Synopsis

Pts 4
A STUDY ABOUT MONUMENTS OF KASHMIR
KASHMIR proper is an irregularly oval valley 84 miles long from
north-east to south-west by 20 to 25 miles broad. Its height above
the sea level is everywhere over 5,000 feet. It is enclosed on all sides
by ranges of snow-capped mountains, which vary at different points
from 12,000 to 18,000 feet in height. The correctness of the local
tradition regarding its lacustrine origin in remote prehistoric times
has been demonstrated by the discovery of marine fossils and other
characteristic features in the surrounding mountains and uplands.
Politically it was, ordinarily, limited to its geographical frontiers, the
mountain ramparts; but the neighbouring hill principalities of Prunts
and Rajauri were often within its sphere of influence. The extent of
that influence usually depended upon the personality of the ruler for
the time being. Some of its more energetic kings extended their sway
to the north and north-west of the Panjab , and one king, Lalitaditya
(in the middle of the eighth century), is credited with having effected
the conquest of Kanauj . The most striking features of the Kashmir
landscape are its mighty mountain ramparts, its beautiful lakes and
rivers, and its dry brown karewas. The former have largely determine
the political fortunes of the little country they encircle. It is the
inaccessibility and practical impregnability of these natural defences
rather than the valour of Kashmiri troops that has so often turned
the tide of invasion from the valley, when far more powerful
kingdoms succumbed to it.