MADDEN LECTURE 2003-04

Medieval Kashm.ir and

the Science of History
By
WALTER SLAJE

South Asia Institute

College of Liberal Arts
The University of Texas at Austin

Edited by
Patrick Olivelle

This series of lectures is made possible by

the Alma Cowden Madden Professorship in Liberal Arts.

SOUTH ASIA INSTITUTE

THE UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS AT AUSTIN

2004

Walter Slaje

Published by: South Asia Institute,

The University of Texas at Austin,
1 University Station, G 9300, Austin, TX 78712--0587

I could very well imagine that right at the outset of my talk a short
clarification would not be entirely out of place.1 What is it that needs to be
clarified? Well, not being a historian myself, I am going to speak about
history by referring to and basing myself largely on medieval Indian writings
of history. The ontological status of the latter equals the proverbial
Gandharvanagara in the eyes of many a historian: According to them such
writings should not exist. Actually, however, they do. More specifically, this
lecture will restrict itself to a very limited period only. It will mainly deal
with the 141h and 15th centuries. Therefore, a division of eras must also come
into play. Moreover, the location will be Kashmir. Considering the period to
be dealt with, I think it becomes clear that this unavoidably brings us to a
very crucial point, which is the transition from Hindu to Muslim power.
Having said this, I might already have gone too far in the opinion of critics of
Orientalism in that certain constructed identities had been anachronistically
projected back in time onto India as a Western imagination. The identities I
have in mind here are 'Hindus' and 'Muslims'.
There can be no doubt that the three issues just raised, namely
historiography, division of periods, the perception or creation of Hindu and
Muslim identities, all with reference to India, would in themselves justify
more than only one full-length talk. This holds true in particular if one were
to approach the whole matter from a more theoretical perspective. To the
possible disappointment of the audience, I am not a theorist.
In
consequence, I am not going to put forward any theories. Mine is the modest
approach of an empirical philologist. I require tangible material. And there
fore, I shall not theorize at length about these issues, but rather only touch on
them by briefly clarifying in what way I understand and will use the terms
and concepts under consideration which will constitute main items for the
following.
First, let me make one short remark only on the alleged absence of a
notion of history in pre-modern India. Assumptions of that kind could
hardly be justified in light of the historiographic source material, which will
be dealt with here today. Apart from that, there remains of course the well
known stereotype of denying any true sense of history to Indian culture in
general. However, to me it would seem that through recent investigations
such as those of Sheldon Pollock (1989),2 Michael Witzel (1990),3 John E. Cort
1 Abridged version of a forthcoming German treatise. I am indebted to Andreas Pohlus (Halle)
for handy bibliographic support.
2 "[ ] the historicity of human existence was cognised, appropriated, and processed in
traditional India as elsewhere. But this took place according to a special modality, and subject to
categories, ideas, and constraints peculiar to traditional India, with the result that the

Walter Slaje

(1995),4 and Arvind Sharma (2003)5 this problematic view-point, which

imposes preconceived European notions of a sense of history and Western
historical categories onto India as a yardstick, has been overcome and can no
longer seriously be maintained.6
The second point is whether the European division of periods (antiquity,
Middle Ages, Modern Age) can be adopted and meaningfully be applied to
non-European cultures. Despite the many attempts that have been made to
such an end, the answer, as it seems to be agreed, must be an emphatic "no".
Still this tripartite scheme has found its way into the historians' language.
As long as such a division is used in perfect awareness of its actual
inappropriateness, it has an undeniable practical advantage in terms of a
supportive, synchronizing reference point. Hence, whenever I speak of
'Middle Ages' or of something being 'medieval', it should be understood the
way just pointed out.
Third and finally, one concluding introductory remark needs to be made,
this time on my usage of such general denominations as 'Hindu' or 'Muslim'.
Let it be noted in this regard that the particular identificatory designations
under consideration were used by the late medieval Hindu authors
themselves. Furthermore, they can as well be found in the earliest extant
Kashmir chronicle in the Persian language, the Baharistan-i Sahl (A.D. 1614).7
A closer investigation into the meaning and use of the respective terms,
Hindu and Muslim, is certainly not my concern here. I have not carried out
"historiographical" end-products often differ from what we encounter elsewhere in antiquity"
(Pollock 1989: 606).
3 Witzel affirms the existence of a sense of history in India by pointing to-among others-le
gendary histories (pura1,Za), historical poetry, genealogical history (varrisa lists and varrzsavalls), and
chronicles: "[... ) it can safely be said now that there exist many more sources for-at least the
medieval-history than it was thought even half a century ago. Many of the newly discovered
materials, however, have not been used properly, [...)" (1990:39). He draws the following
conclusion: "[... ) a sequential view of history [...) also existed in India. [... ] both views, the
sequential one and the cyclical one, are not mutually exclusive-if only a segment of the cycle is
regarded or described. Sub specie eternitatis, of course, time was regarded as cyclical" (1990: 6).
"This stress on local dynastic history and the size of the area involved have prevented the
composition of a 'universal' history of South Asia" (1990: 40).
4 Cort (1995: 470f) argues that the Jainas had developed a theory of history, expressed through
genres different from European historical categories, exemplified by both their universal (wheel
of time) and localized histories.
5 Sharma presents an overview of the development of the whole discussion to the present day,
giving the arguments put forward so far a systematic reconsideration.
6 To me it appears that the whole discussion about a lacking sense of history in India rests on
and was triggered off by-another fundamental European misconception about India. The
ancient Indian idea of a revolving wheel of eras (yuga)-characterised by particular preconditions
and circumstances, which change cyclically from best to worst-was by and large mistaken for
the idea that single events would simply repeat themselves.
7 Kafir ('infidel'), or 'Hindu' (p. 74; p. 100, n. 46). For an enumeration of earlier Persian treatises
on Kashmir history, see Baharistan p. XXXIII.

Medieval Kashmir and the Science of History

anything to such an end, which would deserve beig called 'thoroug.h

search'. However, there is plenty of evidence supporting the claim that this
distinction indeed reflects a local contemporary perspective. It can b.e
tracked down quite easily by way of skimming through the Kashmir
chronicles.8 A few examples taken from the 15th century chronicles, clearly
testifying to a given identity and difference awareness, must suffice here:
Muslims

Non-Hindu residents of Kashmir are most frequently referred to as yavanas

(foreigners from the west), turuijkas (Turks), mlecchas (speaker of a forei
language), and mausalas (Muslims).9 Yavana of the. late meieval Sansnt
chronicles seems to denote in general Persian-speaking Mushms
immigrating from the west,10 whereas turuijka most likely refers to Turkish
speaking Muslims.11 Mleccha (barbarian in terms of language) appears to
have been used more or less indiscriminately for both the groups.12 They
speak and sing in their own,13 mleccha- or mausula-language.14 Their official
and written idiom was Persian (parasl, desa).15 In terms of creed, we learn of a
Mausula-Veda, obviously the Koran,16 and a Yavana-Darsana.17 Apart from
this, reference is also made to peculiar customs (svacara), such as: e.g., burial
terms of
rites instead of cremation,18 different outward appearance
distinguishing features (mlecchaveija).19 These people maintain cattle
slaughterhouses and beef markets (gosaunikiipai:ia).20
m

For additional sources, see Chattopadhyaya 1998; Conermann 2002a: 225ff; Conermann 2002b:
26ff.
9 Kalhal)a had already referred to both the yavanas and turw1kas when dealing with rulers of the
11th (Hara) and 12th (Jayasirha) centuries respectively (RT VII 1095; 1149; VIII 2264).
10
JRT 575f; SRT I 5, 75f.
11
SRT I 4, 35.
12
JRT 578; 596; SRT I 5,85-86.
13 SRT I 5, 86d.
14 Both mausulabhatjil- (SRT I 1, 77) and mlecchavac- (I 4, 33b) seem to refer to Turkish in light of
their respective contexts.
15 SRT I 4, 37-39; 5, 82-83; 7, 146. For such a meaning of desa ("regional literature, which refers to
Persian, not Kashmiri") see Pollock 2001: 419, n. 12.
16 SRT II 205a.
17JRT 572b.
18
SRT I 7, 226ff.
19 JRT 668c. "So schreibt Fal;)r-i Mudabbir ..., daB sich alle Unglaubigen in Kleidung, Schmuck
und Verhalten von Muslimen zu unterscheiden hatten" (Conermann 2002a: 226).
20 SRT III 272; 277; Ps-JRT 115*, B 1079.

Walter Slaje

Medieval Kashmir and the Science of History

Hindus

In explicit contrast to this group, the chroniclers refer to the Hindu

community as dvija,21 bhatta,22 brahmai:za, or hindu(ka)23 with native customs
(ajanmahindukiicara)24 and cremation rites, including satf.25 Muslim rulers
levied heavy fines on Hindus who maintained the traditional customs of
their jati (jatirak:?ii).26 With a view to breaking off traditional learning, also
brahminical education (sastrapathadi) became prohibited during that period
of oppression.27 In terms of language, Sanskrit is very frequently referred to
(sal'flskrta).28 In one place mention is made of 'hindusthana-vtic'. In light of the
proficiency in Sanskrit attributed to the Sultans in succession to Zayn al
'Abidin, himself a literate and a connoisseur of Sanskrit, it can only mean
that Zayn's sons and grandsons, in particular I;:Iaydar Sah and I;:Iasan Sah,
spoke Persian and Sanskrit, and knew 'the language [prevailing] in the
region of the Hindus'.29 Moreover, Zayn commissioned the translation of
quite a number of important Sanskrit works into Persian-and vice versa-at
least some titles of which have come down to us.30
I hope that this short outline will suffice to justify my own usage of the terms
Hindu and Muslim as a reasonable one, as it takes into account the
chroniclers' contemporary perception and identity awareness as expressed in
their own words.31 All this becomes clearly manifest through their
description of distinctive cultural features, which are indeed used as a
characteristic demarcation-line between the two major groups. A criticism of
'Orientalism criticism' will, incidentally, certainly not be my concern today,
the more so since it has been given such a delightful treatment in 1995 by
Richard Lariviere, and, quite recently again in 2003, by David Smith.32
21

SRT I 5, 23b.
JRT 84; 668; SRT II 125.
23 SRT II 122c; III 216a; 270c; IV 504b; Ps-JRT 113*, B 1053b; 1068b; Ps-117*, B 1137a.
24 SRT III 270c. In II 96 Srivara distinguishes the Muslim burial customs from Hindu cremation
as 'anyadarsaniiciira '.
25 SRT I 5, 56-61. Cremation was resumed in Kashmir only after Siihabhatta's death (Ps-JRT
122*, B 1317-1320; parallels in SRT I 5, 75-77); cremation tax was almost entirely abolished by
(58), and widow burning was no longer impeded under (61) Zayn (cp. also Ps-JRT 122*, B 1321).
26 jatirakfiirtham asfd yas ca1:ujo dai:ii;lo dvijanmaniim (Ps-JRT 114*, B 1077cd) = Arabic Gizya. See
Conermann 2002a: 226.
2 7 sisilniil!l sastrapathiidi suhabhattena niisitam (Ps-JRT 115*, B 1082ab). For an enumeration of the
oppressions Hindus had to endure under Sikandar and Siihabhatta in particular, in contrast to
the relief that was later given during Zayn's rule, cp. Ps-JRT 114*, lOfff; 115*, B 1079-1091ab.
2s Cp. e.g., SRT I 4, 37-39; 5, 82-86.
29 piirasrbhiif?ayii hindusthiinaviicii ea ... (SRT II 214); 'sal!lskrtapadyavid' (SRT III 237b).
30 SRT I 4, 39; 5, 82--86.
31 Cum grano salis, the same applies also to historical writings of Muslim authors.
32 For a summary of the development of, and a well-balanced attempt to come to terms with,
22

Adopting their positions, a theory-based reproach for a 'western

construction of Indian identities' could hardly apply to the present case
concerned with primary sources, and the same holds true with regard to
'creations of essences of Indian society', or 'denials of India's reality' as well,
which some theorists consider as contributing to a 'grossly distorted view'.
Nor are Indians here denied any 'agency in their own history', for they
wrote the history of the rulership and the events in Kashmir themselves,
absolutely uninfluenced by European preconceptions. In my opinion, te
criticism of Orientalism as applied to Indian history has one of its
foundations in the simple fact that the extant historical writings have never
been adequately studied in the original language by Indologists.33 Even
worse, their value as sources has been overlooked due to very real, utter
disregard-despite the fact that there is an undeniable and quite interesting
resemblance between the medieval Kashmirian chroniclers' sense of history
and European ideas of what history writing should be, and of the way, it
should specifically be done. In a quite straightforward manner the histo
riographers under consideration here define their principal aims as rescuing
from oblivion the record of past rulers and of their rise and fall, and passing
on to future generations the memories of events as the authors themselves had
witnessed them.34 There is one passage, which expressly reflects almost all of
the genre's typical features. Srivara, by marking the beginning of I;:Iasan
Sah's rule (April 13, 1472-April 19, 1484), says:
Will there be anybody in whom the present 'Stream of Kings' would
not engender disillusionment by the vicissitudes [of the] rise and fall
post-modern theories of history, with reference to non-European cultures in particular, see
Conermann 2002a: 1-17; 2002b: 15--87.
33 Typically enough, no contributors were available to Conermann's anthology on history
writing in pre-modern India ("Quellenrnaterial zum 'Historischen Denken' in Siidasie") o
offer their services in the field of non-Muslim sources: "Kein Indologe konnte oder wollte sich m
dieser Form mit dieser Epoche indischer Geschichte beschaftigen, zumal von ihm eine enorme
Obersetzungsarbeit zu leisten gewesen ware." (Conermann 2002b: 12).
34JRT 6-26; in particular 6cd;l0;12cd-13;15a;l7a. SRT 3-18,particularly 9-10;18; III 2--{i. Cp. also
Suka's RT I 9-13. These passages make it clear that the literary category we are concerned with
here differs markedly in form and intent from simple chronological listings ( = annals) in that the
narration of historical events is reflectively moved into centre. From this point of view, these
works represent veritable 'chronicles', if not 'histories'. See Cort (1995: 472) for Hayden White's
characterisation of the difference between 'armals', 'chronicles', and 'history'. Interestingly,
Conermarm (2002a: 433f) has drawn attention to the striking formal and structural similarity
between European and Indo-Persian historical writings of pre-modern times, which similarity,
as I see it, would no less apply also to the Sanskrit Kashmir chronicles. Conermann's words (p.
434) are worth quoting, in particular with reference to the medieval authors' purpose of writing
their chronicles (emphases mine): "Indo-persische (wie auch europi:iische) Geschichtsschreibung
war bewufSter Umgang mit der bis an die Gegenwart der Autoren heranreichende
Vergangenheit in Form eines narrativen Mustern folgenden Berichles. Sie wurde verfafSt, um die

historische Erinnerung wach zu ha/ten."

Walter Slaje

of the rulers, witnessed [by me] with my own eyes and [so]
remembered? [... I] composed this ['Stream'] in the style of nothing
but officialese, with the aim of [retaining these events in] the
memory of future [generations].35
What my lecture will be about above all is the writing of history in medieval
Kashmir and the extent to which it has been neglected by the science of
history in the West.
Kashmir is considered a quite extraordinary case with regard to the
writing of its political and cultural history. The Sanskrit sources there are
not only rich, but also continuous. Apart from Kashmir there are only few
regions in the Indian cultural area where a continuous written historical
record has developed and has been transmitted. What I have in mind are the
well-known cases of SrI Lanka and Nepal. However, in terms of length of
time covered by them, of coherency in their accounts, reflection of
predecessors and successors in historiography, the latter two cannot compete
with the Kashmir chronicles. For they were written down long before the
advent of Islamic political dominance in the region and continued right into
the 19th century, beyond the period of Muslim rule. Bridging time gaps by
way of consulting different kinds of sources they-in particular Kalhai:ia and
Jonaraja-tried to compile an uninterrupted history, as comprehensive as
possible, updating at the same time the earlier chronicles by their eyewitness
accounts. Overall, they cover a period of at least 1000 years altogether, the
events of which can be dated exactly. Thus, I would not hesitate to apply the
term 'historiography' to the genre we are dealing with today.
There are five major sources extant for the history of events in Kashmir.
They all bear the name of Rajatarangii:tI ('Stream of Kings'), the first of which
was composed by the famous Kalhai:ia (12th century), and the last by Pt.
Damodara (died in 1892). Since Kalhai:ia explicitly enumerates a number of
precursors and the source material he was using for his reconstruction of
dynasties and rulers before his own time, we cannot really doubt he was
indeed standing in an older tradition, which recorded events of political
importance.36 The more so, since M. Witzel has uncovered Kalhal)a's
SRT III 4;6: svadrgdrtasmrtakmabhrdvipadvibhavavaikrtai I seyal!I kasya na vairagyal!I siite
rajatarangilJI 11411 kayasthoktivad eveyal!I krta smrtyai bhaviyatam I ... 11611. For similar statements cp.
SRT I 1;18;10. The words kayasthoktivat must be considered a conventional literary device
deliberately used by Srlvara, pretending to be inarticulate himself and not equal to a poet's task.
Pollock (2001: 397) takes the compound in the sense of 'The style here is that of a mere clerk' and
concludes that Srivara was "unable to create serious original work," cp. also below, note 49.
Another way of expressing self-contempt, ultimately going back to Kalidasa's Raghuva!1lsa (I 2
ab: kva ea ... kva ea ... ), will be found used in JRT 13; SRT I 1,8; SuRT I 12.
36 "This Kashmiri tradition of continual updating of earlier chronicles[... ] seems to have been an
old practice whose earlier examples are unfortunately now all lost" [Salomon 1987: 152
(comment on RT I 9-10)]. Accordingly, Kalhai:ia's Rajatarangii:tl was considered by Kiilver
35

Medieval Kashmir and the Science of History

procedure in utilizing now lost Kshn:iir VarsavalI atrials . in Jig of

extant Varsavalis of Nepal. Two h1stonographers contmumg this tradition,
Jonaraja (ea. 1389 until 1459)37 and Srivara (until 1486), treat the beginning
and the immediate consequences of the Islamization in Kashmir very fully
from their contemporary viewpoint. Srivara was the disciple of Jonaraja.
The latter had himself seen the times of merciless persecutions under Zayn
al-'Abidin's (r. 1418-1470) predecessors on the throne of Kashmir. A general
reliability of their chronicles may safely be assumed. Examples that will
substantiate my claim will be given later.
Datable periods as covered by the Rajatarangii:iis:
Published
1) Kalhai:ia: ea. 625-+ 1149/50

[RT]
(Durlabhavardhana up to Jayasirha)
2) Jonaraja: 1149/50-+ 1458/59 [JRT]
(Jayasirha up to Zayn al-'Abidin)
3) Pseudo-Jonaraja: ea. 1413-+ ea. 1588 [Ps-JRT, 1561-1588]
(Sikandar up to Akbar)
S
4) rivara: 1458/59-+ 1486 [SRT]
(Zayn al-'Abidin up to Mu}:tammad Sah)
5) Suka und anonymous successors: 1486-+ 1586 [SuRT]
(Fatl:t Sah up to Akbar)
Unpublished38
6) Damodara Pai:i<;lita: ea. 1586-+ 1892
(Mogul- I Afghan- I Sikh- up to Dogra-rulers)
It should perhaps be emphasized that these authors considered their works
as belonging to the category of literature (ktivya) and composed them as such
in terms of style. A separate category of a systematically developed discipline
(1971: 1) "der wichtigste Quellentext fiir die Kenntnis des nordindischen Mittelalters."

37 JRT (Introd.) p. 33; on the year of his death, see SRT I 1, 6. On additional works of Jonaraja

(Commentaries on Bharavi's Kiratarjuniya, on Jayanaka's Prthvlrajavijaya [PRV(V)], and on

Mailkha's Srlkai:ithacarita [SKC(V)]) cp. JRT (lntrod.) p. 33f; Pollock 2001: 395ff; 418, n. 7; 419, n.
16.
38 This and additional unpublished documents are contained in Stein's Oxford collection (Clau
son 1912: p. 598f: Mss No. 126-130): Pt. Sahibram (t 1872[Stein 1900 (II): 383ff]), Rajatarangi1Jl
sangralia ("Kasmir under Sikh rule and a narrative of events in Ranblr Singh's time."-Clauson
1912: p. 599[Ms No. 130]); Pt. Damodar (t 1892), RajatarangilJI paileami ("From the time of Akbar
to the present date."-RT (Preface): XX, n. l); Pt. Govind Kaul (t 1899), Rajatarangi1Jipradesa
vyakhya (I): pp. XVII; XXII).

Walter Slaje

(slistra)

in 'history writing' did not exist, as is well known.39 What there was,
however, were inscriptions of rulers, stylistically conceived of as poetry, and
the so-called historical or better: semi-historical Kavyas. Thus, there were
indeed coined models at hand. Moreover, one should be careful not to
mistake style for contents, nor pre-modern Indian 'literature' for fiction or
creative writing. For, one thing is certain: The works of the Kashmirian
chroniclers centre entirely on giving detailed accounts of the history of events
in ornate style, with the ultimate and clearly articulated aim of rescuing the
past from oblivion, as already referred to just before.40 Disregarding for the
moment their occasional judgements, rooted in an inherited system of
values, the chroniclers record quite reliable facts of the history of events.
This is not only corroborated by archaeological, epigraphic and numismatic
evidence, but also by their minute observations on peculiar developments as,
e.g., in the field of palaeography, as will be demonstrated later. Thus, their
chronicles represent a mine of facts related not only to the political, but also
to the cultural and religious history of Kashmir. Despite all this, no one has
so far attempted to dig below the surface. The science of history has
neglected these authors largely, if not entirely. Veritable source material for
the political and intellectual changes that occurred in the history of Kashmir
remains thus completely unexploited. There are presumably two reasons
that could explain such neglect. First, the late medieval period in Kashmir
was at the threshold of the new era of Islamization. Mainly Muslim
historians have carried out research on this age. They were basing
themselves entirely on Persian historical sources, at best on an English
translation of both Jonaraja's and Srivara's Sanskrit chronicles, by offering a
rather odd justification for their method as, e.g.: "It is better to translate from
the Bahliristlin-i Siihl".41 Add to this that missionaries and merchants who had
been staying at the Mogul courts gave the earliest accounts of the history of
Kashmir that were brought to Europe. Both these facts exercised great
influence on our shaky picture of medieval Kashmir under Muslim rule.
That such is indeed the case will become clear, as soon as we will have taken
a closer look at the material upon which their histories were based. First,
there are no critical editions or complete, fully reliable translations of the
Persian and Mogul sources under consideration. 42 As far as their accounts
concern the periods covered by the Sanskrit chronicles, all of them seem to
39

Incidentally, a lack of distinction between 'literature' and 'historia' is characteristic also of

Greek and Roman history writing, on which see Pollock 1989: 605.
4 Cp. footnote 35. See also Ki:ilver 1971: Sff; 113ff.
41 Habib / Nizami 1993: p. 737, FN 7 and 8.
42 Cp. Conermann's demand for critical editions and his criticism of the quality of Indian
facsimile editions of Persian texts (2002a: 433). In the majority of cases, scholars consulted, and
translated from, manuscripts only. We know next to nothing about their value in terms of
textual criticism or along what lines of transmission exactly they were handed down.

Medieval Kashmir and the Science of History

have digested those earlier materials, and thus, by way of intermediate

Persian translations, go back to the Sanskrit Rajatarali.gi1:tis. In consequence
of that, we dispose of no independent Persian sources for the period of
transition to Muslim rule in Kashmir.43 Of the available sources for this
epoch,44 it can safely be said that they lack first-hand knowledge and give
their accounts in retrospect, depending directly or indirectly on Jonaraja's
and Srivara's chronicles, which shine through as integrated into their own
works in an utterly condensed and reworked shape. Thus, the Persian
sources treating of the late medieval period (14'h to 16'h centuries) were in no
way composed by contemporary eyewitnesses.45 The earliest xtant, proer
'history of Kashmir' in Persian was completed in A.O. 1614, i.e. no earher
than the 17'h .century.
This is the Baharistlin-i Sahl, most frequently referred to
.
t
46
d
h
mo
ern
is
onans.
by
As an interim result, it should have become clear that despite the known
Persian sources' undisputable dependency on the Sanskrit chronicles, the
modern science of history has never made any attempts at taking the latter
into consideration for research purposes, which might be due to the existence
of an English translation of the medieval chronicles by Jogesh Chunder Dutt
in 1898. This necessitates a short digression on the quality of Dutt's
translation. Dutt translated the Editio princeps of the first four Rajatarali.gi1:tis,
which appeared in 1835 in Calcutta. Bengali Pa1:ti;l.its prpared the edition
from a Nagari transcript of a manuscript written in Sarada characters.
William Moorcroft, a veterinary surgeon by profession, an adventurer and
eccentric Englishman by disposition, commissioned the transcript during his
stay in Srinagar in 1823. Neither the Pa1:ti;l.its of Kashmir, who made the
Nagari transcript from the local Sarada script they were accustomed to, nor
the Bengali Pa1:ti;l.its who subsequently prepared the edition in characters,
which differed from their own Bengali script, had received any training in
43

Rasid ad- Din's (1247-1318) chapter on Indian history [Jahn 1980] in his 'universal history'
pertains to the pre-Muslim period of Kashmir, since Muslim dynastic rule in Kashmir did not
come into power before Sams ad- Din Ibn Tahir Mirza (r. 6.VIl.1339-19.Vl.1342 [calculated by K.
H. Golzio]).
44 Conermann's list on Indo-Persian pre-Mogul sources (2002a: 37-39) displays no independent
regional histories composed in Kashmir by contemporaries of the 141h and 15'h centuries. The
same holds true for the Persian manuscripts on history in the 'Kashmir Catalogue' (Fihrist) [I am
grateful to Dr Heike Franke (Halle) for expounding to me the respective entries in the
catalogue.]. For an overview of regional Persian and Indo-Persian chronicles cp. Conermann
2002a: 407-413.
45 Except perhaps for Mirza J:Iaidar Duglat's chronicle (A. D. 1541) of the Cagatay-ljans with an
autobiographical account [cp. Conermann 2002a: 379, n. 71; 2002b: 182ff.].
h
46 A slightly older work too, goes by the title of a 'history'. This one is dated A. D. 1579, late 16'
century, containing hagiographical accounts of the Iranian Sayyids only, in particular of the
famous saint 'Ali HamadanL

10

Walter Slaje

palaeography or in textual criticism.47 The printed result is such that M. A.

Stein, Srikanth Kaul and Bernhard Kolver pronounced a unanimous verdict
on it as being virtually useless. Even the names of kings and other
individuals have at times become corrupted to such extent that their original
form can only be recognized through consulting later editions. Dutt, in the
absence of further, critical material cannot really be expected to have
surpassed this defective textual basis by his translation. Moreover, what he
has actually done was to paraphrase, but not to translate, his text, which,
incidentally, did not contain the interpolated, though very informative
passages of 'Pseudo-Jonaraja' (Ps-JRT). There is therefore no convincing rea
son not to support Kaul's unambiguous judgement that Dutt "should not be
used as a source book." Yet, nobody has worried about all that. Reprints of
Dutt are still on the market, and historians keep on gullibly referring to his
translation as if it was equivalent to an original source.48
Not only that, there is also another, quite interesting background to the
strange dealing with the sources of Kashmir history. M. A. Stein, the
outstanding editor and translator of Kalhai:ta's Rajataraitgii:t1, had given an
early and certainly premature judgement on the medieval supplemental
chronicles, which, however, have had a lasting impact to this day. Stein
emphasized "the inferiority of these later chronicles when compared with
Kalhai:ta's work, [...] in the matter of topographical information as [...] in
other respects." Stein, however, made very clear what he had in mind by
"other respects": They were lesser in "extent" than Kalhai:ta, and they were
lacking "references to sacred sites and buildings and other places of religious
interest." He blames the Muslim "period of troubles and oppression" for
having caused "this gradual decline also in the character and contents of
these later chronicles."
It was precisely this judgement that was taken over from Stein, and it
was his exact words, which were reproduced almost verbatim in all
subsequent literary histories. Keith, Winternitz, and Mylius did so, as did
authors of separate studies such as, e.g., Sheldon Pollock, who denied to
Sr1vara any originality - again exactly in line with Stein's words.49 The joint
verdict found eventually its way into our "Histories of India"-as many as
you like-and can now be traced even in the Encyclopedia Britannica, which
would not really come as a surprise: "Neither in style nor in authenticity do
47

Witzel (1994a: 6) points out that " Devanagarl was introduced to the Valley only by the Dogra
dynasty (after 1850) and was still largely unknown to the Pandits [even] at the time of Biihler's
visit in 1875."
48 For recent examples, see, e.g., Hasan 2002 and Khan 2004: 52, n.2; 229.
49 "[Srlvara's] text looks in a great portion more like a cento from the Rajatarali.gil)l, than an
original composition" (Stein 1900 (II): 373); "[...]unable to create serious original work[...]" (Pollock
2001: 397).

Medieval Kashmir and the Science of History

11

these works approximate the quality of Kalhai:ta's Rajataraitgii:t1" (2001

edition).
What is amusing about this otherwise tragic collective ignorance
prevailing among generations of Indolgists is. this: They did not rea Stein
in context, let alone the later Tarait!]ti:t1s, with the notable exception of
Pollock's 2001 paper, where JRT and SRT are quoted from Kaul's editions.
For, the heading of the corresponding chapter in Stein clearly reads:
"Memoir on the ancient Geography of Kashmir." In this chapter, Stein was
dealing exclusively with ancient topography and nomenclature. 'Ancient' meant
to him: pre-Kalhai:ta, at any rate: the pre-Muslim period. He made his
assessment from this viewpoint of his own specific interest. Moreover,
although he did not hide his perspective, those, who copied out Stein so
carelessly, did not shrink from selectively quoting excerpts only and from
handing them down as a matter settled once and forever. Stein, however,
gave also his positive opinion on the chroniclers, incidentally on the same
pages where we find his 'toponymic criticism'. This does not seem to have
made quite an impression on the scholars who disregarded these statements
entirely. "The later Sanskrit Chronicles [.. .] furnish valuable supplements to the
topographical information [ ... ] the materials supplied by this later Chronicles
have often proved of great use in clearing up points of the old topography of
Kasmir. [ ... ] their help is often of considerable value when connecting links
have to be traced between those earlier data and the facts of modern
topography."
In these few lines only, the notion of 'topography' is
emphasized three times. Thus, there can be no doubt as just to what Stein
was actually talking about. Yet, there is more to it: When preparing his RT
edition (1892) in Srinagar, Stein had had access to the Calcutta text of 1835
only for consulting the supplemental chronicles. As will be recalled, this
edition is defective in every respect, in particular, however, in that of the
local names, which the Bengali editors had been unable to recognize. In his
annotated translation of 1900, Stein quotes from this edition alone. In a note
added to the list of works consulted by him and in another one made
elsewhere,50 he refers only briefly to the latest 1896 Bombay edition of
Durgaprasada and Peterson. He, as Stein himself remarks, could make
references to this superior edition only in a few selected cases, i.e. in that of
the interpolated passages ( Ps-JRT), the exact nature of which had not yet
been settled by that time and remained obscure to Stein. As a result, the
verdict of our Indological handbooks on the medieval chronicles, as it rests
entirely on a selective reading of Stein's single remarks on topography, can
safely be declared null and void.
The picture, however, becomes entirely different as soon as we take into
consideration the influence the chronicles have exercised within India. The
=

50 RT I: XXIX; II: 286f, n. 14.

12

Walter Slaje

Medieval Kashmir and the Science of History

history of their reception in the sphere of Persian translations and in

particular among Muslim historians proves beyond any doubt the high
esteem they had been held in (see Chart 1 on page 13).
CHART

Premature Judgements-+ Verdicts-+ Exclusion as Historical Sources

Nagari-Transcription
(1823, defective)

Calcutta Edition 1835

(defective)

Bombay Edition 1896

STEIN 1900

(Specific Judgement on JRT /SRT's "Geography, Ancient Toponymy )

"

MYLIUS2003

Einf Indal. 1993; Encyclopedia Britannica 2001; POLLOCK 2001

(Exclusion; General Verdict on JRT /SRT's "Literary Quality, Authenticity")

This brings us to the text transmission in Persian and its value as sources for
the history of Kashmir. Let it be recalled that modern historians almost 1
exclusively -albeit indirectly and perhaps even unknowingly-to Persian ,,,;.
and Mogul chronicles in this connection. The truth, however, about all these
sources is this:
The oldest extant Persian translation of the first four Rajatarangii:iis would
date from 1590, if it is the one, which, as the result of a revision of an earlier
version of MuJ:tammad Sahabadi, was carried out by Bada'iini within only

13

two months.51 Akbar, after he had been presented with MuJ:tammad

Sahabadi's earlier work, commissioned a revision by Bada'iinI, as he was not
satisfied with the terse style of the original translation. This first one,
obviously carried out with the help of Sanskrit Pai:i<;lits, had not met the
literary taste of Persian literati. Akbar demanded a more pleasing style,
adapted to the conventions of Persian literature and history writing he was
acquainted with. As Bada'uni reports himself,52 he took all the liberties
necessary to comply with Akbar's wish, paraphrased it by retaining only
what was considered worthy of being transmitted, leaving out passages
written in poetic style, the didactic portions as well as everything else 'found
difficult'.
As a result, this second Persian translation of the Sanskrit Rajatarangii:iis
must be considered as unreliable. It can neither correspond with the earlier
translation in terms of intention nor can it do so in terms of completeness in
realia and facts. Moreover, we dispose of no evidence to judge the
faithfulness of the first Persian translation. Still the story has so far not yet
come to an end: Later Indian historiographers dealing with the period under
consideration, among whom the Mogul ones figure most prominently, were
all basing themselves on Bada 'iini's epitome, directly or indirectly. Our
modern historians, when treating medieval Kashmir, drew their entire
information only from the scant and distorted fragments as preserved in the
latter.53
The credit for having prepared the first critical edition goes to Srikanth
Kaul. It was Kaul, who, in 1967, edited Jonaraja's text in a methodically
sober way. He arranged the interpolated parts separately (conveniently
attributed here by me to 'Pseudo-Jonaraja' [Ps-JRT]), since they had been
introduced into the text only later in the 161h century (between 1561 and
1588), and has added an apparatus giving the variant readings from the
manuscripts he had been able to consult. From our present day viewpoint of
textual criticism his editions may in some way be conceived of as
imperfect-apart from the fact that additional manuscripts have become
available today. Therefore, his editions should be used cautiously as,
say, 'semi-critical' editions. Still they no doubt exceed by far the earlier
Calcutta (JRT) and Bombay (JRT Ps-JRT) editions of 1835 and 1896
respectively. Thus, despite Kaul's editions of Jonaraja (1967) and Srivara
(1966), which do in fact match the critical standards of at least usable
+

51 Storey 1989: 679; JRT (Introd.) pp. 2; 8. On Bada'iinl cp. Conermann 2002a: 120-123; on his

(presumably lost) epitome Tarjama-yi ta 'rilJ-i Kasmir cp. 2002a: 185, n. 151; 2002b: 203, n.77.

52 In another work of his, MuntalJab at TawiirilJ, completed in A.O. 1593.

53 Hasan's much used study on "Kashmir under the Sultans" is a recent and quite telling

example of methodical procedures of that sort. Relying almost exclusively on the Mogul
histories, he refers to the Sanskrit sources only by way of citing Dutt (1898) or quoting "from the
Calcutta (!] and Bombay editions" (Hasan 2002: X-XI).

14 Walter Slaje

Medieval Kashmir and the Science of History

editions, their neglect by historians has prevented any benefit derived from
them in terms of advanced research results.
CHART2
The Secondary Persian Transmission

Riijataraizgi1fi (Sarada-Version)
(JRT A.D. 1459)

Rajatarangitfi (Nagari-Version)

ORT I Ps-JRT A.D. 1561-1588 I SRT)

[Pers. Transl:: Sahabadi]

(Before 1588, lost)

I
Pers. Transl:: [Bada'iini?]

(A.D. 1590, revised)

/1\

Persian epitomes I Mogul historiographies

----

------

Bahtiris tiin-i Sahl 1614 I Tabaqat-i Akbari 1592/93; Tarll]-i Kasmir 1606/07, etc.

MOORCROFT's Nagari Transcript

(1823, defective')

Calcutta Edition
(1835, defective)

Bombay Edition 1896

ORT I Ps-JRT I SRT)

The relationship between the texts of the two chroniclers is, in short, the
following: Jonaraja's original text breaks off in 1459, the year of the author's
death. This is the so-called shorter, or Sarada recension in 976 verses ORT),
printed in the Calcutta edition of all four Rajatarangil)is of 1835. There is
also a longer Nagari-recension (published Bombay 1896), enlarged by some
350 verses, which were interpolated in the second half of the l61h century
('Pseudo-Jonaraja'). They seem to have been introduced into Jonaraja's text
from independent and remarkably reliable Sanskrit sources, and should
therefore be accorded serious weight. Srivara continued Jonaraja's account
until the year 1486. Thus, his text was completed a hundred years earlier
than Pseudo-Jonaraja's interpolations to Jonaraja's work. The minute details

15

Srivara has recorded provide us with really unique research data for almost
all fields in the cultural history of late medieval India, from literature and the
fine arts to the latest military technology, from the courtly to the citizens'
situation in life, giving lively accounts of cross-cultural Hindu-Muslim
relations.
Since the aim of my presence here is to convince the learned audience of
the actual historical value of these medieval chronicles, I shall present you in
the following with two paradigmatic examples testifying to both Jonaraja's
and Srivara 's faithfulness to facts and events, which no less extends to
Pseudo-Jonaraja's additions as well.
I should like to begin by mentioning that the two examples to follow
were collected at random. They are not the result of a detailed systematic
investigation into their works.
Palaeography

The following represents a rather marginal episode in Jonaraja's account. He

had himself introduced legal proceedings against an opposing party who
had obtained his property by forging a sales document. The fraud under
consideration dates back to Jonaraja's grandfather Laularaja, who had sold
one tenth of his property, certified by a deed. Jonaraja's father, Nonaraja,
was still in his childhood then. Laularaja passed away soon after the sale.
His young children, the eldest of which was Nonaraja, were incapable of
resisting the exploitation of also the remaining nine tenths of the property by
the new owners, who were legally in possession of one tenth only.
Moreover, they went so far as to forge the written contract. The case was
tried not before Zayn al-'Abidin was on the throne and Jonaraja held a high
position at the court, i.e. between the Thirties and Fifties of the 151h century.
Let me now present you with Jonaraja's account including Pseudo
Jonaraja's additional remarks that had been interpolated on that matter.
They are important in more than only one respect, because they help us fully
understand the nature of the forgery and show at the same time that in later
centuries particular explanations had indeed become necessary, as the way
of writing had changed over the centuries.
Text: JRT 801-807 I 112* (B 1029-1033ab)
kenapi hetuna piirva1?1 laularajadvijanmana I
bhiiprasthadasakiit prastho vikrlto lekhyapiirvakam 1180111
"Formerly the Brahmin Laularaja had - for a certain reason - sold one from
among [his] ten plots of land (prastha), accompanied by a written document."
... prasthagrahair abhujyata I
avikrltam api prasthanavakarri ... 1180311

l6

Walter Slaje

eval!l krte dasaprasthabhoge54 ... ciram I

nagabhogaya55 kapatal!l krtal!l vikrayapattrake I
"The buyers of [only the one] plot exploited the [remaining] nine plots, [too],
although they had not been sold. ... After they had for a long time exploited
[all the] ten plots in such a way, they [eventually] forged the document of
sale so as to ['legally'] obtain the plantation revenue."
vikrltaJ!l prasthadasakam iti van;an alekhayan 1180411
"They had the syllables: 'Ten plots (prasthadasakam) were sold' written [on
the deed]."
In what way exactly had the forgery been made? A detailed explanation is
given by Pseudo-Jonaraja in the few lines interpolated right before the verse
just quoted. It reads:
[Ps-JRT 112*]
vyafijanagrasthitaikararupajiianaya lekhakiib I
rekhii111 purve vyaiijaniiniil!l pasciidbhiige kiliilikhan llB 102911
kiiliintare liper bhediid upary adyataniib punab I
vyaiijaniina111 likhanty eva rekhiim ekiirabodhikiim I IB 103011
"Earlier scribes used to write a [perpendicular] stroke right after the
consonants to indicate (rupajiiiina) the sound -e- before [following]
consonants. As time changes, the writing differs. This is why contemporary
[scribes], compared with this, write the stroke, which indicates the sound -e-,
above the consonants."

Medieval Kashmir and the Science of History

17

This is possible only under the precondition that Sarada characters were in
use, which is anyhow the most natural assumption. In this case, the
combination m - e looks like this:

e- m

read:

m-e

Changing an e-stroke into the character da- requires adding only a minor,
hooked line:

-+ da

tta

-ma

The next step was this:

Now, this is a historical account on an earlier practice of placing diacritics to

indicate diphthongs. In Sanskrit, this way is called prthamiitrii (the character
behind); the modern way of writing diphthongs is known as siromiitrii (the
character on top).

makara111 te sakara111 ea karayam asur aiijasa llB 103211

"Straightaway they had the sound -ma- turned into the sound -sa-."

The explanation is carried on thus:

To achieve such a change nothing else than to insert a short horizontal line
above the character -ma- is required, which in the Sarada script would come
like this:

bhiiprastham eka111 vikrltam iti vikrayapattrake I

te makarasthitaikarabodhirekhiipade tatab llB 103111
bhuprasthagrahivo dhurtii dakara111 samalekhayan I
"The rogues, who had bought the plot of land, [proceeded] thereupon [in the
following way]: On the document of sale, [on which had been written]: 'One
plot of land (bhuprastham ekam) has been sold', they had the sound -da
written in place of the stroke indicating the sound -e-, the place of which was
[before] the sound -ma-."
54

Text: 0prasthz-bhoge; Variant (Apparatus): 0prastha-bhoge. Construe: evarrz 0b/wge krte, which
paraphrases the verbal expression abhujyata 803b.
55 naga0 (Apparatus) against text: nava0

ma-+

sa

Thus, one finally obtains exactly what the text says:

da

sa
bhuprastham eka111 vikrUam iti vikrayapattrake IB 1033abl

,.

1g

Walter Slaje

"On the document of sale, [on which]: 'One plot of land (bhuprastham ekam)
has been sold' [was written], [End of Ps-JRT 112*]
vikrfta1'[1 prasthadasakam iti van:zan alekhayan 1180411
they had the syllables: 'Ten plots (prasthadasakam) have been sold' written."
This deed, originally vowelized by way of Pr$thamatra strokes, had been
issued when Jonaraja's father was still in his infancy (biila), or at any rate
under fifteen. This brings us to the second half of the 14'h century, the time
when use of the Pr$thamatra was common. Ps-Jonaraja's additions, redacted
in 1588 at the latest, speak about "earlier scribes (purve lekhakiib)" in this
context. His contemporaries (adyatanab) in the l61h century must have gone
over to writing the stroke by way of siromiitrii. The present account therefore
clearly reflects a change in the manner of writing diphthongs, a change that
happened between the middle of the 141h and the middle of the 161h century,
that is, mainly in the 151h century. This chronological determination of the
beginning of diacritical siromiitrii vowelization is of considerable relevance
for the dating of manuscripts and for palaeographical concerns in general.
However, the disclosure of the fraud, too, holds important information
in terms of realia.

URT]
tasmin riijfii vicarajfie nonarajasya nandanai I
balad dhrtarri bhuva1'[1 rajasabhayam aham ak11ipam 1180511
pratyarthibhir athanfta1'[1 bhurjarrz rajajfiaya nrpab I
yuktijfiab salilasyantar vacayitvak11ipat tatab 1180611
na11te11u navavar1Je11u puriilJCf?U sthire11v atha I
bhuprastham ekarr1 vikrftam iti sabhyan avacayat 1180711
"At the time when King [Zayn al-'Abidin acted] as a judge, I, [Jonaraja], son
of Nonaraja, pointed out in the royal assembly that the land had been
forcibly taken. By order of the king, the opponents brought thereupon the
birch-bark [document]. The king, as he was skilled in methods, had it read
aloud [first and] then dipped it into water. [As a result,] the new characters
had disappeared [from the deed, whereas only] the old ones had remained.
Then he made the members of the assembly read it out as: 'One plot of land
(bhuprastham ekam) has been sold."'
Regarding the exposure of the swindle, it is well known that not only
manuscripts were written, but also documents were issued, on birch bark.
Birch bark is absolutely impervious to damp and water.56 Old Kashmiri ink
56

Georg Buhler, in hls Kashmir report of 1877, writes that the Kashmiris used to spruce up their

Medieval Kashmir and the Science of History

19

does not suffer when exposed to water. In fact, it was Indian ink prepared
from charcoal of almonds boiled in cow's urine (gomutra). If the forgers had
used ordinary carbon writing-ink, which is water-soluble, for adding the two
strokes, Jonaraja's account becomes plausible.57
So far a first example for a detailed account in, and the historical
reliability of Jonaraja and Ps-Jonaraja.
Cannons

Among the many subjects of cultural relevance covered by the works of the
Kashmir chroniclers, I should like to turn now to the topic of military
technology. I have selected it for two reasons. First, it is contained in
Srivara's work. Therefore, we can gain an insight also into his way of
presenting facts. Second, realia of this kind remained almost entirely
neglected by Indological research so far, because, as historians unceasingly
repeat, there exist no sources on this matter. It is perhaps worthwhile to
quote from Sarkar 1984 in this regard, as his words are absolutely
representative of such an attitude: "Paucity of reliable and detailed accounts
has thrown a veil of obscurity over the early history of gunpowder technol
ogy, the antiquity of pyrotechny and the use of fire-arms including guns and
cannons in India."58 Sarkar, and in particular Iqtidar Alam Khan, have made
many a valuable contribution to the history of military technologies in India.
In doing so, they were basing themselves more or less exclusively on Persian
accounts as given by Nizam ad-Din Al)mad59 in his Tabaqiit-i Akbari (A.D.
1593/94) and on those in Firista's Gulsan-i Ibriihfmi (A.D. 1606/07, revised as
Tiirflj-i Nauras-nama in A.D. 1609/10),60 thus written only shortly before and
after the year A.D. 1600 respectively.61
Let us have a brief look on the introduction of cannons and pyrotechnics
into Kashmir and the importance thereof in terms of Indian history. The
manuscripts by keeping them in water in order to fetch a higher price. The material is, however,
not resistant to dry heat, which causes it to "crack, split and peel in all directions." Cp. Witzel
1994: 7-10.
57 Producing ink from oak apples steeped in water with ferrous sulphate, as it was common in
the Middle Ages in Europe, was uncommon in India due to the absence of suitable oak apples
there, as we learn from Muslim sources.
58 Sarkar 1984:128.
59 On Nizam ad- Din AJ:imad (A.D. 1549-1594) and his work cp. Conermann 2002a: 118-120;
188ff.
60 On Firista (died after A. D. 1623/24) and his work cp. Conermann 2002a: 111-113; 2002b: 229234. For a characterization and the dating of Nizam ad-Din's and FiriSta's works see also Digby
2001: 251; 255.
61
Khan and Sarkar (1984: 131) were basing themselves exclusively on the accounts given by
Nizam ad-Din AJ:imad in his Tabaqat-i Akbari (A. D. 1593/94) and in FiriSta's Gulsan-i Jbriihfmf
(A.D. 1606/07), cp. Khan 1977: 25 ("may safely be accepted as reliable"). Furthermore, Khan
1981[Repr. 2001:321; 331; 334]; 2004: 9f; 55,n. 24; 130.

Medieval Kashmir and the Science of History

20 Walter Slaje

German historian Dietmar Rothermund has assigned greatest importance to

the introduction of cannons in India. To him the use of this new technology
would mark the end of the Middle Ages in India and at the same time the
beginning of a new period in history, India's 'Modern Age'. Rothermund
clearly parallels the firepower of Indian iron cannon to the influence this and
other new developments in technology had exercised on the emergence of a
European 'Modern Age'. What he especially bore in mind was Babur's
manoeuvrable field artillery, by which the Mogul defeated Ibrahim Lodi,
then Sultan of Delhi, and conquered his empire.62 The famous battle took
place in 1526, in the sixteenth century. Iqtidar Alam Khan has, in an astute
study of 1981, disproved prevailing assumptions of a presence of artillery in
India already in the 14th century (during the Bahmani war against
Vijayanagara).63 He closely investigated also the evidence for the 15th
century, again furnished mainly by later Persian chronicles. In doing this,
Khan explicitly regretted the absence of any corroborative evidence and
emphasized the impossibility to cross check with a contemporary source. His
results for the first half of the 151h century are worth quoting: "[... ] in view of
the vague and uncertain nature of the available evidence, it is not possible to
confidently assume the existence of cannon, or for that matter any other kind
of firearms, during the first half of the fifteenth century."64 Still Khan has
admirably inferred from his Persian sources that in the second half of the 151h
century and during the first twenty years of the 16th century, preceding
Babur's invasion, cannons must have been present in the Deccan, Gujarat,
Malwa and in Kashmir.65 With reference to Kashmir, Khan was bound to
using Nizam ad-Din A}:lmad's and Firista's accounts. As a result, which,
according to Khan's own words 'may safely be accepted as reliable',66 he
presents us with the following pieces of information: Firearms were
introduced into Kashmir under Sultan Zayn. There was a certain fire-worker
named l:fabib. Zayn may have compiled a book with l:fabib's assistance,
presumably relating to pyrotechnics. From some conflicting statements,
Khan also inferred that the Persian chroniclers might have relied on different
sources. The identity of these sources, however, remained entirely opaque to
Khan in 1981 (repr. 2001). It was only in 2004 that Khan's attention was
drawn to the Sanskrit chronicles of Jonaraja and Srivara,67 and that he made a
brief bibliographic reference-to Dutt's (!) and Dhar's translations,
62

Rothermund 2003: 13
Khan 1981: 328-331: "From the above discussion it clearly emerges that the available evidence
does not support the presence of artillery in India during the fourteenth century." (p. 331); 2004:
208.
64 Khan 1981: 333.
65 Khan 1981: 332; 2004: 47.
66
Khan 1977: 25.
67 Khan 2004: 52, n.2.

63

21

howeve.68 Nither were the Sanskrit originals analysed and evaluated, nor
was theu relationshi. to the Mogl sources made explicit. On the contrary,
Khan was content with the scant information to be drawn from the Persian
works,69 despite his own judgement that "Firishta is well-known for his
inclination towards presenting information gleaned from earlier sources in a
tendentious manner; hence, these statements of his cannot be accepted at
face value."70 Yet, the ultimate source for Khan's secondary Persian sources
can easily be determined as Srivara's Sanskrit chronicle. Srivara, Zayn's
contemprary, wrote as an eyewitness to the new developments and has left
us a etailed report in all desirable minuteness.71 Not only does he provide
us with the exact date of the introduction of cannons into Kashmir-it
happened in the year A.O. 1464-but also with details about their production
and mde of operation: The Sultan and his contemporaries were absolutely
enthusiastic about these new long-range weapons.
even commissioned
Srivara to compose a 'cannon eulogium' (prasasti), He
from which he himself
quotes a number of verses in his own Rajatarangir:iI.72 He seems to have been
mst impressed by the terrifying rumble of gunfire, the speed of invisibly
flymg annonball, nd their incredibly destructive power. Strongholds,
otherwie ;r difficlt to access, had now come within the range of
destruction. fay this cannon last an aeon" was therefore the pious wish
as expressed by Srivara.74
Interestingly, in the year A.O. 1465, i.e. immediately following the year
o their recorded first import, cannons had already been manufactured
duectly on the spot. Quite obviously, Zayn availed himself of Turkish
craftsmanship (slpin) for this purpose. This can be gathered from the name
enumerated by Srivara for cannons, referred to by him also in the Muslim
language (mausula-bhii$ii) by 'top',75 which is the well-known Turkish
designation for cann;ms, if w only rf. Jop-kapi, the ancient name of
present-day Istanbuf,. " i1tgl Cannon . Let me add that Zayn's fire
orker .abib, knon to the Persian sources from hearsay only, so to speak,
is exphc1tly
mentioned at least twice by name (habhebha) in Srivara's
Tarangir:iI: In one place in conjunction with performances of fireworks
(vahnikrfijanalfla),76 in the second as Zayn's authority for a composition of the
Sultan himself on that matter.
11111

77

68

Khan 2004: 41f; 52, n.2; 229.

69 Khan 2004: 47; 55, n. 24.
70 Khan 2004: 10.
71 SRT I 1,72-81.
72 SRT I 1, 75-80.
73 SRT I 1,78.
74 kalpal!I syad yantrabhili;uja
m idam II SRT I 1, 79d.
75 SRT I 1 77
76 SRT 1 4 27:
77 SRT I 4, 29.

22 Walter Slaje

I regret having not found sufficient time for pursuing details any farther
Srivara's technical, in particular his chemical and metallurgical terminology
requires the consultancy of specialists in this field. Still I maintain that there
can be not the least doubt as to just what the original sources for the
secondary Persian transmission actually were.
This being the case, what prevented scholars from turning to the ori
ginals? Why is it that the post-Kalhm:rn chronicles of Kashmir have been
ignored by virtually all recent historical studies, significantly enough despite
the fact that those studies claim to deal with "Pre-modern Literature and
History", with "Late Medieval Chronicles", or with "Sanskrit Sources and the
Muslims"?78 Why exactly did Khan and others fail in identifying the
ultimate authorities for their Muslim sources, and even in dating Zayn's
reign precisely? In this latter regard, let me remark only briefly that Khan's
wrong dating of Zayn's rule (1422-1472), too, follows the Persian chronicles,
which are inaccurate on such matters as well.79 The dates most frequently
given for his rule differ from A.O. 1419, 1420, 1422 until 1470, 1472 or even
1475, as the case and the respective authors may be.80 This strikes one as
almost incredible in view of the fact that it can be dated precisely to the day
with the help of the Sanskrit sources. Piecing together all contextually
relevant information from Jonaraja, Pseudo-Jonaraja and Srivara, Zayn's
reign can be exactly calculated as from April/May 1418 until May 2, 1470,
interrupted by an interregnum of his brother 'Ali Sah of six months, from
autumn 1419 to May 22, 1420.81 Viewed from the background of our
precious little knowledge of basic historical facts of, in the present case,
medieval Kashmir, I find it indeed difficult to unhesitatingly agree to
Kulke's apodictic statement according to which "It is no longer the so-called
historicity of a text which defines its 'historical value' but its functions
within its broader socio-political contexts and its significance to the narrative
discourse."82
Even academic disciplines cannot evade the influence of prevailing trends.
The science of (Indian) history today increasingly tends to regard the
application of philological methods as antiquated.
The philologically
working historian has gone out of fashion. He is not smart, nor trendy. The
e.g.,Chattopadhyaya 1998; Berkemer 1998; Kulke 1998; 2001.
1981: 334; 2004: 130.
see Khan loc. cit. (footnote 80). The
BD Muslim sources yield the year 1422 for Zayn's accession;
on the
Persian historiographers were basing themselves on the regional Kashmiri calendar, i.e.
may
which
years,
Hijra
lunar
into
years
Laukika
!uni-solar
the
converted
and
era,
Laukika
on like
account for uncertain spaces of time, cp. Hasan 2002: 477. Schwartzberg, e.g., also relying
sources, dates Zayn's reign as from 1420 to 1475.
78 Cp.,

79 Khan

81

82

Cp. Slaje 200*.

Kulke 2001: 83.

Medieval Kashmir and the Science of History 2 3

successful historian will put forward theories-free from worries about

sources, s it_ would appear. The serious thing about all this is, however, that
meanwhile it has become common practice no longer to indicate the
av ilable sorce materials in handbooks and surveys at all, in particular, or
so it_ seems, if tey are written in Sanskrit. Instead, and the present case is
particularly tellmg, the authors refer, if at all they do, to English translations
of Mogul sources. That these sources depend themselves on earlier Persian
traslation of anskrit originals, and that the originals are in any case
available, 1s obv10usly not considered worth even mentioning. Therefore,
what get rom modern studies of Kashmir history actually equals a
superf1c1al outlme only-shaped by multiple refractions including unreliable
data. The tragedy inherent in this procedure is that by exclusion of the primary
sources-not only from the presentations as such in books but also from the
bibliographic entries belonging to them-the assumption suggests itself to
the reader that such sources were indeed entirely lacking. Therefore, schol
ars such as, e.g., I. A. Khan-and the same applies as well to all students
interested in Indian history-would have hardly got any chance to ever trace
dow those sources, despite their having been edited critically, which is
nothmg short of a scandal. Is it really needed calling to mind the
methodological basics of European history writing, no matter the eras
concerned? Not even one folio of original historical documents can be
imagined as having deliberately been left untouched, not to speak of entire
_
_
extant chronicles
makmg
up a continuous local historiography.
Chart 3 will convey an estimate of just how our present-day knowledge of
Kashmirian history is derived from 'sources' (see Chart 3 on page 22).
In conclusion, attention may be drawn to the fact that the chronicles under
c?nsieration pro:ide abundant information on the peculiar multi-religious
_ medieval Kashmir, which repeatedly also resulted in cruel
situation m
persecutions and oppressions by those, whom Hindu chroniclers were
referring to as 'enemies of the Hindus' (hinduvairin).83 On the other hand, we
learn also about the religious tolerance that prevailed during the fifty-two
years of Sultan Zayn's balanced politics, the relief he gave to all, about the
'cross-cultural' literary production and the fine arts that were cultivated at
his court. The tolerant attitude Akbar has rightly been credited with will be
fou1:d o have ben in full bloom already more than one hundred years
erher m Kahm1 , under the aegis of the magnificent Zayn-provided the
history of his reign will ever be investigated by philologically skilled
scholars.
83

Ps-JRT 113*, B 1068b. On hostile attitudes of that sort from a Muslim perspective cp., e.g., an
excerpt from Baranl's (died A.O. 1357) Fattiwa-yi Jahtindarf as translated into German by
Conermann (2002a: 226).

Medieval Kashmir and the Science of History 25

24 Walter Slaje

I think that for the outstanding services Zayn has rendered to both
religious parties as a Muslim ruler, he deserves to be held up posthumously
as an example for integrationist politics of which Kashmir is so urgently in
need, torn as it is by the tensions of today.

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CHART3
Stemmatic Representation: Late Medieval Kashmir in its Sources

RT(S)

[RT (N)]

RT(S)

RT (N-Ms Poona)

Chattopadhyaya 1998

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I

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CHI

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PT: [Bada'unI?]

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Clauson 1912

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Conermann 2002a

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Calcutta Edition 1835

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