The issue of Kashmir's ownership remains a bone of contention between Pakistan and India. However, behind the veil of alarming news, it is important to remember that the region is not just a "hot spot". Its history is intertwined with the fates of peoples, religions and empires - this is recalled by a review of chronicles and scientific works prepared by Anastasia Smirnova from the Russian Academy of Sciences. It examines sources from Sanskrit texts to books in English, and the first ones were also translated into Persian.
The Sultanate of Kashmir was founded in 1339, but the active spread of Islam began only forty years later. The Sufis played a key role in the spiritual conversion of the local population, skillfully combining mystical teachings with social reforms, showing tolerance to local traditions. The rulers encouraged education and cared about preserving the cultural heritage. For example, under Sultan Zainul Abidin, a center for the translation of Sanskrit works was established. It was then that Pandit Kalhana's Rajatarangini was first translated into Persian.
The Stream of Kings describes the reigns of the Kashmiri dynasties from the earliest times to the early 12th century, the period when the text was written. Kalhana not only collected materials from existing chronicles but also formulated the principles of historiography, anticipating the critical method of research. His followers continued the chronicle up to the end of the 15th century. Rajavalipataka – Continuation of the Chronicle of Kings, written by Pragya Bhatta and his disciple Shuka, covers events up to the annexation of Kashmir by the Mughal Empire in the 16th century.
The Ratnakar Purana (literally, the Treasury Purana; Puranas are ancient Hindu texts that tell of the creation of the world and events on different planets in the Universe) was discovered during the time of Zainul Abidin and translated on his order. It is believed to contain lost tales of the kings who ruled Kashmir before the 6th century. In the 19th century, a copy of the translation was found by Maulavi Ghulam Hasan, who based it on the three-volume History of Kashmir (Tarikh-i Kashmir) in Persian.
Neither the original Ratnakar Purana nor its translation have survived to this day, which makes the work of Maulavi Ghulam Hasan particularly valuable. The exact number of historical works on Kashmir in Persian, written from ancient times to the present day, is difficult to ascertain. The catalogue of the Research and Publication Department of the State of Jammu and Kashmir mentions 17 manuscripts. The earliest of these is the History of Kashmir (1579) by Sayyid Ali bin Sayyid Muhammad, and the latest is the Tarikh-i Kabir (Great History, 1900) by Ghulam Mohi ad-Din.
In the 20th century, works appeared in languages new to the region – English and Urdu. In 1910, Pandit Anand Kaul, a member of the Kashmir government, published a study on the geography of Jammu and Kashmir. A little later, a former employee of Delhi University, Mohi ad-Din Sufi, compiled a voluminous work, Kashir, also in English. In the first half of the 20th century, Muhammad Din Fauq published several works in Urdu on the history, geography, and folklore of the Kashmir Valley.
The tradition of writing chronicles and historical works has been preserved in Kashmir for centuries. Despite the change of official languages, their essence and form remained virtually unchanged, right up until the spread of the European scientific tradition. However, the British Empire also left behind a sad legacy – the Kashmir conflict. Its resolution can be facilitated by a deep understanding of the region’s historical path and the unique role of Kashmir in the context of South Asia and the so-called Greater Iran.
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