gods: they were governed for one thousand two hundred and
sixty-six years by princes of the Kaurava family, who
in the Mahabharata or Great War were the foes of the Panda
vas, or descendants of Pandu, famous in Indian history.
It would seem then, that this dynasty of princes were an
Indian race, but as they were ignorant of the Vedas, their
names were not thought worthy of record. The chasm thus
left, by the omission of all these kings, in the original work
of Calhana, is filled up by Mohammedan translators with a
long series of names. Professor Wilson thinks thisigeilel
principally fabulous ; but observes, that the names are not
Indian, and have the title o f“ Khan” affixed to them. This
might argue that the princes were Tartar chiefs if it has not
arisen from the customary carelessness and ignorance of
Mohammedan writers. The Hindfi series of kings begins;,
after the expiration of the one thousand two hundred and
sixty-six years, with Gonerda, who by a strange anachronism
was contemporary with Crishna and Yudhisht’hira, and the
Great War or Mahabharata: these were Indian heroes
whose exploits belong to the commencement of the Kali-
yuga. Gonerda was a relative of the king of Magad’ha :
he was killed by Balarama, brother of Crishna, on the banks
of the Yamuna or Jumna. From this time the history of
Kashmir comes into close relation with that of India, and
several of the kings have names well-known inethe lists of
Indian sovereigns, as Asoka, the name^of an emperor of
India, who reigned at Pataliputra. At .a somewhat later
period it appears that a revolution occurred in Kashmir,
connected, with an event in the history of Hindustan.
On this occasion the country fell under the dominion of
Tartar princes and received the religion of Buddha.*
Among these Tartar or Turushka kings one was Kaniska,
a celebrated prince, whose reign was an epoch in the
history of Buddhism. The religion of the Brahmans,
however, regained its ascendancy, and Kashmir, according
to Abul-fazil, previously to the seven hundred and forty-second
year of the Hejira, had long been famous as a sacred
* Professor Wilson’s Essay on the Hindti History of Kashmir, Asiatic
Researches, yoI. 15.
country of the Hindoos, and the seat of magnificent temples
and consecrated fountains .*
We^have »here an opportunity "of inquiring what are the
physical characters of the Hindfi race after they have inhabited}
a climate ^similar to that of the south of Europe
during a thousand tyears.^ The features of the Kashmirians
bear no resemblance to. those of the Tartars or Bhotlyahs.
f6 The Kashmirian females, as 5we are assured, have long
beente#ebrated for their beauty and the fairness of their
in general are a well-formed
race. “ Their complexion is= what »in France or Spain
would be: termed * brunette.’
ë iSnéTTon V.—-Of the Siah-Pôsh, or Kafirs of the
Hindw-Kkuh. i
? No ethnographical discovery of recent times is calculated
to excite.} greater interest • than that óf the aboriginal race
who! inhabit the-rangC* or groupe! Of mountains supposed
to form a ' western continuation of the Himalaya. They
are termed Kafirs by their Mohammedan neighbours, and
puder that name have; been described by Mr. Elphinstone,
According to the late* accounts of Sir Alexander Burnes,
their proper national appellation is Siah-Pôshii£
The country of the. Siah-Pôsh, or Kafiristân, according to
these writers j occupies a great part of the mountain-chain of
the Hindfi-Khfih or Indian Caucasus, and likewise a portion
of the Belfit-Tagh, ordoudy Mountains, a transverse chain
which runs thence northward to Badakshan. - According to
the latest accounts, and in the maps constructed by Mr.
Arrowsmith;in illustration of the travels of Moorcroft and
those .of Lieutenant Wood, Kafiristân is the high region
* Hamilton*» Description of Hindustan, vol. I , page 509.
t Fraser’s Journey in the Himâlaya Mountains, Foster’s Journey from
Bengal to England.
$ Mr. Elphinstone supposed the name of Siah-Pôsh, or Seeaposh as he wrote
it, to belong only to a part of this nation who were distinguished by black
dresses.—MeXayxXatvot.