IIIF Color HighRes
National Institute of Informatics - Digital Silk Road Project
| |||||||||
|
| IIIF Color HighRes |
| Southern Tibet : vol.7 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
|
|
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Citation Information
CUNNINGHAM'S KARA-KORUM.
195
t4,
Ii;iI I,
mitt
I. lil:
r ~.
CUNNINGHAM and Dr. THOMAS THOMSON, who had been commissioned in Ladak and on the Tibetan frontier. A third member of the commission was HENRY STRACHEY. To them the theoretical geography, and the conclusions drawn from old Chinese works and maps were not sufficient — they went personally to the very spot and penetrated the dark country, studying it with their own eyes. With his famous book, Laddk, Cunningham brought the knowledge of western Himalaya and Kara-korum a very great step forward, and did more in the right direction than any one before his time.
He identifies the old Chinese Ts'ung-ling or Onion Mountains with the Karakorum.2 He noticed the parallelism of the mountain ranges and rivers from N. W. to S. E. He points out that Ladak on the north is divided by the Kara-korum Mountains from the Chinese district of Khotan. It is especially the Nubra district that is bounded on the north by the Kara-korum.3 Again he mentions the importance of these mountains as an ethnological dividing line: »To the north of the Karakorum range, lie the Chinese districts of Yarkand, Kotan, and Kashgar, which, with the exception of the Chinese functionaries, and Tartar soldiers are wholly peopled by Musulmans.» The Kirghis inhabit the steppes of Pamer beyond the Kara-korum.
It is, however, in his chapter III, »Mountains», that Cunningham enters in a more detailed way upon the question of the Kara-korum. To begin with he says that the western Great Himalaya near the sources of the Gilgit and Kunar rivers joins the mountains of Pamir and Hindu-kush.4 He, however, quotes without remarks HUMBOLDT'S view: »The Hindu Kush, or Indian Caucasus, is a continuation of the Kuen-lun of North Tibet.» Speaking of the general parallelism in the Himalaya he continues :5 »Beyond the Himalaya the same system of parallel chains will be observed in at least three distinct ranges of mountains, which I propose to call the Trans-Himalaya, the Chushal, and the Karakoram, or Trans-Tibetan chains .... The Trans-Tibetan range is that which we call the Bolor and Karakoram, on the west; and which probably merges into the Kuen-lun, on the east. It is in fact the northern limit of the Tibetan people, and of their peculiar language. To the north are the people of Balti, Ladak, and Chang-Thang, who were known to Ptolemy as the Byltae and Chatae Scythae.»
The view regarding the Bolor had subsequently to be corrected. It was in accordance with RITTER'S map. The intimate connection between the Kuen - lun and the Kara-korum was derived from HUMBOLDT, though not in agreement with
I Cf. Vol. II, p. 92, 93 et seq. and Vol. III, p. 113 et seq.
2 Laddk, physical, statistical, and historical; with notices of the surrounding countries. London 1854, p. 2. — Cp. Vol. VIII.
3 Op. cit., p. 2 I.
4 Op. cit., p. 41.
5 Cp. Vol. III, p. 126.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Copyright (C) 2003-2019 National Institute of Informatics and The Toyo Bunko. All Rights Reserved.