor details and scholastic discussions have generally been omitted. The published views of scholars on controversial points are, however, referred to in footnotes. Further, in a work compiled by several authors it is obviously difficult to maintain a uniformity of style with regard to literary expression, but the general arrangement of the different Parts of the book will be found to be uniform, and in this connexion the Editor has to thank his collaborators for carrying out his suggestions with such meticulous care.

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As far as the transliteration of proper names is concerned, a middle course has been followed. The overburdening of letters by diacritical marks has been avoided as far as practicable and only such symbols have been used as are generally to be found in English historical texts published by learned institutions and academic bodies. The spelling of geographical names follows that given in the *Imperial Gazetteer*, and where new names occur the transliteration system of the Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain and Ireland has been followed. Some authors, in their enthusiastic appreciation of the old names of provinces and towns which have been revived by the Union Government of India since its establishment, have adopted these in their contributions, and thus the reader may find the same place mentioned under different names in the different Parts of the book, particularly in the case of those Parts which had been compiled and finally printed before or after the adoption of the revived nomenclature. Such divergences, however, have been indicated by cross references in the Index.

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The Board much regrets the delay which has occurred in the publication of the book, but the reasons for this have been beyond its control. Interference with the regular course of production has been due to the political disturbance, the change of Government, the setting up of administrative bodies involving more than one departmental reorganization, and last but not least the general financial stringency resulting from all the above causes. But, thanks to the literary enthusiasm and the enlightened views of the successive Governments of Hyderabad, the importance of the work has always been recognized, and through the influence of Nawab ‘Ali Yavar Jung and the judicious handling of the matter by Mr. L. N. Gupta, first in his capacity as Secretary to the Hyderabad Government in the Finance Department, and afterwards as Educational Secretary, the grants which had lapsed were restored and permission to proceed with the work was obtained.

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Part X of the book, on the Fine Arts of the Deccan, was issued in 1952, with a view to meeting the wishes of a large number of the delegates who were to assemble at the annual session of the Indian National Congress in Hyderabad in 1953, and who wanted an authoritative work on the historical and artistic import of the monuments at Ellora, Ajanta, and other places in the State which the delegates desired to visit during their stay. This Part has received a warm welcome in literary circles as well as by the general public, and a second edition has already been issued.

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The printing of the text, the preparation of the half-tone illustrative plates, and the binding of the volume have been done by the University Press at Oxford, and the Editor is grateful to the Printer, and to his expert staff, for executing the work with great care and interest to ensure for the volume the accuracy and artistic effect of a standard book. The index to the volume has been prepared by Miss Dorothy Marshall, and the Editor thanks her for her expert knowledge in performing this onerous task in a scholarly manner.

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G. YAZDANI *Editor*

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Orange Grove Hyderabad-Deccan 31 January 1960

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The text on this page is extremely faint and largely illegible due to the quality of the scan. It appears to be a continuation of a scholarly text, but the specific words cannot be reliably transcribed.

Contents

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PART I. THE GEOGRAPHY OF THE DECCAN; by PROFESSOR HEM-CHANDRA RAYCHAUDHURI, M.A., PH.D., F.R.A.S.B., formerly Carmichael Professor of History, Calcutta University 1

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PART II. THE PRE-SĀTAVĀHANA AND SĀTAVĀHANA PERIODS; by PROFESSOR GURTY VENKET RAO, M.A., LL.B., Head of the Department of History and Politics, Andhra University 65

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PART III. THE VĀKĀṬAKAS; by PROFESSOR A. S. ALTEKAR, M.A., D.LITT., Head of the Department of Ancient Indian History and Culture, Patna University 149

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PART IV. THE CHĀḶUKYAS OF BĀDĀMI; by PROFESSOR K. A. NILAKANTA SASTRI, Head of the Department of Indology, Mysore University, formerly Professor of Ancient Indian History and Archaeology, University of Madras 201

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PART V. THE RĀṢṬRAKŪṬAS; by PROFESSOR A. S. ALTEKAR, M.A., D.LITT., formerly Head of the Department of Ancient Indian History, Hindu University, Benares 247

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PART VI. THE CHĀḶUKYAS OF KALYĀṆI AND THE KALA-CHURIS OF KALYĀṆI; by PROFESSOR K. A. NILAKANTA SASTRI, formerly Professor of Ancient History and Archaeology, University of Madras 315

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PART VII. THE EASTERN CHĀḶUKYAS AND THE CHĀḶUKYAS OF VĒMULAVĀḌA; by PROFESSOR K. A. NILAKANTA SASTRI and DR. N. VENKATARAMANAYYA, M.A., formerly Reader in History, University of Madras 469

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PART VIII. THE YĀDAVAS OF SEUNADĒŚA; by PROFESSOR A. S. ALTEKAR, M.A., D.LITT., Head of the Department of Ancient Indian History and Culture, Patna University 513

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PART IX. THE KĀKATĪYAS OF WARANGAL; by DR. N. VENKATARAMANAYYA, M.A., formerly Reader in History, University of Madras, and SHRI SOMASEKHARA SARMA, M.A. 575

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PART X. THE FINE ARTS OF THE DECCAN: ARCHITECTURE, SCULPTURE, AND PAINTING; by G. YAZDANI, M.A., LITT.D., O.B.E. 715

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PART XI. THE COINAGE OF THE DECCAN; by PROFESSOR A. S. ALTEKAR, M.A., D.LITT., President of the Numismatic Society of India 783

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INDEX

List of Plates

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I (*a*) The hunting scene painted on a rock at Benkal, Hyderabad State (*b*) Cairns with stone circles, Hyderabad State

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II (*a*) The façade of the *chaitya*-cave at Kondāṇe, Bombay State (*b*) The ceiling of the *vihāra*-cave at Kondāṇe, Bombay State

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III (*a*) The *Campeya Jātaka*, Amarāvati, Madras State (*b*) A *Yaksha* and *Yakshiṇi*, the *chaitya*-cave at Beḍsā, Bombay State

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IV (*a*) The dancers, façade of the *chaitya*-cave, Kondāṇe, Bombay State (*b*) The dancers in the same cave

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V (*a*) The dancers, the *chaitya*-cave, Kondāṇe, Bombay State (*b*) The dancers in the same cave

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VI (*a*) The winged animals above the capitals of pillars, Pitalkhorā, Hyderabad State (*b*) The pyramid-shaped parapet, the *chaitya*-cave at Kondāṇe, Bombay State

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VII (*a*) The bell-shaped capital of the pillar, Beḍsā, Bombay State (*b*) The hall of the *chaitya*-cave at Kārle, Bombay State

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VIII (*a*) The carving on the left wall of the veranda, the *chaitya*-cave at Beḍsā, Bombay State (*b*) The hall of the *chaitya*-cave at Kārle, Bombay State

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IX The hall of the *chaitya*-cave XXVI, Ajanta, Hyderabad State

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X (*a*) Pillars of the façade of Cave IV, Ajanta, Hyderabad State (*b*) Pillars of the hall of Cave I, Ajanta, Hyderabad State

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XI The façade of the Do Thāl, Cave XII, Ellora, Hyderabad State

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XII Plan of the Mahārwāḍa, Cave V, Ellora, Hyderabad State

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XIII (*a*) The pot design on the pillars of Cave XII, Ellora, Hyderabad State (*b*) The monolithic temple, Kailāsa, Ellora, Hyderabad State

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XIV (*a*) The back gallery of the Kailāsa, Ellora, Hyderabad State (*b*) Plan of the Dhūmar Lena, Cave XXIX, Ellora, Hyderabad State

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XV (*a*) The Mahādeva Temple at Ittagi, Hyderabad State (*b*) Two temples of Ālampur, Hyderabad State

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XVI (*a*) A temple at Gabbūr, Hyderabad State (*b*) The triangular slabs of the ceiling of the pavilion in the Hyderabad Museum

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XVII (*a*) A pillar of the temple at Pālampet, Hyderabad State (*b*) A pillar of the temple at Pillalmari, Hyderabad State

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XVIII (*a*) Pillars of the temples at Ittagi, Hyderabad State (*b*) A pillar of the same temple

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XIX (*a*) Plan of a temple at Ālampur, Hyderabad State (*b*) Flying figures on a temple at the same place

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XX Plan of the temple at Aundha, Hyderabad State

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XXI (*a*) The temple at Aundha, Hyderabad State. View of the south-eastern half (*b*) The same, western half

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XXII Plan of the temple at Pālampet, Hyderabad State

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XXIII The statue of the donor of the *chaitya*-cave at Kondāṇe, Bombay State

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xxiv (a) A dancing pair, the *chaitya*-cave, Kārle, Bombay State
(b) The same pair reversing in the dance

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xxv (a) The pillars with elephant-riders of the *chaitya*-cave, Kārle, Bombay State
(b) The elephant-riders upon two pillars, the same cave

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xxvi (a) The frieze representing a herdsman with fabulous animals, Amarāvatī, Madras State
(b) Worship of the symbols of the Buddha with the lotus design in the middle, Amarāvatī, Madras State

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xxvii (a) The lotus design on a column at Amarāvatī, Madras State
(b) The lotus design on a column at Ajanta, Hyderabad State

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xxviii (a) A garland issuing from the mouth of a crocodile, dwarfish human figures supporting the garland, Amarāvatī, Madras State
(b) A prince with a horse and two attendant ladies, Amarāvatī, Madras State

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xxix (a) The alms-box of the Buddha, Amarāvatī, Madras State
(b) A representation of the *stupa*, Amarāvatī, Madras State

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xxx The image of the Buddha in the shrine of Cave I, Ajanta, Hyderabad State xxxi The death scene of the Buddha, Cave XXVI, Ajanta, Hyderabad State xxxii The Nāga rājā and the Nāginī, Cave XIX, Ajanta, Hyderabad State xxxiii The Nāga dvarāpālas, Cave XXIII, Ajanta, Hyderabad State xxxiv The façade of Cave XIX, Ajanta, Hyderabad State

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xxxv (a) Four deer with a common head, Cave I, Ajanta, Hyderabad State
(b) Bhairava in Cave XXIX, Ellora, Hyderabad State

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xxxvi (a) The flying figures of the temple at Aihole, Bombay State
(b) The river-goddess, Cave XXI, Ellora, Hyderabad State

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xxxvii (a) A goddess in Cave VII, Aurangābād, Hyderabad State
(b) A Jain image, Sālār Jung Collection, Hyderabad State

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xxxviii (a) The Jain image in the Hyderabad Museum
(b) The figure of a dancer, Ramappa temple, Hyderabad State

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xxxix (a) The figure of a dancer, Ramappa temple, Hyderabad State
(b) Another dancer, the same temple

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xl (a) A Nāginī, Ramappa temple, Hyderabad State
(b) A *Yakshiṇī*, the temple at Peḍampet, Hyderabad State

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xli (a) Figures of Śiva, Panchīśvara Temple, Pāngul, Hyderabad State
(b) The figure of Gaṇeśa, the same temple

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xlii (a) Lakshmī as lamp-bearer, Hyderabad Museum
(b) A rājā worshipping the Bodhi-tree, Cave X, Ajanta, Hyderabad State

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xliii (a) The dance scene, Cave X, Ajanta, Hyderabad State
(b) The six-tusked elephant (Shaḍ-Danta) with his herd, Cave X, Ajanta

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xliv The Shaḍ-Danta Jātaka, Cave X, Ajanta, Hyderabad State

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xlv The six-tusked elephant under a banyan tree, Cave X, Ajanta, Hyderabad State

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xlvi Mother and child before the Buddha, Cave XVII, Ajanta, Hyderabad State xlvii Prince Siddharta (or the Bodhisattva Padmapāṇi), Cave I, Ajanta, Hyderabad State

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xlviii (a) The pose of a lady, Cave I, Ajanta, Hyderabad State
(b) The Black Princess, the same cave

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XLIX (a) Decorative motifs, ceiling of Cave I, Ajanta, Hyderabad State
(b) Figure of an *Arhat*, Cave II, Ajanta

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L (a) The panel representing animal figures, Cave XVII, Ajanta, Hyderabad State
(b) The merry-makers on the door-frame of the same cave

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LI (a) The avaricious Brāhman, Jujaka, Cave XVII, Ajanta, Hyderabad State
(b) The round Pavilion, Cave XVI, Ajanta

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LII (a) Śiva and Pārvatī, Cave III, Bādāmi, Bombay State
(b) A Brahmanic deity in the act of adoration, Kailāsa, Ellora, Hyderabad State

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LIII (a) A battle scene, Kailāsa, Ellora, Hyderabad State
(b) *Gandharvas*, ceiling of the Indra Sabha, Ellora

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LIV (a) A Bodhisattva, Kondāpur, Hyderabad State
(b) A *Yaksha*, from the same site
(c) Another *Yaksha*, from the same site
(d) Another *Yaksha*, from the same site

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LV (a) Terracotta figure of a lion, Kondāpur, Hyderabad State
(b) Terracotta head of a ram, from the same place
(c) Terracotta figures of a horse and a bull, from the same place.

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LVI Pottery with ornamental designs, Kondāpur, Hyderabad State

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LVII (a) A Bodhisattva, Kondāpur, Hyderabad State
(b) Two heads with long hair curled up in a roll, from the same site

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LVIII (a) Kuvera or some other *Yaksha*, Kondāpur, Hyderabad State
(b) The same, back view
(c) Hāriti (?), Kondāpur, Hyderabad State
(d) The mother goddess, Earth, from the same site

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LIX (a) A dancing pair, the *chaitya*-cave, Kārle, Bombay State
(b) Another pair, the same cave

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LX (a) A dance scene, Cave I, Ajanta, Hyderabad State
(b) Another dance scene, the same cave

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LXI (a) A dance scene, Cave VII, Aurangābād, Hyderabad State
(b) A dancing girl, the temple at Pālampet, Hyderabad State

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LXII Early coins of the Deccan

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LXIII Early coins of the Deccan

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LXIV Early coins of the Deccan

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LXV Early coins of the Deccan Map of the Deccan: Early Period

Abbreviations

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ABI *Annals of the Bhandarkar Institute.* ABORI *Annals of the Bhandarkar Oriental Research Institute, Poona.* AHD *Ancient History of the Deccan* (1920), by G. Jouveau Dubreuil. AI (Ptolemy) McCrindle's *Ancient India as described by Ptolemy*, edited by S. N. Majumdar. AMAI *Ancient and Medieval Architecture of India*, by E. B. Havell. ARASI *Annual Report of the Archaeological Survey of India.* ARE *Annual Report of South Indian Epigraphy.* Arth. Kautilya's *Arthasastra*, English translation by R. Shamasastri. ASI *Archaeological Survey of India.* ASIAR *Archaeological Survey of India, Annual Report.* ASR Do. ASSI *Archaeological Survey of Southern India.* ASWI *Archaeological Survey of Western India.* BG *Bombay Gazetteer.* BK *Bombay-Karnatak.* BRA *Buddhist Remains in Andhra and the History of Andhra between 225 and 610 A.D.*, by K. R. Subrahmanyam. BSAJ *Buddhist Stupas of Amaravati and Jaggayyapeta*, by Dr. Jas. Burgess. CAI *Coins of Ancient India*, by General Sir A. Cunningham. CAGI Cunningham's *Ancient Geography of India*, edited with introduction and notes by Surendranath Majumdar. CBREI *Commerce between the Roman Empire and India*, by E. H. Warmington. CHI *The Cambridge History of India.* CIC *Catalogue of the Indian Coins. Andhras Western Ksatrapas, etc.*, by E. J. Rapson. CL *The Carmichael Lectures, 1918*, by D. R. Bhandarkar. CLAI *Corporate Life in Ancient India*, by R. C. Majumdar. CP *Copper Plate.* CTI *Cave Temples of India*, by Fergusson and Burgess. DHNI *Dynastic History of Northern India*, by H. C. Ray. Dip. *The Dipavamsa*, English translation by Hermann Oldenberg. DKA *Dynasties of the Kali Age*, by Frederick Eden Pargiter. DKD *Dynasties of the Kanarese Districts.* EC *Epigraphia Carnatica.* EHAC *Early History of the Andhra Country*, by K. Gopalachari. EHD *Early History of the Dekkan*, by Ramakrishna Gopal Bhandarkar (3rd edition). EHI *The Early History of India from 600 B.C.*, by V. A. Smith (4th edition). EI *Epigraphia Indica.* GI *Gupta Inscriptions*, edited by Fleet. HAS *Hyderabad Archaeological Series.*

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HIIA: History of Indian and Indonesian Art, by Dr. A. K. Comaraswamy. HISI: Historical Inscriptions of Southern India. HSAD: Historical Sketches of the Ancient Dekhan, by K. V. Subrahmanya Aiyar. IA: Indian Antiquary. IBIWW: Intercourse between India and the Western World from the earliest times to the fall of Rome, by H. G. Rawlinson. IC: Indian Culture. IHQ: Indian Historical Quarterly. IMP: Inscriptions of the Madras Presidency, by Rangachari. INKK: Inscriptions of Northern Karnataka and Kolapur State, by K. G. Kundangar. JAHRS: Journal of the Andhra Historical Research Society. JASB: Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bengal. JBBRAS: Journal of the Bombay Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society. JBISM: Journal of the Bharat Itihas Sanshodak Mandal, Poona. JBORS: Journal of the Bihar and Orissa Research Society. JGIS: Journal of the Greater India Society. JIH: Journal of Indian History, Trivendrum. JNSI: Journal of the Numismatic Society of India. JRAS: Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society. JTA: Journal of the Telugu Academy. KI: Karnatak Inscriptions, by R. S. Panchamukhi. KKC: Karṇāṭaka Kavi Carita, by R. Narasimhanchar. LR: Local Records (in the Government Oriental Manuscripts Library, Madras). Lüders: ‘A List of Brāhmi Inscriptions from the earliest times to about 400 A.D. with the exception of those of Asoka’, Appendix to Epigraphia Indica, vol. x. Mahā.: The Mahāvaṃśa or the Great Chronicle of Ceylon. English translation by Wilhelm Geiger. MAR: Annual Report of Archaeology, Mysore. MASI: Memoirs of the Archaeological Survey of India. MASR: Mysore Archaeological Survey Reports. MER: Madras Epigraphical Reports. NDI: New Indian Antiquary. NS: New Series. Periplus: The Periplus of the Erythrean Sea (English translation by W. H. Schoff). PHAI: Political History of Ancient India, by Hemachandra Rayachaudhari (3rd edition). QJMS: Quarterly Journal of the Mythic Society, Bangalore. RE: Rock Edict. SI: Select Inscriptions on Indian History and Civilization, by D. C. Sarkar. SIER: South Indian Epigraphy Report. SII: South Indian Inscriptions. SMHD: Sources of the Medieval History of the Deccan, by G. H. Khan. TBG: Tijdschrift voor Indische Taal-, Land-, en Volkenkunde, Batavia Genootschap. ZDMG: Zeitschrift der Deutschen Morgenländischen Gesellschaft.

Part I. Geography of the Deccan

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*by* PROFESSOR HEMCHANDRA RAYCHAUDHURI, M.A., PH.D.

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I Nomenclature and extent; physical aspects—soil and scenery, natural divisions, mountains, forests, lakes and rivers; effect of physical features upon history.

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II The Deccan in scriptural and epic tradition, tribes outside the Aryan pale, early post-Vedic texts, the epics; foreign notices, down to the 2nd century A.D.; some famous *janapadas* (territorial units) of antiquity—Vidarbha, Vatsagulma, Bhogavardhana, Mūlaka, Aśmaka (Assaka, Asaka), Rishika (Asika), Andhra (Trilinga, Veṅgī), Kaliṅga, Aparānta, Koṅkaṇa, Mahārāṣṭra, and Karṇāṭa (Kuntala).

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III Principal administrative divisions from the rise of the Sātavāhanas to the thirteenth century A.D., *deśa*, *maṇḍala* and minor subdivisions, *bhukti*, and *viṣaya*; the decimal and allied systems in administrative divisions.

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IV Cities and emporia; some royal seats of the post-Sātavāhana period.

Nomenclature and Extent

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THE name Deccan as used in the following pages designates the historic land in peninsular India that stretches from the Sahyādriparvat, also called the Sātmāla, Chāndor, Ajanta, or Indhyādri range, and the expanse of hill and plateau that connects it with Mahendragiri, and forms the watershed between the Mahānadi and the Godāvarī in the north, to the Kṛṣṇā and the Tuṅgabhadrā in the south, and from the Arabian Sea in the west to the Bay of Bengal in the east. The area described above lies roughly between 13° 59' and 20° 33' north latitude and 72° 54' and 84° 26' east longitude. The territory included within it embraces the Marāṭhā- and Kanarese-speaking districts of the Bombay Presidency, the state of Hyderabad with the southern part of Berār, some adjoining tracts of the Central Provinces, and portions of Orissa and the Madras Presidency lying between Mahendragiri and the Kṛṣṇā. The total area may be put at nearly 200,000 square miles with a population of about 40 millions.

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The expression Deccan is a corruption of the Sanskrit word *Dakṣiṇa* which means ‘right hand’ or ‘the south’. The name is familiar to Indian literature and inscriptions, and is also found in the *Periplus of the Erythraean Sea*, written by a Greek mariner of the first century A.D. Fa Hien in the fifth century refers to it as ‘Ta-Thsin’. Other variants of the name are Dākṣiṇātya and Dakṣiṇāśā. But the most popular designation of the region in classical Sanskrit literature and inscriptions is Dakṣiṇāpatha.

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From early times the name has been used in different senses. In its broadest application it comprises the whole of India between the southern sea and the Vindhyas—*dakṣiṇasya samudrasya tathā Vindhyasya chāntare*. This connotation is known to the *Bharata Nāṭya Śāstra*¹ and the *Bhuvanakosha* of the *Purāṇas*. The *Matsya Purāṇa*² carried the northern limit to Kāruṣa which occupied the hill country enclosing the Kaimur spur of the eastern Vindhyas. The Pāli *Jatakas* stretch it to Avanti close to the western Vindhyas, while the *Petavatthu* commentary includes within the Deccan the Damiḷa-viṣaya or Tamil country in the far south.³ Harishena, the panegyrist of Samudra Gupta, includes within Dakṣiṇāpatha all the territory from the Mahānadi valley to Kāñchi. The uncertainty regarding the location of Mahākāntāra which he enumerates among territories in the south makes it difficult to determine the exact northern limit of the Deccan as understood by him. The *Kāvya-mīmāṃsā* of Rājaśekhara places Dakṣiṇāpatha beyond Māhishmati and the Narmadā. The definition of the term in the later Chālukya records—setu Narmadā madhyam... Dakshiṇāpatham, ‘from Adam’s Bridge to the Nerbudda stretches the Deccan’—is not fundamentally different.

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¹ xiv, 39.

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² 114, 46-8.

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³ Malalasekera, *Dictionary of Pāli Proper Names*, i, 1050-1.

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In a much earlier age, namely, the first century A.D., the Periplus uses the term ‘Dachinabades’, that is, Dakshiṇāpatha, to signify the region beyond ‘Barygaza’, that is, Broach on the Narmadā. From this area ‘Damirica’, that is, the Tamil country, seems, however, to be excluded. We are told that ‘beyond Barygaza the adjoining coast extends in a straight line from north to south and so this region is called Dachinabades, for dachanos in the language of the natives means south’. Among market-towns of the region mention is made of Paiṭhaṇ and Tagara (Ter, Thair), now included within the State of Hyderabad. The markets of ‘Damirica’ find separate mention.

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The far south seems also to be excluded by both the famous epics of ancient India. The Rāmāyaṇa distinguishes the Drāviḍas from the Dakshiṇāpatha.¹ In the Mahābhārata Sahadeva, one of the heroes, is said to have proceeded to Dakshiṇāpatha after vanquishing the king of the Pāṇḍyas in the extreme south of the peninsula. Kishkindhā-guhā (close to the Tuṅgabhadrā) seems at that time to have been on the outskirts of Dakshiṇāpatha² which stretched northwards as far as the borders of the Vidarbha country or Berār.

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¹ ii, 10, 37.

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² ii, 31, 16 ff.

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esha panthā Vidarbhāṇām asau gachchhati Kosalān
ataḥ parañcha deśo’yam dakshiṇe Dakshiṇāpathaḥ

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‘This road leads to Vidarbha (Berār), that one proceeds towards the land of the Kosalas (the Upper Mahānadī valley); beyond them in the southern direction lies Dakshiṇāpatha.’³

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³ iii, 61, 23. The restricted meaning of the term ‘Dākshiṇātya’ is known also to the Bharata nāṭya śāstra, xxiii, 102, where it is distinguished from Andhra, Pulinda, and Dramiḷa.

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The connotation suggested in these passages of the epic is the one we have adopted in the following pages.

Physical Aspects—Soil and Scenery

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Even in its restricted sense the Deccan covers a wide expanse of territory which presents infinite varieties of soil and scenery. Wide downs, rolling plains smiling with harvest, fantastic tors and logans, luxuriant forests, rivers tumbling over precipices and leaping in wild waterfalls, and streams foaming in wild torrents along their rugged rocky beds, combine in one superb panorama the varying aspects of awe and beauty. Gold-bearing rocks and cotton-bearing black soil, alluvial tracts and ravines rich in diamond mines, added to the natural wealth of the country as the Siṅgareni coal-mine does at the present day.

Natural Divisions

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Geographically the country falls into three natural divisions: firstly, an elevated plateau filling the triangular space enclosed by the Sātmāla Hills in the north and the two ranges styled the ghāts in the west and the east that stretch in long lines nearly parallel to the coast and meet in a knot in the Nilgiris; secondly, a narrow strip of territory bounded by the shore of the Arabian Sea and the Western Ghāts and thirdly, a broader expanse of low land between the Bay of Bengal and the Eastern Ghāts.

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The great central upland has an elevation of from 1,000 to 3,000 ft. above the level of the sea with depressions that coincide with the valleys of rivers. It has hills and spurs here and there rising to 2,500 ft., and even to 3,500 ft., and descends by a succession of terraces from the Western Ghāts towards the seaboard of the Presidency of Madras. The plateau is divided into large areas geologically and linguistically distinct. The Godāvarī and its affluent the Mañjrā cut off the trappean region in the north and the west, covered with luxuriant vegetation and largely peopled by Marāṭhās, from the granitic and calcareous country with bare rocks and a sandy soil where Telugus predominate. The south-western part of the plateau with its ‘Dharwarian Rocks’, marked off from Marāṭhwāra by a waving line drawn from Bidar to Kārwār, and from Teliṅgāna by another line running from Bidar to Adoni, constitutes a third area styled Kannaḍa, Karṇāṭa, or Karṇāṭaka where the prevailing language is Kanarese. The name of the region is sometimes derived from the Dravidian words *kār*, ‘black’, and *nāḍu*, ‘country’, that is, the black country, a term that aptly designates the black cotton soil, *kṛiṣṇabhūmikṣetra*, *vikhyāta-kṛiṣṇavarṇa* . . . *viṣaya*, which made this part of the Deccan famous for many ages. The river which watered the land was fittingly termed Kṛiṣṇa, ‘the black’, Kṛiṣṇavarṇā, ‘of black hue’, or Kṛiṣṇaveṇī, ‘with a braid of black hair’.

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The narrow space of lowlands bordering on the Arabian Sea, or Western Ocean as it is called in ancient inscriptions, has a breadth of thirty to sixty miles. It is a rugged country much broken by spurs from the ghāts, intersected by rivulets and indented by creeks and coves. In places it is picturesque, with rocky islets and capes, stretches of palm-fringed sand-beach, rich plots of rice-land, and river-mouths that spread out into broad lake-like estuaries. Ancient harbours and market towns lie scattered along the coast-line. They represented in past ages much of the wealth and strength of India.

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The eastern coast strip is broader than that in the west. The ghāts occasionally throw off spurs which break the seaboard into headlands. The coast-line is on the whole unsheltered and deficient in natural harbours safe for ships of deep draught throughout the year. But it has open roadsteads that afford anchorage. Here, not very far from the mouth of the Kṛiṣṇa, Ptolemy located the point of departure (*Apheterion*) for ships bound for Khryse or Suvarṇabhūmi, the ‘golden lands’ of Trans-Gangetic India and the islands lying scattered in the neighbouring sea. The great rivers of the Deccan, the Godāvarī and the Kṛṣṇā, break through the line of the ghāṭs and form rich deltas which are the granaries of the south (deśam . . . aśesha-sasya-prachura-phala-yutam).

Mountains

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The features of the Deccan are largely determined by its mountain systems. In the west the Western Ghāṭs, one of the seven kulaparvatas, styled Sahyādri by the ancient writers, of which the Sātmāla range in the north, also called Sahyādriparvat, is only a spur, form an almost continuous wall with an elevation of about 4,000 ft. for the greater part of its length. The fortified hill-tops of the Sahyādris played a conspicuous part in the drama of south Indian history. The range is crossed by several passes that serve as the main lines of communication between the tableland behind the ghāṭs and the ports on the western coast.

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The main chain of the Western Ghāṭs throws off a number of spurs that run across the central upland from the west to the east for several miles, and penetrate deep into the interior of the peninsula. They part the great river-basins from one another, and often in ancient times constituted boundary-lines between various janapadas. The most important of these is the belt of hills that separates the valley of the Tapti from that of the Godāvarī and constitutes the northern wall of the Deccan tableland. It derives one of its names, Sahyādriparvat, from the parent range from which it branches off at right angles at a point that lies to the north-west of Nāsik. It is also known as the Chāndor, Sātmāla, Indhyādri, or Ajanta chain. The last name is derived from the famous village in the Bhokardan tāluk of the Aurangābād district, Hyderabad State, which is celebrated for the series of rock-cut Buddhist caves, richly ornamented with fresco paintings, that are regarded as the finest expression of Indian pictorial art during that period. The Ajanta Hills break into isolated peaks and ridges within Yeotmal and lead on to the broad belt of hill and plateau that parts the basin of the Mahānadī from that of the Godāvarī, and finally merges into the Eastern Ghāṭs.

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We have next a spur of the Sahyādris known as the Jālna Hills that extends from the Devagiri or Daulatābād fort to Jālna and then proceeds to Berār. It formed apparently the boundary-line between the ancient janapadas of Bhogavardhana (Bhokardan) and Mūlaka (district round Paiṭhān). It skirts the plateau in one of whose scarps are excavated the famous rock-temples and caves of Ellora.

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A third range, called the Ahmadnagar Hills, of which the Bālāghāṭ chain in the Hyderabad State may be regarded as a continuation, extends from Harischandragaḍh (4,691 ft. above sea-level) on the Sahyādris, to Ahmadnagar and Bhīr and thence to Biloli. It sends off a spur that stretches from Ashti to Gulbarga, forming the watershed between the Godāvarī and the Sīnā, which joins the Bhīmā, the famous northern affluent of the Kṛṣṇa. Pargiter identified it with the Rishyamūka of the Rāmāyaṇa. But this view does not commend itself to all scholars.

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Lastly, we have the Mahādeo Hills which start about ten miles north of Mahābaleshwar and stretch across the whole breadth of the Sātāra District. One of the spurs of this range forms the water-parting between the Kṛṣṇa and its tributary, the Vasnā. To the south of the Mahādeo Hills lay the ancient country of Karahāṭaka, modern Karāḍ, and to its north the famous *vishayas* (districts or *tāluks*) of Pūnaka (Poona) and Paḷayaṭṭhāṇa (Phaḷṭaṇ).

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The series of hills that form the eastern flank of the Deccan plateau and overlook the Bay of Bengal are known as the Eastern Ghāṭs. Under the name of Mahida (Skt. Mahendra) the chain finds mention in the Nāsik eulogy of Gautamīputra Śātakarṇi along with the Sahya (the northern portion of the Western Ghāṭs), Kaṇhagiri (Kṛṣṇagiri), modern Kaṇheri, in the Ṭhāṇa District, and several other hills of the peninsula. It ranks as a *kulaparvata* in the *Purāṇas*, and may be taken to start from Mahendragiri or Mahendrāchala in the Gañjām District and run on to the Kulakkāl Hills, also styled Mahendragiri, in the Tinnevelly District of the Madras Presidency. It does not form an unbroken rampart like the sister range in the west. It is pierced by the Godāvarī, the Kṛṣṇa, and other streams that flow down to the Bay of Bengal. As it runs on to the south in a succession of ranges following the contour of the coast it begins to approach the Sahyādri with which it unites in the knot known as the Nilgiris, the ‘orographical apex’ of the Deccan tableland. The union, however, takes place far beyond the Tuṅgabhadrā-Kṛṣṇa river which marks the southern boundary of our Deccan. Guarding that boundary stand the famous hills of the Raichūr Doāb to which Pargiter applied the name Mālyavat, and other scholars, with greater plausibility, the designation Rishyamūka. But the most famous hill on this frontier lies on the southern side of the Kṛṣṇa, in the Kurnool District of the Madras Presidency. It is the celebrated Śrīśaila mentioned as the southern boundary of the Kākatīya realm of Teliṅgāna in the Hanamkoṇḍa inscription of Rudradeva.

Forests

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The hills and mountains of the Deccan are, especially in the trappean region, often covered with luxuriant vegetation. Primeval forests lie to the east of the Godāvarī. Within the state of Hyderabad vast areas are thickly wooded. It is said of the immense jungle about the Pākhāl Lake in the Waraṅgal District that ‘a squirrel could reach Bhadrāchalam from the neighbourhood of Pākhāl by leaping from tree to tree’. The Malenāḍ, or hill country, near the upper reaches of the Tuṅgabhadrā abounds with ‘giant tree trunks entwined with creepers of pythonic dimensions, whose massive arms are decked with a thousand bright blossoming orchids. Birds of rare plumage flit from bough to bough, bisons and herds of elk browse on rich herbage, and the boom of langur monkeys echoes through the wilds.’ The forests stretching from Bastar along the banks of the Godāvarī to the Seuna country which embraced the Daulatābād area, and part of the Nāsik District, are known from epigraphic records and the Vratakhaṇḍa of Hemādri¹ to be remnants of the famous Daṇḍakāraṇya that covered the face of the valleys of the Godāvarī and the Pampā or the Tuṅgabhadrā in the days of the Rāmāyaṇa. The Cintra Praśasti has a pointed reference to the woodland (vanasthali) on the banks of the Godāvarī. The Tuṅgakāraṇya of the Vana-parva of the Mahābhārata, mentioned after Saptagodāvara,² ‘the seven branches of the Godāvarī’, may have derived its name from the river Tuṅga which rises in the Western Ghāṭs at Gaṅgāmūla in the Varāhaparvata, and unites with the twin stream of the Bhadrā to form the famous Tuṅgabhadrā. In the Sabhāparva of the Great Epic we find mention, in connexion with the southern conquests of Sahadeva, of the Kāntārakas, not far from the banks of the Waingaṅgā (Veṇvātaṭa), probably answering to the Mahākāntāra of the Allahabad Pillar inscription of Samudra Gupta. Bāṇa, writing more than two centuries after the court-poet of Samudra Gupta, refers in his Kādambarī to forests and groves girt by the river Godāvarī, and the lotus lake called Pampā. Yuan Chwang, the Chinese contemporary of Bāṇa, speaks of a jungle infested by troops of murderous highwaymen between the Draviḍa country and Kung-kan-na-pu-lo or Kung-ta-na-pu-lo in the Kanarese area, and a great forest or wilderness, ravaged by wild beasts and harried by bands of robbers, on the way from the last-mentioned country to Mahārāṣṭra. The jungle between Draviḍa and the Kanarese country may be identical with ‘the inaccessible forest stretching to the gates of Śrīparvata’ mentioned in the Taḷagunda inscription of the Kadamba king Kākusthavarman. That between Kung-ta-na-pu-lo and Mahārāṣṭra reminds one of the Mahāṭavi, ‘the great forest’, mentioned by Varāhamihira in his Bṛhat-saṃhitā, between Karṇāṭa and the countries called Chitrakūṭa and Nāsikya (Nāsik).

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¹ Epigraphia Indica, xii, 246; Bhandarkar, EHD, (1928), 247.

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² It may have reference to the ‘seven streams’ of the Godāvarī or to the sapta-Godāvarī pool at Drākshārāma in the Rāmachandrapuram Tāluk of the East Godāvari District. Ep. Ind., xii, 208.

Lakes

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For a territory of the dimensions of the Deccan the number of lakes is not large. Two lakes, namely the Lake of the Five Nymphs (pañchāpsarotaṭaka), associated with Māṇḍakarṇi or Śātakarṇi,³ and the Pampāsaras, apparently the same as Pampāsāgara, the name of which survives in Hampasāgar in the Hūvinahadagalli tāluk, Bellāry District, on the Tuṅgabhadrā, are mentioned in the Rāmāyaṇa. A great lake (mahātaras) in Veṅgi-maṇḍala is mentioned in the Chellūr Plates of Kulottuṅga-Choḍa-deva II¹ and apparently also in the Pīthāpuram inscription of Pṛthvīśvara.² Kielhorn identifies it, as well as the jalam Kaunālam,³ ‘the water of Kunāla’, with the well-known Kolleru or Colair Lake between the rivers Godāvarī and Kṛṣṇā. The lagoon known as the Chilkā Lake (Chilkā-samudra)⁴ and that styled Pulicat lie outside the boundaries of our Deccan. But within the boundaries of the Hyderabad State and elsewhere we have a number of pools artificially dammed up for irrigation and water supply. The most important are the Pākhāl and Rāmappā Lakes in the Waraṅgal District, beside a large number of sāgars or tanks of immense size constructed in the time of the Quṭbshāhī kings and their successors belonging to the house of Aṣaf Jāh. The Pākhāl Lake was built by throwing a dam across the Pākhāl river which here cuts its way between two hills. The great sheet of water covers an area of nearly thirteen square miles. From the lake flows the river Muner, possibly the Maudgalya of a Gārla inscription, which flows into the river Kṛṣṇā. The Rāmappā Lake in the Parkāl tāluk of Karimnagar is famous for the temples that adorn its neighbourhood. They are of the same type as the great temple at Hanamkoṇḍa but more profusely sculptured.

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³ Rāmāyaṇa, iii, 11; Raghuvamśa, xiii, 38.

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¹ Indian Antiquary, xiv, 57; Ep. Ind., vi, 3.

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² Ibid., iv, 51.

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³ Ibid., vi, 6.

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⁴ Ibid., v, 56.

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In the Bombay Presidency the kuṇḍs or holy pools in the bed of the Godāvarī near Nāsik do not deserve the name of lakes. We have in Ahmadnagar the Bhātadi lake on a feeder of the Sinā which is itself an affluent of the Bhīmā. In the Sholāpur District we have a number of artificial lakes at Koregāon, Ashti (near Paṇḍharpur), and Ekruk, only five miles from Sholāpur town.

Rivers

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As the Deccan plateau slopes down eastwards to the Madras seaboard from the long flanking wall of the Western Ghāṭs, all the drainage is from the west to the east. The two main lines of drainage are represented by two great river systems, namely the Godāvarī with its sister streams, and the Kṛṣṇā with its confluents.

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The word Godāvarī literally means ‘granting water or kine’. Crooke thinks that the name is probably a sanskritized form of the original Dravidian term ‘goda’ (Telugu gode), ‘limit’, ‘boundary’, in the sense that it divided two regions of Dakṣiṇāpatha,⁵ apparently the region of trap in the north and the granitic and calcareous country in the south.

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⁵ Hastings, Encyclopaedia of Religion and Ethics, vi, 306.

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The river ranks high among the sacred streams of India. The people of the south call it Gaṅgā or Gautamī Gaṅgā and regard it as equal in holiness to the Bhāgīrathī Gaṅgā that flows through Āryāvarta. A Gautamī-māhātmya forms part of the *Brahma-purāṇa* and testifies to its great sanctity. One of its sources springs from a hill behind the holy spot of Trimbak, Skt. *Tryambaka*, named after the god Śiva. It lies in the Nāsik District about fifty miles from the shore of the Arabian Sea. Here is shown the *Gomukha*, ‘cow’s mouth’, where the water drips from a lofty cliff through a stone cow’s mouth. A larger branch takes its rise in the ridge that joins the Trimbak and Brahma mountains. After passing the holy precincts of Trimbak the river cuts a deep rocky bed through the Ghāṭmātha (hill-top) country and leaps into the famous falls of Gaṅgāpur. It then flows past the sacred city of Nāsik—identified with the Pañchavaṭī of epic tradition—through a succession of masonry pools, styled *kuṇḍs*, much used in ceremonial ablutions. It receives several affluents such as the Kādravā (Kadwā) and the Pravarā before it reaches Paiṭhaṇ, ‘the royal seat’ of Pulumāyi in the second century A.D. It then runs right across the state of Hyderabad receiving on its left bank the Pūrṇā, and on the right the Māñjrā, the Vañjarā of the *Brahma* and Vañjulā of the *Matsya* and *Vāyu Purāṇas*, which forms part of the boundary line between the Marāṭha country and the land of the Telugus. Farther on it is joined by the Prānhitā which conveys the united waters of the Peṅgaṅgā, the Wardhā (Varadā), and the Waingaṅgā (Veṇvā). From this point the river takes a marked south-easterly bend dividing the ancient realm of Chakrakūṭa (Bastar) from Andhra or Teliṅgāna of which Anmakoṇḍa (Hanamkoṇḍa) was the ornament (*Andhrāvanimaṇḍana*). About thirty miles below the confluence of the Prānhitā the Godāvarī receives the Indravatī from the Bastar State. It then passes by Bhadrāchalam, sacred to the memory of the hero of the *Rāmāyaṇa*, and is next joined by the Śabarī, which probably takes its name from one of the primitive tribes mentioned as early as the *Aitareya Brāhmaṇa*. The river now forces its way through the Eastern Ghāṭs and, flowing past Rājahmundry (Rājamahendrapaṭṭaṇa), opens out and forms a series of broad reaches studded with low alluvial islands styled *laṅkās*. The sea is reached by seven branches¹ (*sapta-Godāvarī*) styled the Vāsisṭhī (on the west), Vaiśvāmitrī, Vāmadevī, Gautamī, Bhāradvājī, Ātreyī, and Jāmadagnī. The chief sanctity attaches to the Gautamī branch on the east.

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