the beginning of the present century are referred to by Mr. Vigne and Dr. Falconer. Abu-l-Fazl too mentions the phenomenon at 'Soyam.' '2 Considering the rarity of the occasions when this manifestation of the 'Self-created Fire' is observed and the pilgrimage performed, the total absence of ancient remains cannot surprise us. There is, however, a Mahatmya of the Tirtha, and the latter is also referred to in the Nilamata. A pilgrimage which King Uccala (A.D. 1101-11) made to Svayambhu gives Kalhana occasion to acquaint us with some localities of the neighbourhood. The king who was stopping in Kramarājya, is said to have started for the village of VARHATACAKRA with a small retinue to see the miracle there. On his way which took him past the village of KAMBALESVARA, he was set upon in a deep mountain gorge by robbers from whom he escaped only with difficulty. I believe, the places mentioned in connection with this adventure, can still be identified without difficulty. Varhaṭacakra is probably the present Tsak vadar, tsak being the ordinary Kś. form for Skr. cakra and vaḍar the phonetic derivative of Varhața-. Cases of village names in which the two component parts, being originally distinct names, can alternate in their position, are by no means unfrequent in Kaśmir. Thus we have now Dara-Sad pōr and Sad pōr-Dārā, etc. In Kambalesvara we may safely recognize the present village of Krambhar, situated about six miles north-east of Svayambhu; for the ending -har as the derivative of Skr. -eśvara, compare Triphar <Tripureśvara, etc. The way from Krambhar to Svayambhu leads through the valley of the Panjtar stream. The latter as I convinced myself by personal inspection on a tour in 1892, passes above Rājpōr a narrow thickly-wooded gorge. The path which follows the tortuous course of the stream at the bottom of the gorge, offers excellent opportunities for an ambuscade such as described by Kalhana. Badarkāl, a small village, about four miles south-east of Krambhar, has a small local Tirtha marked by a spring and some old Lingas. It is visited on the pilgrimage to Svayaṁbhū and mentioned by the name of BHADRAKĀLI in the Māhātmya of the latter. 126. The Pargana of Uttar stretching along the foot of the range towards the Kiṣanganga, forms the extreme District of Uttara. north-west of the Kasmir Valley. A passage 1 See VIGNE, Travels, ii. p. 280; LAWRENCE, Valley, p. 42. 2 Āin-i-Akb., ii. p. 365. 8 Compare Rajat. viii. 250 sq. note. 4 For medial Skr. r> Kś. d, compare e.g., Bhaṭṭāraka[matha > Bradi[mar for >r, e.g. Kāṣṭhavāṭa > Kaṣṭ¶vār. 5 For detailed evidence on the phonetic points alluded to, see Rājat, viii, 250 note. of the Rajatarangini records its ancient name UTTARA, and refers also to GHOSA as a locality situated in it. The place meant is undoubtedly the present Guş situated in the centre of Uttar, near the confluence of the Kamil River and the stream coming from Lōlau. It is the startingpoint for the Saradā pilgrimage and is mentioned correctly as Ghosa in the Saradāmāhātmya. About ten miles higher up the Kāmil river lies the village of Panz1gām, circ. 74° 7′ long. 34° 29′ lat. I take its position from Major Bates' Gazetteer; the 'Atlas of India' map does not show the place. It is in all probability identical with PANCIGRĀMI, mentioned by Kalhana in connection with the surrender of the pretender Bhoja. I have not been able to visit this portion of the district, and Major Bates' reference to Panz1gām attracted my attention only after the preparation of my map.3 In the extreme north-east of Uttar and within a mile of each other, we have the old villages of Drang and Hãyahōm, referred to by Kalhana under their ancient designations of DRANGA and HAYASRAMA. The latter place, as its name shows, marks the position of an old frontier watch-station towards the Kisanganga. We have already seen that there is a route leading past it to Sardi, the ancient Tirtha of Sāradā situated on that river. Dranga and Hāyāśrama are both mentioned hy Kalhana in connection with the siege of the Siraḥśilā castle which took place in his own time. A brief reference may therefore be made here both to this stronghold and the neighbouring shrine of Sarada, though they are both situated outside the limits of the Kaśmir Valley. 127. The introduction of the Rājatarangiņī mentions the temple of the goddess Saradā amongst the foremost The Tīrtha of Śāradā. Tirthas of Kasmir. It was well known even far beyond the frontiers of Kaśmir. Albērūnī had heard of it, and a story recorded in a Jaina life of the great grammarian Hemacandra proves that its fame had spread even to far-off Gujrāt. 1 See Rajat. vi. 281. See Rajat. viii. 3124. 8 There seems to be good reason to suspect that TARAMÜLAKA, a place repeatedly referred to in connection with Bhoja's last campaign, lay somewhere in or near Uttar. Unfortunately this locality which is of importance also for other portions of Kalhana's narrative, has not yet been identified; see note vii. 1307. 4 For Hāyāśrama, see Rājat. viii. 2937 note; for Dranga, viii. 2507 note, also Note B, i. 37. 6 The position and history of the temple of Saradā have been fully discussed in Note B, i. 37. See India, i. p. 117. Notwithstanding this former celebrity the Sarada shrine is now almost completely forgotten by the Pandits of Srinagar and the great mass of the Brahman population of the Valley. Fortunately, however, tradition had been more tenacious in the immediately adjoining tracts of Kamrāz. Guided by it I was able to ascertain the position of the ancient Tirtha at the present Sardi, situated circ. 74° 15′ long. 34° 48′ lat., on the right bank of the Kiṣangangā. My note on Rājat. i. 37 (B) gives a detailed account of the tour which in 1892 led me to the Tirtha as well as a description of the ancient temple still extant at the site. The situation of the shrine corresponds exactly to Kalhana's description. Immediately in front of it the sacred stream of the MADHUMATI falls into the Kisanganga, while another confluence, that with the SARASVATI river coming from the north, is also visible from the temple. In Jonaraja's time the shrine was still sufficiently popular to attract a visit even from Sultan Zainu-l-'ābidin.1 Soon afterwards apparently the miracle-working image of the goddess was destroyed. Abu-lFazl, however, still notes the sanctity of the site and correctly indicates its position on the bank of the Madhumati. The subsequent neglect of this Tirtha must be ascribed chiefly to the obstacles to the pilgrimage which arose from the troubled political condition of the Upper Kisanganga Valley. The Bomba chiefs of the latter had made themselves independent in the later Mughal and Paṭhān times. Their predatory inroads often threatened the adjacent tracts of Kasmir while their own territory became practically inaccessible to peaceful pilgrims. It is only since the advent of the Sikhs that the pilgrimage to Saradā's seat was revived. It is probable that the difficulties here briefly indicated must be held to account for the several substitute Tirthas of Sāradā which are now to be found in various parts of Kasmir proper. My visit to the old 'Sāradāsthāna' also enabled me to identify with Siraḥsilā Castle. certainty the site of the SIRAHSILA Castle. The latter had been the scene of a memorable siege by King Jayasimha's troops which Kalhana describes at length.8 The accurate topographical data furnished in this account prove clearly that the castle occupied the top of the steep ridge which projects into the Kiṣanganga valley about two and a half miles below the Sarada temple. 1 Jonar. (Bo. ed.) 1056-71. This visit apparently took place A.D. 1422. 3 Ain-i-Akb., ii. pp. 365 sq. Abu-1-Fazl places Sārada's stone temple days' distance from Haehāmun," i.e. Hãy hōm. "at two 8 Rajat. viii. 2492-2709. The position of Siraḥsila and the evidence for its identity with the 'Gapes Ghați' hill have been fully discussed in my Note L, viii. 2492. The several incidents of the siege, in particular those connected with the attempted escape of the pretender Bhoja, became at once easily intelligible on a close inspection of this site. The ridge bears now the name of Ganes Ghați, from a curious rock formation on its side which resembles the head of an elephant and is accordingly worshipped as a 'Svayambhu' representation of the elephant-faced god. It is very probable that the older name Siraḥsila which means literally 'the rock of the head,' owed its origin also to this very rock. Districts of Lōlau, 128. Returning from our excursion to the Kiṣangangā and the confines of the Dard country, we enter immediately to the east of Drang-Hayahōm the Pargana usually called Lolab. Its proper Kaśmiri name is Lōlau, derived from Skr. LAULAHA. In the picturesque valley which forms this district, no old localities can be specified. Lōlau is adjoined on the south by the Pargana of Zain gir which comprises the fertile Karēwa tract between the Volur and the left bank of the Pohur River. It received its present name from Zainu-l-'ābidin who is credited with having carried irrigation canals from the Pohur to the Uḍar ground of JAINAGIRI. The earlier name of this tract can no longer be traced. The chief place in it is the town of Sōpur, the ancient SUYYAPUra, the foundation of which by Suyya, Avantivarman's engineer, has already been mentioned. Sōpūr which lies a short distance below the point where the Vitasta leaves the Volur, has retained its importance to this day, and is still a town of over 8000 inhabitants. It has during recent times been the official head-quarters for the whole of Kamraz. From a passage of Srivara it appears that this had been the case already at an earlier period. Relating a great conflagration which destroyed Suyyapura in Zainu-l-'abidin's time, this Chronicler tells us that in it perished the whole of the official archives relating to Kramarājya. The royal residence, however, escaped and the town itself was again built up by the king in great splendour. Of this, however, nothing has remained; nor does the town now show older remains of any interest. The suggested identity of the village Zōlur (map Zohlar') in the north-west part of Zainagir with JALORA once mentioned as a foundation of King Janaka, is doubtful, resting only on the resemblance of 1 Compare Rajat. vii. 1241 note. 2 See Jonar. (Bo. ed.) 1449–56; also Srīv. i. 562 sq.; iii. 59, 78, 8 Compare for Suyyapura, Rājat. v. 118 note. Compare Sriv. i. 560 sqq. 5 See Rajat. i. 98. the names. The large village of Bumai (map Bamhai'), situated 74° 30' long. 34° 22′ lat., may be Kalhana's BHIMATIKĀ. The name Bumai can be traced back without difficulty to the older form; but the context of the single passage in which Bhimatikā is mentioned, does not supply any evidence as to its location.1 District of Round the north shore of the Volur lake there stretches in a semicircle the district of Khuy hōm. Its ancient name is given by Kalhana as KHUYASRAMA while Srivara and the Lokaprakāśa, with a slight variation, call it Khoyaśrama.2 The old route which led up to the Madhumati stream and over the Pass of DUGDHAGHĀTA or Dudakhut into the Darad territory on the Kisanganga, has been already fully described.3 4 In connection with a Darad invasion which was directed into Kasmir by this route, we read of MATṚGRAMA as the place where the invading force encamped. This is certainly the present village of Mātragōm situated close to the foot of the Tragabal Pass, circ. 74° 43′ long. 34° 28′ lat. It lies just at the point where the route along the Madhumati debouches into an open valley, and is the first place where a larger camp could conveniently be formed. The tract on the north-east shore of the Volur appears in old times to have formed a separate small sub-division called EVENAKA. It is once mentioned by Kalhana, and also referred to in the Tirthasaṁgraha.5 But the evidence is not sufficient for a certain location. To it may possibly have belonged also the village of Sudarkōṭh, circ. 74° 43′ long. 34° 18′ lat., which Srivara refers to by the name of SAMUDRAKOTA.6 129. We have now reached the vicinity of the Sind Valley which forms the largest of the Parganas of Kasmir. District of Lahara. The district now known as Lār comprises the whole of the valleys drained by the Sind and its tributaries as well as the alluvial tract on the right bank of that river after its entry into the great Kasmir plain. Its ancient name was LAHARA, and by this it is mentioned in very 1 Compare Rājat. vii. 6; as to the relation of Bumai < Bhīmatikā comp. Bumą. [zu: Bhima[keśava. 2 See Rajat. viii. 2695-98 note. 3 See above, § 56. See Rajat. viii. 2775. 5 Compare Rajat. viii. 2695-98 note. 6 See Sriv. i. 400. J. I. 27, |