in bits and pieces
“Section of the thousand widows of our Kashmir Jawans -each of whom received Rs. 51/- for the loss of her husband. Rs. 51, 000/- collected from the public were distributed to these widows. Sardar Baldev Singh and General Criappa, of course made speeches. When the rupees are spent, the widows can still live on the words.”
~ August 1949, Filmindia Magazine. The magazine over the years kept sliding to right of political spectrum. And was about a decade later banned in Kashmir.
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A page from Hindi edition (by Manoj Publications) of Mirza Mohammad Hadi Ruswa‘s classic urdu novel ‘Umrao Jan Ada‘ (1899), a memoir of a courtesan of mid-19th century Lucknow.
Lines as mentioned in the english translation from 1970 by Khushwant Singh/M.A. Husaini
There is reference to Kashmiri Bhands in that page. In another instance, the bhands are mentioned in the part about ‘Mutineers’ of 1857. Kashmiri Bhands were entertaining the mutineers.
The page also mentions ‘Dilaram’s Baradari’.
For Kashmiri Pandits of Lucknow, the fact that British survived the rising of 1857 proved a blessing for Pandit had shifted the loyalties from Nawabs to British flag. And for this support they were duly awarded.
Dilaram’s Baradari: Rai Dila Ram, was Chakladar [district administrator] of Tandiaon (in Awadh). He son was Shiv Nath Kaul, who was given chakladri of Unao for not supporting the rebels in 1857. He was at the time the only Kashmiri Pandit taluqdar in Awadh. After his death in 1890, his estate was inherited by his widow Jagat Rani, and the British gave a grant of 4,952 rupees. Using the money they purchased land in Unao and Lucknow. Henny Sender writes in ‘The Kashmiri Pandits: a study of cultural choice in North India’ (1988), ‘Shiv Nath’s son, Sham Sunder Nath, became the community’s biggest zamindar, an enormous mansion was constructed in the Chaupation [Chaupatiyan] area of Lucknow known as Dilaram Bara Dari (referring to twelve doors of the residence) with a hall in which mushairas were held.’
From what I could gather there was also something called ‘Dilaram Palace’ in Lucknow.
“The registrar office [of Lucknow university] occupies, according to some historians, the site of now non-existent Dilaram Palace which was reduced to rubble by the British for smooth functioning of a battery of cannons aiming at Kaiserbagh in 1858.”
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The free book released this month under SearchKashmir Free Book project is not just about Kashmir, it is about experiences of a World War Two era British soldier whose travels took him to the hills and the seas. It is about places you could easily visit before the modern world grappling with aftermath of a war, altered and redefined concept of places.
Blurb for Tom Ashley Lakeman ‘Of Hills’ (1944) explains this beautiful book of verses and its purpose quite well:
‘Of Sea and land, of Hills, of Loving Times’
To those who make the journey —
The photographs, verse and descriptions are to bring places near or to take readers far – at thought speed.
To the man from the hills by the Afghan border— on the cover – then glimpse of Kashmir; to Battlesbury on the steep western edge of Salisbury Plain. To Kashmir again — from Srinagar to Haramukh — then homeward to the cliffs of Devon.
To the Deosai Plains, not far from the Roof of the World, to India in England, to children, to the Indian forest, by Delhi, through the Red Sea to Malta, ending with Pir Guhl and the man from the hills.The book was formed when a holiday was needed and it is hoped that others too will find holiday in these pages. May this book help, in some small way, the National Trust. After the war, what profit there is from the book will go gladly to help the Trust ; during the war it will be sent to the Royal Tank Regiment Prisoners of War Fund — for those who cannot yet see our shores.
In 1945, the books had a sequel. To be uploaded next month…
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| 14th century Thangka painting via: British Museum |
Kanakavatsa, the legendary figure from Buddhism, one among the sixteen Arahat of Indian origin from Buddha’s time, is believed to have been born in Bihar and lived with his 500 Arahats on the “Saffon Hill” in Kashmir under the patronage of the local King. In the the iconography of Kanakavatsa, a barbarian King is often shown kneeling before him worshipping. In the above image, an “an Indian adorant offers coral” while the ethnicity of Kanakavatsa by his color.
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| Poplar Avenue From Francis Frith’s album. Around 1850s to 1870s. via: Victoria and Albert Museum. |
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| A snippet of Kashmiri Bible in Sharda Script [An Introduction to the Critical Study of the Holy Scriptures, Volume 2. By Thomas Hartwell Horn. 1836] Update [Transcription of the lines by Mrinal Kaul: “yima lookh anigati andar bihith a’yes timav…………dochas (?) hiy kaayaayi andar behan vaalyen emad sapa (?).“ Which I believe would probably mean Matthew 4:16: The people which sat in darkness saw great light; and to them which sat in the region and shadow of death light is sprung up.] |
[Also to his credit goes: The Book of Common Prayer, and Administration, &c …. (in the Cashmírí language). Published by the Punjab Christian Knowledge Society. First edition. Amritsar; Printed at the Safir-i-Hind Press, . . . 1884.]
A Dictionary of Kashmiri Language (1916-1932, 4 parts) by G.A. Grierson based on material by Ishwara Kaul. [Online Word Search Engine, Part 1]
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| Krishna Boya Greb, Kashmiri Minstrel, 1911 (seems to be holding a ‘dutar’) |
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| A woman, her head covered, like she was on her way to a temple, praying aloud for the welfare of her family, like at a temple, walked past me and entered the chamber that is believed to house the grave of Akbar. The unconventionally plain walled chamber in fact houses the cenotaph of Akbar the Great. Sikandra. U.P. July. 2011. |
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In 1892, just three weeks after his death, Lord Alfred Tennyson, considered one of the greatest British Poet, was posthumously published. The collection of poems ‘The Death of Oenone, Akbar’s Dream, and Other Poems’. Among these, ‘Akbar’s Dream’ is considered his last possible work. The poem was set as a conversation between Akbar and his trusted friend Abu Fazal. In the verses giving us visions of Akbar’s great dream for his empire, its subjects, his fear of his sons and their budding blood thirst, his prophecy of a possible death of his dreams, and a possible salvation through adoption by a bigger dream – in all of it we can read how Tennyson believed British Empire was the only true inheritor and propagator of Akbar’s dream. The work is an interesting mixup of British imperialistic dreams with their oriental longings.
If one forgets that it’s actually a British poem and has a subliminal meaning, an Indian can now easily adopt Akbar’s dream. Or perhaps already has. Isn’t modern India imagined and presented as a part of Akbar’s great dream? That’s not even remotely interesting. What is interesting is that this dream of Akbar presented by Tennyson actually starts with Kashmir.
AN INSCRIPTION BY ABUL FAZL FOR A TEMPLE IN KASHMIR
(Blochmann xxxii.)O GOD in every temple I see people that see thee,
and in every language I hear spoken, people praise thee.
Polytheism and Islam feel after thee.
Each religion says, ‘Thou art one, without equal.’
If it be a mosque people murmur the holy prayer, and if it be a Christian Church, people ring the bell from love to Thee.
Sometimes I frequent the Christian cloister, and sometimes the mosque.
But it is thou whom I search from temple to temple.
Thy elect have no dealings with either heresy or orthodoxy; for neither of them stands behind the screen of thy truth.
Heresy to the heretic, and religion to the orthodox,
But the dust of the rose-petal belongs to the heart of the perfume seller.
In 1872, Heidegger (Henry) Blochmann published the manuscript of ‘The Ain i Akbari’, and then in 1873 followed it with a translation.
The original with translation and his notes follows:
And so, that great experiment too started with Kashmir.
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