Vol. VI, No. 4.] History of Kashmir. 197 



[N.8.] 



in her beak and threw it over the hollow and thereby killed Jalod- 

 bava. The present Hari Parbat near the Dal lake is said to be 

 the place referred to above, and the hill now standing thereon is 

 said to be the supposed portion of the Sumira brought by Durga. 

 This hill is also called jSumira even now. The name Hari is 

 said to have come from Shari (Mind), Ska being often replaced 

 by Ha in Kashmiri language. 



Kashyapa, seeing that the place had been cleared of water, 

 prayed to Vishnu that the place be inhabited by devas, men and 

 Nags. Vishnu gave the permission, whereupon Kashyapa got 

 Brahmans from the Deccan (South) to migrate here. From 

 this time Kashmir was called Kashyappur or Kashyapmar, and 

 latterly Kashmir. 



The name ' ' Kashmir ' ' also implies ' ' land desiccated from 

 water," from Sanskrit Ka water, Shimira to desiccate, so called 

 because the valley of Kashmir was in the beginning, as stated 

 above, a mountain-lake subsequently drained. 



In Sanskrit Puranas, Kashmir is also called Gerek (hill), 

 nestled as it is in mountains. In Chapter VIII of Avanadikosha, 

 the meaning of the word Kashmir is given ' ' land, ruling in which 

 is difficult. 5 ' 



Kashmir has further been shortened into Kashir by the 

 Kashmiris in their own tongue. The Tibetans call it Kha-chal 

 (snowy mountain) and the Dards (the inhabitants of Gures, 

 etc.) Kashrat. 



The Vijayeshvara Mahatma says that at this time the country 

 was said to have consisted of 66,063 villages commencing from 

 Buta Shahar to Chamba. In the Kashmiri language a unit 

 is called hundred ; a hundred, thousand and so forth ; and accord- 

 ing to this the figure 66,063 would shrink down to 6,063, which 

 looks correct. The people, however, were being oppressed 

 by other demons. They used to live in it in summer and pursued 

 agriculture in the fertile valley; but in winter, for fear of cold 

 and snow and of the demons, they used to return to other parts. 

 In one of these annual exodus, an old Brahman, named Chandar- 

 deva, who could not return to India on account of old age stayed 

 in Kashmir, hiding himself in a cave. He had his provisions 

 and other necessities for winter with him. When snow began 

 to fall, the demons came in hoards and two of them dragged 

 Chandardeva out of the cave and took him toXilanag spring where 

 they tossed him about like a ball, in course of which the old 

 man fell down into the spring and sank down to the bottom which 

 lie found to be a vast place and where he saw a king sitting on 

 a throne in a grand palace. The Brahman approached him and 

 complained to him of the trouble given by the demon The king 

 was Xilanag himself. He took pity on the old man and, calling 

 him nearer, handed over to him a book called Xilamata Purana 

 and advised him to give offerings to demons at certain holy 

 places on certain day- as detailed m that book, so that the people 



