KASHMIR 11
west of the other. Between the two passes is the beautifully situated fort of Báramgali and a well-known rest-house for travellers. This place is in the domain of Raja Móti Singh of Púnch, cousin and tributary of the maharájá of Kashmír. At Rájádori, south of these passes, the road divides: one line leads to Bhimbar and Gujrát, the other to Jamú and Siálkót by Aknúr. Next, south-west of Baramúla, is the Hajjí Pir Pass (8500 feet), by which crosses the road to Púnch. From Púnch one road leads down to the plains at the town of Jhelum, another east ward through the hills to the Rattan Pír Pass and Rájáori. Lastly there is the river pass of the Jhelum, which is the easy route from the valley westward, having two ways down to the plains, one by Muzaffarábád and the Hazára valley to Hassan Abdál, the other by the British hill station of Marri (Murree) to Ráwal Pindi.
The valley of Kashmír, sheltered from the south-west monsoon by the Panjál range, has not the periodical rains of India, Its rainfall is irregular, greatest in the spring months. Occasional heavy storms in the monsoon pass over the crests of the Panjál and give heavy rain on the elevated plateaus on the Kashmír side. And again clouds . pass over the valley and are arrested by the higher hills on the north-east side, on which they pour themselves. Snow falls on the surrounding hills at intervals from October to March, and sometimes in great quantity. In the valley the first snow generally falls about the end of December, and never to any great amount. The highest monthly average of temperature from May to October, at Srínagar, is 89° in the shade at noon. There has been no regular winter register; but the temperature is never very low.
For all crops except rice, which is irrigated, the rain is ordinarily sufficient. Barley, sown in November, ripens in June, wheat in July. Rice, sown in May and June, ripens in October. Millet, maize, and buckwheat, also turnips, pease, and mustard, are grown in considerable quantity.
There is no natural forest in the level parts of the valley. Of the cultivated trees the finest is the plane (chinár), which grows to a large size, and is of great beauty. The principal other trees of the valley are the poplar, willow, cypress, walnut, apple, pear, quince, apricot, cherry, mulberry. Vines are grown extensively, commonly trained up poplar trees. There are many kinds of grape. On the hills around are deodar, Pinus excelsa and Gerardiana, Picea Webbiana, hazel, birch, viburnum, juniper, rose, &c. The herbaceous plants and flowers are very numerous. The umbelliferous plant called prangos, growing on the drier hills, is much valued as winter food for sheep. In spring the bright orange-coloured colchicum shows itself in great quantity; and in autumn are seen many acres of saffron with its beautiful light purple flowers, grown in large fields divided into small square beds. Saffron was among the articles of annual tribute to the Mughal emperors. The Dal lake at Srínagar is full of reeds and water plants, Potamogeton, Nymphæa, Nelumbium, &c. On this lake there are floating gardens: a shallow layer of soil on sheets of the great leaves of water lilies is made to grow quantities of vegetables. The curious singhara, or horned water nut (Trapa bispinosa), which grows in great quantity in all the lakes, is much used for food, prepared in various ways. Since 1874 hops have been grown experimentally for the Murree Brewery Company, with fair success, in five different parts of the valley.
Much has been said and written about the beauty of the vale of Kashmír. Spring encircles a fresh, green, smiling valley with a noble belt of glistening snow-capped ridges; autumn fills the eye with the wonderful richness of the many-coloured foliage. At all times flows on the quiet glassy river, showing back the groves and avenues upon its banks, the strange tall shadowy wooden houses, and the craggy hills. There is no place or season which has not something to show of real beauty. The rapturous praises of Mohammedan writers may be often extravagant; and it is with some of their materials, reproduced with more modern additions, that Moore has built up great part of his romance; still few will really think that here extravagance and fiction have left truth much too far behind.
Many Englishmen every year resort to Kashmír for shooting. The game is in consequence now only to be found within reduced areas of the more secluded little valleys and more difficult hill sides, and many sportsmen now cross over into Ládák. The animals chiefly sought in both countries are the Ovis ammon, Ovis poll, antelope, ibex, már-khór or wild goat, musk deer, Tibetan stag, brown and black bear, and leopard. In various parts of Kashmír are to be found the fox, lynx, weasel, marmot, and hare. The black and grey monkey (langúr) is common on the Panjál range. Kashmír has the snow pheasant, snow owl, wild goose, duck, and teal; and the eagle is also found.
The Kashmír valley has a large number of old buildings of the Hindu period, interesting from their style, which is peculiar to Kashmír, and from the traces which many of them bear of Greek art. Their ruinous condition is ascribed partly to Sikandar the idol-breaker, partly to earthquakes, which are frequent in Kashmír. The most ancient of these buildings (about 220 B.C.) is the temple of Shankar Acharya (or, as it was formerly called, of Jaiasht Iswar), on the hill at Srínagar, known as Takht-i-Sulimán, or Solomon's Throne, – a designation thought to be a Mohammedan adaptation of the name of Rájá Sandhaman, who repaired or rebuilt the temple. The other Hindu buildings mostly belong to the time from the 5th to the 10th century. The chief points which distinguish them from Hindu buildings in India are the trefoil-headed doorways and recesses, high pediments, high straight-lined pyramidal roofs, and fluted pillars.
The temple of the sun at Marttand or Matan has been one of the finest. It occupies a very striking position on a karéwa or natural terrace about 3 miles from Islamábád, and commands a splendid view of the valley of the Jhelum. Of the others the most worthy of notice are the remains of two of the four temples at Avantipúr, 15 miles south east of Srínagar; the temple of Bhúmzo near Marttand, built in a cave; Páyach, on the karéwa of Naunagar near Avantipúr, a small temple, the whole superstructure built of six stones; Pandrétan, 3 miles south-east of Srínagar, standing with its floor below the water, in a tank; Bhániár (Bhawániár) and Kutrúi, a few miles west of Baramúla, both backed by fine wooded cliffs crowned with deodars. A mound, with masonry in and about it, at the village of Ushkara near Baramúla, is supposed to be the remains of a Buddhist tope (stúpa), the place taking its name from Hushka, one of the Tartar kings of Kashmír.
Srínagar, the capital (31 4 6" N., 74 48 5" E.), said to have been founded by Pravara Sén, in the beginning of the 6th century, is built on both banks of the Jhelum. It is a somewhat confused mass of houses, many of them built of wood, with balconies and carved lattice windows, and projecting upper stories propped on poles, and overhanging the narrow streets or the little canals which in some parts are the streets. The city has seven bridges across the river, built of beams laid on stone and timber piers. In the fort on the south side of the river is the palace. There are several small Hindu temples in the town. The two chief mosques are the Jámi mosque and that of Shah Hamadán, the latter one of the most conspicuous buildings, with walls of stone and timber, low sloping wooden roof, and little wooden spire. On the shores of the Dal lake are the old pleasure-gardens of the Mughals.
