The Ancient Geography of India. I. The Buddhist Period, including the Campaigns of Alexander, and the Travels of Hwen-Thsang c5.s2.t1.12

c5.s2.t1.12

From the earliest times Kashmir has been divided into the two large districts of *Kamrâj* and *Merâj*, the former being the northern half of the valley, below the junction of the Sindh river with the Behat, and the latter the southern half above that junction. The smaller divisions it is unnecessary to mention. But I may note the curious anomaly which a change of religious belief has produced in the use of two of the most distinctive Hindu terms. By the Hindu who worships the sun, the cardinal points are named with reference to the east, as *para*, the “front,” or the “east,” to which he turns in his daily morning worship; *apara*, “behind,” or the “west;” *vâma*, the “left” hand, or the “north;” and *dakshina*, the “right” hand, or the “south.” By the Muhammadan, who turns his face to the west, towards Mecca, these terms are exactly reversed, and *dachin*, which still means the “right” hand in Kashmiri, is now used to denote the “north,” and *kâwar*, or the “left” hand to denote the “south.” Thus, on the Lidar river there is the subdivision of *Dachinpâra* to the north of the stream, and *Kâwarpâra* to the south of it. On the Behat river also, below Barâhmula, the subdivision of *Dachin* lies to the north, and that of Káwar to the south of the stream. This change in the meaning of Dachin from "south" to "north" must have taken place before the time of Akbar, as Abul Fazl* describes Dachinpára as "situated at the foot of a mountain, on the side of Great Tibet," that is to the north of the river Lidar.