70 
ANCIENT GEOGRAPHY OF KASHMIR. [Extra No. 2, 
Section II.—The PIr Pantsal Range. 
41. In order to understand correctly the data relating to the an- 
, cient topography of the mountains around 
Kasmir orography. 
Kasmir, it is necessary to acquaint ourselves 
with their actual configuration and character. In the following account 
it will be possible only to indicate the most prominent features of this 
mountain system, and those directly connected with the historical 
data under discussion. For detailed information on Kasmir orography 
a reference to the lucid and instructive account in Mr. Drew’s work 
may be specially recommended. 1 
The mountain ring enclosing Kasmir is divided into three main 
ranges. One of these, usually designated as the Pir Pantsal Range, 
forms the boundary of the Kasmir Yalley to the south and southwest. 
It may be considered to begin from the southernmost part of the 
Valley where the Ban a hal Pass, 9200 feet above the sea, marks the 
lowest depression in the chain of mountains. After running for about 
35 miles from east to west the range turns to the north-northwest. 
In this direction it continues for about fifty miles more, and after attain¬ 
ing its greatest elevation in the Tatakuti Peak {15,524 feet above the 
sea), gradually descends towards the Valley of the Vitasta. All im¬ 
portant old routes towards the Panjab cross this great mountain barrier, 
and this circumstance enables us to trace some interesting information 
regarding its ancient topography. 
The Ban a hal Pass at the eastern extremity of the range must owing 
to its small elevation have always been a con¬ 
venient route of communication towards the 
Upper Cinab Valley and the eastern of the 
Panjab hill-states. It takes its modern name from a village at the south 
foot of the pass which itself is mentioned in Kalhana’s Chronicle by the 
name of Banahal !. 2 3 The castle of Banasala was in Kalhana’s own time 
the scene of a memorable siege (a.d. 1130) in which the pretender 
Bhiksacara was captured and killed. Coming from the Cinab Valley 
he had entered Visalata , s the hill district immediately south of the 
Ban a hal Pass with the view to an invasion of Kasmir. As his move- 
E astern portion of 
Pir Pantsal Range. 
1 See Jummoo , pp. 192-206. 
8 See Rdjat. viii. 1665 sqq. and note. Ban a hal is the direct phonetic derivative 
of Skr. BanaGald, medial Skr. s being regularly changed into h in Kasmiri. 
3 See Rdjat. viii. 177. The name of Visalata is probably preserved in that of 
the river Bichldri. Visalata more than once served as a safe retreat for Kasmirian 
refugees; comp. Rdjat. viii. 177, 697, 1074. 
