ABSTRACT
This chapter explores the layered narrative of the region’s history through the lens of growing water management systems, uncovering its changing layout from a dynastic capital to a garrison town in response to the shifting politics of the Deccan. The sites’ location along the Dakshinapatha, a corridor of connectivity linking the northern plains with the Deccan and the south, enabled the flow of people and ideas that shaped its historic landscape. It then examines the politics of patronage as it played out in the Buddhist and Brahmanical caves at Ellora, closing with modern reuse of an abandoned cave cistern with charitable water provision as a driver for its continued use. The Takaswami ashram, established with the express purpose of providing water to the public, is examined in detail as an institution of influence in the region today.
