ANCIENT GEOGRAPHY OF KASHMIR.. [Extra No. 2, 
12 
Not far to the north of the Tos^maidan Pass the range still attains 
a height of over 15,000 feet in a group of bold snowy peaks. Its 
summit ridge then gradually descends and is crossed by some lower 
passes from the neighbourhood of the well-known alpine plateau of 
Gulmarg. From a summit behind Gulmarg (marked ‘ Sallar ’ on the 
map) several spurs radiate. They form the northern end of the range, 
and descend very steeply and with faces of rugged cliffs into the narrow 
valley of the Vitasta. 
Section III — The Vitasta Valley. 
50 . We have already spoken of the Vitasta Valley as the single 
outlet for the waters of Kasmir and as the 
Valley ot Vitasta. great gate of the country. We may now cast 
a glance at the old route leading through it and at the defences by 
which nature has fortified it. 
The Vitasta Valley below Baramiila is confined between two ranges 
of mountains. The one to the south is a branch of the Pir Pantsal 
Range separating from the main chain at a point behind Gulmarg. The 
range to the north belongs to a mountain-system which culminates in 
the Kajnag Peak (14,400 feet) and is usually designated by the name 
of the latter. These two ranges accompany the course of the river for 
some eighty miles westwards down to the point near Muzaffarabad 
where the Vitasta makes its sudden bend to the south. 
Along the whole length of the Valley, cross-ridges, more or less 
steep and rugged, run from both sides down to the river-bed. This 
consists from below Baramiila of an almost unbroken succession of 
rapids, the fall in level being nearly 3000 feet in the above distance. 
The Valley is throughout narrow and wanting in level ground. But 
for about 50 miles, down to the old Kasmir frontier line, it may more 
fitly be described as a narrow ravine. Only occasional alluvial terraces 
high above the river afford room here for settlement and cultivation. 
Owing to this extremely confined nature of the Valley, communica¬ 
tion on the route leading along it must have always been troublesome 
and risky in old times. The natural difficulties of this long defile were 
no doubt considerably increased by the restless disposition of the Khasa 
tribe which has held it since ancient times. The Sikhs who were the 
last to fight their way through these passes, suffered more than one 
disaster at the hand of the hill-men. The line of forts erected by 
them along the valley attests to this day the trouble they experienced 
