108 
ANCIENT GEOGRAPHY OF KAS'MIR. [Extra No. 2, 
side of tlie delta is marked by an alluvial plateau which continues the 
right or western side of the lower Sind Valley down to the river’s con¬ 
fluence with the Vitasta. The base of the triangle is the Vitasta itself 
which between STinagar and this junction flows in a bed separated by 
artificial banks from the marshes on either side. The waters of the 
Sind after spreading over this wide Delta leave it in a single channel at 
its western extremity, opposite to the village of Shad i pur. 
The confluence of the Vitasta and Sindhu has from early times 
enjoyed exceptional sanctity as a Tirtha. Ka§- 
ConfluencG of Vitasta - , 
mir tradition, as recorded already m the 
a n U Nilamata, identifies the Vitasta and Sindhu, 
the largest a ad holiest rivers of the country, with the Yamuna and 
Ganga , respectively. Their junction represents, therefore, the Kas- 
mirian equivalent of the famous Prayaga at the confluence of the great 
Indian rivers. The Vitastasindhusamgama is often referred to as an 
important Tirtha in the Rajatarangini, the Nilamata and numerous 
other texts. It is actually known by the name of Prayaga to the modem 
tradition and the Mahatmyas. 1 A small island built of solid masonry 
rises in the river-bed at the point where the waters of the two rivers 
mingle. It is the object of regular pilgrimages on particular Parvans 
throughout the year. On it stands an old Cinar tree which to the 
pious Kasmirian represents the far-famed Ficus Indica tree of the real 
Prayaga. 
Notwithstanding the accumulated holiness of this Tirtha there is 
most explicit evidence to show that its present position dates back only 
to about a thousand years. We owe the knowledge of this interesting 
fact to the detailed account which Kalhana has given us of the 
great regulation of the Vitasta carried out under King Avantivarman 
(a.d. 855-883), As the change in the confluence of the Vitasta and 
Sindhu forms one of the most striking results of this regulation, 
Kalhana’s account of the latter may conveniently be noticed in the 
present place. I shall restrict myself to an indication of the main facts 
connected with these operations, referring for all detailed evidence to 
Note I (v. 97-100) of my translation. 
69 . Kalhana tells us in his opening notice * that the produce of 
_ Kasmir had in earlier times been greatly 
Suyya’s regulation of , . , , . , ,. _ J 
the Vitasta restricted owing to disastrous floods, particu¬ 
larly from the Mahapadma or Volur lake, and 
the general water-locked condition of the country. Drainage operations 
1 For a detailed account of the references to the Vitasta-Sindhusamgama and 
the ancient remains near it, see Note I ( Rdjat . v. 97-100), §§ 14, 15; also note iv. 391. 
* See Rdjat, v. 68 sqq. 
