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HINDU KUSH
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See also:HINDU KUSH , a range of mountains in Central See also:Asia. Through-out 500 M. of its length, from its roots in the Pamir regions till it fades into the Koh-i-Baba to the See also:west of See also:Kabul, this See also:great range forms the See also:water-See also:divide between the Kabul and the See also:Oxus basins, and, for the first 200 m. reckoning westwards, the See also:southern boundary of See also:Afghanistan. It may be said to See also:spring from the See also:head of the Taghdumbash Pamir, where it unites with the great meridional See also:system of Sarikol stretching northwards, and the yet more impressive See also:mountain barrier of Murtagh, the See also:northern See also:base of which separates See also:China from the semi-See also:independent territory of Pamir into the See also:sources of the See also:river See also:Hunza, almost marks the trijunction of the three great chains of mountains. As the Hindu Kush strikes westwards, after first rounding the head of an Oxus tributary (the Ab-i-Panja, which Curzon considers to be the true source of the Oxus), it closely overlooks the trough of that See also:glacier-fed stream under its northern spurs, its See also:crest at the nearest point being separated from the river by a distance which cannot much exceed ro m. As the river is here the northern boundary of Afghanistan, and the crest of the Hindu Kush the southern boundary, this distance represents the width of the Afghan See also:kingdom at that point. Physiography.—For the first See also:loo m. of its length the Hindu Kush is a comparatively See also:flat-backed range of considerable width, permitting the formation of small lakes on the crest, and possessing no considerable peaks. It is crossed by many passes, varying in height from I2,500 ft. to 17,500 ft., the lowest and the easiest being the well-known See also:group about Baroghil, which has from See also:time immemorial offered a See also:line of approach from High Asia to See also:Chitral and See also:Jalalabad. As the Hindu Kush gradually recedes from the Ab-i-Panja and turns See also:south-westwards it gains in See also:altitude, and we find prominent peaks on the crest which measure more than 24,000 ft. above See also:sea-level. Even here, however, the See also:main central water-divide, or See also:axis of the See also:chain, is apparently not the line of highest peaks, which must be looked for to the south, where the great square-headed See also:giant called Tirach Mir dominates Chitral from a southern See also:spur. For some 40 or 5o m. of this south-See also:westerly See also:bend, bearing away from the Oxus, where the Hindu Kush overlooks the mountain See also:wilderness of See also:Badakshan to the west, the crest is intersected by many passes, of which the most important is the Dorah group (including the Minjan and the Mandal), which rise to about 15,000 ft., and which are, under favourable conditions, practicable links between the Oxus and Chitral basins. From the Dorah to the Khawak pass (or group of passes, for it is seldom that one line of approach only is to be found across the Hindu Kush), which is between 11,000 and 12,000 ft. in Kafirlstan altitude, the water-divide overlooks See also:Kafiristan and afirlst Badakshan. Here its exact position is See also:matter of See also:con- jecture. It lies amidst a See also:wild, inaccessible region of See also:snow-See also:bound crests, and is certainly nowhere less than 15,000 ft. above sea-level. There is a tradition that Timur attempted the passage of the Hindu Kush by one of the. unmapped passes hereabouts, and that, having failed, he See also:left a See also:record of his failure engraved on a See also:rock in the pass. The Khawak, at the head of the Panjshir tributary of the Kabul river, leading straight from Badakshan to Charikar and the See also:city of Kabul, is now an excellent kafila route, the road having been engineered under the See also:amir Abdur Rahman's direction, Passes' and it is said to be available for See also:traffic throughout the See also:year. From the Khawak to the head of the Ghorband (a river of the Hindu Kush which, rising to the See also:north-west of Kabul, flows north-See also:east to meet the Panjshir near Charikar, whence they run See also:united into the plains of See also:Kohistan) the Hindu Kush is intersected by passes at intervals, all of which were surveyed, and several utilized, during the return of the Russo-Afghan boundary See also:commission from the Oxus to Kabul in 1886. Those utilized were the Kaoshan (the " Hindu Kush " pass See also:par excellence), 14,340 ft.; the Chahardar (13,900 ft.), which Is a See also:link in one of the amir of Afghanistan's high roads to See also:Turkestan; and the Shibar (9800 ft.), which is merely a diversion into the upper Ghorband of that group of passes between See also:Bamian and the Kabul plains which are represented by the See also:Irak, Hajigak, Unai, &c. About this point it is geographically correct to See also:place the southern extremity of the Hindu Kush, for here commences the Koh-i-Baba system into which the Hindu Kush is merged. The See also:general conformation of the Hindu Kush system south of the Khawak, no less than such fragmentary See also:evidence of its rock See also:composition as at See also:present exists to the north, points to t3eneral its construction under the same conditions of upheaval conformaand subsequent denudation as are See also:common to the western See also:don. See also:Himalaya and the whole of the trans-See also:Indus borderland. Its upheaval above the great sea which submerged all the north-west of the See also:Indian See also:peninsula See also:long after the Himalaya had massed itself as a formidable mountain chain, belongs to a comparatively See also:recent geologic See also:period, and the same thrust upwards'of vast masses of cretaceous See also:limestone has disturbed the overlying recent beds of shale and See also:clays with very similar results to those which have left so marked an impress on the Baluch frontier. Successive flexures or ridges are ranged in more or less parallel lines, and from between the bands of hard, unyielding rock of older formation the soft beds of recent shale have been washed out, to be carried through the enclosing ridges by rifts which break across their axes. The Hindu Kush is, in fact, but the See also:face of a great upheaved See also:mass of See also:plateau-See also:land lying beyond it northwards, just as the Himalaya forms the southern face of the great central table-land of See also:Tibet, and its general physiography, exhibiting long, narrow, lateral valleys and transverse lines of " antecedent " drainage, is XII!. 17 II similar. There are few passes across the southern See also:section of the Hindu Kush (and this section is, from the politico-See also:geographical point of view, more important to See also:India than the whole Himalayan system) which have not to surmount a See also:succession of crests or ridges as they See also:cross from Afghan Turkestan to Afghanistan. The exceptions are, of course, notable, and have played an important See also:part in the military See also:history of Asia from time immemorial. From a little See also:ice-bound See also:lake called Gaz Kul, or Karambar, which lies on the crest of the Hindu Kush near its northern origin at the head of the Taghdumbash Pamir, two very important river systems (those of Chitral and Hunza) are believed to originate. The lake really lies on the See also:watershed between the two, and is probably a glacial relic. Its contribution to either See also:infant stream appears to depend on conditions of overflow determined by the blocking of ice masses towards one end. It marks the commencement of the water-divide which primarily separates the See also:Gilgit See also:basin from that of the Yashkun, or Chitral, river, and subsequently divides the drainage of See also:Swat and See also:Bajour from that of the Chitral (or See also:Kunar). The Yashkun-Chitral-Kunar river (it is called by all three names) is the longest affluent of the Kabul, and it is in many respects a more important river than the Kabul. Throughout its length it is closely flanked on its left See also:bank by this main water-divide, which is called Moshabar or Shandur in its northern sections, and owns a great variety of names where it divides Bajour from the Kunar valley. It is this range, crowned by peaks of 22,000 ft. altitude and maintaining an See also:average See also:elevation of some Io,000 ft. throughout its length of 250 m., that is the real barrier of the north—not the Hindu Kush itself. Across it, at its head, are the glacial passes which See also:lead to the See also:foot of the Baroghil. Of these Darkot, with a glacial See also:staircase on each See also:side, is typical. (See GILGIT.) Those passes (the Kilikand Mintaka) from the Pamir regions, which lead into the rocky See also:gorges and defiles of the upper affluents of the Hunza to the east of the Darkot, belong rather to the Murtagh system than to the Hindu Kush. Other passes across this important water-divide are the Shandur (12,250 ft.), between Gilgit and Mastuj; the Lowarai (10,450 ft.), between the Panjkora and Chitral valleys; and farther south certain See also:lower crossings which once formed part of the great See also:highway between Kabul and India. Deep down in the trough of the Chitral river, about midway between its source and its junction with the Kabul at Jalalabad, is Chitral the See also:village and fort of Chitral (q.v.). Facing Chitral, on the right bank of the river, and extending for some 7o m. from the Hindu Kush, is the lofty snow-clad spur of the Hindu Kush known as Shawal, across which one or two difficult passes lead into the Bashgol valley of Kafiristan. This spur carries the boundary of Afghanistan southwards to Arnawai (some 5o m. below Chitral), where it crosses the river to the long Shandur watershed. South of Arnawai the Kunar valley becomes a part of Afghanistan (see KUNAR). The value of Chitral as an outpost of See also:British India may be best gauged by its geographical position. It is about Too m. (See also:direct See also:map measurement) from the outpost of See also:Russia at Langar Kisht on the river Panja, with the Dorah pass across the Hindu Kush intervening. The Dorah may be said to be about See also:half-way between the two outposts, and the mountain tracks leading to it on either side are rough and difficult. The Dorah, however, is not the only pass which leads into the Chitral valley from the Oxus. The Mandal pass, a few See also:miles south of the Dorah, is the connecting link between the Oxus and the Bashgol valley of Kafiristan; and the Bashgol valley leads directly to the Chitral valley at Arnawai, about 50 m. below Chitral. Nor must we overlook the connexion between north and south of the Hindu Kush which is afforded by the long narrow valley of the Chitral (or Yashkun) itself, leading up to the Baroghil pass. This route was once made use of by the See also:Chinese for purposes of See also:pilgrimage, if not for invasion. See also:Access to Chitral from the north is therefore but a matter of practicable tracks, or passes, in two or three directions, and the measure of practicability under any given conditions can best be reckoned from Chitral itself. By most authorities the possibility of an advance in force from the north, even under the most favourable conditions, is considered to be exceedingly small; but the tracks and passes of the Hindu Kush are only impracticable so long as they are left as nature has made them.
See also:Historical Notices.—Hindu Kush is the See also:Caucasus of See also: The name Hindu Kush is used by See also:Ibn Batuta, who crossed (c. 1332) from Anderab, and he gives the explanation of the name which, however doubtful, is still popular, as (Pers.) Hindu-Killer, " because of the number of Indian slaves who perished in passing" its snows. See also:Baber always calls the range Hindu Kush, and the way in which he speaks of it shows clearly that it was a range that was meant, not a solitary pass or See also:peak (according to See also:modern See also:local use, as alleged by See also:Elphinstone and See also:Burnes). Probably, however, the See also:title was confined to the section from Khawak to Koh-i-Baba. The name has by some later See also:Oriental writers been modified intc Hindu Koh (mountain), but this is factitious, and throws no more See also:light on the origin of the title. The name seems to have become known to See also:European geographers by the Oriental See also:translations of the two Petis de la Croix, and was taken up by See also:Delisle and D'See also:Anville. See also:Rennell and Elphinstone familiarized it. Burnes first crossed the range (1832). A British force was stationed at Bamian beyond it in 1840, with an outpost at Saighan.
The Hindu Kush, formidable as it seems, and often as it has been the limit between See also:petty states, has hardly ever been the boundary of a considerable See also:power. Greeks, See also: The Russo-Afghan Boundary Commission of 1884 and the Chitral expedition of 1895 opened up a vast See also:area for geographical investigation, and the information collected is to be found in the reports and gazetteers of the Indian See also:government. The following are the See also:chief recent authorities: See also:Report of the Russo-Afghan Boundary Commission (1886); Report of See also:Lockhart's See also:Mission (1886);. Report of Asmar Boundary Commission (1895); Report of Pamir Boundary Commission (1896); J. Biddulph, Tribes of the Hindu Kush (See also:Calcutta, 1880); W. M'Nair, " Visit to Kafiristan," vol. vi. R.G.S. Proc., 1884; F. Younghusband, " Journeys on the See also:Pamirs, &c.," vol. xiv. R.G.S. Proc., 1892; See also:Colonel See also:Durand, Making a Frontier (See also:London, 1899) ; See also:Sir G. See also:Robertson, Chitral (London, 1899). (T. H. Additional information and CommentsThere are no comments yet for this article.
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