The Roof of the World: Being a Narrative of a Journey Over the High Plateau of Tibet to the Russian Frontier and the Oxus Sources on Pamir

Front Cover
Edmonston and Douglas, 1876 - 172 pages

From inside the book

Other editions - View all

Common terms and phrases

Popular passages

Page 6 - The favourite amusement of the Botis, both of Ladak and of Balti, is Polo, in which all parties, from the highest to the lowest, can take a part. I saw the game played at Mulbil, in a field 400 yards long and...
Page 7 - Aibak, was killed by a fall from his horse when playing at Chaogan in AD 1210. The Pathan kings of India still continued to join in the game down to the time of Sikander Lodi in AD 1498, when* one day, while the king and his court were playing at Chaogan, the bat of Haibat Khan Shirwani by accident came in contact with the head of Suliman, the son of Darya Khan Lodi, who received a severe blow. This was resented on the spot by Khizir Khan, the brother of Suliman, who, galloping up to Haibat Khan,...
Page 6 - Polo, in which all parties, from the highest to the lowest, can take a part. I saw the game played at Mulbil, in a field 400 yards long and 80 yards broad, which was walled round for the purpose with a stone dyke. There were twenty players on each side, all mounted on ponies and armed with sticks about four feet long, and bent at the lower end. One player took the ball and advanced alone into the middle of the field, where he threw up the ball, and as it fell, struck it towards one of the goals....
Page 7 - one day, while the king and his court were playing at chaogan, the bat of Haibat Khan Shirwani by accident came in contact with the head of Suliman, the son of Darya Khan Lodi, who received a severe blow. This was resented on the spot by Khizr Khan, the brother of Suliman, who, galloping up to Haibat Khan, struck him violently over the skull. In a few minutes both sides joined in the quarrel, and the field was in uproar and confusion. Mahmud Khan Lodi and Khan Khauan Lodi interposing, endeavoured...
Page 127 - ... Wakhan (2nd April, 1873); leave Sirikol Valley, enter the Shindan defile, reach the Aktash Valley, follow the Aktash stream (called Aksu by the Kirghiz) through the Little Pamir to the Ghazkul (Little Pamir) Lake or Barkat Yassin, from which it takes its rise, four days from Tashkurgan. Little Pamir 'is bounded on the south by the continuation of the Neza Tash range, which separates it from the Taghdungbash Pamir...
Page 7 - ... increased by the cheers of the successful party. " ' The game is a very spirited one, and well calculated for the display of bold and active horsemanship. Accidental blows occur frequently, but the poor ponies are the principal sufferers. The game was once common in India under the name of Chaogan, but it is now completely forgotten.
Page 7 - Shujanpur, Kangra, Haripur, and Chamba, where the goal-stones are still standing. The game is repeatedly mentioned by Baber, but after his time it gradually became obsolete. It was introduced by the Mussulman conquerors, and the very first king, Kutb-ud-din Aibak, was killed by a fall from his horse when playing at Chaogan in AD 1210.
Page 26 - If mile an hour; a large number would no doubt travel slower, and much must depend on the breadth of the road. The greatest difficulty they had to contend with was crossing streams, and while marching in the Karakash Valley they were sometimes obliged to cross the river three or four times in a day. Not only were their loads liable to become damaged, but the weight of water hanging in their fleeces, and on several occasions freezing, greatly impeded progress. On the days on which they had no grass,...
Page 161 - ... mountain chains between which lie elevated valleys, open and gently sloping towards the east, but narrow and confined, with a rapid fall, towards the west. The waters which run in all, with the exception of the eastern flow from the...

Bibliographic information