The Amarnath Pilgrimage: History and Facts
By Prof. M.L. Koul
M.A.
(Engilsh), M.A. (Sanskrit), M.A. (Hindi), B.Ed.
Historically,
the worship of Shiva lingam has been a very
popular religious practicein Kashmir. The same stands corroborated by Kalhan Pandit
who in his monumental work, Rajtarangini, makes
a mention of 'vateshwar', an ancient
Shiva-lingam worshipped even in his lifetime. A
king of Kashmir, Ravana, (1000 B.C) worshipped
it as it was believed to predict future
occurrences and events through the light
emanating from the Sri-cakra engraved on it.1 The
king was so devout in his worship of the
Shiva-lingam that he consecrated the entire
valley of Kashmir to the Matha where-in he
worshipped the Shiva-lingam.2 The
Mahadev Peak, Dyaneshwar lingam and Sureshwar
lingam, known as svayambhu lingams, have been
objects of worship for the Hindus of Kashmir.
Infact, the interiors of Himalayas
possess numerous such lingams and Hindus
reverently call them Shiva-dhams. Pilgrimages to
the Shiva-dhams have been a regular feature
without interruptions.
The
ancient
cave
of Amarnath
known for its icy-lingam that is naturally
formed has been a venerable spot of pilgrimage
for thousands of years. The icy-lingam waxes and
wanes with the waxing and waning of the Moon. It
attains its full length form on the night of
shravan Purnima. As per the written records the
icy-lingam has been nomenclatured as 'amresh', 'amreshwar',
'rasa-lingam', 'siddhi-lingam,' 'buddhi lingam,'
'shuddhi lingam,' 'puratan buddhi lingam' and 'pumsavan
lingam.3 The
nomenclature of 'amarnath' as is in vogue has
been drawn from and owes its genesis to the 'Amarnath
Mahatamya', an authentic work on the Amarnath as
a holy place of worship.
As
per the 'Amarnath Mahatamya' Shiva in the form
of icy-lingam
bestowed immortality on gods, devatas and thus
he is known as 'amresh' or 'amreshwar'. He
delivers his devotees from the pains and pangs
of old age and disease soon after they have his
'darshan' and 'Satksatkar' in the formation of
icy-lingam. As per the Tantric erudites, He is
Amarnath because He commences His ascent from 'ama-kla'
to 'purna-kala' and a mere drop from it
liberates a pilgrim, a devotee, from age and
death and grants him the state of oneness with
Supreme consciousness, the same as Shiva. A
pilgrim, who in his extreme joyfulness and
ecstasy, dances inside the cave, is considered a
veritable rudra.
historical
records
The
references to the holy
cave
of Amarnath
are available in Bringesh Samhita, Nilmat Puran,
Amarnath Mahatmaya and Rajtaranginis of Kalhan
Pandit, Rajanak Jonraj and Shuk Pandit and other
travelogues by foreign travellers.
Bringesh
Samhita is a compendium of the
Mahatamayas of
all the prominent and well known tirthas
(holy
places) of Kashmir
compiled by Bringesh, a scholar of
eminence. in Kashmir, we have a galaxy of three persons bearing the
same name of Brigesh. One was a gana, an
attendant of Shiva, the other was a sage
and the
third a scholar of eminence. Bringesh,
the gana,
being an unworldly recluse could not
have any
cultivated interest in writing and
compiling the
Mahatamayas. The research scholars hold
that
initial task of compiling Mahatmayas was
taken
up by Bringesh who was a known sage and
the date
for it is supposed to be 5th century
A.D. The
third Brignesh given to scholarship and
scholarly pursuits is supposed to have
aptly
culminated the work as begun by the
second
Bringeseh in 12th century A.D.4.
The entire work is unfortunately lost and the
manuscript available
in the Ranbir Library, Jammu, is a truncated version and hence falls short
of providing multi-dimensional and authentic
information about the culture and mores of
ancient Kashmir
including the
topography of the region.
Mythology
The Bringesh
Samhitarelates
that Mahakala threatened the gods (devas) with
death and destruction and they in all
trepidation called on Lord Shiva and humbly
entreated Him to protect them from Mahakala's
menacing threat of decimation. Shiva in all
mercifulness freed them from Mahakala's threat
by showering upon them the boon of immortality.
Again to seek Shiva's support and protection
gods (devas) could not see Him as He was deeply
immersed in His devotional and meditative
practices. In absolute distress the gods (devas)
lifted their hands to supplicate Him to appear
before them. Shiva, the merciful, appeared in
the formation of an icy-lingam and this is the
genesis of the Holy Lingam and subsequent
pilgrimage to the holy cave of 'amresh' or 'Amarnath'.
Bringesh
Samhita also relates that Kashmir
was a vast expanse of water and the sage Kashyap
drained the lake for the land to appear.
Bringesh, the sage, was scouring the swathes of
the valley and discovered the cave wherein an
icy-lingam in full length form was standing.
Lord Shiva gave him a sceptre for protection of
pilgrims which has now taken the form of Chhari
Maharaj, the holy mace leading the annual
pilgrimage.
As per Amarnath
Mahatamya, Parvati, the consort of
Shiva, was ultra keen to know in full details
the mysteries of life and immortality.
Entreating the lord to reveal the mysteries to
her, Shiva traversing the tops and ridges of the
Himalayas
took rest in a cave and disclosed to her all the
secrets about life and immortality. Finally Lord
transmuted Himself into an icy-lingam.
Nilmatpuran
Vital to the
history of Kashmir Nilmatpuran as a fascinating
store-house of socio-cultural materials is the
earliest work of 6th century A.D. which carries
a reference to the Holy cave of 'Amreshwar.6 It
authentically establishes that the cave known
for its icy-lingam was well within the active
consciousness of general populace in Kashmir
. The people of Kashmir in particular and the
vast masses of people in
Indiain general believe Shiva as the god of mountains
laden with layers of white snow. Shiva's
consort, Parvati, is the daughter of the Himalayas
who got wedded to Shiva who has His abode in the
snow-capped mountains. Pilgrimages to the
mountains as a home to gods have been an ancient
practice of the Hindus. The Hindus of Kashmir as
part and parcel of the Indian cultural mosaic
shared the same cultural spirit and ethos and
made pilgrimages to the mountain peaks and
mountainous caves in search of spiritual
upliftment and spiritual bliss of peace and
ananda.
Amarnath
Mahatamaya
Amarnath
Mahatamya gives a full and elaborate account of
the pilgrimage to the Holy Cave of Amarnath. It
details out all the holy spots enroute to the
Holy cave. It does not only mention the
religious merit that a pilgrim earns by bathing
and cleansing praxes at various holy spots, but
also gives an authentic and credible account of
their topography and geographical position.
Amarnath Mahatamya has its essential base in the
Adi-Purana establishing its original position as
a Purana. It was regardedas a standard Mahatamya giving lucid
details and exact descriptions in concordance
with well recognised literarypractices. The Amarnath Mahatamya
certainly has a religious and legendary
complexion, yet it is a mine of information on
the cultural ethos of Kashmir
in those hoary days of yore and also the
socially-oriented behavioural indices of
aboriginal Hindus of Kashmir.
Kalhan's
Rajtarangini (1148-50 A.D.)
Kalhan Pandit,
the Herodotus of Kashmir history, has made
definitive and categorical references to the
Holy
cave
of Amarnath. In Tarang I of his work, Rajtarangini, he
makes a mention of a legend of Naga Sushravas,
who had given his daughter in wed-lockto a Brahmin youth for the help he had
rendered him in harvesting the crops. But king
Nara, the ruler of Chakradhar (Chakdar) near
vijyeshwar (vegibror), tried to abduct the young
Brahman's youthful Naga wife. This aroused the
wrath of Naga Sushruvas, who in all blood and
fury, arsoned and destroyed
Nara's entire kingdom and put him to death. It was
done in all bitter revenge and Naga Sushruvas,
perhaps fearing fearful reprisals, carried his
son-in-law and his spouse to his own abode,
Sushram Naga, now known as Shesh Naga. Kalhan
writes, "This place is now located enroute
pilgrimage to 'Amreshwar'.
Kalhan Pandit
describes the Shesh Naga lake as 'the lake of
dazzling whiteness resembling a sea of milk'
This authentic account available in Rajtarangini
unambiguously buttresses the assertion that the
pilgrimage to the Holy Cave of Amreshwar must
have been much in vogue in Kalhan Pandit's time.
The
above-mentioned reference to 'Amreshwar' is not
the solitary one that Kalhan Pandit has provided
the succeeding generations about Amarnath. He as
a historian possessed of an observant eye
conveys more credible materials about the cave
shrine.
In Tarang II
of Rajtarangini Kalhan Pandit conveys that
"King Sandimat Aryaraj (34 BC) used to
spend the most delightful summer in worshipping
linga formed by snow in the regions above the
forests."7
It is a clear
cut reference to the icy-lingam at Amarnath
cave.
In another
reference to Amarnath Kalhan Pandit in
his Rajtarangini, Tarang VII conveys that Queen
suryamati, the spouse of king Ananta
"submitted trishuls, banalingas and other
sacred emblems in the name of her husband at
Amershwar".8
Jonraja's
Rajtrangini
In his
second
Rajtarangini, Jonraj, a fearless
historian of Kashmir, writes, 'Sultan Zain-ul-abidin (1420-1470)
paid a visit to the sacred tirth of
Amarnath
while constructing a canal on the left
bank of
the river Lidder (lambodari)'.
9
Shuka
Pandit's Rajtarangini
In his fourth
Rajtarangini, also known as Rajavalipataka,
Shuka, the disciple of Prajya Bhatt, whose
Rajtarangini is lost, gives full length detail of the pilgrimage to
the Holy
cave
of Amarnath. Shuka informs that Akbar
who as per history
had annexed Kashmir at the pleadings and
proddings of two political advisors of
Makhdoom
Sahib, a Naqshbandi sufi of indigenous
origins,
anti-shia to his bone-marrow, had made
some
queries from his governor Yusuf Khan
about some
political-cum-administrative affairs
regarding Kashmir. In his reply to the query made by the emperor
he mentions among other things the
Amarnath
pilgrimage in broad and incisive
details. It
establishes that the Amarnath pilgrimage
was
surely in vogue even in the times of
Akbar who
annexed Kashmir
in 1586 A.D.
asif vilas by panditraj jagannath
As reinforced
by historical evidences Shah Jehan vandalised
temples and other places of worship of Hindus in
Kashmir and a shocked foreign traveller,
Francios Bernier, writes, 'The doors and pillars
were found in some of the idol temples
demolished by Shah Jehan and it is impossible to
estimate their value.'11
But
the Amarnath pilgrimage continued un-interrupted
despite the emperor's vile iconoclastic
activities. In his well-known eulogy of Asif
Khan, Shah Jehan's father-in-law, a reputed
aesthete, Panditraj Jagannath, makes a categoric
mention of Amareshwar while giving a poetic
description of Nishat garden as laid out by Asif
Khan. In his flight of imagination jagannath
writes in the ‘Asif vilas’ that ' Indira,
king of the galaxy of gods, comes here to pay
obeisance to Lord Shiva.'12
Francois
Bernier, The french physician
Francois
Bernier, the French physician, accompanied
Aurangzeb, the Bigot, when he was on a visit to
Kashmir in 1663 A.D. Driven by curiosity and
wander-lust he visited Trisandya, Verinag,
Achabal, Wular-lake and Sangsafed facing Harmukh
and therefrom he pursued 'Journey to a grotto
full of wonderful congellations'. 13 It
had taken him two days to reach the grotto,
which surely is no place other than that of the
Holy
cave
of
Amarnath.
In the second
reprint of Bernier's Travelogue titled 'Travelsin Mughal Empire,' a noted historian,
Vincent A. Smith, writes in his introduction, '
the grotto full of wonderful congellations is
the Amarnath cave, where blocks of ice,
stalagmites formed by dripping water from the
roof, are worshipped by many Hindus, who resort
here, as images of Shiva, glaciers surround
the......................'14
Kirpa
ram
dutt and holycave
of amarnath (1675 A.D.)
At the behest
of Auranzeb his governor in Kashmir
, Iftikhar Khan, cruel and theo-fascist,
subjected the Kashmiri Pandits to the worst ever
persecution and torture for their conversion to
Islam. Kashmiri Pandits, five hundred in number,
under the astute leadership of Kirpa Ram Dutt, a
known Shaivite Scholar, met at the Holy
cave
of Amarnath
to devise a workable strategy to meet the
challenge. One of the Pandits at the Holy cave
saw Lord Shiva in a dream directing him to call on Guru Tegh Bahadur
(1621-75A.D) at the village
of Anandpur
Sahib in the Punjab. It was from the Holy
cave
of Amaranththat Kirpa Ram Dutta in obedience to the
direction of Lord Shiva led the delegation of
five hundred Pundits to Guru Tegh Bahadur and
rest is history.15
Vigne,
a foreign traveller
Vigne,
another foreign traveller, paid a visit to
Ladakh and Tibet during the times of Maharaja
Sher Singh of the Punjab
. He made an attempt to visit the Holy
cave
of Amarnath
via the traditional route, but was forced to
return from vayuvarjan (vavjan) because of
inclement weather. Out of sheer curiosity he met
various shades of people, mostly the natives and
thus gleaned a lot of relevant material about
the pilgrimage to the cave and put it to writing
in 1842 A.D. In his reputed travelogue titled as
'Travels in Kashmir, Ladakh and Iskardu', vigne
conveys, 'The ceremony at the cave of Amarnath
takes place on the 15th of the Hindu month of
Sawan, 28th July............... not only Hindus
of Kashmir but those from Hindustan of every
rank and caste can be seen, collecting together
and travelling up the valley of Liddar (Lambodari)
towards the celebrated cave, which from his
description must have been the place which
Bernier tried to visit but was prevented.'16
What we get
from Vigne’s travel account is that
pilgrimage to the Holy
cave
of Amarnath
was not only a local affair, but would draw a
crowd of pilgrims from far and near in the
country.
Guru
Arjan Dev Ji Maharaj (1563-1606 A.d.)
It is a known
fact that Guru Arjan Dev Ji Maharaj granted land
inAmritsar
for the ceremonial departure of Chharhi, the holy
mace of lord Shiva, marking the commencement of
the pilgrimage to the Holy
cave
of Amarnath. This gracious act of the Guru Maharaj lends
unimpeachable credibility to the fact that
pilgrimage to the holy cave was not confined to
the natives of Kashmir, but would draw enthusiastic pilgrims from
across the country. To earn religious merit many
devout Hindus would donate lands and moneys to
the religious groups and institutions to provide
facilities to the pilgrims bound for the Holy
cave
of Lord Shiva.
Pandit
samsar Chand Koul, a
naturalist of Kashmir
In his
booklet 'The Mysterious cave of Amarnath', Pandit
Sansar Chand Koul, the first ever geographer of
Kashmir, author and scholar, informs that 'in
1819 A.D. Pandit Hardas Tiku founded the Chhawni
Amarnath at Ram Bagh in Srinagar where saddhus (renunciates)
from theplains
assembled and where he gave free rations for the
journey, both ways from his own private
resources".17 The year
1817A.D. as mentioned by Pandit Sansar Chand
Koul marks the end of the brutal and tyrannical
rule of the Afghans who persecuted Kashmiri
Pandits to incredible limits, out-smarting the
pains and wounds inflicted on them by the
sayyid-sufis from Central-Asian countries.
W.
Lawrence's
Valley
of Kashmir
In his
celebrated work 'Valley
of Kashmir' Walter Lawrence, the Settlement Commisioner
of Kashmir, has not missed to make a mention of
the pilgrimage to the Holy
cave
of Amarnath.
He writes,
‘Puranmashi the full moon of the month of
Sawan is the day when pilgrims must reach the
distant
cave
of Amarnath
and worship the snow-lingam which gradually
melts away after
the puranmashi. Strict Hindus both male and
female discard their clothes and put on shirts
of birch-bark before they enter this
cave.................................’ 18.
Routes
to the
holycaveof Amarnath
The
traditional route to the Holy cave
of Amarnath
has been via Lidder
Valley
despite the fact that the cave is situated in
the geographical environs of the
Sind
Valley. The prominent holy spots enroute the
traditional path have been elaborately mentioned
in the Amarnath Mahatamya. The holy spots other
than Anantnag as elaborated in the Mahatamya are
:-
Balihar
(Baliyar), Vaghashram (Vagahom), Hastikaran (Hasikhan),
Chakresh (Chakdhar), Devak (Divakiyar), Harish
Chander (Chandanyar), Surya-guha-vat (Sirigofwar),
Sakhras (Sakhras), Badoras (Badur),
Hyashashishram (Kamalnag), Uttarnag (Wotarnag),
Sarlak (Salar), Khilyayan (Balkhyalan),
Narayan-Maha-Khetra (Kolar), Mamlak (Mamleeshwar),
Bragupati (Pahalgam), Sthanu-ashram (Chandanwor),
Giripesh (Pishbal), Sushrumnag (Shishirnag),
Vayuvarjan (Vavjan), Pancha-tarni (Panchtarni),
Garbagar (Garabyatra), and Amravati (Ombravati).19
After having
ritual baths and performing other ritual
practices at these holy spots the pilgrim's
progress blissfully climaxes at the
Holy Cave where the icy-lingam, the transmuted form of
Lord Shiva, is standing either in suyambhu form
or in full-length form only to bless the
pilgrims and grant them deliverance from
sickness of the world caused by meshy layers of
duality.
The
Baltal Route
The Baltal
route to the Holy cave
of Amarnath
is the Sind valley route which has not been
popular with the pilgrims, either natives or
from various parts of
India. The route lies in inhospitable terrain,
arduous and difficult, risky and menacing.
Thanks to the Border Roads Organisation a
negotiable path has been carved out and
constructed and in view of the facility a
multitude of pilgrims is seen ambling on the
path for ‘darshan’ of the Holy icy-lingam.
The path remains open for all months of the
summer. Distance wise, the Baltal route is
shorter than the traditional Pahalgam route.
Route
from
Zojilla
Pass
The Zojilla
route to the Holy Cave of Amarnath has been a
known route and comparatively the shortest route
to the sacred shrine of Shiva. It is just a
track that can be trekked on foot and descends
near the cave from the Amarnath peak.
Kishtwar
-
Seru Route
Kishtwar -Seru
route has equally been a known route to the
Hindus of Kishtwar and other belts of the
mountainous region. Kashmiri Pandits, who
doggedly refused conversion to Islam during the
tyrannical days of Sultan Sikander (1387-1407AD)
fled to Kishtwar for shelter and safety, trek
the same route to pay obeisance to Shiva in the
HolyCave. For them, it is a popular route, though it was
already popular with the indigenous population
of the region.
Sacki-
pantsal route
The
geographical studies of the region reveal that
Sacki-Pantsal route is also a route leading to
the
HolyCave. But it has not been much in vogue because of
its difficult terrain and weather disasters.
Pigeons
in the
holycave
A pair of
pigeons, present and flying in the cave, drench
its chill-cold and weird environs in mystery and
mystique. The pilgrims consider it extremely
auspicious and feel blessed, thrilled and
transported to mystical realms when they catch a
mere glimpse of them. The pair of pigeons in the
Holy
Cavehas been reverentially depicted in the Amarnath
Mahatamya as the two messengers of Lord Shiva
disseminating His revealed verities and truths to the
world of humans for their spiritual upliftment
and emancipation.
As per the
legend Lord Shiva revealed to His ever-eager
consort, Parvati, the mysteries of creation,
life and immortality in the Holy Cave of
Amarnath. The pair of pigeons, quietly perched
in some niche of the cave, overheard the secrets
in full details as were revealed to Parvati by
Lord Shiva. Having learnt of their presence in
the cave, Lord Shiva granted them the boon of
immortality and hence their eternal abode in the
Lord's cave.
Foreign
travellers having found their way into the
purlieux of Kashmir
have not missed to make a mention of the pair of
pigeons in the cave-temple.
Anchored in
speculation, waxing eloquent on the topic of
pigeons, vigne, a foreign traveller, writes,
‘The dove (pigeon) has always been an emblem
of peace, the sublime and preter-natural
have always been concomitants of
wildness; solitude accompanied by an
extra-ordinary degree of remoteness has often
been a cause of sanctification. And the wild and
gloomy the locality, the better has it been
thought qualified to become the peculiar
residence of God.’ 20.
Swami
Vivekanand
onAMarnath
cave
(1897
A.D.)
Swami
Vivekanand, an eloquent and eminent spiritualist
of India, paid a visit to the Holy cave and was
mystified by the icy-lingam in the Holy cave
where Lord Shiva had dwelt upon perennial
subjects of creation, life and immortality that
have ever been intriguing humankind from the
days of its creation. As per his well known
biography Swami Vivekanand is reported to have
conjectured about how the
HolyCavecould have been discovered. The author writes ;-
‘I can well
imagine how this cave was first discovered. A
party of shepherds, one summer day, must have
lost their flocks and wandered here in search of
them. What must have been their feeling as they
found themselves unexpectedly before this
unmelting ice-lingam of white camphor, with the
wall itself dripping offerings of water over it
for centuries unseen of mortal eyes ? When they
came home they whispered to other shepherds in
the Valleys how they had suddenly come upon
Mahadeva.’ 21
On having
entered the cave Swami Vivekananda was
overwhelmed with a mystical experience. He had a
darshan of Shiva. He called the place religious,
inspiring and extremely beautiful. He wove
meticulously beautiful poetry about the
icy-lingam and its impact on his total psyche.
The tyrannical Rule of Sultan
Sikander
Sultan
Sikander, who had pawned his soul to a Sayyid-Sufi
from Central Asia
, Mir Mohammad Hamadani, was not only an
iconoclast, but a misanthrope, hater of books,
enemy of aesthetics and worst form of Islamist.
He issued an atrocious and contemptuous
government decree ordering the Kashmiri Hindus
to get converted to Islam or flee the native
land or get perished. As a result, thousands of
Hindus were brutally massacred, thousands got
converted and thousands fled the land for
shelter.
The Sultan's
numerous crimes against humanity are :-
1. He did not permit the Hindus to
go to temples to pray and worship.22
2. He did not permit them to blow a
conch or tolll a bell.23
3. He stopped Hindus from performing
their religious practices and celebrating their
festivals. 24
4. He killed them if they put a
tilak-mark on their foreheads.25
5. At the appearance of the new moon,
the Hindus were not allowed to worship or take
out processions.26
6. He burnt six mounds (1 mound = 37
kilos) of sacred threads worn by Hindus as a
mark of their religious initation only after
putting them to cruel death.27
7. He stopped Hindus from
undertaking pilgrimages to all Shivadhams (Amarnath,
Sureshwar, Harsheshwar, Dyaneshwar,
Mahadev
Peak).28
8. He stopped Hindus from burning
their dead.29
9. He demolished and destroyed the
marvellous temples of Martand, Vijyeshwar,
Chakrabrat, Tripureshwar, Sureshwari, Varah and
many others.30
10. He imposed the hated Jazia (poll-tax) on the
Hindus, thus declaring them dhimmis.31
11. He waged war on the Hindus when Mir Mohammad
Hamadani declared them ‘Kafirs at war’.32
12. He burnt books on Hindu knowledge, science,
astronomy, astrology, music, dance, poetics and
medicine.33
The worst ever
hurricane fury of genocide of the Kashmiri
Hindus 34 unleashed
by Sultan Sikander and vigorously pursued by Ali
Shah and their armies 35 forced
Hindus to burn, hang and drown themselves in
rivers and wells and jump over steep precipices
to protect their religion. The genocide of
Hindus acquired a renewed speed and impetus when
another wave of Sayyid Sufis led by Sayyid
Jalal-ud-din Bukhari 36 entered
the borders of Kashmir
. The Hindus and their cultural signs and
symbols were ruthlessly destroyed the same
manner as locusts destroy and devour the lush
green paddy fields.
Q-factor in the History of Kashmiri
Hindus
Zain-ul-abidin
came to the throne of Kashmir
in 1420 A.D. In his treatment of and attitude
unto the remaining small number of Hindus, not
more than proverbial eleven families, the Sultan
slavishly followed the marked foot-prints of his
predecessors and felt no reason to swerve away
from the state policy chalked out by the foreign
Sayyid-sufis in choke-hold of state apparatus.
The Sultan at the behest of Sayyid-suifs in his
court replaced Sanskrit as the official language
of court by Persian
37. He showered lavish and unprecedented
patronage on the foreign musicians from Khurasan
and other Central Asian belts thereby
discouraging and disparaging the indigenous
trends and shades of music38. His court was under the total siege of foreign Muslim ulema
and Sayyid-sufis whose inflow into Kashmir
had gained tremendous volume and speed. As he
was in the line of foreign usurpers Zain-ul-abidin failed to architect a state that
would transcend religious hue and complexion.
Encouraging foreign craftsmen to pursue their
crafts in Kashmir
he dealt a massive blow to indigneous crafts and
craftsmen, their jobs being practically stolen
by foreign Muslims from distant countries.
Sharia-bound the Sultan did not order the
execution of a foreign Sayyid-sufi when he
murdered a saffron-clad recluse in cold blood.
The reason cited was that he was a Sayyid-sufi
and hence above law and immune to severe
punishment. The state that Zain-ul-abidin
assiduously built was an all-round affair of the
Muslims from distant lands and people in general
though forcible converts to Islam remained
deeply mired in despondency and alienation. As
social and moral cohesion and bonding had
ruptured and shredded the individuals as units
in the social fabric were reduced to a state of
sheer lawlessness and chaos.
No historian
of Kashmir
has been precise in citing the date and time
when the Sultan developed a fatal boil on his
body. All sorts of treatment by a host of
foreign physicians was administered to the
ailing and wailing Sultan. In all desperation
the Sultan was informed of a Hindu physician,
Shirya Bhatt by name, who had somehow survived
the holocaust and was living in obscurity away
from the prying eyes of Muslim marauders.
The Hindu
physician was called in. In all Jitters and a
chill going down his spine Shriya Bhatt examined
the awe-inspiring patient, Zain-ul-abidin, the
son of Sikander, the iconoclast and commenced
his indigenous treatment. Some days elapsed and
lo! the high profile patient showed encouraging
signs of turning the corner. He recovered and
came to live a normal life. Happy and elated the
Sultan sent for the Hindu physician, a native
under duress in a gulag and in all generosity
asked him to name the beneficence or bountiful
reward he would like to have from the Sultan.
What the
Hindu physician, Shirya Bhatt, in all humility
and supplication asked for as the beneficence or
bountiful rewardfrom the Sultan worked as Q-factor in the
history of Kashmiri Pandits. A pious and noble
soul, altruistic in his world view and harassed
to his bone-marrow, Shirya Bhatt shell shocked
the Sultan when he asked for naught for himself,
but prayed for the return and rehabilitation of
multitudes of his compatriots who had fled their
native land to avert the Muslim persecution,
allowing them to pursue their indigenous form of
education and have jobs in government. The
Sultan, more or less, chastened by the fatal
boil and under a debt of gratitude to the Hindu
physician ungrudgingly conceded all what the
Hindu physician had supplicated for.
The Sultan to
the absolute disapprobation and annoyance of Muslim
Ulema and Sayyid-sufis despatched messengers to
various parts of the country to spot out exiled
Hindus and earnestly urged them to return to
their native place. He reduced the quantity of
Silver (4 tolas in weight) to be paid as Jazia
(poll-tax) by half, but was not gracious enough
to withdraw the hateful imposition in full
thereby granting them total exemption from the
punitive tax.
As the Hindus
could not cremate their dead under a despotic
decree from the Muslim Sultan called Sikander,
they were left with no option but to cremate
their dead inside their dwellings and kept the
ashes in an urn placed in a space created by
removing mud and stone from the main doors of
their dwellings. Srivar, a historian of Kashmir,
writes that when the Sultan Zain-ul-abidin
permitted the severely persecuted Hindus to
immerse the ashes of their dead in the Gangabal
Lake, ten thousand of them miserably perished in
a horrific snow-storm that cruelly hit the
upland regions the time they were on a return
journey after performing rites and rituals
connected with the immersion of ashes40.
Srivar also
informs that he as a faithful courtier had to
pay tax-money, a monstrosity, for the cremation
of his father. When he cheekily brought it to
the personal notice of his Sultan in the court,
he condescended to reduce the tax money, but was
again not magnanimous enough to remit the levey
in toto that was punitively imposed on the
Hindus by Sultan Sikander41.
The Muslim
Sultan, Zain-ul-abidin, as a result of
fundamental shift in his attitude permitted the
exterminated Hindus to celebrate their religious
fairs and festivals, circumambulate around the
Sharika Parbat and chant hymns and mantras in
high decibel and undertake pilgrimages to their
holy spots and Shivadhams42.
It becomes
stark clear that pilgrimage to the Holy Cave of
Amarnath was cruelly stopped by the Muslim ruler
Sultan Sikander, from the day he launched a
Muslim crusade against the natives and could not
be resumed till Zain-ul-abidin suffered a change
of heart after the fatal boil that was treated
and cured by Shirya Bhatt, who was later
included in his court and put in charge of
health facilities for the people.
As per the
historical archives, Ibrahim Shah II (1552-54
A.D.) granted religious freedom to all. The
Hindus were granted freedom of worship only on
payment of Jazia (poll-tax). The Hindus made a
request for the remittance of the oppressive
tax. The Sultan in all hostility replied, ‘How
can I who is a Muslim cease to levy tax from the
Hindus?’43
The
chak fanatics (1554-85 A.D) who were Shias by
faith re-imposed Jazia in full on the Hindus of
Kashmir. Any Hindu wearing a sacred thread had
to pay an annual tax to the chak rulers. Shuka
Pandit, a contemporary historian, makes a
comment, ‘The Hindus were overpowered by
religious intolerance the same way as the sun is
overpowered by the grey sable clouds.’44
By
implication what is conveyed by Shuka Pandit is
that Hindus performing any religious act
including a pilgrimage to the Holy
cave
of Amarnath
had to pay a tax to the Muslim rulers.
The Afghans
as per all available versions of Kashmir
history were barbarous, crude, cruel, ignorant
and inhuman. They chopped off every twig from
the tree of mercy. The atrocities inflicted on
the Hindus of Kashmir by Afghans were unheard of
and beat
all previous records. They plundered their
houses, looted all what they had by way of
material possessions, and anybody complaining or
resisting was straight-away put to axe or sword.
Persecuting and massacring Hindus was designed
to exterminate their entire race or achieve
their conversion to Islam. The Hindus fled their
land of ancestors to the tropical plains of
Indiato save themselves from the barbarous Afghans.
When Hindus were existentially in peril, how
could they have
thought of living a pious life of religiosity
and performing pilgrimages to the holy spots (tiraths)
that they revered and worshipped for spiritual
attainments ? The brutal Afghans stopped them
from undertaking pilgrimages to well-known
Shiva-dhams or even celebrating their auspicious
fairs and festivals. They condemned them as
manifestations of infidelity and heresy
violative of Sunna and Sharia 45.
The people of
Kashmir in general heaved a great sigh of relief
when the Sikh army from the Punjab expelled the
brutal Afghans from the
territory
of Kashmir. The soothing relief to the Kashmiri Hindus was
that all vexatious and oppressive taxes levied
on them were mercifully withdrawn in toto and
pilgrimage to the Holy
cave
of Amarnath
was resumed. It was during the reign of Maharaja
Ranjit Singh that the Holy Mace symbolic of
Shiva's Mace was stored at Amritsar
and pilgrimage to the Holycave
of Amarnath
would kick-start
right from
Amritsar
.
With the
Dogra take over of Kashmir
in 1846 A.D. the pilgrimage to the Holy cave
assumed a new scale and dimension. The number of
pilgrims increased manifold and proper
arrangements for safe conduct of yatra were
meticulously made. The Dogras managed the
shifting of the Holy Mace fromAmritsar
to
Srinagar
where it was stored at Dashnami Akhara where
from it is traditionally taken to the Holy cave
in a massive procession of devotees, pilgrims,
sadhus, sanyasis and general mass of Hindus.
Malikhs
of Batakoot
Before
discussing the role and status of Maliks of
Batakoot it becomes quite imperative to place
the Maliks as a generic term in proper
historical perspective. It can be gleaned from
the pages of Hindu history of Kashmir
that the Hindu rulers were extremely vigilant in
guarding the frontiers of their kingdom. There
were routes and passes that were vulnerable and
militarily sensitive and could be used for
incursions, surprise raids or full-scale
aggressions by the invading hordes. To guard
their territories the rulers had set up
military-cum watch stations put under the charge
of officials designated as dwarpals or dwarpatis.
They were also tagged as ‘margeshes’ meaning
those who mastered the routes or pathways. These
military-cum-watch stations were so fortifiedin terms of men and materials that the
marauding armies of Mahmud Ghaznavi failed twice
to invadeKashmir
and conquer it.
Records
Alberuni -
‘They
(Hindus) are particularly anxious about the
natural strength of their country and therefore
take much care to keep a strong-hold upon the
entrances and roads leading to it. In
consequence it is very difficult to have any
commerce with them.......’ 46
It broadly
explains how Kashmir resisted going the Islamic
way for full six hundred years after the advent
of Islam in
India.
In the wake
of the launch of Muslim crusade against the
natives of Kashmir by Sultan Sikander and his
Sayyid-sufi mentor from Central Asia, Mir
Mohammad Hamadani, the dwarpals, dwarpatis and
margeshes like all other hapless segments of
Kashmiri Society were coerced, tortured and
brutalised to change their indigenous faith.
After they got converted merely as statistical
Muslims they were renamed as maliks and were
allowed to retain their profession or else they
were to be de-mobilised. When army was used for
whole-sale conversions by Muslim rulers, all the
exit routes were totally closed for the fleeing
Hindus so that they would not escape the orgy of
conversion
47.
The same converted Maliks guarding the passes
and other exit-points faithfully executed the
atrocious writ of the tyrannical rulers.
Maliks as a
vital cog in the Muslim state apparatus were
tortured, hounded out and made to flee in the
aftermath of chaks getting defeated by the
mighty Mughal forces. Most of them perished and
some survived by hiding themselves in secluded
mountainous regions. The surviving ones had no
option but to make a truce with the Mughals to
earn reprieve. They were permitted to pursue
their profession of guarding the routes and
ingress-points on mountains girting the valley.
With the
advent of Dogras the Maliks lost their
professional moorings and utility as they
established the same improvised policing methods
and techniques that were largely prevalent in
the Punjab
, perhaps introduced by the Britishers.
Myth
of Discovery of the
holycaveof Amarnath by a malik
It is a mere
myth, a fib, a lie and a fabrication that the
Holy
cave
of Amarnath
was discovered by a Malik in1845 A.D. The litany
of references and allusions to theHolyCave
are so profusely splashed in the historical
works and theological literature of Kashmir
that in no uncertain terms establish its
enormous antiquity. Most of the Muslims rulers
as borne out by historical records banned the
pilgrimage to the Holy cave or created
insurmountable hurdles and difficulties for the
pilgrims to undertake the pilgrimage. Sultan
sikander banned everything that had a Hindu
flavour. Ibrahim Hussain Shah imposed Jazia (poll-tax) on a Hindu to
practice his religion including undertaking pilgrimages.
Chaks were crude and intolerant fanatics. They
used all wild and cruel methods in their armoury
to exterminate Hinduism from Kashmir
. Afghans were the cruelest of the cruel. Their
persecution of Hindus is bone-chilling and
beggars description . The pilgrimage to any and
all Shiva-dhams became impossible during the
barbaric period. The pilgrimage to the Holy
cave
of Amarnath
was a continuous affair. All written records
amply bear it out and fully buttress it. It got
interrupted during the time-periods when
indigenous religion, medicine, theology and
architecture were decimated. The unrelenting
natives under constant onslaught during the
Sultanate chunk of history and even during
post-Sultanate period resisted and rejected
conversion and fled the land of their birth six
times48. In the history of Kashmiri Pandits the stark resemblances to
the Jewish history of the exoduses and
persecution are writ large. The small numbers
that survived the Muslim genocide or those who
found it wise or expedient to return to their
native land from the plains never severed and
abandoned their linkages with the hall-marks of
their religion and culture. Steely and resilient
they continued to pay obeisance to the Holy
cave
of Icy-Lingamfor spiritual fulfillment
and ascendance. This
fact is amply reinforced by the calender of the
native Hindus, nearly five thousand year old in
which the pilgrimage to the Holy
cave
of Amarnath
is included as a day of fasting on account of
‘Shrawan Purnima’, the culminating day of
the pilgrimage to the Holy cave.
Association
of Maliks with the Amarnath Pilgrimage
As per my
personal findings the Maliks of Batakoot are
those who proved stubborn beyond limits and
failed to reconcile to the Mughal conquest of Kashmir
and to avoid annihilation hid themselves at a
distant place in the mountainous region away
from the gaze of the Mughal soldiers. As they
lost their ancestral occupation and had become
rudderless and vagrant the Dogra rulers in view
of their history harnessed their services as
guides to the pilgrims enroute the Holy
cave
of Amarnath. Over the years they were assigned the
additional jobs of maintenance of the rough
track, raising of small sheds on the routes and
physical safety of the pilgrims. In lieu of
their services they were paid a sufficient part
of the offerings that the devotees offered to
the Icy-Lingam in the Holy cave.
To reinforce
my stand-point I refer to W. Lawrence who lucidly
mentions that pilgrims on way to Holy cave were
joined by Brahmins at Mattan and further up at
Batakoot Maliks used to take charge of the
pilgrimage. He also adds that Maliks were
supposed to keep the track in order, guide or
escort the
pilgrims and carry sick pilgrims and ensure that
nothing was stolen and received one-third of the
offerings at the Holy Shrine of Amarnath.
My probe into
the affair has led me to an alternate theory
that the Malik clan after their conversion to
Islam would collect tax money or Jazia
(poll-tax) from the native Hindus and the devout
pilgrims across the country on a
pilgrimage to the holy
cave
of Amarnath. For most of the Sultanate period barring a
short-lived interlude the native Hindus, their
religion and its prominent signatures littered
over the entire region were under a determined
onslaught and decimation. If Hindus were allowed
some sort of vague religious freedom, anthema to
Islam, they had to pay tax-money or Jazia
(Poll-tax) for their religious observances and
pilgrimages. As Maliks were stationed at all
vulnerable spots, if Amarnath route was one and
I believe, it was, they could have been assigned
the authority of collecting the hated tax from
any Hindu pilgrim, a dhimmi as per Islamic
practices.
Who
is Secular ?
With the
eruption of mass frenzy over the diversion of
some chunks of forest land at Baltal to Amarnath
Shrine Board, some half-baked Mulsim leaders,
immature and ill-informed media men and ultra
liberals have claimed that the association of
Muslims with the pilgrimage is something
uniquely secular. Let these worthies be told
that it is the Hindus who are ultra secular for
having allowed the Muslims to be a part of the
pilgrimage and have a share from the offerings.
Do Muslims allow the Hindus or for that matter Christians
or Jews to be a part of their annual
pilgrimage ? It is an established fact that the
Hindus have a catholic and tolerant view of the
world and are accommodative and assimulative and
view God's essence in all men of all faiths.
Their tolerant world-view gets established by
the vedic dictum - Reality is one,
interpretations vary.
If
some chunks of people involve themselves in
economic activities during the period of
pilgrimage to the Holy cave it is absolutely an
absurd position to highlight it as basis for
orchestration of the secular credentials of that
chunk of population. The fact of the matter is
that pilgrims on way to the Holy cave duly
purchase the services of a chunk of people who
happen to be Muslims. It is no charity, it is no
benevolence, it is a simple position of
purchasing the services of a labourer, a
courier, a pony wallah willing to sell his
muscle or bodily strength or any other means of
assistance to a pilgrim. To colour the
pilgrimage as an expression of syncretic culture
of Kashmir
and to project it as a shining precedent of
secularism are mere absurd constructions and
far-fetched and irrelevant stipulations. The
Kashmiri Pandits who have been hounded out of
their native place sufficiently know the worth
of syncretic culture of Kashmir
and its facade of secular credentials.
References
1. Kalhan Pandit - Rajtarangini - I, 1942. ibid - Rajtarangini - I, 1953. Amarnath Mahatama - St.360-614. Prof. N.K. Gurtu - Sri Harseshwara Mahatamya5. Nilmat-puran - V-13246. Kalhan Pandit - Rajtarangini, II, V-2677. ibid - Rajtarangini, II, V-1388. ibid - Rajtarangini, VII, V1839. Jonraj - Second Rajtarangini, VV 1232-3310. Shuka - Fourth Rajtarangini, V841, vv. 847-4911. Bernier - Journey to Kashmir , P40012. Panditraj Jaganath - Asif Vilas13. Bernier - Travels in Mughal Empire14. ibid - Travels in Mughal Empire15. Mohan Lal Koul -Kashmir , wail of a valley atrocity and terror.16. Vigne - Travels in Kashmir, Ladakh and Iskardu17. Pt. Samsar Chand Koul - The Mysterious Cave of Amarnath18. Sir W-Lawrence - Valley of Kashmir19. Amarnath Mahatamya20. Vigne - Travels in Kashmir Ladakh and Iskardu21. Swami Vivekanand - a biography22. Baharistan -i-Shahi, Taikh-i-Haider Malik, Tarikh-i-Sayyid Ali, Fatuhat-i-Kubriwiya.23. ibid24. ibid25. Hasan - Tarikh-i-Kashmir26. Fatuhat-i-Kubriwiya, Taikh-i-Sayyid-Ali27. Hasan-Taikh-i-Kashmir28. Baharistan-i-shahi, Taufatul-Ahbab29. Baharistan-i-Shahi, Tarikh-i-Haider Ali, Tarikh-i-Sayyid Ali,30. Jonraj, Second Rajtarangini, R.C. Kak, Ancient-Monuments of Kashmir31. Jonraj, Second Rajtarangini (tr.) St. 65432. Dr. Qayoom, Rafiqui, Sufisim in Kashmir33. Srivar, Third Rajtarangini, St-655-5634. Mohan Lal Koul, Kashmir , Past and Present, P-1535. Pt. Jia Lal Koul, Kilam, History of Kashmir Pandits Srivar, Third Rajtarangini36. Dr. M.K. Teng places the date after 20 years of Zain-ul-Abidin's rule begining in 1420 A.D.37. Srivar, Third-Rajtarangini38. ibid39. Jonraj, Second Rajtarangini, Baharistan-i-Shahi40. Srivar, Third Rajtarangini41. ibid42. Jonraj, Second Rajtarangini, Baharistan-i-Shahi43. Shuka Pandit, Fourth Rajtarangini44. ibid45. W. Lawrence, Valley of Kashmir, Pt. J.L. Kilam, History of Kashmiri Pandits.46. Al Beruni, Al-India47. Jonraj, Second Rajtaranginig, St. 60648. K.L. Bhan - Seven Exoduses of Kashmiri Pandits
Periodicals,
journals, papers
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M.M. Munshi, Tirtha of Amreshwara, Kashmir sentinal, July, 2008.
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R.C. Awasthee - The Holy cave of Amarnath Ji, Early Times, Aug. 8.
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History of the Amarnath Pilgrimage - Source Wikipedia, Kashmir Sentinel, July 2008.
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