The Hindu Kush is a range of mountains. It starts near Pamir in the north of Gilgit extending in the southwest deep into the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province of Pakistan, Tirich Mir is here. On the west of this range is the Wakhan corridor of Afghanistan which separates Gilgit Agency from Tajikistan. This tract of land was formed under an agreement between the governments of the Empires of Russia and Britain in 1890. It was annexed with Afghanistan to serve as a neutral zone between the two empires. 