26 
ANCIENT GEOGRAPHY OF KASHMIR. [Extra No. 2, 
reclaim. Leaving this swamp, the Jailam passes the town of U.^hkara, 
and then enters the above-mentioned ravine.” 
The only mistake and this one easily explained is contained in the 
account of the river’s origin. It is described as rising “ in the moun¬ 
tains Haramakot where also the Ganges rises ; cold, impenetrable regions 
where the snow never melts nor disappears.” It is easy to recognize 
here the reference to Mount Haramukuta and the sacred Gatiga-lake 
at the foot of its glacier in which Kasimrian tradition places the source 
of the Siudhu river. 1 The latter is the greatest tributary of the Vitasta 
within Kasmir and is traditionally identified with the Gaiiga, as on the 
other hand the Vitasta with the Vamuna. 2 The special sanctity of 
the Sindu ( ‘Uttaragahga ’) and the popularity of its supposed source 
as a pilgrimage place sufficiently account for the substitution in Albe- 
runi’s notice. 
Entering the open plain of the Kasmir Valley by the Baramula 
gorge “you have for a march of two more days, on your left the moun¬ 
tains of Bolor and Shamilan, Turkish tribes who are called Bliattavaryan. 
Their king has the title of Bhattn-Shah .” It is clear that Alberuni’s 
informant here means the mountain ranges to the north and north-west 
of the Valley which form its borders towards the Dard country and 
Baltistan. The latter has been known by the name of Bolor for many 
centuries. 3 4 I am unable to trace in Kasmirian or other sources the 
names of the ‘ Shamilan’ and ‘ Bhatta.’ 41 But as a subsequent remark 
mentions ‘ Gilgit , Aswlra, and Shiitas ,’ that is the modern Gilgit, Has5r 
(Astor) and Cilas as their chief places, there can be no doubt that the 
inhabitants of the Dard territory to the north-west of Kasmir are 
meant together with the Baltis. 
“Marching on the right side [of the river], you pass through 
_ . ,. „ villages, one close to the other, south of the 
Description of Pir 
Pantsal capital and thence you reach the mountain 
Kuldrjak, which is like a cupola, similar to the 
1 See below, § 57, and Rajat. note i. 57. 
8 See Rdjat. note i. 57. In Haracar. iv. 54 the Vitasta itself is designated as 
the ‘ Gahga of the north ’ (Uttaragahga). This renders the location of its source 
in the lake of Haramukuta still more intelligible from a traditional point of view. 
8 Compare Yule, Marco Polo, i. pp. 187, sq. ; Cunningham, Anc. Geogr., p. 83. 
4 Alberuni’s Bhatta may possibly represent the term Bhutta or Bhautta (the 
modern Ks. Bui a ) which is applied in the Sanskrit Chronicles to the population of 
Tibetan descent generally, from Ladakh to Baltistan. (See Rdjat. note i. 312). 
Alberuni calls their language Turkish, but it must be remembered that he has 
spoken previously (i. p. 206) of ‘ the Turks of Tibet ’ as holding the country to 
the east of Kasmir. There the Tibetans in Ladakh and adjacent districts are clearly 
intended. 
