Spití and Lahul.—Spití, or rather Pití, is a country of great rugged mountains, whose bare red and yellow rocks rise into crests of everlasting snow showing clear under a cloudless blue sky. There is no rain, but in winter the snowfall is heavy. The highest of the mountains exceeds 23,000 feet. Pití is drained by the river of the same name, which after passing through Bashahr falls I into the Sutlej at an elevation of 11,000 feet. Of the few villages several stand at a height of from 13,000 to 14,000 feet. The route to Pití from Kulu passes over the Hamtu Pass (14,200 feet) and the great Shigrí glacier. The people are Buddhists. They are governed by their hereditary ruler or Nono assisted by five elders, the Assistant Commissioner exercising a general supervision. Indian laws do not apply to the sparse population of this remote canton, which has a special regulation of its own. Lahul lies to the west of Pití, from which it is separated by a lofty range. It is entered from Kulu by the Rotang Pass (13,000 feet) and the road from it to Ladákh passes over the Baralácha (16,350 feet). The whole country is under snow from December to April, but there is very little rain. The two streams, the Chandra and Bhága, which unite to form the Chenáb, flow through Lahul and the few villages are situated at a height of 10,000 feet in their elevated valleys. The people are Buddhists. In summer the population is increased by "Gaddí" shepherds from Kángra, who drive lean flocks in the beginning of June over the Rotang and take them back from the Alpine pastures in the middle of September fat and well liking.
Fig. 91. Biás at Manálí.
Kulu and Saráj.—The Kulu Valley, set in a mountain frame and with the Biás, here a highland stream, running through the heart of it, is one of the fairest parts of the Panjáb Himálaya. Manálí, at the top of the Valley on the road to the Rotang, is a very beautiful spot. Kulu is connected with Kángra through Mandí by the Babbu and Dulchí passes. The latter is generally open the whole year round. The headquarters are at Sultánpur, but the Assistant Commissioner lives at Nagar. In Kulu the cultivation is often valuable and the people are well off. The climate is good and excellent apples and pears are grown by European settlers. Inner and outer Saráj are connected by the Jalaori Pass on the watershed of the Sutlej and Biás. Saráj is a much rougher and poorer country than Kulu. There are good deodár forests in the Kulu subdivision. In 1911 the population of Kulu, Saráj, Lahul, and Pití, numbered 124,803. The Kulu people are a simple folk in whose primitive religion local godlings of brass each with his little strip of territory take the place of the Brahmanic gods. It is a quaint sight to see their ministers carrying them on litters to the fair at Sultánpur, where they all pay their respects to a little silver god known as Raghunáthjí, who is in a way their suzerain.
Fig. 92. Religious Fair in Kulu.
Kángra proper is bounded on the north by the lofty wall of the Dhaula Dhár and separated from Kulu by the mountains of Bara Bangáhal. It consists of the five tahsíls of Kángra, Palampur, Nurpur, Dera, and Hamírpur. The first two occupy the rich and beautiful Kángra Valley. They are separated from the other three tahsíls by a medley of low hills with a general trend from N.W. to S.E. They are drained by the Biás, and are much more broken and poorer than the Kángra Valley. The tea industry, once important, is now dead so far as carried on by English planters. The low hills have extensive chír pine forests. They have to be managed mainly in the interests of the local population, and are so burdened with rights that conservation is a very difficult problem. In 1911 the population of the five tahsíls amounted to 645,583. The most important tribes are Brahmans, Rájputs, and hardworking Gírths. The hill Brahman is usually a farmer pure and simple.