ABSTRACT
The Himalayas have attracted a voluminous literature, and this is especially true of Kashmir, the Karakoram, and the greater peaks. The snow supply of the Himalaya, especially in the west, comes mainly from troughs in the westerly air-movement of the upper troposphere. Very broadly speaking, Kashmir consists of two huge mountain masses–the Karakoram in the far north, the Himalaya/Zaskar to the south, walled in by the Pir Panjal which in turn gives way to the lower but highly dissected Tertiaries of the. The Pir Panjal is in a sense a bifurcation from the main Himalaya farther east. Beyond the Vale of Kashmir transport was entirely human and animal, and not even draught animal: mules, yaks, even sheep carry the little trade that exists. Between the Pir Panjal and the main Himalaya lies the famous Vale of Kashmir, a great basin about 85 miles by 25 with a floor which in the Jhelum floodplain is only 5,200 ft above sea-level.
