(The recommendations of the Karakoram Conference as accepted by the Council of the Royal Geographical Society and approved by the Surveyor-General of India are printed below).
I. The term Karakoram. We recommend that the term 'The Karakoram' be used to denote the mountain region whose boundaries are defined thus:
On the south: by the Shyok river from its bend at about long. 78° 15' (map sheets 52 j, f, b, a, 43 m) to its junction with the Indus, about long. 750 55'; then by the Indus to its junction with the Gilgit river about long. 740 40' (43 1); and by the Gilgit river (43 1, 42 l, h) to the confluence of the Ishkoman river about long. 730 45'.
On the west: by the Ishkoman and Karumbar rivers (42 h, l) to the Ghilinji pass.
On the north: from the Chilinji pass, down the Ghapursan river, over the Kermin pass to Rich, and down the Kilik river to its junction with the Khunjerab (42 l) ; then up the Khunjerab river to the Khunjerab pass, across the head of the Oprang Pamir to the Oprang pass, and down the Oprang river to its junction with the Shaksgam (42 p) ; then up the Shaksgam river to its source at Wood's pass 'G' (for which we propose the name Shaksgam pass) (42 p, 51 d, 52 a, e) ; then to the snout of the Rimo-Yarkand river source, and by the left bank of the Rimo glacier to the junction of the Rimo river and the Chip-chap (52 e).
On the east: by the upper Shyok from the Rimo-Chip-chap junction to the great bend in the river about long. 78° 15' (52 e, f, j).
II. Note. The use of the term 'the Karakoram' for a region is in accordance with the general usage among geographers for many years past, but up till now the boundaries have not been defined. The proposed boundaries exclude the Aghil mountains, all mountains east of the upper Shyok and on the Tibetan plateau, the mountains between the Shy ok and the Indus rivers (cthe Ladakh range'), but they include the mountains of Hunza west of the Hunza river, as far as the Karumbar-Ishkoman river.
Though not directly in the terms of reference of the conference, we suggest that 'the Aghil mountains' be defined by the Shaksgam on the south and west as far as the Oprang confluence, on the north by the Shaksgam and Raskam (Yarkand) rivers, and on the east by the Yarkand river tributary draining from the Karakoram pass.
We also suggest that the 'Ladakh range' be restricted to the definite range in Ladakh, between the Indus and Shyok rivers; that the term 'Zaskar mountains' be restricted to the mountains of Zaskar, or at least not extended east of the upper Sutiej; and that the term 'Deosai mountains' be applied to the mountain region defined on the north by the Indus from long. 76° 15' to long. 74° 45', and on the south by the Astor, the Das Kirin, and the Shingo rivers, to the junction of the latter with the Suru river, and then by the Suru river to its confluence with the Indus.
II. The Great Karakoram. We recommend that the term 'The Great Karakoram' be given to the main crest zone of the Karakoram, from the mountain Koz Sar (36° 43' 10", 740 05' 19", map 42 l) in the west, along the crest zone south of the Batura glacier, north of the Hispar, Panmah, Baltoro, and Siachen glaciers, and along the watershed between the Nubra and upper Shyok rivers.
III. Divisions of the Great Karakoram. We consider it desirable to divide the Great Karakoram into sections, and to apply the descriptive term muztagh1 to each section. The sections proposed are as follows:
IV. Mountain groups of the Great Karakoram. On small-scale maps it is neither feasible nor desirable to enter any but the most important peak names; but it is possible now to classify the peaks in groups, and we considered that it would be convenient if group names were to be inserted on small-scale maps; peak names, excepting those of the most important, being reserved for maps on the scale of 1: 250,000 and larger. An attempt to group the peaks of the Great Karakoram muztaghs has been made in Appendix I of this report.
V. Mountain divisions of the Lesser Karakoram. So far we have only dealt with divisions and subdivisions of the Great Karakoram. The mountains of the Lesser Karakoram are not so easy to deal with, for they do not lie on a single long alinement of groups. The most important of them, however, fall on a series of shorter alinements, which might be called 'ranges', though the term is not very satisfactory. They correspond to the muztaghs of the Great Karakoram, but we consider this Turki word to be unsuitable for them.
(A) North of the Great Karakoram, in Hunza territory, there are two systems of mountains, one on each side of the Hunza river, which may be called the Lupghargroup and the Ghujerab mountains respectively.
The remainder of any importance all lie to the south of the Great Karakoram, and may be conveniently listed on the following alinements:1
(B) The Rakaposhi range, from the Hunza river west of the peak Rakaposhi, following the snowy crest zone between the Hispar and Ghogo Lungma glaciers as far east as long. 750 30'. Two subsidiary groups at the eastern end may be considered independent of Rakaposhi. These are the Ganchen group and the Meru group.
(C) The Haramosh range, from where it joins the Rakaposhi range about long. 74° 50', along the crest zone between the Ghogo Lungma glacier, Basha and Shigar rivers on the north and the Indus on the south.
1 The new survey of 1931 in sheet 42 l is not available in England; consequently we have not attempted to group the mountains between the Gilgit and Hunza rivers south of the Batura Muztagh.
(D) The Masherhrum range, from the junction of the Braldu and Basha rivers, west of Mango Gusor, along the crest zone south of the Braldu river and Baltoro glacier, as far east as the Kondus glacier and valley. Two independent groups, at present unnamed, extend south from the Masherbrum range.
(E) The Saltoro range lies between the Kondus on the the west, Siachen and the Nubra on the east, and the Shyok valley on the south. It is crossed by the Saltoro or Bilafond pass.
An attempt has been made to group the various massifs of these 'ranges' in Appendix II.
APPENDIX I
Mountain Groups of the Great Karakoram
In the following lists an attempt has been made to collect the mountains of the Great Karakoram into groups, and to name these groups from some geographical feature, generally the most important glacier draining from them. Some groups are, of course, better known than others, and it has been easier in these instances to define the group boundaries with greater precision.
Occasionally comments have been made on peak names, while a few adcfitional names have been suggested.
Where possible, the latitudes, longitudes, and heights have been given from the Survey of India triangulation pamphlets, unless stated otherwise for definite reasons, and where other values of peak co-ordinates have been obtained by other observers comment has been made.
Figures in italics are only approximate, and are measured from topographical maps; they are only given for the purposes of identification. Where co-ordinates are given only to the nearest minute, thus 36° 35', 740 19', the map from which they are taken is not directly adjustable to existing Survey of India maps. Heights shown in brackets, thus (21,250), are derived approximately from an examination of the contours.
Where names for individual peaks have been suggested, the principle has been to name them from the most accessible valley or glacier draining them. Suggested new names for peaks are shown in italics; old names that we recommend should be dropped are in brackets.
Mountain Groups of the Great Karakoram
(A) Batura Muztagh: map 42 L.
(a) Koz group, at the head of the Koz Yaz (glacier).
Name. | Height | Lat. | Long. | Peak No. and map |
Koz Sar | 21,907 | 36° 43' 10" | 740 05' 19" | Pk. 2/42 L |
--- | 21,250 | 36 43 24 | 74 06 55 | Pk. 1/42 L |
--- | 20,345 | 36 43 | 74 11 | 42L |
(b) Yashkuk group, at the head of the Yashkuk glacier.
Name. | Height | Lat. | Long. | Peak No. and map |
Koz Sar | 21,548 | 36° 40' | 740 13' | 42 l |
--- | 21,915 | 36 39 | 74 14 | 42 L |
--- | 20,060 | 36 38 | 74 16 | 42L |
(c) Kampire Dior group, at the watershed between the Batura and Yashkuk glaciers. Kampire Dior, 'the house of the old woman', is derived from a well-known legend of the Chapursan valley, the best version of which is given by Lorimer in Geographical Journal, vol. lxxi (1928), p. 535.
Kampire Dior | 23,434 | 36° 37' 32" | 74° 19`10" | Pk. 24/42 l |
22,740 | 36 38 24 | 74 21 33 | Pk. 23/42 L |
(d) Kuk group, at the head of the Kuk-i-jerab valley. Kuk Sar signifies 'the summit of Kuk'.
Kuk Sar | 22,751 | 36° 40' 08" | 740 25' 18" | Pk. 21/42L |
22,050 | 36 39 06 | 74 25 23 | Pk. 22/42 l |
(e) Batura group, the enclosing south wall of the head of the Batura glacier.
22,547 | 36° 35' | 740 19' | 42 L | |
22,590 | 36 34 08" | 74 22 51" | Pk. 25/42 L | |
22,409 | 36 33 20 | 74 25 50 | Pk. 48/42 L | |
25,294 | 36 31 54 | 74 30 01 | Pk. 31/42L | |
25,540 | 36 30 39 | 74 31 26 | Pk. 32/42 L |
Peaks 32 and 31 are known in the Survey of India records as Hunza- Kunji I and Hunza-Kunji II. 'Kunji' really means nothing and is probably a triangulator's error for 'Kanjut', another name for Hunza. There is no sense in the compound name, but it is difficult to suggest a better name until the southern slopes of the massif are surveyed. (For Burrard's views, see his Sketch, See., 2nd ed., vol. i, pp. 51, 52.)
(I) Pasu group, at the head of the Pasu glacier.
23,897 | 36° 28' 51" | 74° 36'53" | Pk. 55/42L | |
24,970 | 36 26 30 | 74 40 52 | Pk. 33/42 l |
The triangulator's designation for Peak 33, Hunza-Kunji III, should be dropped.
(g) Atabad group, the eastern group of the great ridge, extending to Atabad hill-station of the Indo-Russian triangulation, above the village of Atabad.
Boiohaghur Duanasir | 24,044 | 36° 24' 10" | 74041'43" | Pk. 34/42 l |
— | — | 36 23 32 | 74 42 57 | Pk. 35/42 L |
Boiohaghur Duanasir, 'where only the horse of the devil can go', is the name given to Conway and Bruce for this peak by the people of Baltit in 1892. Its name in Survey records is Hunza-Kunji IV. According to Burrard (Sketch, Geol. Geog. Him. and Tib., 2nd ed., p. 49), Colonel Lorimer sees in this word three Burushaski words: Boyo, a divine animal; haghur, a horse; and donas, one who opens. Possibly a more correct form than that given to Bruce would be Boyohaghur Donas Sar, but since the Burushaski language presents difficulty and is little known, it seems advisable to retain the form Boiohaghur Duanasir.4
From the survey made of the Batura and this region on the Vissers' expedition of 1925, it would appear that the height of Peak 35 is about 24,500 feet. Its old name is Hunja-Kunji V. It would, we think, be a mistake to retain these 'Hunza-Kunji' names at intervals along this Batura Muztagh.
(B) Hispar Muztagh: map 42 p.
(a) Momhil group, at the head of the Momhil glacier.
— | 23,500 | 36° 20' 56" | 75° 00' 51" | Pk. 3/42P |
Momhil Sar | 24,090 | 36 19 03 | 75 02 10 | Pk. 7/42 p |
— | 22,500 | 36 22 43 | 75 02 47 | Pk. 2/42 p |
— | 24,860 | 36 17 19 | 75 04 48 | Pk. 8/42 p |
Momhil, 'the grazing-ground of the old woman', i.e. no one but an old fool would think of grazing there. Momhil Sar, the 'summit of Momhil', the chief peak at the head of the Momhil glacier. (For Momhil, see Schom- berg, Unknown Karakoram, p. 233.) The old triangulators' name 'Kunjut No. 3' is meaningless.2
(b) Disteghil group, at the head of the Malangutti Yaz glacier, in which lies Diste Ghil, 'the sheepfold in the hill'. Schomberg's spelling is to be preferred to Visser's Dasto Ghil, which is at present on the map. We think that the peak should have the addition Sar, but it is a small point. Visser's spelling of the Malangutti Yaz is to be preferred to Cockerill's and Bridge's corruption Malungidiaz.3
Disteghil Sar (Dasto Ghil) | 25,868 | 36° 19' 35" | 750 11' 20" | Pk. 20/42 p |
— | 25,250 | 36 19 09 | 75 13 10 | Pk. 5/42 p |
— | 23,050 | 36 220 | 75 09 | 42 p and Visser |
— | 24,030 | 36 18 | 75 14 | 42 p |
— | 24,800 | 36 17 | 75 13 | 42 p |
(c) Yazghil group, at the head of the Yazghil glacier.4 Yazghil means either 'the sheepfold in the snow', or perhaps, according to Schomberg, 'the curving ice'. Yaz is either ice or snow, and is the common word for a glacier, while ghil is descriptive of anything circular or round, and is generally applied to a circular sheepfold. Only one important peak has been fixed in this group as yet, and this is probably more conspicuous from the Hispar side, at the head of the Pumarikish glacier. We therefore suggest the name Pumarikish for it, instead of its old triangulators' name 'Kunjut No. 2'.
Pumarikish | 24,580 | 36° 12' 45" | 750 15' 12" | Pk. 11/42P |
2 See below, p. 124.—Ed. 4 See below, p. 124.—Ed.
(d) Kanjut group, at the head of the large Jutmaru glacier tributary of the Hispar. A name for one of the summits is forthcoming from its chief glacier. The old name for Kanjut Sar was 'Kunjut No. 1’.
Yukshin Sar | 20,570 | 36° 14' 00" | 75° 23' 00" | 42 p |
Kanjut Sar | 25,460 | 36 12 21 | 75 25 03 | Pk. 12/42P |
(e) Khurdopin group, a cluster of summits at the head of the Khurdopin glacier, none of which is as yet well fixed. There was a discrepancy here between Khan Sahib Afraz Gul's plane-table and the work of both Conway and the Workmans. Individual names should certainly not be given in the present state of our knowledge, but there is undoubtedly a well-marked group which might well be named the 'Khurdopin group'. On the map they are shown approximately as follows:
— | 24,100 | 36° 08' | 750 27' | |
— | 23,000 | 36 07 | 75 34 | |
— | 21,780 | 36 15 | 75 36 | 42 p (from Visser, 1925) |
— | 21,250 | 36 17 | 75 36 | |
— | 20,460 | 36 08 | 75 38 |
(f) Virjerab group, a group of mountains at the head of the Virjerab glacier and between that glacier and the Khurdopin. The limits of this group should at present be undefined, as it has not been triangulated and is little known.
— | 21,180 | 36° a' | 75° 39' | |
— | 21,510 | 36 09 | 75 43 | 42 p (from visser, 1925) |
— | 20,720 | 36 11 | 75 43 |
(C) Panmah Muztagh: maps 42 p, 51 d, 52 a.
(a) Nobande Sobande group, at the head and left of the Nobande Sobande glacier, as far as about long. 750 57'. This group is only roughly known, first from Godwin Austen's surveys (1861) and latterly from those of the Spoleto expedition of 1929. One peak only has been named and its height is not yet known with any accuracy. The spelling Nobande Sobande, used on Spoleto's map, is probably more correct than Nobundi Sobundi of Godwin Austen. Panmah is similarly more correct than Punmah.
Bobisghir | — | 36° 02' | 75° 48' | 42 p (from Spoleto, 1929) |
(b) Drenmang group, the mountains of the main watershed from about longitude 750 57' (Spoleto's map) eastwards, including those at the head of the Drenmang glacier as far south as latitude 350 59'. Skamri is an important massif of this group, but its height and topography are not yet known in any detail.
(c) Chiring group, at the head of the Chiring glacier, south of the Drenmang group as far as the West Muztagh pass.
No peaks have been defined accurately for height in these three groups of the Panmah Muztagh, and no names except Bobisghir and Skamri have been given.
(d) Choktoi group, between the Choktoi glacier and the Nobande Sobandr glacier. At present we know very little of the group and no peaks have4 been fixed by triangulation.
(e) Latok group, between the Biafo glacier and the Choktoi and Panmah glaciers. There is undoubtedly a high group here at the head of the Latok tributary glacier of the Biafo. Three summits have been triangulated and are listed below. For a discussion on them and their relation to surrounding topography, see Himalayan Journal, vol. vi, 1934, p. 71.
— | 23,900 | 35° 56'54" | 75° 45' 11" | Pk. 18/43 m |
— | 23,440 | 35 55 43 | 75 49 24 | Pk. 19/43 m |
— | 22,790 | 35 55 14 | 75 50 21 | Pk. 20/43 m |
Conway named the first 'the Ogre'; Mrs. Bullock Workman considered the illustration given by Conway as 'the Ogre* was of a smaller mountain nearer to the Biafo, and named the 23,900-foot summit 'Kailasa', showing it with a height 23,914 feet. Auden agreed with the Workmans that 'the Ogre' of Conway was not the high peak, and stated that this faulty identification of Conway had thrown out the position of the Biafo glacier on his map. It appears to us too early to assign names to individual peaks of this group, but we recommend that neither 'the Ogre' nor 'Kailasa' should be adopted.1
(D) Baltoro Muztagh: map 52 a.
(a) Paiju group, at the extreme western end of the Baltoro Muztagh, includes the mountains west of the main trunk of the Trango glacier tributary of the Baltoro. It includes the mountains enclosing the Surgus, Borum, and Choricho glacier tributaries of the Panmah, as well as the remarkable Paiju Peak (21,650 feet), with its strata set vertically, which gives it an 'organ-pipe' appearance (for illustrations see De Filippi's Karakoram and Western Himalaya, particularly Panorama B, which shows the whole of the Baltoro Muztagh from Paiju peak to Gasherbrum; see also Himalayan Journal, vol. ix). The co-ordinates of Paiju peak are approximately 350 43' 00", 76° 07' 00", 21,650 feet.
(b) Trango group, east of the Paiju group, includes the mountains east of the main trunk of the Trango glacier and those west of the Dunge glacier (longitude 76° 13'). The heights of various conspicuous summits are given on Spoleto's map between the Trango and Dunge glaciers, but we do not k now the height of the most conspicuous summit, the Trango tower. The spelling Trango is probably better than Spoleto's Tramgo, or the older Survey spelling Trahonge.
(c) Lobsang group, at the head of the Muztagh glacier and its tributaries.
The glaciers here are shown incorrectly on Conway's map. Ferber's map, in Geographical Journal, vol. xxx (December 1907), shows the glaciers better, but they are shown best on Spoleto's map of 1929. Abruzzi (1909) did not survey them. We suggest the name Lobsang group from the ancient camping ground of Lobsang Brangsa in the trough of the Muztagh glacier. This name 'Muztagh glacier' was apparently given by Ferber as leading to Younghusband's East Muztagh pass, and has been adopted since by Abruzzi and Spoleto, though it is not the local name. Three summits are conspicuous; their heights are known with fair accuracy, and they have been named.
1 Bobisghir, Skamri, and 'the Ogre' appear in the illustrations opposite pp. 38, and 40 respectively, in this volume.—Ed.
Biale (6,729 m.) | 22,080 | 350 49' | 76° 15' | Spoleto |
Lobsang (6,225 m.) | 20,420 | 35 48 | 76 18 | Spoleto |
Muztagh Tower(7,273 m.) | 23,860 | 35 50 | 76 22 | Spoleto |
Biale is spelt Piale on Conway's and Ferber's maps, when used for the glacier name. Guillarmod gave Biale and De Filippi followed suit. Spoleto's map gives Biale for both peak and glacier, as well as the height; and as his party spent some time in the region, his spelling should, we think, be accepted.
'Seven Pagodas' was given as a descriptive name by Ferber, who shows an illustration in Geographical Journal, vol. xxx (December 1907). Lobsang Brangsa, 'Lobsang camping-ground', is at the foot of the peak, and we suggest the name Lobsang instead of 'Seven Pagodas' for the peak. The height is from Spoleto's map.
The Muztagh Tower is one of the most striking peaks in the whole Karakoram, and has been commented upon by almost every traveller to those parts from Conway onwards. Conway named it; there are some striking photographs of it in De Filippi's Karakoram and Western Himalaya. The name is now so well known in Karakoram literature and is so suitable for this great rock tower that it would be right, in our opinion, to retain it. Its height has been determined by photographic survey as 7,273 m. (23,860 feet). It is far more conspicuous than the lower 'Black Tooth', which rises to the south-east to a height of 6,719 m., and is part of the same massif. (We think that 'Black Tooth' was named by Ferber, and are not absolutely certain of its position on Spoleto's map.)
Spoleto's map shows another great peak with a height of 6,974 m- (22,550 feet) at the head of the 'Younghusband glacier'. Nothing is as yet known of this summit, and we suggest that it be at present excluded from any group. We also suggest provisionally renaming the 'Younghusband glacier' the Biange glacier, from the camping-ground used by Abruzzi at its mouth, or possibly leaving the glacier unnamed.
(d) K2 group, at the head of the 'Godwin Austen glacier'.
The name 'Godwin Austen glacier' was given by Conway. Being a personal name, it is unsuitable, as are the other personal names in this region, such as the Savoia pass, the Savoia glacier, De Filippi glacier, Sella pass, which all first appeared on Abruzzi's map after his 1909 expedition.
— | 23,520 | 55° 50' 3°" | 76° 26' | (7,170 m. Spoleto) |
— | 23,830 | 35 52 | 76 27 | (7,263 m. Spoleto) |
— | 22,330 | 35 51 | 76 2930" | (6,805 m- Spoleto) (22,490 feet Abruzzi) |
K2 | 28,250 | 35 52 55 | 76 30 51 | Pk. 13/52 a |
— | 25,354 | 35 52 40 | 76 31 45 | Pk. 14/42 a (Abruzzi) |
Skyang Kangri('Staircase') | 24,750 | 35 54 40 | 76 33 35 | Pk. 12/52 a |
— | 23,020 | 35 56 | 76 34 | (Mason) |
Only the more important summits have been included in the above list, from the Survey of India triangulation pamphlet 52 a, from Spoleto's map, and from the Shaksgam survey, 1926.
Peak 22,330 is the highest summit on the south ridge of K2. Peak 25,354 is not a true peak, but merely a shoulder or flattening of the steep east ridge of K2. Abruzzi's height for 'Staircase peak' (24,078 feet) is much too low. Two photographic heights from the 1926 results, based on the height of K2 (28,250), gave closely agreeing heights with a mean of 24,750 feet. Spoleto's map follows Abruzzi and gives 7,339 m. = 24,078 feet. Professor Mason is convinced this is wrong.
The surveyor's name Skiyang Lungpa would be better spelt Skyang Lungpa. Skyang or Kyang means 'wild ass'. The initial's' before consonants 'g', 'k', and 'p', which is silent in some parts of Tibet, is generally pronounced in the Ladakhi dialect, e.g. Spiti, Skyangpo-che (see Rec. Surv. of India, vol. xxii, pp. 172-3).
This name 'Skyang Lungpa glacier' is much more suitable for the glacier draining eastwards from 'Staircase peak' than the 'Windy Gap glacier' (Ghiacciaio delta Sella dei Venti), which was given by Spoleto; and if it is accepted, we suggest that 'Staircase peak' be renamed Skyang Kangri ('the ice-mountain of the wild ass') from the glacier.
(e) 'Broad' group, bounding the 'Godwin Austen glacier' on the east.
The name 'Broad Peak' was given by Conway in 1892. There are no Survey of India triangulated points in this group, and Conway did not determine the height of the highest point. On Abruzzi's map the height of Broad peak is given as 27,132 feet, but no peak of that altitude was found by Mason in the region in 1926. Mason's photographic height for the highest peak, in almost exactly the same position as Abruzzi's Broad peak, was 26,400 feet (see Geographical Journal, October 1927, p. 349, and .ideographic survey map accompanying that paper). The other peaks given below are from Spoleto's map, on which he has shown a height of 11,051 m. (26,414 feet) for the highest peak, and approximately the same heights as Abruzzi for the others, except point 25,330, for which Abruzzi gives 26,188, which seems also too high. Spoleto's metric heights have been included below.
— | (7,930) 26,017 | 350 50' 25" | 76° 33' 40" | Pk. 15/52 a |
— | (7,862) 25,925 | 35 49 | 76 33 40 | 52 a |
(8,051) 26,414 | 35° 43' 35" | 76° 34' 25" | Pk. 16/52 a | |
(7,721) 25,330 | 35 48 20 | 76 34 40 | Pk. 17/52 a | |
(7,470) 24,510 | 35 47 50 | 76 35 30 | Pk. 18/52 a |
Name
Broad peak
(f) Gasherbrum group, the conspicuous group at the head of the main trunk of the Baltoro glacier, comprising two main massifs.
On Conway's map Gasherbrum I is named 'Hidden peak', and the name Gasherbrum is reserved for the massif containing peaks II, III, and IV, which rise from a long east-to-west ridge. Gasherbrum I is hidden from the main Baltoro glacier by Peak 24,019 (Peak 22/52 a), which rises from the southern ridge of Gasherbrum IV. It is by far the most conspicuous of the group from the south and east. We prefer to retain Gasherbrum I, and to drop 'Hidden peak'.
The Survey of India triangulated positions were all checked by photographic survey in 1926. Mason's positions and heights of Gasherbrum I and II agreed almost exactly with the Survey of India values, but his heights for Gasherbrum III and IV were 26,000 and 26,180 instead of 26,090 and 26,000, making IV slightly higher than III. We prefer however the Survey heights, as only the tips were seen by Mason; the Survey heights are given below. These were accepted on Spoleto's map.
Of the other peaks included, 24,500 is a prominent summit on the eastern arete of Gasherbrum II (the height 7,772 m. or 25,500 feet shown on Spoleto's map is not correct, the ridge east of Gasherbrum II falling much more steeply than is shown). Points 24,019 and 22,980 are conspicuous summits on the south ridge of Gasherbrum IV, the heights being taken from Spoleto's map in preference to Abruzzi's, which gives 24,019 and 23,589 respectively.
Gasherbrum IV | 26,000 | 35° 45' 38" | 76° 37' 02" | Pk. 19/52 a |
Gasherbrum III | 26,090 | 35 45 36 | 76 38 33 | Pk. 20/52 a |
Gasherbrum II | 26,360 | 35 45 31 | 76 39 15 | Pk. 21/52 a |
— | 24,500 | 35 45 | 76 39 | (Mason)2 |
— | 24,019 | 35 43 50 | 76 36 50 | Pk. 22/52 a |
— | 22,980 | 35 42 30 | 76 38 | (Spoleto) |
Gasherbrum I (Hidden Peak) | 26,470 | 3543 30 | 76 41 48 | Pk. 23/52 a |
(E) Siachen Muztagh: maps 52 a, 52 e.
(a) Sia group, at the extreme head of the Siachen glacier. It was named by Mrs. Bullock Workman, after her 1912 expedition, 'King George V group', a name which has never been accepted by the Survey of India. Siachen means 'great rose', the Siachen glacier being so named because of the wild rose bushes near its snout. We suggest the name Sia group, partly because of the name Siachen, and partly because of the connexion of the rose with British royalty, thus giving some recognition to the wishes of the explorer.
Sia Kangri | 24,350 | 350 39' 51" | 76° 45' 43' | Pk. 41/52 a |
— | 23,270 | 35 37 59 | 76 47 29 | Pk. 42/52 a |
— | 21,440 | 35 36 36 | 76 50 08 | Pk. 43/52 a |
Mrs. Bullock Workman's map of the Siachen glacier, which shows this group, is published in Geographical Journal, vol. xliii, 1914, p. 232. The three peaks are those numbered 17, 16, and 15 in the list of her triangulator, Grant Peterkin, and have been accepted in the Survey of India triangula- tion pamphlet 52 a. The first two were named by her 'Queen Mary' and 'Mt. Hardinge', names which were not accepted by the Survey of India. We suggest the name Sia Kangri, 'the ice-mountain of the rose', for the highest. (Photographs by the Workmans in Two Summers in the Ice-wilds of the Eastern Karakoram, pp. 192, 194.)
Dyhrenfurth's expedition to the upper Baltoro in 1934 maintained that the highest point in the Sia massif ('Queen Mary peak') was over 25,000 feet. It does not seem likely that the Survey of India triangulators, including Collins in 1911, and Mason in 1926, who were definitely on the look-out for high peaks, would have missed one of that altitude. (For a discussion on t,his point see Himalayan Journal, vol. vii, 1935, pp. 145-7.)
(b) Staghar group, the mountains on both sides of the Staghar glacier, bounded on the west by the Urdok glacier and on the south by the Siachen glacier. The highest peak fixed prior to Visser's expedition in 1935 was the following, which was obtained by stereo-photogrammetry in 1926 (Mason), which may be verified from Khan Sahib Afraz Gul's plane-tables on the Visser expedition.
— | 21,300 | 350 47` 00" | 76° 46' 00" | — |
(c) Singhi group, at the head of the large left-bank tributaries of the Singhi glacier. The Singhi glacier was first seen by Mason in 1926, and was crossed by members of the Spoleto expedition in 1929, who named it. It was crossed again by Visser with two surveyors, and surveyed by them.
On the blue print of 52 a, showing Afraz Gul's work compiled with the older surveys, the word is spelt Singi. Unless there is any special reason for the change, the older spelling of those who gave it, Singhi, should be retained.
The group was well fixed by Peterkin on the Bullock Workman expedition to the Siachen glacier in 1912, the highest, 23,630 feet, being named Mount Rose, but for which a better name, in our opinion, would be Singhi Kangri. The three peaks are Nos. 20, 21, and 22 of Grant Peterkin's lists (map, Geographical Journal, vol. xliii, 1914, p. 232), and have been accepted in the Survey of India pamphlets as Peaks 45, 44, and 49, 52 a.
— | 22,360 | 350 35' 47" | 76° 57' 32" | Pk. 45/52 a |
Singhi Kangri(Mt. Rose) | 23,630 | 35 35 56 | 76 59 05 | Pk. 44/52 a |
— | 20,300 | 35 32 36 | 76 59 23 | Pk. 49/52 a |
(d) Teram Kangri group, a group first seen by Dr. T. G. LongstafFin 1909, after crossing the Saltoro pass or Bilafond La on to the Siachen glacier. It was first triangulated by V. D. B. Collins, Survey of India, in 1911, but without a very good connexion to Indian triangulation. It was next surveyed in more detail by Grant Peterkin, of the Bullock Workman expedition, in 1912 (Geographical Journal, vol. xliii, 1914, p. 232). The name Teram Kangri was given in Dehra Dun by Dr. LongstafF, with the approval of Sir Sidney Burrard, Surveyor-General, from the only locality place-name, Teram, in the region. The alteration of the spelling to Tarim by the Workmans for the glacier tributary of the Siachen is incorrect.
The group was resurveyed from the north by Mason in 1926 by stereo- photogrammetry, based on resection from well-fixed Survey of India triangulated points. Remarkable agreement was obtained with Peterkin's results. The summits below have been given their values from Mason's survey, as these have been used by both Spoleto and Visser for their subsequent surveys in 1929 and 1935. They will be found in the stereographic map of the Kyagar glacier in Geographical Journal, October 1927. Collins's and Grant Peterkin's values are given in brackets for comparison.
Name | Height | Lat. | Long. | Authority |
Teram Kangri III | 24,218* | 35° 35' 50" | 77 03' 11" | Mason |
(Pk. 14/53E) | (24,218* | 35 35 50 | 77 0311 | Collins) |
(Siachen No. 23) | (24,240 | 35 36 02 | 77 03 00 | Peterkin) |
Teram Kangri I | 24,489* | 35 34 38 | 77 05 04 | Mason |
(Pk. 15/52 e) | (24,489* | 35 34 38 | 77 05 04 | Collins) |
(Siachen No. 24) | (24,510 | 35 34 43 | 77 04 54 | Peterkin) |
(Pk. 163/52 e) | (24,430 | 35 34 46 | 77 05 04 | De Filippi) |
Teram Kangri II | 24,300 | 35 34 05 | 77 05 30 | Mason |
(Siachen No. 25) | (24,300 | 35 34 11 | 77 05 25 | Peterkin) |
(Unnamed) | 22,920 | 35 33 18 | 77 07 40 | Mason |
(22,890* | 35 33 22 | 77 07 45 | Peterkin) | |
(Unnamed) | 22,530 | 35 33 02 | 77 08 15 | Mason |
(Siachen No. 26) | (22,530 | 35 33 °8 | 77 08 16 | Peterkin) |
Apsarasas I | 23,770 | 35 32 23 | 77 09 03 | Mason |
(Siachen No. 27) | (23.770 | 35 32 22 | 77 09 01 | Peterkin) |
Apsarasas II | 23,750 | 35 32 04 | 77 10 18 | Mason |
Apsarasas III | 23,740 | 35 31 05 | 77 12 30 | Mason |
* The position and height drums were adjusted on Teram Kangri I to Collins's triangulated height for this summit, and checked on Teram Kangri III. All the other positions and heights are quite independent of both Collins's and Peterkin's results. We have only given the three highest summits of the Apsarasas ridge, but Mason found three other summits over 23,000 feet near the last, namely :
— | 23,580 | 35° 31' 12" | 77° 11'30" | — | |
— | 23,710 | 35 31 12 | 77 12 47 | — | |
— | 23,570 | 35 31 15 | 77 13 11 | — |
1 Clinometer height.
Grant Peterkin's Peak No. 28 (23,350, 350 31' 57", 770 08' 40") is not on the main ridge, but on the south-west arete of Apsarasas I, while his Peak No. 29 (23,010, 330 31' 05", 770 11' 21") seems to be a summit on the southwest arete of the first of the three summits, 23,580, listed above. These two peaks of Peterkin were hidden from the north.
Wood's Peak 16V52 e (23,720, 350 31' 09", 770 12' 46") is almost certainly the same as Mason's 23,710, 350 31' 12", 770 12' 47'', shown above. Mason was unable to identify his Peak i62/52 e (23,680, 350 31' 08", 770 12' 40"), probably a minor point on the Apsarasas III ridge, which extends westwards to 23,580 and eastwards to 23,570.
The Apsarasas ridge was named by Grant Peterkin. We recommend the adoption of the names of Apsarasas I, II, and III.
(e) Kyagar group, a high group between the Singhi and Kyagar glaciers, surveyed by Mason in 1926. The summits listed below are from the detailed stereographic survey map of the Shaksgam glacier in Geographical Journal, October 1927.
The group extends farther northwards with several summits above 20,000 feet. It was not surveyed on the Spoleto expedition of 1929, but the western side of it was probably surveyed during the Visser expedition in 1935.
Kyagar I | 21,770 | 35° 34' 43" | 77° 08' 48" | — |
Kyagar II | 21,340 | 35 35 47 | 77 07 45 | — |
— | 21,110 | 35 36 25 | 77 07 20 | — |
— | 21,170 | 35 36 50 | 77 06 51 | — |
(/) Teram Shehr group, at the head of the Teram Shehr glacier, east of the main trunk of the Kyagar glacier and north of the Central Rimo glacier. It comprises a rather miscellaneous collection of mountains, which have been mainly triangulated by Wood and Alessio on De Filippi's expedition of 1914.
— | 22,480 | 35° 29' 48" | 77° 14' 39" | (Peterkin 30) |
('Highest pt. of snow ridge') | 22,380 | 35 28 52 | 77 16 36 | Pk. 34/52 E, Wood |
('SW. end of southern of two flat-topped hills') | 21,410 | 35 36 37 | 77 25 59 | Pk. 30/52E, Wood |
— | 21,650 | 35 31 38 | 77 20 31 | 20r/52E, Alessio |
— | 21,865 | 35 29 30 | 77 22 00 | De Filippi map |
('Rock pinnacle on peak. Cliffs on south side') | 21,910 | 35 28 18 | 77 23 46 | Pk. 35/52 E, Wood |
Peak 22,480, which was first triangulated by Grant Peterkin during the Workman expedition of 1912, is also shown on De Filippi's map, though it has not been entered in the Survey of India's triangulation pamphlets. Peak 34/52 E, 22,380, triangulated by Wood on De Filippi's expedition, 1914, is shown on De Filippi's map as 22,410; while Wood's Peak 36/52 E (22,090, 350 28' 17770 18' 22"), entered by Wood as a 'rock pinnacle' in his lists, is not shown on De Filippi's map, its place being taken by a much lower summit, 20,745. No rock pinnacle appears here in photographs.
(F) Rimo Muztagh: map 52 E.
(a) Rimo group, a complex group along the watershed between the Rimo glacier and the head of the Teram Shehr, and throwing out a long ridge between the two main Rimo glaciers eastwards.
De Filippi's map, published with the English edition of his book (Hima¬laya, Karakoram, and Eastern Turkestan), shows a large number of heights. In the lists below only the most important are given, from an examination of the topography. Where possible, the triangulated positions and heights have been given, and where these differ from those shown on De Filippi's map a note has been made to that effect. A few points have also been derived from Collins's triangulation of 1911, and from Visser's map made during his 1929-30 expedition.
The group extends eastwards of Peak 48 between the Central and South Rimo glaciers, and south-eastwards of Peak 53 between the South Rimo and Shelkar Chorten glaciers.
— | 22,512 | 35° 23' 58" | 77° 19' 01" Pk. 46/52E (Collins). Shown on De Filippi's map as 22,515 | |
— | 22,569 | 35 23 26 | 77 16 25 | Visser, 1929-30 |
('sharp cone at S. end') | 23,730 | 35 22 32 | 77 21 38 | Pk. 49/52E (Wood). De Filippi and Visser both show Wood's height |
24,188 | 35 21 24 | 77 22 15 | Pk. 50/52 E (Collins) | |
('southern of twin peaks') | 24,230 | 35 21 22 | 77 22 09 | Pk. 51/52E (Wood) |
('centre of triple peak') | 23,520 | 35 22 38 | 77 23 04 | Pk. 48/52E (Wood). Shown correctly on De Filippi |
('rounded') | 22,460 | 35 23 09 | 77 23 15 | Pk. 47/52E (Wood). Shown correctly on De Filippi |
('cone-shaped') | 22,560 | 35 23 38 | 77 23 19 | Pk. 173/52E (Wood). Shown on De Filippi's map as 22,580 |
('southern and highest point') | 22,240 | 35 24 52 | 77 22 45 | Pk. 45/52 E (Wood) |
('northern end') | 22,180 | 35 24 57 | 77 23 03 | 2Pk. 44/52 E (Wood) |
('SW. summit of double peak') | 21,840 | 35 19 46 | 77 23 00 | Pk. 52/52E (Wood). Shown on De Filippi's map as 21,810 |
('snow peak') | 22,300 | 35 18 48 | 77 22 07 | Pk. 53/52 E (Wood) |
(b) North Terong group, between the main trunk of the Siachen glacier, the Teram Shehr, and the North Terong glacier.
Name | Height | Lat. | Long. | Peak No. and map |
---|---|---|---|---|
(Siachen No. 32). | . 21,860 | 35° 27' 29" | 77° 0/55" | Peterkin, 1912 |
( „ „ 31)- | . 22,910 | 35 27 36 | 77 10 49 | Peterkin Pk. 17/52E |
('round-topped cone') | . 22,570 | 35 27 46 | 77 10 29 | Wood, 1914, Pk. 164/52 e |
(Siachen No. 33). | . 21,580 | 35 24 39 | 77 11 30 | Peterkin, 1912 |
— | 21,636 | 35 18 30 | 77 i7 30 | VISSER, 1929—30 |
— | 21,178 | 35 17 30 | 77 15 30 | ,, ,, |
— | 21,245 | 35 16 30 | 77 18 00 | ,, ,, |
It seems likely that Peaks 17 and 164 are points on the same massif, and possibly the same peaks, the first being observed by Peterkin from the west in 1912, the second by Wood from the east in 1914. The Workmans named Peak 17 'Mt. Lakshmi', which we consider unsuitable.
(c) South Terong group, between the Nubra valley, the South Terong glacier, and the Mamostong glacier. No peaks have been triangulated, and the three noted below are from the Visser expedition of 1929-30.
— | 20,119 | 35° 12' 00" | 77° 19' 30" | — |
— | 20,600 | 35 10 30 | 77 20 00 | — |
— | 22,224 | 35 09 00 | 77 23 30 | — |
(d) Shelkar group, a group between the right bank of the Shelkar Ghorten glacier and the South Rimo glacier. The existing map 52 E is inaccurate on the west side of the watershed, the detail being best shown on the map of the Visser expedition, 1929-30.
('rocky peak at W. end of ridge') | 21,120 35° | 35° 14' 40" | 77° 30' 26" | Pk. 185/52E (Wood) |
('cone at E. end of ridge') | 21,180 | 35 14 33 | 77 30 57 | Pk. 186/52E (Wood) |
('rounded top of cone') | 21,420 | 35 17 12 | 77 32 26 | Pk. 107/52E (Wood) (shown on De Filip¬pi's map as 21,395) |
(e) Kumdan group, an extensive group comprising the mountains on the right bank of the upper Shyok as far south as the Saser pass, and east of the main trunk of the Mamostong glacier; the group is drained eastwards by the Ghong Kumdan, Kichik Kumdan, and Aktash glaciers.
('black rock on top of snow peak') | 22,980 | 35° 11' 57" | 77° 32' 30" | Pk. 110/52 E (Wood) |
('snow peak') | 23,200 | 35 11 41 | 77 35 14 | Pk. 111/52E (Wood) |
— | 21,360 | 35 15 15 | 77 37 45 | — |
('highest point of snow ridge') | 21,730 | 35 14 45 | 77 38 13 | Pk.109/52 E (Wood) |
— | 21,035 | 35 14 35 | 77 38 25 | — |
— | 21,170 | 35 13 20 | 77 40 00 | — |
('snow peak') | 22,040 | 35 09 19 | 77 33 47 | Pk. 112/52 E (Wood) |
Mamostong Kangri | 24,690 | 35° 08'54" | 77° 34'41" | Pk. 12/52e (before 1860) |
('blackrockonsummit') | 24,660 | 35 08 34 | 77 34 45 | Pk. 113/52E (Wood) |
('summit snow peak') | 22,520 | 35 08 51 | 77 37 26 | Pk. 187/52 E (Wood) |
('rounded snow peak') | 21,820 | 35 07 51 | 77 38 37 | Pk. 188/52 E (Wood) |
— | 23,020 | 35 04 43 | 77 38 20 | Pk. 114/52 E (Collins) |
— | 22,133 | 35 03 23 | 77 39 22 | Pk. 115/52 E (Collins) |
('snow peak') | 22,110 | 35 05 19 | 77 40 45 | Pk. 189/52E (Wood) |
The first two listed above are not shown on De Filippi's map, but are shown on Visser's. The extreme south of De Filippi's map is not very- accurate, and the topographical points should be treated with some doubt; it was only sketched from a distance. The mountains at the head of the Mamostong glacier were first explored at close range by Dr. A. Neve.
The spelling Mamostong, which means 'the thousand demons', is, we believe, more correct than the old spelling Murghistang. The name 'Mamo¬stong' recalls a legend in which a number of raiders from central Asia were destroyed by an avalanche (Rec. Surv. of India, vol. xxii, p. 172). The chief peak, whose height was determined by Johnson during the early Kashmir survey prior to i860 as 24,690, was refixed by Wood of De Filippi's expedi¬tion (24,660). It was likened by Dr. A. Neve to 'a crouching lion'. We suggest the name Mamostong Kangri for it.
The mountains at the head of the Aktash glaciers north of the Saser pass are not yet well enough known to be given names. Peaks 114 and 115, fixed by Collins, were not refixed by Wood in 1914, but are shown on the map illustrating his work. On De Filippi's map however they are given the heights 22,200 and 22,130, instead of 23,020 and 22,133. Neither De Filippi's nor Wood's maps are reliable in this region, the Aktash glaciers being omitted.
(G) Saser Muztagh: maps 52 F, 52 J.
(a) Saser group, a great group south of the Saser pass, some of the peaks of which were triangulated before 1860. The group was not surveyed in detail during the early surveys of Kashmir by Mr. E. C. Ryall, and it was not till Dr. Arthur Neve visited the Sa-kang and Phukpo-che glaciers that any details were known (Popoche, Neve, Thirty Tears in Kashmir, pp. 227- 35). It was subsequently surveyed in detail by the Vissers in 1929, and the peaks whose co-ordinates are shown in italics are from that survey.
— | 21,795 | 34° 54' 38" | 77° 41' 55" | — |
— | 24,330 | 34 52 25 | 77 44 15 | Pk. 48/52 F (Wood) |
Saser Kangri1 | 25,170 | 34 52 02 | 77 45 13 | Pk. 29/52 F (before 1860) |
— | (25,280 | 34 52 00 | 77 45 13 | Wood) |
— | 24,590 | 34 50 31 | 77 47 16 | Pk. 30/52 F (before 1860) |
— | (21,000)2 | 34 50 35 | 77 45 08 | — |
Name | Height | Lat. | Long. | Peak No. and map |
---|---|---|---|---|
— | 21,285 | 34° 54' 10" | 77° 46' 4°" | — |
— | 21,855 | 34 54 00 | 77 48 00 | — |
Tughmo Zarpo1 | 21,648 | 34 51 55 | 77 49 13 | — |
— | ? | 34 51 07 | 77 50 40 | — |
— | 22,155 | 34 50 15 | 77 52 05 | — |
— | 24,650 | 34 48 14 | 77 48 22 | Pk. 31/52 F (before 1860) |
— | 22,777 | 34 48 09 | 77 46 25 | — |
(b) Chhushku group, at the head of the Sultan Chhushku and other lesser glaciers draining into the upper Shyok above Kataklik. With one excep¬tion, all the peaks are given data derived from measurement from Visser's map, while some of the heights (shown in brackets) are from an examination of the contours. They are only given for the purposes of identification, and should not be accepted.
— | ?(22,250) | 34° 52' 35" | 77° 52' 50" | — |
— | ?(21,250) | 34 52 50 | 77 55 02 | — |
— | ?(21,750) | 34 52 30 | 77 55 40 | — |
— | ?(21,750) | 34 51 55 | 77 56 20 | — |
— | ? (22,000) | 34 51 30 | 77 57 02 | — |
— | ? (21,250) | 34 52 28 | 77 57 20 | — |
— | 21,920 | 34 54 34 | 77 56 05 | Pk. 28/52 F (before 1860) |
(c) (c) Shukpa Kunchang group, a high group between the two Shukpa Kun- chang glaciers. The heights of all the summits are doubtful, and the positions from Visser's map by measurement.
— | ? (22,000) | 34° 46' 52" | 77° 51' 40" | — |
— | ? (22,000) | 34 45 33 | 77 50 21 | Pk. 32/52 F (before 1860, but no height) |
— | ? (22,250) | 34 44 58 | 77 52 42 | — |
— | ? (22,000) | 34 44 32 | 77 53 37 | — |
(d) Arganglas group, provisionally named from a grazing ground at the junction of the two glaciers draining it.
— | ? 21,932 | 34° 36' 52" | 77° 50' 55" | — |
— | 22,272 | 34 35 07 | 77 54 19 | Pk. 47/52 F (Collins) |
(e) Kunzang group, provisionally so named from the Kunzang Lungpa draining eastwards into the upper Shyok. No details are available for us to work out this group. It was surveyed by Visser in 1935.
(f) Shyok group, the last group of the Great Karakoram, in the bend of the Shyok river and opposite the village of Shyok. The peaks listed are all from the Changchenmo triangulation done by Johnson and Clarke in 1862. The heights of only two peaks were determined, but those of the others should be available from Visser's survey of 1935, the details of which are not yet available to us.
— | — | 34° 20' 03" | 78° 10' 08" | Pk. 3/52 j |
— | — | 34 18 56 | 78 09 26 | Pk. 4/52 j |
— | 21,070 | 34 18 20 | 78 13 07 | Pk. 5/52 j |
— | 21,100 — |
34° 17'55" 34 17 25 |
78° 11' 37" 78 10 15 |
Pk. 6/52J Pk. 7/52 j |
— | — | 34 15 54 | 78 12 33 | Pk. 8/52 j |
— | — | 34 15 23 | 78 11 30 | Pk. 9/52 j |
APPENDIX II
Mountain Groups of the Lesser Karakoram
GROUPS NORTH OF THE GREAT KARAKORAM IN HUNZA
(A) i. Lupghar group (42 L). This group lies between the Batura glacier, the Chapursan, and the Hunza river. It is believed that no moun¬tains in the group rise above 20,000 feet, but there are several snow- clad summits over 19,000 feet.
ii. The Ghujerab mountains (42 P) . Two groups may be recognized in the mountains of Ghujerab, viz. the Chapchingal group and the Karun Kuh group.
(a) The Chapchingal group lies between the Kuksel and Chapchingal tributaries of the Khunjerab and Ghujerab rivers respectively, and on both sides of the Chapchingal pass. No peaks have been triangulated, but the following three are shown on the Survey of India map 42 P. They are from K. S. Afraz Gul's survey with the Visser expedition, 1925. We suggest the name Chapchingal Sar for the highest.
Chapchingal Sar | 21,210 | 36° 45' 36" | 37° 18' 05" | |
— | 20,730 | 36 43 05 | 37 23 55 | |
— | 20,070 | 36 42 50 | 37 28 55 |
(b) The Karun Kuh group lies between the lower Ghujerab and the lower Shimshal valleys, of which the culminating summit is the mountain known as Karun Kun, about 6 miles north-east of the Karun Pir (pass), which has been fixed by triangulation, during the Indo-Russian work, 1912-13.
Purzin-wa-dasht | 20,786 | 36° 39' 10" | 75° 06' 30" | — |
Karun Kuh | 22,891 | 36 36 47 | 75 04 48 | Pk. 19/42P |
— | 20,147 | 36 34 30 | 75 11 30 | — |
GROUPS SOUTH OF THE GREAT KARAKORAM
(B) The Rakaposhi range may be divided into five groups, of which some¬thing is known at present, though it cannot be said that we have anything more than rough maps, except in the Bagrot and Haramosh valleys, which the Survey of India mapped in 1931. In 1892 Conway made a plane-table sketch of the Hispar glacier, but the side valleys were extremely roughly sketched, and it is uncertain whether he correctly identified the few tri¬angulated summits of the Survey of India. The Workmans made two expeditions, one to the Chogo Lungma glacier in 1902, and the other to the Hispar in 1909, and with each record of their journeys they published large-scale maps. Unfortunately, here again they seem to have had great difficulty in recognizing fixed points, owing to faulty initial azimuths and base measurement; it is extremely difficult to fit their work in with the work of others, and their heights must remain in doubt. Where possible the names given by these travellers have been entered for the purposes of identification and their approximate positions on the Survey of India map given in order to place them in relation to the general topography of the sheet.
The five groups are the Rakaposhi group, the Bagrot group, the Phuparash group, the Chogo Lungma group, and the Hispar Wall.
(a) The Rakaposhi group, on the extreme western end of range, rising steeply from the Hunza gorge at Ghaichar Parri. Only one summit of the Raka¬poshi massif has been triangulated, and the heights of subsidiary summits are not known.
For a note on the name 'Rakaposhi', see Burrard, 2nd ed., vol. i, p. 50. The name Rakaposhi should most certainly be retained, with the Hunza name, Dumani, as well. The peak was triangulated during the Kashmir triangulation of 1855-60, and is well fixed.
Name | Height | Lat. | Long. | Peak No. and map |
---|---|---|---|---|
Rakaposhi, or Dumani | 25,550 | 36° 08' 39" | 74° 29' 22" | Pk. 27/42l |
(b) The Bagrot group. This group lies at the head of the two main tributary glaciers of the Bagrot valley, the Hinarche and Burche (called the Bagrot and Gargo glaciers on Conway's map). Conway only gives the height of one (the 'Dome of Dirran'), but the 'Crown of Dirran' is probably higher. The four given below are certainly over 21,000 feet.
('Crown of Dirran') | — | 36° 07' 14" | 74° 39' 44" | Pk. 37/42 l (Kashmir triangulation 1855— 60. No height) |
('Dome of Dirran') | — | 36 06 50 | 74 38 45 | Conway, 1892 |
('Burchi Peak') | — | 36 06 50 | 74 40 30 | Conway, 1892 |
('Lower Burchi Peak') | — | 36 06 00 | 74 41 00 | Conway, 1892 |
Perhaps it is yet too early to consider names for these, though we would suggest Diran I and Diran II for the first two, and Burche I and Burche II for the two last. Burche is probably a better spelling than Burchi. Reference should, however, be made to the Survey of India work of 1931, which is not available to us.
(c) The Phuparash group.1An important group at the head of the Phuparash valley, four peaks of which were fixed by the triangulators in 1855-60. Conway calls the first and westernmost 'Emerald Peak', and saw it from the Bagrot valley; the second and third he does not name and may not have seen, though they are marked on his map. The last, which he names 'Saddle Peak', he saw from the glacier he calls the Shallihuru. The topography at the head of this glacier and its neighbour to the east is entirely different from that shown at the head of the Chogo Lungma glacier by the Workmans. In compiling map 42 L the best fit possible has been made, but it is very probably inaccurate. On that map Conway's Shallihuru is given as Miar (Shalhubu) glacier, probably from K. S. Afraz Gul's plane-table with the Vissers in 1925.
('Emerald Peak') | 22,390 | 36° 03' 29" | 74° 45' 57" | Pk. 42/42 L |
— | 22,260 | 36 03 03 | 74 46 15 | Pk. 43/42L |
— | 21,570 | 36 02 52 | 74 49 31 | Pk. 44/42 L |
('Saddle Peak') | 21,570 | 36 02 42 | 74 47 26 | Pk. 45/42 L |
The Haramosh range branches south-eastwards from the Rakaposhi range about 2 miles east of 'Saddle peak'.
(d) The Chogo Lungma group. This group lies mainly at the head of the Chogo Lungma glacier and at the head of the Yengutz Har glacier. The Chogo Lungma was ascended by the Workmans and described by them in Ice-bound Heights of the Mustagh. On the north the Yengutz Har glacier was surveyed by K. S. Afraz Gul with the Vissers in 1925. It is extremely difficult to reconcile the topography as shown by the Workmans with either that of K. S. Afraz Gul on the north or with that of the Survey of India in sheet 43 1 on the west, and the three summits listed below from the Workmans' work should be treated with considerable reserve. It is unlikely that a peak as high as 24,500 feet exists here, while from the illus¬trations in their book, the two summits which fhey named 'Mount Chogo' and 'Mount Lungma', and which they climbed, are little more than snow knolls on the south-east ridge of'Pyramid Peak'.
Chogo Lungma, which is applied to the glacier and valley to the south-east, merely means 'the large valley'. To call two summits towards the head of the valley 'Mt. Chogo' and 'Mt. Lungma', i.e. 'Mount Large' and 'Mount Valley', seems to us particularly unsuitable, and we suggest that the names be dropped and the summits left unnamed until the regular survey or next explorer finds or suggests more suitable names.
The peak at the head of the Yengutz Har glacier, for which we suggest the name Yengutz Har, seems to fall roughly in the position of the ridge shown on Conway's map as 'the Golden Parri' (i.e. Golden Cliff, or 'Ghenish Chish'), but Conway's topography here is unrecognizable on the modern survey. The name for this glacier was first obtained by Sir Henry Hayden when examining glaciers in the neighbourhood about 1906; it was then spelt Tengutsa. Gilgit officials who later visited it stated that the correct spelling should be Yengutz Har, and this name is now in general use in glacier literature.1
('Pyramid Peak') | . 24,500? | 36° 03' 15" | 74° 54' 30" | — |
('Mt. Lungma') | 22,568? | 36 02 20 | 74 55 00 | — |
('Mt. Chogo') | 21,500? | . 36 02 03 | 74 55 30 | — |
Yengutz Har | 23,056 | 36 03 28 | 74 58 00 | Pk. 68/42 L |
(e) The Hispar wall. All along the southern side of the Hispar glacier there is a mountain wall, from which, on the west, a series of short glaciers descends to the Hispar. The wall was crossed at one place by Bruce in 1892, the pass being known by the name 'Nushik La' (36° 01' 30", 750 14' 25").
Footnote
No summits have been triangulated along this wall, and the points noted below are either from K. S. Afraz Gul's plane-table on the Visser expedition of 1925 or from the Workmans' map in The Call of the Snowy Hispar. In view of the fact that the Workmans failed to recognize the Survey of India triangulated points, the positions and heights of the points from their map should be treated witlrreserve.
The names for the first three summits are from the glaciers draining north¬wards from them, and are from K. S. Afraz Gul's work. Makorum is pre¬sumably the same as the point marked 23,635 on the Workmans' map.
Gurpaltig | . 20,700 | 36-05' 28" | 75° 01' 02" | (Afraz Gul) |
Chandershish . | . 22,300 | 36 03 06 | 75 04 45 | (Afraz Gul) |
Makorum | 23,750 | 36 03 25 | 75 07 04 | (Afraz Gul) |
— | 22,508 | 36 01 35 | 75 24 35 | (Workman) |
— | 22,710 | 36 01 26 | 75 31 05 | (Workman) |
— | 21,358 | 36 01 04 | 75 34 27 | (Workman) |
— | 22,060 | 36 00 52 | 75 36 02 | (Workman) |
Subsidiary groups associated with the Rakaposhi range.
(/) The Ganchen group, between the Hoh Lumba and the Basha river. Very little is known about this region and it has not been surveyed in detail. One summit only, Ganchen, 21,200 feet, has been fixed by triangulation. In Ice-bound Heights of the Mustagh, pp. 54, 58, the Workmans show photographs of some of the peaks of the group farther north, one of which, which they call Hikmul, may be as high as Ganchen. They explored a small glacier west of Ganchen.
Ganchen . . | 21,200 | 35° 48' 36" | 75° 29' 11" | Pk. 9/43 M, 1855-60 |
The Meru group, between the Hoh Lumba and the Biafo glacier. There is undoubtedly a high group here, but nothing is known of it. During the old survey no peaks were triangulated in the group, and Conway fixed none. The Workmans named a high peak Meru, and assigned an approximate height of 22,000 feet to it; this is probably too high. An illustration of part of Meru appears in Himalayan Journal, vol. vi, 1934, p. 71.
(C) The Haramosh range. Little is known about the detailed topography of this range. A few of the higher summits towards the north of it have been fixed by triangulation, but it is too early yet to attempt a classification of groups. It seems to us probable that the Workmans never properly identified Haramosh when they explored the head of the Chogo Lungma glacier, and therefore their representation of the topography in that region is very probably at fault. Certainly it is impossible to fit it in with the modern Survey of India work west of that mountain. No details are known of tlu heights of the range south-east of Peak 1/43 M, and it seems likely that none rises above 21,000 feet. The peaks above 20,000 feet in the range which have been triangulated are given below.
The height of Peak 59 was not fixed during the triangulation. It has subsequently been found to be approximately 20,190 feet. Peak 60/43 1 (35° 46' 02", 740 58' 02") falls in the same category, but as its height was found subsequently to be approximately 19,850 feet, it is not listed. The Workmans add another peak with a height of 21,930, but it would be unsafe to assume it to be correct.
— | 24,470 | 36° 00' 14" | 74° 52' 34" | Pk. 46/42 L |
— | 22,810 | 35 57 26 | 74 57 47 | Pk. 56/43I |
— | 21,930 | 35 51 40 | 74 57 54 | Pk. 57/43I |
— | 24,270 | 35 50 29 | 74 53 52 | Pk. 58/43I |
— | 20,190 | 35 47 45 | 74 57 13 | Pk. 59/431 |
— | 20,740 | 35 52 00 | 75 03 28 | Pk. 1/43 M ) |
(D) The Masherbrum range. The range extends from the junction of the Basha and Braldu rivers, south of the Baltoro glacier, as far east as the Chogolisa saddle, east of Chogolisa or 'Bride peak'. It is not known in detail throughout its length, but certain well-marked groups can be dis¬tinguished.
(a) The Koser Gunge group, on the extreme west as far as the Skoro La.1 The height of only one summit is known with any degree of accuracy, and this has not been triangulated.
Koser Gunge . . | 21,000 | 35° 37' 10" | 75° 39' 00" | — |
(b) The Mango Gusor group, lying immediately east of the Skoro La. Its eastern boundary cannot yet be determined.
Mango Gusor. . | 20,630 | 35° 34' 4I," | 75° 55' 14" | Pk. 21/43 M, 1855-60 |
(No topographical details are known of the range east of Mango Gusor until the Masherbrum group is reached.)
(£) The Masherbrum group. Little is known of the Masherbrum group. Every expedition up the Baltoro seems to have passed it by. In the Survey of India records there are two summits triangulated, both over 25,000 feet, from the south. The early survey carried out from the south was very sketchy in the higher valleys of the Hushe valley. Mr. J. A. Sillem in 1903 explored the Hushe valley from the south, but left no account of his work, and died soon afterwards (Himalayan Journal, vol. vii, 1935, p. 66). The Workmans in 1911 made some minor corrections to the topography and reached the watershed both east and west of Masherbrum, but added little to our knowledge of the massif. A number of illustrations showing Masher¬brum from the north have been published by various travellers, which make its outline well known from that direction (e.g. Himalayan Journal, vol. vii, 1935, p. 142). Other aspects of the mountain appear in the Workmans' book, Two Summers in the Ice-wilds of the Eastern Karakoram, pp. 84, 98.
Masherbrum E | 25,660 | 35° 38' 36" | 76° 185' 31" | Pk. 7/52 A |
Masherbrum W | 25,610 | 35 38 29 | 76 18 23 | Pk. 8/52 A |
Footnote
(c) The Chogolisa group. No further details of the topography of the range are known until the head of the Kondus valley is reached. We then come upon a group which has been explored in considerable detail by the expedition of the Duke of the Abruzzi in 1909. To this the name 'Chogolisa group' has been suggested by the Workmans on the south, and this name seems suitable.
('Mitre Peak') | 20,462 | 35° 42' 50" | 76° 29' 50" | Abruzzi |
35 43 30 | 76 30 15 | Spoleto | ||
— | 21,896 | 35 39 10 | 76 33 10 | Abruzzi and Spoleto |
— | 22,477 | 35 38 10 | 76 32 30 | Abruzzi and Spoleto |
Chogolisa II | 24,783 | 35 36 45 | 76 34 00 | 24/52 a, Abruzzi |
Chogolisa I ('Bride Peak') | 25,110 | 35 36 44 | 76 34 23 | Pk. 25/52 A, 1855-60 Survey of India |
— | 21,653 | 35 36 20 | 76 38 50 | Abruzzi |
Baltoro Kangri('Gol- 23,990 den Throne') | 35 38 50 | 76 40 00 | Abruzzi |
The positions of 'Mitre Peak' as given by Abruzzi and Spoleto do not agree with each other; both positions have been given in the table above. 'Mitre Peak' is a very striking rock peak named first by Conway, and separated from the rest of the Chogolisa group by the ' Vigne glacier'.
The height of 'Golden Throne' is in doubt. Conway and Abruzzi gave no height for it; Spoleto's height is given above; on the Survey of India map it is'shown as 23,600 feet, but we do not know the source, since the peak has not been triangulated nor surveyed by the Survey of India. Dyhrenfurth accepted 23,990 feet and, basing his calculations on this, claimed that 'Queen Mary' was over 25,000 feet, whereas its triangulated height is 24,350 feet. It seems, therefore, possible that the height 23,990 feet for 'Golden Throne' is too high. The summit is of snow and not sharply defined (see Himalayan Journal, vol. vii, 1935, pp. 144-8).
The best illustrations so far published of the group are Panoramas C, D, and O, in De Filippi's Karakoram and Western Himalaya, the account of Abruzzi's 1909 expedition.
We recommend that the names 'Mitre Peak', 'Golden Throne', and 'Bride Peak', which were given by Conway and never accepted officially, be dropped; that until the position of the first is known with greater accuracy it be left unnamed on Survey of India maps; that the name Baltoro Kangri for the 'Golden Throne' at the head of the Baltoro glacier be adopted; and that Chogolisa be retained for 'Bride Peak'.
Subsidiary groups associated with the Masherbrum range.
Little is known of the detailed topography of the two groups lying be¬tween the Thalle and Hushe valleys and between the Hushe and Kondus valleys, which may be given group names at a later stage. The Survey of I ndia has not surveyed the groups in detail, and no explorer that we know of has produced any useful topographical work. Survey of India maps, therefore, only show a very few isolated triangulated peaks, which are given below. All three were triangulated from the Kashmir series between the years 1855 and 1860.
(e) Group east of Thalle valley.
Name | Height | Lat. | Long. | Peak No. and map |
---|---|---|---|---|
— | 21,190 | 35° 26' 40" | 76° 12' 53" | PK. 1/52 A, 1855-60 |
(/) Group east of Hushe valley.
— | 22,750 | 35° 27' 45" | 76° 34' 44" | PK. 26/52 A |
— | 23,890 | 35 25 08 | 76 33 12 | PK. 27/52 A |
(E) The Saltoro range.
A certain amount of detail is known about the various groups of the Saltoro, owing to the interest taken by explorers of the Siachen. LongstafF crossed the Saltoro pass, or Bilafond La, on to the Siachen glacier in 1909. He also carried out some plane-tabling among the mountains south of that pass. His account, with a small-scale map from his material, appeared in Geographical Journal, vol. xxxv, 1910, pp. 622-57, maP P- 744- The Work¬mans followed in 1912, and their surveyor, Grant Peterkin, carried out additional triangulation and plane-table survey. The Workmans them¬selves crossed from the head of the Siachen to the Kondus by the Sia La. In 1935 John Hunt and James Waller made an attempt to climb the peak shown below as 'Saltoro Kangri I' (.Himalayan Journal, vol. viii, 1936, pp. 14-25). The Workmans' maps are published in Geographical Journal, vol. xliii, 1914, p. 232, and in their book, Two Summers in the Ice-wilds of the Eastern Karakoram.
(a) The Kondus group, from the Sia La to the saddle between the Kondus glacier and the glacier called by the Workmans the 'Peak 36 glacier'.
('LOWER SILVER THRONE') (PETERKIN, SIACHEN NO. 14) | 20,230 | 35° 34' 55" | 76° 46' 38" | PK. 46/52 A |
('Silver Throne') (Peter¬kin, Siachen No. 13) | — | 35 33 47 | 76 45 36 | PK. 47/52 A |
('THE HAWK') (PETERKIN, SIACHEN NO. 10) | 22,160 | 35 32 58 | 76 52 10 | PK. 48/52 A |
('MT. GHENT II') (PETERKIN, SIACHEN NO. 9) | 24,090 | 35 31 44 | 76 48 33 | PK. 50752 A |
('MT. GHENT I') (PETERKIN, SIACHEN NO. 8) | 24,280 | 35 31 06 | 76 48 07 | PK. 50752 A |
(PETERKIN, SIACHEN NO. 7) | 21,610 | 35 29 41 | 76 52 59 | PK. 51/52 A |
All the summits listed below were triangulated by Grant Peterkin on the Workmans' 1912 expedition.
The above names, given by the Workmans, have not come into general use. It is therefore not too late to give them more suitable names when the next traveller goes there. We recommend that the Workmans' names should not be adopted.
(b) The Saltoro group, from the above group southwards as far as the Saltoro pass, including the Bilafond wall. There seems to be some slight discrepancy between the positions found for the two high peaks of this group by the earlier triangulation and by Collins's triangulation in 1911. There is no doubt that the summit shown in the Survey of India triangula¬tion pamphlets as Peak 53/52 A is the same as Peak 35/52 A, and that Peak 54/52 A is the same as Peak 36/52 A. It seems essential that names should be given to these peaks, as confusion is already occurring, through some authors calling the peaks K36 and K35, while others call them Peak 36 and Peak 35.
Photographs of various aspects of the Saltoro Kangri are published in the Workmans' Two Summers in the Ice-wilds of the Eastern Karakoram, p. 174; in Himalayan Journal, vols, iv, 1932, p. 46; viii, 1936, pp. 16, 17, 20.
Sherpi Kangri | 23,960 | 35° 27' 54" | 76° 47' 07" | Pk. 33/52 A, 1855-60 |
Saltoro Kangri II | 25,280 | 35 24 24 | 76 50 50 | Pk. 35/52 A, 1855-60 |
— | 25,136 | 352430 | 765051 | Pk. 53/52 A, Collins. |
Saltoro Kangri I | 25,321 | 35 24 01 | 76 50 55 | Pk. 36/52 A, 1855-60 |
— | 25,400 | 35 2405 | 76 5057 | Pk. 54/52 A, Collins |
Sherpi-gang means literally 'the ice of Sherpi', gang being the form used instead of Kang in western Ladakhi dialect. It might be more consistent to use the form Sherpikang for the glacier, and Sherpi Kangri for the mountain at its head.
(c) The Chumik group, from the Saltoro pass to the Rgyong La. Little is known of the group in detail, though Longstaff carried out a rapid recon¬naissance of it from the west in 1909. Peaks 8/52 E (1855-60) and 18/52 E (Collins) may be the same, and it is probable that Collins's value is the better, for Longstaff remarks: '. . . K12, an elusive peak which I was never able to identify to my entire satisfaction.' K12 is the old designation of Peak 8/52 E.
Grant Peterkin observed two peaks of the group nearer to the Siachen in 1912, and it is possible that the Vissers may have added to our knowledge of this group in 1934.
The last two peaks, unlike the rest of Peterkin's work, have not been included in the Survey of India pamphlets.
('K12') | 24,370 | 35° 17' 46" | 77° 01' 23" | Pk. 8/52E, 1855-60 |
— | 24,503 | 35 18 13 | 77 00 55 | Pk. 18/52 E, Collins |
— | 22,158 | 35 1240 | 76 59 33 | Pk. 55/52 A, Collins |
— | 20,460 | 35 22 04 | 77 04 47 | Peterkin, 1912 |
— | 20,180 | 35 20 33 | 77 08 14 | Peterkin, 1912 |
(d) The Dansam group, a group about which very little is known, between the Kondus and the Gyari valleys. One peak only has been triangulated, for which the name Dansam is suggested. It is the old K13.
Dansam (K13) . . 21,870 350 12' 12" 76° 45' 41" Pk. 38/52 A, 1855-60
(e) The Chulung group, from the Rgyong La to the end of the range. It is a high group between the Nubra and the lower Shyok, and it is possible that the Vissers have added to our knowledge of the topography, though wc have no details. It is possible that this group should be divided into two parts, the first four being included in a northern group and the last three in a southern group.
(K19 Gharkun) | 21,720 | 35° 05' 05" | 76° 58' 09" | Pk. 39/52 A, 1855-60 |
— | 20,960 | 35 01 30 | 77 00 29 | Pk. 10/52 E, 1855-60 |
(D52) | 22,400 | 35 01 33 | 77 08 58 | Pk. 9/52 E, 1855-60 |
— | 21,601 | 34 59 42 | 77 17 31 | Pk. 42/52 F, Collins, 1911 |
— | 21,334 | 34 55 04 | 77 17 23 | Pk. 43/52 F, Collins, 1911 |
— | 20,213 | 34 46 07 | 77 25 16 | Pk. 44/52 F, Collins, 1911 |
(D25) | 21,400 | 34 54 37 | 77 08 43 | Pk. 1/52 F, 1855-60 |
A certain number of other points were triangulated during the earlier survey and hill-staffs erected on them; their heights, however, do not seem to have been observed, and they therefore have not been included in the lists.