Autumn
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Untitled Post
Farmers Of Jammu, Kashmir And Ladakh (1959)
Free give away rare book this month for SearchKashmir Free Book Project. This is the twelfth and final book released this year.
Kashmir specific photographs from the M.S. Randhawa’s ‘Farmers of India’ series were previously shared in July by Man Mohan Munshi Ji [here]. The photographer was Hari Krishna Gorkha.
I am now sharing the entire Jammu, Kashmir and Ladakh section from M.S. Randhawa’s ‘Farmers of India’ series. Volume 1 (1959).
Interesting bits:
Kashmiri name of things.
Apples: Abru or Ambri. Mohi Amri. Khuddu Sari. Nabadi Trel. Sill Trel. Khatoni Trel. Dud Ambri. Wild Apples: Tet shakr. Malmu.
Pears: Nak Satarwati. Nak Gulabi. Gosh Bug (Bub). Tang.
Walnuts: Kaghazi. Burzal. Wantu.
Local name of the type of soil: grutu, bahil, sekil and dazanlad.
Most of the archaic information in the write up comes from Walter Roper Lawrence’s ‘The Valley of Kashmir’ (1895), which in turn relied on expertise of Kashmiri historian Ghulam Hasan Shah (1832-1898). That should some idea about the lack of documentation on such matter since then. Also, the importance of this colonial work for the new bureaucracy of independent India.
The books does offer tabled details on the area under cultivation and the approximate output.
Read and download here:
http://goo.gl/lmAhYH
Complete Guide to Sugandhesa Temple, Pattan
Kalhana tells us that King Avantivarman (AD 855 – 883 AD), the first king of the Utpala dynasty had a foul mouthed son who didn’t have taste for high poetry. He tells us S’amkaravarman (Shankaravarman, A.D. 883-902), son and successor of Avantivarman founded a new town called S’ankarapurapattana and built two temples at the place dedicated to Shiva. The new king named one of the temples after his wife Sugandha as Sugandhesa. After early death of her two boy kings, Sugandha too got to rule Kashmir from 904 to 906 A.D.
Kalhana mentions that just like a bad poet steals material from other poets, a bad King, plunders other cities. S’amkaravarman plundered the nearby Buddhist site of Parihaspora to build his new town. The stone of the temple came after the ruin of Parihaspora, that happened just around 150 years after it was founded by Lalitaditya (697-734 A.D). According to Pandit Kalhana, it was the evil deeds of the King that lead people to forget the real name of this town and instead have them call it simply as Pattan [Stein, ‘the town’. Cunningham, pandits wrote it as ‘Paathan’, ‘the path’ as it falls on the important route to Varahmula]. Kalhana mentions that the fame of the town rested not on the temples but “what gave fame to that town was only what is still to be found at Pattana, — manufacture of woollen cloths, trade in cattle, and the like.”
In 1847, the two temples at Pattan were identified by Alexander Cunningham (1814-93) as the ones mentioned in Rajatarangini. Based on the fact that one of the temples was smaller and less decorate that the other, he marked it as Sugandhesa temple.
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16th November, 2014
At a distance of about 25 kilomoters from Srinagar, this is the first major historical monument that one runs into while on way to Baramulla on national highway NH1-A.
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| Sugandhesa Temple, 1868. Photograph by John Burke for Henry Hardy Cole’s Archaeological Survey of India report, ‘Illustrations of Ancient Buildings in Kashmir’ (1869). |
Ram Chandra Kak in his ‘Ancient Monuments of Kashmir’ (1933) provides the basic description of the structure:
The shrine is 12′ 7″ square and has, as usual, a portico in front. It is open on one side only, and has trefoiled niches externally on the other sides. These niches contained images. The temple stands on a double base, but it seems probable from the flank walls of the lower stair and the frieze of the lower base, in which the panels intended for sculpture decoration have been merely blocked out, but not carved, that the temple was never completed.
The entrance to the courtyard is in the middle of the eastern wall of the peristyle, and consists, as usual, of two chambers with a partition wall and a doorway in the middle.
Among the architectural fragments lying loose on the site, the most noteworthy are (a) two fragments of fluted columns with their capitals, (b) two bracket capitals with voluted ends and carved figures of atlantes supporting the frieze above, (c) a huge stone belonging to the cornice of the temple, bearing rows of kirtimukhas (grinning lions’ heads) and rosettes, and (d) a stone probably belonging to the partition wall of the entrance, having (1) two small trefoiled niches in which stand female figures wearing long garlands and (2) below them two rectangular niches, in one of which is an atlant seated between two lions facing the spectator, and in the other are two human-headed birds.
The cornice of the base of the peristyle is similar to that of the Avantisvami temple. The cells were preceded by a row of fluted columns, bases of some of which are in situ while those of others are scattered about in the courtyard.
The attention of the visitor is called to the slots in the lower stones of the jambs of the cells. These are mortices for iron clamps which held pairs of stones together. Pieces of much-corroded iron are still extant in some of the mortices.
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| Cunningham noticed an interesting fact that while the temple of Awantiswamin at Avantipur had lost its central structure and yet retained its wall. At Sugandhesa the central structure was intact while the walls were lost. A recent study of stones at Sugandhesa suggests, “collapse in the tenth or eleventh century, and significant damage in 1885, with at least one intervening earthquake possibly in the seventieth century.” [link] |
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| Another place. Same treatment. |
In 1847, Cunningham noticed that the chambers of the temple measuring about 6 feet by 4 feet, once must have contained linga: for he found the pedestals of three of those emblems, which had been converted into Muslim tombs within fifty paces of the temple. [‘An Essay on the Arian Order of Architecture, as exhibited in the Temples of Kashmir’ (1848), link to book]
All this essentially means, this Muslim shrine at the temple would now be more that 150 years old. Just as old as Parihaspora was when Sugandhesa Temple and the town of Pattan came up.
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| Traditional Kashmir morning tea outing |
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| by John Burke |
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| Little Uruja and the temple |
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| 1913. Arch. Survey of India. [source of old images: Universiteit Leiden, Netherlands] |
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| Sugandhesa in ‘Our summer in the vale of Kashmir’ (1915) by Frederick Ward Denys. Probably by Col. H.H. Hart. |
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Why is Madin Sahib locked?
On way to the place I was narrated the old tale. Somewhere in 1980s, news spread in Srinagar that a miracle had been witnessed at the shrine of Madeen Sahib. People were saying a lot of things. It was heard that the mausoleum’s outer wall was dripping blood. Shias as well as Sunnis started gathering at the place. They did see something. Some said, the spot on the wall seemed liked someone had focused the beam from a laser pointer, a device which were in vogue back then as a source of amusement and harassment. Soon the rioting and violence started. When the violence was over, the mausoleum had been shut for public access.
Near But Kadal in Zadibal, Srinagar, is a 15th century monument known as ‘Madin Sahib’ named after the tomb and mosque of Sayyid Muhammad Madani who came to India with Timur in 1398 and moved to Kashmir during the reign of Sultan Sikandar Butshikan (1389–1413 CE). The monument comprises of a Mosque and a Tomb, with the mosque dating back to around 1444 which first came up during the reign of Zain-ul-Abidin, incorporating elements, pillar and base, from an older Hindu monument.
In 1905, archaeological surveyor W. H. Nicholls (1865-1949), during his pioneering study of Muslim architecture in Kashmir, was the first to notice the uniqueness of the art of this building among all the Muslim monuments in India. The mosque had glazed tiles of a kind unlike any other building in India and some tiles was painted a mystical beast not seen anywhere on any other mosque in India. [Read: Beast at Madin Sahib]
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| Madin Sahib 1905. From the report by Nicholls for ‘Archaeological Survey of India Report 1906-7’ |
Although the architecture and its beauty was documented only in 1905, the place Zadibal is in fact mentioned in one of the earliest western travelogues. Godfrey Thomas Vigne who visited Kashmir in 1835, mentioned in his book ‘Travels in Kashmir, Ladak, Iskardo, the Countries Adjoining the Mountain-Course of the Indus, and the Himalaya, north of the Panjab with Map’ (1844), that Zadibal witnessed rioting in the year 1830 when the place was inhabited by Persian traders. The trigger was Muharram procession (something still now allowed in Srinagar. And the note by Englishman Vigne places the blame on Shias. A piece of writing that still can be used to incite violence). In the aftermath of the rioting, the Persians who were mainly into Shawl trade and numbered about 200-300, left Kashmir for Iran.
The place again witnessed rioting in 1872. In 1870, the Franco-Prussian war between France and Germany lead to the decline in Shawl business. The Shia of Srinagar were primarily into paper mache and shawl business. In fact, one of the richest man in the city back then was a Shia named Mirza Muhammad Ali. The Shias in Kashmir follow either of the two influential families, Moulvi or Aga. Most also falling into two contrasting income brackets: rich and poor. It in not hard to follow that in this part of the world, economic disturbances eventually lead to sectarian and religious violence . All it needs is a trigger. Shia at the time were about 6000 in the city and for every 1 Shia there were 10 Sunnis. On 19th September 1872, on the Urs (death anniversary) of Madin Sahib, Sunnis gathered at the place, and so did Shias. Claims over the right to own the place were exchanged. Soon, a wave of violence was unleashed that lasted about three days. In the madness, the ancient monument was damaged in fire that raged all over Zadibal. In fact much of Srinagar was in flames.
The violence of 1872 is recorded in report published in a Munich based paper, where it is titled ‘The Grauel in Kajhmir’ (The horror in Kashmir). In an interesting observation, the report also mentions that Shia women and children were given refuge in Pandit households. [Read: Allgemeine Zeitung Munich]
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| Madin Shib in around 1979. Before renovation that started in 1983. Raghubir Singh. |
More than hundred years later, in 1983, just when the work on renovation of the shrine had started, the place again suffered rioting. June 1983 was going to be the year for state assembly election. It in not hard to follow that in this part of the world, political rivalries eventually lead to sectarian and religious violence. Zadibal, the Shia majority area was considered a stronghold of Congress I, the party headed by Pandit Indira Gandhi. The violence started around June 14th, and after raging for around three days, left around 700 injured and many shops and houses, and a mosque – burnt. [News Report]
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| Madin Sahib in 1983 when the renovation started. Prataap Patrose, Aga Khan Visual Archive, MIT source |
A more lasting impact of the riot was that the Astaan of Madin Sahib went behind locks, out of bound of common man who might be just interested in art and architecture. And it has been like that ever since.
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The light was falling fast. Bilal climbed atop the high iron railing that now forms an ugly fence around the monument and asked me to follow him. Across the monument, sitting on the window was an old man enjoying the last hours of the day. There was hardly anyone of the street. We could have climbed in. If I didn’t know the history of the place, I would have climbed on and broken into the monument. Knowledge of history and not just history, creates our sense of boundaries. I told him I can’t climb over the wall. In addition, there was one more major concern, I didn’t want to impale my precious organ just trying to get into an ancient forgotten monument.
Just then a young guy walking along stopped and asked what were we doing. Bilal explained. The guy said there was no need to climb, there were men inside the shrine on guard duty. To get in, all we had to do was knock on the iron padlocks. Bilal asked the man why the placed was locked. The man didn’t know. Bilal asked him where was he from. He was a local of the area. In Kashmir such questions aren’t asked directly. If you are Sunni, you don’t ask the other person directly if he is Shia.
We banged on the railing. But there was no response. The guards were probably watching television somewhere inside. Finally, after about half an hour of knocking, two men appeared sleep walking from behind the shrine. As they approached, Bilal in an insidious tone asked me to keep my mouth shut and just follow his lead. Bilal had a stratagem up his sleeves for getting me in. The conversation that followed is one of the weirdest and most comic I have had in Kashmir.
The men asked Bilal about nature of the visit. Bilal’s explanation, ‘This here with me is a Sahib who has come from very far to see the monument.’
One of the men asked, ‘Where has he come from?’
‘He has come all the way from Germany.’
A hysterical laugh almost escaped from my throat, a smile that on reaching my lips converted into an awkward smile.
The man stared at me.
‘Germany?’
‘Yes, from Germany. To write a book. Like the angreez do.’
I tried to look as German as I could and hide what I thought my obvious Kashmiriness. My smile disappeared and I looked glum and serious, like a man ashamed of past. That should have done it. But the next query from the man foiled Bilal’s plot and had me stumped.
‘Is he a Christian or a Jew?’
I burst out laughing when I heard the question. I exclaimed, ‘But, I was a local’.
The man looking terribly confused and turing to Bilal asked, ‘You said he is foreign.’
In a last-ditch attempt, Bilal tried to explain it away, ‘He is foreign. But living here. Like lot of angreez do. Please let us in. Just for five minutes.’
Stratagem fell apart.
‘You need to get written permission from the trust that runs this place.’
The plot was obviously flawed from the beginning. Even Bilal with his copper hair had a higher chance for passing off as a German. But apparently, this is the most obvious method that tourists try at this place to get inside. I was told you had a higher chance of getting in if you are not a Kashmiri. You may get in if you are foreigner, or even if you are from some other part of India, but not if you are from Kashmir.
I looked at the iron railings more carefully. Some of them had their lower ends bent to create sort of a holes in the wall. The holes had obviously been made by random tourists so one could stick a camera lens in and get a clear shot of the shrine. Walls that history creates is often accompanied by holes that people create to subvert the walls
I too took my camera, stuck it into one of the holes and let it see Madin Sahib as it is.
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15th November, 2014
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Beast at Madin Sahib
Near But Kadal in Zadibal, Srinagar, is a 15th century monument known as ‘Madin Sahib’ named after the tomb and mosque of Sayyid Muhammad Madani who came to India with Timur in 1398 and moved to Kashmir during the reign of Sultan Sikandar Butshikan (1389–1413 CE). The monument comprises of a Mosque and a Tomb, with the mosque dating back to around 1444 which first came up during the reign of Zain-ul-Abidin, incorporating elements from an older Hindu monument.
In 1905, archaeological surveyor W. H. Nicholls (1865-1949), during his pioneering study of Muslim architecture in Kashmir, was the first to notice the uniqueness of the art of this building among all the Muslim monuments in India. The mosque had glazed tiles of a kind unlike any other building in India and some tiles was painted a mystical beast not seen anywhere on any other mosque in India. The beast could be seen in the tile work on left spandrel of arch at entrance.
Nicholls wrote in a report:
“a beast with the body of a leopard, changing at the beck into the truck of a human being, shooting apparently with a bow and arrow at its own tail, while a fox is quietly looking on among flowers and cloud-forms. These peculiar cloud-forms are common in Chinese and Persian art, and were frequently used by Mughals – by Akbar in the Turkish Sultana’s house at Fathepur-Sikri, Jahangir at Sikandarah, and Shah Jahan in the Diwan-i-Khass at Delhi, to mention only a few instances. The principal beast in the picture is about four feet long, and is striking quite an heraldic attitude. The chest, shoulders, and head of the human being are unfortunately missing. The tail ends in a kind of dragon’s head. As for the colour, the background is blue, the trunk of the man is read, the leopard’s body is yellow with light green spots, the dragon’s head and the fox are reddish brown, and the flowers are of various colours. It is most probable that if this beast can be run to earth, and similar pictures found in the art of other countries, some light will be thrown upon the influences bearing upon the architecture of Kashmir during a period about which little is at present known.”
Nicholls supposed the figure like the main building too came up in 1444, which would make it pre-Mugal. However, John Hubert Marshall (1876-1958), superintendent of the Archaeological Survey of India, in his introduction to Nicholl’s report mentions that a Persian text at the site indicted that the present entrance was added during Shah Jahan’s time (1626 to 1658), that would make it from 17th century and not 15th century. [More recently inscriptions have been found from the time of Dara Shikoh too]
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| Beast as drawn by W. H. Nicholls in his Muhammadan architecture in Kashmir by Mr. W. H. Nicholls for ‘Archaeological Survey of India Report 1906-7’ [uploaded here] Digitally distorted copy as made available by Digital Library of India |
Although the figure was unique and the description by Nicholls was repeated verbatim often when talking about architecture of Kashmir. The mystery beast wasn’t explained till recent times in obscure journals. And even then there is much confusion.
Using Google Image search, it took me just five minutes to figure out that the image stands for the Islamic astrological figure representation of eclipse happening in Sagittarius or centaur (ai-qaws), the bow man represents the planet Jupiter, while the dragon is al-jawzahar, the devouring pseudo planet. The concept of 8th planet coming after the 7 planets (the sun, the moon, saturn, jupiter, mars, venus and Mercury), is supposed to reached Sasanian Empire from Indian Astrological concept of Rahu (head) – Ketu (Tail), the two (but 1) pseudo planet(s), a giant dragon that occasionally devours planets, a concept that made its way into all major schools of eastern astrology.
In case of Sagittarius, the eclipse is a weak, hence the Bowman is shown defiantly shooting into the mouth of the dragon (Rahu).
Such figures could be (and can still can be found) from the time of Abbasid Dynasty in region as wide as Iraq to Iran. Abbasid calip Abu Ja’far al-Mansur (r. 754-75) is said to have built his capital at Baghdad under the astrological sign of Sagittarius. In Iran, it is very common in Isfahan, a place whose symbol is Sagittarius, having something to do with the year the city came up in 16th century around 1591 with defeat of Uzbeks. Sagittarius represented meant realm of Persia around this time. The building with Sagittarius in Iran came up mostly came up in 16th century. However al-jawzahar showing up on a building in Indian sub-continent is unique. It is interesting that the monument falls in the Shia locality and is claimed by them. There was colony of Persian traders at the place till 1830, when religious riots forced them to move back to Iran.
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| Sagittarius in Persian astrological treatise from 9th century, ‘Kitâb al-Mawalid’ by Abu Ma’shar al-Balkhi Also known as ‘The Book of Nativities’ or ‘The Book of Revolution of the Birth Years’. One of the most influential works from Islamic astrology |
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| Sagittarius on the entrance to the bazaar of Esfahan source |
In 1926, some of the tiles from the monument were moved to Victoria and Albert Museum. The tiles were described to be coloured in “iron-red, manganese-purple, tin-white, copper-green, cobalt and copper blues, on an opaque antimony-yellow ground. Height 8 inches, width 32 inches.”
The Sagittarius figure however was to be found on the entrance just until 1983. The tiles were then moved to Central Asian Museum (University of Kashmir, Srinagar).
In this photograph from 1983 for the renovation happening at the place, the tiles on entrance are missing. Some additional tiles (some of the missing pieces of the Bowman) were found in rubble and now stay at SPS Museum, Srinagar.
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| Prataap Patrose, Aga Khan Visual Archive, MIT source |
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| The actual sketch of the beast by W. H. Nicholls in 1905 |
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A color version I tried to create using GIMP. Color palette based on description by Nicholls and of the tiles at Victoria and Albert Museum. |
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The missing pieces Sagittarius tile not given in the sketch of Nicholls at SPS Museum November 2014 The cations for the display of course don’t tell you the story of the tile -0- |
In 1994, archeologist Ajaz Banday in Srinagar did identify the image as Sagittarius and yet the image continues to baffle people.
In 2011, Aniket Sule tried to explain the figure as ‘Indian record for Kepler’s supernova: Evidence from Kashmir Valley’ [pdf link]. The writer tried to explain the dragon spitting fire as representation of Kepler supernova witnessed in 1604.
An argument to the contrary was provide by Robert H. van Gent in his paper ‘No evidence for an early seventeenth-century Indian sighting of Keplers supernova’ (2012) [archive.org link], placing the image well back in Islamic astrological iconography. (As explained a simple google image search would have stopped anyone from superimposing supernova on that figure)
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Interestingly, Sagittarius, it seems, was always watched closely by Muslim astronomers and astrologers.
In 1575, Taqi ad-Din Muhammad ibn Ma’ruf, court astronomer of Sultan mural III (reigned 1574-1595), established an observatory in Istanbul. This was the last great observatory built in Islamic empire. When the Great comet of 1577 appeared in Sagittarius, Taqi al-Din predicted that Turkish army would win against Persian. The Turkish army did win but the losses for Turks was also great. And then in the same year some important men of the court died, this was follow by plague. Taqi’s rival astrologers and clerics convinced the Sultan that observatory was the cause. The observatory was destroyed in around 1580. This destruction of the last Islamic observatory almost coincides with the construction of first modern observatories in Europe by Tycho Brahe. Johannes Kepler, all of age six, was among the people who witnessed the great comet of 1577 and later went on to assist Brahe, and much later helped change the way people look at sky forever.
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Further read and references:
The Dragon in Medieval East Christian and Islamic Art (2011) by Sara Kuehn
Slaves of the Shah: New Elites of Safavid Iran (2004) edited by Sussan Babai
A History of Physical Theories of Comets, From Aristotle to Whipple (2008) by Tofigh Heidarzadeh
Jews, Christians, and the Abode of Islam: Modern Scholarship, Medieval Realities (2012) By Jacob Lassner
Magic Mountain (1945) by Eve Orme
Free give away rare book this month for SearchKashmir Free Book Project. This is the eleventh book released this year. Remember, these are mostly books that were not previously publicly available online.
In 1926, a British woman, Eve Orme, accompanied her husband on a shikar trip to Ladakh. It was unusual back then for a ‘memsahib’ to accompany a sahib on a hunting trip to Ladakh. Usually the men would go hunting to Ladakh while their women would lounge in Srinagar. Something that Orme considered ordinary holiday of ordinary woman. She wanted something more. An escape from ordinary.
In around 1945, while Britain was still a war zone, writing this ‘Magic Mountain’ from here personal diaries proved to be an escape from the harsh realities of World War two.
“I am at home in London with its dusty look of war-weariness; its battered, razed buildings, and its steadfast calm.
A woman passes me in Bond Street, leaving a whiff behind her of what is perhaps her last drain of expensive French scent, minty and aromatic. How strange that after eighteen years, in the heart of this island fortress, an evanescent trail of perfume should still take me back so swiftly to Ladakh. That it should remind me of the cheerful, grinning faces of our ponymen, of Rahim, who wrote though a “munshi” some years after our arrival in England, “My body is in the East, but my eyes and heart, Memsahib, turn always to the West.” The ache to be on the road is in my heart again as I think of the mountain, peace, and that almighty silence.”
Interesting bits:
Ladakhis staging a skit in about the sahibs visiting their land. They make fun of the fact that Kashmiris are not great mountaineers.
In Ladakh, Eve Orme met novelist Martin L Gompertz, famous as ‘Ganpat’. Ganpat went to write about his experience of the trip in ‘Magic Ladakh’ (1928).
Eve Orme also met a French woman named Mlle La Fougie who was travelling alone in the region looking for Ladakhi paintings.
A taxidermist named Mohammed Baba in Srinagar. The same name crops up in travelogue of Walter Del Mar published in 1906, ‘The romantic East: Burma, Assam, & Kashmir’
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Archive.org Link
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How High was the Water
About sixty days after the flood
A city still damp
daubed in two shades
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Camps near Dal |
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| Camp dwellers. Most of the government camps look empty. People mostly stay with relative with a nominal person staying in the camp the mark his presence, expecting relief. People on radio sound angry about the way damage is being assessed and relief being handed out. |
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| Clearing silt from the ghat near Fateh Kadal foot bridge |
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| Not wishes tied to the walls of a shrine Polythene and rubbish brought in by water stuck to the Mesh panel of a little garden by the ghat |
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| Soaked ancient brickwork of a house along the river |
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| After two weeks under fifteen feet of water Dead plants in a private garden along Nageen lake A positive side effect of the flood has been that the markets are flush with vegetables of great quality. |
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| A roadside stall offering flood infested material for sale. |
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| The level at SPS museum along Bund road |
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| Level of water inside the museum Knees of the deity I was told, most of the damage to display material has been to the papermache works. With about 2% almost of them gone. |
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| Soaked old journals inside the Library of the museum |
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My Address, was
While clearing his bag of old papers to be thrown away, my father found this old envelope. Before I could stop him, he tore it into two. It carried our old Srinagar address. I kept it
Last month my father packed his bags from Delhi NCR and moved back to Jammu. Fourteen years ago, I wasn’t there when he moved in, and I wasn’t there when he moved out. While moving in, none of my stuff had to be moved in but while moving out, he had to pack seven cartons of books collected over my seven year stay in the city.
Once the news of unpacking was passed on, my mind was caught in a strange mathematics. My grandfather spent a major portion of his life at that Srinagar address, about 65 years. At no other place did he live for a longer duration. So did my father, about 35 years. And weirdly enough, so did I, about 8 years. I haven’t stayed at a single place for more that 8 years. Right now, Chattabal is still the place were I have spent a major portion of my life.
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My Address
Today I effaced my house number
the name of the street at the outset.
I wiped away the directions of every road.
And still if you must search me out
just knock at the door
in each street of each city of each country
it’s a curse, a benediction both
and wherever you find a free soul
– that’s my home!
Amrita Pritam, translated from Punjabi by the poet.
From – ‘India: An Anthology of Contemporary Writings’ (1983), Ed. by David Ray and Amritjit Singh.
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Aabi Guzar Toll
Previously, Aabi Guzar Gone, 22nd September:
“Over the years, I started coming across photographs of the place in old travelogues. Having never been to the place, the sight of the place in an old book became a thing of little joy for me. Earlier this year when I visited Srinagar, the thought of finally visiting the place did occur to me, but it was winter, the water levels were low, it would not have been a pretty sight, I told myself, ‘Next time when the water levels are higher.’
This old building is now gone, destroyed in the flood of September 2014.”
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| A page from ‘This is Kashmir’ (1954) by Pearce Gervis. |
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Aabi Guzar
Water Way Octroi
Francis Brunel, 1977
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Finally visited the place on November 18th.
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| innards |
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aan but-e-kashmir
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| Image: ‘Kashmiri belle’ by Gladstone Solomon, 1922. Gladstone Solomon was the principal of Bombay school of art from 1919 to 1936. |
Payaam daadam nazdiike aan but-e-kashmir
Ke zeere halqaye zulfat dilam charaast asiir
Juwab dad, kin deewanuh shood dili too zi ushuq,
Buruh nuyarud deewanuhra mugar zunjeer
I sent a message to that Cashmerian idol, Why is my heart held
captive under the curl of your ringlets? She answered, Because
your heart is distracted with love; and the madman is not suffered
to appear abroad without a chain.
~ unnamed Persian poet.
Came across the lines in ‘Dissertations on the Rhetoric, Prosody, and Rhyme of the Persians (1801), Part 1 by Francis Gladwin. It is provided as an example of ‘Sawal-Jawab’ style of Persian poetry. Gladwin gave the verses in persian script and the translation but didn’t provide the name of the author or the verses in roman script.
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Payaam: message
aan but-e-kashmir: like a Kashmiri idol
mugar: unless
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