The entire area between the Karakoram range and the Kunlun mountains is mostly uninhabited and has very little vegetation, except for the river valleys of Yarkand and Karakash. In these valleys, during the summer months, cultivation was possible. Kanjutis from Hunza used to cultivate in the Yarkand valley (called Raskam plots) and the Kirghiz from Turkestan used to cultivate in the area of Shahidullah. Shahidullah is described as a seasonal township in the sources, but it was little more than a campground in the 19th century.