Fig. 140. Takht i Sulimán in Winter.
(b) Jhelam Gorge and Valley of Kishnganga. The Jhelam gorge below Báramúla is narrow and the cultivation is usually terraced. The Kishnganga joins the Jhelam near Muzaffarábád. The Muzaffarábád district includes the Jhelam gorge and the lower part of the valley of the Kishnganga. The upper part is in the Uttarmachhipura tahsíl of the district of North Kashmír.
Indus Valley.—(a) Ladákh including Zánskar and Rupshu. Some description of Ladákh and its scenery has already been given in Chapter II. It may be divided into Rupshu, Zánskar, and Ladákh proper with Leh as its centre. Rupshu in the south-east is a country of great brackish lakes in no part less than 13,500 feet above sea level. At such a height cultivation must be very difficult, but a little beardless Tibetan barley is raised. The scanty population consists mainly of nomad shepherds. In Ladákh the people are divided into shepherds or champas, who roam over the Alpine pastures, and Ladákhís, who till laboriously every available patch of culturable land in the river valleys. Though both are Buddhists they rarely intermarry. Zánskar to the N.W. of Rupshu is drained by the river of the same name, which flows northwards to join the Indus below Leh. It forms part of the Kargil tahsíl. Zánskar is a bleak inaccessible region where the people and cattle remain indoors for six months of the year. Its breed of ponies is famous. In Ladákh proper cultivation ranges from 9000 to 15,000 feet. The sandy soil must be manured and irrigated, and is often refreshed by top-dressings of fresh earth from the hill sides. The crops are wheat and barley, rape, lucerne, peas and beans, in spring, and buckwheat, millets, and turnips, in autumn. There is a great lack of wood for building and for fuel, and the deficiency in the latter case has to be supplied by cow-dung cakes. Notwithstanding their hard life the people are cheerful and fairly well off, for polyandry has prevented overcrowding.
Fig. 141. Ladákh Hills.
(b) Báltistán. In Báltistán, which lies to the N.W. of Ladákh, they are Muhammadans and there is much more pressure on the soil. They are a cheery race and very fond of polo. To support their families the men have to work as carriers on the roads to Leh and Gilgit. They tend the cattle in the pastures, keep the irrigation channels and the walls of the terraced fields in repair, and do the ploughing. The rest of the work of cultivation is left to the women. The climate is very severe and most of the rivers are frozen in winter. On the other hand near the Indus on the Skardo plain (7250 feet) and in the Rondu gorge further west, the heat is intense in July and August. The dreary treeless stony Deosai Plains on the road to Kashmír have an elevation of 13,000 feet. The cultivation and crops are much the same as in Ladákh. Excellent fruit is grown, and there is a considerable export of apricots. Gold washing is carried on with profit.
Ladákh and Báltistán together form the Ladákh wazárat, divided into the three tahsíls of Ladákh, Kargil, and Skardo.
(c) Astor and Gilgit.—Where the Gilgit road from Kashmír descends from the Burzil pass (13,500 feet) the country of Astor is reached. It is drained by the Astor river, which joins the Indus to the south of Bunjí. The bridge which crosses it at Ramghát is only 3800 feet above sea level. The village of Astor itself is at a height of 7853 feet. The cultivation is of the same description as that in Báltistán. The aspect of the country is bleak till the Indus is crossed, and Gilgit (4890 feet) is reached. Here there is a fertile well-watered oasis from which on every side great mountain peaks are visible. The lands are heavily manured. Rice, maize, millet, buckwheat, cotton, wheat, barley, rape, and lucerne are grown. There is a second and easier road to Gilgit from India over the Bábusar pass at the top of the Kágan Glen in Hazára. But the posts are sent by the Kashmír road. The Astorís and Gilgitís are a simple easy-going folk, and, like the Báltís, very fond of polo. A British Political Agent is stationed at Gilgit. He is responsible to the Government of India for the administration of Hunza, Nagar, and Yasín, and of the little republics in the neighbourhood of Chilás. Hunza and Nagar lie to the north of Gilgit near the junction of the Muztagh and Hindu Kush ranges, and Yasín far to the west about the upper waters of the Gilgit river.