The Panjab, North-West Frontier Province, and Kashmir Part 21

[Ill.u.s.tration: Fig. 137. North Waziristan Militia and Border Post.]

FOOTNOTES:

[Footnote 16: For recent history see page 196.]

[Footnote 17: See page 196.]

CHAPTER XXVIII

KASHMiR AND JAMMU

~Kashmir.~--Some account has already been given of the topography and scenery of the wide territory, covering an area about equal to that of the Panjab less the Ambala division, ruled by the Maharaja of Kashmir 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 Kashmir (pages 165, 166, 172, 173). Even the hard Sikh rule was a relief to a country which had felt the tyranny of the Durani governors who succeeded the Moghals. Under the latter small kingships had survived in the Jammu hills, but the Jammuwal Rajas met at Ranjit Singh's hands the same fate as the Kangra Rajas. Three cadets of the Jammu royal house, the brothers Dhian Singh, Suchet Singh, and Gulab Singh, were great men at his court. In 1820 he made the last Raja of Jammu. Gulab Singh was a man fit for large designs. In 20 years he had made himself master of Bhadrawah, Kishtwar, Ladakh, and Baltistan, and held the casket which enclosed the jewel of Kashmir. 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 Chenab, 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 Ravi.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Fig. 138. Maharaja of Kashmir.]

[Ill.u.s.tration: Fig. 139. Sketch Map of Chenab and Jhelam Valleys (Jammu and Kashmir).]

~Divisions.~--The following broad divisions may be recognised:

1. Chenab Valley (_a_) Plain and Kandi or Low Hills.

(_b_) Uplands of Kishtwar and Bhadrawah.

2. Jhelam Valley (_a_) Vale of Kashmir with adjoining glens and hills.

(_b_) Gorge below Baramula and Kishnganga Valley.

3. Indus Valley (_a_) Ladakh including Zanskar and Rupshu.

(_b_) Baltistan.

(_c_) Astor and Gilgit.

~Chenab Valley.~--(_a_) _Plain and Kandi._ This tract extends from Mirpur on the Jhelam to Kathua near the Ravi and close to the head-works of the Upper Bari Doab Ca.n.a.l at Madhopur. It is coterminous with the Panjab districts of Jhelam, Gujrat, Sialkot, and Gurdaspur, and comprises four of the five districts of the Jammu Province, Mirpur, Riasi, 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 Kandi are wheat, barley, and rape in the spring, and maize and _bajra_ in the autumn, harvest. Behind the Kandi is a higher and better tract, including Naoshera, with wide valleys, in which maize replaces _bajra_.

(_b_) _Uplands._ The greater part of the Upper Chenab Valley is occupied by Kishtwar and _Jagir_ Bhadrawah. 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 Kishtwar and Bhadrawah. Kishtwar is a part of the Udhampur district.

~Jhelam Valley.~--(_a_) _Vale of Kashmir with adjoining glens and mountains._ This first division of the Jhelam Valley extends from the source above Vernag to Baramula, and embraces not only the Vale of Kashmir, 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 _wazarat_ or district of South Kashmir and the southern part of North Kashmir. 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 Kashmiri 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. _Kangni_ 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 Srinagar market. The production of fruit in Kashmir is very large, and the extension of the railway to Srinagar should lead to much improvement in the quality and in the extent of the trade. It may also improve the prospects of sericulture.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Fig. 140. Takht i Suliman in Winter.]

(_b_) _Jhelam Gorge and Valley of Kishnganga._ The Jhelam gorge below Baramula is narrow and the cultivation is usually terraced. The Kishnganga joins the Jhelam near Muzaffarabad. The Muzaffarabad district includes the Jhelam gorge and the lower part of the valley of the Kishnganga. The upper part is in the Uttarmachhipura _tahsil_ of the district of North Kashmir.

~Indus Valley.~--(_a_) _Ladakh including Zanskar and Rupshu._ Some description of Ladakh and its scenery has already been given in Chapter II. It may be divided into Rupshu, Zanskar, and Ladakh 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 Ladakh the people are divided into shepherds or _champas_, who roam over the Alpine pastures, and Ladakhis, who till laboriously every available patch of culturable land in the river valleys. Though both are Buddhists they rarely intermarry. Zanskar 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 _tahsil_. Zanskar 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 Ladakh 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.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Fig. 141. Ladakh Hills.]

(_b_) _Baltistan._ In Baltistan, which lies to the N.W. of Ladakh, 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 Kashmir have an elevation of 13,000 feet.

The cultivation and crops are much the same as in Ladakh. Excellent fruit is grown, and there is a considerable export of apricots. Gold washing is carried on with profit.

Ladakh and Baltistan together form the Ladakh _wazarat_, divided into the three _tahsils_ of Ladakh, Kargil, and Skardo.

(_c_) _Astor and Gilgit._--Where the Gilgit road from Kashmir descends from the Burzil pa.s.s (13,500 feet) the country of Astor is reached. It is drained by the Astor river, which joins the Indus to the south of Bunji. The bridge which crosses it at Ramghat 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 Baltistan. 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 Babusar pa.s.s at the top of the Kagan Glen in Hazara.

But the posts are sent by the Kashmir road. The Astoris and Gilgitis are a simple easy-going folk, and, like the Baltis, 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 Yasin, and of the little republics in the neighbourhood of Chilas. Hunza and Nagar lie to the north of Gilgit near the junction of the Muztagh and Hindu Kush ranges, and Yasin far to the west about the upper waters of the Gilgit river.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Fig. 142. Zojila Pa.s.s (page 12).]

In Astor and Gilgit also Gulab Singh's Dogras replaced the Sikh troops.

But across the Indus Gulab 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, Randhir 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 cla.s.s, 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 Maharaja, Sir Pratap Singh, G.C.S.I., succeeded in 1885. While he lived his brother, Raja Amar Singh, played a very important part in Kashmir affairs. From 1887 to 1905 the administration was managed by a small council, of which after 1891 the Maharaja was President and Raja Amar Singh Vice-President. It was abolished in 1905. There are now under the Maharaja 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 Maharaja. The highest executive officers are the governors of Jammu and Kashmir, and the _Wazirs Wazarat_ of Ladakh and Gilgit. In Jammu and Kashmir each of the eight districts is in charge of a _Wazir Wazarat_. 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 Srinagar by a Resident, and a political agent at Gilgit exercises a general supervision over the _Wazir Wazarat_.

During the reign of the present Maharaja 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 subst.i.tuted 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 Maharaja are easily governed if properly treated, and violent crime is rare.

_Note._ In the map appended to Dr Arthur Neve's _Thirty Years in Kashmir_ 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 Kangri 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 Pa.s.s as 18,110 feet, not 18,550 as stated on page 20.

CHAPTER XXIX

CITIES

~Delhi~ (28.38 N., 77.13 E.).--Of imperial cities the most interesting are those which have felt the tragedies as well as enjoyed the glories of Empire. From this point of view Delhi, notwithstanding its small extent and modern foundation, may be grouped with Rome, Constantinople, and Paris. In the matter of size it is in the same cla.s.s as Edinburgh. The present Delhi or Shahjahanabad is a creation of the middle of the seventeenth century, and the oldest of the Delhis in the neighbourhood goes back only to the fourth century of our era. The latter endured for six or seven centuries. It was the capital of the Tunwar and Chauhan Rajas, and takes its second name of Rai Pithora's Kila' or Fort from the last Hindu King of Delhi, the famous Prithvi Raja. The early Muhammadan kings occupied it and adorned it with splendid buildings. Firoz Shah Tughlak's city of Firozabad occupied part of the present Delhi and the country lying immediately to the south of it. The other so-called towns Siri, Tughlakabad, and Indarpat or Purana Kila' (Old Fort) were fortified royal residences round which other dwelling-houses and shops sprang up.

The visitor to Delhi will be repaid if he can devote a week to the City and the neighbourhood. It is impossible here to give any adequate account of the objects of historic and architectural interest. No visitor should be without Mr H. C. Fanshawe's _Delhi Past and Present_, a work of great interest. The value of the text is enhanced by good maps and excellent ill.u.s.trations. In the Civil Station, which lies to the north of the City and east of the Ridge, is Ludlow Castle, from the roof of which General Wilson and his Staff watched the a.s.sault on 14th September, 1857, when Delhi was retaken. Ludlow Castle is now the Delhi Club. Between it and the northern rampart of the City, a defence against the Mahrattas built by British officers fifty years earlier, grim fighting took place on that historic day when the little British and Indian force, till then rather besieged than besiegers, was at last strong enough to attack. Here are the sites of the four batteries which breached that rampart, and here is the grave of John Nicholson and the statue recently erected in his honour (page 190). The Ridge to which the little army had clung obstinately from May to September in scorching heat and drenching rain, undismayed by repeated a.s.saults and the ravages of cholera, starts about half-a-mile to the west of the Mori bastion, at the north-west corner of the city wall, and runs north by east to Wazirabad on an old bed of the Jamna. Ascending to the Flagstaff Tower one looks down to-day on the Circuit House and the site of the princ.i.p.al camps at the great _darbar_ of 1911. Here was the old Cantonment and its parade ground, on which the main encampment of the British force stood in 1857. The position was strong, being defended by the ridge on the east and the Najafgarh Ca.n.a.l on the west. It is open to the south, where are the Savzi Mandi (Vegetable Market), now the site of factories, and the Roshanara Gardens. It was on this side that the mutineers made their most dangerous attacks. The road along the Ridge from the Flagstaff Tower pa.s.ses the Chauburji Mosque and Hindu Rao's house, which was the princ.i.p.al target of the City batteries and was gallantly held by Major Reid with his Sirmur Gurkhas, the Guides, and the 60th Rifles. Beyond Hindu Rao's house is one of the stone pillars of Asoka, which Firoz Shah Tughlak transported to Delhi. Still further south is the Mutiny Memorial. As one reads the tale of the losses of the different regiments one realizes in some measure the horrors and the heroism of which the Ridge was witness.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Fig. 143. Delhi Mutiny Monument.

'In memory of the officers and soldiers, British and native, of the Delhi Field Force who were killed in action or died of wounds or disease between the 30th May and 20th September 1857.'

'This monument has been erected by the comrades who lament their loss and by the Govmt: they served so well.']

~The City.~--When visiting the City from the Civil Lines it is well to follow the road, which pa.s.sing the Kudsia Gardens leads straight to the Kashmir Gate, one of two places in India (the Lucknow Residency is the other) which must stir with grateful pride the heart of the most phlegmatic of Englishmen. The road from the Gate to the Fort and the Jama Masjid is rich in memories of the Mutiny. It has on its left S.

James' Church, with memorial tablets within and outside the shot-riddled globe which once surmounted its dome. Further on are the obelisk to the telegraph officers who stuck to their posts on the fatal 11th of May, and on a gateway of the Old Magazine a record of the heroism of the nine devoted men, who blew it up, losing five of their number in the explosion. Pa.s.sing under the railway bridge one comes out on the open s.p.a.ce in front of Shahjahan's palace fort, which was finished about 1648 A.D. To the beautiful buildings erected by his father Aurangzeb added the little Moti Masjid or Pearl Mosque. But he never lived at Delhi after 1682. The palace is therefore a.s.sociated with the tragedies and squalor of the decline and fall of the Moghal Empire rather than with its glories. In 1739 it was robbed of the Kohinur and the Peac.o.c.k throne by Nadir Shah, in 1788 it saw the descendants of Akbar tortured and the aged Emperor blinded by the hateful Ghulam Kadir, and on 16th May, 1857 the mutineers ma.s.sacred fifty Christians captive within its walls. When viewing the public and private halls of audience, known as the Diwan i 'am and the Diwan i Kha.s.s, it is however natural to think rather of scenes of splendour such as Bernier described when Aurangzeb sat in royal apparel on the Peac.o.c.k throne with a king's ransom in the aigrette of his turban and the rope of pearls which hung from his neck. On such an occasion, the pillars of the Diwan i 'am were hung with gold brocades and the floors covered with rich silken carpets. Half the court outside was occupied by a magnificent tent and the arcade galleries surrounding it were decked with brocades and covered with costly carpets. The marble Diwan i Kha.s.s with its lovely pillars decorated with gold and precious stones is surely the most splendid withdrawing room that a monarch ever possessed. There is nothing in the Moorish palace at Granada which can for a moment be compared with these two halls. For a description of them and of the other buildings in the Fort the reader must refer to Mr Fanshawe's book. In the Viceroyalty of Lord Curzon and since much has been done to restore their surroundings to some semblance of their former state. But the heavy British barracks occupied by the little garrison are very incongruous with the remains of Moghal grandeur.

Leaving the Fort by the Southern or Delhi Gate and turning to the right one is faced by the Jama Masjid, another monument of the taste of Shahjahan. The gateway and the lofty ascent into this House of G.o.d are very fine. The mosque in the regular beauty and grandeur of its lines, appealing to the sublimity rather than to the mystery of religion, is a fitting symbol of the faith for whose service it was raised. South of the Jama Masjid in a part of the city once included in Firozabad stands the Kalan or Kala Masjid with low cupolas and heavy square black pillars, a striking example of the sombre architecture of the Tughlak period. A narrow street called the Dariba leads from the Jama Masjid to the wide Chandni (Silver) Chauk. The Dariba was formerly closed by the Khuni Darwaza or Gate of Blood, so called because here occurred that terrible ma.s.sacre of the citizens of Delhi which Nadir Shah witnessed from the neighbouring Golden Mosque. Besides its width there is nothing remarkable about the Chandni Chauk. But the visitor in quest of silver work, jewellery, or embroidery will find there many shopkeepers ready to cater for his wants. It was while pa.s.sing down the Chandni Chauk in an elephant procession on 23rd December, 1912, that Lord Hardinge was wounded by a bomb thrown from one of the houses. From the Chauk one may pa.s.s through the Queen's Gardens and Road to the opening in the wall where the Kabul Gate once stood and so leave the City. A tablet in the vicinity marks the spot where John Nicholson fell.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Fig. 144. Kashmir Gate.]

[Ill.u.s.tration: Fig. 145. Map of Delhi City.]