Forster, writing in 1783, abuses the Kashmiri, whom he stigmatises as “endowed with unwearied patience in the pursuit of gain.” He speaks of the vile treatment to which he was subjected by his then rulers the Pathans, observing that Afghans usually addressed Kashmiris by striking them with a hatchet, but, he concludes, “I even judged them worthy of their adverse fortune.”
Elphinstone (1839) is of opinion that “the men are excessively addicted to pleasure, and are notorious all over the East for falsehood and cunning;” and again, “The Cashmerians are of no account as soldiers.”
“Many fowls in a yard defile it, and many Kashmiri in a country ruin it,” says the proverb. Lawrence goes very fully into the Kashmiri character, and dwells upon its few good points, giving him credit for great artistic feeling, quick wit, ready repartee, and freedom from crime against the person. He considers the last merit, though, to be due to cowardice and the state of espionage which exists in every village!
I was told (but perhaps by a prejudiced person) of a Kashmiri who, during the great flood of 1903, he being safely on the shore, saw his brother being swept down the boiling river, clinging to his rapidly disintegrating roof. The following painful conversation ensued:—
“Whither sailest thou, oh brother, perched upon the birch bark of thine ancestral roof?”
“Ah! brother dear. Save me quick! I drown!”
“Truly that can I; but say, what recompense wilt thou give me?”
“All I have in the world, brother—two lovely rupees.”
“Tut, tut, little one; thou takest me for a fool. Two rupees, forsooth, for five perchance I will deign to save thy worthless life.”
“Three, then, three, carissimo—’tis all I have—and make haste, for I feel my timbers parting, and I know not how to swim.”