Srinagar City
This article has been extracted from THE IMPERIAL GAZETTEER OF INDIA , 1908. OXFORD, AT THE CLARENDON PRESS. |
Note: National, provincial and district boundaries have changed considerably since 1908. Typically, old states, ‘divisions’ and districts have been broken into smaller units, and many tahsils upgraded to districts. Some units have since been renamed. Therefore, this article is being posted mainly for its historical value.
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Srinagar City
Capital of Kashmir State, situated in 34° 5' N. and 74° 50' E., at an elevation of 5,250 feet above sea-level. The city lies along the banks of the Jhelum, with a length of about 3 miles and an average breadth of 5/4 miles on either side of the river. Originally houses were confined to the right bank of the river, and the site possesses many advantages, strategical and economic. It is not known when the extension on the left bank took place, but the royal residence was transferred to it in the reign of Ananta, 1028-63.
Description
Modern Srinagar, on the right bank of the Jhelum, occupies the same position as the ancient city of king Pravarasena II, who ruled at some period of the sixth century. Kalhana, in his famous chronicle, says that the city contained 3,600,000 houses, and, writing of his own times, he states that there were mansions reaching to the clouds. Later Mirza Haidar and Abul Fazl mention the lofty houses of Srinagar built of pine-wood ; and Mirza Haidar says that the houses had five storeys, and that each storey con- tained apartments, halls, galleries, and towers. The city lies cradled between the hill of Sarika, now corrupted into Hari Parbat, and the hill of Gopa (Gopadri), now commonly known as Takht-i-Sulaiman or ' Solomon's throne.' Beyond the hills lies the exquisite Dal Lake, the never-failing source of food as well as pleasure to the citizens. In Hindu times the Harl Parbat was not fortified. The present fort on the summit is quite modern, and the bastioned stone wall enclosing the hill was built by Akbar. There are various legends regarding the temple known to the Hindus as Sankaracharya, which crowns the picturesque peak of the Takht-i-Sulaiman. The superstructure is not ancient ; but the massive and high base of the temple is probably very old, and is connected with the worship of Jyeshtharudra, in whose honour the legendary king Jalauka built a shrine.
There are not many buildings of note in Srinagar. On the left bank stands the Shergarhi, the modern palace of the Dogra rulers, where the Maharaja and his family live and the State officials work. The site was chosen by the Afghan governors for their fortified residence. Across the river is the finest ghat in Srinagar, the Basant Bagh, with grand stone steps pillaged from the mosque of Hasanabad, a reversal of the more common conditions in Kashmir, for most of the modern buildings in the valley are formed of materials robbed from the old Hindu temples. Lower down on the right bank is the beautiful mosque of Shah Hamadan, one of the most sacred places in Kashmir. As usual, it was built on the foundations of a Hindu temple, and a Hindu idol in a niche in the stone foundation is daily worshipped by the Hindus. It is constructed of deodar-wood beautifully carved. The pagoda-like roof is surmounted by a curious finial capped with brass, and the four corners of the roof are finished by a kind of gargoyle with large wooden tassels attached, a form of construction which distinctly suggests Buddhist influence. Next in sanctity to the Shah Hamadan is the great mosque, or Jama Masjid, a short distance from the right bank of the Jhelum, between the bend of the river and the Hari Parbat. This is a Saracenic building of some grandeur, with cloisters, about 120 yards in length, supported by grand pillars of deodar 30 feet in length, resting on stone foundations, once part of Hindu temples. The Jama Masjid has passed through many vicissitudes. Originally built by the great king Zain-ul-abidin, it was many times destroyed by fire, and was many times rebuilt, once by Shah Jahan. It was repaired by the Afghan Muhammad Azim Khan. The Sikhs closed the mosque for twenty-three years, but their Musalman governor, Shaikh Ghulam Muhi-ud-din, reopened it. The ground on which it stands is still sacred to Buddhists from Ladakh and to the Hindus. Nearly opposite to the Shah Hamadan is the stone mosque founded in the reign of Jahangir by his queen Nur Jahan. This was rejected by the Kashmiris on account of the sex of the founder, and has always been appropriated to secular uses. Other notable religious buildings of the city are the shrine of Makhdum Sahib below the Hari Parbat, and those of Pir Dastgir and the Nakshbandi.
Srinagar means the city of Sri or Lakshmi, the goddess of fortune ; but to the people of the valley the city is still known as Kashmir, a name full of meaning, inasmuch as until quite recent years the welfare of the villagers was subordinated to the selfish interest of the city people, and Srinagar was in fact as well as in name Kashmir.
Admirably situated on a navigable river, with canals leading to the Dal and Anchar Lakes, in a neighbourhood of extraordinary fertility, and recently endowed with an excellent water-supply, the city of the goddess of fortune is liable to cruel visitations of fires, floods, earth- quakes, and cholera. The wooden houses are an easy prey to fire ; and every man, woman, and child carries a potential instrument for a conflagration in the kangar, or kangri, and the beds of straw very quickly start a fire. Easily lighted, these fires are very difficult to extinguish, as the wretched lanes are narrow and tortuous, and the people very helpless and inert. Twice, in the time of the late Maharaja Ranbir Singh, the greater part of the city was burnt down, and before his accession Srinagar had been destroyed by fire sixteen times. Within the last ten years there have been two serious fires. One broke out near the second bridge and destroyed nearly a mile of the city, and the other burnt down the chief emporium of trade, the Maharajganj.
The city chokes the course of the Jhelum ; and when continuous warm rain in the southern mountains melts the snows, the river comes down in high flood and great loss is caused to the lower parts. In 1893 there was a memorable flood; but luckily the climax came in daytime and only seventeen of the city people were killed, sixteen from drowning and one from the falling of a house. The first bridge, the Amiran Kadal, stood, though it was submerged ; but the second bridge, the Hawa Kadal, succumbed and carried away the other five bridges which span the river. The old-fashioned and picturesque Amiran Kadal has now been replaced by a handsome masonry bridge. The flood of 1893 was surpassed by the yet more serious inundation of 1903.
The valley is liable to earthquakes, and since the fifteenth century eleven great earthquakes have occurred, all of long duration and accompanied by great loss of life. The last two assumed their most violent form in an elliptical area of which Srinagar and Baramiila were the focuses. In 1885 the shocks lasted from May 30 till August 16. There was a general panic and the people slept out of doors. Just as the style of house in Srinagar lends itself to conflagration, so does its very frailty enable it to bend before the shock of the earthquake.
In the great famine of 1877-9, though the city did not suffer to the same extent as the villages, it is stated that the population was reduced from 127,400 to 60,000.
Epidemics of cholera are unfortunately frequent. In the nineteenth century there were ten visitations, that of 1892 probably proving the most disastrous; 5,781 persons died at Srinagar and the mortality in one day rose to 600. All business was stopped, and the only shops which remained open were those of the sellers of white cloth for winding-sheets. The epidemics were rendered more terrible by the filthy habits of the people and the neglect of sanitation. Since 1892, conditions have improved. A good water-supply has enabled the authorities to keep subsequent epidemics in hand, and well-drained airy streets are replac- ing the squalid alleys. Streets have been paved and many narrow pits and excavations have been filled in, but much still remains to be done.
Poulation
In spite of drawbacks, the population has risen from 118,960 in 1891 to 122,618 in 1901. Of this total, 27,873 are Hindus and 94,021 Musalmans. The mean density is 15,327 persons per square mile, an mcrease of 451 smce 1891. The Kashmiris are notoriously a prolific race, and families of ten to fourteen are not uncommon.
Industries
The once famous shawl industry is now only a tradition. The trade received its death-blow in 1870, when war broke out between Germany and France ; and the lingering hope of revival was shattered by the famine of 1877-9, when the poor weakly shawl-weavers died like flies. A full description of shawl-weaving will be found in Moorcroft's Travels, vol. ii, chap. iii. The State took Rs. 20 per annum from employers of shawl-weavers per head, an impost of 30 per cent, on the manufactured article, and an export duty of Rs. 7-15 on a long shawl and Rs. 5-13 on a square shawl ; but the weavers earned only one or two annas per diem. According to M. Dauvergne, the Kashmiri shawl dates back to the time of the emperor Babar. The first shawls which reached Europe were brought by Napoleon, at the time of the campaign in Egypt, as a present for the future empress Josephine, and from that time shawls became fashionable. The shawl was made of the finest wool (pashm), obtained from the goats of the Tibetan mountains, the best material coming from the Tian Shan (Celestial Mountains) and Ush Tarfan. The finest shawls were manufactured between the years 1865 and 1872. Prices ranged from Rs. 150 to Rs. 5,000 (British rupees). From 1862 to 1870 the export of shawls averaged 25 to 28 lakhs per annum, and when the trade was at its zenith 25,000 to 28,000 persons were engaged in the manufacture.
Many of the shawl-weavers who survived the famine of 1877-9 have now found occupation in the manufacture of carpets, and several Europeans carry on this business. The work is of good quality, and the pattern after being designed by the artist is recorded. The description (talim) contains a series of hieroglyphs, intelligible only to the craft, indicating numbers and colours. The man who reads these calls out to the rows of sickly men and boys who sit at the loom, 'lift five and use red,' or 'lift one and use green'; but neither he nor the weavers have any idea as to what the pattern of the fabric will be. Many persons are employed in embroidering felts or namdds. The best are imported from Yarkand, but felts of a somewhat inferior description are manufactured locally. The coloured felts embroidered in Srinagar are perhaps the most artistic of the local textiles. Calico- printing is extensively carried on. Coarse locally manufactured cloth is used, and the patterns are similar to the shawl designs. The dyes employed are indigo, safflower, and madder.
The lacquered work, or papier mache, once had a great reputation, but at present the industry is in a somewhat reduced condition. The amount of real papier mache made from the pulp of paper is small and the lacquer-workers chiefly apply their beautiful designs to smooth wood. These designs are very intricate, and the drawing is all free- hand. The skill shown by them in sketching and designing is remark- able. The work is known as kari-kalamddni, as the best specimens of the old work were pen-boxes (kalamdan) ; but a variety of articles, such as tables, cabinets, and trays, are now made, and the richer classes decorate their ceilings and walls. Papier mache has perhaps suffered more than any other industry from the taste of the foreign purchaser, and copal and other European varnishes are now largely used.
The silver-work is extremely beautiful, and some of the indigenous patterns, the chindr and lotus leaf, are of exquisite design. The silver- smith works with a hammer and chisel, and will faithfully copy any design that may be given to him. Complaints are very common regard- ing the quality of the silver put into the work, and some simple system of assay would be a boon, not only to the purchaser but also to the manufacturer.
Perhaps the most effective product is the copper-work. The copper- smith works with a hammer and chisel, and many of the present coppersmiths are men who used once to work in silver. They also work in brass. Their designs are quaint and bold, and they are very ready to adopt any new pattern that may be offered to them. The copper-work of Srinagar is admirably adapted for electro-plating, and some smiths now turn out a finer kind of article specially for that purpose. A large demand has arisen for beautiful copper trays framed as tables in carved walnut-wood, and the carpenter is now the close ally of the coppersmith. Of the enamel work the enamels on brass are the best, though the enamelled silver-work is very pretty. A develop- ment in recent years has been the clever imitation of Tibetan teapots and bowls, and of Yarkand and Kashgar copper vessels. After manu- facture, these are buried in the earth or otherwise treated to give an appearance of age.
The woodwork perhaps lacks the finish of Punjab carving, but the Kashmiri carver is second to none in his skill as a designer. He works with a hammer and chisel, and a great deal of the roughness and inequality of his pieces is due to the difficulty of obtaining seasoned walnut-wood. The carving is now much bolder than it was formerly, the patterns are larger and the carving very deep. Beautiful ceilings of perfect design, cheap and effective, are made by a few carpenters, who with marvellous skill piece together thin slices of pine-wood. This is known as khaiamband. A great impetus has been given to this industry by the builders of house-boats, and the darker colours of the walnut- wood have been mixed with the lighter shades of the pine. A good specimen of modern woodwork is found in the well-known shrine of Nakshbandi not far from the Jama Masjid. A few of the khatamhand ceilings have been introduced into England.
There is a large trade in leather. Hides are prepared in the villages by the watals and are then brought to Srinagar, where they undergo further preparation. The leathern portmanteaux and valises made in Srinagar stand an amount of rough usage which few English solid leather bags would survive.
The furriers of Srinagar chiefly depend for their livelihood on the business given to them by sportsmen, who send in skins to be cured. The recent law for the protection of game, under which the sale of skins and horns is prohibited, has curtailed the business of the furriers.
The lapidaries possess very great skill, and are especially proficient as seal-cutters.
Kashmir was once famous for its paper, which was much in request in India for manuscripts, and was used by all who wished to impart dignity to their correspondence. The pulp from which the paper is made is a mixture of rags and hemp fibre, obtained by pounding these materials under a lever-mill, worked by water-power. Lime and some kind of soda are used to whiten the pulp. The pulp is then placed in stone troughs or baths and mixed with water, and from this mixture a layer of the pulp is extracted on a light frame of reeds. This layer is the paper, which is pressed and dried in the sun. Next it is polished with pumice-stone, and its surface is glazed with rice water. A final polishing with onyx stone is given, and the paper is then ready for use. It is durable and in many ways excellent, but it cannot compete with the cheap mill-paper of India.
The boating industry closely concerns the people of the city. Ex- cluding boats owned by private persons and used for private purposes, there are about 2,400 boats employed in trade and passenger trafific. The greater portion of the grain and wood imported by river is brought in large barges not unlike canal barges. These are towed or poled up-stream and drop down the river with the current. There are two kinds of barge. The larger will carry a cargo of 800 to 1,000 maunds, while the smaller can carry 400 maunds. One of the most common form of boats is the duuga, a flat-bottomed boat, about 50 to 60 feet in length, and about 6 feet in width, drawing about 2 feet of water.
Education
A high school is maintained by the State with an average daily attendance of 326 in 1900-1, and several primary schools are scattered about in the various Dmhallas. Excellent results are said to be attained ; but though the quality may be good, the quantity is small.
Medical
There is an excellent State hospital in Srinagar, at which about 11,000 in-patients and 28,000 out-patients are treated in the year, and two branch dispensaries which deal with 32,000 out- ,. , patients annually. A zanana hospital was completed in 1899 at a cost of Rs. 40,000.
In medical as well as in educational work Srinagar is fortunate in enjoying as auxiliaries to the State schools and hospitals the noble and unselfish services of the Church Missionary Society. The history of the mission is interesting, and recalls the honoured names of Robert Clark, Elmslie, Maxwell, and Downes. Opposed, despised, and perse- cuted, these good men stuck bravely to their work ; and the small and almost hopeless beginning made in 1865 by Dr. Elmslie, without a habitation and without friends, has grown into a well-equipped force which plays a civilizing part in the lives of the people. Outward opposition has given place to genuine admiration, and in 1893 the present Maharaja presided at the opening of the women's wards of the mission hospital. The leper asylum has been made over to the care of the mission. At the beginning of 1902 this had 76 patients, and 69 others were admitted during the year. In the same year the Medical Mission treated 14,515 out-patients and 1,151 in-patients, paid 36,969 visits, and performed 3,147 operations. Apart from the work done at the hospital, the missionaries tour in the most remote parts of the State.
