Kashmir’s Inscription Odyssey

When it comes to artworks, it is difficult to draw a parallel for Kashmir across the globe. Calligraphy (Khushkhati) is deemed superior to other crafts like painting, sculpture, and architecture. Some of the excellent penmen of all times whose products rank as classics are Kashmiris.

Dr. Nayeem Showkat

Though Pandit Kalhana has attained the pinnacles in documenting the antiquity of the State in the 12th century CE, the virtuosity of Kashmir’s historical accounts written by others of his ilk, long before him, cannot be disregarded. In an article published by The Hamdard, on 17 July 1937 titled Kashmir ke Moarrikh Kalhana se Pehle aur Baad, Munshi Muhammad Din Fauq writes that the existence and popularity of books during that period bears testimony to the fact. Since the facilities of printing and publishing were hitherto nonexistent, the books were written by hand and widely accepted.

The writings of Kalhana refer to 12 books including the Nilamata Purana. Eight books out of those still remain untraceable. Sir Aurel Stein, the English translator of Kalhana’s Rajatarangini, vigorously initiated the search for one of the said books written by Krishan Sunandar, so much so that he even announced a cash reward for the one retrieving the manuscript.

At the time of the establishment of the Sultanate in Kashmir in the 14^th century CE, scholars from Persia and Turkistan started migrating to the Vale. With the subsequent inflow of Persian and Central Asian traditions of historiography, the valley witnessed a spurt in the production of chronicles even during the medieval period.

Simultaneously, copies of certain ancient chronicles were also extracted owing to a search initiated by King Ghiyas-ud-Din Zain-ul-Abidin, who was fervently interested in acquiring these manuscripts. Thus, it is discernible from these facts that Kashmir’s eighth sultan was instrumental in the retrieval of Kalhana’s inestimable works.

Traces of chronicles

However, one major snag ailing his accounts was the omission of the history of thirty-five early Hindu kings. With the discovery of an old document scripted on birch bark, Ratnakara Purana, the record of the reigns of those kings was found.

These developments affirm that Kashmir had produced chronicles far before the arrival of the Sultanate and Mughals. The erstwhile State of Jammu and Kashmir holds the distinction to be one of the most prominent seats of learning in ancient times, thereby attracting a substantial influx of scholars and students from different regions for the purpose of study. Furthermore, Kashmir has attained eminence in the domain of arts and letters in the past.

The literary richness of the State manifests in its unrivaled contribution to the development of poetry, to the extent that the philosophy of poetry is said to have originated in Kashmir. This fact stands reinforced through Bilhana’s observation – “saffron is the seed of poetry, as no other province in India produces saffron, Kashmir alone is the true home of poetry.” It was this poetry which assumed the role of a potent tool of Kashmir’s mass awakening and political movement during modern times.

The subsequent reigns of Mughal emperors Jahangir and Shah Jahan were decorated with the brilliance of a galaxy of prominent poets and writers like Kalim, Qudsi, Auji, Tughra, Nadim, Mir Illahi, Khwaja Mumin, etc. The scintillating works of such stalwarts augmented Kashmir’s intellectual accomplishments in literature and belles-lettres.

A remarkable collection of folk tales called Katha-Sarita-Sagar, the “Ocean of Stories”, was produced in Kashmir, nine hundred years ago. The influence of this treasure trove of fables even extended to countries that were in close touch with India.

The opulence of the collection of stories made it so popular that it served as the material source of folktales in most Indian languages. These stories have been found to have a direct bearing on the content of whatever media of mass communication followed, continuing to this day in the form of newspaper stories, soap operas, telecast on television, stories broadcast on radio, et al.

Kashmir also boasts of producing fourteen out of a total of sixteen most revered rhetoricians of India. Their scholarly contributions spreading over a broad spectrum of literary genres including fairy tales, prosodies, commentaries, and biographies are considered to be highly significant.

Kashmir’s historians had developed versatility in their drafting styles, quite early since the inception of writing history. This writing style in some cases may be considered very near to the modern form of “narrative journalism”.

Islamic Era

To translate critical Persian texts into Sanskrit and vice versa, and both into the Kashmiri language, Zain-ul-Abidin, a patron of the Persian language, constituted a Translation Bureau. Since his reign, Persian reckoned the status of the court language in the State, thus replacing Sanskrit as the language of culture and administration. The advent of the Islamic era in Kashmir heralded its buttressing of relations with Persia, Khurasan Samarqand, Bukhara, and other places.

Vouchsafing for its furtherance, Yusuf Shah Chak, in the 16th century CE, has been significant in attaining an acme in the development of the Persian language in Kashmir. However, unlike before, a remarkable literary burgeon of the language in the State was beheld during the Mughal period (1586-1752).

The Persian language clinched the purpose of being the common parlance between the court and the administration even in the face of its waning at the end of the Mughal period and Pathan era, till the Dogra regime replaced it with Urdu. Owing to its unprecedented vogue, Pratap Singh avowed Urdu as an official language of the State in 1889, whilst the equipping of the telegraphs with Urdu script had already been accomplished by his predecessor ruler, Ranbir Singh.

Evolution of Calligraphy

When it comes to artworks, it is difficult to draw a parallel for Kashmir across the globe. Calligraphy (Khushkhati) is deemed superior to other crafts like painting, sculpture, and architecture. Some of the excellent penmen of all times whose products rank as classics are Kashmiris.

The Sultanate period marked an epoch of pulsating literary activities in the State, leading to a gradual evolution of the art of calligraphy. The passionate endeavors of Zain-ul-Abidin, as has been mentioned earlier, were vital to the development of this art, for he was a pioneer in importing numerous calligraphists from Central Asia, and attracted several of them from Persia to the valley, under his patronage. These skilled craftsmen were also bestowed with jagirs.

One of the most illustrious calligraphists among them was Muhammad Hussain. Kashmir’s art of calligraphy further flourished under the Mughal regime, particularly with the ground-breaking invention of indelible ink that could not be washed away with water. This breakthrough was tangibly rewarded by the Mughals.

With Kashmir’s annexation in 1586 by the Mughals, Muhammad Hussain was also roped in by Akbar. So spellbound was Akbar, an ardent admirer of arts, by the absolute grace, splendor, and symmetry of his compositions, that he conferred upon him the title of Zarrin-qalam.

Hussain was credited as the ‘chief elegant writer of the day’ by emperor Jahangir. Ali Chaman Kashmiri was another renowned calligraphist attached to Akbar’s court.

Mohammad Murad Kashmiri was the court calligraphist of Shah Jahan, earning himself the title of Shirin Qalam in lieu of his outstanding skills. His penmanship was considered second only to those of the venerable Mullah Mir Ali and Sultan Ali.

Murad’s younger brother, Mulla Mohsin was also a calligraphist of fame. Mulla Baqir Kashmiri was another celebrated calligraphist who joined the services of Shah Jahan. Accompanied by Mughal emperor Akbar during his Kashmir visit in 1589 CE, his chief vizier Abu’l-Fazl ibn Mubarak, also known as Abul Fazl, records that the manuscript and ancient documents were written on Auraq-i-tuz in a separate script of Sanskrit language.

Shunning the use of bhojapatar, which was the order of the day, it was Zain-ul- Abidin who had the privilege to familiarise the use of paper in the State. The Sultan, to begin with, had a number of copies made of Kashshaf which were retained for the purpose of skimming in the University of Naushahr for the intellectual development of the scholars.

Paper Making and Kashmiri Kagaz

The paper reached Kashmir from China via Central Asia, and soon it attained the status of being the center of excellence in papermaking in the region. Since Kashmir’s history of paper making and bookbinding industry dates back to 1300 years, yet in the ensuing times Sultan Zain-ul-Abidin after alluring the artisans from Samarqand, settled such paper-workers in the Naushahr district of Srinagar.

To bring the famed clinches to Kashmir, the king also deputed two persons to be trained in Samarqand – one in art and the other in book-binding – so that they, on their return, would help to get the art popularised in this region.

Possessing a unique characteristic of being reusable, the local paper called Kashmiri kagaz, also gained popularity for being termite-resistant, thus adding to its longevity. The State engendered distinction for manufacturing unequaled quality of paper that prominent visitor George Forster who traveled to Kashmir during the Afghan time in 1783 CE, noted that the place fabricates “the best writing paper of the East” and it was an “article of extensive traffic.” It turned out to be an article of high demand among the writers, who wished to impart dignity to their correspondence and couldn’t restrain from staying unaffected by the towering admiration of the paper.

Lawrence notes that during his sojourn in Kashmir, it can be remarked that Qurans were “still written on paper made from hemp fiber, but printing has destroyed those men of beautiful penmanship, the khushnavis of Srinagar, just as the Indian paper mills have destroyed Kashmir’s once famous handmade foolscap” Despite being durable and excellent in quality and other ways, Kashmir’s paper couldn’t compete with cheap-mill-made paper from India.

Till the outset of the 20th century, thirty-six families in Naushahr were estimated to be associated with this art of utmost importance. Five dastas of good or seven dastas of rough paper was what an average family is assessed to have produced in a day. In the times of Budshah, Ganderbal and Naushahr became centers for paper manufacturing with the establishment of modern paper-making factories.

Though not a single resident is associated with this vanished trade for now, there still exists a Kagaz Gari Mohalla in Down Town area of Srinagar. Subsequently, in Samvat 1931, production of hand-made paper commenced at the hands of Dogra rulers for the government’s use.

Dogra regime, in 1937, also latched on to the idea of instituting a paper-making factory in the State expending 10 lakh rupees which they couldn’t materialize owing to several factors. In an analogous attempt, the Dogra rulers also aimed to establish such a factory in Mirpur, but this inkling also died before its birth.

What makes the case of the State of Jammu and Kashmir quite paradoxical and intriguing is the fact that despite possession of all the requisite literary and infrastructural capacities for the production of a newspaper or news-sheet, newspapers in the State could only be originated in the late 19^th century at the behest of the ruling class Dogras.