1 TOPOGRAPHY OF THE PUNJAUBft 3
2 principal towns are Lahore (the capital and seat
3 of government), Umritzur, Mooltan, Vuzeerabad,
4 Mozufferabad, Kashmir or Siranuggur, and
5 Peshawur. The fortresses are Umritzur, for-
6 merly the depository of the royal treasury, a
7 place of no particular strength ; Rotas, on the
8 high road from Lahore to Peshawur, strikingly
9 situated upon an eminence, but now suffered to
10 fall into decay; and the castle on the banks of
11 the Attock, which commands the passage of the
12 river. Most of the towns, however, are sur-
13 rounded by a mud or brick wall of frail quality ;
14 Lahore itself is so defended, with the addition of
15 a dry moat, which, on emergency, could be filled
16 with water from the neighbouring Ravee. But
17 the mud walls would afford no protection against
18 artillery. They were originally constructed by
19 the inhabitants as a sort of defence from the
20 attacks of one another, and are only efficacious in
21 resisting incursions or predatory visitations in
22 times of civil commotion.
23 Lahore, the capital, is a town of considerable
24 dimensions; the circuit of fortification exceeds
25 seven miles. Originally occupied by the Mussul-
26 man invaders, it contains many remnants of
27 spacious and handsome mosques, serais, and
28 monuments, and near it is a magnificent tomb of
29 a quadrangular figure, having a minaret at each
30 comer, where the remains of the Mogul emperor,
31 B 2