The surface of Ráŕh slopes from the west and the northwest towards the east and the southeast. The courses of the rivers are the same. All the rivers from the Bansh River in the north to the Suvarnarekha in the extreme south follow the same pattern. These east-flowing rivers formed eastern Ráŕh and Samatat, and the silt and sand of these rivers, together with the silt and sand of the Gauṋgá and the Brahmaputra, formed Barendrabhúmi and D́abák. The Kansai and the Keleghai-Suvarnarekha formed the south and the south-east of Midnapore District and the southernmost part of Samatat. Where the Damodar Valley, the Kangsavati Valley and the Suvarnarekha Valley come in closest proximity in the western extremity of Ráŕh, there are some hills (in ancient times mountains) which are the principal watersheds of Ráŕh.

The cultural evaluation of these rivers of Ráŕh will be dealt with later. Let me now speak of their power to create fertility.

In the rock formations of Ráŕh we find all varieties of rock. For example, 1) ancient hard (granitic) rock – this provides us with gold, silver, copper, mercury, mica, manganese, etc.; 2) igneous rock – this provides us quartz and other rocks of certain special kinds; 3) ancient sedimentary rock and mrta prastar [dead rock] – this provides us coal, and sand of high quality. Presumably in the past diamonds were available in small quantities, since in the regions rich in coal, many a village bears the name Hirapur [“a place where diamonds are available”]. The Damodar, the biggest river in Ráŕh, flowed down the course of a kind of rock, and on either bank there was in ancient times a dense forest, thick with tall trees. Those forests underwent gradual changes for a long time and have now turned into coal. In Ráŕh, coal is colloquially called áḿgár (aḿgár in Sanskrit). There is no dearth of villages bearing the name Áḿgárd́ihi in Ráŕh.

There being profuse coal beneath the riverbed, the river is known as Dámodar (dám + udar). In the Sanskrit language dám means “fire”. The river which has dám in its udar [belly], or fire, is the Dámodar.

There is also some coal in the Ajay Valley. We should remember that the existence of this coal depends on the extent of a special kind of rock on the bank of the river. Another noteworthy thing is that the coal-fields are situated in western Ráŕh, as the river-valleys there have an accumulation of coal. Not even one coal-field is to be found in eastern Ráŕh. Western Ráŕh is old, so are its forests. So coal is to be found there. Eastern Ráŕh emerged from under the sea; so in eastern Ráŕh there were no forests to be transformed into coal. However, in all the regions of eastern Ráŕh which were the site of sargasso seas, mineral oil may be available. In ancient times, this abundance of minerals in western Ráŕh helped very much in its economic and social development.

Let me come also to another matter. While the wealth of western Ráŕh is under the ground, the wealth of eastern Ráŕh is above the ground. Land as fertile as that of Burdwan, Hooghly and Howrah [Districts], and East Midnapore and Kandi Sub-divisions, is rare in the world. This is so because of the ancient and medieval sedimentary rock, rich in calcium and other minerals, in the upstream parts of the Damodar and other rivers of Ráŕh. And however much silt and sand carried by the rivers may fall on the surface of the land, in almost all cases there is sticky soil, able to hold water, a little below the surface.

The hills of today in the watershed regions of western Ráŕh, such as Dalma, Bagmundi, Tilabani, Panchakot, Shushunia and Jaychandi, were once lofty mountains. Their melting snow nourished the rivers of Ráŕh. The foothills were covered with dense forests. Because of the high mountains and the forests, rainfall was plentiful in Ráŕh. The rivers were navigable. Because of the forested tablelands on either side of the rivers, soil erosion was little. Ships used to navigate these rivers – not only in ancient times, but also in the middle ages. Not long ago the farmers cultivating their land in the valleys of the Damodar and Mayurakshi could retrieve masts from under the earth. Due to river currents washing over different types of rocks, even today sand (silica) of various qualities is found underground in eastern Ráŕh.

It will be a mistake if one thinks that the resources of western Ráŕh lie under the surface only. The surface soil of western Ráŕh is red (laterite) soil. In the Austric language, Ráŕh, or Ráŕho, means a land of red soil; such a land is called láti in Chinese and riŕi in Greek. This red soil is not completely barren. With a little effort, in this soil of western Ráŕh rich in calcium (rocky lime and powdered limestone), apples, pears, mandarin oranges, papayas, guavas, grapes, custard-apples, etc., of good quality can be produced in large quantities. Also efforts can be made to create orchards, and to cultivate three strains of paddy (áush [early paddy], áman [autumn paddy] and boro [late paddy]) in a single year, by introducing different kinds of irrigation (small-scale river irrigation, pond-water irrigation and lift irrigation). It is needless to say much about eastern Ráŕh as it has all potential for good agriculture.

It is interesting to know that shál [Shorea robusta], piyáshál (piyál) [Mimosa odoratassima], hijal [Barringtonia acutangula], palásh [Butea monosperma], ashok [Saraca asoca], kusum [lac tree], garjan [a forest tree], kuŕcii [Holarrhena antidysenterica], bakul [Spanish cherry, Minusops elangi], belphul [Jasminium sambae], kundaphul [Jasminium malabaricum], kút́araj [a medicinal tree], nágeshvar chánpá [a kind of magnolia], nágkeshar (nágchánpá or diighalchánpá) [Mesua ferraca], shvet padma [white lotus], jám [Eugenia jambolana Lam.], kánt́ál [jackfruit], kendu (small gáb [small mangosteen]), arjuna [Terminalia arjuna], krśńabat́ [black banyan, Ficus benghalensis krishnae], jahurii chánpá [a kind of magnolia], etc., all originated in Ráŕh.