§ HISTORY OF CASHMIR. 



Hindu appellations. Farther, it is in many places inaccurate, and it does not 

 therefore preclude a necessity, for some such fuller account of the Rdja Ta- 

 ringini and its contents, as is attempted in the essay now submitted to the 

 Society, and which, whilst it follows the order and authority of Calhana 

 Pandit, proposes to comprehend such occasional illustration of his history 

 of Cashmir, as may be derived from the Mohammedan writers above men- 

 tioned, or from classical authorities, or more modern investigation. 



AN ESSAY ON THE HINDU HISTORY OP CASHMIR. 



THE Hindu History of Cashmir commences with the statement, that the 

 beautiful valley forming that kingdom was originally a vast Lake, called 

 Satisaras* and this assertion has not only been copied by the Mohamme- 

 dan writers, but it agrees with the local traditions of the Country, and as 



* "?TcU> a virtuous woman, and 3rR^T> a Lake; the original does not give the etymology, 

 but Abulfazl makes it the Lake of Uma, the wife of Mahadeo, one of whose names, it is true, 

 is Satt in the character of a virtuous spouse. 



Wak. C. so Abulfazl, Gladwin's translation, ii. 169. Bernier says, les Histoires des an- 

 ciens rois de Cachemire, veulent que tout ce pays n 'ait ete autrefois qu'un grand Lac. And, ac- 

 cording to Forster, the Legends of the country assert that Solomon visited the valley, and find- 

 ing it covered, except one eminence, with a noxious water, which had no outlet, he opened a 

 passage in the mountains, and gave to Cashmir its beautiful plains. 



From the general concurrence of the Persian writers, with the account of the Hindu histo- 

 rians, must be excepted Bedia ud-din: he begins with the creation, and brings Adam from Se- 

 randip, where all Musselman authorities place him after the fall, to Cashmir. The sovereignty 

 of Cashmir continued in the Line of Seth for 1110 years, when the Hindus conquered the Pro- 

 vince under Harinand Raja, and his family ruled it till the period of the deluge. After the flood, 

 Cashmir was peopled by.a tribe from Turkestan. The inhabitants were taught the worship of one 

 God, by Moses, who died there, and whose tomb or place of sepulture is still to be seen in Cash- 

 mir. The relapse of the Cashmirians into the Hindu idolatry was punished by the local inunda- 

 tion of the province, and the solitary supremacy of the Afrit, Jaladeo, as described in the Wa- 

 kiat-i- Cashmir. See Appendix No. I. These details are sufficient to give an idea of Bedia ud- 

 din's, or probably of the Sheikh Nur~ad-dins, historical merits. 



