Kashmiri and Dogra in 1883
This article is an extract from PANJAB CASTES SIR DENZIL CHARLES JELF IBBETSON, K.C. S.I. Being a reprint of the chapter on Lahore: Printed by the Superintendent, Government Printing, Punjab, 1916. Indpaedia is an archive. It neither agrees nor disagrees |
Kashmiri and Dogra
Castes Nos. 26 and 182
The word Kashmiri is perhaps applicable to the members of any of the races of Kashmir; but it is commonly used in Kashmir itself to denote the people of the valley of Srinagar. Our figures however probably include some Chibhalis, or the race who inhabit the Kashmir hills and the borders of Gujrat, Rawalpindi, and Hazara. But they do not include either Dogras or the Paharis of Kishtwar and Badarwah, as these last are Hindus, while our Kashmiris are Musalmans. In any case the term is a geo graphical one, and probably includes many of what we should in the Panjab call separate castes. The cultivating class who form the great mass of the Kashmiris proper are probably of Aryan descent, though per haps with an intermixture of Khas blood, and possess marked characters.
Drew describes them as large made antl robust and of a really fine cast of feature and ranks them as '^ the finest race on the whole Continent of India.But their history is, at any rate in recent times, one of the most grievous suffering and oppression ; and they are cowards, liars, and withal quarrelsome, though at the same time keen-witted, cheerful and humorous. A good aecount of them will be found in Drew's Jummoo and Kashmir. The Chibhalis are for the most part Musalman Bajpats, and differ from the Dogras only in religion, and perhaps in clan.
The Kashmiris of the Panjab may be broadly divided into three classes. First the great Kashmiri colonies of Ludhiana and Amritsar, where there are nearly 35,000 Kashmiris permanently settled and engaged for the most part in weaving shawls and similar fine fabrics. These men are chiefiy true Kashmiris. Secondly, the recent immigrants driven from Kashmir by the late famine into our sub-montane districts, or attracted by the special demand for labour in the Salt-range Tract and upper frontier which was created by works in connection with the Kabul campaign. It is impossi ble to say how many of these men are Chibhalis and how many Kash- [ rairis. Thirdly, the Chibhalis who have crossed the border and settled in our territories in the ordinary course of affairs. These men are pro bably confined to Gujrat and the trans-Salt range Tract. Besides those who are returned as Kashmiris, I find no fewer than 7,515 persons returned as Kashmiri Jats, of whom 1,152 are in Lahore and 5,081 in Gujranwala. Those are probably Kashimris who have settled and taken to cultivation.
The Kashmiri weavers of Amritsar are described as litigious, deceitful, and cowardly, while their habits are so unclean that the quarter of The city which they inhabit is a constant source of danger from its liability to epidemic disease.The Kashmiris have returned numerous sub-divi sions, of which the few largest are shown in the margin. Their dis tribution does not appear to follow any rule ; and it is hardly worth while giving detailed figures in this place. The Kashmiris of our cities are as a rule miserably poor.
See So-called 'Vagrant and Criminal' Tribes of the Punjab, 1883
