topics: |  kashmir | history |

Bamzai was a talented scholar and joined the Kashmir government service,
working in the state information department.  Around 1950, he was asked by
then Prime Minister of Kashmir, Sheikh Abdullah, to write a history of
Kashmir.   He later served in the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting in
Delhi, and worked as editor for several publications. 

This volume, published in 1962, has a foreword by Nehru. 

While it covers a vast range of material, the text is not nuanced, and does
not take possible alternate views into account.  In many instances,
particularly for this volatile region, it takes a more Pandit view of
matters.

Though the publication date is well past 1947, the description of Kashmir
is as an integral whole, e.g. the section on the geography describing the
route from Gilgit and Skardu, and the Sikh presence in Muzaffarabad.

Excerpts

According to the legend, as mentioned in the Rajtarangini and the
Nilamatpurana, the Valley which was a vast mountain lake was drained
by Kashyapa Rishi who imported Brahmans and sages from India to live
there.  In those pre-historic days, it is said, tribes called Pishachas and
Yakshas were living there. They used to give trouble to these Brahmans
and as advised by Nila the lord of Nagas the Brahmans off and on offered
food and clothing to these tribes, who then allowed them a peaceful time.
The festival of khichiamavas is still observed by Kashmiri Brahmans on the
15th day of the dark fortnight of Pausa (Dec.-Jan.) when khichri is cooked
in every house and kept outside in new earthen pots as present to the
Pishachas and Yakshas. 16

That the Kashmiris form a branch of the race which brought the languages of
Indo-Aryan type into India, is a fact established by the evidence of their
language and physical appearance. [Grierson, Linguistic Survey of India,
Vol. VIII, Part II]

But the period of their immigration and the route they came by are still
disputed points among the authorities on the subject. Suffice it to say that
they have till now preserved a distinct form of culture and in ancient times
produced a civilisation which would have made a greater mark in the world's
history, had there been a possibility of better and easier intercourse with
the rest of the world.

Religious tolerance

Prior to the advent of Islam in the 14th century, the population of Kashmir
was not entirely Brahmin. There are to be found the names of several sects
namely Nishads, Khashas, Dards, Bhuttas, Bhikshas, Damras, Tantrins etc. who
constantly gave trouble not only to the rulers of the country but, also to
the Brahmins. How and where they came from is a long study in itself. 

[Kashmir has seen] a happy blending of cultures, at once tolerant and
sympathetic towards the ideas and beliefs of others.
[Tarn, The Greeks in Bactria and India, p. 155]

When for instance, Brahminism replaced the earliest forms of Naga worship
there was the least tinge of religious persecution.  The Nagas are even to
this day venerated by the general populace in the various springs. 

Buddhism came into dominance in the second century B.C. and one can find that
Buddhist kings and ministers built Viharas and temples dedicated to Hindu as
well as to the Buddhist deities. And when Buddhism had its day, the change
was marked by a conspicuous absence of force or bigotry. 

Similarly in the 14th century A.D. Islam entered Kashmir the broad-minded
Kashmiris welcomed its exponent, the great Shah Hamadan, with open arms and
the synthesis of Hindu and Islamic religious thought found its greatest
exponents in Lalleshwari and Sheikh Nur-ud-Din who are even to this day
venerated by Hindus and Muslims alike.

During the darkest periods of religious persecutions by ignorant and
fanatical outsiders, the people of Kashmir lived amicably together, giving
what little solace, shelter and comfort they could to their brothers in
distress.  17

The people

The Brahmans, popularly railed Kashmiri Pandits, form a distinct c1ass of
their own and are considered to be the purest specimens of the ancient Aryan
settlers in the Valley. [Monier-Williams, Modern India and the Indians,
p. 151.]
During numerous political vicissitudes they suffered at the hands of
religious persecutors.  

Subsequently during the long and peaceful reign of Sultan Zain-ul-abidin most
of them returned to their original homeland.  They studied the Persian
language and regained their traditional occupation, namely government
service, which was held by them throughout the later periods of Mughal,
Pathan, and Sikh rule.

The newcomers assumed the appellation of Bhanmasi in contradistinction to
Malmasi which the indigenous inhabitants had assumed.  The Malmasis
observe the "lunar" and the Bhanmasis the "solar" form of astronomical
calendar.  The Karkuns or government servants having given up the study of
Sanskrit in favour of Persian, employed their daughters' eldest sons as their
priests who were called Bachibhats. In course of time, the Karkuns and
Bachibhats became two sub-castes, intermarriage between the two being
restricted.

Sikhs are another small community. Before 1947 they were chiefly concentrated
in Muzaffarabad district. Recent developments have forced them to migrate to
other parts of the State. Most of them were originally Brahmans imported by
Raja Sukh Jiwan (1754 A.D.) and were converted to Sikhism in the reign of
Maharaja Ranjit Singh (1819-39 A.D).  They are a hardy people and mostly
agriculturists. Recently they have taken to the military and police service
of the State.

Muslims and social layers

An overwhelming majority of the people in the Valley profess the Muslim
religion. The advent of Islam during the 13th and 14th centuries surely but
slowly changed the social structure of the Kashmiris, but they maintained
their traditions of love and tolerance.

	"The Mussalmans of the Valley", says Lawrence, "may have retained,
	for some time after their conversion to Islam, some of the Hindu
	customs of endogamy within the caste and exogamy outside the gotra,
	but there is no trace of these customs now and the different tribal
	names or krams are names and nothing more." [Lawrence, The Valley of
	Kashmir, p. 306.] 

It is now possible for a Dar to marry a girl of the Ganai kram and vice
versa, provided both are agriculturists.  The intermarriage among the low
caste Wattals or scavengers is still a taboo.  There is, however, a sort of
caste system prevalent, inasmuch as the members of one profession prefer to
marry their sons and daughters among the followers of a similar
profession. Thus, it is very rarely that goldsmiths (sonar) and blacksmiths
(khar) contract marriages among themselves. The old krams or nicknames of
Pandit, Bhat, Dar, etc. are however still retained and new ones also
added by reason of the head of the family's or any of his ancestors' special
calling or because of such peculiar circumstances which may have occurred to
him.

The Sheikh, Sayyid and Pirzada are still considered to be krams of
respectability among the Muslims. Mullahs or priests, though not numerous,
are a class by themselves and every village has got a family or two to
minister to the religious needs of the people.  Recently they have taken to
agriculture but otherwise they live by the free gifts of grains bestowed on
them by the villagers at harvest time. 19