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| The ‘biblical’ imagining of Kashmiri Boatmen. |
If on a Jammu bound train you have run into people who ask you if it is going to be cooler once the train reaches Jammu, if they are going to see snow, the mountains, the lakes, the rivers, if your answer has always been a mad laugh, read this blunder of a passage from ‘India, pictorial and descriptive’ (1888) by William Henry Davenport (1828-1891):
“The capital of Kashmir is situated on the Towi, a tributary of the Chenab. It is a place of considerable trade, communication with the riverine district being maintained by water. The Kashmir boatmen are a strong and hardy race, and manage their clumsy craft with much dexterity.”
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