THAR DESERT CAULDRON
27.500000,72.000000
Description
An almost circular »cauldron« (closed depression, doline), close to a kilometre in diameter, with 40 m high overhanging walls, reported a journalist who, specialised on hair-raising themes staged in exotic landscapes (note 1), wrote under the pseudonym W. K. BELL (1913-1914: 375-376 after one BRAXTON 1905): In summer 1879 a certain Sir Hislington, in the role of Resident (note 2) of Jaipur, stealthily followed "suspicious persons" (bad boys) travelling into the Thar desert (note 3). After a ride of eight days a hitherto unknown mountain was reached. A spur was climbed, a night spent, a scree slope traversed, valleys are followed and chasms were jumped till, after three hours, a sudden drop was reached: An almost circular cauldron, close to a kilometre in diameter, with 40 m high overhanging walls. This closed depression, used as a kind of Guantanamo Bay camp, is called “The Hereafter on Earth” and “true Valley of the Death” were 115 half naked and unwashed victims, once lowered on a rope, were found living together like animals. Nearby was a cave, made homely and occupied by two Brahmine supervisors (indicated by Manfred Moser 1998). SITUATION: The "cauldron" in the Thar Dessert (between 100 km west, 600 km south-west and 300 km north-west of Jaipur) is reputed to have been discovered in the centre of a mountain range, which was reached from Jaipur (note 4) within 8 days. If assuming that 20 to 40 km are covered per day, the distance reached lies between 160 and 320 km and covers the area between N26°: E070° (south-west) and N29°: E075° (north-east). CULTURAL HISTORY: The heart-rendering story staging one more cruel habit of, alas!, simply so evil Hindus sounds like a fabulous concoction for good xenophobic Christians with a taste for Sadism. Suspected set-scenes could be quarried from from the fabulous cave –>Antro Plutonis and the descriptions by –>WILFORD (1851) of –>Bibi Nani Ghara at Hinglaj on the Hingol river in Balochistan. The item is possibly in some mental / psychical relation with Kalibhar Tar, a remote dessert well at N27°32': E070°14' (nima.mil/geonames accessed 16.11.2003), on AMS sheet NG42-03; north-west of Jaisalmer and sort of close to Sindh Province (Pakistan). CIRCULAR FEATURES of diameters ranging between 3 km and 10 km, which occur in Tertiary and --to a lesser extend-- in Mesozoic sedimentary rocks (resting on the Malani Igneous Suite) observed BAKLIWAL & RAMASWAMY (1985) on LANDSAT imagery showing the Jaisalmer area in the Thar Desert (covering parts of Rajasthan state in western India and Sind province in eastern Pakistan) and ascribed them to subsurface domes and basins.
NOTE 1: With best regards from Rider Haggard, Emilio Salgary and Karl May. In 1999 and 2000 I could not trace down any Miss or Mister W.K. Bell or Braxton in the British Library Catalogue or data bases of German libraries personally or electronically accessible. Concerning the »W.K.« there are few English personal names beginning with the letter "K" but (the report at hand was published in German language) this might have been translated into its German version, e.g. 'Karl' for Charles. Ray Mansfield (2001.09.19, personal correspondence): »I too have reached a dead end with W.K. Bell / Braxton / Sir Hislington —no records in British Museum Catalogue, no reference in Poole’s Index or any other index to periodicals, nothing in Who’s Who, Who Was Who, or in the Indian Army Records that I have seen. This may not mean that the whole thing is a work of fiction — just that I cannot find any cross reference to it.« NOTE 2: YULE & BURNELL (1886 edited by CROOKE 1903: 761: »Resident, s. This term has been used in two ways which require distinction. Thus (a) up to the organization of the Civil Service in Warren Hastings's time, the chiefs of the Company's commercial establishments in the provinces, and for a short time the European chiefs of districts, were termed Residents. But later the word was applied (b) also to the representative of the Governor-General at an important native Court, e.g. at Lucknow, Delhi, Hyderabad, and Baroda. And this is the only meaning that the term now has in British India. In Dutch India the term is applied to the chief European officer of a province (corresponding to an Indian Zillah) as well as to the Dutch representative at a native Court, as at Solo and Djokjocarta.« NOTE 3: Thar Desert is positioned as Great Indian Desert, India Desert, Indian Desert, Rajputana Desert and Thar Desert (representatively) at N27°00': E071°00' (nima.mil/geonames accessed 16.11.2003), on AMS sheet NG42-04 and India Road Atlas (Eicher Goodearth 2006) maps 48, 49 and 50). NOTE 4: Jaipur City N26°55': E075°49' (nima.mil/geonames accessed 16.11.2003), on AMS sheet NG43-07 Jaipur (U502 series, 1963 edition) and in the India Road Atlas (Eicher Goodearth 2006) map 20 A5.
Documents
Bibliography 08/06/2016- Bell, W K 1914; Braxton 1905.
History
EXPLORATION HISTORY: 1913-1914: BELL, W K (1913-1914: 375-376) created all on his own a certain BRAXTON (1905), whom he has to report how a certain Sir Hislington, Resident of Jaipur, discovered in summer 1879 a cauldron in the Thar Desert. 1983.06.04: LANDSAT imagery of the Thar desert was interpreted to show circular features ascribed to subsurface domes and basins that »warrant immediate attention in search of hydrocarbons« (BAKLIWAL, P C & RAMASWAMY, S M 1985).
Caves nearby
| Distance (km) | Name | Length (m) | Depth (m) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 348.9 | GALUDA-i-DUR | ||
| 409.7 | HISSAR TAHKHANA | ||
| 413.5 | TOSHAM CAVERNS | ||
| 419.4 | Bandipule Cave | ||
| 439.0 | HAJIPUR - DHADIKER CAVE SHELTERS | ||
| 453.6 | BHARTRIHARI, Alwar (Cave of) | ||
| 453.6 | ALWAR BAOLI | ||
| 468.9 | SARISKA PARK CAVE | ||
| 487.6 | SANGLA HILL, Palasa Forest (Cave on the) |