Chapter - 3: Passes 52
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CHAPTER - 3: PASSES 52 Chapter 3 - Passes Passes, like other geographical features of a region, contribute towards the placement of the trade routes. The frequent movement of people through these passes not only broadens the political horizons but also breaks the isolation of different ways of life and makes a men understand other cultures. A pass is ah opening more or less broad between two mountains, or ranges of mountains. In the past the natural breaks in between the hills served as natural roads (passes) to the traders and merchants in particular and the masses in general. The Konkan is connected with the Desh region by a number of passes which cut across the Sahyadris. The control of these passes was important for every ruler. Forts were the major means of controlling these passes (Map 8). Communication Systems Routes of transportation are to a large extent determined by geography. The topographic barrier presented by the Ghats to East-West movement meant that certain natural passes funneled movement through them. There are innumerable ways up and down the face of the Western Ghats, precipitous though these often are. Such ways range from wood cutter's paths to the main passes. Through these passes several roads linked the Konkan and Desh areas. Similarly there are innumerable routes to cross the divides between the river valleys. These North-South gaps in the divides link the different river valleys with each other. Thus these define two distinct communication systems. The first system includes those passes which run West-East across the Sahyadri. The second system includes the passes which run North-South across the ranges which stretch at right angles to the Sahyadri. In Map 8 a mention has been made of the main passes that connect the Konkan with the Desh. Hence the importance of passes along the Sahyadris as a means of communication between the Konkan and the interior and between different river valleys seems to have been exploited in the Early Historical and Mediaeval periods. One way of determining the lines of communication that existed in ancient or medieval times is to mark the location of caves of Buddhist and Jain sects. It will be observed that the lines 53 joining these sites are very close to the alignment of the later trade routes and still later the established highways. West-East Communication System The Sahyadri range or the Western Ghats runs North to South along the Western edge of the study area thirty to forty-five kilometers in width with average height of 900 to 1200 meters. The crest-line decreases in height from North to South. The mountains are the sites of deep valleys and deep ravines. Lying athwart the course of the South-West monsoon coming from the Arabian sea, the Western ghats bring about a striking difference in rainfall between the regions on their either side (Fig. 11). West of the ghats, the steep edge receives the bulk of the rains, while to the East, on the lee-ward side, is the rain- shadow region where the rainfall is scanty. Denudational surfaces form flat areas separated from the lower surface by a "Ghat" or step which has high gradient. The "stepped" nature of the landscape is infact behind the word "Trapp" which means step in Swedish and the Indian term of Ghat also means step. The passes from the plateau to the coastal region follow the drainage lines. Many of the plateau rivers appear to have a beheaded drainage due to the uplift of the Western ghats and have flat wide valleys right upto their source region. This is certainly the case with the Malsej ghat and Bor ghat. Of these, the Thai, Nane and Bor passes have always been referred to as major routes of communication between the Konkan coast and the plateau. Some other notable passes include the Kondaibari pass in the North connecting an ancient route between Broach and the Desh, Varandha ghat, Vagji ghat, Kumbharli ghat, Amba ghat and Phonda ghat in the South connect the ports to sites like Karhad and Kolhapur (Map 8). As stated earlier the innumerable natural breaks in between the hills served as natural ways (passes) up and down the face of the Western Ghats are often precipitous. Only some of these passes were used by traders and merchants. Some of the features of the major passes are given below:-(Segment 1-7). 54 Table 3.1 - LANDSCAPE DESCRIPTION OF THE PASSES PROFILE GHATS LOWEST PASS PASS ( REAST PLATEAU POINT ELEVATION DESCRIPTION LINE HEIGHT Segment - 1. Morkhada Ghat 300 M 550 M Broad Saucer 250 M 1050 M Dhul Glial 750 M Broad Shallow Jamla Glial 750 M Broad Saucer SaltiGhat 900 M Broad Shallow Amboli Ghat 300 M Deep Narrow- Segment - 2. Shir Ghat 400 M 400 M Deep Narrow Broad 300 M 1200 M Thai Ghat 850 M Shallow Saucer Broad Saucer Malscj Glial 700 M Narrow Shallow NancCihat 750 M Segment - 3. Bor Ghat 600 M 600 M Deep Narrow 600 M 1050 M Segment 4. Vaghli Pass 400 M 650 M Broad Deep Broad 450 M 900 M IjOidi Pass 625 M Deep Saucer Narrow Deep Tamhili Pass 450 M Narrow Deep Broad Varandha Pass 450 M Deep Narrow Deep Mara Pass 400 M Dope Pass 425 M Segment - 5. Ambinali Pass 300 M 800 M Broad Deep Narrow 300 M 900 M Par Pass 750 M Deep Broad Saucer Amhivali Pass 700 M Narrow Deep Thera Pass 650 M Narrow Deep Kumbharli Pass 300 M Broad Shallow Mala 1'ass 750 M Saucer Broad Deep Saucer South Tiura 450 M Shallow Saucer Pass Kimdi Pass 750 M Segment - 6. /Uuba Pass 200 M Nan-el 600 M Broad Deep 250 M 750 M Phonda Glial 625 M Narrow Deep Segment - 7. Amboli Pass 550 M 600 M Narrow Deep 600 M 650 M Ram Glial 600 M Broad Deep Saucer As can be seen in the profile 1, the crest-line decreases in height from North to South. This can be divided into three - the Northern portion, the Central portion and the Southern portions To get a better picture of the dissection of the Sahyadri range this profile has been divided in seven segments It is interesting to see that no major route passes from the area of the first segment of the profile. The second and third profiles have five routes passing through them. The gradient of these profiles shows high altitudes in the middle portion. The average gradient is .0019. Fourth and fifth profiles have seven routes cutting across in East West direction. The average gradient of which is .0039. Sixth and seventh profiles have only one route cutting it in Southwest - Northeast direction. The average gradient of this is .0029. There are 28 main passes traversing in West -East direction. Some of these are very broad and some are very narrow (Table 3.1). From the available historical data it appears that only nine passes were used frequently for trade purposes Traders used passes which were not at a great height and at the same time narrow. The lower pass was not necessarily used. In narrow passes it was easier to 55 provide safety at low cost The selection of passes was also determined by the location of ports and trade centers besides the landscape. As a result of these sometimes broader passes like Borghat, and difficult ones like Naneghat and Kumbharli ghat were also chosen. The Northern most pass used for trade purpose was the 400m high Shirghat, which is deep very narrow, from which the Sanjan - Nasik trade-route passed. The next important pass was 850 m high shallow and broad Thalghat which carried the Sopara- Bahal trade-route Nasik lies near the top of the Thai Ghat proper In ancient times the route from Nasik, whether following the Sher Ghat or the Thai Ghat proper, made its way to the important port of Sopara, lying on the const just North of Bassein and the embouchure of Thane Creek. Naneghat 750 m high narrow shallow, although very steep was the most important pass due to its form, carried the Kalyan-Junnar-Paithan trade- route. This pass has on one side a very steep wall, other side is comparatively low. The deep narrow and 600 m high Borghat linked two ports, Thane and Chaul, to the inland trade-center, Ter. The deep broad Vaghli/Vagji pass which is 650 m high connected the port of Thane to Kolhapur. The caves at Nadsur and Karsamble were situated below the Vagjighat (Cousens, 1891: 1-11). This trade route ran on the Western Ghats. Chaul was linked with Ter via narrow deep 450 in high, Varandha pass. 750 m high narrow and deep Parghat linked the port towns of Chaul and Mandad to Kolhapur. The Parghat ascends to Lohari. Similarly the port towns of Dabhol, Mahad and Harnai were linked to Kolhapur by Kumbharlighat, 300 m high and deep-narrow. Mahad is connected with the Desh region through the Varandha Pass for which Pale is the only outlet to the Konkan in this area. Chaul was connected via Varandha pass with Gomashi and Pale near Mahad, situated on the same river. Chaul must have played the same role in the southern part of North Konkan as played by Sopara and Kalyan in the Northern part. Of these passes we are concerned with viz. the Thai Ghat, which ascends to Nasik; the Naneghat, which ascends to Junnar; and the Bor Ghat which ascends to Karle, the Kumbharlighat, which ascends to Karhad, the Phondaghat, which ascends to Kolhapur, (he Parghat, which ascends to Lohari, the Pimpri Ghat which ascends to Junnar, the Aniba Ghat, which ascends to Kolhapur from Ratnagiri and Amboli Ghat (BISM Vol.