no 



GHULAM MUHAMMAD 



"Shri Bai" ceremony, performed with a slight difference at Naugam, will be dealt with 

 separately. 



Sculptured Stones.* 



On the bank of the Indus river a big stone is seen about a mile's distance from the 

 entrance of Botugah Nullah (Chilas Nullah) where there stand some boatmen's huts. It 

 bears a figure of a Buddhist Mane [ ? ]. The carving begins a little above the 

 foot of the stone. In height it is a little larger than a man. Though faintly engraved, 

 it is so skilfully whitened that, although it has been exposed for so long a time to the action 



of the weather, its white colour is still to be remarked from a distance. On this rock 

 there are also many other figures of the same kind, but they are somewhat smaller in size 

 than the one above mentioned. Some two or three miles below this place, there are numer- 

 ous stones of various sizes on the river bank bearing the figures of goats and 

 markhors, &c. Some of the stones show representations of axes, while the others are 

 those of deer. At some places the carvings are seen on the top of a stone as well as 

 on its sides. The same kind of figures are also seen in the Bagrot Valley engraved on 

 rock-faces between the Sanikar and Bulchi villages. 1 



At Barmas, near Damot, in the Sai valley, there are two pictures of Buddha. One is 

 carved on a stone, and the other is a painting of Buddha sitting among his disciples. 



At another place, in the neighbourhood of Chilas, there is a rock still larger in size, 

 and on its river side there are a good many figures. There are also two or three carvings 

 of temples with a large number of men, goats, horses and cows, &c, engraved on them. 

 On this stone there is an inscription written in some ancient character. The same carv- 

 ings are noticed for some way along the river, which here does not rise sufficiently in 

 summer to do them any injury. It shows that in a certain period, this part of Chilas was 

 inhabited by Buddhists. The inhabitants of Chilas are under the impression that all these 

 inscriptions are made by the fairies. 2 The tradition is that in ancient times the land was 



A These villages are situated in the Laspur Valley. 



> [ A similar belief is held by the Malays (Muhammadans) of Lower Siam and Pahang regarding the " Orang Parai " (Peris), 

 and certain clay tablets of Buddhistic origin found in caves. See Steffen, Man, 1902, No. 125. — Ed.] 

 * [See also p, 106 antea. — Ed.] 



