Tag: Kashmir
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Kashmir and the Abbasid revolution
What is often assumed is that medieval Kashmir was a land cutoff from the rest of the world owing to its topography. However, the historical analysis proves that it was one of the centres of civilisation shaping the history and politics of the whole world from time to time, the Abbasid revolution being one of…
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Class consciousness in Kashmiri literature
Language is deeply imbricated in the flesh of civilisation. Chomsky beautiful explains relation between language and freedom and how “language, in its essential properties and in a manner of its use provides a basic criterion for determining that an organism is a being with a human mind”. Therefore, the will to express is the basis of…
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Reconstructing Lal Ded: Beyond magic and mysticism
It may be pointed out that Lalla was disowned, not only in her own times but for a greater part of Kashmir history, by the elite on account of her hostility to the Caste superiority.
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The ignored exoduses of Kashmiri Muslims—Part I: Slavery and subjugation
The word “exodus” has become almost rhetorical in the Kashmiri political discourse, however, the political connotations underpinning it have largely ignored the many mass migrations and displacements of poor Muslim peasants and artisans under Sikh and Dogra regimes
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Faiz’s heart ached for Kashmir: Shameem’s rare interview of Faiz Ahmad Faiz
On both sides, small art samples were beautifying the stairs and the walls were covered with works of famous painters. I knocked on the door gently. The door opened. Faiz stood in front of me. For a moment I was spellbound, blank and had no idea what to say.
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The dark history of prostitution in Kashmir
According to Robert Thorpe, during Ranbir Singh’s time the license granting permission for purchase of girls for this purpose cost about a 100 chilkee rupees. Robert Thorpe wrote further that the Kashmiri girls were being forced into prostitution by the authorities with the idea of earning more and more revenue from licensing the flesh trade.…
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Pathar Masjid: A brief history
It is said that military of Maharaja installed a cannon on the roof of Pathar Masjid to blown up Shahi Hamdan shrine, which is situated across the Jhelum. However, an influential Pandit, Birbal Dhar, intervened into the matter and saved the shrine.
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Myths and misconceptions: Origin of name Kashmir
In this article, the author tries to go beyond the traditionally accepted etymologies behind the origin of the word Kashmir
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An adage: “Mea kyah hatya kerme?”
Different rulers, at different times, banned eating beef and slaughter of cow. The slaughter of a cow was called ‘hatya‘ (murder), and the accusation of the practice (hatya haanz) often ended in the most brutal of punishments. One such punishment was mesle waalun (skinning alive) and then being hung on the road-side.
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Aali Masjid: A brief history
It is the second biggest mosque in Kashmir after Jamia Masjid. It is a hypostyle mosque, the style which first emerged in Iraq and dominated the world after 715 CE.
The K Blog 