22 
ANCIENT GEOGRAPHY OF KAS'MIR. [Extra No. 2, 
doubt the existence of special relations between the great Mleccha scho¬ 
lar and that jealously guarded country. These relations seem strange 
considering what Alberuni himself tells us so graphically about the 
rigid isolation of Kasmir. We can scarcely explain them otherwise 
than by personal intercourse with Kasmirian Pandits. 
In view of these indications we can hardly go wrong in attributing 
a great portion of Alberuni’s detailed knowledge of Kasmir topography 
to these learned informants. But we also know that the chances of war 
had given him an opportunity of supplementing this knowledge in part 
by personal observation. Alberuni refers in two places to his personal 
acquaintance with the fortress Lauhur (or Lahur) on the confines of 
Kasmir. In an extract from my commentary on the Rajatarangini 
already published, 1 I have proved that Alberuni’s Lauhur is identical 
with the castle of Lohara , so frequently mentioned in the Chronicle. 
Its position is marked by the present Loh^rin on the southern slope of 
the Pir Pantsal range. 
‘ Loharakotta ’ is undoubtedly the same as the Fort of Loh-kot 
which according to the uniform report of the Muhammadan historians 
brought Mahmud’s attempt at an invasion of Kasmir to a standstill. It is 
hence certain that Alberuni had accompanied this unsuccessful expedition. 
It probably took place in a.d. 1021. Though it failed to reach Kasmir, it 
must have given Alberuni ample opportunity to collect local informa¬ 
tion and to acquaint himself with the topography of those mountain 
regions which formed Kasmir’s strongest bulwark to the south. The 
result is yet clearly traceable in the accuracy with which he describes 
the relative position of the most prominent points of this territory. 
Is it too much to suppose that Alberuni had at one time or the other Kasmirian 
Pandits in his employ ? We know that in preparing the vast materials digested in 
his book he worked largely with the help of indigenous scholars. Judging from 
his own description of the state of Hindu sciences iu the conquered territories and 
the bitter enmity prevailing there against the dominant Mlecchas, it is doubtful 
whether he could have secured there such assistance as he required. 
Alberuni himself, when describing the difficulties in the way of his Indian 
studies, tells us (i. p. 24) : “ I do not spare either trouble or money in collecting 
Sanskrit books from places where I supposed they were likely to be found, and in 
procuring for myself, even from very remote places, Hindu scholars who under¬ 
stand them and are able to teach me.” 
Kasmir has always been distinguished by an over-production of learning. Its 
Pandits have been as ready in old days as at present to leave their homes for distant 
places wherever their learning secured for them a livelihood (compare Buhler, 
Introd. to the Vikramdnkadevacarita, p. xvii ; also Indische Palxographie, p. 56). 
1 See my note oh the ‘ Castle of Lohara ,’ Indian Antiquary , 1897, pp. 225 sqq., 
or Note E, on Rajat. iv. 177, §§ 12, 13. 
