Diary of a Pedestrian in Cashmere and Thibet Part 16

[3] -- A hill conveyance something similar to a hammock, suspended from a pole, with straps for the feet and back, and carried by two bearers.

[4] -- M. Jacquemont, in his "Letters from Kashmir and Thibet,"

carried away no doubt by the ardour of Botanical research, mentions having made a similar discovery, in the following glowing terms: -- "The mountains here produce rhubarb; celestial happiness!"

[5] -- The Pa.s.s of the Peer Punjal is 13,000 feet above the level of the sea; the highest peak of the range being 15,000.

[6] -- Supposed to designate "The City of the Sun;" Surya meaning in Sanscrit "the Sun," and Nugger "a City."

[7] -- Cashmere seems to have been regarded for many ages merely as a source of wealth to its absentee lords or present governors, and to have suffered more than ever, since falling under the dominion of Hindoo rulers.

Of the first of this dynasty, who subdued and took possession of the valley in the year 1819, Vigne remarks, in his Travels, "Runjeet Singh a.s.suredly well knew that the greater the prosperity of Kashmir, the stronger would be the inducement to invasion by the East India Company. 'Apres moi le deluge' has been his motto, and its ruin has been accelerated not less by his rapacity than by his political jealousy, which suggested to him at any cost the merciless removal of its wealth and the reckless havoc he has made in its resources."

[8] -- The Tukt-i-Suliman, an old Hindoo temple, the throne of Solomon the magnificent, the prophet, the mighty magician, whom all pious Mussulmans believe to have been carried through the air on a throne supported by Dives or Afrites, whom the Almighty had made subservient to His will. -- Vigne. The summit stands 1,000 feet above the level of the plain, and the date of its erection is believed to be 220 B.C. VIDE Appendix A.

[9] -- "There is no G.o.d but G.o.d;" "In the name of G.o.d."

[10] -- 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.

[11] -- 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, 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 sh.o.r.es. 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 surpa.s.s 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 subpoena a credible witness to speak for herself; and the right of private judgment being thus reserved to the reader, Gulabie 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."

[12] -- This place is mentioned in the "Tuzuk Jehangeery," or "Precepts 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)[*] 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."

[*] -- The Jhelum is called in Cashmere, Behat -- a contraction of the Sanscrit VEDASTA, which the Greeks slightly altered to Hydaspes.

[13] -- The t.i.tle of Noor-ul-deen is also mentioned by Jehangeer in his Journal from Lah.o.r.e to Cabul, and its origin is thus accounted for in his own words:

"Now that I had become a king, it occurred to me that I ought to change my name, which was liable to be confounded with that of the Caesars, of Rome.

"The Secret Inspirer of thoughts suggested to me that, as the business of kings is the conquest of the world, I ought to a.s.sume the name of Jehangeer, or Conqueror of the World; and that as my accession to the throne had taken place, about sunrise, I ought therefore to take the t.i.tle of Noor-ul-deen, or the Light of Religion. I had heard during the time of my youth from several learned Hindoos, that after the expiration of the reign of Akbar, the throne would be filled by a kin, named Noor-ul-deen. This circ.u.mstance made an impression on me, and I therefore a.s.sumed the name and t.i.tle of Jehangeer Badshah."

[14] -- These ruins appear to be in the greatest dilapidation of any in the valley. The date of their erection is believed to be A.D. 852.

[15] -- See Appendix A.

[16] -- VIDE Appendix A.

[17] -- These monuments would appear to be of the kind designated Chod-tens and Dung-tens, which have been thus described: -- "In the monuments which are dedicated to the celestial Buddha, the invisible being who pervades all s.p.a.ce, no deposit was made; but the Divine Spirit, who was light, was supposed to occupy the interim. Such are the numerous Chod-tens in Tibet dedicated to the celestial Buddha, in contradistinction to the Dung-tens, which are built in honour of the mortal Buddhas, and which ought to contain some portion of their relies, real or supposed. The first means an offering to the Deity, the latter a bone or relic receptacle. In the Sanscrit these are termed Chaitya and Dagoba." -- Cunningham.

[18] -- This appears to have been one of the Dagobas or bone-holders, which are erected either over the corse of a Lama or the ashes of some person of consequence. "The tribute of respect is paid in Tibet to the manes of the dead in various ways. It is the custom to preserve entire the mortal remains of the sovereign Lamas only. As soon as life has left the body of a Lama, it is placed upright, sitting in an att.i.tude of devotion, his legs being folded before him, with the instep resting on each thigh, and the sides of the feet turned upwards. The right hand is rested with its back upon the thigh, with the thumb bent across the palm. The left arm is bent and held close to the body, the hand being open and the thumb touching the point of the shoulder. This is the att.i.tude of abstracted meditation.

"The bodies of inferior Lamas are usually burnt, and their ashes preserved with the greatest care, and the monuments in which they are contained are ever after looked upon as sacred, and visited with religious awe." -- Turner.

[19] -- jo khula kariga so kui nahin kariga

[20] -- "Tibet may be considered the head-quarters of Buddhism in the present age, and immense volumes are still to be found in that country (faithful translations of the Sanskrit text), which refer to the manners, customs, opinions, knowledge, ignorance, superst.i.tion, hopes and fears of a great part of Asia, especially of India in former ages." -- Csoma de Koros, PREFACE TO TIBETAN GRAMMAR.

[21] -- These stones would appear to be peculiar to Thibet, although the sentence inscribed upon them has been occasionally discovered elsewhere. Mention of it is thus made in the Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bengal: -- "On the main road from the Valley of Nipal to Tibet stands a diminutive stone, 'Chaitya.' Upon this is inscribed a variety of texts from the Buddha Scriptures, and amongst others the celebrated Mantra, or charmed sentence of Tibet. The system of letters called Lantza in Tibet, and there considered foreign and Indian, though nowhere extant in the Plains of India, is the common vehicle of Sanscrit language among the Buddhists of Nipal Proper, by whom it is denominated Ranja, in Devanagri ra.mjaa

"Ranja, therefore, and not, according to a barbarian metamorphosis, Lantza, it should be called by us, and by way of further and clearer distinction, the Nipalese variety of Devanagri. Obviously deducible as this form is from the Indian standard, it is interesting to observe it in practical collocation with the ordinary Thibetan form, and when it is considered that Lantza or Ranja is the common extant vehicle of those original Sanscrit works of which the Thibetan books are translations, the interest of an inscription traced on one slab in both characters cannot but be allowed to be considerable. The habit of promulgation of the doctrines of their faith by inscriptions patent on the face of religious edifices, stones, &c., is peculiar to the Buddhists of Thibet. The Mantra is also quite unknown to the Buddhists of Ceylon and the Eastern peninsula, and forms the peculiar feature of Thibetan Buddhism."

[22] -- This was the only explanation of the mounds of inscribed stones which I was able to obtain from a native source; and some foundation for the story may be traced in the legend -- which will be found in Appendix B -- upon which M. Klaproth has founded the only explanation of the mystic inscription, which I have been as yet able to discover.

By the Lamas themselves I never heard these mounds alluded to otherwise than by the words "Mani panee." Cunningham, however, who had ample opportunity of ascertaining their meaning and origin, terms them "Manis" (in another form of spelling, "Munees"), and thus describes them: -- "The Mani -- a word naturalized from the Sanscrit -- is a stone d.y.k.e, from four to five feet high, and from six to twelve in breadth; length from ten or twenty feet to half a mile The surface of the Mani is always covered with inscribed slabs; these are votive offerings from all cla.s.ses of people for the attainment of some particular object. Does a childless man wish for a son, or a merchant about to travel hope for a safe return; each goes to a Lama and purchases a slate, which he deposits carefully on the village 'Mani,' and returns to his home in full confidence that his prayers will be heard."

[23] -- This was in all probability intended to represent the form of the lotus. VIDE Appendix B.

[24] -- Of this custom Turner remarks, alluding to Thibet Proper: -- "Here we find a practice at once different from the modes of Europe, and opposite to those of Asia. That of one female a.s.sociating her fate and fortune with all the brothers of a family, without any restriction of age or numbers. The choice of a wife is the privilege of the elder brother; and singular as it may seem, a Thibetan wife is as jealous of her connubial rites as ever the despot of an Indian Zenana is of the favours of his imprisoned fair."

[25] -- "As the inscription of course begins at opposite ends on each side, the Thibetans are careful in pa.s.sing that they do not trace the words backwards." -- Turner.

[26] -- This is Mount "Everest," which has been called, the King of the South. The King of the North, "Nunga Purbut," is 26,629 feet above the level of the sea.

[27] -- VIDE ill.u.s.tration, Hemis Monastery.

[28] -- The only information I here again received was "Um mani panee!" The wheel consisted of a roll of the thinnest paper, six inches in diameter, and five and a half in width, closely printed throughout with the eternally recurring words, which all appeared so ready to p.r.o.nounce and none seemed able to explain. The roll was sixty yards long, and was composed of a succession of strips, one foot nine inches in length, and all joined together. The whole was inclosed in a coa.r.s.e canvas cover, open at both ends, and marked with what was no doubt the official seal of the particular society for the diffusion of ignorance at La.s.sa, from which it had originally emanated. Each of the strips contained the mystic sentence, one hundred and seventy times, so that I was thus at once put into possession of all the valuable intelligence to be derived from "Um mani panee," repeated between seventeen and eighteen thousand times. VIDE Appendix B.

[29] -- The origin of this divinity is probably derived from the legend of Khoutoukhtou, which will be found in Appendix B.

[30] -- The most remarkable of these were "Ser" and "Mer," otherwise called "Nanoo" and "Kanoo;" respectively 23,407 and 23,264 feet above the level of the sea.

[31] -- The true version of the story appears to be that Gulab Singh had quarrelled with the Rajah of Cashmere, his rightful master, and entered into the service of the Rajah of Kushtwar. After about three years, hearing that Runjeet Singh was preparing an expedition against Cashmere, he went to him and offered his services. Being accepted, he was successful against his old enemy, and took possession of the country for Runjeet Singh; after which he wrote to the Rajah of Kushtwar, falsely telling him that the Maharajah was going to send a force against him also. The Rajah and his people prepared for resistance, and Gulab Singh then forged a paper containing an invitation from the chief men in the army of Kushtwar to the Maharajah, encouraging him to come forward and invade the country.

This paper Gulab then forwarded to the Rajah himself, with a note, in which he told him that it was folly to talk of resistance when the chief men of his country were opposed to him. The Rajah, who had been in possession of Kushtwar for twenty-seven years, was completely deceived, and repaired, by invitation, with only a few followers to Gulab's camp. Here he was kept for three months upon an allowance of 10L. a-day, which was afterwards reduced to 10S., and Gulab Singh in the meantime took possession of Kushtwar without opposition.

[32] -- The value which a Kashmirian sets upon his Kangri may be known by the following distich: --

"Oh Kangri! Oh Kangri!

You are the gift of Houris and Fairies; When I take you under my arm You drive away fear from my heart."

-- Vigne.

[33] -- "Won't the old bearers get something, your honour?"

[34] -- According to M. Voysey, in his Asiatic Researches, "A single flower in the screen contains a hundred stones, each cut to the exact shape necessary, and highly polished; and, although everything is finished like an ornament for a drawing-room chimney-piece, the general effect produced is rather solemn and impressive than gaudy.

"In the minute beauties of execution, the flowers are by no means equal to those on tables and other small works in Pietra dura at Florence. It is the taste displayed in outline and application of this ornament, combined with the lightness and simplicity of the building, which gives it an advantage so prodigious over the gloomy portals of the chapel of the Medici. The graceful flow, the harmonious colours, combined with the mild l.u.s.tre of the marble on which the ornamentation is displayed, form the peculiar charm of the building, and distinguish it from any other in the world. The materials are Lapis Lazuli, Jasper, Heliotrope or blood stone, Chalcedony, and other agates, Cornelian, Jade, &c."

[35] -- A coin of the value of thirty-two shillings.