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Imperial Gazetteer of India, v. 13, p. 228.

228 HYDER.fÏBÀD SYATE and this gives rise to the necessity of storing water in artificial reservoirs, known as tanks, with which the whole of the Telingana tract is studded. The surface of the country has a general slope from north-west to south-east, the main drainage being in this direction ; the country to the extreme north-west corner near Aurangabad has an average altitude of about 2,ooo feet above sea-level, falling imper- ceptibly to. near 1,200 feet at Raichar and to between 8oo and goo feet near Kurnool. The following are the chief hill and mountain ranges in the State. The Balaghat (bald = ° upper,' ghdl = a `mountain pass') is a range of hills which extends almost east and west from the Biloli. tdluk in the east of Nander District, through Parbhani, till it reaches Ashti, in Bhir District, with a length in Hyderabad of 200 miles and an average width of about 42 miles. A spur of this range branches off through tracts lying between the rivers Sina, Manjra, and Kagna, extending from Ashti in Bhir District through Osmanabad, and terminating in Gulbarga District. A spur of the Balaghat runs between the rivers Godavari and Manjra, and passing southwards from the west of Biloli in Nander District reaches Kaulas in Indûr District. The Sahyâdriparvat runs along the north, from Nirmal in Indûr District in the east, and passing through the District of Parbhani and the province of Berar reaches Ajanta, and proceeding farther in a westerly direction enters the Bombay District of Khandesh. Its total length within the State is about 250 miles, for about loo miles of which it is styled the Aj;anta Hills. Another_ range, known as the Jalna Hills, starts from the Daulatabad fort in Aurangabad District, and proceeds eastward as far as Jalna in the same District, and thence passes into Berar, having a length of 120 miles. The Kandikal Gutta, 50 miles in length, extends from Warangal District in a north-westerly direction through the Chinnûr Idluk of Adilabad District. It is also called the Sirnapalli range. The principal rivers are the GODAVARi and the KISTNA, with their tributaries the TUNGABHADRA, the PTJRNA, the PENGANGA, the MANJRA, the BHYMA, and the Maner. There are, besides these, many other smaller streams, such as the Mûsr, the Windi, the Munair, and others. The Godavari enters the State at Phultamba in Aurangabad District, flows through it and the Districts of Parbhani, Nander, Indûr, and Adilabad for a distance of 500 miles, and changing its course at the north-east corner of Elgandal District, continues in a south-easterly direction for about 170 miles, forming the eastern boundary of El- gandal and Warangal Districts, until at Paranthpalli, in the latter Dis- trict, it enters the Godavari District of Madras. It is joined by the