[Reader-list] Massacres - Part 1

[Pawan Durani]

Purushyar Massacre - A tale from Pathan Raj

By Dr. Ramesh Kumar



Buland Khan Bamzai ruled Kashmir in 1763 as Governor of the Kabul
government. According to Prof. RK Parimu, the noted historian, he was
a man of attractive address. The governor used to take greater
interest to serve himself rather than his subjects. One evening, while
enjoying a boat-ride in Jehlum, his eyes fell on Mugli. She was the
daughter of a milk-man and had irresistible  beauty. The governor
desired to make her his wife, soon the nikah was solemnized.

The milkman's neighbour in the Purushyar locality was the family of
Atma Ram Pandit. This well-to-do Pandit family dealt in Pashmina wool
and arms manufacturing. Atma Ram was grandson of Krishan Pandit and
had two uncles--Zai Ram and Nilakanth. Zai Ram led an ascetic life.
Nilakanth was blind since birth. His wife, Umrawati (Shoba) committed
Sati, when her husband died.

As per Kashmiri custom, a close acquaintance accompanies the bridge to
her in-law's house as 'boya' (brother). Atma Ram accompanied Mughli as
'boya'. Soon, he gained entry in Governor's administration.

In those times Pt. Jeevan Sab, a saint of great merit, lived at
Rainawari. Pandit Dila Ram Quli and some Ganjoo, both natives of
Rainawari, were his disciples. One day, the saint asked them to desire
for something. Ganjoo said he should have enough food for seven
generations. The family was to acquire big Jagirs subsequently. Dila
Ram aspired for 'Hakumat' i.e. an administrative post.

Soon, thereafter, Dila Ram gained entry in Buland Khan's
administration. Atma Ram was quite junior to him in the administrative
hierarchy. There was serious shortage of cloth. The Governor invited
suggestions for settling terms with weavers of Tral. He accepted the
suggestion of Atma Ram. Sulking Dila Ram taunted Atma Ram, telling him
the Governor was bound to accept his suggestion, because he was
'brother' of Mugli.

Mir Muqim Kanth, a notable, had been killed in a palace intrigue. His
family suspected Kailash Dhar of playing foul. During the rule of Amir
Khan Jawansher (1770), Muqim's son Mir Fazil Kanth became Chief
Secretary. He hatched a conspiracy and succeeded in killing Kailash
Dar. Mir Fazil Kanth extended his vengeance to the entire Pandit
community. Prof. RK Parimu and Hassan Khuihami have recorded his
atrocities at length. Dila Ram Quli had also receded into the
background

Dila Ram Quli becomes powerful:

Haji Karim Dad Khan, soon after taking over, eliminated the Kanth
family and appointed Dila Ram Quli as Chief Secretary. Karim Dad ruled
like a reckless, merciless tyrant. His repressive and oppressive
policies alienated the entire populace. When Karimdad fell ill, he
asked his son, Azad Khan to take over the reins, without informing
Kabul. He was just eighteen.

George Forester, a European Traveller, who visited Kashmir in Azad
Khan's reign, describes him as awful, ferocious, bad-tempered. In his
cruelties he surpassed even his father. Everyday he would order one or
two persons to be killed for no fault.

Dila Ram succeeded, where even Azad Khan's mother and wife had failed.
Azad made him Madarul-Miham, the Prime Minister. Dila Ram wielded
tremendous influence over Azad Khan and came to be called Dila Ram
Quli Khan. Azad Khan's temperamental fits even alienated his faithful
servants. Two of his trusted aides--Pahalwan Khan and Maluk Khan
hatched up a conspiracy to murder Azad Khan. They won over Izmat Khan,
the body guard of Azad Khan. One night, Izmat, fired a shot at Azad
Khan but missed the aim. The Governor jumped into Jehlum and escaped
to Dila Ram Quli's house at Rainawari.

The conspirators pursued Azad Khan. Their attempts to enter Dila Ram's
house failed. Dila Ram suffered minor injuries. The whole night,
people of Rainawari witnessed skirmishes between the partisans of
Izmat Khan and Azad Khan.

The following morning Azad Khan reached Maisuma. Pahalwan Khan, who
failed to counter the state forces, took shelter behind the walls of
Sher Garhi. The state forces laid siege to the fort. This continued
for a week. Pahalwan Khan was killed and the rebellion crushed.

Dila Ram Quli consolidated his position further. His used this, to
settle old scores with Atma Ram Pandit. Dila Ram's wit had outwitted
even Timur Shah Durani at Kabul Durbar. He poisoned the ears of Azad
Khan and falsely  implicated Atma Ram in the conspiracy to murder Azad
Khan.

The tyrant Governor ordered the elimination of the entire clan of
Pandit Atma Ram. Azad Khan declared that he would visit the area
personally in the afternoon to see if his orders were duly carried
out.

Purushyar Massacre:

As Azad Khan's forces arrived, Atma Ram, with son Sudarshan in his
lap, was watching from the window of his house. A sympathetic officer
signalled him to escape. He, alongwith his son, jumped into the river
and took shelter in the house of a milk-man. The state forces
butchered the entire clan of Atma Ram, which as per family story,
comprised 37 members. When the identification of the dead was carried
out, the troops failed to find the body of Atma Ram. This was conveyed
to the Governor, who issued orders for burning down the entire
locality. This was duly carried out., with dead bodies also perishing
in the fire. The Governor asked his staff to make a public
announcement that any person who brought Atma Ram dead or alive would
be suitably rewarded. The sympathetic milk-man had hid Atma Ram and
Sudarshan in his cow-shed.

Atma Ram's close relation, Pandit Manas Razdan, the famous saint of
his times, lived across the river in Banamohalla. Their mothers were
sisters. Manas Razdan belonged to the family of Bhaskar Razdan, who
has  written a commentary on 60 sayings of Lalleswari to Sanskrit
verse. Grandson of this great literateur, Manas Razdan was popularly
called Razdan Sab. The street, presently called Razdan Kocha is named
after him. Subsequently, Manas Razdan migrated to Qiladar, Gujrat
(eastern Punjab). The saint owned huge Jagirs across Baramulla and was
a 'Darbari' in Azad Khan's reign. Having come to know that Azad Khan
had let loose his soldiers to catch his cousin, Atma Ram, Razdan Sab
asked his cook to trace whereabouts of Atma Ram. After sometime the
cook brought the news that Atma Ram was safe alongwith his son. The
latter was kept in hiding by a milkman in his cowshed. He survived
milk only.

Six months later Atma Ram passed away. The milkman brought the news to
Razdan Sab. The former was scared that if Azad Khan came to know the
real story his family would be in serious trouble. Loyal milkman
brought Sudarshan to Razdan Sab's house.

A strategy was worked out to dispose off the dead body of Atma Ram.
Razdan Sab's house was more like an ashram, where Sadhus from
different parts of India came and stayed. Razdan Sab asked one of the
sadhus to run away during the night. The body of Atma Ram was
stealthily brought to Razdan Sab's ashram. The following morning it
was announced that a sadhu had died. Due care was taken to perform the
funeral rites as per religious rituals. The subsequent, Kriya Karam
(post-cremation rituals) were performed, as per family account, at
Budgam, away from the watchful eyes of the tyrant Governor.

Sudarshan was brought up under the care of Razdan Sab and received
good education. After few years Juma Khan Alkozai was appointed
Governor of Kashmir in 1788. For his just rule and benevolence, Jumma
Khan earned lot of popularity. The new Governor was son of the sister
of Buland Khan Bamzai, the former Governor.

Upon his nomination as Governor, Juma Khan was asked by Mugli, wife of
Buland Khan Bamzai, to trace the whereabouts of her foster brother,
Atma Ram Pandit. Dila Ram Quli had functioned as Dewan during the
Governorship of Mirdad Khan (1786088). He continued to be top aide to
Juma Khan also. As long as Dila Ram remained in command, Sudarshan had
every reason to be afraid of the administration. One day, Juma Khan
had called a meeting of a prominent citizens (Durbaris). Razdan sab
too had been invited. He took Sudarshan along with him. Atma Ram's son
disclosed his identity to the Governor and prayed for clemency. On
learning that he had been able to fulfill the wish of his maternal
aunt by tracing Atma Ram's family,  Governor turned emotional and told
Sudarshan that he was nephew of Buland Khan. The Governor informed
Sudarshan that his aunt had asked him to help the family of Atma Ram
in every way possible. For three years Juma Khan had been trying to
locate the family of Atma Ram without any result. Dila Ram had been
the villain in frustrating his efforts. Despite the fact the new
Governor was popular for his benevolence, Sudarshan was reluctant to
present himself before the Governor, presuming that Dila Ram may have
poisoned the ears of the new Governor as well.

Sudarshan in his litany told Juma Khan that it was a torturing
experience for him to stay in the same city, where his entire clan had
been annihilated. Juma Khan appointed Sudarshan as Kardar of Breng
Pargana.

Dila Ram beheaded:

Mir Hazar Khan replaced Juma Khan as Governor in 1793. To live under
Hazar Khan was a nightmarish experience for Kashmiri Pandits. It was
during his reign that Pandits were put in sacks and drowned in Dal
Lake (Bata Mazar). Dila Ram Quli, the most powerful and influential
Pandit, also met his nemesis. He was publicly beheaded in Khanyar
Chowk. His death did not solve problems for Sudarshan. The latter had
some problem in settling the accounts of Paddy. So Sudarshan decided
to leave alongwith his wife and two sons and sought employment in Raja
of Chenani's Durbar.

Soon, Sudarshan emerged as a confidante of the Raja and invited
jealousy of his vizier, who was a local. The latter got Sudarshan
poisoned to death through a conspiracy. Raja was unaware about the
conspiracy and called on Parvati, Sudarshan's wife to express his
concern over her plight. She told the Raja, "King's gift is heavy. I
cannot take it."

She, alongwith her sons-Shiv Ram and Narayan, however, continued to
stay in Chenani.

Parvati belonged to Rawal family of Bidder in Breng region. This
family too had to flee its native village during Pathan rule. Some
Pathan troops were on patrol duty in Bidder area. A soldier had tried
to make advances towards a lady of Rawal family. Like a brave lady,
the examples of which are too few, she not only rebuffed the soldier
but humiliated him by showing her foot. This was too much for Pathans
to stomach. The entire Rawal locality was burnt down. With great
difficulty members of Rawal clan managed to save their lives. Since
they had nothing to eat, they shifted to Brariangan, the abode of
Godess Uma, where ashram langar provided food to the needy round the
clock.

Naqashbandi family of Takiya Peer in Breng had lot of murids in
present Himachal Pradesh, Utter Pradesh and Jammu region, including
Chenani. The Pirs of this family used to visit Chenani every year.
Pathan rule was drawing to a close. Parvati decided to return to
Kashmir. Through Pirs she contacted Ganesh Das, her brother. The Pir
family was to produce two powerful politicians - Nizamuddin Khan,
Member of Parliament and Abdul Rashid Vakil, Minister for Power
Development.

Gandesh Das Rawal reached Chenani to take his sister and her sons back
home. While returning to Kashmir they halted for night at Banihal. Two
Pathan soldiers, who were on the run, met them there. Pathan soldiers
liked the brown hair of Narayan and asked Parvati, "Iee Shalgam
royeahs", telling her to gift her son to them. Parvati decided to play
ball with them. She told them since she had to part with her dear son,
she would hold him in embrace for the night and then decide in the
morning what to do. During the night there was some unusual noise.
Pathans thought that the Sikh soldiers had reached Banihal. So they
left. Parvati went on to stay with Rawal family at Brariangan. Then
begins the second part of the story of the family of Atma Ram Pandit.

Descendants of Atma Ram Pandit

Parvati and her children stayed with Rawal family at Brari Angan. Her
brother's wife did not like Parvati's continued stay at her house.
Soon she was forced to move out. Parvati got renovated a small
dilapidated Paddy hut (Kuth) and shifted her family to it. Her family
survived on food prepared in Ashram langar.

Brari Angan, alongwith Gosaingund, Gautam Nag (in Anantnag district)
and Gosainteng (Baramulla town), was among the places, where sadhus,
on pilgrimage to the holy cave of Lord Amarnath, used to halt for many
days. The natural and spiritual ambience of these places appealed to
the sadhus.

Narayan Pandit :

One day, an eccentric sadhu created a scene. He had demanded Dal
(Cooked Pulses) at the langar but was instead served milk. This
infuriated him. He lost his cool and thrashed the langar people with a
trident. Since Narayan Pandit, the son of Parvati, knew Hindi well, he
was requested by ashram-management to serve as interpreter for the
visiting sadhus. This enhanced the prestige of Narayan Pandit. He was
soon to catch the attention of one of the great saints Bhol Nath who
had attained the power of 'Parkaya Pravaresh’. As the tradition says
the people with such powers could turn themselves into lion etc.

This spiritually elevated sadhu used to do his tapasya (offering
prayers) at the nearby Sochalmaidan. Narayan Pandit would take milk to
him. The saint, impressed by Narayan, asked him to accompany him to
Amarnath. It snowed quite heavily during the yatra. The saint offered
his Lion-skin to the young Narayan to keep him away from cold injury.
Narayan became his disciple and received 'Guru Upadesh'.  Some years
later, Kanwar Sher Singh, son of Maharaja Ranjit Singh, was appointed
Governor of Kashmir. The previous governor Bahama Singh Ardali, who
had taken over Governorship on 5 May, 1831, failed to govern. There
was a Shia-Sunni riot, this affected shawl industry. Maharaja Ranjit
Singh indicted Bahama Singh for not taking preemptive measures. A
leading Kashmiri merchant Mian Samad Joo personally went to the
Maharaja to narrate Bahma Singh's callous attitude and indifference
during the riots.

Maharaja decided to send his son, Kanwar Sher Singh, who had
distinguished himself in the Balakot battle against Syed Ahmad
Barelvi, the leader of the Muslim revivalist movement (Wahabi) on 23
May 1831. Sher Singh, the son of Rani Mahtab Kaur, was a cheerful,
intelligent, well-bred soldier and popular with the army. The new
Governor Kanwar Sher Singh entered Kashmir via Baramulla route in
January 1832. He did not have a smooth time initially. During the
first winter of his tenure, Kashmir reeled under severe cold. All
rivers and lakes were frozen. Many domestic animals and cattle
perished. The population suffered due to scarcity of water and fuel.
The governor too had his share of suffering. His official residence in
Shergarhi fort, Srinagar, caught fire twice. The entire shopping
complex in the neighbourhood was engulfed in the flames. Then fire
took its toll of Ahlamar locality (Badiyar bala), adjacent to
Habbakadal. It destroyed many dwellings and caused immense hardships
to their residents. A new diversion-Nav Sarak (Nai Sarak) was created
for pedestrians. These incidents have been docum-ented at length by
Pandit Birbal Kachru in his chronicle.

Majma-at-Tawarikh:

Auckland papers describe Prince Sher Singh as 'clever and bold', but
'wild and unprincipled'. Traveller GT Vigne speaks of him, as needy
and spend-thrift' and 'cruel and rapacious', while McGregore says the
Prince was addicted to "wine and women to an excessive degree" and "a
complete drunkard and debauchee". Dewan Wasakha Singh fed this
appetite of the prince to remain free to rule independently.

Prince Sher Singh was fond of hunting. The family Guru, a well-learned
Pandit and Sh. Ganesh Dhar, a revenue administrator used to accompany
him on these hunting jaunts. On one occasion Prince Sher Singh was on
a hunting expedition in Kuthar area and camped at Uma Nagri. He did
not pay any regard to Mahant Ramanand of Uma Nagri ashram. For some
days hunting yielded no dividends. He also had syncope once. After
recovering fromt it the  Prince was asked to meet the Mahant. The
latter told him he should refrain from hunting in Uma Nagri which was
Devi's area, where even the  birds and animals paid obeisance to the
Devi. Mahant signalled the Governor to go for hunting in the nearby
Shergund area. This proved to be sound advice. The Prince shot down
nine shikars one after the other in a single day.

The Prince's Guru and Pt. Ganesh Dhar, Chief of Revenue Administration
used to pray regularly at Devibal. It was a daily routine for  Narayan
Pandit to go to Devibal to offer prayers to the goddess. Guru on
hearing the prayer of Narayan Pandit felt a little amazed. He made
enquiries about the identity of Narayan. Parvati, whose family had
suffered much political persecution, felt scared. She kept her son in
hiding. Finally, she was prevailed upon to produce her son before the
Prince's guru. The latter asked him if he was the same person who
recited a particular prayer at Devibal in his presence. When Narayan
repeated the recitation, the Guru held him in tight embrace, telling
him," your and mine guru are the same person (Bhol Nath), so you are
my Guru-brother”. The Guru asked Pt. Ganesh Dhar to pay his regards to
 Naryan Pandit as he was a great religious scholar. The two asked
Narayan about family's economic position. Narayan replied that his
family members had come as fugitives from Chenani and made their
living on ashram food. This moved the Guru and Pt. Ganesh Dhar.
Narayan was introduced to Prince Sher Singh at Uma Nagri. The former
was granted huge Jagirs (totalling 240 acres) at Uma Nagri (adjacent
to the mahant's land), Halqa Uttarssu, Kreri, Ranipora, Halan,
Sherpora, Opassan, Krad, Cheikhgund, Ondo, Trahop, Sonsun,
Shangas-Nowgam etc. The rent was exempted, Narayan's family was also
kept outside the 'Karbegar' labour. He was asked to collect the patta
from Srinagar. Even after the land settlement, carried out by Sir
Walter Larence, Narayan Pandit's family continued to be in possession
of 100 Khirwars of land. Some of the Jagirs were confiscated by later
rulers but later restored.

Narayan Pandit had decided not to marry. His brother Shiv Ram too was
a bachelor. It was on the prodding of Mirza Kak, the great Kashmiri
saint of Hangalgund that Narayan relented. He married Pt. Sat Ram
Pandit's (of Hangalgund) daughter.

Mirza Kak had told Narayan that he will give birth to children who
will, be like Gul and Phul (genius and handsome) but Taet Tah Maet
(short-tempered and eccentric). Till 31 years of age, Narayan remained
issueless. He decided to take his cousin's son Nidhan Rawal in
adoption. Subsequently, Narayan's wife gave birth to three
sons--Amarchand, Lakshman and Vasudev; Lakshman was taken in adoption
by Shiv Ram, Narayan's brother.

Prof. TN Madan's field work:

The village of Brari Angan was to catch attention of the renowned
anthropologist, Prof. TN Madan in 1950s. He decided to study the twin
villages of Umanagri-Uttersoo for his field work. This anthropologist
was so fascinated by these villages and the cooperation extended to
him by the local Kashmiri Pandits that he asked one of his students,
Urvashi Misri to do a field study on Pandit children and women in the
same villages three decades later. Kashmiri Pandits of Brari Angan
remember well the two scholars. This landmark study made Prof Madan a
great name in Indian Anthropology. This work was later published in
1965 under the title 'Family and Kinship - A Study of the Pandits of
Rural Kashmir'. Two more editions of this book came out subsequently.
Prof. Madan did his field work in these twin villages between January
1957 and January 1958. References to Prof. Madan and his book are
being made in this write-up because the book throws some light on some
Pandits, who hail from Atma Ram Pandit's clan.

About this clan, Prof. TN Madan says, "There is one Uma Nagri family
which boasts of many Sanskrit scholars (Pandit) and astrologers
(Jyotishi) including Narayan Pandit among its ancestors, but today
only two of its male members can lay any claim to traditional
scholarship". The great Anthropologist calls this clan 'as one of the
most respected and rich families of the village'. Pandits of Atma
Ram's clan are Banamasis, their Ishta Devi is Jwaladevi of Khrew,
while the gotra is Dev Vatse Upamanyu Laugakshi. Their Kulprohit used
to be Pt. Jagar Nath Handoo of Srinagar.

Some of the prominent descendants of late Atma Ram Pandit, who
achieved excellence in religious and Sanskrit scholarship are:

Lakshman Pandit: Richest person of his time in his area-he was a great
philanthropist.

Vasudev Pandit: Son of Narayan Pandit, Vasudev Pandit was well known
in Kashmir and in the rest of India for his erudite scholarship in
religious studies and social history. He was known better by alias
Vasudev Kuthari and was employed by Dogra Durbar as a religious
scholar. He was paid hefty sum of Rs 500 per year. He was trained by
Pt. Sahib Ram Pandit, the author of Tiratha Samgraha. Another
well-known descendant of Pt. Sahib Ram has been Pt. Mahanand pandit, a
famed Astrologer and a former President of Priests' Association. Sahib
Ram belonged to Pandit clan, known for high scholarship. This group
reely intermarried with Karkun class. Sahib Ram's family also trained
besides Vasudev, Shankar Pandit and possibly Amarchand also.

Vasudev was very influential. People were scared of him because of his
eccentric behaviour. Janki Prasad, a non-Kashmiri was a senior revenue
official. A widow asked Vasudev to get a job for her son. Vasudev
ignored the normal protocol and just shouted from Prasad's main gate,
"Appoint this widow's son as a Tehsildar". The Revenue official
complied with Vasudev's "orders". Such was the writ of Vasudev.

Whenever religious scholars came from outside, Kashmiri scholars would
request Vasudev to be their spokesperson in religious discussions. It
is said that Vasudev could recite over 60,000 verses from his memory
without any fault. Vasudev stayed at the house of Keshav Nath alias
Keshav Pulsi in Srinagar. After his demise, Keshav Nath's family asked
Vasudev's family to collect many bagloads of manuscripts and books
left behind by Vasudev from his Srinagar residence. Unfortunately, the
family did not realise the importance of this treasure.

Vasudev was married to sister of Pt. Shiv Nath Soma, who as per one
account, was Chief Conservator of Forests of entire J&K. Pt. Shiv
Nath, a resident of Rainawari, who later settled in Jammu, became a
legend for his outstanding qualities. Vasudev left behind a daughter
married in Kissu family and a son Maheshwar  Nath. Pt. Shiv Nath Soma
wanted his nephew to be a contractor but Maheshwar Nath was a man of
simple disposition. He was just a matriculate but knew English very
well. Through his maternal uncle he was employed as a forester and
reached to the rank of  Ranger. In his times he was one of the few
persons who used to read national English dailies. Pt. Maheshwar Nath
after his marriage shifted to his in-law's village, Levdora, Qazigund.
Maheshwar Nath's wife, the only daughter of her parents was an
intelligent lady. Maheshwar Nath's exemplary honesty and truthfulness
in discharging his official duties made him renowned. Some of the
incidents are being recalled here. Once, he imposed fine of Rs 5/- on
his wife for bringing a wooden mortar (Muhul) illegally from the
forest. On another occasion he attended a dinner at the nearby village
of Nowgam. After the dinner was over, Pt. Maheshwar Nath asked his
hosts, "where from did you get the wood of the ceiling roof? You would
have to pay fine for it". Once during a drought he had some dispute
with his tenants, Pt. Maheshwar Nath had inherited share of 350 kanals
of land. Due to Kargili traders, price of Maize had shot up to Rs
50-60 per Khirwar. Tenants expressed their inability to pay this
price. Finally, Prem Nath Pandit, Sarpanch of the village and a kin of
Pt. Maheshwar Nath, intervened in the dispute to settle mutually
acceptable terms. He settled Rs. 35 per Khirwar to be paid to Pt.
Maheshwar Nath. This was accepted by the tenants. But Pt. Moshar Nath
told the tenants that he would not accept a penny more than the
officially fixed price of Rs 8 per Khirwar. This put Sarpanch in
quandry, tenants felt that the former had played fraud on them.
Maheshwar Nath also confiscated a charcoal-laden boat, meant for his
superior, a DFO.

Maheshwar Nath had three sons - Niranjan Nath, Kedar Nath, Mohan Lal
besides a daughter. Niranjan Nath and Kedar Nath achieved eminence in
the field of journalism and were associated with Times of India and
Indian Express respectively. Kedar Nath was a poet too. Niranjan Nath
was the first BA from Atma Ram's clan. Late Kedar Nath's son, Pawan
too is a journalist with Hindustan Times in New Delhi. A few years
back he was staff correspondent of Indian Express in Jammu.

Vishn Pandit: He was the eldest son of Lakshman Pandit. He was a high
level forest official. He used to read national English and vernacular
dailies regularly. As per family sources, Vishn Pandit had authored
seven manuscripts which remained unpublished.

Shankar Pandit : He was the son of Nidhan Pandit (originally Rawal).
Shankar was a Vedanti scholar, who trained many Kashmiris in Vedic
scholarship. He often engaged in religious discussions with learned
Pandits of Benaras and excelled over them. It was his wish to pass his
last days at Haridwar and passed away there.

Prem Nath Pandit: He was son of Lakshman Pandit. He was classmate of
leading political personalities - Mirza Afzal Beg, Pt. Shiv Naraina
Fotedhar and Pt. Kashyap Bandhu, Saifuddin Ghani (DIG Police). He was
a first division holder in Matric. Better known as Prem Nath Kuthari,
he along with his brother Sham Sunder remained Yuvak Sabha Presidents,
Kuthar area for a long-time.

Sarvanand Pandit: He was son of Prasad Pandit and grandson of Lakhyman
Pandit. He was born in 1906. He was one of the five members of
'convoy' of Prof. TN Madan. Because of dedication of these five
people, the Mahant of Uma Nagri with his sense of repartee used to
say: "They gave up their homes and wives and lost their night's sleep
for his (Madan's) sake'. He also nicknamed them as 'convoy' because
they used to move about in the village together with Prof. Madan.

Sarvanand died as a bachelor. He lived off his land. He had his
education at the local school and was for some time at the Technical
(art) school in Srinagar. Sarwanand was a shy person and never wore
turban or a pheran- in his life.

Prof. Madan in a rare tribute describes Sarwanand as a "my" and said,
"I think I met rara avis in him." He sums up many traits of Sarwanand
as 'man of orthodox views and well-informed about the Sanskritic
tradition', 'most unorthodox in his appearance', 'intelligent with
natural gift of an amazingly prodigious memory', 'a shy lonely person
who had a raw deal in his life', 'has an irrepressible but healthy
curiosity about, social happenings in the village and great sense of
humour. He once in Prof. Madan's presence surprised a fellow villager
by showing greater knowledge of the latter's genealogy than the latter
himself possessed.

Sarwanand was a walking encyclopedia, who could recall at a minute's
notice the 200-year old history of Uma Nagri and the origins of the
different Pandit clans of the village. As per Prof. Madan, he had even
kept a written record of some particularly notable events in the
village during his lifetime.

For Prof Madan's fieldwork, Pt. Sarwanand remained a key informant. He
admits that his book has quoted more often from Pt. Sarwanand's
statements than from anybody else's, with the possible exception of
Bishamber Nath Koul. In Prof. Madan's work Pt. Sarwanand found an
outlet for his passion for ethnography. He acknowledges his
contribution by recording, "I had found in him the key informant that
the ethnographer invariably seeks and cultivates. The opposition
between the public and the private, the general and the particular,
got resolved in his person. He was a source of information about the
private and appreciated the legitimacy of making it public".

About Pt. Sarwanand's interest, bordering on obssession, into prying
into other people's domestic affairs, Prof. Madan has an explanation:
'Denied the opportunity of involvement in intimate relationships and
events, he had developed an interest in them generally."

Srikanth Pandit: He was the youngest member of Prof. Madan's 'convoy'.
Srikanth is son of Pt. Raghav Ram and grandson of Pt. Amarchand. Like
his father, Srikanth too practised astrology. He retired as village
Post-Master . A religious minded person, Srikanth had learnt
Sanskritic tradition from his father. Prof. Madan praises his traits -
being affectionate and informal. Pt. Srikanth lives as a refugee in
Swarn Vihar locality of Jammu.

Ram Nath Pandit: He is son of Pt. Tarachand and grandson of Lakshman
Pandit. He dropped out in F. Sc but retains good knowledge of
languages including English. He  depended for living on his land. Like
his cousin Pt. Sarwanand, Pt. Ram Nath too is well versed in religious
scriptures and social history of Kashmiri Pandits. The way he reels
out the information about the social history of the Pandit community
is truly amazing. He has his own classification of Kauls, Razdans, and
the Priestly class. It is through him we can visualise what sort of
great scholar Sarwanand might have been. He has diligently preserved
the history and the genealogy of his clan.  This author was even
provided the name of Mugli's father-Musa Moghlu (which was
inadvertently omitted in the first portion of this essay). However, in
my opinion Moghlu might have been a boatman, rather than a Goor
(milkman). Shri Ram Nath's equally illustrious son and the author's
friend, Sh. Satish Mohan Pandit holds Masters degree  in English
literature, besides the degrees in education and journalism. It was
through Satish's efforts that the author was able to harvest the
friendship for procuring the clan story to preserve it for posterity.

Kashmir Sentinel