Kashmir. General view of Temple and Enclosure of Marttand or the Sun, near Bhawan. Probable date of temple A.D. 490-555. Probable date of colonnade A.D. 693-729 Photograph of the Surya Temple at Martand in Jammu & Kashmir taken by John Burke in 1868. This general view from the hillside looking down onto the ruins of the temple was reproduced in Henry Hardy Cole's Archaeological Survey of India Report 'Illustrations of Ancient Buildings in Kashmir.' (1869). Cole stated, 'The most impressive and grandest ruins in Kashmir, are at Marttand, which is about three miles east of Islamabad.' (Note, this Islamabad is not the current-day capital of Pakistan, but a town further east.) The Surya temple is situated on a high plateau and commands superb views over the Kashmir valley. Dedicated to the sun god, it is considered a masterpiece of early temple architecture in Kashmir. It was built by Lalitaditya Muktapida (ruled c.724-c.760) of the Karkota dynasty, one of the greatest of Kashmir's rulers, under whom both Buddhism and Hinduism flourished. The temple consists of a principal sanctuary standing on a high plinth in a rectangular colonnaded court, surrounded by 84 small shrines. Its roof has disappeared but the immense doorway before the sanctum still stands, consisting of a trefoil arch set within a tall triangular pediment standing on engaged pilasters. Downloaded from the British Museum website by Fowler&fowler«Talk» 15:20, 19 March 2007 (UTC)
Photograph of a Buddhist stupa mound near Baramulla in Jammu and Kashmir, taken by John Burke in 1868. Buddhism was established in Kashmir from the third century BC but declined by the 8th century AD, eclipsed by Hindu Vaishnavism and Shaivism. Two of the most important sites for Buddhist remains in the Kashmir valley are Harwan near Srinagar and Ushkur near Baramulla. Located 55 km from Srinagar, Baramulla, once an important trading centre under the British at the western entrance to the Kashmir valley, spreads along the banks of the Vitasta (Jhelum). On the left bank is the ancient site of Hushkapur (now Ushkur) said to have been founded by Huvishka, a ruler from the famed Kushana dynasty that ruled portions of Afghanistan and India during the first three centuries AD. When the 7th century Chinese traveller Hieuan Tsang entered Kashmir, he stayed at Ushkur and described it as a flourishing Buddhist centre. This general view of the unexcavated stupa, with two figures standing on the summit, and another at the base with measuring scales, is reproduced in Henry Hardy Cole's Archaeological Survey of India report, 'Illustrations of Ancient Buildings in Kashmir,' (1869), in which he wrote, 'The locality which includes the remains of a Monastery is called the 'Jayendra Vihar', and the erection is assigned by local tradition to one 'Praverasena' in A.D. 500. Excavation required.' Stupa bases and other remains were excavated at this mound, and among the discoveries were finely modelled terracotta heads. Downloaded from British Museum web site by Fowler&fowler«Talk» 02:23, 1 April 2007 (UTC)
Gateway of enclosure, (once a Hindu temple) of Zein-ul-ab-ud-din's Tomb, in Srinagar. Probable date A.D. 400 to 500 (?), 1868. John Burke. Oriental and India Office Collection. British Library. Photograph of the gateway and enclosure of Zain-ul-abidin's tomb at Srinagar in Jammu and Kashmir, taken by John Burke in 1868. This photograph is reproduced in Henry Hardy Cole's Archaeological Survey of India report, 'Illustrations of Ancient Buildings in Kashmir' (1869), when Cole wrote, 'In the Panels of the Gateways, there is proof that buildings had previously existed, in which columns play a part...The break in the roof is also remarkable as occurring in conjunction with the simplicity of the enclosing wall, and indicates, I think, that the Gateway is probably more modern than the wall, and may perhaps have been set up by the Mahomedans out of some of the materials of other ruined temples of which a quantity lies strewn all over Srinagar.' Zain-ul-abidin (ruled 1421-72) was one of Kashmir's greatest rulers from its Islamic period, under whose reign it enjoyed peace and prosperity and progress in the arts. His father Sikandar has been tainted in Kashmiri history as Butshikan or idol-breaker, but Zain-ul-abidin was tolerant towards his Hindu subjects. The fertile valley of Kashmir offered a retreat from the crossroads of Asia in the high Himalayas, and developed its own distinctive architecture. Buddhism was established here from the 3rd century BC but was eclipsed by the 8th century AD by the flourishing Hindu Vaishnava and Shaiva cults. Kashmir finally became a great centre of the Shaiva religion and philosophy and a seat of Sanskrit learning and literature. By the 14th century Kashmir came under Islamic rule. Most of its early temples were sacked in the 15th century and their remains were sometimes incorporated in later Islamic monuments. The tomb of the mother of Zain-ul-abidin was built in c.1430 on the foundations of an old Hindu temple, and was decorated with glazed tiles. Immediately to the north of this building is an enclosing wall and gateway made of Hindu materials, which contains a number of tombs, one of which is said to preserve the remains of the Sultan himself.
This is the image of the map "North West Frontier Province and Kashmir" from the Imperial Gazetteer of India, 1909, Oxford University Press, which was scanned from a personal copy and then annotated (with the regions shown within red rectangles) by Fowler&fowler«Talk» 21:02, 27 March 2007 (UTC)
Plate 13 from "Recollections of India. Part 2. 1847. Kashmir and the Alpine Punjab" by James Duffield Harding (1797-1863) after Charles Stewart Hardinge (1822-1894), the eldest son of the first Viscount Hardinge, the Governor General. This illustrates Sheikh Imam-ud-din along with Ranjur Singh and Dina Nath. Sheikh Imam-ud-din was the governor of Kashmir under the Sikhs, and fought on the side of the English in the battle of Multan during the First Anglo-Sikh War (1845-46). Following the Treaty of Lahore, the administration of the district was entrusted to a Council of regency consisting of Imam-Ud-Din, Teja Singh and Dina Nath (the Minister responsible for finance). Runjur Sing conquered Lahore aged 19 in July 1799 and was the chieftain who opposed the British at the battle of Aliwal. Downloaded from the British Museum Web Site by Fowler&fowler«Talk» 23:05, 31 March 2007 (UTC)
Plate 1 from "Recollections of India. Part 2. 1847. Kashmir and the Alpine Punjab" by James Duffield Harding (1797-1863) after Charles Stewart Hardinge (1822-1894), the eldest son of the first Viscount Hardinge, the Governor General. This depicts Maharaja Gulab Singh (died 1857) who started his career as a soldier under Maharaja Ranjit Singh (1792-1839) and rose to a prominent position at his court. During the first Sikh war he forged an alliance with the British and defeated Sikh groups vying for power after Ranjit Singh's death. After signing the Treaty of Amritsar, 1846 he became Maharaja and bought the territories of Jammu and Kashmir which occupied an important position in the political geography of India. The British needed a friendly power by which the Northwest frontier could be defended against the Afghans. Downloaded by Fowler&fowler«Talk» 01:40, 27 March 2007 (UTC) from the British Library Asia Collection Website
This image was downloaded by Fowler&fowler«Talk» 17:23, 29 March 2007 (UTC) from the Government of India, Ministry of Home Affairs, web site Accession Document
This image was downloaded by Fowler&fowler«Talk» 17:26, 29 March 2007 (UTC) from the Government of India, Ministry of Home Affairs, web site Accession Document
Photograph of a boat in Munshi Bagh, Srinagar from the Brandreth Collection: 'Views in Simla, Cashmere and the Punjaub' taken by Samuel Bourne in the 1860s. Srinagar the capital of Kashmir is a city of lakes and waterways, gardens and picturesque wooden architecture. The caption states, 'One of the Maharaja's boats such as lent to the Comr or Resident on duty & to others, as myself. He has several of these each with 20 rowers. Downloaded from the British Libarary web site by Fowler&fowler«Talk» 02:54, 1 April 2007 (UTC)
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