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Elāpura

Elāpura (now known as the site of Ellora) was a city in the Rāshtakūta Mahārājadhirāj (Rāshtakūta Empire) in the late first millenium located northwest of today's Aurangābād in महाराश्त्र1 (Mahārāshtra), भारत (Bhārat or India). The site includes the famous carved caves, which are a tourist attraction2 and a UNESCO World Heritage Site. From south to north along the cliff are the Buddhist group, then the Brahmin group and last the Jain group of monasteries and temples. The Brahmin group includes the 'Cavern of the Ten Avatars' and the Kailasha Temple.3

YearPopulationPolitical entity
800 CE45,0004Rāshtakūta Mahārājadhirāj (Rāshtakūta Empire)
900 CE45,0004Rāshtakūta Mahārājadhirāj (Rāshtakūta Empire)

External references

Ellora caves, Aurangābād Division, Mahārāshtra, Bhārat (or India)

Historical maps

map showing part of the Rāshtakūta Mahārājadhirāj (Rāshtakūta Empire), 800 - 900 CE

map showing part of the Paramara Rāj (Paramara Kingdom), 1000 CE

map showing parts of the Paramara and Chālukya rāj's (Paramara and Chālukya kingdoms), 1100 CE

map showing parts of the Yādava and Chālukya rāj's (Yādava and Chālukya kingdoms), 1200 CE

Footnotes

1. Ideally the final consonant cluster and vowel is rendered by a single ligature for the three akṣaras.
2. http://www.mapsofindia.com/maps/maharashtra/tourism/ or http://goindia.about.com/od/maharastra/tp/top-maharastra-travel-destinations.htm, both accessed 9/29/2014.
3. UNESCO, World Heritage Sites (Firefly Books, 2010).
4. Estimate in Tables of the World's Largest Cities, in Tertius Chandler, Four Thousand Years of Urban Growth, 2nd ed. (The Edwin Mellen Press, 1987). In 800 and 900 CE Elāpura was the largest city in what is now महाराश्त्र (Mahārāshtra).