84 
ANCIENT GEOGRAPHY OE KAS'MIR. 
[Extra Vo. 2, 
Kasmlr on the right bank of the Vitasta, the crossing of the latter being 
wholly avoided. It has already been shown above that this route, now 
marked by the stages of Abbottabad, Garlii Habibullah, Muzaffarabad 
and Baramula, is directly indicated in Alberuni’s itinerary. 1 
52 . We may now proceed to examine the old notices regarding 
this route. It started in Kasmir from the twin 
G-ate of Varahamu a. 0 f Yarahamfila-IDiskapura which occu¬ 
pied the sites of the present Baramula and Uskiir, respectively. Huska- 
pura on the left river bank, though the more important of the two 
places in ancient times, has dwindled down to a mere village. Varaha- 
mula-Baramula, however, on the opposite bank is still a flourishing 
place and an emporium of trade. It occupies a narrow strip of open 
ground between the river and the foot of a steep mountain side. 
Close to the western end of the town a rocky ridge with a precipi¬ 
tous slope runs down into the river-bed. Only a few yards’ space is 
left open for the road. At this point there stood till last year (1897) an 
old ruined gateway known to the people as the Drang or ‘ watch-station.’ 
It had been occupied as a military police post; until the‘Bahdari ’ 
system was abolished, watch was kept here over those who entered or 
left the Valley. I had examiued the gateway in 1892. When revisiting 
the spot in May, 1898, I could scarcely trace its foundations. The 
decayed walls had meanwhile been sold by auction, and its materials 
carried away by a contractor. 
Though the structure I had seen, was scarcely older than the time 
of Sikh rule, there can be little doubt that it marked the site of the 
ancient ‘Gate’ of VarahamCila. This is clearly indicated by the situa¬ 
tion of the spot which is by far the most convenient in the neighbourhood 
for the purpose of a watch-station. Moorcroft does not mention the 
name Drang , but describes the gateway itself accurately enough. Here 
then, we may assume, stood in ancient times “ the stone gate, the western 
entrance of the kingdom”, through which Hiuen Tsiang had passed before 
he reached Huskapura ( Hu-se-kia-lo), his first night’s quarter in the 
Valley. Ou-k'ong too and Alberuni, as we have seen, knew well this 
watch-station which is also mentioned by Kalhana under the general 
designation of Dvara . 2 
The road keeps close by the bank of the river as it winds in rapid 
fall through the rock-bound gorge. About two and a half miles below 
‘ Drang’ the hill sides recede slightly, leaving room for a small village 
1 See above, § 14 [The construction of a Tonga road between Abbottabad and 
Muzaffarabad, recently sanctioned (1899), is sure to make the old route through 
Hazara again popular.] 
8 See Rdjat. viii. 413 note. 
