The Early History of the Deccan (Parts I–XI) v1.c6.s3.4

v1.c6.s3.4

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).