Tag: History

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Kangri Connections and a bit about its origins

Summer retreat of Kangri

“The natives of Kashmir are in the habit during the cold weather of carrying about a small pot covered with basket-work called a kangri ; when in use it is filled with hot embers. On preparing to go to sleep these people very frequently put their kangri with its ignited contents inside the breast part of their upper garment, a practice which very often results in their being severely burnt about the chest, as it would seem they are very heavy sleepers.
The kangri appears to have found a home in one part of Italy only. In Florence, during the winters, which are very severe, no Florentine woman of the lower classes walks abroad without carrying her Scaldino, a reproduction of the kangri of Kashmir. Dr [Eugen] Hultzsch has shown that the use of portable fireplaces or braziers was known in India — in Kashmir — as early as the twelfth century a.d., and here we have their use in Persia (and if [Pietro] Della Valle‘s word tennor be right, in Arabia also), as well as in Spain and Italy, in a manner implying a long previous history.”

~ ‘The Symbolism of the East and West’ (1900) by Mrs Murray Aynsley.
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A bit about Kangri, its possible origins and place among similar apparatus from around the world. Its closest relative probably comes from China.

“Many varieties of the hot-water containers have been developed. As novelties in the English potters’ exhibition at the Philadelphia Centennial in 1876 were foot-shaped vessels for hot water intended for placing in boots for drying them, and concavo-convex vessels for applying heat to the abdominal region. the Museum has a rare pottery hot-water bottle (pl.3, fig.1) with formed depressions for the feet of a lady. This vessel is of glazed Binghamton earthenware and dates about 1840. Several varieties of hand stove are found in easter Asia. they are usually of brass or copper, and consist of a small rectangular box with pertorated lid like an incense burner, and have a handle. They are often quite artistic pieces of workmanship (pl4.1). Sven Hedin found this variety of heating device at Lan Chow, western China, and says: “Among other things I bought shakos, or hand stoves, shaped like teapots but with grated lids. You fill them with ashes and put two or three pieces of red-hot charcoal in the middle of the ashes. the sha-lo will then keep warm for a good 24 hours.”

The Japanese pocket stove, or belly stove, as it is called, is much in advance of the examples previously described in that it employs a specially prepared fuel whose origin is probably in ancient experiments to produce a slow match for preserving fire for a long time. The pocket stove is a box of copper or tin slightly curved to fit the wearer, and with perforated sliding lid. paper cartridges filled with powdered charcoal of a specified kind are placed in the box, lighted at one end, and the lid closed. One charge gives out a gentle heat for four hours. Such stove are cheap, useful, and efficient. Another form widely spread is a small vessel with handle, in which a charcoal fire is carried about and used to warm the feet and hands. Perhaps the more familiar example of this personal stove is the scaldino of Italy, possibly of quite ancient origin (pl.3. fig. 2). These little stoves are made of bronze and terrra cotta, vase shape, with lid. Sometimes they are real works of art, designed for use by the elite. In China such stoves consist of a pottery bowl neatly incased in bamboo basketry. The Chinese bamboo portable stove has a base of sufficient diameter to prevent tipping over and is carried by a handle. (pl.3.figs.3,4). A similar vessel, called Kangri, is used during cold weather at Srinagar, Kashmir. the fire bowl is incased in elaborately woven osier over plates of mica. On top is a yoke-shape frame with a loop for carrying without getting the fingers burnt. Collected by Dr. W.L. Abbott (pl.3. fig 5).

~ Based on notes on specimen found by Dr. William Louis Abbot (1860-1936) in Kashmir in between 1891 and 1894 and presented in ‘Fire as an agent in Human Culture’ (1926) by Walter Hough for Smithsonian Institution United States National Museum.

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And Then There Was T’song



Modes of lighting in Kashmir and evolution of lamp around late 19th century and early 20th century. Based on notes on specimen found by  Dr. William Louis Abbot (1860-1936) in Kashmir in between 1891 and 1894 and presented in ‘Fire as an agent in Human Culture’ (1926) by Walter Hough for Smithsonian Institution United States National Museum.

About the kind of torch used in Kashmir: “Mass of fat formed upon a stick, around which is wound a wick of fiber.” [Torches of Birch bark are still widely remembered]

No. 10 Stone Lamp with pointed spout. Cashmere, India.

“Doctor Abbott also got pottery lamps from Kashmir. They are saucers of thin terra cotta pressed in on opposite sides to form a handle by which the lamp may be grasped. Another lamp from Srinagar, is napiform of red terra cotta with spout. The wick channel is cut through the rim and the reservoir is open above, as in the Turkestan lamps. This specimen is decorated with incises triangles and the border is scalloped. the native name is song [should be T’song].”
“Modification of the saucer lamp are plentiful for the purpose of placing the wick. Examples are shallow groves pounded in the Cashemere copper lamps and the bending in of the edge of the pottery saucers from ancient sites in Syria, North Africa, and other localities, modifying features suggesting the beginning of the wick spout. […]
The next step is in the measures taken to install the wick. By this step the lamp assumed the shape which it retained for thousands of years, This shape is familiar in the classic lamp, which has a circular reservoir and projecting beak for the wick.

The beak also arises in another manner that is germane to the construction of the lamp. The acute triangle form lamp cut from soapstone by the Kashmir and secured by Dr. W. L. About has the trough contained from the reservoir to the apex of the triangle and related to the shape of the excavation in the vessel. This introduced the pottery lamp in the form of a foot with open wick trough extended as a clumsy spout or beak. The reservoir is closed over, and through the top as through the next of a bottle oil was poured in. This form is ancient, being sculpted on a stone zodiacal slab of Nazi Maradah, son of Kurigalzar II, about the middle of the fourteenth century B.C. It is also shown on the cap of a kudurru or boundary stone bearing the star emblems representing Babylonian deities. Identical lamps are still in use in Turkestan and Kashmir, and have been found in Mohammedan stations in Egypt, Asiatic Turkey, and Spain.”
“In Cashmere, India, walnut oil and oil expressed from apricot seeds were used in lamps.”*
* A decade later, Sir Francis Younghusband noticed Kashmiris were mostly using rapeseed oil for lighting. 
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Pandit ritual involving T’song for 15th day of Shivratri.
Jammu. 2013.
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An  illustration of Kashmiri boat lamp
 found in ‘Aus dem westlichen Himalaya: Erlebnisse und Forschungen’ by Károly Jenö Ujfalvy (1884)

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First Govenment Madrasa in Kashmir, 1868

Sometime History teases us with waggish little tales that make up this world and its present complexities. In fact, it often does that. You just have to read.

This is the funny little story of how the first government sponsored Madarsa for Kashmiri Muslims opened in the state, a school for the rich; the odd consequence of a Pathan sending his sons to read English language.

The story is told by W.J. Elmslie, the first medical missionary in Kashmir who after facing much difficulties and harassments did manage to operate in the kingdom, and her burning yearning of Christian pity to save souls for heavenly Lord did sow some seeds of good christians in what was then considered most fertile land for such deeds in the Empire. Also, during his five years in Kashmir he discovered what came to be coined as ‘Kangir Cancer’, and driven by his problems at communicating with natives, Elmslie was the first to compile a proper guide to Kashmir Vocabulary for future visitors [published in 1872, here].

The incident of interest happened during Elmslie’s fourth year in Kashmir, an account of which appears in a letter he wrote to his mother and dated 6th May, 1868. The letter appears in his biography written by his wife, ‘Seedtime in Kashmir: a memoir of W.J. Elmslie by his widow and W. B. Thomson’ published in 1875. In the letter he excitingly tells his mother:

“A little progress is being made in the valley. The first school established in Kashmir by the Maharajah has just been opened. Its history is the following. The father of the family of which I have already spoken, was particularly desirous that his two sons, two very fine lads, should learn a little English. He asked me if I would teach them. I said I had not time to do so, for my medical and other duties; but I would allow one of my assistants, who knew a little English, to teach his sons. One of the two lads has been very regular in his attendance, and has made some progress. A report of all this was carried to the Diwan, the Maharajah’s representative in the valley. Thereafter, a vigorous effort was made to get the father to give up sending his son to the mission bungalow to learn English. The effort failed, however. The father, I must tell you, is a Pathan, and is not so much afraid of the Kashmir Government as indigenous Kashmiris generally are. The Maharajah, in due time, received a full account of all that was going on; and His Highness, after some time, gave orders for the opening of a school for the teaching of Arabic, and desired the Diwan to try to prevail upon Sher Ali, my Pathan friend, to desist from sending his sons to the Doctor Sahib to receive instruction in English. In this effort, I am happy to say, the Diwan has failed. The boys came daily to us. This class for Arabic, got up primarily to decoy Sher Ali’s sons away from us, is the first Government school the valley has seen during the reign of Gulab Singh and his son, the present Maharajah. The class, I am told, is intended exclusively for sons of those who may be called the nobility of Kashmir. It is a pity the language was not Persian, and the school intended for any who was willing to attend. This is trying to boil the kettle from above.”

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Kal Tuhund/Their Head

Sketches of two Kashmirian Skulls. One Male. One Female.

Came across it in “Ladāk, physical, statistical, and historical ; with notices of the surrounding countries” (1854) by Alexander Cunningham. In the book they were given as a reference for comparing with Ladhaki skulls.

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Kashmiri Boatmen in Mughal river fleet

Ruler on a boat with attendants
17th century, reign of Jahangir
British Museum

“Nawara, these boats were fashioned into fanciful shapes such as wild animals, etc. They were roofed in at one end, which was covered with broad cloth; they were better finished and lighter than a common boat (kishti). The boatmen were mostly from Kashmir and used Kashmiri calls to each other when working.“

~ From a footnote in Later Mughals (1922) by William Irvine. Source is given as Mirat-Ul-Istilah (1745) of Anand Ram Mukhlis who gives a description of Babar’s boating experience.

Nawara, the word among Mughals for river fleet, may now be an unfamiliar term in South Asia but boat people in another part of Asia recognize it. It is part of boat legends of Myanmar.

Previously:

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Kashmiri Pandits by Pandit Anand Koul, 1924

Around 1881, 14-year old Pandit Anand Koul was one of the first Kashmiri to join the missionary school set up in Srinagar by Rev. John Smith Doxey. In around 1883, the working of this school was taken over by Rev. J. Hinton Knowles. Knowles in around 1885 went on famously to document the folklore of Kashmir, a task in which he was assisted by a young Pandit Anand Koul. In around 1895, Knowles made Anand Koul Headmaster of this missionary school. This proximity with the missionaries probably made him understand the need for documenting culture in ‘other’ language.

Pandit Anand Koul’s book on Kashmiri Pandits can be considered first book written in English on pandits by a Pandit. Around 1921, the population of Pandits in the valley was around 55000. Of this around 5000 men and 50 women were literate in English. While reading this book, it is comprehensible that the book was written primary for non-Kashmiri readers and written by a man quite proud of his origins and passionate about documenting the history of his land. This passion was later inherited by his son P.N.K. Bamzai who went on to be even more prolific at documenting Kashmir’s History.

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Index of Content:

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Previously:

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The Pundits of Kashmir by J.J. Modi, 1915

Jivanji Jamshedji Modi’s paper ‘The Pundits of Kashmir’ (1915) for Journal of the Anthropological Society of Bombay (Vol. X, No. 6, pp. 401-85) was probably one of the first writing on pandits that looked at them from the prism of an ethnographic questionnaire. An interesting work because some of the topics touched here were mostly left unsaid by Pandit writers of the time.

Check: An additional division of Pandits along language spoken, Malechchas of Mirkhula as Zoroastrian fire worshipers, no marriage with outsiders, no talking in front of elders for married couple, no to polyandry but yes some cases of polygamy, mechanics of divorce, dressing differences between followers of Shiva and those of Shakti, river in Lar as nakali Ganga, rare cases of private prostitution, yes to meat, no to beef, pork and eggs, no to onions, tomatoes, carrots as they can cause ‘excitement’, can only eat uncooked food sitting with other Hindus and no food with others, yes to opium, charas and wine while some non-pandit Kashmiris brew Kehwa with snuff.

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We have come a long way.

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Kashmir and Kerala by Pandit S. Anand Koul, 1928


Note on the Relation between Kashmir and Kerala
(By Pandit S. Anand Koul. Kerala Society Papers -1928. T. K. Joseph (Ed.) )

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Aside:

I waited a week for the book to arrive. All for a paper that I expected would throw up something interesting. But Koul Saheb’s paper turned out to be a bit disappointing. Much of what he writes her already was presented by him in his book on Kashmir Pandits. Besides reference to Kerala astrology in Kashmir and (in comments) Mankha’s work traveling to Kerala, there isn’t much. The story of white men on Malabar coast could well have been of Parsees or the Jews, but Koul Sabheb mentions in any case and tries to imagine them as Pandits. He seems to have been quite fascinated by the story, mentioning it in his Pandit book too. In an attempt to reach borders of Kerala, his only manages to reach Durbhanga (Bihar, where from returned the Kouls), Ellichpur (Maharashtra, where from returned the Dhars) and then Madras (where from came Ramanuja). It’s a sad attempt. I wish there was more.

Why more was I expecting? Consider this: there is Thiruv’anantha’puram in Kerala and there is Anantnag in Kashmir. Two cities dedicatedly named after a snake. King Solomon’s ships sailed to Kerala coast. Solomon’s throne is supposed to be in Kashmir. Ancient Jews lived in Kerala. And according to some at one time only Jews were allowed to enter Kashmir. (and not to forget, Kashmiri obsession with Jews. Interestingly, first person to broach up persecution of Jews in Germany during world war into a discussion about persecution of Pandits in medieval Kashmir was one Mr. GMD Sufi in his book Kashir (1948) while trying to form a defense for Sikandar Butshikan’s actions in response to popular discourse on the subject, an example of which would be writings by Anand Koul. Weird circular world, like a snake eating it’s own tail). Malayalam, the language that survives today was considerably shaped by westerners (particularly Rev.Benjamin Bailey and Hermann Gundert) who pulled it closer to Sanskrit (even at cost of other variants). The language is alive and kicking. In case of Kashmiri,  which is much older than Malayalam, here is the difference, one time opium agent Grierson’s work still divides the people on origins of the language as it pulls it away from Sanskrit. The is no single definitive script. Result: My Christian friend from Kerala, who is great at using programming languages, uses Malayalam in regular life, can sing some Sanskrit prayers as they are quite popular in the land, know sHindi as it was part of school curriculum but is not so great with English. In my case, I am not so great at programming, can barely speak Kashmiri, definitely can’t read or write it in anything besides Roman script, don’t know Sanskrit, can’t truly appreciate Hindi and can just about manage English, using it as a tool to earn my bread and butter.
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Kashmiri songs and stories for Rustam

An illustration to the Shahnama (“Book of Kings”): Rustam and the White Div, Kashmir, circa 1800
Source: christies

“Even now, the people of cashmere read and hear with pleasure, some of the touching episodes about the ancient persians in the Shahnameh of Firdousi. During my visit to that country, last May I frequently heard the Pandits saying:

i.e.,”the person who reads Shahnameh, even if he were a woman, acts like a hero.” The episodes are rendered into Cashmiri songs, and sung on special occasions by musicians and singers, before large assemblies at night. In the midst of a very touching episode, when, owing to the difficulty or the danger of the favourite hero of the episode, who has for the time become a favourite of the audience as well, the excitement of the hearers is raised to the highest pitch,the singer suddenly stops and refuses to proceed further. The hearers get impatient to know the fate of their favourite hero, and subscribe among themselves, a small sum to be given to the singer as the price for releasing the favourite hero from what they call his “band,” i.e., difficulty or danger. It is only, when a sum is presented, that the singer proceeds further. They say, that even on marriage occasions, some of the marriage songs treat of the ancient Persians. For example, I was told that one of the marriage songs, was a song sung by the mother of Rustam, when her son went to Mazindaran to release king Kaus.

It was for the first time, that I had heard in Kashmir, the following story about Rustam and Ali. I do not know, if it is common to other parts of India. They say, that Rustam was resuscitated about 500 years after his death for the following reason. Ali, the favourite of the holy Prophet, had fought very bravely in the war against the infidels. The Prophet complimented him, saying: “You have fought as bravely as Rustam.” This remark excited the curiosity of Ali, as to who and how strong this Rustam was. To satisfy the curiosity of Ali, but without letting him know about it, the Prophet prayed to God to resuscitate Rustam. God accepted the prayer. Rustam re-appeared on this earth, and met Ali once, when he was passing through a very narrow defile, which could allow only one rider to pass. Rustam bade Ali, Salam Alikum, i.e., saluted him. Ali did not return the Alikum Salam. Having met in the midst of a narrow defile, it was difficult for anyone of them to pass by the side of the other, unless one retraced his steps. To solve the difficulty, Rustam lifted up the horse of Ali together with the rider hy passing his whip under his belly, and taking him over his head, placed him on the other side of the defile behind him. This feat of extraordinary strength surprised Ali, who on return spoke of it to the Prophet.
After a few days Ali again met Rustam, who was sitting on a plain with his favourite horse, the Rakhsh, grazing by his side. On seeing Ali, he bade him Salum Alikum, but Ali did not return the salam. Rustam then requested Ali to bring to him the grain bag of his horse, which was lying at some distance. Ali found it too heavy to be lifted up, and it was after an amount of effort that he could carry it to Rustam. Ali thought to himself: What must be the strength of the horse and of the master of the horse, if the grain-bag of the horse was so extraordinarily heavy? On going home, he narrated to the Prophet, what be had seen. The Prophet then explained the matter to him, and said that it was Rustam, whom he had seen during these two visits, and that God had brought him to life again at his special request. He then reprimanded Ali for his want of respect towards Rustam, in not returning his salams, and said, that, had Ali been sufficiently courteous to Rustam, he would, have prayed to God to keep him alive some time longer, and in that case, he (Rustam) wouid have rendered him great help in his battles.”

~ Cashmere and the Ancient Persians, Jivanji Jamshedji Modi, B.A. (1871), read on 9th December 1895 for Asiatic Papers Papers Read Before The Bombay Branch Of The Royal Asiatic Society. Published 1905.
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Aurangzeb’s Kashmir fleet

A defunct houseboat on Dal. 2008.

“About 1665, Shah Jehan died in the palace at Agra, not without suspicions of foul play. Aurangzeb had been suffering from serious sickness, but after his father’s death he was sufficiently recovered to proceed to Kashmir, where he recruited his health in the cool air of the mountains. At Kashmir he attempted to form a fleet which should rival the navies of European countries. Two ships were built by the help of an Italian, and were launched on the lake of Kashmir; but Aurangzeb found that it would be difficult to man them efficiently. No amount of teaching would impart the necessary quickness, nerve, and energy to his own subjects; and if he engaged the services of Europeans, they might sail away with his ships, and he might never see them again.”

~ ‘India and the Frontier States of Afghanistan, Nepal and Burma, with A Supplementary Chapter of Recent Events’  by James Talboys Wheeler and Edgar Saltus (1899).

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