1850.] Descriptive notice of the District of Jhilum. 53 



others being shut for the present. The Khyura salt which is pro- 

 duced in endless quantity, is carried chiefly to the southward ; that of 

 Surdi finds its way to Cashmere, while that of Mukrach is carried to 

 the northward to the Hazara country. 



The salt of Kalabagh is conveyed to Mooltan and the Derajat, while 

 that of Kohat on the other side of the Indus, is used in Afghanistan. 

 This latter however, is of very inferior quality, being black in colour 

 externally and very course. It is extremely cheap however, averaging 

 only about 2 annas a maund, but the Sikhs never permitted it to be 

 taken into the Punjab. 



Ahmedabad is a large district bordering on Pind Dadankhan on the 

 east, and Khushab on the west, the greater number of the villages 

 lying along the banks of the river, but some of the largest being 

 situated in what is called the * Thul,' or the flat country towards the 

 hills, where extensive crops of bajra are raised. This tract is however, 

 almost solely dependent on rain. The town of Ahmedabad contains 

 about 400 houses, and is much frequented by grain merchants, who 

 convey the wheat and grain of the Dhuni country by this route, to 

 Hafizabad on the other side of the Chinab ; near the town are a series 

 of high mounds of gravel, which are to all appearance an offshoot of 

 the salt range. The place is called Buraria, and has the reputation of 

 being the site of an old city. Excavations made near the surface, have 

 discovered the foundations of several houses, the chunam used in 

 building which is of great thickness, more resembling brick than chu- 

 nam. A great quantity of copper coins, beads, pieces of iron, bits of 

 gold, &c. have been recently found also ; but nothing to indicate the 

 origin of the place. By the natives it is asserted that it is the ancient 

 Bhadrawati mentioned in the Mahabharat, as the residence of the 

 Raja Jobnath, during whose reign the Pandavas made a sally on the 

 city, and carried off his favourite horse to complete the ' aswamedha.' 

 I believe, however, that the true situation of Bhadrawati was near the 

 Chenab ; but the story of the Pandavas, having sojourned on the 

 salt range is universally believed in. A hill called Dhurimari near 

 Baghanwala, Kutas and Mt. Sikesar are all cited, as having been in 

 turn the abiding places of the persecuted Pandavas. The original 

 holder of Ahmedabad was the father of the present headman, Raja 

 Khoda Baksh. 



