11*2 H. G. Raverty —Tibbat three hundred and sixty-jive years ago. [No. 2, 
mir, and all Balti paid its assessed revenue in a satisfactory manner. 
Soru, which is one of the places belonging to Balti, is the strongest and 
most defensible in that country. 1 Maulana Qodash asked permission 
to go there and collect the revenue assessed upon it. I was not willing, 
as 1 know those infidels do not like that any one should see their 
darahs and strong places; and they had intimated that they would 
themselves come, and bring the revenue to me along with them, at the 
place where I then was, and therefore there was no necessity for sending 
any one to collect it. Fate, however, had decreed otherwise, and the 
Maulana went; and the Soru people waylaid him in a narrow defile, 
and without giving him any chance of resistance, slew him and twenty- 
four other trustworthy persons besides. Although my force numbered 
near upon 700 men, yet, from want of discipline and training, and 
deficiency of weapons, to avenge them was impossible; and much 
chagrined at not being able to do so, we moved from Balti to Tibbat-i- 
Zang-As-skar 2 3 [Zang-Skar], which is the name of one of the territories 
of Tibbat. It had not as yet been entered on account of its altitude, 8 
and the difficulty of approaching it; and the time for collecting the 
assessed revenue was not yet arlived, when we appeared on the scene, 
to wait for the time, and in combination collect it. At this time a 
messenger came from one of the .lu-I 4 ’ of Balti, Tungi Sukab, by name, 
who had done good service for me on a former occasion, saying, that 
now the opportunity had come for making a raid upon the murderers 
of Maulana Qodash, and slaying the males in retribution for their mur¬ 
dering him and his party, and making their families captive. 
“ I had sent back some of the men composing my small force, 
whose strength had failed them, to Mar-yol, so that I might be able 
to move quickly with the strong and robust. As an escort to these 
weak men, 1 had sent my cousin, Mahmud Mlrza, and a small party, to 
conduct them one stage on the way back, as the route was dangerous, 
and, having conducted them through the dangerous part, to halt at that 
stage for the night. 1 told him to keep the horses of his party near 
him during the night on account of the danger of the locality; and a 
horse, while grazing near the place of his repose, came rather too close 
to his head. He struck the horse to make the animal move a little far¬ 
ther off, when it launched out at him, and gave him such a kick in the 
1 The altitude of Soru, in the daruh of that name, is just 10,624 feet above the 
sea level, and has lofty mountains on all sides of it. 
2 Also written Zans-kar, and Zas-kar by more recent authors. See my Notes 
page 313. 
3 Zang-As-skar stands much higher than Soru. 
* Ju or Ju-I, plural Ju-Ian, is the Tibbati for a petty chief. Note to page 103. 
