1899.] 
THE NILAMATA AND MAHATMYAS. 
55 
Abu-l-FazPs account 
of TIrthas. 
32. It is a curious fact that among our authorities for the Topogra- 
pliia sacra of Kasmir we must allow a con¬ 
spicuous place to a Muhammadan writer. It 
is Abu-l-Fazl, the minister of Akbar, who in 
the chapter of his Ain-i Akbarl dealing with the ‘Sarkar of Kashmir ’ 
has left us a very accurate account of many of the holy places in the 
Valley. 1 Abu-l-Fazl’s detailed description of Kasmir is valuable in 
many respects to the historical student. But it is particularly in con¬ 
nection with our topographical search that we must feel grateful to the 
author for having like his great master “ caught some of the enthusiasm 
of the Valley ” (Rennell). 
Abu-l-Fazl tells us that “ the whole country is regarded as holy 
ground by the Hindu sages.” He also refers in general terms to the 
numerous shrines dedicated to the various deities and to the popular 
worship of ‘ snakes,’ i.e ., the Nagas, “ of whom wonderful stories are 
told.” He then proceeds to describe in detail the most notable sites, 
giving among these particular prominence to what Dr. Bernier aptly 
called ‘ les merveilles ’ of the country. 
This account of Abu-l-Fazl represents for us an authentic survey 
of all the Kasmirian Tirthas that were well-known and popular at the 
end of the 16th century. It serves as a most useful link between 
our older texts dealing with these pilgrimage places and the modern 
tradition. It helps us to check the data of the Mahatmyas in many 
particulars of topographical interest. Abu-l-Fazl’s notes have enabled 
me to trace in more than one instance the position of ancient Tirthas 
or particular features regarding them which have since his time been 
wholly forgotten. 2 It cannot be doubted that Abu-l-Fazl’s list of 
sacred sites to which we have to refer so frequently in our subsequent 
notes, was supplied by competent Brahman informants just as his 
abstract of the Sanskrit Chronicles. 
1 Yol. i. pp. 564-570 in Prof. Blochmann’s edition of the Aln-i Akbarl j vol. ii. 
pp. 354-366 in the Bibliotheca Indica translation of the work (Col. H. S. Jarrett). 
Abii-l-Fazl’s account of Kasmir would well deserve a fuller commentary than the 
one which the translator, in the absence of special local studies, was able to give. 
The account of Mirza Haidar (in the Tarikh-i Rashidi) and Bernier’s notes could 
conveniently be discussed on the same occasion. 
2 Compare my notes on Bhedagiri (i. 35), the S'dradatirtha (i, 37), the 
Tdksaicandga (i. 220); also supplementary note to i. 107. 
