208 
ANCIENT GEOGRAPHY OE KAS'MIR. [Extra No. 2, 
The several incidents of the siege, in particular those connected with 
the attempted escape of the pretender Bhoja, became at once easily 
intelligible on a close inspection of this site. The ridge bears now the 
name of Ganei Qhatl , from a curious rock formation on its side which 
resembles the head of an elephant and is accordingly worshipped as a 
‘ Svayambliu ’ representation of the elephant-faced god. It is very 
probable that the older name Sirahs'ila which means literally ‘ the rock 
of the head,’ owed its origin also to this very rock. 
128 . Returning from our excursion to the Kisanganga and the 
confines of the Dard country, we enter im- 
Districts^of^Lolau, mediately to the east of Draug-Hay^hom the 
Pargana usually called Loldb. Its proper 
Kasmirl name is Lalau, derived from Skr. Laulaha. 1 In the picturesque 
valley which forms this district, no old Jocalities can be specified. 
Lolau is adjoined on the south by the Pargana of Zain^gir 
which comprises the fertile Karewa tract between the Volur and the 
left bank of the Pohur River. It received its present name from 
Zainu-l-‘abidin who is credited with having carried irrigation canals 
from the Pohur to the Udar ground of Jainagiri. 2 The earlier name of 
this tract can no longer be traced. 
The chief place in it is the town of Sopur , the ancient Suyyapuea, 
the foundation of which by Suyya, Avantivarman’s engineer, has 
already been mentioned. 3 Sopur which lies a short distance below 
the point where the Vitasta leaves the Volur, has retained its import¬ 
ance to this day, and is still a town of over 8000 inhabitants. It 
has during recent times been the official head-quarters for the whole 
of Kamraz. From a passage of S'rivara it appears that this had 
been the case already at an earlier period. 4 * Relating a great confla¬ 
gration which destroyed Suyyapura in Zainu-1- C abidin’s time, this 
Chronicler tells us that in it perished the whole of the official archives 
relating to Kramarajya. The royal residence, however, escaped and the 
town itself was again built up by the king in great splendour. Of 
this, however, nothing has remained ; nor does the town now show 
older remains of any interest. 
The suggested identity of the village Zdlur (map ‘Zohlar’) in the 
north-west part of Zain^gir with Jalora once mentioned as a founda¬ 
tion of King Janaka, 6 is doubtful, resting only on the resemblance of 
1 Compare Rdjat. vii. 1241 note. 
2 See Jonar. (Bo. ed.) 1449-56; also S'riv. i. 562 sq. ; iii. 59, 78, 
8 Compare for Suyyapura, Rdjat. v. 118 note. 
4 Compare S'riv. i. 560 sqq , 
6 See Rdjat. i. 98. 
