222 
ANCIENT GEOGRAPHY OF KAS'MlR. 
[Extra No. 2, 
Additional Note.—§ 14. 
Mr. W. Merk, c.s.i., c.s., at present Deputy Commissioner of 
tlie Hazara District, to whom I submitted the above-printed remarks 
on AlberunI’s route to Kasmlr (p. 23) and on the town of Babrahan 
mentioned by him, has kindly supplied me in a letter, dated 25th April, 
1899, w 7 ith the interesting information that “ the basin formed by the 
three Nullahs which unite at Chamhad is called the ‘ Babarhan ’ tract.” 
Chamhad is shown on the map as a village in the Mian Khaki Nullah, 
south-west of Abbottabad, circ. 34° 7' lat., 73° 7' long. 
Mr. Merk believes that the position of Alberuni’s “ town Babrahan , 
half-way between the rivers Sindh and Jailam” is marked by the 
present ‘ Babarhan ’ which practically retains the same name. There 
is much to support this identification. The Nullah called Mian Khaki 
on the Survey map forms a convenient route from the central plain 
of Hazara, about Mirpur, towards the Siran Valley through which 
the Indus could conveniently be gained at Torbela. The latter has 
remained a favourite crossing place to the present day, being situated 
just where the Indus debouches from the mountains. 
The 8 Farsakh or about 39 miles which Alberuni counts from 
Babrahan to “ the bridge over the river,” i.e., according to my explana¬ 
tion, the present Muzaffarabad, would well agree with the actual 
distance between the latter place and Babarhan. In calculating 
this distance it must be kept in view that the old road from the Indus 
to Kasmlr, according to Mr. Merk’s information, descended to Grarhi 
Hablbulla, on the Kunliar River, through the Doga Nullah, i.e., by a 
more direct route than that followed by the modern cart-road vid 
Mansahra. 
I am further indebted to Mr. Merk for the very interesting notice 
that the plain near Mirpur, about 5 miles north-northwest of Abbotta¬ 
bad, is popularly known by the name of JJrasli or Orash. There cau 
be no doubt as to this local name being the modern representative of 
the ancient Urasd. Its survival in that particular locality strikingly 
confirms the conclusion indicated above in § 83, and also in my note 
on Rajat. v. 217, as to the position of the old capital of Urasa. The 
designation of this capital was undoubtedly JJrasd . 
