National Institute of Informatics - Digital Silk Road Project
Digital Archive of Toyo Bunko Rare Books

Panjāb Muhammadans for the Indian Army.¹ The Brahmans, too, of the Salt
Range hold a good record in military service.

The next day's march took us over much rough ground and presented varied
interest. It first led south to the famous Janjūa stronghold of Makhiāla, which
occupies the extremity of a steep ridge flanked by ravines with precipitous rock
walls near the brink of the outer range. Within it we were hospitably received
at the ancestral home of one of the chief families of the tribe, the one headed by
the Janjūa 'Sultāns'. Descending thence to the south-west we visited the large
village of Salōi, favoured by a plentiful spring and a place of some consequence.
Past it an old route descends across several spurs to Chanuwāla and thence leads
on to Haranpur.

Continuing for some 5 miles, first to the south-west through a fairly open
valley and then up a steep track, we reached the village of Kusuk, once a place
of importance in connexion with the salt trade from the great Khewra Salt mines.
The small basin in which it stands, and through which two routes to the riverine
plain pass, is dominated on the east by a completely isolated rocky hill which
rises boldly to a height of more than 200 feet (Fig. 12). The hill falls away in
sheer precipices (see Plan 2) on all sides except that towards the village,
where the steep slope is ascended by a difficult path and the top is defended by a
massive wall faced with dressed slabs of sandstone and flanked by two large
octagonal bastions. Owing to the natural strength of the position, this strong-
hold was practically impregnable before long-range guns came into use. Hence
Mahārāja Ranjit Singh about 1810 besieged it ineffectually for six months, until
want of water compelled the Janjūa Rāja of Kusuk who held it to surrender.

The defences have suffered comparatively little by time. That chief's grand-
son ascribed the construction of the fort to his ancestor Sultān 'Ālim Khān of
ten generations back. The statement seemed compatible with the constructive
features shown by the crenellated curtain walls and bastions, which point to
Mughal times. The crest of the hill is occupied by a heavily plastered Hindu
shrine, a place of regular pilgrimage for Hindus from the plains and probably
of some antiquity. The hill itself, owing to its great natural strength, is likely
to have been used as a safe place of refuge from early times. A long ride along
bare hills to the west brought us late the same evening to Chōa Saidān Shāh.

I well remembered the place from previous visits as perhaps the pleasantest
in the Salt Range, and was glad to use a stay of several days there for renewing
my acquaintance with localities in the vicinity presenting distinct archaeological