JAMMU: Pashmina Shawls of Kashmir were so much sought after even during the 18th century by traders from Tibet and Central Asia those Kashmir rulers had to fix a quote limit for exports.
Maharaja Ranjit Singh had prohibited the practice of female infanticide among Rajputs in Jammu and Kashmir and won an undertaking from them in obedience to the command.
Jammu and Kashmir was one of the foremost states in the subcontinent to have formulated laws to prevent to have formulated laws to prevent infant marriages and the rulers of Mysore and Baroda had sought copies of the law.
These facts are among the over 500,000 documents and files preserved in the Jammu and Kashmir Archives here.
The documents and files stored in the archives repository in Rani Chark’s Palace here throw light on the events and controversies that marked the history and politics of the rich state over the ages.
The archives set up in 1928 by noted archivist and historiographer K.M.Pannikar was the biggest of the three repositories in the region. The Srinagar repository was formed in 1954 and the Leh and Kargil repository was founded later under the aegis of the Directorate of Culture. The Jammu archives underwent a major renovation during which proper indexing into broad categories was also done after heavy rains and floods, caused considerable damage in 1988. Records till only 1960 were thrown open by the Government.
The archive is presently facing a problem of identification of photographs of dignitaries of the yesteryear and efforts are on for authentic verification.
Unlike the Jammu archives, the Srinagar repository is facing virtual closure as the documents and books seem to have been neither lost nor destroyed due to the persistent militancy problem.
The archives in Jammu and Kashmir came into existence after Maharaja Hari Singh commissioned Pannikar to write a biography (Gulabnama) of his greatgrandfather Gulab Singh. The first records to gain entry into the historical repository were Persian records of the Muhal period which were lying scattered in various places and offices.
The oldest record available in the Jammu repository is of 1724 in Persian, belonging to the pre Maharaja Gulab Singh period.
Another document is the correspondence of August 1868 which reveals that Jammu and Kashmir rulers appointed a Kashmiri shawl agent in London.
Documents also show that the rulers were conscious of cruelty against animals. Command orders were issued in 1935 to ensure prevention of cruelty to animals.
Article extracted from this publication >> August 13, 1993
