56 
ANCIENT GEOGRAPHY OF KAS'MIR. [Extra No. 2, 
Section VII.— Local tradition. 
Local tradition of 
the learned. 
33. It now remains for us only to indicate briefly what help 
surviving tradition offers for the study of 
the ancient topography of Kasmir. The tradi¬ 
tion with which we are here concerned, presents 
itself in two forms. One is the tradition of the ‘ learned,’ regarding the 
ancient sites of the country in general, kept up more or less in connec¬ 
tion with written records. The other is that genuine local tradition 
which is strictly confined in its limits but is kept up equally among 
literate and illiterate of particular places. 
Among those who represent in Kasmir learned tradition of the 
former type there must again be distinguished the few Pandit families 
of S'rinagar in which the serious study of Sanskrit S'astras has been 
maintained, and the great host of ‘ Bachbattas.’ With the latter class 
we have already become partially acquainted in the course of our 
examination of the Mahatmyas. We have had occasion to note the 
conspicuous absence of genuine knowledge as regards the ancient 
topography of the country in those texts which form the character¬ 
istic products of this class’ literary activity. 
The Purohitas’ knowledge of Sanskrit is ordinarily of the scantiest 
kind, and their ‘ reading ’ confined to Mahatmyas and devotional texts 
learned by heart without proper comprehension. We can hence scarcely 
expect them to have preserved genuine traditions regarding those 
historically interesting localities which are mentioned only in the 
Chronicles. It is only in the matter of those sacred sites, pilgrimage 
routes and the like which form as it were, their own particular profes¬ 
sional domains, that their testimony can claim special attention. Yet 
even in this limited field the Purohitas’ traditions are, as we have seen, 
often of a very modern growth. Their statements, therefore, require 
under all circumstances to be tested with critical caution. 
34. ‘ Learned ’ tradition as represented by the S'rlnagar Pandits 
of modern times, is best guaged by an ex- 
Sahibram s TIrtha amination of what the late Pandit Sahibram 
sanigra a ^ 1872) has specially recorded on the sub¬ 
ject of ancient sites. 
P. Sahibram who was undoubtedly the foremost among Kasmirian 
Sanskrit scholars of the last few generations, had been commissioned by 
the late Maharaja Ranbir Singh to prepare a descriptive survey of all 
ancient Tirthas of Kasmir. For this purpose a staff of Pandits was 
placed at his disposal whose business it was to collect the necessary 
