Pamirs
THE, ("roof of the world") the name given to that part of central Asia where the frontiers of Russia, China, and Afghanistan adjoin. It forms the nucleus of the central Asiatic highland system, uniting the Himalaya and the mountains of the Tian Shan range with the Hindukush, and is traversed by a number of mountain ridges age altitude of the intervening table interspersed with broad valleys, the averlands being 13,000 feet. It was traversed by Marco Polo and in recent years has been visited and described by Lord Dunmore, Lord Curzon, Col. T. E. Gordon, Mons. Bonvolet, Maj. C. S. Cumberland, Captain Younghusband and Sven Hedin.
The term pamir implies a mountain valley of glacial formation. During the brief summer these valleys are strewn with patches of grass, which serve as pasturage for the herds of the nomadic Kirghiz, while for the rest of the year the whole of the pamirs are covered with snow. The pamirs contain much game.
The only population existing in the region are Kirghiz of the lowest type In 1895 the Russo-Afghan border line across the pamirs was settled by a convention drawn up by an Anglo-Russian boundary commission. The Russian- Chinese frontier was not, however, affected by this convention, the only understanding existing being that entered into between Russia and China in 1894, by which Russia undertook never to interfere with that portion of the pamirs occupied by China. In 1899, however, the Russians manifested a desire to annex Sirikul, a province of the Kirghiz, and to break their treaty with China.
PAMLICO PAN Their trade through the pamirs is quite on the E. and Lycia on the W. It was large and constantly growing.