HINDU KUSH

Wildflowers blooming (foreground) in the Hindu Kush in the Chitral district, northern Pakistan. great mountain system of Central Asia that is some 500 miles (800 km) long. It forms a water divide between the Amu Darya valley to the northwest and the Indus River valley to the southeast. The Hindu Kush abuts the Pamir Mountains in the east near the Pakistan-China border, after which it runs southwest through Pakistan and into Afghanistan, finally merging with minor ranges in western Afghanistan. Historically, the passes through the mountains have been of great military significance, providing access to the northern plains of India. Three main sections of the mountain system may be defined: the eastern Hindu Kush in Pakistan; the central section, lying almost entirely in Afghanistan north of the city of Kabul; and the western Hindu Kush, also known as the Kuh-e Baba, in western Afghanistan. The highest peaks are concentrated in the eastern Hindu Kush, among them about two dozen summits of more than 23,000 feet (7,000 m) in height, including the highest, Tirich Mir, reaching an elevation of 25,229 feet (7,690 m). Most of the system's major glaciers are situated in the valleys of the eastern section. The climate of the range as a whole shows great variations, as the eastern Hindu Kush lies at the extreme limit of monsoonal Asia and is characterized by rainy or snowy summers and dry winters, while the central and western sections border the Mediterranean climatic zone and have hot, dry summers and cold, rainy or snowy winters. Below the snowy peaks the Hindu Kush are generally bare, stony, and poor in vegetation. The economy of the sparse population is based on agriculture and the raising of goats and sheep. The region's hydroelectric potential has been partially exploited. There are deposits of iron ore in the northern Hindu Kush, but mining is limited largely to some semiprecious stones and the extraction of natural gas in the west. great mountain system of Central Asia. Broadly defined, it is some 500 miles (800 kilometres) long and as wide as 150 miles. The Hindu Kush and the Karakoram Range. The Hindu Kush is one of the great watersheds of Central Asia, forming part of the vast Alpine zone that stretches across the continent from east to west. It runs northeast to southwest and divides the valley of the Amu Darya (the ancient Oxus River) to the north from the Indus River valley to the south. To the east the Hindu Kush buttresses the Pamirs range near the point where the borders of China, Pakistan, and Afghanistan meet, after which it runs southwest through Pakistan and into Afghanistan, finally merging into minor ranges in western Afghanistan. The highest peak is Mount Tirich Mir, which rises on the Pakistan-Afghanistan border to 25,229 feet (7,690 metres). It was through the high passes of the Hindu Kush that invaders from Central Asia brought their Indo-European language into South Asia about 1500 BC. Historically, the passes have been of great military significance, providing access to the northern plains of India to such conquerors as Alexander the Great, king of Macedonia, the Mongols Genghis Khan and Timur (Tamerlane), and their descendant Babur, the first Mughal emperor. During the period of British rule in India, the Indian government was keenly concerned with the security both of these passes and of an associated physical feature to the south, the Khyber Pass. The Hindu Kush range has rarely constituted the frontier between major powers but has usually formed part of an intermediate buffer zone. The name Hindu Kush derives from the Arabic for "Mountains of India." Its earliest known usage occurs on a map published about AD 1000. Additional reading For descriptions of general geography of the Hindu Kush region, it is necessary to consult books on Afghanistan, such as Louis Dupree, Afghanistan (1973); and Erwin Grtzbach, Afghanistan: eine geographische Landeskunde (1990), which includes a survey of economic conditions in the area. Lennart Edelberg and Schuyler Jones, Nuristan (1979), provides a survey of the central Hindu Kush. Invaluable material on Kafir culture is contained in George Scott Robertson, The Kafirs of the Hindu-Kush (1896, reissued 1974). Scholarly analyses include Karl Jettmar, The Religions of the Hindukush, 3 vol. (1986; originally published in German, 1975); and Karl Jettmar and Lennart Edelberg (eds.), Cultures of the Hindukush (1974). Information on modern life in the region is found in such travel books as Eric Newby, A Short Walk in the Hindu Kush (1958, reprinted 1989); Arnold J. Toynbee, Between Oxus and Jumna (1961); and John Staley, Words for My Brother: Travels Between the Hindu Kush and the Himalayas (1982). Fosco Maraini Nigel John Roger Allan