Hindu Kush

The Hindu Kush, Hindū Kūsh, Hindoo Koosh or Hindukush (هندوکش in Persian) is a mountain range in Afghanistan as well as in Balawaristan (Northern Areas of Pakistan). It is the westernmost extension of the Pamir Mountains, the Karakoram Range, and the Himalaya.

Nomenclature

The name Hindu Kush is usually applied to the whole of the range separating the basins of the Kabul and Helmand Rivers from that of the Amu Darya (or ancient Oxus), or, more specifically, to that part of the range to the northwest of Kabul which was called the (Indian) Caucasus by the historians with Alexander. It was also referred to by the Greeks as the "Paropanisos".

Related Topics:
Kabul - Helmand River - Amu Darya - Kabul - India - Caucasus - Alexander

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The origin of the term "Hindu Kush" (and whether it translates as "Indian Killer") is a point of contention. The earliest known use of this name was by the famous Arab traveller, Ibn Battūta c. 1334, who wrote: "Another reason for our halt was fear of the snow, for on the road there is a mountain called Hindūkūsh, which means "Slayer of Indians," because the slave boys and girls who are brought from India die there in large numbers as a result of the extreme cold and the quantity of snow."

Related Topics:
Arab - Ibn Battūta

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However, this interpretation is usually considered to be only a "folk etymology." Numerous possibilities for its origin have been put forward; several of which are listed here:

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• that the name is a corruption of "Caucasus Indicus."
• In modern Persian, the word "Kush" is derived from the verb Kushtan - to defeat, kill, or subdue. This could be interpreted as a memorial to the Indian captives who perished in the mountains while being transported to Central Asian slave markets.
• that the name refers to the last great 'killer' mountains to cross when moving between the Afghan plateau and the Indian subcontinent, named after the toll it took on anyone crossing them;
• that the name is a corruption of Hindu Koh, from the (modern) Persian word Kuh, meaning mountain. Rennell, writing in 1793, refers to the range as the "Hindoo-Kho or Hindoo-Kush";
• that the name means Mountains of India or Mountains of the Indus in some of the Iranian languages that are still spoken in the region; that furthermore, many peaks, mountains, and related places in the region have "Kosh" or "Kush" in their names.
• that the name is a posited Avestan appellation meaning "water mountains."

It should be noted that the word Hindu originally referred to any inhabitant of the Indian subcontinent, or Hind, not followers of the religion as it does now.

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The mountain peaks in the eastern part of Afghanistan reach more than 7,000 metres. The highest, in Pakistan, is Tirich Mir at 7,705 m (cf. Mount Everest in Nepal which stands 8,850 m high). The Pamir mountains, which Afghans refer to as the "Roof of the World", extend into Tajikistan, China and Kashmir.

Related Topics:
Tirich Mir - Mount Everest - Nepal - Tajikistan - China - Kashmir

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