Book: CITY OF KASHMIR, SRINAGAR: A POPULAR HISTORY
Author: Sameer Hamdani
Published by: Hachette
Price: Rs 699
Sameer Hamdani’s book portrays what the heart of Kashmir is all about. At a time when many of India’s prominent cities are being claimed by Hindu supremacists in their zeal to turn Hindu rashtra into reality, Hamdani’s take on Srinagar becomes important to preserve its history, culture, philosophy and diversity.
After the abrogation of Article 370, Kashmir is now susceptible to various forms of exploitation. Srinagar, being Kashmir’s beating heart, thus deserves a proper addressal, and Hamdani pens it down with precision and honesty. He does not glorify the city’s history since, like most other cities, this too has been the hub of cultural, financial and social authority in the past. Its people have always looked down upon the rural parts of the Valley but, at the same time, they also cultivated multiplicity by spreading its heritage through hierarchy, the guru-shishya tradition, and politics.
Hamdani gives us insights into how the city became an abode of Mahayana Buddhism (which happens in its tantric form) and, at the same time, nourished the roots of Hinduism and its various monuments and shrines. In the presence of Islam, both these religions grew in the heart of Kashmir without any chaos. Hamdani gives us documented proof of what Srinagar still holds and how it glorifies the idea of secularism.
The book also presents before us comprehensive depictions of dynasties that nested the Ganga-Jamuni tehzeeb since the Valley was a bridge that connected Indian civilisation to the rest of the South Asian countries. Many texts like the Devistotra, Nilamata Purana, Tantraloka and the Vijnana Bhairava were written in Kashmir by enlightened scholars. Kashmir’s beauty does not just reside in its external realm, but also sprouts in its culture of acceptance. During Mughal rule, Srinagar gained a reputation as a centre of manuscript production and book binding. Through these significant insights, Hamdani tells the story of how Kashmir and Srinagar became the civilisation’s spiritual axis.
Hamdani has written an important book to show that Kashmir’s history has always been about inclusivity and not polarisation. In a distressing time, this book documents Kashmir and its heart — Srinagar — through the pursuit of truth.