पार्टी ने उन्हें कठपुतली मानकर सत्ता के शिखर पर बिठाया, लेकिन बाद में उसके इशारों पर पार्टी ही नहीं बल्कि देश भी नाचा। इंदिरा गलतियों का सिलसिला भी है और कामयाबी की मिसाल भी।

स्वतंत्रता सेनानी के घर जन्मी भावी प्रधानमंत्री

His life might have been tragically short, but his films made sure his legacy lives for long. His was the journey from Baazi to Sanjh aur Savera, a journey involving creative pathos portrayed through beautiful stories. A journey for which the world celebrates him on his birth anniversary.

Guru Dutt - The Cult Classic

Three nations with a history of conflict mourned together for Neerja Bhanot, an ordinary woman with extraordinary courage who not only met eye to eye with terrorists but also did not bow to death.

An Angel Down Below

The nation that we live in today takes great pride in its vibrant culture. The uniqueness of this diversity is however standardized at the times of official events. At most of the official events, when women are asked to appear in Indian formals or ethnic wear, the first image that appears is that of a Saree.

Tale of Sarees

The luring scent of the steam, coupled with the first sight of the sheet of flour wrapped in a familiar pattern covering the mouth-watering filling when presented with the sizzling hot red chutney and mayonnaise, makes the perfect plate of momos any foodie ever craved. Let's know how the staple street food made its way into our hearts and menu.

The Journey of Momocha to Momo 

With secularism bounded in every step, festivals and celebrations are yet another reason to explore this unity in diversity. Though every culture has some similarities in its rituals, the way we celebrate them might differ. The eve of a new year is also no different. 

Nowroz Mubarak!

Jaya Jaya Mahishasura mardini ,Ramya kapardini, shaila Suthe

The Fierce Divine Beauty

With India in dire trouble against the English, a 17-year-old Sachin Tendulkar stepped out on the pitch and wove his magic for the first time, an indication of good times to come.

One Down, 99 to Go

From a military commander stationed at the frontier to the Sultan of Delhi- the rise of Ghiasuddin Tughluq was a dramatic episode and so was his death.

A Dance of Victory or a Dance of Death

The chronicles of *Rajatarangini* add to the historicity of the great literature that emerged in the mediaeval valleys of this Himalayan kingdom. They have recorded the ascension of the *Shah Mir dynasty* relating to the most prominent ruler of this dynasty, *Zain-ul-Abidin*. The Shah Mir rulers bought Persian script to the banks of Vitasta that permeated with the prevalent Sanskrit when they officiated the language for administrative and literary works including chronicling. Zain-ul-Abidin commissioned *Mulla Ahmed* to translate the entire series of Rajatarangini chronicles into Persian for the royal library known as the *Bahr-ui-Asmar*. Unfortunately, we have lost this gem to the ravages of changing kingdoms, but the Mahabharata was also translated into Persian by Mulla Ahmed. The Sultan was a connoisseur of aesthetic expressions and so lent his patronage to many poets of all three (Sanskrit, Persian and Koshur) prevailing languages during his reign. He justified the title given by the citizens of his kingdom as the *Buddha King or Budshah*. He is also referred to in history as the Akbar of Kashmir.

The transcendence of languages brought Sufism as a form of spiritual expression which marked the establishment of a harmonious blend of Shaivism and Sufism uniquely inherent among all the classes of Kashmir’s society. From this spiritual blending evolved the unique language we identify today as the Kashmiri or the *Koshur*. The fusion literature in the Kashmiri language continued throughout the rest of Kashmir’s history. Meanwhile, the dynamics of power kept changing hands from the next Chak dynasty, the Mughals, and the Afghan rulers until the Sikhs too arrived from Lahore when Ranjit Singh defeated the Afghans in 1819. But, as Persian was also the official language of the Sikhs, it continued to bloom simultaneously with the Kashmiri language. Down the lane of this part of history, Sanskrit faded away, just as it did in the rest of the sub-continent. It was *Ranjit Singh* who defeated the Afghans ruling the valleys in 1819 initiating the *Dogra Rajput dynasty* ruled by the governors from Lahore that lasted till 1848. It was under this dynasty that Jammu and Kashmir were officially clubbed into one state which included some regions that now come under the flag of Pakistan.

The Kashmiri language originated from the Indo-Aryan language of Iranian descent under the sub-group of Dardic languages. Based on this language, the literature is divided into 3 phases by the historians of literature of which the first Old Kashmiri period started in 1200 CE and flourished for the next 3 centuries. Literary experts have found that before 1200 CE the *Indo-Aryan Prakrit and Apabhraṁsa* languages co-existed though the prominent was Sanskrit. Two sets of works are believed to belong from before 1200 CE – the first is *Tantrasāra* by *Abhinavagupta* comprising 76 verses distributed in a few sections or anhika, each of which ends with a verse in a sort of apabhraṁsa language. The next one is *Mahārtha mañjarī by Maheśvarānanda* comprising 71 distichs in the Prakrit language.

> *The oldest compositions in the Kashmiri language are Chumma-sampradāya with 74 verses and Mahānaya prakāśa by Śitikaṇṭha Ācārya written in quatrains of 94 lines, and the language of this composition is quite archaic like Sanskrit.*

It was during the 14th century that *Lalleshwari or Lal Ded,* a female Saiva saint, become well-known for her short poems or *vakhs* that were seeped in her mystic devotion to Lord Shiva. Her wandering Sanyasi renditions are popular even today as oral literature among the Kashmiris. The fusion of Sufism with Shaivism was catalysed when she met the great travelling Sufi saint and preacher *Shah Hamdani* from Iran. Both of them were mutually respectful of each other’s mystic expressions and faiths. The vakhs of Lal Ded were translated into English by many, of which *G.A. Grierson* first attempted to translate 110 poems out of the 285—which baffled the literary experts for its unique quality of mystic expressions like —

> *With a rope of loose-spun thread am I towing / my boat upon the sea*

*Would that God heard my prayer/ and brought me safely across!*

*Like water in cups of unbaked clay / I run to waste.*

*Would God I were to reach my home!*

*With a rope of loose-spun thread am I towing / my boat upon the sea*

*Would that God heard my prayer/ and brought me safely across!*

*Like water in cups of unbaked clay / I run to waste.*

Kashmiri literature gained another golden period with the poems of the great mystic poet, philosopher, and saint *Shaikh Noor-ud-Din-Wali*. The saint was famously known as *Nund Rishi* and his *Shrukhs* reflected faith in love, liberal sentiments and views of life mixed with devotion and love for the Almighty. His renditions became a part of every festive or important occasion in mainstream households and have been prevalent till today irrespective of religion and creed. The only epic in the Kashmiri language is the anonymous poetry assembled under the title *Bānasura-vadha*. *Utthasoma* was another prominent composer during the great Sultan’s reign who wrote was the biographer of his patron, wrote *Manaka* — a treatise on music and compiled a lyrical series. Unfortunately, some gems of Kashmiri literature are mentioned in various other texts and records but are completely lost today. Like *Jaina-carita*, the biography of *Zain-ul-Abidin* by *Yodhabhatta* and also his drama *Jaina-prakasa*, the composition titled *Jaina-vilasa* by the Persian scholar *Bhatta avatara*.

Sanskrit must have faded away in the script form, but its archaic spirituality and purity of rendition transitioned into a new language ornamented with the depth of nuances in Persian words and perception even in the second phase of Kashmir’s literature. The Kashmiri language continued its streak of profound poets and erudite scholars to enrich the pages of its history and literary heritage. Keep reading for the next two phases of this glorious literature.

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Religion

The story of Kashmir’s literature is a journey from Shaivism and Buddism infused in the Sanskrit poetry of great poets, to the advent of the doyens of the Persian language conceiving the unique blend of Sufism with the Shaivite culture in the Kashmiri language. Let us continue from where we left off in the first part with the advent of the Shah Mir dynasty.

Spiritual Blends in the Kashmiri Language

Waheeda Bi khan

Part II - Literature that Crowns India

Waheeda Bi khan

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