IIIF Color HighRes
National Institute of Informatics - Digital Silk Road Project
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| IIIF Color HighRes |
| Southern Tibet : vol.7 |
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Citation Information
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CUNNINGHAM AND THOMSON.
196
his small maps (Pl. XXIX and Pl. XXXII). When Cunningham says that the Karakorum is the northern limit of the Tibetan people he is right, but only for the western portion which he knew. The Kailas or Gangri Range he regards as a separate range S. W. of the Kara-korum. From the crest of the Kara-korum Range to the plains of the Panjab he reckons a breadth of 2 50 miles, which proves that with the crest of the Kara-korum he means the range in which the Kara-korum Pass
is situated.
Then he enters more into details:'
The Karakoram, or Trans-Tibetan chain, forms the natural boundary of Ladak, and the small Musulman districts of Balti , Hunza-Nager , and Gilgit on the north. Nothing whatever is known of this range to the eastward of the upper Shayok river, and of the northern portion we know but little. At the head of the Shayok river, it is called K5.r6. Koram, which is a Turki word, signifying the »Black Mountains». To the north of Balti it is known as the Bolor range : but this name is only the common appellation of Balti, amongst all the races of Dardu origin.
According to Cunningham Bolor simply means the mountains of Bald, and it
is 30o miles in length, whilst the portion of the range which should be called Karakorum is 150 miles. »The whole length of the chain, from the eastern sources of the Shayok to the head of the Gilgit river, is 450 miles. The general direction being from east to west.» The meridional mountains called Bolor by HUMBOLDT are, according to CUNNINGHAM, the Pamir. He also criticises VIGNE'S information that »the snow does not remain upon Karakoram for the greater part of the year», for he himself had heard exactly the reverse from Yarkandi merchants, and he believes that there is always some snow on the Kara-korum Pass. »The probability is that the Karakoram Pass has about the same elevation as the snow-line of the range.»
Amongst the seven roads leading to Leh and mentioned by Cunningham, two cross the Kara-korum System. The eastern road he calls the one from Chinese Tartary, through Rudok and the valleys of Chushal and Sakte to Leh, which, however,
was known only from Leh to Rudok after HENRY STRACHEY'S survey.
The Northern Road leads from Yarkand and Kotan, over the Karakorum mountains (18.600 feet) to Lé. The best account of it that we possess is that by Izzet Ullah, who traversed it in 1812. But since that time several glaciers have stretched their mighty masses across the bed of the Shayok, and the old road by the river, has been completely closed. The new road from Karakoram leaves the Shayok, or Khundan, river at the foot
of the pass, and crosses over an elevated table-land to Sassar, where it again meets the Khundan. 2
He then quotes all the stations on this road after MIR IZZET ULLAH and THOMSON, and he has a special chapter on the trade between India and Eastern Turkestan, across the Kara-korum Mountains.
I Op. cit., p. 45. 2 Op. cit., p. t 6o.
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