The place to the left. From Habba Kadal 2008 |
thirty-six windows [and] thirty-six doors
191 Kashmiri Riddles
After his ‘A Dictionary of Kashmiri Proverbs and Sayings: A Classified Collection Explained and Illustrated from the Rich and Interesting Folklore of the Valley’ (1885) [here] and before his mammoth ‘Folk-tales of Kashmir (1888)’, in 1887 Knowles also compiled a list of Kashmiri riddles based on his interaction with locals, both Pandits and Muslims of various class. The work containing 140 riddles was published in Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bengal, No. III, 1887.
Kashmiri Riddles by J. Hinton Knowles (1887)
[now available at archive.org]
Sample:
92. “Abah gan gan, babah gan gan, kapar kichih kichih,” son sikah bachah sairas drav.
(It cries) “abah gan gan, babah gan gan, kapar kichih kichil ” (and) our Sikh boy goes out for a walk.
The words in inverted commas are supposed to represent the sound the wheel makes when revolving. A Sikh boy is here mentioned became the top and bottom of the yandartul, (the little wheel of the spinning- wheel on which the thread being spun is wound) are fastened together with long hair ; and a Sikh boy has long hair.
A collection of 51 Kashmiri riddles presented by Pandit Anand Koul in February 1933 issue of ‘Indian Antiquary’ magazine. Among other things, the interesting bits in this work are the sayings of Lal Ded which were popular as riddles. It was this simple act that helped preserve the legacy of Lal Ded in popular Kashmiri culture.
Kashmiri Riddles By Pandit Anand Koul (1933)
[now available at archive.org]
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Kashmiri names of Birds of Kashmir
The crow family (Corvidae)
The Raven (Corvus corax tibetanus)
Kashmiri name:
Botin kav
Khata in Leh
Common in Ladakh region
The Jungle Crow (Corvus macrorhynchos intermedius)
Kashmiri name:
The Bush chat (Saxicola torquata)
[Lawrence’s The Song Thrush of Kashmir]
Wozul mini
Kashmiri name:
Kurkoch
Cinclidae (Dipper Family)
Dungal
Family Fringillidae
The Black and Yellow Grosbreak (Perrisospiza icteroides icteroides)
Kashmiri name:
Wyet Tont
The Rosefinch (Carpodacus erythrinus roseatus) (erythrinus wrongly given as crythrinus)
Kashmiri name:
Gulob Tsar
The Goldfinch (Carduelis caniceps caniceps)
Kashmiri name:
Sehara
The House Sparrow (Passer domesticus parkini)
Kashmiri name:
Tsar
The Gold Fronted Finch (Metaponia pusilla)
Kashmiri name:
Adult, Tyok
Young, Taer
The Green Finch (Hypacanthis spinoides spinoides)
Kashmiri name:
Saboz Tsar
The Meadow Bunting (Emheriza cia stracheyi)
Kashmiri name:
Won Tsar
The Swallow (Hirundo rustica)
Kashmiri name:
Katij
Motacillidae (Wagtail Family)
The White Wagtail (Motacilla alba hogsoni)
Kashmiri name:
Dobbai
The Grey Wagtail (Motacilla cinerea melanope)
Kashmiri name:
Khak Dubbai
The Yellow-headed Wagtail (Motacilla citreola citreoloides)
Kashmiri name:
Ledor Dub-bai
Alaudidae (Lark Family)
The Little Skylark (Alauda gulgula guttata)
Kashmiri name:
Dider
Order – Pici Picidae (Woodpecker Family)
The Green Woodpecker (Picus squamatus squamatus)
Kashmiri name:
Koel Makots
The Pied Woodpecker (Dryobates himalayensis)
Kashmiri name:
Hor Koel Makots
Koel-Ku-Kor (tree hen) Koel Tatak in Lolab area
The Wryneck (Iynx torquilla japonica)
Kashmiri name:
Viri Mot
Order – Anisodactyli (Coraciadae Family)
The Roller (Coracias garulla semenowi)
Kashmiri name:
Nila Krash
Meropioae Family
The Bee-Easter (Merops apiaster)
Kashmiri name:
Tulri Khav
Alcedinidae (King-Fisher Family)
The Blue King-Fisher (Alcedo atthis pallasii)
Kashmiri name:
Kola tonch
The Pied King-Fisher (Ceryle rudis leucomelanura)
Kashmiri name:
Hora Kola Tonch
The Upupidac (Hoopoe Family)
The Hoopoe (Upupa epops epops)
Kashmiri name:
Satut
Order – Coccyges Cuculida (Cuckoo Family)
The Pied Crested Cuckoo (Lamator jacobinus)
Kashmiri name:
Hor Kuk
Order – Psittaci
Psittacidae (The Parrot Family)
The Slaty Header Parakeet
Kashmiri name:
Tota, Shoga in Lolab valley
Order – Striges The Strigidae (Owl Family)
The Indian Barn Owl (Tyto alba Javanica)
Kashmiri name:
Rata Mogul
Order – Accipitres (The Birds of Prey)
The Pandionidae Family
Osprey (Pandion haliaetus haliaetus)
Kashmiri name:
?
Gypidae (The Vulture Family)
The Himalayan Griffon (Gyps Himalayensis)
Kashmiri name:
Grad
The Egyptian Vulture (Neophron percnopterus percnopterus)
Kashmiri name:
Patyal
Falconidae (Birds of Prey)
Pallas Fishing Eagle (Cuncuma leucorypha)
Kashmiri name:
Gada Grad
The Black-Eared Kite (Milvus migrans lineatus)
Kashmiri name:
Gont
The Kestrel (Falco tinnunculus)
Kashmiri name:
Bohar
Order – Columbidae Family Columbidae
The Turtle Dove (Streptopelia orientalis meena)
Kashmiri name:
Wan Kukil
The Ring Dove (Streptopelia decaocto decaocto)Kashmiri name:
Order – Herodiones Family Ardeidae
The Common Heron (Ardea cinerea cinerea)
Kashmiri name:
Brag
The Night Heron (Nycticorax nycticorax nycticorax)
Kashmiri name:
Bor
The Little Bittern (Ixobrychus minutus minutus)
Kashmiri name:
Goi
Order- Anseres-Ducks Family Anatidae
The Mallard (Anas platyrhyncha platyrhyncha)
Kashmiri name:
Male, Neluj, Female, Thuj
Order-Pygopodes Family Podicipidae
The Dabchick (Podiceps ruficollis albipennis)
Kashmiri name:
Pind
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Some additional names from ‘The Cyclopædia of India and of Eastern and Southern Asia, Commercial Industrial, and Scientific: Products of the Mineral, Vegetable, and Animal Kingdoms, Useful Arts and Manufactures, Volume 3’ by Edward Balfour, 1885.
Great Snow Pheasant
The Chikor Partridge (Kashmiri, kak)
Lophophorus refulgens. The Monaul Pheasant (Kashmiri, male Sunal or Suna ‘ Murg ‘ ; female Haum)
The Simla Horned Pheasant (Rang RawuI of some Kashmiris; Riar in Hazara)
The Laughing Gull (Kashmiri, Krind)
The European Common Tern (Kashmiri, Kreu)
Some from: Grierson, George Abraham. A dictionary of the Kashmiri language. Calcutta: Asiatic Society of Bengal, 1932.
Seda Khan’s Tomb Inscription
Tomb inscription of one Seda Khan – who died in a battle in the reign of Mummad Shah (1484-1537). It is in the cemetery next to Ziarat of Bahauddin at Hariparbat. The inscription is in Sharda as well as Arabic script. Photograph by Kakori Lewis.
The burning of Mansur in Kashmiri poems
When Kashmiris wanted to burn someone, they would often choose Mansur. Burning of Persian Sufi Mansur Al-Hallaj (c. 858 – March 26, 922) in Baghdad, was one of the most common idioms in Kashmiri sufi poetry.
If Lal Ded is considered the beginning of Kashmiri poetry, even in some of the lines attributed to her, we find Mansur. And Mansur is there in lines of Nund Rishi:
Koran Paraan Paraan kuna mudukh
Koran Paraan Paraan kun gai suur
Koran Paraan Paraan Zind kith ruzukh
Koran Paraan Paraan dodh Mansur
Why didn’t you die listening to Koran
How many turned to ashes listening to Koran
How did you live listening to Koran
Listening to Koran, Mansoor went ablaze
A leaf from an illustrated manuscript on poetry, Kashmir, 19th century.
via: christies.com.
The scene depicts the burning and crucification of Mansur al-Hallaj.
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kashmirsahasranāma
Kasvira in Prakrit
Shie-mi of To Yeng and Sung Yun
St. John’s Bible in Kashmiri, 1940s
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First Kashmiri Bible and the translation affairs, 1821
The first meeting of Kashmiri language and English language happened through a translation of Bible, in Bengal. In 1821, missionary William Carey of Serampore, who spent a most of his life producing translations of Bible into various Indian languages, brought out the Kashmeere Holy Bible. Carey is known to have used native experts for most of his translations, but the names of his Kashmiri helpers isn’t known. What is known is that the script used for this book was Sharda.
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.] |
H.S. Godwin Austin (1866) [collected]
[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]
chobuk
“How they frighten birds in Kashmir by means of a cracker made of plaited strips of bush ten feet long” ~ ‘Indian Memories: Recollections of Soldiering Sport, Etc.’ (1915) by Sir Robert Baden-Powell, father of Scout Movement. |
Action in ‘Shikargah Pather’. Delhi. April. 2013. |
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