Salt Range
hill system in the Punjab province of Pakistan
The Salt Range (Urdu: کوہِ نمک; Punjabi: لوݨا پہاڑی دھارا), historically known as Koh-i-Jud (Urdu: کوہِ جود), is a mountain range in the northern Punjab, Pakistan, deriving its name from its extensive deposits of rock salt (known as Himalayan salt). The range extends along the south of the Potohar Plateau and the north of the Jhelum River. The Salt Range contains the large mines of Khewra, Kalabagh, and Warcha, which yield vast supplies of salt. Coal of a medium quality is also found here. The highest peak of the range is Sakesar.
In the Himalayas and the Salt Range, rock containing fossil of marine life go back to the Ediacaran period (up to 570 million years ago), which shows these rocks have developed out of sea sediments, and that where the Himalayas are now was once a sea.
History
An inscription found at Kura in the Salt Range records the building of a Buddhist monastery by a person named Rotta Siddhavriddhi during the reign of the Huna ruler Toramana. The donor expresses the wish that the religious merit gained by his gift be shared by him with the king and his family members.
The history of the Salt Range from the thirteenth century CE onwards has been a record of continuous conflict between various landowning and ruling Punjabi Muslim clans, including the Awan, Khokhar, Minhas, Gakhar, and Janjua, for sovereignty over the Salt Range and political ascendancy. According to emperor Babar, the Jud and the Janjua were "two races descended from the same father," who from old times had been rulers of the hills between Nilab and Bhera, that is, of the Salt Range.
This brief starts where responsible research should: with the source description of “Salt Range” as hill system in the Punjab province of Pakistan. Everything that follows is an evidence route, not borrowed authority.
Why this record matters
The subject matters to the places & architecture register because the source frames it as hill system in the Punjab province of Pakistan. Its deeper value depends on whether names, dates, institutions and citations support that framing.
Maps, plans, fabric surveys and administrative records can establish how the site’s name, extent and function changed over time. The source revision retrieved here is dated Aug 16, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q1254250. VIAF identifies the subject as 236401437. The Library of Congress control number is sh87002625. Authority coordinates are 32.667, 72.583. 2 of 3 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank.
Architectural summaries often privilege surviving fabric and can understate demolished phases, contested use or displaced communities. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
How to read it
Treat names, boundaries and functions as historically changeable. Maps, plans, inventories and administrative records can clarify what the place meant at different dates.
- Historic place names
- Jurisdictional context
- Routes into maps and plans
Contemporary maps, plans, listed-building records, estate papers and the responsible local or national archive.
Three-step research path
- Establish the record: confirm the title “Salt Range”, its source revision and the description used here.
- Expand the search: follow Salt Range primary sources, Salt Range archive and Salt research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
- Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.
Questions for further research
- Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Salt Range”?
- Which authority defined the place, boundary or structure at the relevant date?
- What physical evidence or contemporary plan supports the description?
Search terms from this dossier
This entry incorporates text from “Salt Range” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.