[Reader-list] Annotations to the History of Iconoclasm in Kashmir - II

[Shuddhabrata Sengupta]

ANNOTATIONS TO THE PRLIMINARY HISTORY OF ICONOCLASM IN KASHMIR - II

What Does Kalhana Say about Temple Destruction and Intolerance ?

Kalhana's importance for the understanding of early medieval history in
South Asia is unquestionable. Especially because his writing embodies a
singular and significant model for historiographic investigation and
accounting, rare in the pre - Islamicate cultures of South Asia. He
describes and lists the events that mark the reigns of rulers without
favour or prejudice. He makes an effort at consistence and attempts to
maintains a rigourous standard as far as chronology  and the duration of
reigns is concerned. His descriptions of everyday life, of the seasons,
of customs, religious beliefs, rituals, war and political intrigue - all
furnish valuable details about what life would have been like in
Kashmir. He explicitly marks a distinction between the mythic and the
historic phases of his narrative. He is especially important because
reading Kalhana, one finds it impossible to state that iconoclasm and
secterian strife was the special preserve of Muslim rulers in South
Asia, as Hindutva apologists are wont to do. This point has been made in
detail by several historians such as Romila Thapar, Harbans Mukhia and
D.N. Jha. Each of whom points out how Kalhana details Hindu kings
destroying Hindu temples in Kashmir.

[See -  the following essays -

' Imagined Religious Communities? Ancient History and the Modern Search
for a Hindu Identity' by Romila Thapar, Modern Asian Studies, Vol. 23,
Issue 2, Pages 209-231, 1989

'Communalism and the Historical Legacy: Some Facets' by Romila Thapar,
Social Scientist, Vol.18, Issue 6/7, Pages 4-20, June-July 1990

'Communalism: A Study in Its Socio-Historical Perspective' by Harbans
Mukhia, Social Scientist, Vol.1, Issue 1, Pages 45-57, August 1972

'Against Communalising History' by D.N. Jha, Social Scientist, Volume
26, Issue 9/10, Pages 52 - 62, September - October 1998

'Warrior Ascetics in Indian History', by David.N. Lorenzen, Journal of
the American Oriental Society, Volume 98, Issue 1, Pages 61-75,
Jan-March, 1978

'Harsa of Kashmir and the Iconoclast Ascetics' by A.L. Basham, Bulletin
of the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London, Vol
12, Issue 3/4, Oriental and African Studies Presented to Lionel David
Barnett by His Colleagues, Past and Present, Pages 688-69, 1948

- for discussions of the significance of Kalhana's text with reference
to the countering of communal and secterian readings of history in South
Asia. ]

That is why, Kalhana is such a tough nut to crack for those who have an
agenda of promoting a secterian reading of history. His obstinate
insistence on cataloguing the oppressions, iconoclasm and desecration
wrought by several rulers of pre-Islamic Kashmir is a huge obstacle in
the path of those who wish to push a simplified and reductivist history
of Kashmir down our throats. When such people read or refer to Kalhana,
they invariably do so selectively. They take what is convenient to their
point of view, but always end up censoring what doesn't quite match
their agenda. Rashneek Kher is no exception to this general rule.

Kshemandra's Errors
Before beginning on a survey of temple destruction and religious
persecution in pre-Islamic Kashmir, (gleaned from Kalhana's
Rajtarangini) it may be wise to pay heed to Kalhana's implicit warning
about the writing and reading of history. The thirteenth sloka of the
first Taranga (Taranga- Book) of the Rajtarangini has Kalhana telling us

"kenapyanavadhanen kavikarmani satyapi,
anshopi naasti nirdhosha kshmendrasya nripavali"

(First Taranga, Sloka 13, Pg. 1. Vol 3. Kalhana's Rajtarangini, Aurel
Stein Rescension)

[Apologies, dear Readers,  for not supplying the correct diacritical
markings as per the accepted convention of rendering Sanskrit into
English, but that would not be possible to do in a unicode based font,
which is what we are constrained to use on the Reader List]

Aurel Stein translates this passage as follows :

Owing to a certain want of care, there is not a single part in
Kshemendra's 'List of Kings' (Nrpavali) free from mistakes, though it is
the work of a poet" (First Taranga, Sloka 13, Pg. 3. Vol 1. Kalhana's
Rajtarangini, Aurel Stein Rescension)

R.S.Pandit translates this sloka as follows:

While owing to an incomprehensible lack of care in the work of
Ksemendra, known as the 'List of Kings' (Nrpavali), even a portion of it
is not free of error, although it is the composition of a poet.

I cannot resist the temptation to apply Kalhana's caveat about
Kshmendras emendation of the Kings of Kashmir to Rashneek Kher's lack of
care while recounting history. I also cannot resist the temptation to
gesture, in passing towards the close proximity that Rashneek Kher (who
does have some desire to be acknowledged as a poet and a connossieur of
poetry) has with the spectral presence of Kshmendra Kaul who inhabits,
or should I say, haunts this list, from time to time.The identity of
this Kshmendra Kaul can be a matter of some interesting speculation, and
I have some theories of my own regarding the interesting relationship
between Rashneek Kher and Kshmendra Kaul (or 'RK' and 'KK')  but we
should not allow ourselves to be distracted by such matters at this time.

Whatever be the case, Rashneek Kher (like Kalhana's Kshmendra, and not
unlike our own) though given at times to poetic excess is also not free
of error, specially when he asserts that 'Kalhana has no where mentioned
that Sankaravarman destroyed Parihaspura'. Whenever I read Rashneek on
what he claims as his own history, I remember Kalhana's terse caveat -
'anshopi naasti nirdosha'.

We will have time to discuss Sankaravarman, Parihaspura and exactly what
Kalhana says in the fifth book of Rajtarangini a little later,

But for now, let us now turn to the task of undertaking a brief survey
of the account of pre-Islamic iconoclasm, temple destruction and
religious persecution in Kashmir, based entirely on a reading of the
primary text of Kalhana's Rajtarangini. Here, individual verses will be
called Slokas and each book will be called Taranga. So when I say '13th
Sloka of the First Taranga"  I mean, 13th verse of the fifth book.I will
generally give the R.S.Pandit translation, as it is more compact, and
also more readily available. I have detailed notes of the Aurel Stein
translation, but do not wish to burden the reader with two translations
when one will do. Occasionally, for an exceptionnaly important case, I
will however give both translations.

(continued in next posting)