KASHMÍR AND JAMMU

Kashmír.—Some account has already been given of the topography and scenery of the wide territory, covering an area about equal to that of the Panjáb less the Ambála division, ruled by the Mahárája of Kashmír and Jammu. The population, races, languages, and religions have been referred to in Chapters IX and X.

Modern history.—Some mention has been made of the early history of Kashmír (pages 165, 166, 172, 173). Even the hard Sikh rule was a relief to a country which had felt the tyranny of the Durání governors who succeeded the Moghals. Under the latter small kingships had survived in the Jammu hills, but the Jammuwál Rajas met at Ranjít Singh's hands the same fate as the Kángra Rájas. Three cadets of the Jammu royal house, the brothers Dhián Singh, Suchet Singh, and Guláb Singh, were great men at his court. In 1820 he made the last Rája of Jammu. Guláb Singh was a man fit for large designs. In 20 years he had made himself master of Bhadráwah, Kishtwár, Ladákh, and Báltistán, and held the casket which enclosed the jewel of Kashmír. He acquired the jewel itself for 75 lakhs by treaty with the British at the close of the first Sikh war.

Excluding a large but little-known and almost uninhabited tract beyond the Muztagh and Karakoram mountains, the drainage of which is northwards into Central Asia, the country consists of the valleys of the Chenáb, Jhelam, and Indus, that of the last amounting to three-fourths of the whole. There is a trifling area to the west of Jammu, which contains the head-waters of small streams which find their way into the Ráví.

Fig. 138. Mahárája of Kashmír.

[View larger image]
Fig. 139. Sketch Map of Chenáb and Jhelam Valleys (Jammu and Kashmír).

Divisions.—The following broad divisions may be recognised:

1. Chenáb Valley(a) Plain and Kandí or Low Hills.
(b) Uplands of Kishtwár and Bhadráwah.
2. Jhelam Valley(a) Vale of Kashmír with adjoining glens and hills.
(b) Gorge below Báramúla and Kishnganga Valley.
3. Indus Valley(a) Ladákh including Zánskar and Rupshu.
(b) Báltistán.
(c) Astor and Gilgit.

Chenáb Valley.—(a) Plain and Kandí. This tract extends from Mírpur on the Jhelam to Kathua near the Ráví and close to the head-works of the Upper Bárí Doáb Canal at Mádhopur. It is coterminous with the Panjáb districts of Jhelam, Gujrát, Siálkot, and Gurdáspur, and comprises four of the five districts of the Jammu Province, Mírpur, Riásí, Jammu, and Jasrota, and a part of the fifth, Udhampur. The plain is moist and unhealthy. The rough country behind with a stony and thirsty red soil covered in its natural state with garna (Carissa spinarum), sanatan (Dodonaea viscosa), and bhekar (Adhatoda vasica) does not suffer in this respect. The chief crops of the Kandí are wheat, barley, and rape in the spring, and maize and bájra in the autumn, harvest. Behind the Kandí is a higher and better tract, including Naoshera, with wide valleys, in which maize replaces bájra.

(b) Uplands. The greater part of the Upper Chenáb Valley is occupied by Kishtwár and Jagír Bhadráwah. The rainfall is heavy and there is copious irrigation from kuhls (page [142]), but elevation and rapid drainage make the climate healthy. In the upper parts snow and cold winds sometimes prevent the ripening of the crops. The poppy is grown in Kishtwár and Bhadráwah. Kishtwár is a part of the Udhampur district.

Jhelam Valley.—(a) Vale of Kashmír with adjoining glens and mountains. This first division of the Jhelam Valley extends from the source above Vernág to Báramúla, and embraces not only the Vale of Kashmír, over 80 miles long and from 20 to 25 miles in breadth, but the glens which drain into it and the mountains that surround it. It therefore includes cultivation of all sorts from rich irrigated rice fields to narrow plots terraced up mountain slopes on which buckwheat and the beardless Tibetan barley are grown. The administrative divisions are the wazárat or district of South Kashmir and the southern part of North Kashmír. The central valley has an elevation of 6000 feet. It was undoubtedly once a lake bed. Shelving fan-shaped "karewas" spread out into it from the bases of the hills. The object of the Kashmírí is to raise as much rice as he possibly can on the alluvium of his valley and on the rich soil deposited on the banks of mountain streams. Manure and facilities for irrigation exist in abundance, and full use is made of them in the cultivation of the favourite crop. Kangní takes the place of rice in many fields if there is any deficiency of water. On reclaimed swamps near the Jhelam heavy crops of maize are raised. The tillage for wheat and barley is as careless as that for rice is careful. The cultivation of saffron (Crocus sativus) on karewas is famous, but the area is now limited, as the starving people ate up the bulbs in the great famine of 1877 and recovery is slow. Saffron is used as a pigment for the sectarian marks on the forehead of the orthodox Hindu and also as a condiment. The little floating vegetable gardens on the Dal lake are a very curious feature. The "demb" lands on the borders of the same lake are a rich field for the market gardener's art. He fences a bit of land with willows, and deposits on it weeds and mud from the lake bed. He is of the boatman or Hanz caste, whose reputation is by no means high, and can himself convey by water his vegetables and fruits to the Srínagar market. The production of fruit in Kashmír is very large, and the extension of the railway to Srínagar should lead to much improvement in the quality and in the extent of the trade. It may also improve the prospects of sericulture.

Fig. 140. Takht i Sulimán in Winter.

(b) Jhelam Gorge and Valley of Kishnganga. The Jhelam gorge below Báramúla is narrow and the cultivation is usually terraced. The Kishnganga joins the Jhelam near Muzaffarábád. The Muzaffarábád district includes the Jhelam gorge and the lower part of the valley of the Kishnganga. The upper part is in the Uttarmachhipura tahsíl of the district of North Kashmír.

Indus Valley.—(a) Ladákh including Zánskar and Rupshu. Some description of Ladákh and its scenery has already been given in Chapter II. It may be divided into Rupshu, Zánskar, and Ladákh proper with Leh as its centre. Rupshu in the south-east is a country of great brackish lakes in no part less than 13,500 feet above sea level. At such a height cultivation must be very difficult, but a little beardless Tibetan barley is raised. The scanty population consists mainly of nomad shepherds. In Ladákh the people are divided into shepherds or champas, who roam over the Alpine pastures, and Ladákhís, who till laboriously every available patch of culturable land in the river valleys. Though both are Buddhists they rarely intermarry. Zánskar to the N.W. of Rupshu is drained by the river of the same name, which flows northwards to join the Indus below Leh. It forms part of the Kargil tahsíl. Zánskar is a bleak inaccessible region where the people and cattle remain indoors for six months of the year. Its breed of ponies is famous. In Ladákh proper cultivation ranges from 9000 to 15,000 feet. The sandy soil must be manured and irrigated, and is often refreshed by top-dressings of fresh earth from the hill sides. The crops are wheat and barley, rape, lucerne, peas and beans, in spring, and buckwheat, millets, and turnips, in autumn. There is a great lack of wood for building and for fuel, and the deficiency in the latter case has to be supplied by cow-dung cakes. Notwithstanding their hard life the people are cheerful and fairly well off, for polyandry has prevented overcrowding.

Fig. 141. Ladákh Hills.

(b) Báltistán. In Báltistán, which lies to the N.W. of Ladákh, they are Muhammadans and there is much more pressure on the soil. They are a cheery race and very fond of polo. To support their families the men have to work as carriers on the roads to Leh and Gilgit. They tend the cattle in the pastures, keep the irrigation channels and the walls of the terraced fields in repair, and do the ploughing. The rest of the work of cultivation is left to the women. The climate is very severe and most of the rivers are frozen in winter. On the other hand near the Indus on the Skardo plain (7250 feet) and in the Rondu gorge further west, the heat is intense in July and August. The dreary treeless stony Deosai Plains on the road to Kashmír have an elevation of 13,000 feet. The cultivation and crops are much the same as in Ladákh. Excellent fruit is grown, and there is a considerable export of apricots. Gold washing is carried on with profit.

Ladákh and Báltistán together form the Ladákh wazárat, divided into the three tahsíls of Ladákh, Kargil, and Skardo.

(c) Astor and Gilgit.—Where the Gilgit road from Kashmír descends from the Burzil pass (13,500 feet) the country of Astor is reached. It is drained by the Astor river, which joins the Indus to the south of Bunjí. The bridge which crosses it at Ramghát is only 3800 feet above sea level. The village of Astor itself is at a height of 7853 feet. The cultivation is of the same description as that in Báltistán. The aspect of the country is bleak till the Indus is crossed, and Gilgit (4890 feet) is reached. Here there is a fertile well-watered oasis from which on every side great mountain peaks are visible. The lands are heavily manured. Rice, maize, millet, buckwheat, cotton, wheat, barley, rape, and lucerne are grown. There is a second and easier road to Gilgit from India over the Bábusar pass at the top of the Kágan Glen in Hazára. But the posts are sent by the Kashmír road. The Astorís and Gilgitís are a simple easy-going folk, and, like the Báltís, very fond of polo. A British Political Agent is stationed at Gilgit. He is responsible to the Government of India for the administration of Hunza, Nagar, and Yasín, and of the little republics in the neighbourhood of Chilás. Hunza and Nagar lie to the north of Gilgit near the junction of the Muztagh and Hindu Kush ranges, and Yasín far to the west about the upper waters of the Gilgit river.

Fig. 142. Zojilá Pass (page [12]).

In Astor and Gilgit also Guláb Singh's Dogras replaced the Sikh troops. But across the Indus Guláb Singh was never strong, and after 1852 that river was his boundary. He died in 1857, having proved himself a hard and unscrupulous, but a capable and successful ruler. His son, Randhír Singh, was a better man, but a worse king. A good Hindu, tolerant, and a friend of learning, he had not the force of character to control the corrupt official class, and the people suffered much in consequence. He was a loyal ally in the Mutiny. In 1860 his forces recovered Gilgit, a conquest which for years after was a fruitful source of suffering to his Cis-Indus subjects. The present Mahárája, Sir Pratáp Singh, G.C.S.I., succeeded in 1885. While he lived his brother, Rája Amar Singh, played a very important part in Kashmír affairs. From 1887 to 1905 the administration was managed by a small council, of which after 1891 the Mahárája was President and Rája Amar Singh Vice-President. It was abolished in 1905. There are now under the Mahárája a chief minister and ministers in charge of the home and revenue departments. Judicial business is controlled by the Judge of the High Court. Death sentences must be confirmed by the Mahárája. The highest executive officers are the governors of Jammu and Kashmír, and the Wazírs Wazárat of Ladákh and Gilgit. In Jammu and Kashmír each of the eight districts is in charge of a Wazír Wazárat. In connection with the land revenue settlement, forests, etc., the services of British officers have been lent to the State. The Government of India is represented at Srínagar by a Resident, and a political agent at Gilgit exercises a general supervision over the Wazír Wazárat.

During the reign of the present Mahárája great reforms have been effected. The construction of the Gilgit road has done away with the blood tax, which the conveyance of supplies to that remote post formerly involved. The land revenue settlement has largely substituted cash for kind payments and done away with many abuses. Official corruption and oppression have been scotched, but would speedily revive if vigilance were relaxed. The different peoples ruled by the Mahárája are easily governed if properly treated, and violent crime is rare.

Note. In the map appended to Dr Arthur Neve's Thirty Years in Kashmír the heights of Gasherbrum and Masherbrum (see page [21]) are given respectively as 26,360 and 25,560 feet, and that of Hidden Peak, S.E. of Gasherbrum, as 26,470 feet. These with K2 are the highest mountains round the Baltoro Glacier. Further east is the Siachen, "the greatest glacier in Asia," which feeds the Nubra river (page [36]). N.E. of the Siachen is the Teram Kangrí mountain, the height of which does not probably exceed 25,000 feet. The actual height of the Nun Kun (page [12]) is 23,447 feet. Dr Neve gives that of the Karakoram Pass as 18,110 feet, not 18,550 as stated on page [20].

CHAPTER XXIX