40 THE PULSE OF ASIA
fan-delta deposited by this stream where it enters the narrow main valley had encroached upon the Jhelum and raised its level, just as has happened at many other places lower down — for instance, at Uri, where the front of the fan was in later times cut off by the river. The process of cutting off the front of the Yaksadara fan, though begun artificially under the direction of Suyya, probably continued naturally during later centuries; for the level of the Wular Lake appears to have fallen steadily, as though the river were slowly deepening its channel by cutting away the fans and other material in the bottom of its valley, thus forming a terrace. In proof of this fall of the lake-level, Stein cites certain villages which Kalhana, 1148 A. D., seems to indicate as having been actually reclaimed from the lake, and which Jonajara, circa 1450 A. D., still places on its very edge, although now they are three miles from its border. Similarly, Srivara, circa 1480 A. D., speaking of the neighboring villages stretching from Sudarkoth (Sadykoot) to Andarkoth (Andykoot), places them along the shore of the lake, although they are now from four to six miles away. Stein attributes the change in the relation of the villages to the lake to the building up of the delta of the Jhelum, where it enters Lake Wular. This cause, however, though doubtless operative, is inadequate to produce results so great, especially when it is considered that some of the marshy regions to the south of the lake away from the delta have also become drier. The chief cause is probably the lowering of the level of the lake by the deepening of the outlet channel — a process which appears to be still in operation, as may be inferred from the "winding but well-
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