CHRONICLES OF KASHMIR.*
KALHANA'S Chronicle has long attracted the attention of. Indian scholars, not only as our one extant authority for a considerable period of Kashmir history, but as the only known example of its kind in Sanskrit literature, which is so singularly deficient in historical works. Bernier, the well- known physician of the Moghul Court, whose memoirs of the age of Shah Jahan and Aurangzib form one of the most interesting records of India in the middle of the seven- teenth century, wrote a glowing account of his visit to " Kanhemire, the Paradise of the Indies," in 1664, in which he referred to "the histories of the ancient Kings of Kachemire," of which, however, he knew only the Persian abridgment made by order of Jahangir. Kalhana's River of Kings was also a favourite book with the Emperor Akbar, who used to call the historian Badtioni into his bed- room to read it to him in Persian of a morning. Abil-l-Faal in ,his famous contemporary memoirs of the reign and government of Akbar distinctly quotes Kalhana, and the quest for the Sanskrit original became a passion among the pioneers of research in India. Colebrooke was the first to obtain a copy of the work in 1805; Moorcroft had a transcript made from the chief manuscript at Srinagar in 1823; and Horace Hayman Wilson in his admirable Essay on the Hindi& History of Cashmir gave a critical abstract of the first six cantos of the unique Sanskrit Chronicle. Still, there was no accurate text to go upon. The Bengal Asiatic Society's editio princeps of the Rajatarangini was based upon Moor- croft's transcript, and is full of corruptions, due partly to
• Salhana's Bdjatarangint : a Chronicle of the Rings of Kasntir. Translate& with an Introduction, Commentary, and Appendices, by M. A. Stein. 2 vols. London : A. Constable and Co. 103s. net.1
inaccurate copying, partly to the unfamiliarity of the Calcutta pandits with the traditions and topography of Kashmir Nor can it be said that Troyer's text and translation of the first six books, published by the Societe Asiatique of Paris, formed any advance upon the preceding attempts.
So matters remained until the lamented Professor Georg Biihler visited Kashmir in 187S in search of Sanskrit M.S. The result of his critical examination of the MSS. in his report was the discovery of a coder arehetypus of the Chronicle from which all the others are derived, and on his return to Europe he left the important task of editing this MS. to Dr. Stein, the Principal of the Oriental College at Lahore. Dr. Stein is not only a good Sanskrit scholar, but has em- ployed his vacations for several years in obtaining in Kashnair the local information that is absolutely essential to the proper elucidation of Kalhana.'s text. The result was not only an accurate edition of the Sanskrit text, in 1892, but the present translation, which is accompanied by an ample commentary on the Chronicle in the form of footnotes, and an elaborate Memoir on the Ancient Geography of Kashmir, ex- tending to a hundred and fifty closely printed pages in quarto. which is perhaps the most valuable part of the work. The Memoir is not strictly limited to the periods dealt with in Kalhana, but includes the whole range of ancient and medimval Kashmirian topography during the Hindu period, prior to the Mohammedan invasion in the fourteenth century. Beginning with the scanty notices of the Greek writers, such as Ptolemy, Dionysius of Samos, and Herodotus, Dr. Stein next examines the mediaeval Chinese records, especially the MValuable travels of the pilgrim Hiuen Tsiang in the seventh century, the Arabic notices of Birani in the eleventh century, and finally the local Kafilmaiian sources, as found in Kalhana himself and his successors .lonaraja, Srivara, and the poets, besides works dealing expressly with holy sites and places of pilgrimage, such as the Nilamata, and the Mahfitmyas or pilgrims' guides to the various Tirthas or shrines of Kashmir. Local tradition, carefully collected on the spot, comes to the aid of these written authorities, and from all these sources Dr. Stein proceeds to reconstruct the topography of old Kashmir in a manner that would have rejoiced the heart of that valiant pioneer in Indian geography, the late General Sir A. Cunningham, and that will be appreciated by the present Viceroy's private secretary, Mr. Lawrence, whose book on The Valley of Kashmir is one of the best examples of a Settlement Report that has appeared for a long time. Dr. Stein's Memoir, of course, appeals exclusively to Indian scholars, who will recognise its high value while they will doubtless dispute some of its details. All that can here be said is that it apparently exhausts the existing materials and comprises the results of such careful and minute local re- searches as have never before been attempted. It represents the present state of knowledge as set forth by the most com- petent authority, and until fresh discoveries are made the Memoir will stand as the best and most accurate description of ancient and medimval Kashmir. This part of Dr. Stein's elaborate work by itself lays Indian scholars under a heavy debt of gratitude, which his careful maps augment.
The interest of the history of Kashmir, it must be remem- bered, is distinct from that of other parts of India. No Asiatic country, save Tibet, so long preserved its isolation from surrounding nations. The approaches to the happy valley were jealously guarded by forts and garrisons, and the little country developed almost on its own lines down to the Mohammedan conquest. "The great geographical barriers which separate Kasmir," says Dr. Stein, "from the rest of India, coupled with the marked difference of climatic conditions, have from early times assured to the alpine land a distinct character of its own, which manifests itself strongly in all matters of culture, customs, and social organisation. It is not alone in the unaltered features of topography and climate, in ruined structures and other antiquarian remains, that so much of ancient Kasmir has survived to this day: The historical isolation of the country, directly due to its alpine position, has saved Kasmir from many changes which have elsewhere in India effaced the conditions of earlier 4.- periods. To this seclusion we owe that remarkable tenacity
. of tradition which, whether in matters of local lore, in religions practice, or in social custom, has often proved a most welcome help for the interpretation of the Chronicle."
Indeed,. there is much still going on in Kashrah• Which vividly recalls incidents and customs related in this metrical Chronicle of the twelfth century, and to Dr. Stein's intimate familiarity with the modern people and country is due mach of his satisfactory interpretation of their conditions eight hundred years ago.
• Of Kalhana himself we know very little, save that he was apparently a Brahman of a distinguished official family, and was evidently learned in all the learning of the Brahmans, as frequent references in his own work show. One can piece. together some idea of his times from the Chronicle,--the licen- tious and savage character of the Kings, the civil wars, royal murders, usurpations, the insolence of the foreign Inercei,
arise, and the tyranny of the feudal landholders. It must be admitted, however, that the Chronicle is dreary reading. Dr. Stein has intentionally aimed at literal accuracy in translation rather than literary form; but no grace of diction could have made this tedious record of the generally evil deeds of un- familiar monarchs interesting. Here and there one comes across a vivid and sometimes humorous portrait of a minor actor in the drama of Kashmirian history, but in spite of his independent and critical attitude and obvious honesty of
purpose, Kalhana is prone, like all his tribe, to fall into the tame conventionalities and meaningless platitudes of the typical
Kavya. Dr. Stein finds him occasionally "quite Rabe- laisian," but we fail to see the resemblance ; and in one respect Kalhana is strikingly un-Rabelaisian, inasmuch as his work, unlike some other Indian classics, is hardly ever soiled by coarseness. It is only fair to admit, too, that when he deals with events of his own time the historian becomes naturally far more graphic than when he treats of earlier ages, and despite their length the passages which relate the last struggle of King Harm, the tragedy of Bhiksacara, and the fall of Lohara, are at once dramatic, simple, and impressive. No one, however, will read this translation of the Chronicle for its own sake. Indian scholars will use it as an invaluable com- mentary on the text already published by the same editor.
Historians will prefer to consult Dr. Stein's excellent summary of the events, included in his weighty Introduction. It was, however, right and necessary that so important and curious a work—a unique Sanskrit history written in 1150—should be literally translated, and elaborately elucidated, and Dr. Stein has done a sterling piece of hard work. Apart from the actual translation, these two portly volumes contain a mass of exceedingly valuable information, philological, topographical, antiquarian, and bibliographical, which every student of Indian history, literature, religion, or archaaology will consult and reconsult with great advantage. The section on coinage and the examination of the chronology are especially note- worthy. Dr. Stein may well be congratulated upon the com- pletion of a very learned, complicated, and laborious work, which probably no one but he could have accomplished with such ability and success. We hope he will now take in hand Jonaraja's very inferior, but still important, continuation o' Kalhana's Chronicle.
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