1899.] 
THE PIR PANTSAL RANGE. 
75 
Ksemendra makes this interesting reference in that curious portion 
of the Samayamatrka already alluded to, which describes the wander¬ 
ings of the courtezan Kaiikali . 1 * The heroine of his story after effect¬ 
ing some petty thefts in Kasmir proceeds to S'urapura. There she 
passes herself off as the wife of a load-carrier ( bharika ) engaged on the 
‘salt road .’ 8 By this term the Pir Pantsal route is quite correctly 
designated. It has remained to the present day the chief route by which 
the produce of the Panjab salt-mines coming via Jehlam and Bhimbhar 
enters Kasmir . 3 4 * * * She keeps up the disguise which is evidently intended 
to help her through the clutches of the officials at the frontier watch- 
station, by taking next morning a load on her head and starting 
with it towards the pass ( samhata ). On the way she passes along high 
mountains by precipitous paths deeply covered with snow. By night¬ 
fall she reaches the PaNcaladharamatha after having in the meantime 
assumed the guise of a respectable housewife and apparently disposed 
of her load. It being late in the season, she passes the night there 
shivering with cold. Thence she finds her way open to India where a 
career of successful adventures awaits her. 
45 - Ksemendra’s itinerary is of particular value because it sup¬ 
plies us with the only mention of the old 
The name Pancala. e ,, T , T , • , • 
name or the pass I can trace. It is certain 
that with him Pancaladhara designates the highest portion of the route, 
i.e ., the Pass of the Pir Pantsal. It is equally obvious that Pancala 
is the original of the modern Ks. Pantsal which is in fact identical 
with the earlier form except for the regular change of Skr. c into Ks. 
ts. In the Pahari dialect of the population inhabiting the valleys to 
the south the name is still pronounced Pancala 
1 See Samayam, ii. 90 sqq., and above, § 25. 
8 Professional load-carriers or Coolies are found to this day in numbers in 
Hiir^por, Pasiana and other places near the Pir Pantsal Pass. Of Zainu-l-‘abidin it 
is specially reported that he settled a colony of load-carriers from Abhisdra (i.e., the 
country about Bhimbhar) at the customs-station of S'urapura; see S'riv. i. 408. 
Coolies are the only means of transport on the Pir Pantsal and other passes when 
the snow lies to any depth. 
3 Salt is a considerable article of import into Kasmir where it is wholly wanting j 
see Lawrence, Valley, p. 393. I remember vividly the long strings of salt-laden 
bullocks which I used to meet daily when marching into Kasmir by the Pir Pantgal 
route. 
4 I am not certain of the origin of the pronunciation of the name as Pir Panjal 
now accepted by Anglo-Indian usage. It is known neither on the Kasmir nor on 
the Panjab side of the range itself. It meets us first in Bernier’s ‘ Pire Penjale.’ 
Tieffenthaler, however writes more correctly Pensal; see Description de Vlnd 1786, 
pp. 87 sq. 
