THE EXPLORATION OF THE HINDU RAJ

(Translated by Hugh Merrick)

Dr. A. DIEMBERGER

Between the Chitral slopes of the High Hindu Kush and the Karakoram and the upper reaches of the Yarkhun and the Indus, lie a large number of mountain groups, ridges and summits which Dieter Hasse, in his article in the OAZ, 1341, p. 69, following other writers, attributes to the Hindu Kush. The area contains the Yarkhun Range, between the Rich Gol and the Yarkhun; the Buni Zom Group and all its southern neighbours, gradually narrowing down to the Kunar Range; the hill country of Swat-Kohistan with its neighbours to the East; the frontier ridge between Swat-Kohistan and the Gilgit Agency; and, last but not least, the huge 'framework' which separates two districts of that Agency, Yasin and Ishkuman, from Chitral. The name Hindu Raj is generally applied to the greater part of the area outlined. The writer's intention is to develop briefly the history of the exploration of the whole sector. And his tirst subject will be the above-mentioned 'framework' which begins at the Shandur Pass, thrusting northwards and then swinging sharply to the East.

From now on I propose to call it the Hindu Raj, in a narrower sense, following Reginald Schomberg's statement in his article in the Alpine Journal (No. 251, p. 316): ‘the mountains behind Darkot, that is the range between Chitral and Yasin, are described as the Hindu Raj'. I have a further reason for placing tins area at the head of a chronicle of the history of the Hindu Raj. After Wolfgang Frey took over my work on the history of the Central Hindu Kush, I was able to obtain the co-operation of one of the Hindu Raj pioneers, Alfred Linsbauer, for my chronicle of the area now under consideration. Unfortunately, our planned partnership never materialized. Linsbauer was killed climbing solo in the Dachstein. So I want my first study to be dedicated to his memory.

Geographical: The Yarkhun flows along the Chitral flank of the ‘frame’ changing its name several times in its downward course (Mastuj, Chitral, Kunar). The lengthy Chiantar glacier forms the northern rim, to the east of the Darkot Pass. Short valleys run up from the Yarkhun to the glaciers at the foot of the peaks. The country enclosed by the 'frame' belongs to the system of the Gilgit River (its upper course is named the Ghizar). A barrier running from north to south separates the district of Yasin from that of Ishkuman.

The more important tributaries flowing from the Yasin area into the Ghizar include:

The Bahushtaro Gol, along which one reaches the Zagar An by way of the Zagar Gol. The sources of the Bahushtaro Gol lie close to a group of six-thousanders, which includes the 6,320 m. Shah Dok, as yet unelimbed. The Yasin River, the main river of the area, splits up into numerous secondary and tertiary valleys. Its northernly extension, the Darkot Bar, leads up to the Darkot Pass (4,575 m.), that important col which divides the northern framework into its eastern and western sectors. The Thui valley, leading to the pass of the same name, comes in from the west, while the Das Bar falls into the Thui from the north. Between the Thui-Das Bar-Darkot valleys, the northern rim throws out two interesting groups, with peaks of 6,000 m. and over ; the eastern group is known as the Gamugal group. The glaciers feeding the Thui and its neighbouring valleys sweep up to the western and northern rim and to splendid peaks, still unelimbed, well over 6,000 m. high. The valleys to the east of the Darkot and Yasin valleys are shorter; these penetrate the corners and glaciers of the big, many-branched barrier, already mentioned, separating Yasin and Ishkuman whose five-thousanders, most of them still unelimbed, must provide incomparable summit-views. Near Yasin, the chief village in the district, the long Naz Bar valley bordered by two secondary ranges, falls in from the west. From its head a pass leads over to the Bahushtaro Gol.

The Ishkuman sector for the most part lies open eastwards, to the north-western end of the Karakoram. It is bounded by the river Ishkuman, a continuation of the Karambar, which sweeps down in a wide curve from the north from the Qalander Uwin and Khora Burt passes recognized by many authors as the eastern boundary of the High Hindu Kush (anything but high at this point) and the Karambar Pass, leading over to the Yarkhun. Beyond the chief village, Ishkuman, the Baru Gah gives access to a complex of valley and glacier pockets, overlooked by unelimbed six-thousanders, some of which can be, and have been approached from the north, over the Chiantar glacier.

So much, for the time being, on the geography, as a basis for the historical aspect. I should say at once that for everything concerning the northern 'framework5 especially for the planner of an expedition, really important descriptions are available. Not only those by Linsbauer (the sector to the east of the Darkot Pass; Himalayan Jaurnal, Vol. XXVIII, 1967-68, p. 136: 'A visit to the Chiantar glacier region, Eastern Hindu Kush, 1967'); bul most important of all, Dr. Gerald Gruber, who has dealt not only wilh the Buni Zom sectors (OAZ, 1970, p. 37: 'The Buni An n C J roup in Chitral' with an informative sketch map)3 but also the weslern sector of the northern 'framework' (OAZ, 1359, p. 71 : k Reconnaissance to NE Chitral', Part I, also with a sketch map and valuable hints for expedition). The Yarkhun Range, ion, is discussed and sketched in an article by him (OAZ, 1365, p. 59: 'Reconnaissance into North-east Chitral, Part II) and this is of exceptional interest, since it includes a six-thousander, ink limbed up to that date.

Footnote

  1. Reprinted in the Himalayan Journal, Vol. XXX, 1970.

 

Historical: Tom Longstaff, that legendary figure of Himalayan I Exploration, was probably the first to sample the world of the Hindu Raj summits with the eye of a mountaineer and to fall under their spell. In 1916-17 he was second in command of the 'Scouts' under the British Political Agent, whose seat was at Gilgit but had support points in Chilas and Gupis. His book, This My Voyage (London, 1950), records his journeys, and they are well worth following. In the frontier-region of the range towards Swat, Tangir and Darel he saw the five- ihousanders Chokinikush and Kinechish (c. 17,000-18,000 ft.); at the 13,500 ft. Shandur Pass he recalls the march of the Sikhs who advanced on Chitral City with mountain guns in winter conditions to liberate the besieged British garrison. He went in search of the village of Yasin where in 1870 Hay ward had been killed, and pens a sentence of sheer frustration for the lover of precise identification: 'on the northern frontier of Yasin lie some of the finest mountains in the Hindu Kush. To the west are the Thui peaks and to the north the Darkot group ; five peaks of over 20,000 to over 22,000 feet'. He describes the Darkot Pass, over which in A.D. 747 a Chinese army swept down on Gilgit. He mentions Dhulichish, thrusting a 9,000-foot face skywards near Darkot. He penetrated the Karambar Valley far northwards to Sokhta Rabat, passing the valley which leads to the unclimbed Karakoram peak, Kampire Dior (23,434 ft. 7,142 m.). He also relates the encounter between F. Young- husband and the Cossack Colonel Yanoff beyond the passes of the Hindu Kush, which, among other things, led to the extrusion of a barrier, by the formation of the ‘Wakhan Corridor \ against the annexation by hungry Russians anxious to push southwards from the Pamirs, recently occupied by them. Longstaff's experiences are also related in the Alpine Journal, November 1920, No. 221, in an article ‘Byways in the Hindu Kush', embodying a lecture he gave at the Alpine Club on 2 March, 1920, in the presence of Sir Francis Younghusband by then a Colonel, a Knight and President of the Royal Geographical Society. In it he gave a detailed commentary on the ‘Yanoff Affair' and also Longstaff named the main peak of the Yasin Group ('Byways \ p. 158) from west to east as: ‘the peaks of Tui 21,891 ft., Daspar 22,603 ft., Shulichish (the Daspar of the Maps) 21,409 ft., Darkot and Garmush 20,564 ft. He also mentions Dadalbho (19,250 ft., 5,867 m.) in the eastern frontier of the Laspur Valley.

On the sketch map in the book (This My Voyage, p. 194) the following peaks are mentioned without names: P. 19,675 ft., probably Ghochhar Sar (quoted as 20,503 ft., 6,249 m. on recent maps); P. 21,465 ft., probably the main summit of Buni Zom (recently 6,551 m.); P. 19,400 ft, certainly Falak Sar (5,913 m.). Three peaks marked in the eastern sector of the northern 4 frame' could be the summits of Garmush (6,244 m.), P. 6,189 m. and P. 6,416 m. To the west of the Darkot Pass the P. 22,545 ft. is probably Koyo Zom (c. 6,871 m.). In the western sector P. 20,703 ft. (6,310 m.) tallies with Shah Dok (6,320 m.). The position of the peak marked Tui without a quoted height is interesting, lying as it does at about the latitude of the entrance to the Gazin Gol in Yarkhun, and therefore not identifiable with the peaks Thui I and II on Dr. Gruber's sketch map (OAZ, 1359, p. 73). This seems to indicate that on older maps peaks close to the Thui Pass were shown more reasonably as the Thui peaks, and that later surveyors entered summits on the northern rim as Thui peaks. The reports by Japanese expeditions call the peaks near the pass the Thui peaks. There are two peaks indicated by Longstaff to the north and south of the name Dhulichish, possibly the peaks shown on today's maps as the Gamugal Peaks.

P. 18,657 ft. to the north-east of Yasin is probably P. 5,707 m. on Linsbauer's sketch map (H.J., Vol. XXVIII, 1967-68, p. 136) on the barrier between Yasin and Ishkuman. I cannot go more deeply into an old map and the problems of nomenclature it raises ; they cannot be solved within the terms of reference of this exposition.

In the thirties, Reginald Schomberg also visited the Yarkhun flank of the 'north' frame (A.J., No. 250, p. 98: 'Some glaciers of Upper Chitral \ with an interesting photograph of the Chiantar glacier); he was also in the Thui and Daspur (Das Bar) valleys. From the latter he traversed the Ghamu Bar glacier and crossed a pass to Darkot, whence he continued to Ishkuman itself by way of the Atar Pass, which lies to the south of the Ishkuman Pass (A.J., No. 251, p. 316: 'Passes of Northern Yasin').

The Japanese were on the scene as early as 1956. True, the first Punjab University-Kyoto University Joint Expedition was a combined operation by Japanese and Pakistani scientists, but the initiative was definitely taken by the Japanese; for in the previous year a Kyoto University Expedition had already done scientific work in the Hunza Valley-Nagar-Minapin glacier area, in the immediate neighbourhood. The 1956 expedition started from Gilgit and reached Ishkuman by way of Yasin and Darkot; from there they reconnoitred the various lateral valleys falling from the Karakoram and crossed the Naltar Pass into the Hunza Valley. While at Yasin they visited the Naz-Bar Valley and climbed Tausutik (13,370 ft., 4,075 m.): this is the first known documentation of a climb in this sector of the Hindu Raj. The leader of the expedition was Kazuo Fujita.

The Second Expedition in 1957 was led by Dr. Susumo Matshushita and Professor Abdul Hamid Beg. Starting from Peshawar it marched to Kalam in Swat Kohistan, thence over the Dadarili Pass to Ghizar, Gupis and Yasin. By way of the Naz- Bar Valley, they crossed the Naz-Bar An to the Ano Gol and the Bahushtaro Gol, then across the Zagar Gol, Zagar An and Zagaro Gol to Yarkhun and Chitral. In the Bahushtaro Gol a three-man team left the main party and moved north to the Harguit Gol. On 18 August 1957, Katsuichi Honda, Kazuhiko Ogino and Goro Iwatsubo attempted Shah Dok (6,320 m.) reaching a height of more than 6,100 m. on steep ice. To press on would have taken too long if they were to rejoin the main body, so they abandoned the attempt and were reunited on 24 August. In 1960 Iwatsubo was to make the first successful ascent of Noshaq; so the Japanese expedition to Wakhan had already had its predecessors in the regions bordering on the High Hindu Kush.

Although the German Austrian Himalayan-Karakoram Expedition of 1954 under Mathias Rebitsch confined its main activities to the neighbouring Karakoram, a small party of the German Expedition under Hans-Jochen Schneider in 1959 went to the Karambar Valley, where an attempt was made on Kampire Dior (ref. G. O. Dyhrenfurth, 'Der Dritte Pol' I960, as well as the bibliography detailed there, which is not available to the present writer).

The ‘Spedizione Citta di Teramo alio Yarkhun-Himalaya 1965' led by Professor Carlo Alberto Pinelli was exclusively devoted to the Hindu Raj. Pinelli is an experienced Hindu Kush specialist, who climbed Saraghrar in 1959 ; Baba Tangi in Wakhan in 1963 ; Ghochhar Sar, South Summit == Shachiokuh- Zom, first ascent, in the area south of Buni Zom in 1967. After first visiting Swat Kohistan 1964, he went with Luigi Barbuscia, Enzo Convilleri, Franco Cravino, Pietro Guj, Mario Lopriore and others in 1965, to the Miragram Valley, at whose far end stands Shah Dok, on the right, and Win Dok - Wasam Zom (6,126 m.), on the left. On the same day (26 August 1965) Convilleri with Lopriore, and Cravino with Pinelli, climbed the subsidiary peak Teramo Zom (6,050 m.) and the main summit of Win Dok respectively, having established three camps above their Base. The return journey was complicated by events arising out of the war between India and Pakistan, which also affected the Austrian expeditions of that year.

In 1967 a Japanese Chitral Expedition of the Rock Climbing Club II went up the Gazen Gol towards the Thui Pass ; this consisted of only two men, M. Ebihara and Y. Takahashi. It is only since the publication of Sangaku, Vol. LXIII, 1968, p. 162, that it has been possible to identify the peaks they climbed. ^ Their Base Camp was on a high plateau near the Thui Pass ; from it they intended to climb Thui Peak (Thui Zom) whose height they give as 6,158 m. This would clearly have fixed its position according to recent maps (India and Pakistan, 1:250,000), but their own sketch map does not agree.

From an excellent photograph it is clear that these savage towers constitute a tremendous problem for the hardiest of climbers, so it is not surprising that they threw their hand in, in face of 4 the desperate northern side of Thui Zom with its enormous wall, approximately 2,000 m. high at an average angle of 70° with hanging ice-blocks here and there'. They then reconnoitred the approaches to peaks to the north-west of Thui An. It is essential to point out that the main ridge of the Hind Raj runs due north, as shown on the International Map of the World, and its crest forms the frontier between Chitral and Kashmir, to which the Gilgit Agency of course belongs. The Thui glacier lies to its west and there the Japanese sited another high camp. From it they climbed Shah Zom (Shar Zom, said to mean Black Peak, c. 4,960 m.) by way of the Parano Pass ; I-Kai Zom ('Eldest Sister Peak', 5,270 m.) to the north of the Thui Pass ; and Puti Zom ('Love Peak', 5,473 m.) to the northwest of Shah Zom. According to the Japanese, I-Kai-Zom belongs to the Troi-Kai-Gini Group, while Shah Zom, Puti Zom and Kamaro Zom (?) form part of the Mehejulian-Kar group.

HINDU RAJ

HINDU RAJ

CHIANTAR GLACIER

CHIANTAR GLACIER

Two of the 1967 expeditions or reconnaissances were of great importance to the exploration of the northern 'frame'. These were Dr. Gerald Gruber's 'Chitral Reconnaissance' and the k Hindu Kush Reconnaissance of the Munich Section of the DAV under A. Linsbauer. Dr. Gruber, accompanied by his wife and Ing. Gerhard Lehner, went from Chitral to Uzhnu, then northwards up the Rich Valley, over the Shah Jinali Pass, to Shost and Vidinkot in the Yarkhun Valley, to the south of the Baro- ghil Pass. A permit to continue through the Karambar Valley to Gilgit was refused. Highly important panoramas were photographed from three different viewpoints. These and Dr. Gruber's articles provided exhaustive information about the north-eastern Hindu Kush, the Yarkhun Range and, more important in the context of the present study, the western sector of the ' northern framework'. They constituted the basis for expeditions in the following years, such as the exploration of the Rahozon Gol by R. Lindner and his wife, who made the first ascent of Rahozon Zom's south and north summits (Koh-e-Wakhan) and the highly successful Vienna Expedition in the neighbourhood of Koyo Zom. The details of Dr. Gruber's journey are to be found in his articles, already referred to, in the OAZ, as well as in A.J., No. 316, p. 55: 'A Reconnaissance into North-east Chitral, 1957' reprinted in H.J., Vol XXVIII, 1967-68, p. 34. The tragic accident to Dr. Gruber's wife, who was accompanying him to the Hindu Kush for the third time, threw a deep shadow over the success of the reconnaissance.

The objective of the Munich party was the Chiantar glacier in the eastern sector of the northern 'frame". Linsbauer, Peter v. Gizycki, Wolfgang Greimel and Gunter Plotz flew to Gilgit, reached Yasin by jeep and bagged Shimelig (5,221 m.—Linsbauer and Gizycki, on 25 July) in the range to the north of the Naz Bar Valley. Then they marched across the Darkot Pass to their area of operations. There they climbed three six- thousanders during the first mountaineering reconnaissance of the Chiantar glacier, Koh-e-Chiantar (6,416 m.), Koh-e-Chhateboi (6,150 m.) and Koh-e-Warghut (6,130 m.) as well as nine five- thousanders. Details can be found in Linsbauer's article (H.J., Vol. XXVIII, 1967-68, p. 136). Finally the party returned by way of Chitral.

1968 attracted two Austrian climbing parties to the same western sector of the northern 'frame', one coming from the north, the other from the south. This was the sector of the ridge between the Pechus and Chhatiboi glaciers to the north and the glacier area which feeds the Chaintar Gah (Das Bar) and Gekushi Bar (Darkot Bar) to the south. As it happens, a Japanese Expedition (Second rattero Hindu Kush Expedition), consisting of Sadao Karibe, Teisuke Hashino and Hironori Kenmochi, had already established their Base Camp on the Pechus glacier as early as 24 July. They climbed two previously unidentified secondary summits of Koyo Zom. ('Ishpel Dome' and 'Frattero Zom', both over 6,000 m.) An attempt on Koyo Zom itself failed disastrously. On 8 August Hashino and Kenmochi started out up the Kotalkash glacier close by, presumably to reconnoitre Thui I, taking provisions for a week. They were not seen again.

Meanwhile, the Hindu Kush Reconnaissance of the Climbing Group of the ' OAV's' Vienna Section led by Ing. Albert Stamm, accompanied by Elfride Baltuska, his wife-to-be, with Viktoria Hribar, Gerulf Wilhelm and Giinther Worl had been very busy. Like the Japanese, they came from Chitral by the Yarkhun Valley, to site their Base Camp near Pechus. They started by climbing lower summits—among them Korum Zom (5,440 m.) which lies to the north of the Yarkhun and therefore really belongs to the High Hindu Kush. Having thus obtained a general view of the area their first task was to reconnoitre the Chhatiboi glacier; here, after climbing several fine five-thousanders, they ascended their first six-thousander, Gahkush (6,111 m.) (Dr. Gruber calls it Chikar Zom).

After that they went up to the High Plateau, first by a route over the Chhatiboi, later over the Pechus and found it ringed by respectable six-thousanders. Here, on 17 and 23 August, Koyo Zom (6,872 m.) was climbed a first and second time. The first ascent of Pechus Zom (6,514 m.) followed. Second ascents were made of Gainthir Chish I (6,235 m.) and Das Bar Zom (6,072 m.); the first ascents had been made from the south, when the Kapfenberger Hindu Kush Expedition set up their Base Camp at the head of the Das Bar valley (more correctly the Gainthar Gah) directly under the main ridge. Its leader Helmut Linzbichler and Gunther Scherbichler climbed Gainthir Chish I on 10 August; Dr. Herfried Gamerith and Erich Trebsche had climbed Das Bar Zom two days before. The very fact that they succeeded, in the face of all bureaucratic obstacles, in reaching l he northern ridge from Yasin at all—for this is the frontier line between Kashmir and Chitral, which, in spite of Pakistan's domination over this part of Kashmir, appears to be treated as taboo was almost as great a triumph as their mountaineering success. For the big question mark hanging over all future plans for expeditions to the Hindu Raj will always be whether one will hi able to push on from Chitral itself eastwards over the Bara- ghil Pass and even whether permission will be given to proceed any distance from the heart of the Yasin and Ishkuman districts towards the Kashmir frontier. Details of the Austrian expedition are available from articles in the OAZ, 1372, p. 100 'the Hindu Raj Reconnaissance of 1968' and HJ., Vol. XXIX, 1969, p. 53 ' Koyo Zom, Pechus Zom, Gainthir Chish, Das Bar Zom and other peaks of Hindu Raj 1968'.

In the same year a Japanese expedition of the Gakushuin University led by Munetsugu Nieda, with M. Tokita and S. Chigira, followed the route of their 1967 compatriots. They went due north to the Golash glacier where they sited their Base ( amp, climbed the ridge whose north side falls away to the Madot (Madit?) glacier, turned to the right and climbed a peak which, according to their description, lies between Puti Zom to the south and Kamaro Zom (6,251 m.) to the north, whose height they give as 6,100 m. The sketch map sent to me by the Vice- President of the Japanese Alpine Club, Ichiro Yoshizawa, does not agree with other delineations, such as Dr. Gruber's in the OAZ (loc. cit.); for on that the Risht glacier is shown as due north of Golash Zom and if one studies his panorama closely it is clear that the head of the Madot glacier basin is a kind of whale-back ridge with a number of small summits protruding Irom it, one of which is plainly Golash Zom, another to its east P 6,251 m. (6,192 m., Gruber) shown on Dr. Gruber's map as well as on a ridge-sketch by Linsbauer. This leaves questions wide open! Moreover, Dr. Gamerith mentions a peak here, called Madot Zom.

The contours of the Pakistani map clearly indicate two separate complexes over the 20,000 ft. level; a small one about the middle of the head of the Madot glacier and a longer one to its east, extending to the secondary ridge, which separates the Madot and Risht glaciers. It is possible that the western complex tallies with Madot Zom, the eastern with Kamaro Zom.

In 1969, a Japanese expedition of the Tokyo Alpinists Club, led by Shigeatsu Ogasawara, consisting of H. Yanagishita, K. Takemori and Y. Sato, made the third ascent of Koyo Zom, following the same route as their Austrian predecessors.

Richard Isherwood, Bob Collister, Colin Taylor and Chris Wood, old Hindu Kush climbers, made the first daring attempt on one of the northern Thui peaks. In his sketch map mentioned earlier, Dr. Gruber (OAZ, 1359, p. 73), basing it on his researches in the northern ' framehas distinguished two Thui peaks there, the western between the Risht and Shetor glaciers, and the eastern, between the Ponarilio and Kotalkash glaciers. The former is Thui II (originally described in error as Thui I, ref. cit. 1360, p. 166, where the correction is made), the latter is Thui I, previously wrongly called Thui II. Such switches of numberings (which were allotted by the Surveyors) are easy to make in reports. A good idea would be to adopt the descriptions Thui West and Thui East, and the peaks by the Thui Pass could then be called the Southern Thui Peaks.

This British Hindu Raj Expedition attacked the western Thui (Thui II, 6,523 m.) by way of the Shetor glacier. After climbing Pachan Zom (19,588 ft., 5,970 m.) on the ridge running northwest from Thui peak, they realized that to attack the summit along this ridge offered no hopes of success. So they turned south to a high plateau at the head of the basin and eventually reached 6,100 m. on the peak's south-east ridge. Here they were driven down by bad weather which prevented any further attempts. This interesting British effort is the subject of an impressive report, in words, sketch map and photographs in A J., No. 319, p. 179 (reprinted in H.J., Vol XXX, 1970, p. 278).

In 1970 an Unpyo Club Expedition (T. Asaga, T. Miyoshi and M. Ikeda) attempted the eastern Thui (I) (6,661 m.). From a Base Camp on the west side of the Ponarilio glacier they reached a height of about 5,200 m., before bad weather also robbed them of success.

The writer's purpose in this chronicle of the exploration of an interesting sector of the Hindu Raj has been, in the first instance, to give the evergrowing company of friends of the Hindu Kush general information about the activities in this area to date. Splendid successes and impressive attempts are detailed, and everyone will understand from it that while many peaks have been climbed, many more are still to be climbed. For this great mountain 4 framework' on the Chitral-Kashmir frontier is still, in a way, virgin territory, rich in unelimbed six-thousanders. It is hoped that this report and the attached sketch map will provide a synopsis, however slender, of the possibilities still open to the mountaineer.

The Six-thousanders and high Five-thousanders in the Hindu Raj

The composition which follows is a commentary on the attached sketch map (Hindu Raj, West and East). The numbering is provisional. Since it is certain that by no means all the peaks are covered, numbers have been saved up to be allotted to new peaks in the course of further exploration. The sketch map and details are based on the Mastuj and Baltit sheets of the 1:250,000 Map of India and Pakistan and sketches of the ridges by Dr. G. Gruber, A. Linsbauer and Ing. Dr. A. Stamm.

It is likely that high four-thousanders rise on the northern rim of the Zagaro Gol. The main ridge between the headwaters of the Gurawr and the upper course of the Bahushtaro Gol boasts a number of higher peaks, running up to the first definite six- thousander. This is:

  1. P. 20,735 ft., 6,320 m., Shah Dok (also known as Shahan Dok), at the head of the Miragram glacier-basin.
  2. P. 20,127 ft., 6,126 m. (International World Map (1:1,000,000), Win Dok (Wasam Zom). Position as above. Climbed.
  3. 2's subsidiary summit, 6,050 m. (Pinelli), Teramo Zom. Climbed.
  4. P. 6,073 m. (Linsbauer). Between the Mirzhurian and Miragram glaciers.
  5. A peak not yet accorded a height, between the Mirzhurian and Wimlasht glaciers.
  6. P. 19,701 ft., 6,005 m., on the eastern rim of the Wimlasht glacier. There are high peaks to its south and north. Before the main ridge bends eastwards it throws out a secondary, northwards. Among the higher peaks hereabouts the following is known:
  7. P. 19,410 ft., 5,916 m.
  8. P. 19,669 ft., 5,995 m., on the main ridge (International World Map).
  9. Unmeasured peak, on the main ridge.
  10. P. 19,774 ft., 6,027 m., on a secondary ridge flung out by 9 To the north of it, Zhang Tek, 19,240 ft., 5,864 m.
  11. P. 19,448 ft., 5,928 m., on the main ridge.
  12. P. 20,311 ft., 6,191 m. Thui Peak?
  13. A Peak between 12 and 14.
  14. P. 20,204 ft., 6,158 m. Thui Peak (International World Map). It looks as if there may be two 'Southern' Thui peaks requiring differentiation.
    The main frontier ridge runs northwards from the Thui Pass, with lower peaks, such as I-Kai-Zom, 5,270 m., on it. On reaching the southern end of the Risht glacier it joins a ridge running in from the west, whose higher peaks really characterize it as the main ridge.
    Here we find:
  15. P. 19,240 ft., 5,864 m.
  16. Golash Zom c. 6,100 m. (Japanese quotation). Climbed.
  17. P. 20,510 ft., 6,251 m. (6,192 m. Gruber). Kamaro Zom? Madot Zom?
  18. There is a summit of over 19,500 ft. at the head of the Risht glacier basin.
  19. P. 21,401 ft., 6,523 m. Thui II (as 6,537 m. on the International World Map).
    a. P. 19,588 ft., 5,971 m. Pachan Zom. Between the Risht and Shetor glaciers. Climbed (A.J., 1970, p. 180).
  20. P. 20,260 ft., 6,175 m. Main ridge.
    a. P. 20,050 ft., 6,111 m., and
    b. P. 20,350 ft., 6,203 m. Between the Shetor and Ponarilio glaciers.
  21. P. 6,400 m. (Gruber). Head of the Ponarilio glacier basin.
  22. P. 21,852 ft., 6,661 m. Thui I (6,672 m. on the International World Map).
    To the east of the Kotalkash glacier the main ridge and its subsidiary branches rise well above the 20,000 ft. level, with a number of peaks and subsidiary summits of more than 6,000 m.
  23. Peak to the South-west of 29 on the main ridge.
  24. P. 6,400 m. (Gruber), on the main ridge.
  25. P. 6,514 m., Pechus Zom. Climbed.
  26. P. 22.545 ft., 6,872 m. (6,889 m. Stamm). Koyo Zom. Climbed.
  27. P. 6,072 m., Das Bar Zom. Climbed.
  28. P. 20,580 ft., 6,272 m. (6,274 m. Gruber, 6,235 m. Stamm), Gainthir Chish I. Climbed. There are further high summits II, III, etc., to its east.
  29. P. 20,045 ft., 6,111 m. Gahkush (Chikar Zom, Gruber). Climbed.
    A secondary ridge thrown out by the main ridge near the Kotalkash glacier southwards carries a number of fairly high summits, among them.
  1. P. 19,710 ft., 6,008 m., with a number of high five- thousanders to its south. The lateral ridge springing from the main ridge to the east of Gainthir Chish's summit has several branches, forming the Gamugal Group.

Here, among others are:

  1. P. 21,383 ft., 6,517 m. Main summit.
  2. P. 21,105 ft., 6,433 m. East summit.
  3. Height not established. North-west summit.

Of the peaks on the northern rim, to the east of the Darkot Pass, only a fraction has so far been tackled.

  1. P. 20,484 ft., 6,244 m. Garmush.
  2. A peak between 50 and 52.
  3. P. 20,306 ft., 6,189 m.
  4. P. 20,267 ft., 6,177 m.
  1. P. 20,415 ft., 6,222 m.
  1. P. 21,049 ft., 6,416 m. (Linsbauer). Koh-e-Chiantar. Climbed.
  2. P. 20,140 ft., 6,130 m. (Linsbauer). Koh-e-Warghut. Climbed.
  3. P. 6,150 m. (Linsbauer). Koh-e-Chhateboi. Climbed.

Hereabouts, in the system on the eastern rim of the Chiantar glacier stands a multitude of high peaks. There are also several high peaks to the south-east of the eastern end of the Chiantar glacier, in the complex of ridges around the source of the Chiantir Gah (Haiz glacier). Among these, rises:

  1. P. 20,030 ft., 6,105 m. There may be other six- thousanders in its neighbourhood. Linsbauer quotes P. 5,831 m. and P. 5,907 m. here.

I should like to repeat that the numerical sequence has been interrupted to allow of new peaks, which may crop up, being brought in without difficulty. As already stated, this study is a provisional one, intended for clarification by discussion and further identifications.
(Abbreviations on the sketch maps of the Hindu Raj, West and East: PZ = Puti Zom ; SZ = Shah Zom ; IZ = I-Kai-Zom ; SH = Shimelig ; TA = Tausutik).

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