The Early History of the Deccan (Parts I–XI) v1.c6.s3.t1.2

v1.c6.s3.t1.2

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.