Hindu Kush

Hindu Kush is the name given to a range, or rather group, of lofty mountains towards which the Himalayan and Thian Shan systems converge, it being more closely connected with the latter than the former. Striking off from the S.W. angle of the Pamir plateau, this huge watershed extends W. for 365 miles to the Bamian Valley in Afghanistan, where the triple peak of Koh-i-Baba (16,500 feet) ends its course. From N. to S. the subsidiary ridges spread, perhaps over 200 miles. Towards the E. the passes are easy, but in the central and W. portion they average from 12,000 to 15,000 feet, and some of the peaks - e.g. Hindu Koh and Tirich Mir - are estimated at more than 20,000 feet. Geographers divide this mass into the Chitral, the Kafristan, and the Panjhir sections, according to the valley basins into which the slopes drain; but this arrangement is somewhat arbitrary. Roughly speaking, the whole range separates the basin of the Cabul river from that of the Oxus. and Afghanistan proper from Turkestan. Geologically the Hindu Kush seems to consist mainly of mica slate, gneiss, and schist, with veins and cappings of granite on the higher levels. Limestone is not infrequently met with, and is generally burrowed by extensive caves. Minerals of all kinds are abundant, especially iron, but no fuel is known to exist.