[4] “There is no God but God;” “In the name of God.” [↑]
[5] This was written without being aware that the native name of Mutton is a corruption of Martund, by which name the temple is also designated.
The meaning of Martund being in Sanscrit “the Sun,” additional grounds have thus been furnished for determining the origin of the ruin. Vide [Appendix A]. [↑]
[6] On this subject a good deal of difference of opinion seems to exist, and from Moore’s descriptions of the furniture of his terrestrial paradise, which have added so much to the fame of the valley, [[113]]it appears probable that his “muse,” thinking it useless to search abroad for materials which existed in abundance at home, supplied him with what he supposed to be Eastern celestial creations, entirely from his native shores. Vigne, however, says, “I do not think that the beauty of the Kashmirian women has been overrated. They are, of course, wholly deficient in the graces and fascinations derivable from cultivation and accomplishment; but for mere uneducated eyes, I know of none that surpass those of Kashmir.” On the other hand, M. Jacquemont, who found “celestial happiness” in a plant of rhubarb, is unable to discover any beauty whatever in the Cashmerian ladies, and has no patience with his neighbour’s little flights of fancy in depicting their perfections. “Moore,” he writes, in his “Letters from India,” “is a perfumer, and a liar to boot. Know that I have never seen anywhere such hideous witches as in Cashmere. The female race is remarkably ugly.” Instead of adding to such conflicting evidence, I have endeavoured to subpœna a credible witness to speak for herself; and the right of private judgment being thus reserved to the reader, Gûlabie will no doubt be charitably dealt with, and will find her proper position somewhere within the limits of a “hideous witch” and a “celestial being.” [↑]
[7] This place is mentioned in the “Tûzûk Jehangeery,” or “Precepts [[114]]of Jehangeer,” in a way which shows that the Conqueror of the World had not included himself among his victories.
The name appears on a Persian inscription as Wurnagh, but is called by the natives Vernagh, and is mentioned by Jehangeer in his journal as Tirnagh:—
“The source of the river Bhet (Jhelum)[8] lies in a fountain in Cashmeer, named Tirnagh, which, in the language, of Hindostan, signifies a snake—probably some large snake had been seen there. During the lifetime of my father (Akbar) I went twice to this fountain, which is about twenty kos from the city of Cashmere. Its form is octagonal, and the sides of it are about twenty yards in length.
“I accompanied my father to this spot during the season of flowers. In some places the beds of saffron-flowers extend to a kos. Their appearance is best at a distance, and when they are plucked they emit a strong smell. My attendants were all seized with a headache, and though I was myself at the time intoxicated with liquor, I felt also my head affected. I inquired of the brutal Cashmeerians who were employed in plucking them, what was their condition, and they replied that they never had a headache in their lifetime.” [↑]
[8] The Jhelum is called in Cashmere, Behat—a contraction of the Sanscrit Vedasta, which the Greeks slightly altered to Hydaspes. [↑]
[9] The title of Noor-ûl-deen is also mentioned by Jehangeer in his Journal from Lahore to Cabul, and its origin is thus accounted for in his own words: