114 
ANCIENT GEOGRAPHY OF KAS'MIR. 
[Extra No. 2, 
It can be safely assumed that the creation of this strip of land which 
now accompanies the river-channel for some seven miles farther, is due 
to the continual deposits of silt. This silting-up process is still going 
on in this as in other portions of the Volur where streams enter it, and 
is likely' to reduce the expanse of the lake still further in the future. 1 
A striking proof for the gradual change thus effected is afforded by 
the position of the artificial island known now as Zain a lank. It was 
constructed by King Zainu-l-‘abidin from whom it took its proper 
designation of Jainalanha. It was then, according to Jonaraja’s descrip¬ 
tion, in the middle of the Volur where the water was deep. 2 It is 
now situated in a shallow marsh close to the present embouchure of 
the river. 
73. The great lake, with the southern shores of which we have 
Volur lake already become acquainted, is a very impor¬ 
tant feature in the hydrographic system of 
Kasmir. It acts as a huge flood-reservoir for the greatest part of the 
drainage of Kasmir and gives to the western portion of the Valley its 
peculiar character. Its dimensions vary at different periods, owing to 
the low shores to the south being liable to inundation. In normal 
years the length of the lake may be reckoned at about 12 and its width 
at 6 miles, with an area of about 78 square miles. In years of flood 
the lake extends to about 13 miles in length and 8 miles in width. 3 
Its depth is nowhere more than about 15 feet and is continually lessen¬ 
ing in those parts where the streams debouch into it. Notwithstanding 
this slight depth navigation on the lake often becomes dangerous when 
violent storms sweep over it from the mountains in the north. The 
boundaries of the lake are ill-defined in the south and partly in the east; 
the marshes and peaty meadows merge almost imperceptibly into the 
area of the lake. On the north the shores slope up towards an 
amphitheatre of mountains from which some rocky spurs run down to 
the water’s edge. The fertile tract at the foot of these mountains 
forms the ancient Khuyasrama , the modern Pargana of Khuy^hom. 
The ancient name of the lake is Mahapadmasaras, derived from the 
, -_ T _ Naga Mahapadma , who is located in the lake 
Manapadma Naga. ° r ’ 
B as its tutelary deity. This designation is by 
far the most common in the Chronicles, the Nilamata, and other old 
1 Compare Drew, p. 166, and Lawrence, Valley , p. 20. The latter author ia 
probably reproducing a popular tradition when mentioning that in King Zainu-1- 
‘abidin’s time the waters of the Volur stretched south to Asam and Sambal. 
2 See Jonar. (Bo. ed.) 1227 sqq. The name Jainalanka was mutilated in the 
Calcutta^edition ; else it would have been shown on the map, 
s See Lawrence, p. 20. 
