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Fig. 9. Muztagh-Karakoram and Himalayan Ranges in Kashmír.

The Karakoram range culminates in the north-west near the Muztagh pass in a group of majestic peaks including K 2 or Mount Godwin Austen (28,265 feet), Gasherbrum, and Masherbrum, which tower over and feed the vast Boltoro glacier. The first of these giants is the second largest mountain in the world. The Duke of the Abruzzi ascended it to the height of 24,600 feet, and so established a climbing record. The Muztagh chain carries on the northern bastion to the valley of the Hunza river and the western extremity of the Hindu Kush. It has several peaks exceeding 25,000 feet. The most famous is Rakiposhi which looks down on Hunza from a height of 25,550 feet.

The Hindu Kush.—The Muztagh chain from the south-east, the Sarikol from the north-east, and the Hindu Kush from the south-west, meet at a point to the north of Hunza. The last runs westward and south-westward for about 200 miles to the Dorah pass (14,800 feet), separating the valleys which drain into the Indus from the head waters of the Oxus, and Hunza and Gilgit in Kashmír and Chitrál in British India from the Afghán province of Wakhan. The highest point in the main axis, Sad Istragh (24,171 feet), is in this section. But the finest mountain scenery in the Hindu Kush is in the great spurs it thrusts out southwards to flank the glens which feed the Gilgit and Chitrál rivers. Tirach Mír towers above Chitrál to a height of 25,426 feet. From Tibet to the Dorah pass the northern frontier of India is impregnable. It is pierced by one or two difficult trade routes strewn with the bones of pack animals, but no large army has ever marched across it for the invasion of India. West of the Dorah pass the general level of the Hindu Kush is a good deal lower than that of its eastern section. The vital point in the defences of India in this quarter lies near Charikár to the north of Kábul, where the chain thins out, and three practicable passes debouch on the valley of the Kábul river. It is this fact that gives the town of Kábul its great strategic importance. The highest of the three passes, the Kaoshan or Hindu Kush (dead Hindu), crosses the chain at an elevation of 14,340 feet. It took its own name from the fate that befel a Hindu army when attempting to cross it, and has handed it on to the whole range. It is the pass which the armies of Alexander and Bábar used. The historical road for the invasion of India on this side has been by Charikár and the valley of the Kábul river to its junction with the Kunar below Jalálábád, thence up the Kunar valley and over one of the practicable passes which connect its eastern watershed with the Panjkora and Swát river valleys, whence the descent on Pesháwar is easy. This is the route by which Alexander led the wing of the Grecian army which he commanded in person, and the one followed by Bábar in 1518-19. Like Alexander, Bábar fought his way through Bajaur, and crossed the Indus above Attock.

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Fig. 10. The Khaibar Road.

The Khaibar.—A British force advancing on Kábul from Pesháwar has never marched by the Kunar and Kábul valley route. It has always taken the Khaibar road, which only follows the Kabul river for less than one-third of the 170 miles which separate Pesháwar from the Amir's capital. The military road from Pesháwar to Landikhána lies far to the south of the river, from which it is shut off by difficult and rugged country held by the Mohmands.

Safed Koh.—From Landikhána the political boundary runs south-west to the Safed Koh (white mountain) and is continued westwards along that range to the Paiwar Kotal or pass (8450 feet). The Safed Koh forms the watershed of the Kábul and Kurram rivers. It is a fine pine clad chain with a general level of 12,000 feet, and its skyline is rarely free from snow. It culminates in the west near Paiwar Kotal in Sikarám (15,620 feet). To the west of the Pesháwar and Kohát districts is a tangle of hills and valleys formed by outlying spurs of the Safed Koh. This difficult country is in the occupation of Afrídís and Orakzais, who are under our political control.

The Kurram Valley.—The line of advance into Afghánistán through the Kurram valley is easy, and Lord Roberts used it when he marched towards Kábul in 1898. After the war we annexed the valley, leaving however the head waters of the Kurram in Afghán territory. The road to Kábul leaves the river far to the south before it crosses our frontier at Paiwar Kotal.

Wazíristán Hills.—Between the Kurram valley and the Gomal river is a large block of very rough mountainous country known as Wazíristán from the turbulent clan which occupies it. In the north it is drained by the Tochí. Westwards of the Tochí valley the country rises into lofty mountains. The upper waters of the Tochí and its affluents drain two fine glens known as Birmal and Shawal to the west of the country of the Mahsud Wazírs. The Tochí valley is the direct route from India to Ghazní, and nine centuries ago, when that decayed town was the capital of a powerful kingdom, it must often have heard the tramp of armed men. The loftiest peaks in Wazíristán, Shuidár (11,000 feet) and Pírghal (11,600 feet), overhang Birmal. Further south, Wána, our post in south-west Wazíristán, overlooks from its plateau the Gomal valley.