100 
ANCIENT GEOGRAPHY OF KAS'MIR. [Extra No. 2, 
cause immense damage to the crops over a great portion of the cultivat¬ 
ed area of the Valley. 1 
Such floods and the famines which are likely to follow, were a 
danger well-known in old times already and are more than once men¬ 
tioned by Kalhana. 2 Against them the villages and riverside towns 
have always endeavoured to protect themselves by artificially raising 
the banks. The allusions found in the Chronicle suffice to show that 
the construction of embankments ( setu , now suth), with the accom¬ 
panying system of floodgates closing lateral drainage channels, has 
existed since ancient times. 3 4 One great regulation scheme which was 
directly designed to diminish these risks, and of which we possess a 
detailed historical account, will be discussed below. The equally 
elaborate system by which water was secured for the irrigation of the 
otherwise dry alluvial flats along the river, will also be specially 
noticed. 
The navigable waters of the Vitasta have from ancient times to 
the present day formed the most important highway of Kasmir. The 
value of the river and of the numerous canals, lakes, and streams which 
are also accessible to boats, for the development of internal trade and 
traffic can hardly be overestimated. Until a couple of years ago there 
were nowhere in Kasmir, not even in the flattest parts of the Valley 
roads fit for wheeled traffic. Carriages were practically things unknown 
to the population bred in the Valley. As long as the communication 
with the outer world was restricted to difficult bridle-paths or tracks 
passable only for load-carrying Coolies, the construction of such roads 
would have been, in fact, of very slight advantage. The importance 
of river-traffic in Kasmir may be estimated from the fact that the 
number of boatmen engaged in it (and their families) amounted accord¬ 
ing to the census of 1891 to nearly 31,000. 4 That boats were in old 
days, just as up to the present time, the ordinary means of travel in 
the Valley, is shown by the frequent references to river journeys in the 
Chronicles. 5 6 
Equally eloquent testimony to the historical importance of river 
navigation in Kasmir is borne by the position of the ancient sites. We 
1 Compare for data as to modern floods, Lawrence, Valley, pp. 205 sqq. 
2 See Rdjat, vii. 1219; viii. 2449, 2786 ; also vii. 1624; viii. 1417, 1422; Jonar. 
403 sqq. 
3 See Rdjat. i. 159; iii. 483; v. 91, 103, 120; viii. 2380, etc.; Jonar. 404, 887 ; 
S'rlv. iii. 191 sq., etc. 
4 Compare regarding the Hanz i of Kasmir, Lawrence, Valley , p. 313; also 
Rdjat, v. 101 note. 
6 See Rdjat. v. 84 ; vii. 347, 714, 1628, etc. 
