An extract from Tarikh-i-Rashidi by Mirza Muhammad Haider Dughlat. The book was written between 1541 and 1545 a.d. Dughlat who was the cousin of Babar marvelled at the temple architecture and then went on to demolish, destruct and desecrate them.
I am incapable of describing. Some represent laughing and weeping figures, which astound the beholder.
?First and foremost among the wonders of Kashmir stand her idol temples. In and around Kashmir (Srinagar), there are more than one hundred and fifty temples which are built of more hewn stone, fitted so accurately one upon the other, that there is absolutely no cement used. These stones have been so carefully placed in position, without plaster or mortar, that a sheet of paper could not be passed between the joints. The blocks are from three to twenty gaz in length, one gaz in depth, and one to five gaz in breadth. The marvel is how these stones were transported and erected. The temples are nearly all built on the same plan. There is a square enclosure which in some places reaches the height of thirty gaz, while each side is about three hundred gaz long. Inside this enclosure there are pillars, and on the top of the pillars there are square capitals; on the top of these again, are placed supports and most of these separate parts are made out of one block of stone. On the pillars are fixed the supports of the arches, and each arch is three or four gaz in width. Under the arch are a gallery and doorway. On the outside and inside roof, the arch are pillars of forty or fifty gaz in height, having supports and capitals of one block of stone. On the top of this are placed four pillars of one or two pieces of stone.
In the rest of the world there is not to be seen or heard of, one building like this.
The inside and outside of the halls have the appearance of two porticos, and these are covered with one or two stones. The capitals, the ornamentation in relief, the cornices, the ?dog-tooth? work, the inside covering and the outside, are all crowded with pictures and paintings which I am incapable of describing. Some represent laughing and weeping figures, which astound the beholder. In the middle is a lofty throne of hewn stone, and over that, a dome made entirely of stone, which I cannot describe. In the rest of the world there is not to be seen or heard of, one building like this. How, wonderful that there should (here) be a hundred and fifty of them.?
The legend of Kashmir Valley |
| The Valley of Kashmir, is 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. There is a legend that the Kashmir Valley was aeons ago, a vast mountain lake called Satisar and geologists attest to this. Volcanic action had caused either the formation of the original lake or its subsequent desiccation. According to the tradition the drainer of this lake was an ascetic named Kashyapa; hence, the reclaimed land was called Kashyap-pur or Kashyap-mar and later, Kashmir. The name Kashmir also implies ?land desiccated from water,? from Sanskrit ka water, shimira to desiccate. In Sanskrit Puranas, Kashmir is called gerek (hill) nestled as it is in hills. In Chapter VIII of Avanadikosha, the meaning of the word Kashmir is given as ?land, ruling in which is difficult?. The ancient Greeks called it Kaspeiria, and in the classical literature Herodotus mentions it as Kaspatyrois, and Hekataios calls it by the name of Kaspalyros or Kaspapyros. It is called Shie-mi in the narrative of To Yeng and Sung Yan (578 a.d.). Huen Tsang who visited Kashmir in 631 a.d. calls it Kia-shi-mi-lo. The name has further been shortened into Kashmir by the Kashmiris in their own tongue. The Tibetans call it Khachal (snowy mountain), and the Dards, Kashrat. |
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