1899.] 
THE PlR PANTSAL RANGE. 
79 
48 . Beyond the Pir Pantsal Pass the summit-line of the main 
range rises again considerably. The Tang - 
Centi_al^pait^of Pir ^ a p ags which is about five miles due north 
of the Pir Pantsal Pass and is mentioned by 
Abu-1-Fazl, 1 is already far higher. The track crossing it is scarcely 
practicable for animals. 
The same is the case, as personal experience showed me, with 
the next two Passes, known by the Pahari names of Gittapani and 
Coti Gall ; they are both over 14,000 feet high. The first one was 
probably used on occasion of the inroad related by Shi vara, iv. 589 
sqq. We are told there of a rebel force which coming from Rajauri 
evaded the troops of Sultan Muhammad Shah posted at Surapura, by 
crossing the mountains in the direction of Kacagala. This place, as 
shown on the map, corresponds undoubtedly to the alpine plateau or 
* Marg ’ of Kactgul on the northern slope of the Pir Pantsal range. 
A short distance to the northwest of the Coti Gall Pass the range 
culminates in its greatest snowy peak, Mount Tatakuti , which rises to a 
height of 15,524 feet. Owing to its bold shape and central position 
this peak is the most conspicuous object in the panorama of the whole 
range, whether seen from the Kasmir Valley or from the Panjab 
plains. To the north it presents a precipitous face of unscaleable rocks. 
On the south it is surrounded by snowfields which on the occasion of an 
ascent made late in the season I found still of considerable extent. 
We have already seen that it is this peak which Alberuni describes 
under the name of Kularjak . 2 For an observer from the Panjab 
plain about Gujrat the appearance of the peak, with its glittering dome 
of snow, is very striking, notwithstanding the great distance (about 
87 miles as the crow flies). I have sighted it on very clear days even 
from Lahore Minars. 
From Tatakuti the chain continues at a great elevation for a con¬ 
siderable distance, the summit ridge keeping an average height between 
14,000 and 15,000 feet. We find it crossed first by the Passes of Sangsa - 
fed , Nicrpur and Gorgall , all difficult routes leading down into the valley 
of Loh^rin, the ancient Lohara. It is only at the Tos^maidan Pass 
that we meet again with an important and ancient line of communica¬ 
tion. 
49 . This Pass being on the most direct route between the Kasmir 
capital and Lohara, was of special importance 
Tos^ maidan Routs. , . ,, . £ , , r / , 
during the reigns of the later Kasminan 
kings whose original home and safest stronghold was in Lohara. We 
1 See Ain-i Ahb., ii. p. 348. 
8 Compare above, § 14. 
