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Kashmir and Jammu

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.

Physical aspects

The door is at Jammu, and the house faces south, looking out on the Punjab Districts of Jhelum, Gujrat, Sialkot, and Gurdaspur. There is just a fringe of level land along the Punjab frontier, bordered by a plinth of low hilly country sparsely wooded, broken, and irregular. This is known as the Kandi, the home of the Chibs and the Dogras. Then comes the first storey, to reach which a range of mountains, 8,000 feet high, must be climbed. This is a temperate country with forests of oak, rhododendron, and chestnut, and higher up of deodar and pine, a country of beautiful uplands, such as Bhadarwah and Kishtwar, drained by the deep gorge of the Chenab river. The steps of the Himalayan range known as the Pir Panjal lead to the second storey, on which rests the exquisite valley of Kashmir, drained by the Jhelum river. Up steeper flights of the Himalayas we pass to Astor and Baltistan on the north and to Ladakh on the east, a tract drained by the river Indus. In the back premises, far away to the north-west, lies Gilgit, west and north of the Indus, the whole area shadowed by a wall of giant mountains which run east from the Kilik or Mintaka passes of the Hindu Kush, leading to the Pamirs and the Chinese dominions past Rakaposhi (25,561 feet), along the Muztagh range past K 2 (Godwin Austen, 28,265 feet), Gasherbrum and Masherbrum (28,100 and 25,660 feet respectively) to the Karakoram range which merges in the Kuenlun mountains. Westward of the northern angle above Hunza-Nagar the mighty maze of mountains and glaciers trends a little south of east along the Hindu Kush range bordering Chitral, and so on into the limits of Kafiristan and Afghan territory.

At the Karakoram pass (18,317 feet) the wall zigzags, and to the north-east of the State is a high corner bastion of mountain plains at an elevation of over 17,000 feet, with salt lakes dotted about. Little is known of that bastion ; and the administration of Jammu and Kashmir has but scanty information about the eastern wall of the property, which is formed of mountains of an elevation of about 20,000 feet, and crosses lakes, like Pangkong, lying at a height of nearly 14,000 feet. The southern boundary repeats the same features — grand mountains running to peaks of over 20,000 feet ; but farther west, where the wall dips down more rapidly to the south, the elevation is easier, and we come to Bhadarwah (5,427 feet) and to the still easier heights of Basoli (2,170 feet) on the Ravi river. From Madhopur, the head-works of the Bari Doab Canal, the Ravi river erases tn be the boundary, and a line crossing the (Ujh river and the watershed of the low Dogra hills runs fairly straight to Jammu. A similar line, marked by a double row of trees, runs west from Jammu to the Jhelum river. From the south-west corner of the territories the Jhelum river forms an almost straight boundary on the west as far as its junction with the Kunhar river, 14 miles north of Kohala. At that point the western boundary leaves the river and clings to the moun- tains, running in a fairly regular line to the grand snow scarp of Nanga Parbat (26,182 feet). Thence it runs almost due north to the crossing of the Indus at Ramghat under the Hattu Plr, then north-west, sweep- ing in Punial, Yasln, Ghizar, and Koh, the Mehtarjaos or chiefs of which claim the Tangir and I )arel country, and linking on to the Hindu Kush and Muztagh ranges which look north to Chinese territory and south to Hunza-Nagar and Gilgit.

It is said of the first Maharaja Gulab Singh, the builder of the edifice just described, that when he surveyed his new purchase, the valley of Kashmir, he grumbled and remarked that one-third of the country was mountains, one-third water, and the remainder alienated to privileged persons. Speaking of the whole of his dominions, he might without exaggeration have described them as nothing but mountains. There are valleys, and occasional oases in the deep canons of the mighty rivers ; but mountain is the predominating feature and has strongly affected the history, habits, and agriculture of the people. Journeying along the haphazard paths which skirt the river banks, till the sheer cliff bars the way and the track is forced thousands of feet over the mountain-top, one feels like a child wandering in the narrow and tortuous alleys which surround some old cathedral in England.

It is impossible within the limit of this article to deal in detail with the nooks and corners where men live their hard lives and raise their poor crops in the face of extraordinary difficulties. There are interest- ing tracts like Padar on the southern border, surrounded by perpetual snow, where the edible pine and the deodar flourish, and where the sunshine is scanty and the snow lies long. It was in Padar that were found the valuable sapphires, pronounced by experts the finest in the world. Farther east across the glaciers lies the inaccessible country of Zaskar, said to be rich in copper, where the people and cattle live indoors for six months out of the year, where trees are scarce and food is scarcer. Zaskar has a fine breed of ponies. Farther east is the lofty Rupshu, the lowest point of which is 13,500 feet ; and even at this great height barley ripens, though it often fails in the higher places owing to early snowfall. In Rupshu live the nomad Champas, who are able to work in an air of extraordinary rarity, and complain bitterly of the heat of Leh (1 1,500 feet).

Everywhere on the mass of mountains are places worthy of mention, but the reader will gain a better idea of the country if he follows one or more of the better known routes. A typical route will be that along which the troops sometimes march from Jammu, the winter capital, past the Summer Palace at Srinagar in Kashmir to the distant outpost at Gilgit. The traveller will leave the railway terminus on the south bank of the Tawi, the picturesque river on which Jammu is built. From Jammu (1,200 feet) the road rises gently to Dansal (1,840 feet), passing through a stony country of low hills covered with acacias, then over steeper hills of grey sandstone where vegetation is very scarce, over the Laru Lari pass (8,200 feet), dropping down again to 5,150 feet and lower still to Ramban (2,535 feet), where the Chenab river is crossed, then steadily up till the Banihal pass (9,230 feet) is gained and the valley of Kashmir lies below.

So far the country has been broken, and the track devious, with interminable ridges, and for the most part, if we except the vale of the Bichlari, the pine woods of Chineni, and the slopes between Ramban and Deogol (Banihal), a mere series of flat uninteresting valleys, unrelieved by forests. It is a pleasure to pass from the scenery of the outer hills into the green fertile valley of Kashmir — the emerald set in pearls. The valley is surrounded by mountain ranges which rise to a height of 18,000 feet on the north-east, and until the end of May and sometimes by the beginning of October there is a continuous ring of snow around the oval plain. Leaving the Banihal pass — and no experienced traveller cares to linger on that uncertain home of the winds — the track rapidly descends to Vernag (6,000 feet), where a noble spring of deep-blue water issues from the base of a high scarp. This spring may be regarded as the source of Kashmir's great river and waterway, commonly known as the Jhelum, the Hydaspes of the ancients, the Vitasta in Sanskrit, and spoken of by the Kashmiris as the Veth. Fifteen miles north the river becomes navigable ; and the traveller, after a march of no miles, embarks at Khanabal in a fiat-bot- tomed boat and drops gently down to Srinagar, the capital of Kashmir.

Looking at a map of Kashmir, one sees a white footprint set in a mass of black mountains. This is the celebrated valley, perched securely among the Himalayas at an average height of 6,000 feet above the sea. It is approximately 84 miles in length and 20 to 25 miles in breadth. North, east, and west, range after range of mountains guard the valley from the outer world, while in the south it is cut off from the Punjab by rocky barriers, 50 to 75 miles in width. The mountain snows feed the river and the streams, and it is calculated that the Jhelum in its course through the valley has a catchment area of nearly 4,000 square miles. The mountains which surround Kashmir are infinitely varied in form and colour. To the north lies a veritable sea of mountains broken into white-crested waves, hastening away in wild confusion to the great promontory of Nanga Parbat (26,182 feet). To the cast stands Haramukh (16,903 feet), the grim mountain which guards the valley of the Sind. Farther south is Mahadeo, very sacred to the Hindus, which seems almost to look down upon Snnagar ; and south again are the lofty range of Gwash Brari (17,800 feet), and the peak of Amarnath (17,321 feet), the mountain of the pilgrims and very beautiful in the evening sun. On the south-west is the Panjal range with peaks of r 5,000 feet, over which the old imperial road of the Mughals passes ; farther north the great rolling downs of the Tosh Maidan (14,000 feet), over which men travel to the Punch country; and in the north-west corner rises the Kajinag (12,125 feet), the home of the mdrkhor.

On the west, and wherever the mountain-sides are sheltered from the hot breezes of the Punjab plains, which blow across the intervening mountains, there are grand forests of pines and firs. Down the tree- clad slopes dash mountain streams white with foam, passing in their course through pools of the purest cobalt. When the great dark forests cease and the brighter woodland begins, the banks of the streams are ablaze with clematis, honeysuckle, jasmine, and wild roses which remind one of azaleas. The green smooth turf of the woodland glades is like a well-kept lawn, dotted with clumps of hawthorn and other beautiful trees and bushes. It would be difficult to describe the colours that are seen on the Kashmir mountains. In early morning they are often a delicate semi-transparent violet relieved against a saffron sky, and with light vapours clinging round their crests. The rising sun deepens the shadows, and produces sharp outlines and strong passages of purple and indigo in the deep ravines. Later on it is nearly all blue and lavender, with white snow peaks and ridges under a vertical sun ; and as the afternoon wears on these become richer violet and pale bronze, gradually changing to rose and pink with yellow or orange snow, till the last rays of the sun have gone, leaving the mountains dyed a ruddy crimson, with the snows showing a pale creamy green by contrast. Looking downward from the mountains the valley in the sunshine has the hues of the opal ; the pale reds of the karezvas, the vivid light greens of the young rice, and the darker shades of the groves of trees relieved by sunlight sheets, gleams of water, and soft blue haze give a combination of tints reminding one irresistibly of the changing hues of that gem. It is impossible in the scope of this article to do justice to the beauty and grandeur of the mountains of Kashmir, or to enumerate the lovely glades and forests, visited by so few. Much has been written of the magnificent scenery of the Sind and Liddar valleys, and of the gentler charms of the Lolab, but the equal beauties of the western side of Kashmir have hardly been described. Few countries can offer anything grander than the deep-green mountain tarn, Konsanag, in the Panjal range, the waters of which make a wild entrance into the valley over the splendid cataract of Arabal, while the rolling grass mountain called Tosh Maidan, the springy downs of Raiyar looking over the Suknag river as it twines, foaming down from the mountains, the long winding park known as Yusumarg, and lower down still the little hills which remind one of Surrey, and Nilnag with its pretty lake screened by the dense forests, are worthy to be seen.

As one descends the mountains and leaves the woodland glades, cul- tivation commences immediately, and right up to the fringe of the forests maize is grown and walnut-trees abound. A little lower down, at an elevation of about 7,000 feet, rice of a hardy and stunted growth is found, and the shady plane-tree appears. Lower still superior rices are grown, and the watercourses are edged with willows. The side valleys which lead off from the vale of Kashmir, though possessing dis- tinctive charms of their own, have certain features in common. At the mouth of the valley lies the wide delta of fertile soil on which the rice with its varying colours, the plane-trees, mulberries, and willows grow luxuriantly ; a little higher up the land is terraced and rice still grows, and the slopes are ablaze with the wild indigo, till at about 6,000 feet the plane-tree gives place to the walnut, and rice to millets. On the left bank of the mountain river endless forests stretch from the bottom of the valley to the peaks ; and on the right bank, wherever a nook or corner is sheltered from the sun and the hot breezes of India, the pines and firs establish themselves. Farther up the valley, the river, already a roaring torrent, becomes a veritable waterfall dashing down between lofty cliffs, whose bases are fringed with maples and horse-chestnuts, white and pink, and millets are replaced by buckwheat and Tibetan barley. Soon after this the useful birch-tree appears, and then come grass and glaciers, the country of the shepherds.

Where the mountains cease to be steep, fan-like projections with flat arid tops and bare of trees run out towards the valley. These are known as kareivas. Sometimes they stand up isolated in the middle of the valley, but, whether isolated or attached to the mountains, the kareivas present the same sterile appearance and offer the same abrupt walls to the valley. The karewas are pierced by mountain torrents and seamed with ravines. Bearing in mind that Kashmir was once a lake, which dried up when nature afforded an outlet at Baramula, it is easy to recognize in the kareivas the shelving shores of a great inland sea, and to realize that the inhabitants of the old cities, the traces of which can be seen on high bluffs and on the slope of the mountains, had no other choice of sites, since in those days the present fertile valley was buried beneath a waste of water.

Kashmir abounds in mountain tarns, lovely lakes, and swampy lagoons. Of the lakes the Wular, the Dal, and the Manasbal are the most beautiful. It is also rich in springs, many of which are thermal. They are useful auxiliaries to the mountain streams in irrigation, and are sometimes the sole sources of water, as in the case of Achabal, Vernag, and Kokarnag on the south, and Arpal on the east. Islamabad or Anantnag, ' the place of the countless springs,' sends out numerous streams. One of these springs, the Maliknag, is sulphurous, and its water is highly prized for garden cultivation. The Kashmiris are good judges of water. They regard Kokarnag as the best source of drinking-water, while Chashma Shahi above the Dal Lake stands high in order of merit. It is time now for the traveller who has been resting in Srinagar to set out on the great northern road which leads to Gilgit. He will have admired the quaint, insanitary city lying along the banks of the Jhelum, with a length of 3 miles and an average breadth of i£ miles on either side of the river. The houses vary in size from the large and spacious brick palaces of the Pandit aristocrat and his 500 retainers, warmed in the winter by hammams, to the doll house of three storeys, where the poor shawl-weaver lives his cramped life, and shivers in the frosty weather behind lattice windows covered with paper. In the spring and summer the earthen roofs of the houses, resting on layers of birch-bark, are bright with green herbage and flowers. The canals with their curious stone bridges and shady waterway, and the great river with an average width of eighty yards, spanned by wooden bridges, crowded with boats of every description, and lined by bathing boxes, are well worth studying. The wooden bridges are cheap, effective, and pictur- esque, and their construction is ingenious, for in design they appear to have anticipated the modern cantilever principle. Old boats filled with stones were sunk at the sites chosen for pier foundations. Piles were then driven and more boats were sunk. When a height above the low- water level was reached, wooden trestles of deodar were constructed by placing rough-hewn logs at right angles. As the structure approached the requisite elevation to admit of chakivdris (house-boats) passing be- neath, deodar logs were cantilevered. This reduced the span, and huge trees were made to serve as girders to support the roadway.

The foun- dations of loose stones and piles have been protected on the upstream side by planking, and a rough but effective cut-water made. The secret of the stability of these old bridges may, perhaps, be attributed to the skeleton piers offering little or no resistance to the large volume of water brought down at flood-time. It is true that the heavy floods of 1893 swept away six out of the seven city bridges, and that the cumbrous piers tend to narrow the waterway, but it should be remembered that the old bridges had weathered many a serious flood. Not long ago two of the bridges, the Habba Kadal and the Zaina Kadal, had rows of shops on them reminding one of Old London Bridge ; but these have now been cleared away.

The distance by road from Srinagar to Gilgit is 228 miles, and the traveller can reach Bandipura at the head of the Wular Lake by boat or by land. The Gilgit road, which cost the Kashmir State, in the first instance, 15 lakhs, is a remarkable achievement, and was one of the greatest boons ever conferred on the Kashmiri subjects of the Maharaja. Previous to its construction supplies for the Gilgit garrison were carried by impressed labourers, many of whom perished on the passes, or returned crippled and maimed by frost-bite on the snow or accident on the goat paths that did duty for roads. The journey to Gilgit before 1890 has been aptly compared with the journey to Siberia. Now, sup- plies are carried on ponies and the name Gilgit is no longer a terror to the people of Kashmir.

From Bandipura a steep ascent leads to the Raj Diangan pass (1 1,800 feet), a most dreaded place in the winter months, when the cold winds mean death to man and beast. Thence through a beautifully wooded and watered country, past the lovely valley of Gurais, down which the Kishanganga flows, the traveller has no difficulties till he reaches the Burzil pass (13,500 feet), below which the summer road to Skardu across the dreary wastes of the Deosai plains branches off to the north- east. This is a very easy pass in summer, but is very dangerous in a snowstorm or high wind.

Descending from the Burzil the whole scene changes. The forests and vegetation of Kashmir are left behind, the trees are few and of a strange appearance, and the very flowers look foreign. It is a bleak and rugged country, and when Astor (7,853 feet) is left the sense of desola- tion increases. Nothing can be more dreary than the steep descent from Doian down the side of the arid Hattu Fir into the sterile waste of the Indus valley. It is cool at Doian (8,720 feet); it is stifling at Ram- ghat (3,800 feet), where one passes over the Astor river by a suspension bridge. The old construction was a veritable bridge of sighs to the Kashmir convicts who were forced across the river and left to their fate ■ — starvation or capture by the slave-hunters from Chilas. A little cultivation at Bunji relieves the eye ; but there is nothing to cheer the traveller until the Indus has been crossed by a fine bridge, and 30 miles farther the pleasant oasis of Gilgit is reached.

The Indus valley is a barren dewless country. The very river with its black water looks hot, and the great mountains are destitute of vegetation. The only thing of beauty is the view of the snowy ranges, and Nanga Parbat in the rising sun seen from the crossing of the Indus river to Gilgit sweeps into oblivion the dreadful desert of sands and rock. Gilgit (4,890 feet) itself is fertile and well watered. The moun- tains fall back from the river, and leave room for cultivation on the alluvial land bordering the right bank of the Gilgit river, a rare feature in the northern parts of the Maharaja's dominion.

Another route giving a general idea of the country runs from west to east, from Kohala on the Jhelum to Leh, about 5 miles beyond the Indus. A good road from Rawalpindi brings the traveller to Kohala, where he crosses the Jhelum by a bridge, and enters the territories of Tammu and Kashmir. The cart-road passes from Kohala to Srinagar, a distance of 132 miles, by easy gradients. As far as Baramula the road is close to the river, but for the most part at a great height above it, and the scenery is beautiful. At Muzaffarabad the Kishanganga river joins the Jhelum, and here the road from Abbottabad and Garhi Hablb-ullah connects with the Kashmir route. The road runs along the left bank of the Jhelum, through careful terraced cultivation, above which are pine forests and pastures. It carries a very heavy traffic, but owing to the formation of the country it is liable to constant breaches, and is expensive to keep in repair.

From Uri a road runs south to the country of the Raja of Punch, the chief feudatory of the Maharaja, crossing the Haji pass (8,500 feet). At Baramula the road enters the valley of Kashmir, and runs through a continuous avenue of poplars to Srinagar. In bygone days this route, known as the Jhelum valley road — now the chief means of communica- tion with India — was little used. The Bambas and Khakhas, who still hold the country, were a restless and warlike people ; and the numerous forts that command the narrow valley suggest that the neighbourhood was unsafe for the ordinary traveller. The construction of the road from Kohala to Baramula cost the State nearly 22 lakhs.

From Srinagar to Leh is 243 miles. The first part of the journey runs up the Sind valley, perhaps the most exquisite scenery in Kashmir. Fitful efforts are made from time to time to improve this important route, but it still remains a mere fair-weather track. The Sind river thunders down the valley, and the steep mountains rise on either side, the northern slopes covered with pine forest, the southern bare and treeless. At Gagangir the track climbs along the river torrent to Sonamarg (8,650 feet), the last and highest village in the Sind valley, if we except the small hamlet of Nilagrar some 2 miles higher up. Sonamarg is a beautiful mountain meadow surrounded by glaciers and forests. It is a miserable place in the winter time, but it is of great importance to encourage a resident population. The chief staples of cultivation are grim, or Tibetan barley, and buckwheat. It is good to turn loose the baggage ponies to graze on the meadow grasses ; for in a few more marches one passes into a region like the country beyond the Burzil on the road to Gilgit, a land devoid of forests and pastures, 'a desert of bare crags and granite dust, a cloudless region always burn- ing or freezing under the clear blue sky.' The Zoji La (1 1,300 feet) is the lowest depression in the great Western Himalayas which run from the Indus valley on the Chilas frontier. Over this high range the rains from the south hardly penetrate, and the cultivation, scanty and diffi- cult, depends entirely on artificial canals. The ascent to the Zoji La from Kashmir is very steep, the descent to the elevated table-land of Tibet almost imperceptible. For five marches the route follows the course of the Dras river, through a desolate country of piled up rocks and loose gravel. At Chanagund the road to Skardu crosses the Dras river by a cantilever bridge, 4 miles above the junction of the Dras and Suru rivers, and about 8 miles farther on the Indus receives their waters. But the steep cliffs of the Indus offer no path to the traveller, and the track leaves the Dras river, and turns in a southerly direction to Kargil, a delightful oasis.

Then the road abandons the valleys and ascends the bare mountains. The dreary scenery is compensated by the cloudless pale blue sky and the dry bracing air so characteristic of Ladakh. Through gorges and defiles the valley of Shergol is reached) the first Buddhist village on the road. Thenceforward the country is Buddhist, and the road runs up and down over the Namika La ( 1 3,000 feet) and over the Fotu La (13,400 feet), the highest point on the Leh road. Along the road near the villages are Buddhist monasteries, mam's (walls of praying stones) and chortens, where the ashes of the dead mixed with clay and moulded into a little idol are placed, and at Lamayaru there is a wilderness of monuments. Later, the Indus is crossed by a long cantilever bridge ; and the road runs along the right bank through the fertile oasis of Khalsi, then through the usual desert with an occasional patch of vegetation to Leh (11,500 feet), the capital of Western Tibet and of Western Buddhism, and the trade terminus for caravans from India and from Central Asia. It is a long and difficult road from Leh to Yarkand, 482 miles, over the Khardung La, the Sasser La, and the Karakoram pass of between 17,000 and 19,000 feet altitude, where the useful yak (Bos grunniens) relieves the ponies of their loads when fresh snow has fallen, or serves unladen to consolidate a path for the ponies. A brief description may be given of one more of the many routes that follow the rivers and climb the mountains — the route from Leh through Baltistan to Astor on the Gilgit road. At Khalsi, where the Srlnagar-Leh road crosses the Indus, the track keeps to the right bank of the Indus, and passing down the deep gorge of the river comes to a point where the stupendous cliffs and the roaring torrent prevent farther progress. There the traveller strikes away from the Indus and ascends the mountains to the Chorbat pass (16,700 feet), covered with snow even in July. From the pass, across the valley of the Shyok river, the great Karakoram range, some 50 miles away, comes into view. An abrupt descent carries the traveller from winter into hot summer ; and by a difficult track which in places is carried along the face of the cliff by frail scaffolding (pari), following the course of the Shyok river, smoothly flowing between white sands of granite, and passing many pleasant oases, one comes to the grateful garden of Khapallu, a paradise to the simple Baltis. Crossing the united waters of the Shyok and the Indus on a small skin raft, the traveller arrives at Skardu (7,250 feet), the old capital of Baltistan.

Here the mountains on either side of the Indus recede, and the sandy basin, about 5 miles in breadth, is partially irrigated by water from the pretty mountain lake of Satpura and care- fully cultivated. Looking across the Indus to the north, the Shigar valley, the garden of Baltistan, with its wealth of fruit trees is seen. There the cultivator adds to his resources by washing gold from the sands of the river. From Skardu the direct route to (lilgit follows the Indus, which is crossed at Rondu by a rope bridge so long as to be most trying to the nerves, but a fair-weather track over the Banak pass lands the traveller on the Gilgit road at Astor.

It is difficult to give a general idea of a country so diversified as Kashmir and Jammu. As will be seen in the section on History, a strange destiny has brought people of distinct races, languages, and religions, and countries of widely different physical characteristics, under the rule of the Maharaja.

The Kashmir territory may be divided physically into two areas : the north-eastern, comprising the area drained by the Indus with its tribu- taries ; and the south-western, including the country drained by the Jhelum with its tributary the Kishanganga, and by the Chenab. The dividing line or watershed is formed by the great central mountain range which runs from Nanga Parbat, overhanging the Indus on the north- west, in a south-easterly direction for about 240 miles till it enters British territory in Lahul.

The south-western area may, following the nomenclature of Mr. Drew, in its turn be geographically divided into three sections : the region of the outer hills, the middle mountains, and the Kashmir Valley. Approaching Kashmir from the plains of the Punjab, the boundary is not at the foot of the hills, but embraces a strip of the great plains from 5 to 15 miles wide, reaching from the Ravi to the Jhelum. As is generally the case along the foot of the Western Himalayas, this tract of flat country is somewhat arid and considerably cut up by ravines which carry off the flood-water of the monsoon. A fair amount of cul- tivation is found on the plateaux between these ravines, though, being entirely dependent on the rainfall, the yield is somewhat precarious. The height of this tract may be taken at from 1,100 to 1,200 feet above sea-level.

Passing over the plain a region of broken ground and low hills is reached, running mainly in ridges parallel to the general line of the Himalayan chain. These vary in height from 2,000 to 4,000 feet, and are largely composed of sandstone, being in fact a continuation of the Siwalik geological formation. Lying between these parallel ridges are a series of valleys or duns, fairly well populated, in the east by Dogras and in the west by Chibs. These hills are sparsely covered with low scrub bushes, the chlr (Pinus longifolia) gradually predominating as the inner hills are reached. Beyond these lower hills rise the spurs of a more mountainous district.

The scope of this region, as defined by Mr. Drew, has been some- what extended, and includes the range which forms the southern boundary of the Kashmir Valley, known as the Panjal range, and its continuation eastwards beyond the Chenab. This tract is about 1 80 miles long and varies in width from 25 to 35 miles. The portion lying between the Jhelum and Chenab is formed by the mass of moun- tainous spurs running down from the high Panjal range which forms its northern limit. The Panjal itself, extending from Muzaffarabad on the Jhelum to near Kishtwar on the Chenab, is a massive mountain range, the highest central portion to which the name is truly applied having a length of 80 miles, with peaks rising to 14,000 and 15,000 feet. From the southern side a series of spurs branch out, which break up the ground into an intricate mountain mass cut into by ravines or divided by narrow valleys.

The elevation of these middle mountains is sufficient to give a thoroughly temperate character to the vegetation. Forests of Hima- layan oak, pine, spruce, silver fir, and deodar occupy a great part of the mountain slopes ; the rest, the more sunny parts, where forest trees do not flourish, is, except where rocks jut out, well covered with herbage, with plants and flowers that resemble those of Central or Southern Europe. East of the Chenab river rises a somewhat similar mass of hills, forming the district of Bhadarwah, with peaks varying from 9,000 to 14,000 feet in height. These culminate in the high range which forms the Chamba and Ravi watershed in Chamba territory.

The third section of the south-western area bears a unique char- acter in the Himalayas, consisting of an open valley of considerable extent completely surrounded by mountains. The boundaries are formed on the north-east by the great central range which separates the Jhelum and Indus drainage, and on the south by the Panjal range already described. The eastern boundary is formed by a high spur of the main range, which branching off at about 75 30' E. runs nearly due south, its peaks maintaining an elevation of from 12,000 to 14,000 feet. This minor range forms the watershed between the Jhelum and Chenab, separating the Kashmir from the Wardwan valley. It eventually joins and blends with the Panjal range about 16 miles west of Kishtwar. On the north and west, the bounding ranges of the valley are more difficult to describe. A few miles west of the spot from which the eastern boundary spur branches near the Zoji La, another minor range is given off. This runs nearly due west for about 1oo miles at an elevation of from 12,000 to 13,000 feet, with a width of from 15 to 20 miles. It forms the watershed between the Jhelum on the south and its important tributary the Kishanganga on the north. After reaching 74 degree 15' E. the ridge gradually curves round to the south, until it reaches the Jhelum abreast of the western end of the Panjal range. The valley thus enclosed has a length, measured from ridge to ridge, of about 115 miles with a width varying from 45 to 70 miles, and is drained throughout by the Jhelum with its various tributaries. The flat portion is much restricted, owing to the spurs given off by the great central range, which run down into the plain, forming the well-known Sind and Liddar valleys. On the southern side the spurs from the Panjal range project 10 to 16 miles into the plain.

The north-eastern section is comprised between the great central chain on the south and the Karakoram range and its continuation on the north. It is drained by the Indus and its great tributaries, the Shyok, the Zaskar, the Sum, and the Gilgit rivers. The chief charac- teristic of this region, more especially of the eastern portion, is the great altitude of the valleys and plains. The junction of the Gilgit and Indus rivers is 4,300 feet above sea-level. Proceeding upstream, 80 miles farther east at the confluence of the Shyok and Indus, the level of the latter is 7,700 feet; opposite Leh, 130 miles farther up the river, its height is 10,600 feet, while near the Kashmir-Tibet boundary in the Kokzhung district the river runs at the great height of 13,800 feet above sea-level.

Between the various streams which drain the country rise ranges of mountains, those in the central portions attaining an elevation of 16,000 to 20,000 feet, while the mighty flanking masses of the Kara- koram culminate in the great peak Godwin Austen (28,265 feet)- The difference of the level in the valleys between the eastern and western tracts has its natural effect on the scenery. In the east, as in the Rupshu district of Ladakh, the lowest ground is 13,500 feet above the sea, while the mountains run very evenly to a height of 20, coo or 21,000 feet. The result is a series of long open valleys, bounded by comparatively low hills having very little of the characteristics of what is generally termed a mountainous country. To the west as the valleys deepen, while the bordering mountains keep at much the same eleva- tion, the character of the country changes, and assumes the more familiar Himalayan character of massive ridges and spurs falling steeply into the deep valleys between.

The central chain commences in the west at the great mountain mass rising directly above the Indus, of which the culminating peak is Nanga Parbat. From this point it runs in a south-easterly direction, forming the watershed between the Indus and the Kishanganga. It quickly falls to an altitude of 14,000 to 15,000 feet, at which it con- tinues for 50 or 60 miles. It is crossed by several passes, the best known of which are the Burzil on the road from Kashmir to Gilgit, and the Zoji La of 11,300 feet, over which runs the road from Srinagar to Dras and Leh. From the Zoji La the mountains rapidly rise in elevation, the peaks attaining an altitude of 18,000 to 20,000 feet, culminating in the Nun Kun peaks which rise to a height of over 23,000 feet. Owing to their altitude these mountains are under per- petual snow, and glaciers form in every valley. The range keeps this character throughout Kashmir territory for a distance of 150 miles to the Bara Lacha (pass), where it passes into Spiti.

The Karakoram range is of a far more complicated character. Broadly speaking, it is a continuation of the Hindu Kush, and forms the watershed between the Central Asian drainage and the streams flowing into the Indian Ocean. From its main ridge lofty spurs extend into Kashmir, separating the various tributaries of the Indus, the result being a stupendous mountain mass 220 miles long, with a width on the south side of the watershed of 30 to 60 miles, with peaks averaging from 21,000 to 23,000 feet, culminating on the west in the well-known Rakaposhi mountain, north of Gilgit, over 25,500 feet high, and in the mighty group of peaks round the head of the Baltoro glacier dominated by the second highest mountain in the world, Godwin Austen, whose summit is 28,265 f eet above the sea. The head of every valley is the birthplace of a glacier. Many of these are of immense size, such as the Baltoro, the Biafo, and Hispar glaciers, the two latter forming an unbroken stretch of ice over 50 miles long. This great mountain barrier is broken through at one point by the Hunza stream, a tributary of the Gilgit river, the watershed at the head of which has the com- paratively low elevation of about 15,500 feet. The next well-known pass lies 150 miles to the east, where the road from Leh to Yarkand leads over the Karakoram pass at an altitude of about 18,300 feet.

A description of this mountainous region would be incomplete with- out a reference to the vast elevated plains of Lingzhithang, which lie at the extreme north-eastern limit of Kashmir territory. These plains are geographically allied to the great Tibetan plateau. The ground- level is from 16,000 to 17,000 feet above the sea, and such rain as falls drains into a series of salt lakes. Of vegetation there is little or none, the country being a desolate expanse of earth and rock. The northern border of this plateau is formed by the Kuenlun mountains, the northern face of which slopes down into the plains of Khotan.

An account of the geology will be found in the memoir by Mr. R. Lydekker, The Geology of tlie Kashmir and Chamha Territories and the British District of Khagan. Mr. Lydekker differs from Mr. Drew, also an expert in geology, who held that some of the gravels at Baramula were of glacial origin, indicating the existence of glaciers in the valley at a level of 5,000 feet ; but he has no doubts as to their existence on the Plr Panjal range and in the neighbourhood of the various margs or mountain meadows which surround the valley. The question of the glaciation and the evidences of relative changes of level within a geologically recent period is fully discussed for the Sind valley by Mr. R. I). Oldham in Eecords, Geological Survey of India, vol. xxxii, part ii.

There is abundant evidence that igneous or volcanic agencies were actively at work, as is proved by the outpouring of vast quantities of volcanic rocks ; but these are not known to have been erupted since the eocene period. Subterraneous thermal action is, however, indicated by the prevalence of numerous hot springs. The burning fields at Soiyam, of which an account is given by Sir W. Lawrence, Valley of Kashmir , pp. 42-3, point to the same conclusion, and the frequency of earthquakes suggests subterranean instability in this area.

The following table of geological systems in descending order is given by Mr. Lydekker for the whole State: —

Under the first of these systems, Mr. Lydekker has discussed the interesting question, whether Kashmir was once covered by a great lake. In this discussion the karewas already described play an impor- tant part, and the only explanation of the upper karewas is that Kashmir was formerly occupied by a vast lake of which the existing lakes are remnants. Mr. Drew estimated that at one period this lake must have reached a level of nearly 2,000 feet above the present height of the valley, but this estimate is considered far too high by Mr. Lydekker. No very satisfactory conclusions can be drawn at present as to the barrier which dammed the old lake, or as to the relative period of its existence.

A full account of the flora of Kashmir is given by Lawrence, Valley of Kashmir, chap. iv. The valley has an enormous variety of plants, and the Kashmiri finds a use for most of them. Among condiments the most important is the zlra siyah (Canon sp.), or carraway. Under drugs, Cannabis saliva, the hemp plant, and Artemisia or telivan may be mentioned. Asafoetida is found in the Astor tahsil. Numerous plants yield dyes and tans, of which Datisca cannabina, Rubia cordifolia, and Geranium nepalense are the most familiar. Kashmir is rich in fibres, and the people make great use of them. The two best are the Abutilon Avicennae and the Cannabis saliva. Burza (Betula i/tilis), the paper birch, is a most important tree to the natives. The bark is employed for various purposes, such as roofs of houses, writing paper, and packing paper. Many of the ancient manuscripts are written on birch bark. The Kashmiri neglects nothing which can be eaten as fodder. The willow, the Indian chestnut, the cotoneaster, the hawthorn, and the poplar are always lopped to provide fodder for cattle and sheep in the winter.

Excellent grasses abound, and the swamps yield most nutritious reeds and other plants. There is an abundance of food-plants, too numerous to be enumerated here. Eitryale ferox, JVymp/iaea steliata, JV. alba, Xelumbium speciosum, the exquisite pink water-lily, Acorns Calamus, and Typha sp., the reed mace, all contribute to the Kashmiri's sustenance. Wild fruits are in profusion, and many fungi are eaten by the people. The mushroom is common, and the morel (Morchella sp.) abounds in the mountains and forms an important export to India. There are plants that are useful for hair-washes, and the herbs with medicinal properties are almost innumerable. Macrotomia Benthami is one of these peculiarly esteemed by the Kashmiris as a remedy for heart-affections. Among the scents may be noted Gogal dhup (Jurinea macrocephala), which is largely exported to India, where it is used by Hindus. The most important of the aromatic plants is the Saussurea Lappa. This grows at high elevations from 8,000 to 9,000 feet. The root has a scent like orris with a blend of violet. It is largely exported to China, where it is used as incense in the joss houses. It has many valuable properties, and is a source of considerable revenue to the State. There is a great variety of trees, but the oak, the holly, and the Himalayan rhododendron are unknown. Among the long list of trees may be noticed the deodar, the blue pine, the spruce, the silver fir, the yew, the walnut, and the Indian horse-chestnut.

In the valley itself the exquisite plane-tree, the mulberry, the apricot, and the willow are perhaps the most familiar. Kashmir offers great attraction to the sportsman, and for its size the valley and the surrounding mountains possess a large and varied animal kingdom. A full account of the animals and birds will be found in The J'li/ley of Kashmir, chap. v. Since that book was written game preservation has made great strides, and has prevented the extinction of the bdrasingha [Cervus duvauceli) and the hangal or Kashmir stag (C. cashmirianui). Among the Cervidae, the musk deer {Moschus moschiferus) is common and its pod is valuable. Of the family Ursidae, the black bear, or bomba hapat (Ursus torquatus), is very common, being a great pest to the crops and a danger to the people. The brown bear, or lal hapat ( Ursus arctus or isabellinus), is still far from rare. It is partly herbivorous and partly carnivorous. Of the family Bovidae, the markhor (Capra falconeri) and the ibex (C. sibiricd) are still to be met with. The Kashmir markhor has from one to two com- plete turns in the spirals of its horns. The tahr or jagla (Hemitragus) is found on the Plr Panjal, and the serow or rami/ {Nemorhaedus bubalinus) is fairly common. The goral (Cemas gora/) also occurs.

There is a considerable variety of birds. The blue heron {Ardea cinerea) is very common, and fine heronries exist at several places. The heron's feathers are much valued, and the right to collect the feathers is farmed out. Among game-birds may be noticed the snow partridge {Lenva lerzva), the Himalayan snow cock {Tetraogal/its himalayensis), the chikor partridge (Caccabis chukar), the large grey quail (Cofurm'x), the monal pheasant (Lophophon/s refu/gens), the Simla horned pheasant (Tragopau melanocephalum) % and the Kashmir Pucras pheasant {Pucrasin biddulphi). The large sand-grouse (Pteroc/es aren- arius) is occasionally seen. Pigeons, turtle-doves, rails, grebes, gulls, plovers, snipe, cranes, are common, and storks are sometimes seen. Geese are found in vast flocks on the Wular Lake in the winter, and there are at least thirteen kinds of duck. The goosander and smew are also found on the Wular Lake. There are six species of eagles, four of falcons, and four of owls. Kingfishers, hoopoes, bee-eaters, night-jars, swifts, cuckoos, woodpeckers, parrots, crows in great variety, choughs, starlings, orioles, finches (12 species), buntings, larks, wag- tails, creepers, tits, shrikes, warblers (14 species), thrushes (20 species), dippers, wrens, babbling thrushes, bulbuls, fly-catchers, and swallows are all familiar birds.

Among the reptiles there are two poisonous snakes, the gunas and ihe pohio; the bite of which is often fatal. Fish forms an important item in the food of the Kashmiris. Yigne noticed only six different kinds, but Lawrence enumerated thirteen. As the elevation varies from 1,200 feet at Jammu and 3,000 in the Indus valley at Bunji and Chilas to 25,000 and 26,000 feet on the highest mountain peaks, the State presents an extraordinary variety of climatic conditions. The local variations of temperature depend chiefly upon situation (i.e. whether in a valley or on the crest of a mountain range), elevation, and the amount of the winter snowfall and the period and depth of the snow accumulation. The effect of position in a valley or a mountain crest is shown by comparing the temperatures of Murree and Srinagar. The Murree observatory is about 1,200 feet higher than the Srinagar observatory. The mean maximum day temperature in January at Murree is 7 higher than at Srinagar, and the mean minimum night temperature 9 higher. On the other hand, in the hottest month (June) the maximum day temperature is i° lower at Murree than at Srinagar, while the minimum night temperatures are almost identical. The diurnal range is 2° less in January, 7 less in June, and 14 less in October at Murree than at Srinagar. The slow movement of the air from the higher elevations into valleys more or less completely shut in by mountains tends to depress temperature at valley stations both by day and night considerably below that at similar elevations on the crest of the Outer Himalayas, and to increase the diurnal range most largely in the dry clear months of October and November, when the sinking down of the air from the adjacent mountains has its greatest effect, and is supplemented by rapid radiation from the ground.

The effect of snow accumulation in valleys in reducing temperature is very marked. At Dras and Sonamarg, where the accumulation is usually large, the solar heat on clear fine days in winter is utilized in melting the snow and hence exercises no influence on the air temperature. At Leh, where the ground is only occasionally concealed under a thin covering of snow, the sun even in winter usually warms the ground surface directly and thence the air. The cooling influence of snow accumula- tion at Dras and Sonamarg is largely increased by the rapid radiation from the surface. The mean daily temperature is lowest in January and highest in June or July. At Srinagar the mean temperature of January is 33- 1°. The mean temperature of the hottest month (July) at Srinagar is 74-6°. The mean temperature in January and August ranges from 25-3° to 75 at Skardu, from 3-4° to 64-5° at Dras, from 17-7° to 61. 8° at Leh, and from 36-6° to 85° (in July) at Gilgit. The most noteworthy features of the annual variation are the very rapid increase in March or April at the end of the winter, and an equally rapid decrease in October, when the skies clear after the south-west monsoon. The diurnal range is least at Gilgit (IO-8 ) and Srinagar (22-4°) on the mean of the year, and greatest at Dras (31-4°) and Leh (26-3°).

The precipitation is received during two periods, the cold season from December to April, and the south-west monsoon period from June to September. The rainfall in October and November is small in amount, and November is usually the driest month of the year. The cold-season precipitation from December to March is chiefly due to storms which advance from Persia and Baluchistan across Northern India. These disturbances occasionally give very stormy weather in Kashmir, with violent winds on the higher elevations and much snow. The fall is large on the Pir Panjal range, being heaviest in January or February. In the valley and the mountain ranges to the north and east this is the chief precipitation of the year, and is very heavy on the first line of permanent snow, but decreases rapidly eastwards to the Karakoram range. The largest amount is received at Srinagar, Dras, and Anantnag in January. In the Karakoram region and the Tibetan plateau the winter fall is much later than on the outer ranges of the Himalayas, namely from March to May, and the maximum is received in April. The average depth of the snowfall at Srinagar in an ordinary winter is about 8 feet. The snowfall at Sonamarg in 1902 measured 13 feet and in 1903 about 30 feet. In April and May thunderstorms are of occasional occurrence in the valley and surrounding hills, giving light to moderate showers of rain. This hot-season rainfall is of con- siderable importance for cultivation in the valley. From June to November heavy rain falls on the Pir Panjal range, and in Jammu chiefly in the months of July, August, and September. The rainfall at Jammu and Punch is comparable with that of the submontane Districts of the Punjab. It is more moderate in amount in the valley, which receives a total of 9-4 inches, as compared with 35-7 inches at Punch and 26-8 inches at Domel. The precipitation is very light to the east of the first line of the snows bordering the valley on the east, and is about 2 inches in total amount at Gilgit, Skardu, Kargil, and Leh. Thus the south-west monsoon is the predominant feature in Jammu and Kishtwar, while in Ladakh, Gilgit, and the higher ranges the cold- season precipitation is more important. Tables I and II on p. 144 show the average temperature and rainfall at Srinagar and Leh for a series of years ending with 1905.

Earthquakes are not uncommon, and eleven accompanied by loss of life have been recorded since the fifteenth century. In 1885 shocks were felt from the end of May till the middle of August, and about 3,500 people were killed ; fissures opened in the earth, and landslips occurred. Floods are also frequently mentioned in the histories of the country, the greatest following the obstruction of the Jhelum by the fall of a mountain in a.d. 879. The great flood of 1841 in the Indus caused much loss of life and damage to property. In 1893 very serious floods took place in the Jhelum owing to continuous rain for 52 hours, and much damage was done to Srinagar. An inundation of a yet more serious character occurred in 1903.

History

The early history of Kashmir has been preserved in the celebrated Rajatanvigini, by the poet Kalhana, who began to write in 1148. He . gives a connected account of the history of the valley, which may be accepted as a trustworthy record from the middle of the ninth century onwards. Kalhana's work was con- tinued by Jonaraja, who brought the history through the troubled times of the last Hindu dynasties, and the first Muhammadan rulers, to the time of the great Zain-ul-abidin, who ascended the throne in 1420. Another Sanskrit chronicler, Srivara, carries on the narrative to the accession of Fateh Shah in i486 ; and the last of the chronicles, the Rajavalipataka, brings the record down to 1586, when the valley was conquered by Akbar.

The current legend in Kashmir relates that the valley was once covered by the waters of a mighty lake, on which the goddess Parvati sailed in a pleasure-boat from Haramukh mountain in the north to the Konsanag lake in the south. In her honour the lake was known as the Satisar, or ' lake of the virtuous woman.' The country-side was harassed by a demon popularly known as Jaldeo, a corruption of Jalodbhava. Kasyapa, the grandson of Brahma, came to the rescue, but for some time the amphibious demon eluded him, hiding under the water. Vishnu then intervened and struck the mountains at Baramula with his trident. The waters of the lake rushed out, but the demon took refuge in the low ground near where Srinagar now stands, and baffled pursuit. Then Parvati cast a mountain on him, and so de- stroyed the wicked Jaldeo. The mountain is known as Hara Parbat, and from ancient times the goddess has been worshipped on its slopes. When the demons had been routed, men visited the valley in the summer ; and as the climate became milder they remained for the winter. Little kingdoms sprang up and the little kings quarrelled among themselves, with the usual result that a bigger king was called in to rule the country.

The Rajataranginl opens with the name of the glorious king of Kashmir, Gonanda, ' worshipped by the region which Kailasa lights up, and which the tossing Ganga clothes with a soft garment.' Nothing is known of the founder of the dynasty, though the genealogists of Jammu trace a direct descent from Gonanda to the present ruler. Mention is made of the pious Asoka and of his town, Srinagar, with its ninety-six lakhs of houses resplendent with wealth. This town probably stood in the neighbourhood of the Takht-i-Sulaiman. Next come the three kings, Hushka, Jushka, and Kanishka, to be identified with Huvishka, Vasudeva, and Kanishka, the Kushan rulers of Northern India at the beginning of the Christian era. According to the chronicles, in the days of these kings Kashmir was in the possession of the Buddhists, and Buddhist tradition asserts that the third great council held by Kanishka took place in Kashmir. The Buddhist creed and the Brah- manical cult seem to have existed peaceably side by side ; but five hundred years later Hiuen Tsiang found the mass of the people Hindu, and the monasteries few and partly deserted. There is good reason to believe that the Kashmiris were, from the earliest period, chiefly Saivas.

About a.d. 528, Mihirakula, the king 'cruel as death,' ruled over Kashmir. He was the leader of the White Huns or Ephthalites. The people still point to a ridge on the Plr Panjal range, Hastlvanj, where the king, to amuse himself, drove one hundred elephants over the precipice, enjoying their cries of agony. King Gopaditya was a pleasing contrast to the cruel king, and did much to raise the Brah- mans, and to advance their interests. Pravarasena II reigned in the sixth century and, returning from his victorious campaigns abroad, built a magnificent city on the site of the present capital of Kashmir. The city was known as Pravarapura, and is mentioned by Hiuen Tsiang at the time of his visit (a.d. 631) as the ' new city.' The site chosen has many advantages, strategic and com- mercial, but it is liable to floods. Many subsequent rulers endeavoured to move the site of the capital, but their efforts failed. Among these was the celebrated Lalitaditya, who ruled in the middle of the eighth century, and received an investiture from the emperor of China. A great and victorious soldier, he subdued the kings of India and invaded Central Asia. After twelve years of successful campaigning he returned to Kashmir, enriched with spoil and accompanied by artisans from various countries, and built a magnificent city, Paraspur (Parihasapura). To give this new town pre-eminence, he burnt down Pravarapura. Lalitaditya also built the splendid temple of Martand. Before leaving for further conquests in Central Asia, from which he never returned, the king gave his subjects some excellent advice. He warns them against internal feuds, and says that if the forts are kept in repair and provisioned they need fear no foe. In a country shut in by mountains, discipline must be strict, and the cultivators must not be left with grain more than sufficient for a year's requirements. Cultivators should not be allowed to have more ploughs or cattle than are absolutely neces- sary, or they will trespass on their neighbours' fields. They should be repressed, and their style of living must be lower than that of the city people, or the latter will suffer. These words spoken some 1,200 years ago have never been forgotten ; and rulers of various races and religions have followed Lalitaditya's policy, and sternly subordinated the interests of the cultivators to the comfort of the city.

Sankara Varman (883-902) was another great conqueror; and it is stated that, though Kashmir had fallen off in population, he was able to lead out an army of 900,000 foot, 300 elephants, and 100,000 horse. Sankara Varman was avaricious and profligate. He plundered Paraspur in order to raise the fame of his own town, now known as Pattan. There were signs of decay, and the last of the strong Hindu rulers was queen Didda (950-1003). Then followed the Lohara dynasty. Central authority was weakened, the country was a prey to civil war and violence, and the Damaras, skilled in burning, plundering, and fighting, harassed the valley. The last of this line was Jaya Simha, or Simha Deva (1128); and in his reign the Tartar, Khan Dalcha, invaded Kashmir, and after great slaughter set fire to Srlnagar. He subsequently perished in the passes on his retreat from Kashmir, over- taken by snow. Ram Chand, the commander-in-chief of the Kashmir army, had meanwhile kept up some semblance of authority in the valley, and had routed the Gaddis from Kishtwar. With Ram Chand were two soldiers of fortune, Rainchan Shah from Tibet and Shah Mirza from Swat.

Rainchan Shah quarrelled with Ram Chand, and with the assistance of the Ladakhis attacked and killed him. He married Kuta Rani, the daughter of Ram Chand, and embracing Islam became the first Muhammadan king of Kashmir, but died after a short reign of two and a half years. At this juncture Udayanadeva appeared, who was the brother of Raja Simha Deva and had fled to Kishtwar. He married the widow, Kuta Rani, and reigned for fifteen years. On his death Kuta Rani assumed power for a short time, and committed suicide rather than marry Shah Mirza, who now declared himself king. He was the first of the line known as Salatln-i- Kashmir, and took the name of Shams-ud-dln. In 1394 Sultan Sikandar, known for his fierce zeal as Butshikan or ' iconoclast,' was king of Kashmir. He was a gloomy fanatic, and destroyed nearly all the grand buildings and temples of his Hindu predecessors. To the people he offered death, conversion, or exile. Many fled ; many were converted to Islam ; many were killed, and it is said that Sikandar burnt seven maunds of sacred threads worn by the murdered Brahmans. By the end of his reign all Hindu inhabitants of the valley, except the Brahmans, had probably adopted Islam.

In 1420 Zain-ul-abidln succeeded. He was wise, virtuous, and frugal, and very tolerant to the Brahmans. He remitted the poll-tax on Hindus, encouraged the Brahmans to learn Persian, repaired some of the Hindu temples, and revived Hindu learning. Hitherto in Kashmir Sanskrit had been written in Sarada, an older sister of the Devanagarl character. The introduction of Persian, as the official language, divided the Brahmans into three subdivisions : the Karkuns, who entered official life ; the Bachabatts, who discharged the function of the priesthood ; and the Pandits, who devoted themselves to Sanskrit learning. Towards the end of this good and useful reign the Chakks sprang into mischievous prominence. Zain-ul-abidln drove them out of the valley, but in the time of his weak successors they returned and eventually seized the government of Kashmir. Turbulent and brave, the Chakks were not fitted for administration. Yakub Khan, the last of the line, offered a stubborn resistance to Akbar, and with the help of the Bambas and Khakhas routed the Mughal on his first attempt on the valley (1582). But later, not without difficulty and some reverses, Kashmir was finally conquered (1586) 1 .

Akbar visited the valley three times. He built a strong fort on the slopes of the Hara Parbat, paying high wages, and dispensing with forced labour. His revenue minister, Todar Mai, made a very summary record of the fiscal conditions of the valley. Jahanglr was greatly attached to Kashmir. He laid out lovely pleasure-gardens ; around the Dal Lake were 777 gardens, yielding a revenue of 1 lakh from roses and bed musk. Much depended on the character of the governors. All Mardan Khan, the best of these, built a splendid series of sarais on the Plr Panjal route to India, and grappled with a famine with energy and success. Aurangzeb visited the valley only once ; but in that brief time he showed his zeal against the unbelievers, and his name is still execrated by the Brahmans. Then followed the disorder of decay, and in 1751 the Subak of Kashmir was practically independent of Delhi.

From the following year the unfortunate Kashmiris experienced the cruel oppression of Afghan rule, the short but evil period of the Durranis. Governors from Kabul plundered and tortured the people indiscriminately, but reserved their worst cruelties for the Brahmans, the Shiahs, and the Bambas of the Jhelum valley. In their agony the people of Kashmir turned with hope to the rising power of Ranjlt Singh of Lahore. In 18 14 a Sikh army advanced by the Plr Panjal, Ranjlt Singh watching the operations from Punch. This expedition miscarried ; but in 18 19 Misr Dlwan Chand, Ranjlt Singh's great general, accompanied by Gulab Singh of Jammu, overcame Muhammad Azlm Khan, and entered Shupiyan. In comparison with the Afghans, the Sikhs came as a relief to the unfortunate Kashmiris, but their rule was harsh and oppressive.

Sher Singh, the reputed son of Ranjlt Singh, was a weak governor, and his name is remembered in connexion with the terrible famine which visited the valley. The best of the Sikh governors was Colonel Mian Singh (1833), wno 1S s ^ spoken of with gratitude, and did his best to repair the ravages of the famine. He was murdered by

1 Kashmir had been attacked from the side of Ladakh by Mirza Haidar (the author of the Tarikh-URashidi) in 1532, and again invaded from the south in 1540, and ruled by him (nominally on behalf of the emperor Humayiin) until his death eleven years later. mutinous soldiers, and was succeeded by Shaikh Ghulam Muhl-ud-din in 1842. During his government the Bambas, under Sher Ahmad, inflicted great losses on the Sikhs. In 1845 Imam-ud-din succeeded his father as governor.

The history of the State, as at present constituted, is practically the history of one man, a Dogra Rajput, Gulab Singh of Jammu. Lying off the high roads of India, and away from the fertile plains of the Punjab, the barren hills of the Dogras had not attracted the notice of the Mughal invaders of India. Here lived a number of petty Rajas, and it appears that from very early times the little kingdom of Jammu was locally of some importance, Towards the end of the eighteenth century the power of the Jammu ruler had extended east as far as the Ravi, and west to the Chenab ; but the power waned and waxed according to the fortunes of petty and chronic warfare. To the east, at Basoli and Kishtwar, were independent Rajput chiefs, while to the north-west were the Muhammadan rulers of Bhimbar and Rajaori, descendants of Hindu Rajputs. These two states lay on the Mughal route to Kashmir, and so came under the influence of Delhi. Up the Jhelum valley, the country was held by small independent Muham- madan chiefs, whose title of Raja suggests their Hindu origin.

About the middle of the eighteenth century Raja Ranjlt Deo was the ruler of Jammu. He was a man of some mark, and his capital flourished ; but at his death about 1780, his three sons quarrelled. The Sikhs were invoked, and Jammu was plundered. From Ranjlt Deo's death to 1846, the Dogra country became tributary to the Sikh power. Gulab Singh, Dhyan Singh, and Suchet Singh were the great- grandsons of Surat Singh, youngest brother of Ranjlt Deo. They were soldiers of fortune, and as young men sought service at the court of Ranjlt Singh of Lahore. They rapidly distinguished themselves ; and Gulab Singh, for his service in capturing the Raja of Rajaori, who was fighting the Sikhs, was created Raja of Jammu in 1820. Dhyan Singh obtained the principality of Punch, a hilly country between the Jhelum and the Plr Panjal range, north of Rajaori ; while Suchet Singh received Ramnagar, west-by-north of Jammu.

Ranjlt Singh had found that the control of the Dogra country was a difficult task, and his policy of enlisting the services of able Dogras was at once obvious and prudent. The country was disturbed, each man plundered his neighbour, and Gulab Singh's energies were taxed to the utmost in restoring order. He was a man of extraordinary power, and very quickly asserted his authority. His methods were often cruel and unscrupulous, but allowances must be made. He believed in object-lessons, and his penal system was at any rate successful in ridding the country of crime. He kept a sharp eye on his officials, and a close hand on his revenues. Rapidly absorbing the power and possessions of the feudal chiefs around him, after ten years of laborious and consistent effort he and his two brothers became masters of nearly all the country between Kashmir and the Punjab, save Rajaori. Bhadarwah fell easily into the hands of Gulab Singh after a slight resistance. In Kishtwar, the minister, Wazir Lakhpat, quarrelled with the Raja and sought the assistance of Gulab Singh, who at once moved up with a force, and the Raja surrendered his country without fighting.

His easy successes in Kishtwar, which commanded two of the roads into Ladakh, probably suggested the ambitious idea of the conquest of that unknown land. The difficulties of access offered by mountains and glaciers were enormous ; but the brave Dogras under Gulab Singh's officer, Zorawar Singh, never hesitated, and in two campaigns the whole of Ladakh passed into the hands of the Jammu State. It is interesting to notice that the Dogras did not pillage the rich monastery of Himis, which saved itself by allowing the army in ignorance of its locality to pass the gorge leading to the Himis valley, and then sending a deputation with an offer of free rations while in Ladakh territory. The agreement made was respected by both parties.

A few years later, in 1840, Zorawar Singh invaded Baltistan, captured the Raja of Skardu, who had sided with the Ladakhis, and annexed his country. The following year (1841) Zorawar Singh while invading Tibet was overtaken by winter, and, being attacked when his troops were disabled by cold, perished with nearly all his army. Whether it was policy or whether it was accident, by 1840 Gulab Singh had encircled Kashmir.

In the winter of 1845 war broke out between the British and the Sikhs. Gulab Singh contrived to hold himself aloof till the battle of Sobraon (1846), when he appeared as a useful mediator and the trusted adviser of Sir Henry Lawrence. Two treaties were concluded. By the first the State of Lahore handed over to the British, as equiva- lent for one crore of indemnity, the hill countries between the rivers Beas and the Indus ; by the second the British made over to Gulab Singh for 75 lakhs all the hilly or mountainous country situated to the east of the Indus and west of the Ravi. Kashmir did not, however, come into the Maharaja's hands without fighting. Imam-ud-dm, the Sikh governor, aided by the restless Bambas from the Jhelum valley, routed Gulab Singh's troops on the outskirts of Srlnagar, killing Wazir Lakhpat. Owing, however, to the mediation of Sir Henry Lawrence, Imam-ud-din desisted from opposition and Kashmir passed without further disturbances to the new ruler. At Astor and Gilgit the Dogra troops relieved the Sikhs, Nathu Shah, the Sikh commander, taking service under Gulab Singh. Not long afterwards the Hunza Raja attacked Gilgit territory. Nathu Shah retorted by leading a force to attack the Hunza valley ; he and his force were destroyed, and Gilgit fort fell into the hands of the Hunza Raja, along with Punial, Yasin, and Darel. The Maharaja sent two columns, one from Astor and one from Baltistan, and after some fighting Gilgit fort was recovered. In 1852, partly by strategy, partly by treachery, the Dogra troops were annihilated by the bloodthirsty Gaur Rahman of Yasin, and for eight years the Indus formed the boundary of the Maharaja's territories.

Gulab Singh died in 1857: and when his successor, Ranblr Singh, had recovered from the strain caused by the Mutiny, in which he had loyally sided with the British, he determined to recover Gilgit, and to rehabilitate the reputation of the Dogras on the frontier. In i860 a force under Devi Singh crossed the Indus, and advanced on Gaur Rahman's strong fort at Gilgit. Gaur Rahman had died just before the arrival of the Dogras. The fort was taken ; and since then the Maharajas of Jammu and Kashmir have held it, to their heavy cost and somewhat doubtful advantage.

Ranblr Singh was a model Hindu : devoted to his religion and to Sanskrit learning, but tolerant of other creeds. He was in many ways an enlightened man, but he lacked his father's strong will and deter- mination, and his control over the State officials was weak. The latter part of his life was darkened by the dreadful famine in Kashmir, 1877-9; an d in September, 1885, he was succeeded by his eldest son, the present Maharaja Pratap Singh, G. C.S.I. He bears the hereditary title of Maharaja, and receives a salute of 19 guns, increased to 21 in his own territory.

Through all these vicissitudes of government and changes in religion the Kashmiri has remained unaltered. Mughal, Afghan, Sikh, and Dogra have left no impression on the national character ; and at heart the people of the valley are Hindus, as they were before the time of Sikandar Shah. The isolation from the outer world accounts for this stable unchanging nationality, and passages in the Rajatarangi?il show that the main features of the national character were the same in the early period of Hindu rule as they are now.

The valley of Kashmir is holy land, and everywhere one finds remains of ancient temples and buildings called by the present inhabi- tants, though without historical foundation, Pandavlari, ' the houses of the Pandavas.' These ancient buildings, though more or less injured by iconoclasts, vandal builders, earthquakes, and, as Cunningham thinks, by gunpowder, are composed of a blue limestone capable of taking the highest polish, and of great solidity. They defy weather and time, while the later works of the Mughals, the mosques of Aurangzeb and the pleasure-places of Sallm and Nur Mahal, are crumbling away and possess little or none of their pristine beauty.

The Hindu buildings of Kashmir have been described by Sir Alexander Cunningham and Mr. F. S. Growse 1 . They exhibit traces of the influence of Grecian art, and are distinguished by the graceful elegance of their outlines, by the massive boldness of their parts, and by the happy propriety of their decorations. Characteristic features are the lofty pyramidal roofs, trefoiled doorways covered by pyramidal pediments, and the great width of the space between columns. Among the numerous temples two may be noticed — Martand and Payech — the first for its grandeur, and the second for its excellent preservation. Martand, the Temple of the Sun, stands on a sloping karewa, about 3 miles east of Islamabad, overlooking the finest view in Kashmir. The great structure was built by Lalitaditya in the eighth century. Kalasa came here at the approach of death and expired at the feet of the sacred image (1089). In the time of Kalhana the chronicler, the great quadrangular courtyard was used as a fortification, and the sacred image is said to have been destroyed by Sikandar, the iconoclast.

The building consists of one lofty central edifice, with a small detached wing on each side of the entrance, the whole standing in a large quadrangle surrounded by a colonnade of eighty-four pillars with intervening trefoil-headed recesses. The length of the outer side of the wall, which is blank, is about 90 yards ; that of the front is about 56 yards. The central building is 63 feet in length by 36 feet in width, and, alone of all the temples of Kashmir, possesses, in addition to the cella or sanctuary, a choir and nave, termed in Sanskrit the autarala and arddhaniaiulapa ; the nave is 18 feet square. The sanctuary alone is left entirely bare, the two other compartments being lined with rich panellings and sculptured niches. As the main build- ing is at present entirely uncovered, the original form of the roof can be determined only by a reference to other temples and to the general form and character of the various parts of the Martand temple itself. It has been conjectured that the roof was pyramidal, and that the entrance chamber and wings were similarly covered. There would thus have been four distinct pyramids, of which that over the inner chamber must have been the loftiest, the height of its pinnacle above the ground being about 75 feet.

The interior must have been as imposing as the exterior. On ascending the flight of steps, now covered by ruins, the votary entered a highly decorated chamber, with a doorway on each side covered by a pediment, with a trefoil-headed niche containing a bust of the Hindu triad, and on the flanks of the main entrance, as well as on those of the side doorways, were pointed and trefoil niches, each of which held a statue of a Hindu deity. The interior decorations of the roof can only be determined conjecturally, as there do not appear to be any 1 Calcutta Review, No. CVII. ornamented stones that could with certainty be assigned to it. Baron Hiigel doubts whether Martand ever had a roof ; but as the walls of the temple are still standing, the numerous heaps of large stones that are scattered about on all sides suggest the idea that these belonged to the roof. Fergusson, however, thought that the roof was of wood. Payech lies about 19 miles from Srlnagar under the Naunagri karewa, about 6 miles from the left bank of the Jhelum river. On the south side of the village, situated in a small green space near the bank of the stream surrounded by a few walnut and willow trees, stands an ancient temple, which in intrinsic beauty and elegance of outline is superior to all the existing remains in Kashmir of similar dimensions. Its excellent preservation may probably be explained by its retired situation at the foot of the high table-land, which separates it by an interval of 5 or 6 miles from the bank of the Jhelum, and by the mar- vellous solidity of its construction.

The cella, which is 8 feet square, and has an open doorway on each of the four sides, is composed of only ten stones, the four corners being each a single stone, the sculptured tympanums over the doorways four others, while two more compose the pyramid roof, the lower of these being an enormous mass, 8 feet square by 4 feet in height. It has been ascribed by Sir Alexander Cunningham, on grounds which, in the absence of any positive authority either way, may be taken as adequate, to Narendraditya, who reigned from 483 to 490. Fergusson, however, considered that the temple belongs to the thirteenth century. The sculptures over the doorways are coarsely executed in comparison with the artistic finish of the purely architectural details, and are much defaced, but apparently represent Brahma, Vishnu, Siva, and the goddess Durga. The building is said to be dedicated to Vishnu as Surya or the Sun- god. Inside the cupola is rayed, so as to represent the sun ; and at each corner of the square the space intervening between the angle and the line of the circle is filled up with a. jinn or attendant, who seems to be sporting at the edge of its rays. The roof has been partly displaced; which is said to have been the result of an attempt made to take it down and remove it to the city. The interior is still occupied by a large stone lingam.

Population

Table III at the end of this article (p. 145) shows the distribution of population in 1901. An estimate of the number of inhabitants was made in 1873, but the first regular Census was taken in 1891. In that year the population was 2,543,952, and it rose to 2,905,578 in 1901, or by 14 per cent. To a considerable extent the increase was due to improved enumeration, as for example in Gilgit, where the number recorded rose from 16,769 to 60,885. The increase amounted to 22 per cent, in the Kashmir province, compared with only 6 per cent, in Jammu. The density of population in the whole State is 36 persons per square mile. Details of the area of sub- divisions are not available, but the density per square mile of land under cultivation varies from 64 in Muzaffarabad district to 1,295 m Gilgit, where cultivable land is scarce. There are only two towns of any size, Jammu (36,130) and Srinagar (122,618) ; but the State con- tains 8,946 villages. Nearly half the total population live in villages with a population of less than 500 each. Formerly, considerable num- bers of Kashmiris emigrated to the Punjab, but the census results in that Province show that only 83,240 persons born in Kashmir were enumerated there in 1901, compared with 111,775 m J 88i. Statistics of age are, as usual, unreliable, and need not be referred to in detail. In the whole State there are 884 females to 1,000 males, the pro- portion being highest in the frontier tracts (933) and lowest in Kashmir province (876).

These results point to defective enumeration of females. Marriage is comparatively late, and less than 1 per cent, of the males under fifteen years, and about 2 per cent, of the females of the same age, are married. Taking the whole population, 53 per cent, of males and 39 per cent, of females are married. Polyandry is prevalent in Ladakh. About 34 per cent, of the population speak Kashmiri, and 15 per cent. Dogrl, while Punjabi is the tongue of nearly 30 per cent. A great variety of languages are used, in various parts of the State, by comparatively small numbers. Agriculture sup- ports 54 per cent, of the total, and weaving and allied arts 2 per cent.

The total population includes 2,154,695 Muhammadans, 689,073 Hindus, 25,828 Sikhs, and 35,047 Buddhists. The Hindus are found chiefly in the Jammu province, where they form rather less than half the total. In the Kashmir province they represent only 524 in every 10,000 of population, and in the frontier wazdrats of Ladakh and Gilgit only 97 out of every 10,000 persons.

Among the Hindus of the Jammu province, who number 626,177, the most important castes are the Brahmans (186,000), the Rajputs (167,000), the Khattris (48,000), and the Thakkars (93,000). Each caste is subdivided into many sub-castes ; but for practical purposes the Dogra Rajputs do not regard the finer divisions of the ethnologist, but draw a broad distinction between the Mian Rajputs who engage in neither trade nor agriculture, and the other Rajputs who have con- descended to work for their living. The Mians will marry the daughters of the latter class, but will not give their own daughters in marriage to them. They have territorial names, such as Jamwal and Jasrotia, signifying that the family is connected with Jammu and Jasrota. They mostly hold land on pepper-corn rents, cultivated by others, who take a share of the crops. The Mian Rajput gladly serves as a soldier, by choice in the cavalry, and if there is not room for him in the Maharaja's forces, he will enlist in the Indian army. In the Hunza-Nagar campaign and at Chitral the Dogra Rajput worthily maintained his ancient repu- tation. As a soldier he is admirable, but as a landowner evil days are in store for him. The agriculture of the Dogra country is uncertain, and not over-profitable ; and in the course of years the proud, gallant, and thriftless Rajput will be ousted by the sturdy Thakkars and Jats (Musalman, 123,000; Hindu, 25,000). The Rajputs are a handsome race, wiry and active. They observe caste rules very strictly. Female infanticide was the common rule in the memory of men still middle- aged, and the sail of Raja Suchet Singh's ladies is still remembered by the old men. The Khattrls are an important people, keen and clever. They are the financiers and officials of the State, and some of the best servants of the Maharaja have been Dogra Khattrls.

The origin of the word ' Dogra ' is commonly stated by the people themselves to have arisen from the fact that the cradle of the Dogra race lies between the two holy lakes, Saroin Sar and Man Sar, not far from Jammu. Drigartdesh, or the 'country of the two hollows,' was corrupted into Dugar, and Dugra became Dogra. From Jammu stretching east along the plains of the Punjab the country is Dogra ; and all who live in that tract, whether they be Hindus, Musalmans, or Sikhs, whether high-born Rajputs or low-born menials, are known as Dogras, and have certain national characteristics and a common tongue, which differentiate them from any of the other peoples of India. Some authorities doubt this derivation, and say that Dogra is a cor- ruption of the RajasthanI word for ' hills ' (du/igar), and that when the Rajputs forced their way up north they gave this name to the hilly country.

The Dogras hold the tract of lowland country along the British border, and the outer ranges of hills from the Manawar or Malikani Tawi on the west to the Ravi river on the south-east, which is bounded towards the higher mountains by a line drawn along the hills to the south of the Budil ilaka through Batoti and thence to the Ravi river north-east of Basoli. From the Manawar Tawi to the Jhelum is the country known as Chibhal, the home of the Chibs. The Chibs are mostly Musalman, but there are Hindu Chibs as well. Both trace their origin to a Rajput chief, named Jassu. Dharam Chand, a descendant of Jassu, was versed in medicine, and was summoned to Delhi to attend Jahanglr. The fee in case of success was the emperor's daughter. Dharam Chand was successful ; he married the Mughal princess, and was known henceforth as Shadi Khan. But he longed for his country and left his bride, and the next year the Mughals invaded his country and slew Shadi Khan.

The Hindu Chibs are descended from Shadi Khan by his Hindu wife, while the Muhammadan Chibs are the progeny of his family subsequent to their acceptance of Islam. Both Hindu and Musal- man Chibs repair annually to the tomb of Shadi Khan at a place in the Kali Dhar hills in the Naoshera tahsil. Like the Dogra Rajputs, the Chibs look upon service as the sole career for a man, but both Hindus and Musalmans till the soil. They are a fighting people, and the spirit of adventure takes them out of their own country. They follow the caste rules of the Hindu Rajputs, but are perhaps stronger and more muscular than the Dogras to the east. Besides the Chibs, there are Musalman Rajputs to the west of the Chenab — the Jarals, the Bhaos (unfavourably known in Akhnur), the Gakhars, and many others. It should be noticed that the Hindu Chibs give their daughters in marriage to the ruling family of Jammu and Kashmir.

Drew, in his book Jammu and Kashmir Territories, suggests that the Bambas and Khakhas of the Jhelum valley might be classed under the head Chibhali. Very little is known as to when these people migrated into Muzaffarabad and Uri districts, or whence they came ; but it is generally admitted that they had a foreign origin. It is probable that the Khakhas have occupied the country on the left bank of the Jhelum for 300 years or more, and that the Bambas, who live on the right bank of the river, came in yet earlier. The Khakhas, who enjoy the proud title of Raja, are, like the Chibs, Musalman Rajputs, and trace their descent to Raja. Mai Rathor. They regard themselves as belonging to the Janjuah tribe. The Bambas, who are styled Sultans, deprecate a Hindu origin. They claim to belong to the Kureshi tribe, and say that the name Bamba. is a corruption of Banl-Hashim, and that they are descended from All, the son-in-law of Muhammad. The Khakhas and Bambas have a privileged status in the Jhelum valley, and their power has varied according to the weakness or strength of the central authority. Under the Afghans, the Khakhas and Bambas paid little to their overlord, and were practically independent. The Sikhs tight- ened their hold over the Jhelum valley, but the Khakhas and Bambas retained certain privileges.

Numerically the Gujars are of some importance, both in Jammu, where they number 151,700, and in Kashmir, where they are returned at 125,650. Some of them have settled down to agriculture; but the great majority are herdsmen, and in the summer months move up to the splendid grazing-grounds above the forests with their buffaloes and goats. They are Musalmans by religion, and many of the Gujar tribes speak a dialect of their own known as Parimu. They are a fine tall race of men, with rather stupid faces and large prominent teeth. They sacrifice every consideration for their buffaloes, and even in their culti- vation, chiefly maize, their first thought is for these animals. They are ignorant, inoffensive, and simple, and their good faith is proverbial. Kashmir and its mountains have especial attractions for the Gujars : but as forest conservancy extends, these born enemies of the forest will find Kashmir less attractive.

Another pastoral semi-nomad people are the Gaddis (5,927) of Kishtwar. They graze large flocks of sheep and goats, moving up the mountains as the summer draws on, and returning to the low country when the first snow falls. Their homes are in the high pastures, but they are for most part of the year roving, though in some places there are regular settled villages of Gaddis. They are Hindus. They wear duffel clothes and a very peculiar hat of stiff cloth. All speak well of the Gaddis, and they are a popular people, welcome everywhere.

In the Kashmir province, out of a total population of 1,157,394, Muhammadans number 1,083,766, Hindus 60,682, and Sikhs 12,637. The Census, however, was taken in the winter, when many of the resident population were away working in the Punjab. The Kashmiri is unchanged, in spite of the splendid Mughal, the brutal Afghan, and the bully Sikh. Warriors and statesmen came and went ; but there was no egress, and no wish on the part of the Kash- miris in normal times to leave their home. The outside world was far, and from all accounts inferior to the pleasant valley, and at each of the gates of the valley were soldiers who demanded fees. So the Kashmiris lived their self-centred life, conceited, clever, and conservative.

Islam came in on a strong wave, on which rode a fanatical king and a missionary saint, and history records that the Kashmiris became Musalmans. But close observers of the country see that the so-called Musalmans are still Hindus at heart. Their shrines are on the exact spots where the old Hindu sthans stood, and these receive an attention which is not vouchsafed to the squalid mosques and the mean mullas. The Kashmiris do not flock to Mecca, and religious men from Arabia have spoken in strong terms of the apathy of these tepid Musalmans. There are many shrines, shrines of the Rishis, the Babas, and the Makhdum Sahib Plrzadas, known as the Wami or ' national,' as distinguished from the Saiyids and Saiyid Plrzadas who are foreigners. And as in religion, so in social evolution, there has been little change up to recent times in the people of Kashmir. Peculiarities noticed in the Rajataranginl still mark the national character. Witchcraft and sorcery are rampant now as they were in the times of the Hindu kings.

The Musalmans of Kashmir may be divided into four divisions : Shaikhs, Saiyids, Mughals, and Pathans. The Shaikhs, who are by far the most numerous, are the descendants of Hindus, but have retained none of the caste rules of their forefathers. They have clan names known as kram ; but a man of the Tantre kram may marry a girl of the same kram, or a maiden of some other kram, provided she be one of the agricultural families. The only line drawn is that a man of the Shaikh kram may not marry a Saiyid girl, nor must he demean himself by an alliance with the daughter of a market-gardener or a menial. Some hold that the krams known as Pandit, Kol, Bat, Aitu, Rishi, Mantu, and Ganai are descended from the Brahmans, and that the Magres, Tantres, Dars, Dangars, Rainas, Rathors, Thakurs, and Naiks are sprung from a Kshattriya origin. The Lon kram is assigned a Vaisya descent, and the Damars are connected with Sudras. There may be some foundation for these theories ; but the krams are now mixed, and confusion is increasing owing to the fashion of the lower castes who arrogate the krams of the respectable families. Thus the Dums, the gardeners, and the butchers have begun to call themselves Ganais, much to the annoyance of the true Ganais. And the boatmen, a most disreputable community, have appropriated the kram name of Dar. The social system is very plastic, and prosperity and a very little wealth soon obliterate a humble origin.

The Saiyids may be divided into those who follow the profession of religion and those who have taken to agriculture and other pursuits. In appearance, manners, and language there is nothing to distinguish them from other Kashmiri Musalmans. Their kram name is Mir. While a Saiyid retains his saintly profession Mir is a prefix ; if he has taken to agriculture, Mir is an affix to his name. The Saiyid Makar fraternity are fraudulent fakirs who pretend to be Saiyids and wander about Kashmir and India, cheating the public. Many have now taken to trade. They intermarry among themselves.

The Mughals are not numerous. Their kram names are Mir (a cor- ruption of Mirza), Beg, Bandi, Bach, and Ashaye. The Pathans are more numerous than the Mughals, and are found chiefly in the south-west of the valley, where Pathan colonies have from time to time been founded. The most interesting of these colonies is that of the Kuki-Khel Afrldis at Dranghaihama, who retain all the old customs and speak Pashtu. They wear a picturesque dress, and carry swords and shields. They pride themselves on their bravery, and in the absence of the nobler foe engage the bear on foot with the sword or spear him from their plucky little ponies. The Afrldis and the Machipurias who belong to the Yusufzai tribe are liable to military service, in return for which they hold certain villages free of revenue. The Pathans chiefly came in under the Durranis, but many were brought by Maharaja Gulab Singh for service on the frontier. They are rapidly adopting Kashmiri habits.

Several villages are held by fakirs or professional beggars. They work as agriculturists in the summer, and beg in the winter. They are proud of their profession and are liked by the people. They intermarry with other beggar families or Bechanwols. These various tribes are scat- tered broadcast over the valley and possess no marked distinctive features.

The dividing line in society is between the zamlndars or agricultural families and the taifaddrs, that is, the market-gardeners, herdsmen, shepherds, boatmen, minstrels, leather-workers, and the menial servants of the villagers. No zamlndar would intermarry with a taifaddr. For the most part it is difficult to trace any difference in physiognomy between the two classes, though there is often a difference in dress. But the Dum, the Galawan, and the Batal or Watal are easy to dis- tinguish from other tribes. They have a darker skin, and the Dum has the restless, furtive eye so characteristic of the thief.

The Dums are a very important people in Kashmir, for they are the watchmen of the villages and formerly used to look after the State share of the crops. As a private citizen the Dum is not an admirable person, and he loses no opportunity of annoying the villagers, by whom he is feared and disliked. But as officials they are trustworthy, and have never been known to steal the State treasure which passes through their hands. The Dums claim descent from a Hindu king, who from fear of his numerous sons scattered them over the valley, but some say that they are descendants of the Chakks, mentioned under History.

The Galawans or horse-keepers are also credited with a descent from the Chakks, and their violent restless character may be hereditary. Originally they earned their living by grazing ponies, but found it more lucrative to steal them. At last they became an established criminal tribe, and during Sikh rule were a terror to the country. Khaira Galawan, the hero of many a legend, was killed by the Sikh governor Mian Singh. Gulab Singh hunted down the tribe, and their end was transportation to Bunji.

The Batals or Watals have been called the gipsies of Kashmir, and are a peculiar people with a patois of their own. They may be divided into two classes. Those who abstain from eating carrion and are admitted to the mosque and to the Musalman religion form the first class ; those who eat the flesh of dead animals and are excluded from the mosque form the second. They are wanderers, and though they sometimes settle in wattled huts on the outskirts of a village, they soon move on. Their chief occupation is the manufacture of leather. The first class make boots and sandals : the second class make winnowing trays of leather and straw, and do scavenger's work. They also rear poultry and rob hen-roosts. Their women are of fine stature and hand- some, and they often drift into the city, where they become singers and dancers. Once a year the Batals from all parts of the valley flock to Lala Bab's shrine near the Dal Lake, and many matters affecting the tribe are then settled.

The Bhands or minstrels are a peculiar people. They combine the profession of singing and acting with that of begging ; and they travel great distances, often visiting the Punjab, where they perform to Kashmiri audiences. They are excellent actors, clever at improvi- sation and fearless as to its results. They are a very pleasant people, and their mirth and good humour form an agreeable contrast to the chronic gloom of the Kashmiri peasant

The Hanz or boatmen claim a Yaisya origin, and even now when blaming one of the crew for his bad paddling the captain will say : ' You are a Siidra.' They always claim Noah as their ancestor ; but some accounts point to a gipsy origin. The father of the family is an autocrat, and his discipline on board is often of a violent character. There are many sections of the tribe. First rank the half-amphibious paddlers of the Dal Lake (Demb Hanz), who are really vegetable gardeners, and the boatmen of the Wular Lake, who gather the singhara nut (Gari Hanz). Next in status come the men of the large barges known as bahats and war, in which cargoes of 800 maunds of grain or wood are carried. Then the Dunga Hanz, who paddle the passenger boats, not a respectable class, for they prostitute their females ; next the Gad Hanz, who net fish, and are said to surpass even the Dunga Hanz in their power of invective ; and last the Hak Hanz, who collect drift-wood in the rivers. The Hanz or Hanjis are a hardy muscular people, but are quarrelsome and mendacious. Half the stories to the discredit of Kashmir and its inhabitants are due to the fertile imagina- tion of the Hanji, who after the manner of the Irish car-driver tells travellers quaint scandals of the valley and its rulers. The Hanji ashore is a great rascal, and European travellers would be wise to leave him in his boat. The chief krd/n names of the Hanjis are Dangar, Dar, and Mai.

The menial servants (Nangar) of the villages are carpenters, black- smiths, potters, weavers, butchers, washermen, barbers, tailors, bakers, goldsmiths, carriers, oil-pressers, dyers, milkmen, cotton-cleaners, and snuff-makers. Many of the Nangars have taken to agriculture, and most of them are extremely independent of their so-called masters. The only class of menials who apparently cannot take to agriculture are the weavers. Their soft hands and weak knees make field-work an impossibility. The Hindus are with few exceptions Brahmans, and are commonly known as Pandits. They fall into three classes : astrologers (Jyotish'i), priests {Guru or Bachabatt), writers and clerks {Karkun). The priest class do not intermarry with the others, but the Jyotish'i and Karkun classes intermarry.

The astrologers are learned in the shastras and expound them, and they draw up the calendars in which prophecies are made as to the events of the coming year. The priests perform the rites and cere- monies of the Hindu religion. But the vast majority of the Brahmans belong to the Karkun class. Formerly they obtained employment from the State, but recently they have taken to business, and some work as cooks, bakers, confectioners, and tailors. The only occupa- tions forbidden to a Pandit are those of the cobbler, potter, corn-frier, porter, boatman, carpenter, mason, and fruit-seller. Many Pandits have taken to agriculture ; but the city Brahmans look down on any profession save that of writing, and they would never think of marrying a daughter to a Pandit cultivator. They have no real aptitude for business, or they might have found great openings in trade at Srlnagar under the new regime. They cling to the city, and if they obtain employment outside they leave their wives and families behind them. They are a handsome race of men, with fine well-cut features, small hands and feet, and graceful figures. Their women are fair and good- looking, more refined than the Musalmans. The children are extremely pretty.

The Pandits are broken up into numerous gotras ; but though the Pandit repeats the name of his gotra seven times as he performs his ablutions, the outside world knows him only by his kram. Marriage within the gotra is forbidden, and the Kashmiri Pandits do not inter- marry with the Brahmans of India. Among the leading krams may be mentioned the following : Tiku, Razdan, Kak, Munshi, Mathu, Kachru Pandit, Sapru, Bhan, Zitshu, Raina, Dar, Fotadar, Madan, Thusu, Wangnu, Mujju, Hokhu, and Dulu. The descendants of the Brahmans, said to be only eleven families, who survived the persecutions of Sikandar Shah and remained in the valley, are known as Malmas. The others, descended from returned fugitives, are called Banamas. There are a few Khattrls, known as Bohras in Srlnagar, engaged in trade and shop-keeping. They enjoy no caste fellowship with the Pandits, though in old days instances are known of a Khattrl being admitted to caste by the Brahmans. The Sikhs of Kashmir were probably Punjabi Brahmans who embraced Sikhism when the valley passed into the hands of Ranjit Singh, but the Sikhs of Trahal declare that their ancestors came to Kashmir in the time of Afghan rule. They are not in a flourishing condition. They look to service as their chief means of livelihood, and are not good cultivators. They are ignorant and troublesome, and quarrel with the Musalman Kashmiris and very often among themselves.

In 1901 the State contained 202 native Christians, but, although converts are so few, important work has been done by various missions. Chief among these is the Church Missionary Society at Srinagar, established in 1865, which maintains an excellent hospital. Owing to its example, the first State dispensary and school were opened. Other missions have been founded by the Moravians and the Roman Catholics at Leh.

The beautiful turf and greensward of Kashmir are so suggestive of splendid playgrounds that one naturally expects to find some national game in the valley, and the legendary feast of roses conjures up a vision of a happy laughing people who were skilled in the battle of flowers long before modern Europe dreamed of such carnivals. But in reality there is no game and no pastime in Kashmir proper. Baltistan, Gilgit, and Astor are the homes of polo, and Ladakh has its devil-dance : but Kashmir has nothing distinctive save its actors, the Bhands or Bhagats, already referred to. Sometimes we find in the villages a wandering minstrel (Shair), who sings to the accompaniment of a guitar, or recites verses, often extempore, full of local allusions and usually full of flattery, if an official or person of influence be present. Like most Orientals, the Kashmiris regard amusement as passive rather than active. They are glad to look on at a race or a game, but it is extremely difficult to induce them, athletic and powerful as they are, to take a part in any sport. They are not altogether to blame. In former days pastime was at a discount, and small mercy would have been shown to the serf who suggested that life should not be all labour. Even in the pampered city of Srlnagar the effervescence of youth was checked by Gulab Singh, who sternly repressed the old ward fights with slings and stones. The professional shikaris are often keen sportsmen ; and the boatmen of Kashmir will, when challenged, paddle till they drop rather than be beaten by a rival crew.

Share of Hindus and Muslims, 1961-2011

Proportions of Muslims and Hindus in the population of Jammu and Kashmir, 1941-2011; Graphic courtesy: The Indian Express, December 30, 2016

Change in distribution of population, Hindus and Muslims, district-wise, 2001-11; Graphic courtesy: The Indian Express, December 30, 2016

The Indian Express

Share of Muslims and Hindus in J&K population same in 1961, 2011 Censuses

Written by ZEESHAN SHAIKH | Updated: December 30, 2016

As another agitation looms over Jammu and Kashmir over the alleged government-induced demographic change — through the issuance of identity certificates to the mostly Hindu West Pakistan refugees — Census figures show the overall religious make-up of the state remains almost exactly similar to what it was 50 years ago. In 1961, Muslims, with a population of 24.32 lakh, constituted 68.31% of the state’s population of 35.60 lakh, while Hindus, numbering 10.13 lakh, made up 28.45%.

Half a century later, the Census of 2011 recorded the Muslim population at 85.67 lakh — again 68.31% of the total population of 125.41 lakh (1.25 crore) — and the Hindu population at 35.66 lakh (28.43% of the total).

The changes in demography are a contentious issue in Jammu and Kashmir. The separatists and the government have often engaged in divisive debates on J&K’s demographic profile, drawing sections of the population into agitations and street protests, and fanning fears that the state’s unique position under the Constitution is under threat.

The pre-Independence Census of 1941 recorded Muslims as constituting 72.41% of the population, and Hindus 25.01%. Thereafter, the proportion of Muslims in the state’s population fell gradually until 1981, when it bottomed at 64.19%, even as the Hindu population peaked at 32.24%.

After 1981, the proportion of Muslims in the population started to rise, touching 66.97% in 2001 and 68.31% in the following count in 2011. Jammu and Kashmir originally had 14 districts — 6 each in the Kashmir and Jammu divisions, and 2 in Ladakh. Ten of these districts were Muslim-majority — 6 in Kashmir, 3 in Jammu and 1 in Ladakh. Three districts had a Hindu majority and 1 had a Buddhist majority.

In 2006, 8 new districts were created, taking the total number of districts to 22. Of these, 17 have a Muslim majority — 10 in Kashmir, 1 in Ladakh, 6 in Jammu. Hindus are the majority community in 4 districts of the Jammu division; Buddhists are the majority in Leh.

Agriculture

As already explained, the Jammu province consists of a fringe of level land bordering on the Punjab Districts of Jhelum, Sialkot, and Gurdaspur, gradually rising by a succession of ranges . . ,, of hills to the high uplands bounded by the moun- tains of the Himalayan range, beyond which lie Kashmir, Baltistan, and Ladakh. The variations of climate are great, and the staples cultivated naturally vary to some extent with the climate. Thus the lower tracts yield all the usual crops of the Punjab, while in the higher tracts saffron, buckwheat, and mountain barley are grown. In the warmer parts the mango and shisham are found in large quantities ; but these give place to apple and pear-trees, to the picturesque deodar and shady Oriental plane (chindr) in the colder parts.

The province may be roughly divided into three main divisions. The plains and kandi hills consist of the tahsils of Kathua, Jasmirgarh, Samba, Ranbirsinghpura, Jammu, Akhniir, Manawar, and Mirpur. In the hot moist tracts, such as those irrigated from the Ravi and Ujh in the Jasrota district to the south-west, malaria is so rampant that the resident population is too small for the cultivation of the soil, which is chiefly tilled by udarach cultivators — men from the low hills who descend to the plain for short periods to sow, tend, and reap crops, and return again to their healthier homes. North of this lie the thirsty lowlands, sheltered by the hills from the cooler inland breezes, seamed with many channels (kadhs), which carry off the drainage of the uplands and become roaring torrents for a few hours after heavy rainfall, but at other times are broad stretches of burning sand. This tract depends for a full harvest on timely and well-distributed rainfall.

The parched kandi hills are composed of a red loam, thickly strewn with round stones and covered with stunted growth of garna sanatan and bahaikar bushes, broad-leaved species of trees, acacias, and in parts bamboos. The tor (Euphorbia) is used to hedge the fields and cobble-paved paths, and to keep the nilgai from damaging the crops. The soil is thirsty and dries quickly, as the land slopes and drainage is rapid. Frequent rainfall is necessary to ripen the crops, chiefly wheat, barley, and sarshaf (rape) in the spring, and millet and maize (on manured land) in the autumn ; but rain washes away the soft earth and leaves the surface of the soil a mass of stones.

Where the kandi hills end, and before the first limestone ridge is crossed, there is a narrow belt of cool land lying in the valleys traversed by the clear streams which carry the drainage of the middle hills on the lower side. When the depth of soil is sufficient, excellent crops are raised and much of the land is irrigated ; but on the slopes where the depth of earth is small, and the limestone crops up to the surface (prat), cultivation is precarious. Too much rain causes the soil to become waterlogged, as percolation is stopped by the rock bed ; and during a continued spell of hot weather the rock surface becomes so heated as to burn the roots of the crops, which wither.

In this portion of the province wells are few, owing to their cost. Except in the lowland bordering on the streams deep boring is neces- sary, and it is common to find that the water is from 70 to 100 feet below the surface. The cultivators are not as a rule sufficiently well-to- do to undertake the expenditure necessary to sink such wells, and risk the failure of finding water. Since the introduction of the regular settlement, the Darbar has done much to encourage the sinking of wells by the grant of advances on easy terms.

In this tract, however, are found the only considerable areas pro- tected by irrigation. The natural difficulties to be overcome are great, as the lie of the land makes projects costly and difficult to execute. The lines of irrigation have to cross the drainage of the country, and it is not easy to secure the channels against damage from the kadhs when in flood. Owing to this difficulty, the more ambitious projects of former days — the Kashmir canal taking off from the Ravi above the Madhopur weir, the Shahi Nahr taking off from the left bank of the Chenab opposite Akhnur, and the Katobandi or Dalpat Nahr taking off from the Chenab on the right bank — failed to render permanent help to the country. Something has recently been done to remedy the apathy displayed in the past. Two old irrigation works taking off from the Tawi in the Jammu tahsil — the Jogi Darwaza canal irrigating the land immediately below Jammu city, and the Satwari canal irrigating the villages round Satwari cantonment — have been realigned and put in order ; and the Dalpat canal, taking off from the right bank of the Chenab and irrigating a large portion of the Akhnur tahsil immediately north of the Bhajwath Andar, has been reconstructed.

Under agreement with the Government of the Punjab the right of the State to take water from the Ravi, above the Madhopur weir, for the irrigation of spring crops in the Kathua tahsil has been surrendered in consideration of an annual payment of Rs. 5,000. The restoration of the old Kashmir canal, which takes off above the weir, is thus not financially attractive. Probably the low-lying portion of the Mirpur tahsil, known as the Khari ilaka, could be irrigated from the Jhelum ; but this source of irrigation has not been tapped.

There are many drawbacks to agriculture. The administration in the past was bad and shortsighted. There are practically no roads, and in the kandi tract even drinking-water is obtained with difficulty. Much damage is done by nilgai, hog, and monkeys, the first-named animal, though an antelope, being regarded as sacred like the cow. Cattle turned loose, either as likely to die and of no further use, or devoted to the deity, have become quite wild and do much damage to crops.

Above the first limestone range lies a country of wide valleys and high hills, consisting of Basoli, Ramnagar, Udhampur, Naoshera, and part of Riasi. This has a more temperate climate than the tract just described. The supply of water from perennial streams is constant, but the stream beds are deep and irrigation is not easily effected. Being nearer the Himalayan range, rainfall is usually heavy and fairly regular, so that the people do not trouble themselves much about irri- gation, except where this can be contrived at little expense. The crops are much the same as in the plains, but bajra gives way to maize, and sugar-cane and turmeric disappear. The seasons are shorter. The areas of prati land, where the limestone bed penetrates or approaches the surface of the soil, are considerable. Communications are back- ward and prices generally rule low. Trade is carried on by Telis, who keep droves of pack-bullocks or ponies. Grazing is good and the tract is frequented by Gujars, goatherds, and shepherds. A considerable export of ghi takes place. Wild hog and monkeys do damage, but no antelope are found. Autumnal fevers are very rare.

The higher uplands, including Bhadrawar, Kishtwar, Ramban, part of Riasi, and Rampur Rajaori, have a really cold climate, and in the winter snow falls. The cultivators are a different class from those in the plains and lower hills, and Kashmiri settlers are found. Here the mango-tree gives place to the apple ; and the pear, the Oriental plane {chindr), and the deodar are found. The climate approximates to that of the valley of Kashmir, and cultivation is on much the same lines. The specialities are saffron in Kishtwar, and poppy in Dodar, Kishtwar, and Bhadrawar. This tract is healthy, and only in the more shut-in valleys do fevers trouble the people. Irrigation is general and the rainfall heavy. Grazing lands are plentiful and Gujars numerous. Early snowfall and cold winds from the mountains affect the crops in the parts adjoining the Himalayan range, and prevent these coming to maturity in certain years. Bears, hog, and monkeys do some damage.

Owing to its system of rivers, Kashmir proper possesses a large area of alluvial soil, which may be divided into two classes : the new alluvium, found in the bays and deltas of the mountain rivers ; and the old allu- vium, lying above the banks of the Jhelum and extending as far as the karewas. The first is of great fertility, and every year is renewed and enriched by silt from the mountain streams. Up to the present, in spite of the lax system of forest conservancy, the silt of the mountain streams is rich and of dark colour ; but the Sind river brings down an increasing amount of sandy deposit, which is partly due to the reckless felling of trees in its valley.

The Kashmiris, so far, have considered no crop worthy of attention save rice ; by irrigation and manuring an artificial mould has been ob- tained for the rice-fields, and it is rare to hear anything said about the original soil. But they recognize four classes which require peculiar treatment when under rice cultivation. These are known as grittfi, bahil, sekil, and dazanlad. Grutu soil contains a large proportion of clay. It holds water, and in years of scanty rainfall is the safest land for rice. But if the rains be heavy, the soil cakes and the out-turn of rice is poor. Bahil is a rich loam of great natural strength ; and there is always a danger that by over-manuring the soil will be too strong, and the plant will run to blade. Sekil is a light loam with a sandy subsoil ; and if there be sufficient irrigation and good rains, the out-turn of rice is always large. Dazanlad soil is chiefly found in low-lying ground near the swamps, but it sometimes occurs in the higher villages. Special precautions are taken to run off irrigation water when the rice plant shows signs of a too rapid growth ; and if these are taken in time, the out-turn in dazanlad land is sometimes very heavy. A peculiarity of this soil is that the irrigation water turns red in colour. Near the banks of the Jhelum, and in the vicinity of the Wular Lake, is found a rich, peaty soil (nambal), which in years of fair rainfall yields enormous crops of rapeseed and maize. This will not pro- duce rice and requires no manure. It is, however, the custom to burn standing weeds and the stubble of the last year's crop before ploughing.

The curious plateaux known as karewas, which form so striking a feature in the scenery, are for the most part of grutu soil, with varieties distinguished by colour. The most fertile is the dark blackish soil known as surhzamhi, the red grutu is the next best, while yellow soil is considered the worst of all. Other classes are recognized, and there are many local names.

The Kashmiris are fortunate in possessing ample manure for their fields, and are not compelled, like the natives of India, to use the greater part of the cattle-dung for fuel. The rule is that all dung, whether of sheep, cattle, or horses, dropped in the winter, when the animals are in the houses, is reserved for agriculture, while the summer dung is dried, and after being mixed with chinar leaves and willow twigs is kept for fuel. But the ashes are carefully stored and the fires are chiefly fed with wood, the dung aiding and regulating combustion. The dung-heaps which one sees in early spring show that the Kashmiri wastes nothing that is useful in agriculture ; but he has other resources. When the flocks commence to move towards the mountains, the sheep are folded on the fields, and the Kashmiri considers turf clods to be a far more effectual renovator of rice-fields than farmyard manure. These are cut from the sides of watercourses and are rich in silt ; and a dressing of clods will strengthen a field for three years, whereas farm- yard manure must be applied every year. The strongest farmyard manure is that of poultry, and this is reserved for onions. The next best is the manure of sheep, which is always kept for the rice nurseries. Next comes cattle-dung, and last of all horse-dung. The value of night- soil is thoroughly understood. Near Srlnagar and the larger villages the garden cultivation is excellent, and the only manure used is pou- drette, or night-soil mixed with the dust of the city alleys and pulverized by the action of the sun.

Agriculture in the valley practically depends on irrigation. Thanks to the formation of the country, this is easy and in ordinary years abun- dant. If normal snows fall in the winter and the great mountains are well covered, the water-supply for the rice will be sufficient. The snows melt into various mountain streams, which rush down to the Jhelum. From both sides of the river the country rises to the mountains in bold terraces, and the water passes quickly from one village to another in years of good snowfall. At convenient points on the mountain streams temporary weirs or projecting spurs are constructed ; and the water is taken off in main channels, which pass into a network of small ducts and eventually empty themselves into the Jhelum, or into the large swamps which lie along its banks. Lower down, where the streams flow gently, dams are erected. All villages which depend for their irrigation on a certain weir are obliged to assist in its construction and repair. The weir consists of wooden stakes and stones, with grasses and willow branches twisted in between the stakes, the best grass for this purpose being the fikal. The channel often has to be taken over ravines and around the edges of the karewa cliffs, and irrigation then becomes very difficult. In former days, when the State took a share of the crop, it was to the interest of the Darbar to look after irrigation and to assist in repairs. But since 1880, when an attempt was made to introduce a fixed assessment, the villagers have had to attend to repairs themselves, and where the channel passes through difficult ground the irrigation has become very uncertain.

If a ravine has to be crossed, a flat-bottomed boat, similar to those in ordinary use, is erected on high trestles, and the water flows over in a quaint-looking aqueduct. When a karewa has to be passed or skirted, a tunnel will sometimes be made ; but as a rule the channel is cut along the face of the cliff, and great loss is caused by the frequent breaches. In old clays over every main channel there was a mlrab — one of the villagers — whose duty was to see to repairs and to call out labour. The mirabs had not received pay for years, and the channels had fallen into great disorder ; but the office has now been revived. The system of distribution is rough and simple ; but it has the advantage that quar- rels between villages rarely arise, and disputes between cultivators of the same village are unknown. Besides the irrigation derived from the mountain streams, an important auxiliary supply is obtained from nume- rous springs. Some of these afford excellent irrigation, but they have two drawbacks. Spring water is always cold, and it does not carry with it the fertilizing silt brought down by the mountain streams, but bears a scum which is considered bad for rice. The Jhelum in its long, gentle course through the valley gives no irrigation at present, but as the population increases water will probably be lifted by the Persian wheel. The only lift-irrigation at present takes the form of the simple and inexpensive pot and lever {d/ienkli), and in Srlnagar and the small towns some splendid garden cultivation depends wholly on this system. On some of the karewas the spring-level is not very deep; and when all the land commanded by flow-irrigation has been taken up, it is hoped that wells may be sunk. The bucket and rope will be found more suitable than the Persian wheel, as the spring-level is more than 18 feet in depth. In the north-west of the valley there are a few tanks, and tank-irrigation might be introduced into many parts.

The agricultural implements are few and simple. The plough is of necessity light, as the cattle are small, and is made of various woods, the mulberry, the ash, and the apple being perhaps the most suitable materials. The ploughshare is tipped with iron. For clod-breaking a wooden mallet is used and the work is done in gangs. Sometimes a log of wood is drawn over the furrows by bullocks, the driver standing on the log. But as a rule, frost, snow, water, and the process known as khushaba are considered a sufficient agency for the disintegration of clods. The spade is made of wood, has a narrow face, and is tipped with iron. It is chiefly employed by the cultivator for digging out turf clods and for arranging his fields for irrigation. For maize and cotton, a small hand hoe is used to extract weeds and to loosen the soil. The pestle and mortar for husking rice and pounding maize must also be mentioned. The mortar is made of a hollowed-out bole of wood. The pestle is of light, hard wood, and the best and hardest of woods for the purpose is the hawthorn.

Agricultural operations are carefully timed so as to fall within a certain period before or after the nauroz, the spring day of the Musalmans, and the mezan, or commencement of autumn. If the period is exceeded there will be a certain failure in the crop, which is calculated in a most precise manner. The circumstance which interferes with punctuality in ploughing and sowing is the absence of irrigation water at the right time ; and in the spring there is great excitement among the villages if water is stopped by some natural cause, such as the late melting of snow, or by other reasons, such as the greediness of some privileged person who defies the local official and takes more than his just share of water. Up to recent times, the cultivator was often seized for forced labour and could not plough or sow at the proper time. And though there is no doubt that rice ought to be sown within forty days after the nauroz, sowing often continues up to the middle of June.

In March the rice-fields, which have remained undisturbed since the last crop was cut, are hard and stiff. The soil has perhaps been worked by the frosts and snow ; but if, as is sometimes the case, no snow has fallen, it will be difficult work for the plough-bullocks, thin and poor after the long winter, to break up the soil. If rain does not fall, a special watering must be given and ploughing then commences. In certain villages the soil is so damp that ploughing has to be done perforce while the soil is wet, and the out-turn is always poorer than from fields where the soil is ploughed in a dry condition. All the litter of the village and the farmyard manure is carried out to the fields by women and ploughed in, or is heaped in a place through which the irrigation duct passes and so reaches the fields as liquid manure. Sometimes manure is placed in heaps on the fields, and when the field is covered with water it is scattered about by hand. Later on in April, as the weather opens, turf clods are cut from the banks of streams and irri- gation channels, and flung broadcast over the wet fields. When four ploughings have been given and the clods have been crumbled with mallets, the soil is watered and sowing can commence in April. The rice seed, which has been carefully selected at threshing-time and has been stored away in grass bags, is again examined and tested by win- nowing. It is then put back into the grass bags and immersed in water until germination commences. Sometimes the seed is placed in earthen vessels through which water is passed.

Rice is grown up to an altitude of 7,000 feet ; and in the higher villages it is convenient to sow earlier than in the lower villages, as the cold season comes on quicker and it is essential to harvest the crop before snow falls. In certain lower villages also, where it is the custom to sow rice earlier than ordinary, the out-turn is always heavy. The ploughing for maize and the autumn millets is not so careful as for rice, and two or three ploughings are considered ample. A watering is sometimes given to maize-fields to start the seed, but no manure is put in. Cotton alone receives manure in the form of ashes mixed with the seed. All Kash- miris recognize that the greater the number of ploughings the greater will be the out-turn of the crop, but holdings are large and the cattle are small and weak.

In June and July barley and wheat are cut and threshed. The ears are trodden out by cattle or sometimes beaten by sticks, and when there is no wind a blanket is flapped to winnow the grain. Anything is good enough for the spring crops, which are regarded by the Kash- miris as a kind of lottery in which they generally lose their stakes. At the same time comes the real labour of rice weeding, the khushaba, a word for which there is no English equivalent. It involves putting the rice plants in their right places, and pressing the soft mud gently around the green seedling. No novice can do the work, as only an expert can detect the counterfeit grasses which pretend to be rice, and k/u/shaba must be learnt young. The operation is best performed by hand, but it may be done by the feet (/at), or, in a fashion, by cattle splashing up and down the wet fields of mud (gufian nind). Sometimes when the rice is two feet high the whole crop is ploughed up (se/e). When rice has bloomed and the grain has begun to form, the water is run off the fields, and a short time before harvest a final watering is given which swells the ears. Often, while the rice is standing, rapeseed is cast into the water. No ploughing is given, and a crop of rape is thus easily obtained. • Before the harvest of the autumn crops com- mences, about the first half of September, rain may fall and it is very beneficial. It improves the rice crop, and it also enables the cultivator to plough and sow for the spring crops. Such rain is known as kambar kd, and there is great rejoicing when these timely showers occur.

Before September, if rain has fallen, a large area of land will be ploughed up and sown with rapeseed; and both this and the early sowings for barley and wheat are of importance, as they come at a time when the culti- vator and his cattle have some leisure, for then the khushaba is over and harvest has not commenced. There are no carts in the valley, save in the flat plain around the Wular Lake, where a primitive trolly is used ; and as the Kashmiris will not use plough-bullocks for carriage, the sheaves of rice and of other crops are slowly and laboriously carried by men to the threshing-floor. When the ricks are thoroughly dry, threshing commences. Seizing a bundle of rice plants in his two hands, the cultivator beats them over a log of wood and detaches the ears from the stalk. The straw is carefully stored, as it is considered the best fodder and the best thatching straw of all.

When the weather is favourable, from October to December, the cultivator is busy ploughing ' dry ' land for wheat and barley ; but by the end of December ploughing must cease, and the Kashmiris occupy themselves with threshing and husking the rice and other crops and with domestic work, such as the tending of sheep and cattle and the weaving of blankets. It is difficult in mid-winter to tempt a Kash- miri out of his reeking house. The ploughings for wheat and barley are very few and very slovenly. For wheat three at the most, for barley two, are considered sufficient. No labour is spent in weeding or manuring, and the standing crops of wheat and barley would shock a Punjabi farmer. The fields are choked with weeds, and it is wonder- ful that there should be any crop at all. Two years of barley or wheat would ruin any land, and the Kashmiris have the sense to follow a spring crop by an autumn crop. Some day more attention may be paid to their barley and wheat, but two facts prevent either of these crops being largely produced in the valley. The rainfall is scanty and very uncertain, and if irrigation were attempted the water in the spring- time would prove too cold for plant growth.

The principal crops are rice, maize, cotton, saffron, tobacco, hops, millets, amaranth, buckwheat, pulses, and sesamum in the autumn ; and wheat, barley, poppy, rape, flax, peas, and beans in the spring. The most important staple is rice, and the cultivator devotes all his energy to this crop. The soil is porous, and water must be kept running over the fields from sowing time almost to harvest ; for if once the land becomes hard and caked, the stalks are pinched and the plant suffers, while the work of khushaba is rendered impossible. It is dangerous to leave the fields dry for more than seven days, and the cultivator should always be present to watch the water. The growth of weeds is very rapid : and once they get ahead of the rice, it is extremely difficult to repair the injury caused and to eradicate the grasses, which none but an expert can distinguish from the rice. There are two systems of cultivation. Under the first the rice is sown broad- cast ; under the second it is first sown in a nursery and then planted out. The broadcast system gives the best out-turn per acre, but the labour entailed is far heavier than that required in the nursery system.

Two khushdbas are sufficient for the latter, while four khushdbas are essential in broadcast sowings. Provided the soil is good and irrigation is fairly abundant, the cultivator will choose the broadcast system, but in certain circumstances he will adopt the nursery method. If water comes late, rice can be kept alive in the nursery plots, and the young seedling need not be planted out till forty days after sowing. Just as there are two methods of sowing the rice, so there are two methods of preparing the soil. The one is known as tao, the other as kenalu. An old proverb says that for rice cultivation the land should be absolutely wet or absolutely dry. In tao cultivation the soil is ploughed dry ; and when the clods are perfectly free from moisture and do not lose weight when placed over the fireplace at night, irriga- tion is given and the seed is sown. In kenalu cultivation the soil is ploughed wet ; and when three ploughings are made and the soil is half water and half mud, the out-turn of kenalu is sometimes equal to that of tao. But as a rule the tao system gives the better results and kenalu involves the heavier labour.

The rices are infinite in variety. In one tahsil fifty-three varieties have been counted. They may be roughly divided into two classes, the white and the red. As a food the white rice is the more esteemed, and the best of the white rices are bdsmati and kanyun. These germi- nate very quickly and ripen more rapidly than any other. But they are very delicate plants and cannot stand exposure to cold winds. They give a small crop and require very careful husking. The white rice, though esteemed as a food, is from a cultivator's point of view less popular than the red rice, which is more hardy, gives a larger out-turn, can be grown at higher elevations, and is less liable to damage from wild animals.

For a good rice harvest the following conditions are necessary : heavy snows on the mountains in the winter to fill the streams in the summer ; good rains in March and the beginning of April ; clear, bright, warm days and cool nights in May, June, July, and August, with an occasional shower and fine cold weather in September. All Kashmiris assert that sirddna, or full grains, depend on cold dew penetrating the outer husk and swelling and hardening the forming grain. Next in importance comes maize. The best soil is reclaimed swamp, and enormous crops are raised in good years from the black peaty land which lies under the banks of the Jhelum. In the high villages occupied by the Gujar graziers very fine crops of maize are grown, and the out-turn is due to the heavy manuring given to the field by buffaloes and cattle. But with this exception maize receives no manure, and the system of harvesting renders it unnecessary. A large part of the stalk is left on the fields, and in the winter the stalks rot with the snow and rain into the soil. Ordinarily two to three plough- ings are given, and a final ploughing covers over the seeds. A month after sowing, when the maize is about a foot high, women weed the fields with a small hand hoe and loosen the soil about the roots. As a rule, maize is grown on 'dry' land, and it is rare to find it irrigated. For a really good crop of maize fortnightly rains are required, but in the swamp-lands the natural moisture of the soil produces fair crops even if the rains are delayed.

Kangni or shot {Setaria italicd) is an extremely useful plant ; and when it is apparent from the look of the mountains that snow water will be scarce, a large area of rice land is at once sown with it. The land, if a good crop is hoped for, must be carefully ploughed about four times, and the seed is sown in April and May about the same time as rice. Some weeding is done, but as a rule the crop is left until it ripens in September. China or ping {Panicum miliaceum) is very like rice in appearance, but is grown on 'dry' land. The field is ploughed three times, and after sowing cattle are turned on to the land to tread the soil down. The seed is sown in June, and the crop is harvested in September. It is occasionally weeded ; but like kangni, with which it is always associated as a cheap food-stuff, china does not receive much attention.

The most beautiful of all the crops is the ganhar, or amaranth, with its gold, coral, and crimson stalks and flowers. It is frequently sown in rows among the cotton-fields or on the borders of maize plots, and the sulphur blooms of the cotton and the coral of the ganhar form a delightful combination of colour. Ganhar is sown in May after two or three ploughings. No manure or irrigation is given, and with timely rains a large out-turn is harvested in September. The minute grain is first parched, then ground and eaten with milk or water. It is con- sidered a heating food by the people, and Hindus eat it on their fast- days. The stalks are used by washermen, who extract an alkaline substance from the burnt ashes.

Trumba, or buckwheat {Fagopyrum esculentutn), is a most useful plant, as it can be sown late in almost any soil, and when the cultivator sees no hope of water coming to his rice-fields he will at once sow the sweet trumba. There are two varieties. The sweet trumba, which has white, pinkish flowers, is often grown as a substitute for rice when water is not forthcoming ; it can be sown up to the middle of July, and with good rains it gives a fair crop. The bitter trumba, which has yellow flowers, is not a mere makeshift, but in the higher villages often forms the only food-grain of the people. The unhusked grain is black in colour, and is either ground in mills and made into bread or is eaten as porridge. The sweet trumba is said to be a good food for horses and for poultry.

Pulses are not considered of much importance by the people, and Punjabis do not regard the Kashmir dal in a favourable light. Gram is unknown, and the best pulse is mting (Phaseolus Mitngo). The land is ploughed three times and the seed is sown in May. No irriga- tion is given, and mung is often sown in rice lands which require a rest. The roots run deep and air the soil. The other pulses are ?nah {Phaseolus radiafus) and mothi (P. aconitifolius).

The oilseeds of Kashmir are of some importance, and now that Kashmir is linked with the outer world they are assuming a greater value as a trade staple. The Kashmiris do not use ghl (clarified butter) in their food, but they require vegetable oils ; and at present they use these for lighting as well as for cooking, owing to the expense of mineral oil.

The chief oilseed is rape, of which there are three varieties. The first is tilgoglu, which is sown in September and October on ' dry ' lands, and especially on the soft reclaimed swamp land. As a rule there is no weeding, except where the wild hemp is very vigorous. Timely rains from February to May are required, and the crop is harvested in May and June. The second variety is known as taruz or sarshaf, and is sown in the spring. It ripens at the same time as the tilgoglu, but gives a smaller amount of oil from its seed. Three maunds of seed per acre would be an average yield for tilgoglu. The other varieties of rape give less. The third kind is known as satidiji, and is sown in the standing rice when the last watering is being given. It yields a small crop, but as no labour is expended the cultivator counts even the small crop as gain.

Linseed is cultivated all over the valley, but the best fields are on the lower slopes of the mountains. The land is ploughed twice, and a third ploughing is given when the seed is sown in April. The crop is harvested towards the end of July. Timely rains are required in May or the plant withers. The crop is said to exhaust the land. An average yield would be i^ to 2 maunds of linseed per acre, but with proper cultivation the produce could be increased. No manure is given and the fields are not weeded, and as a rule the linseed crop has a very dirty and slovenly appearance. As one ascends the slopes of the mountains the plant has a longer stem, and some time ago a fitful attempt was made to grow flax for fibre. Like other excellent schemes for introducing new staples and industries into Kashmir, the experiment failed as there was no one to supervise or encourage the cultivators.

Til (Sesamum indicum), which is a very common crop, is sown in April. The land is ploughed four times, and a fifth ploughing is given at sowing. No manure is applied, but til requires a rich soil and gentle and timely rains. The crop is weeded with the hand hoe, and is more carefully looked after than any of the other oilseed plants. The plant is very delicate and is injured by cold winds. The crop ripens shortly after rice, and blankets are spread under the plants at harvest-time to catch the seeds, which fall out of the pods with the slightest movement. In Kashmir the oil, which is sweet, is valued as an ointment. An average yield would be about 1^ maunds of seed per acre.

This will be a convenient place to give a brief description of oil production. Formerly oil was taken by the State in payment of revenue ; but this practice has now ceased, and the cultivator either sells his oilseeds to Punjabi traders or expresses oil for his own consumption or for sale. There are Telis or professional oil-pressers all over the valley ; and they charge for their services a small amount of oil and keep the whole of the oil-cake, which they sell to the villagers for cattle-food. The press is made of plane-wood, and is worked by a single bullock, blindfolded, the driver sitting perched up at a great height on the beam which crushes the seed and is carried backwards. The press is fed with seed by a man who stands below. The Kash- miris say that rapeseed gives the best oil for lighting purposes, and linseed for eating; but as a matter of fact one never gets a pure oil from the press, as the various seeds are mixed by the oil-presser, and kernels of the walnut and apricot are added. The natives give as a reason for mixing the various seeds, that a much larger amount of oil is obtained by crushing together various sizes and kinds of seed than could be obtained from crushing each separately. The walnut is an important oil-producer, but this and the apricot are not con- sidered to give good oils for lighting. Walnut oil is said to clog, and does not give half the burning power of other oil.

Cotton is grown all over Kashmir up to a certain elevation ; and, as a rule, where the white rices cease to be cultivated owing to the cold- ness of the air, there too the cotton plant disappears. It is cultivated on the karewas, and also in low-lying land which is irrigable but requires a rest from rice. The soil should be ploughed frequently, and never less than three ploughings are given, after which the clods are well pulverized by mallets. The seed is soaked in water and mixed with ashes before sowing, but the plant receives no manure. Sowing takes place at the end of April and in May, and the fields are often watered at sowing time.

Wheat and barley are the two spring crops of the valley, and of these the barley crop is the more important, if area alone be considered. The barley commonly grown in the valley is not of a good quality, and no pains are taken in its cultivation. One ploughing is given, and when the seed is sown from October to December the land is again ploughed. The fields are neither weeded nor manured, and probably have not their match in the world for bad and slovenly cultivation. It is sometimes difficult to distinguish the barley in the mass of chirman weed {Ranun- culus sp.). The grain is not esteemed as a food, but is very often mixed by millers with wheat. In the higher villages, at an elevation of 7,000 feet, there is a peculiar kind of barley known as grim, or Tibetan barley, which is an important food-staple among the mountain people. The villagers always speak of it as 'bastard wheat.' The grain has not the chaff scales adhering to it, but is naked like wheat. The people say that, if this is grown at a lower altitude, it reverts to the type of ordi- nary barley. It is sown in May and June, and ripens in August and September.

Wheat receives better treatment than barley, but two ploughings, with a third at seed-time, are considered sufficient. The land is neither manured nor weeded, and as a rule no irrigation is given. Seed is sown in September and October, and the crop ripens in June. The common variety is a red wheat with a small hard grain, and Punjabis consider the flour to be very inferior. Just as the grain of barley, and to a certain extent the grain of wheat, are looked down upon as a food by the rice-eating Kashmiri, so too the valuable straw of these cereals is neglected as a cattle-food, and it is common to see large ricks of wheat-straw left to rot on the land. On the other hand, rice-straw, which is not used for fodder until all else fails in Northern India, is the most popular fodder in Kashmir. It may be that the high elevation renders the rice-straw less flinty and more succulent here than in India.

The saffron (Crocus sativus) of Kashmir is famous for its bouquet, and is in great request as a condiment and as a pigment for the sect- marks of Hindus. Various substitutes, such as turmeric, are now used for the latter purpose by Kashmiri Pandits ; but if a man can afford it he will use the bright saffron colour, mixed with red lead and pounded with a piece of deodar-wood. The cultivation is peculiar, and the legend about its introduction shows at any rate that it is an ancient industry.

At present cultivation is extending as fast as the local method of seed-production will allow. But that this method is slow may be inferred from the fact that, at measurement of a total area of 4,527 acres of saffron land, only 132 acres were actually cultivated with the crocus. In former days ' the saffron cultivation was a large source of revenue to the State ; but in the famine the people in their distress ate up the bulbs, and although seed has been imported from Kishtwar, and every year land is set apart for the production of seed, the process of reproduction is slow. For seed purposes a particular aspect and sloping ground is required, and it takes three years before the bulbs can be

1 'There ate 10,000 or 20,000 bigkas of land covered with saffron, which afford a prospect that would enchant those who are most difficult to please.' — Ain-i-Akbari. planted out in the small square plots where the saffron is to be grown. These plots must remain fallow for eight years, and no manure can be applied to them and no assistance given in the way of water. When once the bulb has been placed in the square it will live for fourteen years without any help from the cultivator, new bulbs being produced and the old ones rotting away. The time for planting out is in July and August; and all that the cultivator has to do is to break up the surface gently a few times, and to ensure the proper drainage of the plot by digging a neat trench on all four sides. The flowers appear about the middle of October ; and the purple blooms and the delicious though somewhat overpowering scent of the saffron turn the dry, unin- viting plateau above Pampur into a rare and wonderful garden. Saffron is at present limited to the karewas in the neighbourhood of Pampur, but there is no peculiar property in the soil there which does not exist in other karezvas, though it is of exceptionally good quality.

In former days men came from all parts to cultivate saffron on the Pampur karewas ; but now, with the exception of a few people from Srlnagar, the industry is in the hands of local cultivators. At harvest- time the whole flower is picked and put into bags and then taken to the farmer, who takes one bag for himself and gives the other bag to the cultivator. The bags are never opened, and it has been found by experience that the cultivator never attempts to foist a bad bag on the farmer. When the flowers have been collected the real work of extracting saffron commences. The flowers are dried in the sun, and the three long stigmas are picked out by hand. The stigma has an orange-red tip, and this tip forms the shahi zafarirn, the first quality saffron. The long white base of the stigma also makes saffron, but it is of inferior quality to the tips. The article thus collected in a dry condition is known to the trade as mongla, and sells for one rupee per tola. When the mongla saffron has been extracted, the sun-dried flowers are beaten lightly with sticks and winnowed. Then the whole mass is thrown into water, when the petals swim and the essential parts of the flower sink. The parts which have sunk (niwal) are collected, and those which have risen to the top are dried and again beaten with sticks and then plunged into water. The process is repeated three times, and each time the niwal becomes poorer. One form of adul- teration is to mix niwal of the third with niwal of the first process. The saffron obtained in this way is lighter in colour and of fainter scent than the mongla, and is known to the trade as lacha, and sells at 12 annas per tola. The saffron when made is exported by post.

Next to the saffron cultivation in interest come the floating gardens of the Dal Lake, which resemble the ' chinampas ' of Old Mexico. The whole cultivation and vegetation of the lake is full of interest and of great importance to the people. The radii or floating gardens are made of long strips of the lake reed, with a breadth of about six feet. These strips can be towed from place to place, and are moored at the four corners by poles driven into the lake bed. When the radh is sufficiently strong to bear the weight of a man, heaps of weed and mud are extracted from the lake by poles, formed into cones, and placed at intervals on the radh. The cones are known &sftokar, and each cone accommodates two seedlings of melons or tomatoes, or four seedlings of water-melons or cucumber. Everything that plant life requires is present. A rich soil and ample moisture, with the summer sun, help to produce vegetables in surprising abundance and of excellent quality. Not inferior to the floating gardens in fertility are the demb lands, which are formed along the sides and sometimes in the middle of the lake when the water is shallow. The cultivator selects his site, and plants willows and sometimes poplars along its four sides. Inside these he casts boatloads of weed and mud until his land is above the flood-level, and year by year he adds a new dressing of the rich lake weed and mud. Around the demb plot run little water-channels from the lake, so that moisture is always present ; and on the demb a great variety of crops are raised. Rapeseed, maize, tobacco, melons and other Cucurbitaceae, potatoes, onions, radishes, turnips, egg-plants, white beans, peaches, apricots, and quinces flourish on this rich soil ; and if it were not for the constant liability to forced labour, and for the curious system under which revenue is collected daily from the half-amphibious dwellers on the Dal Lake, the cultivators of the demb lands might be the most prosperous people in Asia. The system is of importance, as it is not confined to the Dal Lake ; all over Kashmir the people who live by the great swamps have begun to construct these curious oblong patches.

Tobacco is cultivated in many parts, but is chiefly grown in and around Srinagar and the smaller towns. The ordinary cultivator does not grow the plant, and it is almost entirely in the hands of the gardener class which exists in the city and the towns. The plant yielding the most esteemed tobacco grows in one part of Srinagar, and is known as breivari {Nicotiana Tabacum). It has pinkish flowers, and its product, which is of a bright yellow colour, is extremely mild and less pungent than the chilasi variety, introduced from the Punjab. The chilasi is N. rustica, a plant with pale yellow flowers. Tobacco is sown in April, and is picked about the end of August. It requires very rich soil, and is irrigated by the pot and lever system. Formerly the State took tobacco as revenue and allowed a high commutation rate for the crop ; but of late years tobacco has not been accepted in payment of revenue, and it is thought that the cultivation is not increasing. The local use of tobacco passed out of fashion at the great famine, and the narcotic is now chiefly taken in the form of snuff, which is imported from Peshawar.

In the same rich land, black with poudrette, which the gardener class of the city and towns cultivate so carefully and well, the opium poppy is raised, and its dried capsules are used in medicine. Ajwain and kala zlra (Canon s/>.) are two garden spring crops, cultivated for local use as condiments for improving the condition of horses and cattle. They are largely exported to India, Ladakh, and Afghan- istan. Vegetables are of great importance, and every villager has his small garden plot, where he raises a wealth of food with very small effort. In the neighbourhood of Srinagar some care is taken in the selection of seed, and the villager often buys his seed from the city ; but in the remote corners of the valley very little attention is paid to this class of cultivation, and the vegetables are poor, fibrous, and small.

The national vegetable is the knol-kohl. It is a hardy plant, and in years of favourable rains large crops are raised without much labour. The green variety is the commonest ; in the summer the leaves are eaten as spinach, while the root is kept for the winter. Next in impor- tance is the turnip, which is largely cultivated. The root is cut into slices and dried for the winter. Vegetable marrows abound, and they too are dried in the sun and festooned on ropes for winter use. They are grown in raised cones of earth, through which the air passes easily to the roots. Tomatoes are a popular vegetable, but the plant is allowed to lie on the ground, and the fruit is small and ugly. It is cut into rings and dried in the sun for winter use. Chillies are chiefly grown by the regular gardening cultivators, and very large crops are raised in the neighbourhood of the city and the towns. Cucumbers of a large size are grown in abundance on the Dal Lake, but they are not common elsewhere. The egg-plant is well-known in the valley ; and last, but not least, the potato is gradually extending. On the hill slopes of the Trahal itaka, in Naubug, and in one or two other places, excellent potatoes are raised ; and now that the old fear that anything good would either be seized or would lead to an enhancement of revenue is passing away, they will be a common crop throughout the valley. The soil of the valley is well drained, friable, and loamy, and every condition requisite to successful potato cultivation is present. Nature is so bountiful that the Kashmiri cares little for vegetables in the spring or the summer, and his one idea is to grow something that will last him through the winter.

Various herbs are eaten as vegetables in the spring and summer : thistles, nettles, the wild chicory, the dandelion — in fact, every plant which is not poisonous goes into the cooking-pot, and even the stalk of the walnut catkin is not despised. In the hills a dainty dish of the wild asparagus can be easily obtained, and wild rhubarb cooked in honey has its charms. Kashmir is a country of fruits ; and perhaps no country has greater facilities for horticulture, as the indigenous apple, pear, vine, mulberry, walnut, hazel, cherry, peach, apricot, raspberry, gooseberry, currant, and strawberry can be obtained without difficulty in most parts of the valley. The fruits are a great help to the people as a food, and they come in a pleasant and changing succession. When the first days of summer arrive, the mulberry-trees are surrounded by villagers with their out- spread blankets, and by cattle, ponies, and dogs, who all munch the sweet black or white fruit. There are grafted varieties, the best of which is shahtut, purple and juicy, and much esteemed as a preserve. With an eye to the winter the provident cultivator stores away the mul- berries which he cannot eat, and they retain their sweeThess long. The apricot ripens next, and they too are quickly eaten or stored away for the winter ; but the Kashmiri looks on the apricot as intended to give oil rather than fruit. This fruit is also used by the silversmith for clean- ing his metal, and by dyers as an astringent. The cherry is usually of the black morella variety, sour in taste, yet appreciated by the people ; but in places the delicious whiteheart (an introduction from Europe via Arabia, Persia, and Afghanistan) is cultivated. Its Kashmiri name, gilas, is a corruption of Cerasus. People say that it is indigenous, and it is found in places where one might almost imagine it was self-grown. The wild plums are excellent, and the cultivated plums are often very fine. The peach that has extended its area from cultivation is small but refreshing, and a wild raspberry is as good and as delicate in flavour as the cultivated raspberry of England. The gooseberry is small and flavourless, but the wild strawberry and black currant are excellent.

The most popular apple is the anbru or amri, which has a large round red and white sweet fruit, ripening in October and keeping its condition for a long time. This is exported in large quantities, and it finds favour with the natives of India for its sweeThess and handsome appearance. To an English taste it would seem woolly and flavourless. The mohi amri is like the amri, but is more acid and redder. It is largely exported. The klwddu sari apple is said to have been intro- duced from Kabul. It is long in shape, and is juicy and rather acid, ripening early and not keeping. But the best apple, so far as flavour goes, is the little trel, which abounds in the neighbourhood of Sopur. There are three common kinds : the nabadi trel, which is yellow ; the jambasi trel, which turns red ; and the si/ trel, which is rather larger than the nabadi and jambasi, and of a deep red colour. When ripe these little apples have the most delicious taste, half sour, half sweet, and when they rot they are exactly like the medlar in flavour. From this variety, when picked at the right time, excellent cider has been made. A superior variety of the trel is the khatotii trel, which is larger but possesses all the flavour of tha smaller kind. There are many other kinds, but the Kashmiri would give the palm to the dud amri, which is the sweetest and finest of the amri. Many of the wild apples, such as the tet shah- and malmu, are very refreshing, and it is a curious fact that the greater part of the orchards consist entirely of wild trees. About the beginning of September the people pick the wild apples and the irel apples, and having cut them in half dry them in the sun.

The pear is as yet of secondary importance, and does not form a large article of export. But several very good pears are cultivated, the best of which are the nak satarwati, which has a beautiful shape and a sweet juicy flesh, and the nak gulabi, which has a pretty red skin and is a very pleasant fruit. The Kashmiris, though they think it essential to peel an apple, never peel pears. They also hold that it is dangerous to eat pears in the winter. Cold in the head and the eyes is the result of such indulgence. The early pear is known as the gosh bug and is very refreshing, and the later fruit is called tang. None of these will keep for long, and late pears are required. From the State nurseries a splendid French pear has been sent out all over the valley, but unless these are most carefully packed and quickly transported they cannot reach India. The wild pear is found all over the valley, and it often resembles the perry pear of Herefordshire.

The quinces, sour and sweet, are famous, and in the gardens of the Dal Lake splendid specimens of this fruit are to be seen. The tree is grown for its seed, which is exported to the Punjab. Pomegranates are common, but are not of any especial merit. In old days Kashmir was celebrated for its grapes ; but now, if a few vineyards at the mouth of the Sind valley be excluded, it is difficult to obtain a good dessert grape in the country. Everywhere one sees giant vines climbing up poplars and other trees, but they are often wild, and their fruit is poor and tasteless. The people say that they cut down their good vines in order to avoid the exactions of officials. The grapes, white and red, from the State vineyard at Raipur in the Sind valley are delicious, and efforts are being made to reproduce the Raipur vines in other parts of the valley. With the decline of the eating grape there has been an attempt to introduce the wine grape, and at present there are 389 acres of vineyards on the shore of the Dal Lake. The vines were introduced from Bordeaux in Maharaja Ranblr Singh's time, and no expense was spared to make the scheme a success. Perhaps the vines of Burgundy would have been more suitable. Costly dis- tillery plant was imported and set up at Gupkar on the Dal Lake, and wines of the Medoc and Barsac varieties, as well as brandy, have been manufactured year by year. The only market at present is Srlnagar, as the long road carriage and the duties levied at the frontier make it difficult to deliver wine in India at a moderate price. In 1 900-1 the gross receipts were Rs. 33,000, and the net profit had averaged about Rs. 11,000 during the preceding four years. Hops were also introduced by Maharaja Ranblr Singh, and the hop garden at Dubgam below Sopur yields a handsome return to the State. In 1900-1 the total produce was 25,000 lb. The crop is sold at from 12 annas to a rupee per pound, and fetched Rs. 21,000, while the expenses were only Rs. 5,600.

The walnut-tree is indigenous to the country, and is known by the vernacular name vont dun ('hard walnut'), as under ordinary circum- stances one is unable to break the shell. The fruit is useless, but the bark used to be a large export to the Punjab. The fruit of the culti- vated tree is an important aid to the villagers, though they seem to be somewhat indifferent to its reproduction. The tree is found all over the valley, from an elevation of about 5,500 feet to 7,500 feet. It is propagated from seed ; and although grafting is not uncommon, the general idea seems to be that the three varieties — the kagliazi, the burza/, and the wantu — reproduce themselves from seed. Hitherto walnuts have been grown for oil and not for eating, and the wantu, in spite of its thick hard shell, is the largest fruiter and gives the most oil. The burzal stands half-way between the kaghazi and the wantu, and is like the ordinary walnut of England. Some of the trees reach an enormous size, and the finest specimens are to be found as one ascends the mountain valleys. In former times the State accepted walnut oil in payment of revenue, and it was more profitable to the villager to give oil as revenue than to sell the nuts to Punjabi traders. Now no oil is taken as revenue, and the export of walnuts is rapidly increasing. The Kashmiris do not care for the nut as a food, as it is heating, but it always forms part of the New Year's presents among Hindus and Musalmans. Not long ago the walnuts were exposed to a very serious danger. In Paris there was a demand for the huge warts which grow on the walnut stem, the wood of which is used by cabinet- makers for veneer work, and a Frenchman obtained from the State the right to saw off these warts. Countless trees were destroyed, for life went with the wart. Another danger to which walnuts, like other fruit trees, are liable is the occurrence of the hit kushu, an icy mist which settles over the valley in severe winters, and freezes out the life of the trees.

Large almond orchards are scattered over the valley, and many of the hill-sides might easily be planted with this hardy and profitable tree. It is a somewhat uncertain crop, but very little attention is paid to its cultivation, and as a rule the almond orchards are unfenced. There are two kinds, the sweet and the bitter; the former is worth double the latter in the market. Ruined almond gardens in all parts of the valley attest the fact that State enterprise cannot succeed in horticulture.

There are several varieties of the singhara (Trapa bispinosa), but all seem to have white flowers floating on the surface of the water on stems supported by air vessels. When the fruit ripens, the nuts sink to the bottom of the lake. The singhara is found on the Dal Lake and in other localities, but its home is the Wular Lake. Of the chief varieties the best is called bast/ioti, in honour of the rice of that name. This is a small nut with a thin skin, and gives one-third of kernel for two-thirds of shell. The dogru is a larger nut with a thicker shell ; and the kangar has a very thick shell with long projecting horns, and gives the least kernel of all. Attempts have been made to propagate the basmati, but it is found that after one year the inferior varieties assert themselves.

The cattle of Kashmir are small but hardy, rather bigger than Brit- tany cattle. They have humps, and their prevailing colour is black or grey. Very little attention is paid to selection in breeding, but a strain of Punjab blood has entered the valley, and the dairymen favour cows of this type. The improvement of the local breeds has been recently considered by a committee. As summer approaches, all cattle, save the requisite plough-bullocks and the cows in milk, are driven off to the mountain pastures, returning in the autumn to the villages. Great pains are taken to store fodder for the winter, and there are many excellent grasses and fodder trees. The Gujars, who live on the fringe of the forests, keep a large number of buffaloes and produce a considerable quantity of ghl.

Sheep are largely kept. They supply warmth, clothing, and manure, and are of great importance to the villagers. As the days grow warmer, the sheep move up to the grand pastures above the forests, and return in the autumn. The sheep are made over to professional shepherds when they go to the mountains. In the winter they are penned beneath the dwelling-rooms of the villagers, and much of the Kash- miri's comfort in the cold months depends on the heat given out by the sheep. The wool is excellent, but it varies in quality. Roughly speaking, the finest wool is found in the north of the valley where the grasses are good. For winter fodder the Kashmiri depends on willow leaves and the sweet dried leaves of the flag {Iris). Salt is always given to the sheep.

Goats are not numerous in the valley, but every year enormous flocks are brought up to the mountains. They do much injury to the forests. The ponies are small, but wiry and of great endurance. Every village has its brood mares, but no care is taken in the selection of sires. There is a great future for rational breeding, and also for mule- breeding. Poultry is abundant. The best breed of fowls is found in the Lolab valley. Geese and ducks are common, and there is a large export of the latter to the Punjab. Turkeys have not yet succeeded in Kashmir.

Honey is produced in the higher villages of the valley. One house will often contain many hives, and in a good year a hive will give 8 seers of comb. The hive consists of two large concave clay plates let into the wall of the house, and in the outer plate there is a small hole through which the bees enter. The honey is clear and excellent.

It is believed that the silk industry of Kashmir is of very ancient date, and that the valley furnished part of the Bactrian silk which found its way to Damascus. In 1869 Maharaja Ranbir Singh, who was an enthusiast in new industries, organized sericulture on a very large and expensive scale. But the industry was unpopular, as it was conducted on purely official lines in which coercion played a great part. There was no real skilled supervision ; disease attacked the silkworms, and the enterprise languished. But in spite of mistakes and failure, it was proved that Kashmir could produce a silk of high quality. In the Kothar valley to the south the industry lingered on, and the Settlement officer, Mr. (now Sir) Walter Lawrence, fostered it, but avoided any large outlay. Excellent silk was produced in 1894, and was placed on the English market with satisfactory results. Later, in 1897, an expert was employed, and the State started sericulture on approved European principles with Italian reeling machinery. All attempts to raise local seed were abandoned, and seed was imported annually on a large scale. The results have been surprising. The industry is no longer confined to Kothar, but has spread all over the valley, and its further progress depends on the maintenance and extension of mulberry-trees.

Ten filatures have been built, containing 1,800 basins for reeling cocoons, fitted with Italian machinery and giving employment to over 5,000 people in Srlnagar. The quality of the silk steadily improves, and it now commands a price very slightly below Italian silk. In 1897 only 406 ounces of eggs were imported, while in 1906 the import was 27,500 ounces. The number of zamindars taking seed has risen in the same period from 150 to 14,000, and the weight of cocoons reared from 375 to 21,400 maunds, while the payments to the rearers increased from Rs. 4,300 to Rs. 3,28,500, all the eggs and mulberry leaf being given free of cost. The total production in 1905-6 was 109,072 lb. of raw silk, and 43,349 lb. of silk waste. The profits since 1897, when the industry was started on a scientific basis, have been 15-4 lakhs, of which 4-6 lakhs was made in 1905-6. The total capital outlay has been Rs. 7,25,000, while the working expenses are about 7 lakhs a year.

Forests

The forests of the State are extensive and valuable, and their conservation is of great importance in the interests of the country drained and irrigated by the rivers passing through them. Including the Bhadarwah jdglr, which contains the finest quality of timber, the area is reported as 2,637 square miles of all ., kinds, comprising deodar, firs, pines, and broad- leaved species. This may be divided into the drainage areas of the Jhelum (1,718 square miles), Chenab (806), and Ravi (113). The deodar, which is the most valuable species, extends between 5,000 and 9,000 feet above sea-level, and is at its best between 6,000 and 9,000 feet. The blue pine appears at about 6,000 feet, and extends to nearly 10,000 feet, the finest specimens being found mixed with deodar. A zone between 8,000 to 11,000 feet is occupied by silver fir, which occurs pure in dense forests at the lower elevation and is mixed at greater heights, first with maple and then with birch. Tree vegetation above 11,000 feet consists of dwarf rhododendron and juniper.

The total area under deodar is about 543 square miles. In the Kashmir Valley it is found principally, indeed almost entirely, in the north-west — that is, the district known as Kamraj — and the largest areas are in the Utr Machipur tahsil. In Udhampur district, which includes the Kishtwar and Padar tahsil, there are 198 square miles of deodar-bearing tracts situated on the Chenab and its affluents. These forests are of a very good class, containing many fine trees of 12 to 18 feet girth, and the reproduction is mostly good. In the Muzaffarabad district, which contains the valley of the Kishanganga river and that of the Jhelum from Kohala nearly up to Baramula, there are estimated to be 158 square miles of deodar forest. Ramnagar, formerly the jdglr of the late Sir Raja Ram Singh, K.C.B., contains a very small propor- tion of deodar forest, and it has been generally overworked. Finally, the Jasrota district, situated on the right bank of the Ravi river, contains a small area of deodar in the Basoli tahsil. These forests also were formerly held in jdglr and were practically denuded of all mature trees, so that no fellings can take place for many years to come.

Pines and firs occupy about r,ioo square miles, and chll (Pinus longifolia) 473 square miles. The last is found in lower altitudes below the blue pine and deodar, existing in practically pure forests in Muzaffarabad, Bhimbar, Ramnagar, Udhampur, Jammu, and Jasrota. The Kashmir Valley, having a lowest elevation of 5,200 feet above sea-level, contains no chll. The Bhimbar Forest division (and district) has the greatest area under chll (220 square miles), situated principally in the Kotli and Naoshera tahsil. Some of these forests are of very fine quality, and will in time give a large number of mature trees for sale, but at present they are not being worked. Next to this comes the Ramnagar division, which includes part of the Jammu district ; but these forests are badly stocked and have been overfelled, and will take many years before they can be of much value as a commercial asset. The Chenab division, which also comprises part of the Jammu district, has some forest of poor quality. In Udhampur most of the forest is too far from a market to be profitable. When good cart-roads or light railways have been made, it may be possible to utilize the Bhimbar and Jammu chil forests for the distillation of turpentine, but at pre- sent the cost of carriage is prohibitive.

Next come the fir forests. Owing to their altitude, it would natu- rally cost more to extract their timber ; and the selling price of fir being very low, these forests are unworkable except in the Kashmir Valley, where the timber is used as firewood mainly for the silk factory at Srinagar. Perhaps in the future, when artificial preservation of the timber in the form of sleepers, &c, by creosoting, has been resorted to, these forests will prove of great value.

Lastly, there are the forests of broad-leaved species, and these are at present only of value in the Kashmir Valley for the supply of fire- wood to the city of Srinagar. Bamboos are found mainly in the Jasrota district on the Ravi river, where there are about 3,200 acres of mixed forest which contain the so-called male kind (Dendroca/ami/s sfric/us). They are saleable at a good price, but are at present subject to much injury from the Gujar tribes, who hack them for fodder for their cattle. The grass areas are mostly blanks inside deodar and other forests, which are used as grazing-grounds by the villagers.

In the Kashmir Valley the forests supply timber and firewood for local use and also logs for export. 1 )uring the past few years deodar sleepers have been exported down the Jhelum river, the sleepers paying very well, though the quality is not so good as in other districts. Little deodar is used in Srinagar in comparison with blue pine, which, being both very durable and cheaper than deodar, is the favourite building material. From Udhampur both logs and sleepers of deodar are exported down the Chenab to Wazlrabad. The trees being of better quality, higher prices are obtained for the produce than for that of Kashmir. From Muzaffarabad timber in the log and sawn into sleepers is exported down the Jhelum. The sleepers are entirely of deodar, but logs of both blue and long-leaved pine are also sent down in small quantities. These three districts, Kamraj, Udhampur, and Muzaffarabad, give the greater part of the forest revenue, which in 1904-5 amounted to 9-8 lakhs, while the expenditure was 3 lakhs.

Up to the present, owing to the weakness of the forest establishment, little has been done in the matter of artificial reproduction of deodar, nor is it necessary. Owing to the protective measures already taken, the three important species — deodar, blue pine, and the long-leaved pine — are rapidly filling up blanks in the forests. The reproduction of deodar by natural means, whether in Kashmir, Udhampur, or any other district, is remarkable, nor is the blue pine at all backward, while in the Kotli and Naoshera tahsils of Bhimbar district the restocking of blanks inside and outside the forests is all that can be desired. Since the last great seed year of 1897 myriads of self-sown chil have appeared and are now fine healthy plants, ranging from 6 to 9 inches in height, so that unless destructive fires occur there is little or nothing to be done in the matter of restocking denuded areas or blanks. So far fire protection has been unnecessary and hardly anything has been expended on it, and the only parts protected are the Kotli tahsil forests. The greatest need at present is protection from the damage done by graziers.

■ About three-quarters of the State forests have been demarcated ; but before really scientific forestry can be introduced, it will be necessary that a regular survey should be made and a settlement of the forests effected, and the great task of drawing up working-plans for future guidance must be undertaken.

Before 1 89 1 there was no proper management of the forests, and much damage was done by allowing traders to cut in the forests on payment of royalty without any supervision, while villagers also did immense injury to the forests in various ways, the State gaining little or no revenue. In 1891 the first attempts were made to put matters on a proper basis, with the result that, while most forms of forest injury except grazing have ceased, the profits have increased largely. Thus the net revenue in 1904-5 was 6 lakhs, while before 1891 it hardly exceeded 2 lakhs. The Forest department is under the control of a European Conservator, assisted by a staff of subordinates.

Mines and minerals

Some authorities have held that there is not much hope of mineral wealth in the State ; and among the reasons given is the fact that, as a rule, where valuable minerals exist, the natives of the country know of their existence. 1 he Kashmiris. minerals however, have excellent reasons for reticence on the subject of minerals ; and the find of valuable sapphires in Padar in 1882, and the more recent discovery of coal at Ladda and Anji in the Udhampur district of Jammu territory, give hopes for the future. Vast fields have been found, in two sections of which it is estimated that there are 1 1 million tons of workable coal. The coal is extremely friable, dirty, and dusty. Some of it cokes strongly if subjected to great heat. It is held by competent authorities that the washed and briquetted coal of these fields will have a value equal to, if not greater than, Bengal coal. Exploration for minerals has not yet been attempted on sound or business-like lines. Excellent iron has been obtained at Sof in the south of Kashmir ; good limestone is available in large quantities ; gypsum is abundant ; and a recent discovery of gold has been made at Gulmarg, the chief summer resort of European visitors to Kashmir.

Arts and manufactures

The industries connected with sericulture, oil-pressing, and the manufacture of wine and brandy have already been mentioned, but the State is still more celebrated for its arts. The most important of these is described in the article on Srinagar, but other places also possess consider- able reputation for various classes. Wood-carving is practised at many places, and that turned out at Bijbihara is especially noted. The work is artistic, but suffers from the fact that the Kashmiri is a bad carpenter. Lacquered wood-work is produced at Kulgam. Woollen cloth (pattii) is woven all over the State, the best work being produced in the north, while the finished product of the south is especially famous. Blankets are made in many places, and .sometimes fetch Rs. 25 a piece. The blacksmiths are very skilful, and some have been able to make surgical instruments and repair gun-locks. The city of Srinagar is noted for its silver, copper, wood-carving, and lacquer. The shawl and paper industries are almost extinct, but many of the shawl-workers have become expert weavers of carpets or have taken to embroidering felts. Good embroidery is also turned out at Islamabad. An industry started very recently, in connexion with the development of sericulture, is the weaving of silk cloth. In 1906 about 100 looms of improved pattern were imported and set up.

Commerce and trade

Up to quite recent times Kashmir was almost a self-supporting country, and the chief imports — piece-goods, metals, salt, sugar, tea, and tobacco — were of modest dimensions. Before the opening of the cart-road from Rawalpindi to Bara- mula in 1890, the trade was carried by Kashmiris who went down every winter to work in the Punjab, and brought back domestic requisites, or by the professional muleteers, or by Punjabi bullock-drivers. There were three trade routes. The most direct crossed the Banihal pass and ran to Jammu, the railway terminus ; the most popular route followed the old imperial road over the Pir Panjal, reaching the railway at Gujrat ; and the third was known as the Jhelum valley road, which is now the cart-road and the main line of communication with the Punjab.

In 1892-3 the total imports from India were valued at 48-7 lakhs. In 1902-3 the imports reached 118 lakhs, but the trade of that and later years was greatly impaired by the prevalence of plague in the Punjab. In 1904-5 the total value was 115 lakhs. The table on the next page shows the value of the more important imports in the years chosen for comparison.

There can be little doubt that Kashmir has increased enormously in prosperity of late years. The land revenue settlement has turned the agricultural classes from serfs into well-to-do peasants, and their wealth is reflected in their increased purchases. The increase in the import of salt is especially satisfactory, as in 1892 it was shown that the annual average of consumption in Kashmir was exactly half of that prevailing in the Punjab.

In 1892-3 the total exports were valued at 53-3 lakhs. In 1902-3 the value reached 99-6 lakhs, and in 1904-5, 192 lakhs.

The following table shows the value of the more important exports in the years selected : —

The value of fruits exported is increasing steadily, and would expand further with more rapid communications. Ghl also is a very important export. Perhaps one of the most remarkable increases is that in linseed, which possessed very little value before the opening of the cart-road. The trade in shawls was practically dead before 1892-3. An important new staple not included in the list must be noticed. Raw silk produced in the Kashmir Valley has been exported in rapidly increasing quantities and values, and there are indications that it will become one of the most important products of the country. The value increased from Rs. 7,000 in 1897-8 to 13-6 lakhs in 1902-3 and nearly 21 lakhs in 1904-5.

Another item of some importance is the trade which passes through Kashmir between India, Chinese Turkistan, and Tibet via Leh. In 1904-5 the total value of this trade was 61-2 lakhs. It is subject to considerable fluctuations, owing to great physical difficulties, the keen rivalry of Russia, and the passive obstruction of Tibet. During the ten years ending 1901 the average value was 44-3 lakhs, the maximum being 62-2 lakhs in 1895-6, and the minimum 30*1 lakhs in 1891-2. The imports from Central Asia into Ladakh amounted to 17-8 lakhs. Of this, about 14 lakhs came from Chinese Turkistan and the balance from Tibet. Goods to the value of 11-3 lakhs found their way to the Punjab via Kashmir, others going via Kulu. The chief articles were raw silk (5-9 lakhs), Russian gold coins (4-3 lakhs), raw wool (3 lakhs), and charas (2-2 lakhs). The exports from Ladakh to Central Asia amounted to 11-4 lakhs. Of this, goods to the value of 10 lakhs went to Chinese Turkistan and the remainder to Tibet. The more impor- tant articles of export were : European cotton piece-goods (3-4 lakhs) ; coral (1-2 lakhs) ; silk goods, European (i-8 lakhs), Indian (Rs. 54,000)- The value of trade passing from India to Ladakh was 14-3 lakhs.

Communications

The nature of the country renders communications difficult. In the valley proper the Jhelum forms a great waterway, but other rivers are not navigable. Throughout the greater part of the State the roads are chiefly fair-weather tracks and are not used for wheeled traffic. A cart-road has, however, been con- structed from Srinagar, through Baramula and down the Jhelum valley, to Abbottabad in the North- West Frontier Province and to Murree in the Punjab, while another cart-road is being constructed from Srinagar to Udhampur. The principal roads within the State lead from Srinagar to Islamabad and Jammu over the Banihal pass (9,200 feet) ; to Shupiyan, Bhimbar, and Gujrat in the Punjab over the Plr Panjal (11,400) ; to Gandarbal and Ladakh over the Zoji La (11,300) : and to Gilgit over the Rajdiangan (11,700), and Burzil (13,500), or Kamri (13,100). Much has been done in recent years to improve these routes and a number of smaller roads, such as that from Srinagar to Gulmarg, which is practicable for tongas. A road cess amounting to 2 ½ per cent, on the revenue has been imposed, in place of the forced labour which used to be exacted. The Jhelum is crossed by several wooden bridges on the cantilever principle at Srinagar, and over the hill torrents swing frail suspension bridges consisting of cables made of plaited twigs or buffalo-hide. The latter sometimes reach a span of 300 feet, and are renewed every three years, if they have not been carried away meanwhile by floods.

The only railway at present is a short length of 16 miles, constructed at the cost of the State, which is included in a branch of the North- western State Railway from Wazirabad through Sialkot. It cost 9-6 lakhs, and has usually earned a net profit of i to 2 ½ per cent., in addition to the rebate allowed from traffic exchanged with the North- western Railway. A line has been surveyed along the Jhelum valley route, and it is proposed to work this by electricity derived from the river.

The State is included for postal purposes in the circle administered by the Postmaster-General of the Punjab and North-West Frontier Province. Formerly Kashmir had its own postal service and used its own postage stamps, but as far back as 1876 there were British post offices in Srlnagar and Leh. The State stamps were used only for local purposes, and letters and other postal articles passing between the State post offices and British India were charged with both Kashmir and Indian postage. In 1894 the State posts were entirely amalgamated with the Indian postal system. The following statistics show the advance in postal business since 1 880-1 : —

Famine

The accounts of early famines are vague, but it is known that famines occurred. While Sher Singh was governor (183 1-3) severe distress was felt and many people fled, but the next governor, Mian Singh, did much to restore prosperity by im- porting grain. It is said that the population was reduced to a quarter in that famine. In 1877-9 a worse disaster was experienced and the loss of life was enormous. Famines in Kashmir are not caused by drought, as in India, because the rice crop is generally protected by irrigation. The greatest distress is due to the fall of rain or snow while the rice and maize are ready for harvest. The famine of 1832 was caused by early snow, and was aggravated by the floods which followed. In 1877 rain fell almost continuously for three months, and the old system of collecting revenue in kind prevented cultivators from gathering their crops when opportunity served. Food-grains were not to be had ; and when imports were made at the expense of the State, the corrupt officials were the chief persons to profit. It is improbable that such distress can be experienced again, owing to the construction of a cart- road, and the change in the method of collecting revenue.

The State is in direct relationship with the Government of India, who is represented by an officer of the Political department, styled the Resident. His head-quarters are at Snnagar. At Gilgit a Political Agent exercises some degree of supervision over the Wazlr Wazarat, and is directly responsible to the Government of India for the administration of the outlying petty States. A British officer is stationed at Leh to assist in the supervision of Central Asian trade.

Administration

On his accession to the gaddi in 1885, the present Maharaja was entrusted with the administration of the State, aided by two ministers ; but in 1887, at his own request, he was relieved from all part in the administration, which was then placed, subject to the control of the Resident, in the hands of a Council consisting of His Highness's brother and two selected officials from the British service. In 1891 the Maharaja assumed the presidentship of the Council, while his brother, Raja Sir Amar Singh, K.C.S.I., became vice-president. The Council was abolished in 1905, and its powers were conferred on the chief himself. Under the new arrangements the Maharaja administers the State. There are three ministers, in charge of the revenue, judicial, and home departments ; but business requiring the orders of the Maharaja is laid before him by the chief minister, Raja' Sir Amar Singh. For some time past the departments of finance, revenue settlement, forests, and public works have been in charge of British officers, whose services have been temporarily placed at the disposal of the Darbar.

The four chief executive officers are : the governor or Hakim-i-Ala of Jammu, the governor of Kashmir (each aided by a general assistant), the WazTr Wazarat of Gilgit, and the Wazlr Wazarat of Ladakh.

In Jammu there are five districts, each in charge of a Wazlr Wazarat, an official whose average salary is Rs. 250 a month. Under the Wazlr Wazarat are tahsildars and sometimes subdivisional officers. All these officers exercise revenue, civil, and criminal jurisdiction, with regular stages of appeal. In revenue cases the appeal lies to the governor, and from him to the revenue minister. In civil and criminal judicial cases the appeal lies to the Chief Judge of Jammu. From him there is an appeal to the judicial minister, who is virtually the final court, and it is only on rare occasions that an appeal is made from him to the Maharaja. All death sentences passed by the Chief Judge require the confirmation of the Maharaja. In 1900-1 there were eighty-one courts of all grades, of which eight exercised criminal jurisdiction only. Although there is a centralized form of government, as in British India, the real power rests with the tahsilddr, and distance and the absence of easy communi- cations are practical checks on the use or abuse of appeals.

Legislation and justice

Before 1892, when the law of limitation was introduced into Jammu, litigation was not very heavy and the people frequently settled their differences out of court. The improvement in the courts, and the effects of this alteration in the law, are shown by the fact that the number of suits for money or movable property increased from an average of 3,735 during the ten years ending 1890 to 10,766 in the next decade, and was 12,160 in 1900-1. The system of registration for deeds resembles that in British India. In 1 900-1 the number of documents registered was 1,348.

Crime is not serious in the Jammu province ; but there has been an increase in cases of theft, hurt, and mischief, due to the greater activity of the police force, which is being gradually assimilated to the rules and procedure prevailing in British India. In the whole State 17,320 persons were brought to trial in 1900-1, of whom 2,169, or r 3 P er cent., were convicted.

In Kashmir the tahslh in the valley are superintended by the governor himself, while those of the Muzaffarabad district are in charge of a Wazlr Wazarat subject to the governor and the Chief Judge, whose offices are in Srlnagar.

Judiciary

Do HC judges take oath under the Indian constitution?

The Hindu, January 3, 2017

The Delhi High Court sought to know from the State of Jammu and Kashmir if its High Court judges take oath owing allegiance to the Indian Constitution.

A Bench headed by Chief Justice G. Rohini said so during a hearing on the issue of maintainability of a PIL challenging the validity of the Constitution Order 1954, which adds a proviso to Article 368 (power of Parliament to amend the Constitution and procedure therefor), saying “no such amendment shall have effect in relation to the State of Jammu And Kashmir unless applied by order of the President under clause (1) of Article 370”.

The Bench asked the petitioner as to why does he not move theJammu and Kashmir High Court with his petition. The petitioner said the Jammu and Kashmir High Court judges do not “appear to” be taking oath owing allegiance to the Constitution.

Section 97

J&K standing counsel Sunil Fernandes said the State High Court judges take oath under Section 97 of the J&K Constitution. Under the Schedule V of the J &K Constitution, the judges take oath of allegiance to the Constitution of the State and to uphold the sovereignty and integrity of India.

The petition claims that Constitution Order 1954 to the extent that it adds the proviso to Article 368 is an encroachment on the power of Parliament.

Measurement points between 2 habitaions should be boundaries : Full Bench

Daily Excelsior , Measurement points between 2 habitaions should be boundaries : Full Bench "Daily Excelsior" 25/8/2015

The Full Bench of the State High Court comprising Chief Justice N Paul Vasanthakumar, Justice Muzaffar Hussain Attar and Justice Bansi Lal Bhat has held that during the appointment of ReT, the measurement points between the two human habitations of a revenue village would be the boundaries/peripheries of the two habitations and not the centre points of the two habitations.

This judgment has been passed in a LPA No.148/2013, which came up for consideration before the Letters Patent Bench of this court on March 20, 2014. The court directed the Registrar Judicial to make reference before the Chief Justice for constitution of Full Bench, as the Letters Patent Bench noticed that there is conflict between the judgments rendered in LPA No.59/2012 decided on 13.09.2012 and LPA No.135/2012 decided on 18.10.2012.

According to a case, one Mubeena Hassan filed a petition, which was decided by the Writ Court vide its judgment dated July 18, 2013. The writ petitioner-Mubeena Hassan responded to the advertisement notice issued by the Zonal Education Officer, Quil Muqam, Bandipora and sought consideration for being selected and engaged as Rehbar-e- Taleem (3rd Teacher) in PS, Panzigam.

The writ petitioner-Mubeena Hassan figured at top of the merit panel prepared by the Village Education Committee (VEC). The respondent Tahira Hussain in SWP No.1508/2011 projected her case by stating that the Revenue village comprise of two habitations, viz., Panzigam and Barzulla and the school where vacancy has to be supplied is located at Barzulla and she is to be considered for being engaged as Rehbar-e-Taleem (3rd Teacher) to the exclusion of writ petitioner-Mubeena Hassan.

Tahira Hussain had filed SWP No.1863/2009 which was decided on 06.12.2010 and respondent No.3 therein was directed to approach the Dy Commissioner, Bandipora for ascertaining actual distance between the two habitations viz. Panzigam and Barzulla of revenue village Panzigam. The Chief Education Officer, Bandipora was directed that after receipt of the report he shall take decision about the applicability or otherwise of Government Order No.288-Edu of 2009 dated 8th April 2009.

After receipt of the report, the Chief Education Officer, Bandipora took up the matter with the Director School Education. The Dy. Director (P&S) vide his communication dated 15.07.2011 informed the Chief Education Officer, Bandipora that it will be proper to measure the distance from centre of the village (habitation) and decide the case accordingly.

HC directs hoisting of State flag on buildings,vehicles

Fayaz Bukhari , HC directs hoisting of State flag on buildings , vehicles "Daily Excelsior" 27/12/2015

The State High Court today directed the Government to hoist the State flag on all Government buildings and vehicles and adhere to and abide the mandate and spirit of J&K Prevention of Insult to State Honour Act 1979.

Court while setting aside the Government circular (No. 14-GAD of 2015 dated 13.3.2015) directed all Constitutional Authorities to adhere and abide by the mandate of 1979 Act and restored the Government Circular (No. 13-GAD of 2015 dated 12.3.2015) whereby Government had ordered to maintain the sanctity of the State Flag and hoist it on all Constitutional institutions and official vehicles which was later withdrawn.

“For reasons discussed, Writ petition no.1012/2015 is allowed and Circular No.14-GAD of 2015 dated 13th March 2015 set-aside.Resultantly circular No.13-GAD of 2015 dated 12th March 2015 gets restored”, directed Justice Hasnain Masoodi.

“Respondents and all Constitutional Authorities shall adhere to and abide by mandate and spirit of Section 144, Constitution of Jammu and Kashmir, J&K Prevention of Insult to State Honour Act, 1979 and Circular No.13-GAD of 2015 dated 12th March 2015. Such adherence obviously is to include hoisting of State Flag on the buildings housing offices of Constitutional Authorities and on vehicles used by such Authorities”, the court directions reads.

Justice Masoodi in an elaborated with the reference of Supreme Court Judgment said that Flag is symbol of struggle to achieve goals of freedom movement as also of values that form edifice of polity proposed to be created. “It connects past with present and future. Flag while reminding us of struggle made by the people and their sacrifices also makes us aware of our aspirations”, the judgment reads.

Underscoring the importance of State flag, Court said that Jammu and Kashmir is only State in the Union that has its own Flag adopted by its Constituent Assembly, and provided in its Constitution. “The State Flag is one of the attributes of Constitutional autonomy or limited or residual sovereignty – by whatever name we call it, enjoyed by the State of Jammu and Kashmir. The present discussion on plea raised is therefore, embedded in discourse on extent and scope of the autonomy or limited sovereignty available to the State”, reads the judgment.

Giving the reference of Article 370, Constitution of India court said that neither it can be abrogated, repealed nor even amended under Clause (3) Article 370 is no more available, but also because Constituent Assembly is presumed to have taken informed decision, not to recommend modification or change in the Article and to allow it to remain in the same form even after Constitution of the State came into force on 26th January 1957.

“The expression “temporary” or “transitional” is used only to indicate that Constituent Assembly envisioned by Article 370 was to take a final decision as regards Constitutional relationship between the State and the Union. Two important aspects of the Constitutional autonomy i.e nature of “consultation” and “concurrence” contemplated under Article 370 and change in extent of autonomy, also need to be examined, in the present context”, court said.

Court further said that it hardly needs any emphasis that Article 370 reflects solemn pledge made by people of country through duly elected Constituent Assembly to people of Jammu and Kashmir that the powers of the Union would be restricted to subjects mentioned in the Instrument of Accession and such constitutional provisions, as are extended by the President in “consultation” with or “concurrence” of Government of Jammu and Kashmir and that the State shall have autonomy as regards all other matters.

“It is to be appreciated that with extension of the Constitutional provision or law to the State, there is corresponding decrease in the sphere of autonomy of the State. By giving consent to extension of a Constitutional provision or law, the people of State concede or surrender part of the autonomy covered by extended Constitutional provision or law. As “consultation” or “concurrence” is to affect autonomy of the State, it is consent of people of State conveyed through their duly elected Government that is contemplated under Article 370, Constitution of India”, court said

“Consultation’ or ‘concurrence’ therefore, cannot be that of Governor when the State is placed under Governor’s Rule under Section 92, Constitution of Jammu and Kashmir, or Presidential rule under Article 356, Constitution of India. President of India cannot have “consultation” with Governor or seek his ‘concurrence’ while extending Constitutional provision to the State or applying a law to the State, as the Governor having been appointed by President in terms of Section 27, Constitution of Jammu and Kashmir, it would not be ‘consultation’ or ‘concurrence’, contemplated under Article 370 Constitution of India”, court said.

Giving other aspect of Constitutional autonomy, which is enjoyed by the State under Constitutional framework reflected in Constitution of Jammu and Kashmir and Article 370, court said Constitution of India, relates to change or modification in extent of autonomy by an amendment to the Constitution of Jammu and Kashmir.

Court said that Constitutional autonomy guaranteed to the State is ‘Basic Structure’ of State Constitution and beyond amending power available to the State Legislature under Section 147 of the Constitution. One of important facets of autonomy enjoyed by the State and therefore ‘Basic Structure’ of the State Constitution as recommended by Basic principles committee, was ‘elected Head of State’.

“Section 26 of Constitution provided that Head of the State (Sadri Riyasat) shall be elected in the manner, provided under Section 27. The Head of the State as provided under Section 27, of the Constitution, was to be elected by people of the State through their representatives in State Legislatures. The Constitution of Jammu & Kashmir (Sixth Amendment) Act 1965 amended the State Constitution and replaced “Sadri Riyasat” by Governor. In terms of afore stated amendment Governor is appointed by the President and is to be Head of the State. The office of Head of the State in wake of amendment ceases to be elective”, court said.

After these reference and again putting focus on the sanctity and importance of State Flag court said a brief over view of the extent of the Constitutional autonomy, also called as limited or residual sovereignty, rendered necessary because of questions raised in the present petition, Constituent Assembly of India, as already stated, on 23rd June 1947 set up an ad-hoc committee to select Flag for Independent India. Pandit Jawahar Lal Nehru moved proposal to adopt the Flag, recommended by committee on 22nd July 1947. The resolution was approved unanimously. The Flag served as National Flag of Dominion of India between 22nd of July 1947 and 15th August 1947 and from 15th August 1947 is National Flag of free India.

“The sentiments expressed in the Constituent Assembly of India were echoed in the Constituent Assembly of the Jammu & Kashmir. The leader of House (Prime Minister) on 7th June 1952 while moving resolution for adoption of “Flag” of Jammu and Kashmir State”, court reiterated.

Court said the mover of resolution and participants in debate highlighted features of the Flag and sentiments these represented. “Three parallel strips on Flag were said to represent three regions of the State, its colour to reflect ideals of secularism and the plough respect for peasants and workers.”

The State Government alive to Constitutional mandate issued Circular No.13-GAD of 2015 dated 12th March 2015, impressing upon all Constitutional authorities to maintain the sanctity of the State Flag, at all costs, as is being done in respect of the Union Flag; that the Flag shall always be hoisted on the buildings housing Constitutional Institutions and shall be used on the official cars of Constitutional Authorities; and that any deviation in this regard shall amount to insult to the Flag within meaning of Jammu and Kashmir Prevention of Insult to State Honours Act, 1979.

Respondent State in its objections to the writ petition do not dispute that Constitutional authorities are to maintain sanctity of State Flag and respect the State Flag in terms of the Constitutional provisions and the Jammu and Kashmir Prevention of Insult to State Honour Act, 1979; that there is a stated position under Section 144 of the State Constitution about the State Flag and non-hoisting of the Flag by Constitutional authorities would amount to insult to the Flag.

It was however, contend by the respondent state before the court that the mandate or duty is clear and explicit in Section 144 of the State Constitution, and all concerned were not to be reminded of their duty to respect the State Flag. They justify withdrawal of Circular No.13-GAD of 2015 dated 12th March 2015 on said ground alone.

“The justification sought to be offered is far from convincing. Respondents were to realise that once it was found necessary to enjoin upon all Constitutional authorities to respect the State Flag in the manner set out in circular No.13-GAD of 2015 dated 12th December 2015, reminding them that they by not respecting the Flag in the manner indicated in the circular, may attract penal consequences under J&K Prevention of Insult to State Honours Act, 1979,it was not open to respondents to withdraw circular by one line order without indicating reasons for such withdrawal”, Court said adding :”It is a matter of common sense that once a person in terms of a written circular is required to act in a particular manner as acting in the manner directed would be necessary to carry out mandate of law, the net effect of withdrawing such circular would be declaring that the person need not act in the manner he was required to act in obedience to Constitution and law”.

Court as such make it clear that respondents by issuing Circular No.13-GAD of 2015 dated 12th March 2015, enjoining upon all Constitutional authorities and thereafter withdrawing it by a one line circular, have in effect conveyed the message that Constitutional authorities may not adhere to whatever was required in terms of Circular No.13-GAD of 2015 dated 12th March 2015. Circular No.14-GAD of 2015 dated 13th March 2015 does not give any reason for withdrawal of earlier circular.

Finance

The finances of the State are immediately controlled by an accountant- general, who for some years has been lent by the British Government. The revenue and expenditure for 1895-6, 1900-1, and 1905-6 are shown in Tables IV and V at the end of this article (pp. 146 and 147). In the last year the total revenue was 93 lakhs, the chief items being land revenue (38-9 lakhs), forests (13 lakhs), customs and octroi (9-2 lakhs), and scientific and minor departments (2-2 lakhs). The expenditure of one crore included public works (30-8 lakhs), military (13-8 lakhs), privy purse and courts (10-9 lakhs), scientific and minor departments (2-1 lakhs), and land revenue (6-i lakhs). The State is very prosperous, and has more than 46 lakhs invested in securities of the Government of India.

The British rupee is now the only rupee used in the State. Pre- viously three coins were current : namely, the kham rupee, value 8 annas, bearing the letters J. H. S. (these letters have given rise to many stories, but they were really a mint-mark to indicate Jammu, Hari Singh); the chilki rupee, value 10 British annas; the Nanak shahi rupee, value 12-16 British annas.

The kharwar or ass-load, which has for centuries past been the standard of weight, is equivalent to 177 2/3 lb. The word is usually abbreviated to khar. Land measures are calculated not by length and breadth, but by the amount of seed required by certain areas of rice cultivation. It has been found by measurements that the kharwar of land — that is, the rice area which is supposed to require a kharwar's weight of rice-seed — exactly corresponds to 4 British acres. For length, the following measure is used : —

1 giro, — 2 1 inches. 1 6 giras = 1 gaz. 20 giras = 1 gaz, in measuring pashmuta cloth.

There is no sealed yard measure in Srinagar, but from frequent experi- ment it was found that the gaz of 16 giras is about half an inch longer than the British yard.

Land revenue

The land revenue system has been described as ' ryotwxiri in ruins.' It is probable that the methods of administration introduced under Akbar led to a fictitious joint responsibility, but this was never fully accepted. 1 he land was regarded as the absolute property of the State, and the cultivators were merely tenants holding from year to year, with no rights in the waste land. Within the village, however, the cultivators recognized the acquisition of what may be called a right of occupancy acquired by long prescription {minis). At the settlement which commenced in 1887 this custom was accepted by the State, and permanent hereditary rights were conferred on persons who agreed to pay the assessment fixed on the land entered in their names. The right is not alienable by sale or mortgage, and the holder is called an asaml. Besides the ordinary village occupants there were grantees, but these have gradually been converted into asamls.

Under the local Sultans the State share of produce was reckoned at one-half, and this was increased to three-quarters by the Mughals. In the absence of any survey or record of rights, the revenue administration was harsh and corrupt. Land agents called kardars were appointed who parcelled out the land annually, the area of land allotted to each family being regulated by the number of individuals it contained. The State took three-fourths of rice, maize, millets, and buckwheat, and nine- sixteenths of oilseeds, pulses, and cotton. In i860 the share was reduced to one-half, and villages were made over to contractors called chak/adars, who robbed the cultivators and the State. An attempt was made in 1873 to introduce a ryotwari settlement for three years, but the interests of the chakladars and corrupt officials were too strong to allow such an innovation. Abul Fazl, in the Ain-i-Akl>arl, notes that revenue was chiefly paid in kind in Kashmir, and it was not till 1880 that a so-called cash assessment was introduced. This was made by taking the average collections for the previous three years in each vil- lage, and adding a considerable proportion, never less than 30 per cent. ; but as a matter of fact, it was left to an official to decide how much revenue should be taken in cash, and how much in kind. There was no pretence of inspecting villages, or of distributing the demand fixed for a whole village over separate holdings, and the dislocation caused by the famine of 1877-9 added to the evils of such summary procedure. Two years later a system of auctioning villages was intro- duced, which led to even greater abuses, while the commutation rates for grain were altered, so as to injure the cultivators.

In 1887 a regular settlement was commenced in the valley by a British officer, lent by Government. It was preceded by a complete survey, and the revenue was fixed for ten years. Villages were classified according to their position, and standard out-turns of produce were cal- culated. In estimating the produce, allowance was made for walnut- trees, fruit trees, apricots, and honey. The assessment was also checked by considering the collections in previous years and reports made by former contractors. Its moderation and even distribution are attested by the return of the cultivators who had fled during the disastrous famine. When the settlement was completed in 1893, it had cost 3-4 lakhs and had raised the revenue by 1-9 lakhs annually. A revision was commenced in 1898 and completed in 1905, the methods employed being similar to those followed at the first regular settlement. This has further raised the revenue in the valley from 13-4 to 17 lakhs, or by 27 per cent. The incidence of revenue varies from about 10 annas to Rs. 12 per acre, and represents an all-round rate of about 30 per cent, of the gross produce. Regular settlements have also been completed in other parts of the State, such as Gilgit, Jammu, and Baltistan. The total receipts from land revenue in 1905-6 amounted to 38-9 lakhs.

Miscellancoun revenue

The Excise department of the State is chiefly concerned with the manufacture and sale of liquor, including wine and brandy, at the Gupkar distillery. In 1900 the administration was examined by an officer lent by the British Govern- ment, and as a consequence private distilleries in the province of Jammu were entirely closed. The total receipts in 1900-1 were only Rs. 50,000, but by 1905-6 they had risen to Rs. 1,37,000. In 1905-6 the total revenue from stamps was 2-22 lakhs, of which i-6 lakhs represented receipts from judicial stamps. A considerable revenue is derived from customs and octroi levied on the trade which passes into the State. The receipts amounted to 9-2 lakhs in 1905-6. Cesses are levied, amounting to i2-| per cent, on the land revenue, for the following objects : payments to lambardars (village headmen), 5 per cent. ; pahvaris and zaildars, 4 ½ per cent. ; education, 1/4 per cent. ; and roads, 21 1/2 per cent.

Local and municipal

There are two municipal committees in the State : one at Srinagar, and the other at Jammu, presided over by the chief medical officer, Kashmir, and the governor of the Jammu province, respectively. The members are nominated by the Darbar as representatives of different communities. There is no separate municipal fund; the State provides the expenditure for municipal and sanitary pur- poses, while the receipts, such as octroi, are likewise credited to the general revenues. 1 he expenditure in 1905-6 was Rs. 92,000, of which Rs. 6,400 was met from fees and taxes and the balance by a grant from the State. In other towns con- servancy establishments are maintained, which are under the municipal committee of the province in which the town is situated. Great improvements have lately been made in the drainage system of Jammu town.

Public works

The expenditure on public works in 1905-6 was 30-8 lakhs, and will always be heavy. The maintenance of long lines of communication between Kashmir and India and between Kashmir, Gilgit, and Ladakh, the cost of buildings in Srlnagar and Jammu, and the enormous losses which have to be repaired when great floods and earthquakes occur render a large annual outlay inevi- table. The road from Kohala to Baramula alone cost 22 lakhs to construct, and the road from Kashmir to Gilgit cost, in the first in- stance, 15 lakhs. In 1901 the construction of a cart-road from Jammu to Udhampur was sanctioned. In 1905-6 the utilization of the Jhelum river for a great electric power scheme was taken in hand, and 4-6 lakhs was spent on it. The State Engineer is usually an officer lent by the British Government ; and the State is divided into eight divisions, known as Kashmir, Jammu, the Jhelum valley, Gilgit, Udhampur cart- road, Palace, Jhelum power, and Jammu irrigation.

61,000 casual,contractual,daily wage workers engaged since 1994 : Govt

Daily Excelsior , 61,000 casual,contractual,daily wage workers engaged since 1994 : Govt "Daily Excelsior" 9/10/2015

Government today stated that 60682 casual, contractual and dailywage workers have been engaged in various departments since April 1994.

In a written reply to the questions to five MLCs that include Ali Mohammad Dar, Sham Lal Bhagat, Master Noor Hussain, Ashok Khajuria and Vibodh Gupta, the Finance Minister stated that these workers have been engaged in nearly 30 departments.

The Government has further stated that no general policy for regularization of such workers has been framed yet. “However, in some departments like Power Development Department and Higher Education Department, there is a provision in applicable service recruitment rules, in terms of which PDL/ TDL are being regularized by the departments themselves,” the Government stated.

The Government further stated that the Home Department has converted 3,113 Special Police Officers (SPOs) as followers and constables after putting in place various measures.

About whether the Government has framed any policy about the regularization of these dailywagers and whether they are giving any relaxation in certain cases also with special references to over-aged dailywagers, the Finance Ministry stated that no such policy has been framed yet.

“However, in order to address the issue, the Government contemplates to constitute a high power Committee to examine the issue and make recommendations,” the Finance Ministry added in its reply

Army

The expenditure on the army is heavy, amounting to nearly 14 lakhs in 1905-6, but the administration is sound and economical, and there is considerable efficiency. The State has splendid materials for an army, as the Dogras are, in the opinion of competent authorities, second to none in martial qualities. The commander-in-chief up to the year 1900 was assisted by a British officer as military adviser. The first military adviser was Colonel (after- wards Sir) Neville Chamberlain, to whose energy and tact the State owes its present efficient and well-equipped force. The army consists of two mountain batteries, one horse artillery and one garrison battery, one squadron Kashmir Lancers, one troop body-guard cavalry, 7 regi- ments of infantry, and 4 companies of sappers and miners, with a total strength of 6,283. Gut of this the State maintains a force of 3,370 Imperial Service troops, the remainder being called regular troops. Jammu, the winter capital, has a strong garrison. Imperial Service troops are stationed at Satwari cantonment, about 5 miles from Jammu, on the opposite bank of the Tawi river.

Two regiments of regular infantry and a garrison battery are stationed at Srinagar, and small detachments of infantry are detailed from this garrison for Bandipura, Leh, Skardu, Padar, and various other posts. The troops in Gilgit, the northernmost part of the State, consist of two regiments of Imperial Service infantry, a battery of four mounted guns, and two companies of the Kashmir sappers and miners. Detachments of infantry are supplied to the frontier posts of Gupis, Chilas, «^c, and the battery is stationed at Bunji and Ruttoo. The troops at the Gilgit, Ladakh, and Skardu frontiers are relieved biennially. The Imperial Service infantry regi- ments are armed with Lee-Metford rifles, and the regular regiments with Enfield-Sniders. The mountain batteries are equipped with 2-5-inch guns, and the cavalry are armed with lances and carbines. A num- ber of forts partially armed are scattered all over the country. The State army is commanded by General Raja Sir Amar Singh, K.C.S.I., younger brother of the Maharaja.

Police and jails

Serious crime is rare, and the force of regular police is comparatively small. It includes 3 assistant superintendents, 9 inspectors, 297 sub- ordinate officers, and 1,213 constables, costing about 2-2 lakhs annually. The force is controlled by two • -, Superintendents for the chief provinces of Jammu and Kashmir. Police duties in the villages are performed by the chauklddrs, who are generally Dums in the Jammu province, and are paid by the villagers. The responsibility of the headman for reporting crime is insisted on. A training school for regular police is main- tained, and the system of identifying convicts by thumb impressions has been introduced. In 1904-5 only 2,076 cognizable cases were reported, of which 640, or 30 per cent., ended in conviction.

Central jails are maintained at Jammu and at Srinagar, and seven small jails in outlying places. Both the Central jails are usually over- crowded, the daily average number of prisoners in 1904-5 being 543. The expenditure in the same year was Rs. 47,000 on the Central jails, and Rs. 3,600 on the others; and in 1905-6 a total of Rs. 54,000. Convicts are employed in printing, paper-making, and other minor industries in the Srinagar jail, and in printing, weaving, and manu- facturing industries at Jammu. The receipts from jail manufactures in 1905-6 were Rs. 18,000.

Education

The Census of 1901 showed how little attention was formerly paid to education. In that year only 2 per cent, of the population could read and write. Among males the proportion rises to 3-8 per cent., while among the total female popula- tion only 1,260 were literate. Hindus appear to be much better educated than Muhammadans. In 1 900-1 the State maintained 87 schools, attended by 6,197 boys. By 1905-6 the number of State schools had risen to 154, including two high schools, a normal school, 7 Anglo-vernacular and 12 vernacular middle schools, and 133 primary schools. Besides these, 3 girls' schools are maintained by the State at Srinagar ; and there are one aided girls' school at Jammu, two aided high schools and an aided middle school at Srinagar, and an aided middle school at Jammu. Sanskrit schools attached to the State high schools, one at Jammu and the other at Srinagar, teach up to the Shastri standard. The total number of pupils in all the schools was 11,460. The department is under the control of the foreign minister, who is aided by an inspector and two assistant inspectors of schools. There being no State college, 1 7 scholarships are annually granted by the Darbar to students for prosecuting their studies at colleges at Lahore. Two scholarships of Rs. 4,000 each have also been sanc- tioned for training State subjects abroad in useful arts, &c. Ten stipends of the value of Rs. 8 a month are granted in the Srinagar normal school, and thirteen of the value of Rs. 1,944 are awarded to students sent up for training in the normal school and training college at Lahore, while two teachers are annually sent to the latter on the full pay of their appointments. The total expenditure on education in 1905-6 was 1-05 lakhs, compared with only Rs. 45,000 in 1 900-1.

An Arts college was opened at Srinagar in 1905 by the trustees of the Central Hindu College, Benares, in connexion with the Hindu high school, and the Maharaja has sanctioned a grant-in-aid of Rs. 15,600 per annum for the college and school from the year 1906.

Medical

The State maintains at Srinagar two hospitals, two dispensaries with accommodation for in-patients, and a leper asylum, and at Jammu two hospitals for the civil population, besides mili- tary hospitals at Jammu and at Satwan cantonment.

In 1904-5, besides these, 43 dispensaries were maintained in the State. Two chief medical officers are in charge of the Jammu and Kashmir provinces, and the Agency Surgeon supervises work in Gilgit. The Medical department of the State is under the control of a Super- intending Surgeon. In 1904-5 the total number of patients treated was 401,120, of whom 4,338 were in-patients, and 11,830 operations were performed. The expenditure was 1-5 lakhs. In addition to the State institutions, valuable work is being done by the Medical Mission, which has a large hospital at Srinagar and a hospital at Anantnag. The leper asylum referred to above is also managed by them for the Darbar.

The staff for vaccination consists of eighteen men, who work in the province of Jammu in winter, and in that of Kashmir in summer. Vaccination is not compulsory, but a good deal of work is done by the exercise of tact and moral persuasion. In 1904-5 the number of persons successfully vaccinated in both provinces was 33,784, while 4,200 vaccinations were also carried out in Gilgit. The people of Ghizar, Yasln, Ashkuman, and Chilas districts formerly refused vaccina- tion, but are now accepting it. The total expenditure in 1905-6 was Rs. 5,685. Inoculation is practised by the people in the frontier districts, but not elsewhere.

[F. Bernier : Voyages (1699). — G. T. Vigne : Travels in Kashmir, Ladak, Iskardo (1842). — A. Cunningham : An Essay on the Arian Order of Architecture as exhibited in the Temples of Kashmir ( 1848). — J. Biddulph : Tribes of the Hindu Koosh (1880). — Drew : Jammu and Kashmir Territories (1875).— E. F. Knight: Where Three Empires meet (1893).— W. R. Lawrence : The Valley of Kashmir (1895V — Kalhana's Rajatarangini, a Chronicle of the Kings of Kashmir, trans- lated by M. A. Stein, 2 vols. (1000).]