Kashmiri Pandits through Fire and Brimstone

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This book is dedicated to the memory of my teacher and guide, late Dr Zabihullah Safa, Professor and Dean Faculty of Letters, University of Teheran, Iran. I am what he made me. Soon after the Islamic Revolution of Iran he left Teheran and settled down in Germany never to return to his homeland. Along with literary proficiency he also handed down to me his experience of expulsion from homeland.

Dr Kashinath Pandit, originally from Baramula, has PhD in Iranian from Tehran University. He retired from Kashmir University as Director of the Centre of Central Asian Studies, an area in which he has a specialization. He has won President of India's Award for Classical Studies and was awarded Padam Shri by the President of India in 2017. He is the author of about ten works on Kashmir and the region.

? Piaray Lal Koul Budgami post-graduated from Kashmir University and professional Degree from Govt. Teachers Training College, Srinagar. He has also a Diploma in Modern Persian from JNU. In 1995 the J&K Government awarded him for academic excellence. He retired as Lecturer in State Higher Secondary Department. He has been na as social activist throughout and has six books to his credit.

Ancient Kashmir was the cradle of Hindu civilization. The region has made a commendable contribution towards enrichment of Sanskrit literature and language. Ancient Kashmiri architects had few parallels in their skills of temple architecture. Awantipora, Martand, Wangat, Parihaspora, Pattan and Bonyar ruins eloquently speak of the perfection achieved by those architects. Only a fragment of those remains has come down to us, thanks to the great Kashmiri scholar and historian Kalhan Pandit, the author of celebrated history of ancient Kashmir namely Rajatarangini. This is an envious record of five thousand years of the history of ancient Kashmir.

Most of the Jamia mosques in Kashmir were raised on the foundation of destroyed temples. Hindu temples, shrines and tirthas (holy sites) were extensively destroyed during the reign of the Sultans of Kashmir. Powerful Hindu kings of Kashmir extended the boundaries of their kingdom far and wide. Kapisa (Kabul) and Gandhara (Kandahar) were once parts of Kashmir kingdom. King Lalitaditya Muktapida (8th century AD) extended the boundaries of his kingdom to the south and south-eastern Turkistan, which included the present cities of Yarkand, Kashghar and Urumchi (in present Xinjiang) and reached as far as Tibet. Sultan Shihabu'd Din led expedition to the regions lying beyond the south and south-east of Kashmir and fixed the southern boundary of his Kingdom on the banks of Sutlej River.

The book reached broad sections of society. However, there is no reaction worth the name. Justice to the oppressed community remains elusive. There appears no concern in official circles to pull them out of distress and hardships. During the last three years, the difficulties and deprivations of the community have increased. More instances of meting out unjust and unsympathetic treatment to the community have come to light. Despite our other preoccupations and paucity of time, we have ventured to bring to the notice of our reader and others interested in our case, new dimensions of ou deprivation and plight in exile. The purpose is that with timm our story of blood and sweat should not get lost.