国立情報学研究所 - ディジタル・シルクロード・プロジェクト
『東洋文庫所蔵』貴重書デジタルアーカイブ

wall was traceable, nor was any such protection needed on the east and south, where the rock
face falls away very steeply. The site is known as Kīno-kōt, 'the Black Fort'. Plentiful debris
of pottery and remains from kitchen middens indicated prolonged occupation, but local tradition
was silent as to the date of its cessation. The masonry, rough but solid, showed a marked
difference from that observed in the huts of the present inhabitants of this tract.
Rock About half-way down the precipitous southern slope I noticed on a large boulder shallow
markings. incised marks, evidently intended to represent that ancient Indian emblem of 'Pādukās', so
common in regions where Buddhism once prevailed. One of the two pairs of sacred footprints
here outlined measured about 14 by 10 inches. Their pre-Muhammadan origin was attested
by similar rock-markings of 'Chakras', obviously rough representations of the Buddhist Wheel
of the Law. Whether the 'figure of a woman' said to be engraved on a rock high above the
left bank of the Indus about half-way between Chilās fort and Hōdar might also be of Buddhist
origin, I regret not to have been able to ascertain, since I heard of it only in the course of my
rapid descent of the river when a landing was declared impossible.
From the height of Kīno-kōt I had a full view of the low sandy plateau extending to the
west of the mouth of the Hōdar valley and bearing the name of Damōdas. It is known to have
been occupied by the houses and cultivated plots of the largest Hōdar settlement until the big
Indus flood of 1841 swept away all irrigation terraces and left this extensive area smothered under
rubble and coarse sand.
Ascent of We halted for the night at the hamlet of Balugush, hidden away under fruit trees, and found
Hōdar there coolness as welcome as unexpected at this comparatively low elevation of about 3,630 feet
valley. above sea-level. The track by which next morning we ascended the narrow valley between
absolutely bare rock faces was impracticable for baggage animals, and men had thenceforward
to be employed as bearers until we reached Yāsīn. All marching had, of course, also to be done
on foot. Above the hamlet of Dār, a mile from Balugush, a projecting rocky spur (Fig. 6),
difficult of access, was found to carry the remains of an old village fort resembling Kīno-kōt but
very much smaller. Here the more massive and careful masonry of the walls, as compared with
that of the modern dwellings near by, was distinctly noticeable. From Dār for about three miles
a narrow but continuous strip of cultivation extended up the valley, as shown by the detailed survey
carried out by R. B. Lāl Singh from the point where we crossed the Indus. But farther up,
except at one point, Hamāchēch, where the eye was gladdened by luxuriant groves of fruit trees
and a few fields, the bottom of the valley was either a barren winding gorge or showed only traces
of abandoned cultivation.
Abandoned It was difficult to resist the conclusion that since this abandonment the water-supply available
cultiva- for irrigation must here have undergone considerable diminution ; for when after covering about
tion near twelve miles we left the main valley at an elevation of about 6,000 feet to ascend the Pakōra Nullah
Pakōra. north-westwards, we found the well-marked stream bed in the latter quite dry, except for short
stretches where the water supplied by springs farther up comes to the surface again. Conditions
of obvious 'desiccation', and that actually in progress, revealed themselves on reaching the
little hamlet of Pakōra, at about 7,200 feet. The spring that supplies the area now under cultivation
was said no longer to yield water sufficient to reach the terraced fields visible for some distance
below. Its supply, moreover, had to be dammed up daily to form a small reservoir in order to
reach the present cultivation. This instance of undoubtedly recent 'desiccation' appears to
deserve special notice just because it contrasts with the conditions observed, as we shall presently
see, in the well-watered valleys of Darēl and Tangīr, which lie but a short distance westwards.
I may add that the 'desiccation' here noted, which may or may not be local, cannot be ascribed