[Part I] Son’th: Bahar: The new beginning

Son’th is the first of the four seasons of a year in Kashmiri calendar, spreading over three months of Hamal, Soor & Jawza of Persian calendar corresponding to months of Caitra [ Chi’thir in Kashmir], Vaishakha [ Bai’sakh in Kashmiri] & Jyaistha[Jyeth in Kashmiri] according to Hindu Bikrami calendar. Persian Hamal corresponding to Chi’thir in Kashmiri begins on 21st March, while under Bikrami calendar the first day of the Son’th is 22nd March.  Son’th means spring which is Bahar in Persian, and in Arabic it is Rabia &  in Punjabi it is Basant. Son’th commences when the sun is in Aries[ March-April] under zodiac signs of astrology. 

It is Bahar which has been adopted by Kashmiris from Persian language as a loanword practically replacing Son’th in Kashmiri language. Bahar is what Kashmiris mostly & virtually know as & identify with spring season of year. Bahar is the household name of spring in Kashmir. 

   

Bahar or Son’th is the new beginning, marked by wide range of colours of nature. It is splendid & beautiful. After long winter of  cloudy days, the blue sky is once again on the horizon, alternating between showers & sunshine. The blossoms on almond, peach, apricot, apple, pears & other fruit-growing trees are out in gardens, & the valley once again looks fresh, pretty and young. The flowering plants of spring in gardens, public parks & home lawns blossom in Son’th. The chirping birds once again sweeten the ears & fill the atmosphere with melody of hope & freedom. The snow on mountain peaks begins to melt in descending runoff giving new life to the meandering streams, brooks & rivulets of the vale. The pastures, meadows, gardens and lawns come back to life with increased temperatures of the soil and the green carpet of grass comes out of dormancy after a long hibernation of winter. Son’th is the symbol of life, youth & beauty. The duration of days starts increasing in  Son’th.  

Immediately after winter, on historical record, there has been a centuries old tradition among Kashmiris to visit gardens to check if the blossoms & buds had appeared on trees. It was a signal of pleasing-spring & end of harsh winter. Kashmiris were delighted to see early blossoms of the Bahar. Fascinated crowds would go on foot place to place in a “crazy manner” in their villages & around to have glimpses of the spring blossoms on trees. They spent hours in visiting & enjoying at Dal Lake, Telbal stream & Mughal gardens , and often relished the taste of water melon & melon  around Dal lake. The lotus, lilac & colourful flowers used to be a grat attraction for the Kashmiris in  Dal Lake & Mughal Gardens around it during So’inth. It was all “luxury” the natives could afford those days, sitting & relaxing in the shade of the trees in flower & fruit gardens. 

Jishin e Kashmir: 

In city, the people were used to the habit of visiting en mass to the foot of Kohi Maran to get delighted with the sight of early blossoms of groves of almond trees. Bakhshi GM [ 1953-1963] who knew the art of how people could be kept busy in watching & enjoying “things of entertainment & beauty”, was the first of [Kashmiri] audacious politicians to capitalise this inbuilt tendency of Kashmiris’ visiting gardens for his “political craft” of Jishin e Kashmir[ Kashmir Funfair] & the area in question got the prominence & name “Badamwari” during his regime. It were social entertainments & convivial gatherings in his regime in ““Badamwari” & at all well known beautiful places of Kashmir. It was in his regime when Pehalgam got prominence from traditional tourist hut to the destination of tourist inflow with Bollywood cameras everywhere. Schools, colleges & university, stadiums & even radio were used to celebrate & promote Bakhshi’s Jishin e Kashmir with music, dance, frolic, poetry , comics, “ladyshah”. The feasts & tea parties were served to the visiting neo-elite of Kashmir & outside “dignitaries”. 

Badamwari & Waris Khanun Chah:

Before Bakhshi’s time, the word “Badamwari” did not exist anywhere in  Kashmir chronicles & travelogues; albeit, iterating, Kashmiris in history had been great admirers of visiting Mughal gardens & other beauty spots of the valley including salubrious Dal, Mansbal & Wulur Lakes, particularly in spring & summer seasons. Excursions to pleasure gardens & beauty points of the vale by locals is well recorded in Persian chronicles.

It must be noticed here that the groves of almond trees were planted in the foot of Kohi Maran/Hari Parbat from Sangeen Darwaza to Kantha Darwaza of Kalai [rampart] skirting Khojeyarbal of Nigeen Lake, known as Lokut Dal or Sodra Khon, bynone other than Waris Khan who was earlier in service of Sher Singh son of Maharaja Ranbir Singh & who was appointed commandant of the forte of Kohi Maran by Sikh Nazim, Sheikh Mohi ud Din[ 1842-1846] .

The deep ditch, known as Waris Khanun Chah, was built by him for draining away water from the garden which remained soggy & wet during winter & spring. Some journos in newspapers [ see GK 27-03-2019], KL[ 7-5-12] have written that Waris Khanun Chah was a “well” built for watering plants & flowers in the garden.

As the word for “well” in Kashmiri is “kruil”, a pit, the word “Chah” does not fit with that. Some “vested interests” have also claimed that it was a prison for punishing offenders by throwing them in it during Afghan Rule, which is sheer non sense. 

Several bloggers, columnists & writers, one & all, in their blogs, papers & books, public & social media outlets,  have wrongly attributed the laying out of “Badamwari” &  “Waris Khanun Chah” to incorrect names & periods of history.

Waris Khanun Chah was not the well for execution of criminals by throwing them in it in Mughal & Afghan Periods as wrongly mentioned by them. It is a part of the larger scheme of “invention of stories” to distort & demean historical record & characters. 

Nor were groves of almond trees first planted in Dogra Rule except old decayed plants were replaced by new ones from time to time which is such a common practice with maintenance of gardens all over the world. 

Well said that, what has become known as “Badamwari” was not confined to few hundred acres of land lately developed by J&K Bank under CSR programme from Kanthe Darwaza side.

It extended, to iterate, from Kanthe Darwaza to Sangeen Darwaza from the Dal-side. Post Indira-Abdullah Accord of 1974, Sheikh Abdullah settled Tibetans in a part of this once great heritage site of Kashmir &, thereafter, this entire area has come under residential & commercial construction leaving a small segment of almond groves developed by J&K Bank from Kanthe Darwaza side for tourists, locals & non-locals, to cherish about “Badamwari” , as reminiscent of the Kashir’s past glory for the posterity?

M J Aslam, Author & Historian 

Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed in this article are the personal opinions of the author.

The facts, analysis, assumptions and perspective appearing in the article do not reflect the views of GK.

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