Culture is a wide term denoting human activity, both individual and collective, in diverse fields including arts and crafts, of which copper works constitutes the major metal craft. Though copper was in use in Eastern Europe around 5000 BC, yet its actual use, for variegated purpose, dates around 3500-2300 BCE in Northern Iraq, China, Southeast Asia and India. The practice of its subsequent mix with tin, producing hard bronze metal, for agricultural farming, construction and other works obtained between 3000-1900 BCE (India’s Bronze/Harappan/ Indus Valley Civilizational Age).
We are unsure about its singular or multi-purpose use in Kashmir (including Pakistan Administered Kashmir) during the same period, although it is generally believed that copper plates were optimized for recording the proceedings of the third Buddhist Conference in Kashmir during the Kanishka’s period (3rd century BCE). While traces of copper mines exist, per se, in Kashmir’s Baramulla district, no copper plate has as yet been explored in Kashmir for the aforesaid purpose. Instead, numismatics evidences attest to the copper-use for coinage during the reign of the Indo-Greeks, Shakas, Indo-Parthians, Kushanas, Kidaras and Hunas.
The multi-layered copper-use is perceived to have begun since Sultan Zainulabidin’s rule in Kashmir in the 15th century. It so happened for his sustained connections with Western Turkistan (erstwhile Soviet Central Asia) including modern Uzbekistan, Tajikistan etc., and his unprecedented patronage extended to the Uzbek artisans and craftsmen to settle in Kashmir – a trend that reinforced with the arrival of those hundreds of Central Asian craftsmen who accompanied Sayyid Ali Hamdani to Kashmir for the pursuit. During their settlement, they transmitted several arts and crafts, copper making including, to the local inmates. Over a period of time, the Kashmiris better learnt the art of identifying, extracting, blending and shaping copper metals into tools, ornaments and weapons for the domestic, agricultural and industrial use. Consequently, copper forms the major vessel of domestic use in an average Kashmiri household.
While Western Turkistan’s influence on Kashmiri arts and crafts is well-established, that of Eastern Turkistan (Chinese Central Asia or Xinjiang) is less-emphasized despite Kashmir’s geographical proximity and profound historical interrelations with the region since early times. Some Buddhist/Chinese accounts and European travelogues certify the two-way linkages for mutual trade, traffic, transport and cultural assimilation and transmission. These ties are also substantiated by the archaeological surveys conducted by the foreigners into once this ‘frozen’ Xinjiang region in China.
No wonder, during my periodically-conducted empirical studies in Xinjiang, comprising Khotan, Yarkand, Kashghar, Aksu, Alchi and other cities, I traced great deal of cultural affinity between Kashmir and Xinjiang, despite their distinct physical frame, ethnic descent and historicity. In certain cases, Xinjiang appeared to me closer to Kashmir than Western Turkistan. Copper works typically exemplifies the same.
Pertinently, copper ores (mineral-bearing rocks) as a basic raw material were locally available in Kashmir at Baramulla and Srinagar and Xinjiang at Kashghar, Khotan, Yarkand, etc. These ores were traditionally mined, distilled, and cast into ingots for making copperware in the traditional workshops termed as the Karkhanas.
Running in hundreds, these workshops are distributed all over downtown Srinagar and the districts of Baramulla (Kreeri Pattan), Anantnag and Budgam in Kashmir or what makes the Indian State of Jammu and Kashmir (J&K State). Likewise, the olden Kashghar and Yarkand cities in Xinjiang abound with such workshops as manufacture variety of copper utensils for different purpose/s. These workshops are/were implanted with coal-driven furnaces, paved-sinks and traditional tools like hammers, chisels, men stakes anvil, compass, punches, files etc.
These workshops were/are characteristic of group-organization depending on the size of the cottages, work force, raw material, number of tools etc. A master craftsman overlooked these in a certain cottage. He handed down his expertise to the workmen for posterity.
However, few cottages were/are individually-run, sometimes in shops, by the craftsmen with or without their family support.
The crafts men, young and old, regularly hammer, heat, re-hammer and reheat the hard, in-malleable and inductile metal until it becomes strong to resist damages on the use. A mix of brass, copper, zinc, tin, and borax was/is used for soldering the copper objects. Before use, few copper objects are coated with a thin metallic tin lining (kalai) and cleaned with rice husk as a washing and polishing agent. Uncoated ones, including gilded and engraved specimens, are mostly for adornment, dowry, and export (as antiques).
Usually, a product changes various hands before taking the final shape. Several expert groups work on it at various levels: mining, casting, designing, manufacturing, finishing and marketing. The manufacturers (misgara’n) form the largest group, followed by the engravers (naqishgeers), gilders (zarkoob), cleaners (charakhghar) etc. Each group has a defined work format to follow right from the moulding and manufacturing to the gilding, cleansing and engraving of the objects in Kashmir and Xinjiang.
This tends to establish an ample closeness between the two regions as regards the cottage structure, work force, raw material, tool typology and work style, and above all, the make, size, shape, finish and value of both the decorative and ceremonial copper objects like Kashmiri basins, trays, glasses, soap cases, ornamented plates, containers, cooking pots, cups, tea kettles, eating pots, buckets, vases, jars, boxes, bowls, roasters, incense burners, ink and pencil boxes, lamps, knives, swords etc. All such copper vessels are distinct for in-home use and out-home wedding and mourning ceremonies.
The Covid-19, though harsh, benefited the copper workers for a while. For social distancing, it led to introduce a new pattern of meals on the weddings. In place of a Trami (group meals of 4 persons sitting on a big copper plate), meals are served individually to the guests in small copper plates covered by the associated lids- an addition to the menu of the existing copper ware in the Kashmir Valley. It reflects the adoptability of the Kashmiris to the changes in times and space.
Since several objects were/are designed for dowry and export, these are rendered attractive with engravings of chin’ar, lotus, lilac, floral, geometric and calligraphic motifs. The engravers/ embossers oxidize and often blacken them with coal for distinction from the vessel-surface. Theirs’ is altogether an intricate and time-consuming job, though they are paid higher wages for it than those of the basic manufacturers.
In a nutshell, these decorative and ceremonial specimens are uniquely characteristic of traditional copper works in Kashmir and Xinjiang. However, the tea-kettle, the Samovar of Russian origin, burnt on the coal, remains the most-coveted one. Despite varying make and design, it involves a common purpose in both regions.
While in Xinjiang China, Samovar is generally made of various metals, in Kashmir it largely consists of copper for massive use on several occasions. Given its efficacy, it replenishes with tea in every ordinary Kashmir peasant family. Its tea, they think, suffices to bring them respite after the day-long hard and fatigued agricultural labour. However, for the changed life pattern, its use has presently squeezed in urban and rural Kashmir and Kashghar. Nonetheless, the Kyrgyz and Tajiks of the mountainous Xinjiang region continue brewing salt-milky tea in the Samovars unmindful of the time-change.
Currently, however, the Kashmir, if not Xinjiang, copper industry is terribly threatened by the machine age monster. Since machines are fast replacing the hand-made craft in the Kashmir Valley (in J&K State), many traditional copper workers are, as such, becoming jobless. Still many of them are taking to occupational mobility for sustenance. The state is unluckily a ‘failure’ to strike a balance between the hand-made and machine-made industrial streams.
Contrarily, the Chinese government follows a balanced policy in Xinjiang, and demonstrates adequate favouritism to cottage industry alongside enormous industrialization and mechanization. Its allied laws are implemented in tone and tenor to safeguard the artisans and craftsmen. The copper workers may change the occupation in Xinjiang but for their own choice than the state apathy.
True, the J&K State periodically enacted acts, ordinances and orders. But, these lack real implementation, may be for the state’s own security priorities. In 2006, it framed an Act to secure this age-old craft from extinction, and help those thriving on it over generations together. Specified machine-made goods, their manufacturing, marketing and import were instantly banned in the state. Besides, in 2008, rules were stipulated to dispose of confiscated machine-made goods through open auction. Local entrepreneurs were emboldened to set up their own industrial units to transform copper ingots into sheets and circles, per se, at HMT Naribal and other city areas: earlier, the said raw material was exclusively imported from outside the state.
But being too little and too late, these initiatives could not hold long. Soon their effect died down in the Kashmir Valley. The number of machines as well as the quantum of machine-made products swelled manifold since 2008. Consequently, 28,000 copper workers, engaged in around 6,000 registered 6,000 karkhanas, are destined to lose job either due to the deluging machine culture and institutional apathy or the absence of coordination between the policymaking and policy execution. The Kashmir Copper Workers Union has been regularly agitating against the obvious threats. It has been soliciting the state support for the security of the traditional Kashmir copper industry.
At the moment, the state has its own priorities for perpetual Kashmir situation. But, it can’t afford pushing thousands of copper workers to the wall for the same. Like China, it entails to translate its own orders into real practice to save this rich craft from disappearance and protect the jobs of tens, hundreds and thousands of copper workers for their survival. It warrants generating than discarding their jobs for mere security and other considerations.