SAFFRON: ITS HISTORY, CULTIVATION AND USES. 59 



residing at Kashmir, at the request of Mr. Isaac Anderson Henry, of Edinburgh. 

 'The famous Saffron fields of Kashmir are situated in the vicinity of Pampur, 

 eight miles from Srinagar, up the river Jhelam on its north bank between the hills 

 and the river; the plain on which the Saffron grows is about fifty feet from the 

 valley. In dry seasons, the produce averages nearly a ton; though the crop was 

 in 1 87 1 only half that amount, viz: 1380 Traks, and of this quantity, 690 Traks 

 were taken by the Government. From six to eight annas, or from ninepence to 

 one shilling is given for a Tola weight of 180 grains (equivalent to about thirty- 

 five shillings per pound). Saffron is used as a frequent condiment, and as a medicine. 

 The Mussulmans of the valley are generally unable to buy it. The stain on the 

 forehead of a Hindu Pundit is partially formed of Saffron. Some 1600 lbs. are 

 exported yearly from Kashmir to Laddahk (Ladakh)." 



'The soil of the Pampur plains is said to be a light ferruginous clay, dug 

 up near the River Jhelam, and conveyed at great labour to the Saffron fields. 

 The bulbs are planted in June, on raised parterres, to insure drainage; and the 

 Saffron is collected in October. It is grown in four places in the Valley of 

 Kashmir, called Karewas, i.e. flat pieces of table-land; they are from fifty to one 

 hundred and fifty feet above the river, bare of trees, and little if at all irrigated. 

 The Kashmir Valley is five thousand two hundred feet above the sea-level. Some 

 of the people of the city have also grown the Saffron in their gardens, and obtained 

 an abundant produce. The people have a tradition that some holy man prayed, 

 and in answer to his prayers the Saffron Crocus sprang up near a well; others, 

 more sceptical, assert that it was brought from the direction of Kabul by a ruler 

 of Kashmir, named Bor-shah." 



The cultivation of Saffron is being commenced in Alwar. 



Its cultivation in Kashmir is noticed in J. L. Stewart's Punjab Plants, p. 239, 

 (Lahore, 1869,) from which I condense the following.— Vernacular Kongs. Kesar.— 

 The cultivation is limited to one small tract at Pampur. The corms are planted in 

 June. The crop is not irrigated, being liable to injury by moisture. When the 

 corms have got old, after ten or twelve years, they are dug up, and the smaller 

 ones re-planted on fresh ground. The Saffron is collected in October, and is 

 exported both to the north and south from Kashmir. It goes mostly to Yarkand, 

 and in 1867 five and a half maunds reached Le. It is also imported into India from 

 Persia via Afghanistan and the Bolan Pass. 



In Dr. Thomson's Travels in Western Himalaya and Thibet, pp. 288 and 455, 

 reference is made to the cultivation of Saffron, both at Avantipura, and at Pampur 

 in Kashmir. And it is also referred to in Elmslie's Kashmiri Vocabulary, pp. 159- 

 160 (London, 1872). 



Royle's plate of C. cashmerianus (identical with C. sativusj, Illust. Bat. Himal. 



