$ Pass. 46. In this connection it will be useful briefly to notice also the word Pir Pir as a term for which forms the first part of the modern designation of the Pass. This word is now used more or less generally for 'Pass' both in Kasmir and the hill-tracts south of it. Mr. DREW, who seems to have given more attention to local nomenclature in these hills than other travellers, in his explanation of the term starts from the well-known meaning of pir in Persian, an old man' and thence 'a saint or Faqir,' 50 He refers to the common practice of Faqirs establishing themselves on Passes for the sake of refreshing travellers and of receiving their alms. "When any noted holy Faqir died on a Pass, the place became sacred to his memory, and was often called after him, his title of Pir being prefixed; at last it became so common for every important Pass to have a name beginning with Pir that the word acquired the secondary meaning of Mountain Pass." Mr. DREW refers to the fact that Dr. Bernier already found an aged hermit established on the Pass who had resided there since the time of Jahangir. He was supposed "to work miracles, cause strange thunders, and raise storms of wind, hail, snow, and rain." From this 'Pir,' Mr. Drew thinks, the Pass acquired the first part of its present name. I agree with the above explanation as far as the use of the Persian word Pir js concerned. But I suspect that the custom of connecting mountain passes with holy personages rests on a far older foundation. Superstitious belief has at all times and in all mountainous regions peopled the solitary summits and high ridges with spirits and other supernatural beings. To this day Kasmirian Brahmans fully believe in the presence of Devatas and Bhutas of all sorts on high mountain passes. In those parts of the Himalaya where Hinduism has survived among all classes, this superstition can, no doubt, be found still more fully developed." On all Kasmir passes, however rarely visited, stone-heaps are found marking the supposed graves of imaginary 'Pirs,' and every pious Muhammadan on passing adds his stone to them. Yet these little cairns existed there in all probability long before Islam reached the country. Exactly the same custom is observed, e.g., by the Hindu pilgrims to Amaranitha on crossing the Vav"jan Pass above the lake of Suśravonaga, to please the Devas' as the Mahatmya says.52 We can show that all famous Ziarats in Kasmir, whether of real or imaginary Muhammadan Saints, occupy sites which were sacred in earlier times to one or the other Hindu divinity. We can scarcely go far wrong in concluding by their analogy that the 'Pirs' of the Muhammadan wayfarers have only taken the places of the older Hindu 'Devas.' A striking confirmation of this surmise is afforded by the only passage of the Sanskrit Chronicles which mentions the Pir Pantsal Pass by its proper name. S'rivara, iii. 433, when relating the return of a Kasmir refugee 'by the route of S'urapura' in the time of Hassan Shah (circ. A.D. 1472-84), tells us of a fatal chill he caught 'on the top of the Pañcaladeva.' It is clear that the name here used corresponds exactly to the modern Pir Pantsil, 'Pir' being the nearest Muhammadan equivalent 60 See Jummoo, p. 157, note. 51 Compare, e.g. for such superstitions in Kumaun, Sir W. Hunter's Life of Brian Houghton Hodgson, p. 54. 52 See Amaranāthamāhātmya, vii. 1 sqq. The stones placed are supposed to represent mathikās, 'shelter-huts,' in which the gods can find refuge from the evil wind blowing on the pass (hence its alleged Skr. name Vayu- Pancaladeva. Pass of Pir Pantsål. Pusyāṇanāda. Central part of Pir Mount Tatakūţi. for 'Deva.' Dr. Bernier's account has already shown us that popular superstition had not failed to transfer also the supernatural powers of the Deva' to the Pir who acted as his representative on the Pass. 47. We may now return to the description of the old route where we left it at 'Aliabad Sarai and resume our journey towards the Pass. From the Mughal hospice the road ascends in a gently sloping valley westwards until at a distance of about 4 miles the Pass is reached. Close to the point where the descent towards the Panjab side begins, stands the hut of a Faqir. He has inherited the post of Bernier's Pir, but little of his spiritual powers and emoluments. An octagonal watch-tower close by, occupied by a Sepoy post till a few years ago, may mark the site of an earlier outpost. The descent is here as on all Passes of the range far steeper on the Panjab side than towards Kasmir. Pusiana, the next stage, which is reached by zigzag paths along the rocky slope of the mountain, lies already more than 3000 feet below the Pass. The little village is an ancient place. It is undoubtedly the Puşyaṇanāda of Kalhana who mentions it repeatedly in connection with the civil wars of his own. time. Puṣyaṇanāḍa served as a refuge for rebel leaders for whom Kasmir had become too hot. They could thence conveniently resume their inroads. We see here again clearly that the Kasmir frontier ran on the watershed of the range. For of Pusyaṇanāda, it is distinctly said that it belonged already to the territory of Rajapuri. From Pusiana the road descends in a westerly direction along the bed of a stream which belongs to the headwaters of the Tausi (Tohi) of Prunts. The next stage is the hill-village of Bahramgala, a considerable place, which is mentioned already by Srivara under the name of BHAIRAVAGALA. From Bahrumgala the route turns to the south and crosses, by the Pass known as Ratan Pir (8200 feet), the range which has already been referred to as a branch from the Pir Pantsil chain. Here the route enters the region of the middle mountains and descends in an open valley to Rajauri, the ancient Rajapuri, where we may leave it. 48. Beyond the Pir Pautsal Pass the summit-line of the main range rises again considerably. The Tangtala Pass, which is about five miles due north of the Pir Pantsal Pass, and is mentioned by Abu-l-Faz1,55 is already far higher. The track crossing it is scarcely practicable for laden animals. The same is the case, as personal experience showed me, with the next two Passes, known by the Pahari names of Cittapani and Coți Gali; they are both over 14,000 feet in height. The first-named one was probably used on occasion of the inroad related by S'rivara, iv. 589 sqq. We are told there of a rebel force which coming from Rajauri got round the troops of Sultan Muḥammad Shah posted at Surapura by crossing the mountains in the direction of KACAGALA. This place, as shown on the map, corresponds undoubtedly to the alpine plateau or Marg' of Kac gul on the northern slope of the Pir Pantsal range. A short distance to the north-west of the Coți Gali Pass the range culminates in its greatest snowy peak, Mount Taṭakuți, which rises to a height of 15,524 feet. Owing to its bold shape and central position this peak is the most conspicuous in the panorama of the whole range, whether seen from the Kasmir Valley or from 63 Compare note viii. 959. The ending -nada is identical with nāla, Anglo-Indice, 'Nullah,' i.e. valley, ravine.' 54 See Sriv. iv. 529, 589. 55 See Ain-i Akbari, ii. p. 348. the Panjab plains. To the north it presents a precipitous face of unscaleable rocks. On the south it, is surrounded by snowfields which on occasion of an ascent made late in the season I found still of considerable extent. We have already seen that it is this peak which Alberūni describes under the name of Kularjak.56 For an observer from the Panjab plains about Gujrat, the appearance of the peak, with its glittering dome of snow, is very striking, notwithstanding the great distance (about eighty-seven miles as the crow flies). I have sighted it on clear days even from Lahore Minārs. From Taṭakūti the chain continues at a great elevation for a considerable distance, the summit-ridge keeping an average height between 14,000 and 15,000 feet. We find it crossed first by the passes of Sangsafed, Nurpur, and Cōrgali, all difficult routes leading down into the Valley of Lohrin, the ancient Lohara. It is only at the Tōs maidan Pass that we meet again with an important and ancient line of communication. 49. This Pass being on the most direct route between the Kasmir capital Toş maidān Pass. and Lohara, was of special importance during the reigns of the later Kasmirian kings whose original home and safest stronghold was in Lohara. We find accordingly the route leading over the Tōs maidan Pass often referred to in the last two Books of Kalhana's Chronicles. But apart from this historical connection, the Tōs maidan route must have always been prominent among the old lines of communication from Kasmir, owing to its natural advantages. It was the shortest route into the valley of Punch (Parņotsa) and hence to that portion of the Western Panjab which lies between the Jehlam and Indus. It was, besides, under the old conditions of road and travel, probably the easiest and safest route in that direction.57 This old route started from the present village of Drang, situated at the foot of the mountains in the Bīru Pargana, circ. 33° 57' lat. 74° 36′ long. The name of the village is, of course, nothing but the old term of dranga, 'watch-station.' In old times the place was distinguished as KARKOTADRANGA.58 It may have received the distinctive first part of its name, Karkota, from the mountain-ridge now known as Kākodar, which is passed higher up on the route. Ks. Kakodar could well be derived from an earlier Skr. form like Karkoṭadhara. The Tirthasaṁgraha also mentions a Karkoṭanāga somewhere in this direction. From Drang, where a customs-station exists to the present day, the road ascends over an easy forest-clad slope to the edge of the Tōsmaidan. This is, as the name indicates, a large upland plateau of undulating grazing grounds, rising very gradually from a level of about 10,000 feet. At the point where the road strikes the northern edge of the plateau there are several ruined towers. They seem to have been last repaired on occasion of the Sikh invasion of 1814, to be referred to below, but are probably far older. The spot is known to this day as Barbal, which in Ks. means 'the place of the Gate' (Ks. bar < Skr. dvāra). In view of this designation and the commanding position of the place we can safely locate here the proper Dvara or 'Gate' of this route.59 Compare above, § 14. The historical references to this route will be found collected in Note E (iv. 177), SS 5-14. 58 Compare notes vii. 140; viii. 1596. 60 The term Dvara is actually used by Kalhana, vii. 140, 1301, for a fortified post on Kärkoṭadranga. The route after crossing the Tōs maidan plateau, ascends over gently sloping grassy ridges to the Kakodar spur and passing along the south foot of the latter reaches the Pass. The ascent is so gradual and easy that though the elevation of the latter is over 13,000 feet, the construction of a cart-road would so far meet with little difficulty. The Pass itself is equally easy. On its west side two routes are available. One descends in the Gagri Valley past the village of Chambar, mentioned in the Rajatarangini by the name of S'ARAMBARA. The other leads over a cross-spur in a south-westerly direction. straight down into the valley now known as Loh rin. The position of the ancient castle of LOHARA, which I was able to trace in the centre of this great and fertile valley, has been fully discussed above in Note E.01 About eight miles further down the valley and at the point where its waters meet the stream coming from Gagri, lies the large village of Mandi. It marks the site of the old Market of ATTALIKA,' repeatedly mentioned by Kalhana.62 From Mandi onwards the route passes into the open valley of the Tohi (Tausi) of Prünts which offers an easy line of communication down to the plains. The historical importance of the Tuş maidan route is best illustrated by the fact that it was chosen on two occasions for serious attempts at invading Kasmir. We have already referred to Mahmud of Ghazna's expedition, probably of A.D. 1021, which Albērūni accompanied and to which we owe the valuable information already detailed. This attempt at invasion, perhaps the most serious of which we know during Hindu times, was brought to a standstill by the valorous defence of the castle of Lohara and a timely fall of snow. Nor was Mahārāja Ranjit Singh more successful when in 1814 he first attempted to invade Kasmir by this route. The portion of the Sikh army led by him in person, safely reached the Tus maidan plateau where the Afghan defenders were posted near the towers above mentioned. Difficulties of supplies, however, and the news of a defeat of the column marching by the Pir Pantsal route forced on a retreat which in the mountain defiles about Lohtrin ended in a complete rout. It may yet be mentioned that the route over the Tōṣ maidan was already in all probability followed by Hiuen Tsiang on his way to Parnotsa or Prunts. It remained a favourite trade route until the recent Jehlam Valley cart-road was constructed. Owing to the elevation of the Pass, however, this route is always closed by snow longer than, e.g., that of the Pir Pantsal. During the winter, therefore, the road from Lohara to Kasmir lay by the lower passes in the west leading into the Vitasta Valley below Baramula.60 Not far to the north of the Tos maidan Pass the range attains yet a height of over 15,000 feet in a group of bold snowy peaks. Its summit-ridge then gradually descends, and is crossed by some lower passes from the neighbourhood of the well-known alpine plateau of Gulmarg. From a summit behind Gulmarg (marked Sallar on the map) several spurs radiate. They form the northern end of the range and descend at their extreme points very steeply and with faces of rugged cliffs into the narrow valley of the Vitastā. 60 See note viii. 1875-77. 61 See Note E, iv. 177. 62 See note viii. 581. 63 See above, § 14. 64 For a more detailed account of this ex pedition, see Note E, iv. 177, § 14. 65 Compare above, § 9. 66 See Note E(iv. 177), §§ 7, 8, for Kalhana's references to the occasions when this more circuitous route was used. SECTION III.—THE VITASTĀ VALLEY. 50. We have already spoken of the Vitasta Valley as the single outlet for the waters of Kaśmir, and as the great gate of the country. We may now cast a glance at the old route leading through it, and at the defences by which nature has fortified it. The Vitasta Valley below Baramula is confined between two ranges of mountains. The one to the south is a branch of the Pir Pantsal Range, separating from the main chain at a point behind Gulmarg. The range to the north belongs to a mountain-system which culminates in the Kājnāg Peak (14,400 feet), and is usually designated by the name of the latter. These two ranges accompany the course of the river with gradually lessening height for some eighty miles westwards down to the point near Muzaffarabad, where the Vitasta makes its sudden bend to the south. Along the whole length of the Valley, cross-ridges, more or less steep and rugged, run from both sides down to the river's bed. This consists from below Bărămúla of an almost unbroken succession of rapids, the fall in level being nearly 3000 feet in the above distance. The Valley is throughout narrow and wanting in level ground. But for about fifty miles down to the old Kasmir frontier line, it may more fitly be described as a narrow ravine in which only occasional alluvial plateaus high above the river afford scanty room for settlement and cultivation. Owing to this extremely confined nature of the Valley communication on the route leading along it must have always been troublesome and risky in old times. The natural difficulties of this long defile were, no doubt, considerably increased by the restless disposition of the Khasa tribe, which has held it since ancient times. The Sikhs, who were the last to fight their way through these passes, suffered here more than one disaster at the hands of the hillmen. The line of forts erected by them along the valley, attests to this day the trouble they experienced in holding the passage. The military difficulties of a march through such a succession of dangerous defiles must have been even greater in old times which knew no firearms. The protection of the route against an active enemy who could easily seize and hold all commanding positions, was then, no doubt, å still more difficult task. 51. It is probably on account of the circumstances here briefly indicated, that we hear in the Chronicles comparatively little of the route following the Vitasta. Being the shortest line of communication to the present Hazara district and the Indus, it was certainly used from early times. We have seen that Hiuen Tsiang and Ou-k'ong coming from the ancient Gandhara and Urasa, followed it on their way to Kasmir, and that it was well known to Alberūni. But it seems probable that its importance, military and commercial, was then far smaller than that of the Pir Pantsal and Tōs maidan routes. It is only in modern times that this western route has attained real prominence. This originated in the time of the Afghan rule over Kasmir, when the route along the Vitasta to Muzaffarabad and hence through Hazara, afforded the shortest and least 1 Moorcroft's account of his attempt to use the Muzaffarabad route in 1823, gives a graphic picture of the obstacles created by VOL. II. the rapacious hill-tribes; see Travels, ii. DD Valley of the Vitasta Valley |