1899.] POSITION AND CONFIGURATION OF KAS'MIR VALLEY. 
61 
CHAPTER III. 
GENERAL GEOGRAPHY. 
Section I.—Position and configuration of KAAmIr Valley. 
36 . Nature itself when creating the great Valley of Kasmir and 
its enclosing wall of mountains, seems to have 
The name KaSmlra. agsure d to this territory not only a distinct 
geographical character but also a historical existence of marked indivi¬ 
duality. We see both these facts illustrated by the clearly defined 
and constant use of the name which the territory has borne from the 
earliest accessible period. 
This name, Ka^mira in its original Sanskrit form, has been used as 
the sole designation of the country throughout its known history. It 
has uniformly been applied both by the inhabitants and by foreigners. 
We can trace back its continued use through an unbroken chain of 
documents for more than twenty-three centuries, while the name itself 
undoubtedly is far more ancient. Yet notwithstanding this long history 
the current form of the name down to the present day has changed but 
slightly in the country itself and scarcely at all outside it. 
The Sanskrit Kasmira still lives as Kasmir (in Persian spelling 
Kashmir) all through India and wherever to the West the fame of the 
Valley has spread. In the language of the inhabitants themselves the 
name is now pronounced as Kasir. 1 This form is the direct phonetic 
derivative of Kasmir , with regular loss of the final vowel and assimila- 
1 The adjective Kasur ‘ Kasmirian ’ corresponds to Skr. Kasmir a. The u of the 
last syllable is probably due to the v of an intermediate form * Kasyira; see below. 
