118 
ANCIENT GEOGRAPHY OF KAS'MIR. [Extra No. 2, 
lower ground around them or connected by very gentle slopes with 
spurs descending from the mountains. Often the tops of these plateaus 
seem almost perfectly flat, forming table lands of varying dimensions. 
They rise generally from 100 to 300 feet above the level of the ravines 
and valleys which intersect them, and through which the streams from 
the mountains and their own drainage find their way to the Vitasta. 
Most of the Ildars are found on the south-western side of the Valley, 
stretching from S'upiyan to Baramula. But they also occur across the 
river on the north-eastern side of the Valley, and at both extremities 
of the river-flat in the south-east and north-west. 
Owing to the inferiority of the soil and the difficulty of irrigation, 
the Udars show a marked difference in point of fertility from other 
parts of the Valley. Those which slope down from the foot of the 
mountains have been brought under cultivation with the help of water¬ 
courses conducted over them from the higher ground behind. Most of 
these irrigation-channels are, no doubt, of ancient date, and some are 
specially mentioned in the Chronicles. To other Udars, particularly 
those which are entirely isolated, water could not be brought. These 
are either barren wastes covered with low jungle or if cultivated, yield 
only precarious crops owing to the uncertainty of the rainfall. 
Some of the Udars, owing to their position near the Vitasta or for 
other reasons, are sites of importance in the ancient topography of 
Kasmir. Such are the plateaus of Martanda, Cakradhara, Padmapura, 
Parihasapura. Another, the ‘ Udar of Damodara,’ plays an interesting 
part in the legendary lore of the country. All these will be duly 
noticed in the next chapter. 
77 . Climatic conditions are so closely connected with a country’s 
, topography that the few old notices and 
Kasmir climate. n , - , , 
references which we have regarding those or 
Kasmir, may fitly find mention here. 
The only distinct account of the Kasmir climate is given by 
Alberuni. 1 He clearly indicates the reason why Kasmir is exempt from 
the heavy Monsoon rains of India proper. When the heavy clouds, he 
explains, reach the mountains which enclose Kasmir on the south, “the 
mountain-sides strike against them, and the clouds are pressed like 
olives or grapes.” In consequence “ the rain pours down and the rains 
never pass beyond the mountains. Therefore Kasmir has no varsaJccila , 
but continual snowfall during two and a half months, beginning with 
Magha, and shortly after the middle of Caitra continual rain sets in 
for a few days, melting the snow and cleansing the earth. This rule 
has seldom an exception ; however, a certain amount of extraordinary 
meteorological occurrences is peculiar to every province in India.” 
1 See India, i. p. 211. 
