

C A S H M K H E. 



.-.ffp. west and soul! :iic-t e . On tlie south cast of 



r^** Sirinagur, at some distance, beyond the gre. ' 



mountains that surrounds the valley of Cashmrre, is 

 tlu- district of Bcinnnul, \vhich, though a fertile vale 

 oF ten or twelve miles in length, and dependent on the 

 '.merinn territory, i.; yvt sufi'ered by the governors 

 of that province to remain uncultivated, that it n-.ay 

 not afford shelter or provision to the bordering Hin- 

 doo states, which, in former periods, have through 

 this tract approached the interior passes of Cashmere. 

 In as far as a place may be secured against foreign 

 attack by means of its natural boundaries, there arc- 

 few tracts of country to which such defence has been 

 more liberally afforded than it has been to Cashmere. 

 It is, in fact, so completely inclosed within the lofty 

 mountains that separate India from Great Tartary, 

 that it is only by climbing over rocks of an immense 

 height that it can be entered on any side. Sur- 

 rounded thus by mountains, whose summits are, dur- 

 ing a great part of the year, covered with snow, it is 

 moreover elevated considerably above the level of the 

 adjacent low grounds to the south. Hence it is that 

 the air of this district is colder than its latitude 

 would kad us to expect ; and even within the space 

 of little more than two degrees there is found an 

 almost complete change in the vegetable produc- 

 tions, few of these of any kind being in this country 

 the same with those of more southern India, and of 

 the fruits of the latter region hardly any being to be 

 traced here except the mulberry. 



General The valley or country of Cashmere, thus situated, 



aspect of j s y et celebrated through Upper Asia, and indeed 

 the valley. g enera ]ly has been in high reputation wherever it has 

 been known, for its romantic beauties, the fertility 

 of its soil, the temperature of its atmosphere, and a 

 picturesque variety of landscape. The author of the 

 At/ecu Acberry dwells with rapture on the beauties of 

 this province, and the ideas which have been enter- 

 tained of it may, in some degree, be understood from 

 the epithets by which it has been so commonly cha- 

 racterised : the happy valley, the garden in perpe- 

 tual spring, the paradise of India. The periodical 

 rains which almost deluge the rest of India are shut 

 out of Cashmere by the height of the mountains, so 

 that only light showers fall there, but these are in 

 sufficient abundance to feed thousands of cascades, 

 which are precipitated into the valley from every part 

 of the stupendous and romantic bulwark by which 

 this favoured spot is encircled. At the foot of that 

 exterior chain there is an inner circle of hills abun- 

 dantly clothed with grass, trees, and various sorts of 

 vegetation, and frequented by numerous animals, both 

 in a wild and in a tame state. The soil of the plains is 

 every where the richest that can be conceived. Indeed, 

 it is considered to have been composed of the mud de- 

 posited by the principal river of the district, which flow- 

 ing in this direction, and finding no outlet, at first form- 

 ed its waters into a lake that covered the whole val- 

 ley, but eventually having opened for itself a passage 

 through the mountains, left this spot so fertilized, an 

 ample field for human industry and for the accommo- 

 dation of a happy race. The circumstances which 

 indicate that to have been the mode of its formation, 

 appear to have been such as to have satisfied a very 

 competent judge. Although this account, says Ma- 



rl, has tio living testimony to support it, 

 lu&iory and tradition, and what ii yet stronger, 

 appearance* have impressed a conviction of its troth 

 on the minds of all who have visited the scene, and 

 templated the different pirts of it. It is u;dt*d, 

 lie remarks, a mere natural effect, and such, he con- 

 ceives, must be the economy of nature in all cases, to have 

 when water is inclosed in any part of its course by been a 

 elevated lands. If the lake be formed near the sour- 

 ces of the river, and the ground is solid, no doubt 

 such a lake may remain for an indefinite length of 

 time, or for ever, in the same state, for want of suf- 

 ficient force in the river to work out a passage for it- 

 self ; but when the lake has been formed in the lower 

 parts of a river, even the most apparently insuperable 

 obstacles will, in consequence of the great accession 

 of water, and consequently of strength, in such cir- 

 cumstances be forced at labt to give way. This is 

 exemplified, not singly in the instance of the river 

 of Cashmere. In the same manner the Euphrates 

 has been found to open a passage for itself through 

 Mount Taurus, the Ganges through the Imau*. 

 The length of time which the lake in Cashmere seems 

 to have occupied in effecting its emancipation, is 

 evinced by the great depth of soil deposited by it 

 previously to its departure. 



The river of this place alluded to, which continues 

 to pass through the province, is still, even within its 

 limits, large, and navigable at least for small craft. Its 

 current, throughout the whole valley, is remarkably 

 smooth a proof of the uncommon flatness of the 

 country, as the body of water contained in it is very 

 great. Its breadth is irregular : in some places it is 

 not less than two miles. In one part of its course it 

 is formed, by the hollow surface of the country, into 

 a sheet of water, of seven or eight miles in circumfe- 

 rence, known by the name of the (Duller or WijHer. 

 The outlet through which it departs from the valley, 

 and where it runs with much greater rapidi'y and 

 force than elsewhere, is at Barchmooleh, between two 

 steep mountains, whence proceeding, it, after a long 

 course, joins with the Chunaub. In this river, now 

 known by the name of the Behut or the Chelum, we 

 recognise the famous Hydaspes of antiquity, which 

 Alexander the Great passed over, about 100 miles 

 below the limits of the valley. 



As the surface of this district is generally flat, and 

 it is copiously watered, it yields abundant crops of t j on / 

 rice, which is the common food of the inhabitants. 

 At the base of the surrounding hills, where the land 

 is higher, there are cultivated wheat, barley, and va- 

 rious other descriptions of grain. Hemp and saffron 

 are also common productions, and iron of an excellent 

 quality is found in the adjacent mountains. A great 

 number of nuts for dyeing*are raised here. A wine is 

 made in the country resembling Madeira ; also a spi- 

 rituous liquor is distilled from the grape. The vege- 

 table productions of Cashmere, moreover, are not 

 such only as are subservient to mere unadorned use. 

 The plane-tree, the species of it termed the platanus 

 orientalis t which, though common in most parts of 

 Asia, is said to arrive at greater perfection here than 

 in other countries, has, when in full foliage, a grand 

 and beautiful appearance, and in hot weather it af- 

 fords a refreshing shade. Still more deserving of 



