Kashmir: Melting pot of cultures!

                                                     - Sanjay Nahar 

 

After abolishing the special status of Jammu and Kashmir by abrogating Article 370, dividing it into two Union Territories, it is now time to look back at its rich cultural and political history and traditions to understand its significance.  Kashmir had a significant impact on Indian history, and almost every branch of knowledge flourished in the valley, enriching Kashmiri culture, which is often referred to as “Kashmiriyat” and has a history of about seven thousand years. This culture was formed together by the Naga, Kush, Kapisha, and Pisachcha tribes, and this land has been a melting pot of many religious streams like Vedicism, Shaivism, Jainism, and Islam. It has been proven by Mr. Virchand Gandhi, a veteran Jain scholar who had represented Jain religion at the first religious conference held at Chicago, that Jesus  Christ had visited Kashmir and how the influence of the tenets of Jainism can be traced in the Bible. Many scholars have supported this research, as some ancient scripts did surface in the Monasteries of Tibet.  In short, almost every religious development has taken place in the valley.

 

Mesmerized by the beauty of Kashmir, Mughal Emperor Jahangir had said that he was ready to forsake all his empire had he been offered Kashmir in exchange and had exclaimed, “If there is a heaven on the Earth, it is here.” This land has attracted the scholars, seers, seekers, and religious leaders of the world. Possessing a rich pre-Vedic culture, Kashmiris also welcomed the Vedic religion, molding it in their own unique social style. On the rise of Buddhism, Kashmir greeted it too, but further developed that religion to the Mahayana/Vajrayana sect and enthusiastically spread it elsewhere. When Kashmir embraced Islam, they maintained their pre-Islamic cultural traditions, thus uniquely shaping Islam. Islam entered here because the Buddhist King Rinchen Shah’s request to convert to the Vedic/Shaiva cult was denied by the Pundits, and thus, frustrated, he had to choose Islam. Kashmir has accepted new concepts, sometimes willingly, sometimes under threat, but always made these concepts part of their cultural ethos.

 

Archeologist and historian Sir Aurel Stein opines that Kashmir is the only state in India that has a written history of more than five thousand years. Scholars from across the world, like Stein, Buhler, and Walter Lawrence, have been attracted to Kashmir to study its history. Kalhana’s Rajtarangini is the most important book that contains the stylized political history of ancient Kashmir. Kalhan’s history begins with the first king of Kashmir, Gonand, whose race ruled for a period of about three thousand years. Kalhana’s tradition was continued by Jonraja, Prajyabhata, and Saka. These efforts most faithfully preserved the political and cultural history of Kashmir.

 

However, Indian history neglected Kashmir in its discourse. Mahabharata does not mention Kashmir or its kings even in the Great War event where the kings of all over have been mentioned.  According to the Nilmat Purana, the first king of Kashmir, Gonand, was contemporary to Kauravas-Pandava and the coronation of King Yudhishthira took place simultaneously.  It is also mentioned in this Purana that Gonand was a relative of Jarasangha. When war broke out between Krishna and Jarasangha, Jarasangha sought the help of Gonanda. Gonanda thus attacked Dwaraka. In this prolonged war, King Gonanda was killed at the hands of Balrama. His son Damodara succeeded the throne and, to avenge his father’s death, marched on Dwaraka, but he too met with fatal death. His pregnant wife, Yashomati, was pardoned by Krishna, and when she gave birth to a boy, known as Gonand II, he was coroneted as a new king.  Those who opposed Krishna’s move to support Yashomati were cautioned by Krishna that the land of Kashmir is Parvati, and the king there is a partial incarnation of Lord Shiva, and hence, even if the king there is cruel, he should not be punished. Instead, we have to establish good connections with him. The message of Lord Krishna is useful even today to those in power who are ardent followers of him.

 

The status and glory ancient Greece had attained in the western world, the same status  Kashmir has achieved in India. Kashmir has been a center of knowledge and wisdom for millennia. Pundit Nehru also has stated that Kashmir led India intellectually for almost two millennia. No branch of knowledge has been left untouched by Kashmir; instead has contributed immensely.

 

Among the things that Kashmir has achieved politically, the victories and wisdom of Lalitaditya-Muktapid (725- 761) cannot be neglected. Kalhan says, 'Lalitaditya achieved the reputation that this country had never received before. He invited many scholars to Kashmir. After defeating Yasovarman, the Emperor of Kanauj, he took the scholars of Kanauj to Kashmir. One of them was Abhinavagupta's ancestor, who originally belonged to Tryambakeshvar in Maharashtra, states Dr. R. C. Dhere in his book Tryambak Math. This would mean that the origin of the foremost Kashmiri scholar and the epitome of Shaiva ideology, Abhinav Gupta, can be traced back to Maharashtra.

 

The Kashmiri people reminisce about another golden period in history, the period of the reign of King Zain-ul-Abidin or emperor (Bhattshah) from 1420 to 1470. The highest point of glory reached during this period has never been reached by any other king of Kashmir. He tried to provide justice to his Kashmiri Pandits, to whom his father Sultan Sikander (iconoclast) and Suhad Bhat had persecuted and forced into exile. He tried his best to bring the Pandits back and rehabilitate them in Kashmir. The Kashmiri people admire him and think him greater than Akbar. Some scholars believe that the Kashmiri Pandits who came out of Kashmir during the period of hostility and settled in Maharashtra are called Saraswat Brahmins.

 

Later on, there were several invasions of Kashmir. According to some researchers, after Lalitaditya Muktapida, no great militarily superior king came to the throne in Kashmir. After the intellectual struggle with the heirs of Adi Shankaracharya and the monotheist Abhinav Gupta, Kashmir gradually receded in the intellectual field. Of course, whether 84,000 stupas built by Emperor Ashoka or the efforts made by the Vedics to destroy Buddhism, nevertheless, saints like Kashmiri Shaiva poetess Laleshwari, Nandarushi, or Nuruddin Noorani continued a tradition of unifying the various ideologies. Aurangzeb's elder brother Dara Shukoh also contributed to this tradition.

 

Pandit Kalhan states, 'Kashmir temporarily leans under pressure but cannot be subjugated on the basis of strength. ' Kalhan also says of about the pre-Islamic  Kashmiri women who used to dance in temples during Shiva Puja with all enthusiasm, in the same spirit these women can revolt against the unjust king, no matter who he is. Dr Aruna Dhere, Editor-in-Chief of Marathi translation of Rajtarangini says that before establishing a bond of affection with Kashmiri people one needs to understand the underlying innocence but rebellious tendencies of Kashmiri people those are the outcome of thousands of years old history.

 

-Sanjay Nahar

(Founder-President of Sarhad)