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228
THE INDIAN ANTIQUARY.
[SEPTEMBER, 1897.
$ 9. Fuller details regarding the topography of Lobara are to be found in the narrative of the events which took place there during the rule of Jayasinha, i.e., in Kalhana's own time.
Of the princes whom Sussala on his accession to the Kaśmir throne had contined at Lohara, Lothana with five of his relatives was in A. D. 1130 still in captivity there. A conepiracy of some of the officers in charge of the Lohara garrison (kottabhritya) utilized the opportunity offered wlien Preman, the commandant of the castle, had gone down to the neighbouring Attalik& on basi. ness, and set free the prisoners in the night of the 10th Jyaishtha vati of that year.26 Lothana was proclaimed king, and before daybreak the stronghold and the treasures which Sussain had deposited there, were in luis possession. Preinan on receipt of the newe hurried back on the morning from Atçalika, but was met by the conspirators at the approach to the castle and forced to retreat.
The expressions used by Kalhaņa in the passages recorded below make it clear that Attalika must be the name of a locality situated below Lohara and in comparative proximity of the castle 26 In view of this evidence and of what will be said below regarding the position of the force sent for the recapture of Lohara, I do not hesitate to recognize the name Atráliki in that of the present village Atoli, situated close to the point where the valley of Loh'rin meets that of Gâgri, some eight miles below Lohrin proper.
At the actual janction of the two valleys lies Mandi. This place consists entirely of shops, some eighty in number, and these account for its name, which means market'in Pahari as well as Panjabi. Mandi is now the commercial centre of the whole district and has probably occupied the same position in earlier centuries. I see a distinct reference to it in the passage viji. 1991 where Kalbana relates the looting of Affilikipana, i. en the market of Attilika (Attalika).'
§ 10. The news of this rebellion was carried by a messenger to King Jayasimha and reached him on the following day at Vijayeśvara (Vijobrôr).87 He at once despatched a force for the recovery of Lohars. The Kaśmfrian leader took up his position at At-Alikå from where he endeavoured to close all approaches to Lohara 28 While the besieging troops suffered from the great summer hent and the consequent fevers,29 Somapala, Raja of Rajapuri, who was instigated by Sajji, a disaffected minister of Jayasimha, approached from the south to attack them.
The Kasmirians wished then to retreat to their own country, and finding the route by Sarambars closed by the enemy, were obliged to take to a difficult mountain pass called Kalengka, They started from Attalikå on a path leading along the precipitous side of a defile and were followed on the opposite side by the enemy. The Kaśmfrian troops and their followers reached that day without opposition a mountain village called Vanik&vása and camped there and in the neighbouring hamlets, At midnight they were surprised by Sajji's force and thrown into confusion. In the general stampede which followed, the Kaśmfr army are destroyed and its leaders captnred. The fugitives were plundered in the monntains by the Khasas.50
The situation of the Kasmirian troops at Attalika and the route taken by them on their disastrous retreat can be fully understood by a reference to the map. When threatened from the south by Sajji who advances from Parņotsa, the Kasmirians wish to regain their own territory, but cannot use the direct route over the Tomaidan Pass as it is blocked by the rebels at the Lohera castle. The other main route up the Gagri valley which would open to
25 Comp. viii, 1794 1831.
+ See viii, 831, 1819, 1994. I believe Affalka to be the correct form of the name: it is written thus by A in viii, 831, 1819, 1945. Attalika is found twice (viii, 1842, 1994) and Affiliki also twice (viii. 581, 1901) in that Coder. L agrees with these readings. 27 Comp. yiii. 1779, 1793-93.
* Comp. viii, 1836, 1843. 20 See viii. 1835, 1873, 1889. - Mandt, which lies at an elevation of probably not much over 4000, is, as I found myself in August 1892, a hot place even in the rainy season. Its inhabitants suffer a good deal from the dangerons fevers to which all the lower valleys to the south of the Pir Pantall are subject at certain seasons ; comp. my notes on viii, 1878, 1632. Rice-cultivation flourishes about Mandi, whereas at Loh'rin, which lies at an altitude from six to seven thousand feet and consequently has a climate colder than the Kaimir Valley, rice does not grow and Indian corn in the cbief product.
* Comp. viii, 1873-1906.
