I LEFT Nubra with the Amirs and the new army, which the Khán had sent with me, and joined my own forces in the district of Máryul; after which I set off, by forced marches, in the direction of Kashmir. On the road, all the chief men of Tibet submitted and, joining us, greatly increased the numbers of our army. Some of the Bálti Tibetans, who live in the valleys of Kashmir, acting as our guides, we reached that country at the beginning of the sign of Scorpio—Jamád II. 939—after crossing the pass of Kashmir, which is called Zuji. The chiefs of Kashmir had already heard of the approach of our army, and were occupying the narrow defile of Lár.* Having crossed the pass [of Zuji] I sent forward 400 men, chosen out of the whole army for their experience, under the com­mand of Tumán Bahádar Kaluchi, who was one of those mentioned in the lists at Káshghar. When they reached the narrow defile, they found it occupied by the Kashmir army, a few of whom were stationed as outposts at its [upper] end. At dawn our soldiers made a charge on these pickets, who fled down the defile, followed by our men. When the main body perceived this, seeing no way of holding the road, they too turned and fled. Arriving [at this moment] I gave them chase; thus easily did our whole force pass such a difficult place. On the second day after [this affair] we alighted in Kashmir. Having reached this point, it seems fitting, in order to render the subject clear and intelligible, to give some account of the country of Kashmir and its rulers.